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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Research article
- Open Access
Material properties of Islamic paper
© The Author(s) 2016
- Received: 13 April 2016
- Accepted: 11 August 2016
- Published: 7 November 2016
- Near infrared spectroscopy
- Chemometrics
- Non-destructive characterization
- Polishing
- Starch
As an information carrier, paper has a significant role in history and culture [1, 2]. Yet, although the craft originated in China, the focus of much of recent research has been on Western papermaking. Material properties of paper changed as the knowledge of its production travelled from China through central Asia until it reached the West [1–4]. It is well known that Islamic papermakers utilized techniques and processes not often used elsewhere, such as surface polishing, starch sizing or dyeing and decoration, which appear to make Islamic paper distinct from Indic, Sino-Asian or European [2, 4–8]. However, it is as yet unknown how geographically distinct and widespread these techniques were and whether they affect paper stability.
For the purpose of this paper, we define 'Islamic paper' as paper that has been produced in the Islamic cultural realm, i.e. in Arab, Persian or Turkic territories. There could well be regional differences in the history and techniques of papermaking; however, there is currently insufficient knowledge to distinguish them. There is a significant gap in the knowledge of what Islamic paper is, as provenancing can only be achieved by historical, palaeographical and codicological research [8], and scientific understanding of Islamic paper is almost entirely lacking.
We also know little about what proportion of Islamic paper constitutes manuscripts in Islamic library collections, especially since intensive trade led to significant imports of European paper into Islamic countries from the 17th century on [2, 4, 6, 8]. There is a strong relationship between the durability of paper and the materials and techniques used in its production, e.g. the effect of alum-rosin sizing on European paper [9, 10], widely used as a sizing material since the second half of the 19th century [11, 12]. Gaining such knowledge would help custodians of Islamic paper collections to understand the materials and develop more sustainable preservation plans [10].
Palaeography is important in this analysis, however, dating and provenancing of text may not reveal any information about its carrier due to trade, although a manuscript dated to the 11th century CE or earlier could not have been produced in Europe. Paper morphology, particularly watermarks, is an aspect of European papermaking that is often used for identification, however, in Islamic papermaking watermarks were not common. On the other hand, physical features such as sheet dimension, thickness, colour and paper mould construction [4, 5, 8, 13] are sometimes found to be specific to a geographic region and era. It is as yet unknown how such features could be used to identify Islamic paper in libraries and archives and if their absence is a conclusive proof of non-Islamic origin.
Paper fibres can be of decisive importance, as was shown, e.g. for Tibetan paper [14]. However, we currently have no knowledge of, or historical information on, the use of particular fibres in Islamic papermaking, although bast and cotton have been used, as was the case of European papermaking [4, 7, 8, 13, 15]. More fibre furnish studies might reveal the presence of less usual fibres such as papyrus, rice, or silk.
Numerous scientific methods are used to study paper and pulp [10, 20, 21] although non-destructive techniques requiring neither sampling nor sample preparation are preferred when dealing with historic objects [20, 22, 23]. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been successfully used in studies of a variety of heritage materials [23, 24] as it reflects combination and overtone vibrations associated with C–H, O–H and N–H chemical bonds [20, 25]. Spectral data can be used to classify or estimate properties of unknown samples when combined with multivariate data analysis based on a correlation with physical properties obtained from reference analytical methods applied to well-characterized and representative samples [23–26].
Summary of the techniques used in this paper, with the corresponding number of samples
No. of samples analysed
Iodine test
Raspail test
Visual assessment for polishing
Surface roughness
Surface gloss
Specular/diffuse reflectance ratio
Fibre furnish
pH determination
DP determination
Reference collection
A substantial collection of 228 papers was collected at UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage from different sources in Central Asia, Near East and North Africa (15th–19th century) for the purpose of material analysis (ref-collection). Most of the samples are written in Arabic (168), several in Coptic script or Persian and Turkic languages. 31 samples are from Samarqand (Uzbekistan). For the majority of papers (133), the date is unknown, while 83 are from 18th to 19th century and 10 are older. Unfortunately, no clear information is available about the provenance, date or history of the storage environment for these samples. Samples without ink or soiling were cut from the paper sheets, away from the margins, for investigation.
The collection was visually examined and digitally documented before sampling. For digitization and morphological measurements, a light table, rulers, digital calliper and a Nikon-D300s DSLR camera were used. All measurements, observations and images were recorded per catalogue number (Arabic paper—AP) thus building a reference database. All samples were given a unique ID, consisting of "AP" followed by an incremental number. Sheets from the same bound volume were considered as sub-samples e.g. AP 1-1 and AP 1-2.
Sizing characterization
The iodine test [6, 27] was used to establish the presence of starch. The I2 solution was prepared by adding 5 g of I2 (≥99.8 %, Sigma Aldrich, Dorset) to 10 g of KI (crystals, Sigma Aldrich, Dorset) dissolved in 100 ml of deionized water. After dissolution, the prepared solution was diluted 1:4 before use. One drop of the diluted solution was then added to ~0.5 cm2 of paper sample. Colour change was observed under low magnification.
The presence of rosin was tested using the Raspail test [27, 28] for samples that tested negatively for starch. In addition, 35 starch-sized samples were randomly selected to explore the possibility of rosin and starch being present in the same sample.
One drop of a sucrose solution (35 g sucrose, ≥99.5 %, Sigma Aldrich, Dorset, in 20 ml deionized water) was added to ~0.5 cm2 of paper sample and left for 3 min to allow for the solution to penetrate into the sample. Any excess was removed using filter paper. A drop of concentrated H2SO4 (95–97 %, Merck, Darmstadt) was then added. Colour change was observed under low magnification.
Surface characterization
Surface polishing of Islamic papers was executed to different levels of quality and shine [4, 7, 8] and occasionally, a polished surface is difficult to assess by appearance (sheen, or occasionally only sheen marks) or by touch. Polishing was assessed visually and the ref-collection was divided into 'Polished', 'Unpolished' and 'Uncertain' categories. Reflection of light from surfaces depends on surface roughness [29], which can be measured in a variety of ways. Thus, in addition to visual assessment, roughness and gloss measurements were carried out, the ratio between specular and diffusely reflected light was determined, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used, in order to find an instrumental method to reduce the subjectivity of visual assessment.
Roughness is a good indication of surface texture and irregularities [30]. A TRACEiT profilometer (Innowep, Würzburg) was used. The topographic roughness parameter R a [29] was determined in both directions (x and y) with the resolution of 1536 lines per 5 mm. The arithmetic average was calculated.
Novo-Gloss Lite 45o glossmeter (Rhopoint Instruments, St Leonards) with a resolution of 0.1 gloss units (GU) was used. The measurements were collected at 20o. The average gloss value was calculated from ~10 random measurements, on both sides of each sheet.
Specular/diffuse reflectance ratio
Similarly to gloss, the principle of this method is to assess the relation between the reflectance of a surface and its roughness [29, 31, 32]. The ratio of intensity of reflected light at 457 nm was determined using a LabSpec-5000 spectrometer (ASD, Boulder) at two different angles relative to the incident beam (0o, 45o). This wavelength was selected as it is used to measure paper brightness [33, 34]. Using the ratio rather than absolute values also corrected for any influence of potential chromophores.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging
TM3030 tabletop scanning electron microscope (Hitachi, Tokyo) in charge-up reduction mode was used to obtain surface topography images. A 5 × 5 mm piece was used without any sample preparation. Images were collected using low accelerating voltage (5 kV) and magnification of 100×.
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
Bruker (Coventry) Alpha ATR-FTIR spectrometer with OPUS software (version 6.5) was used to identify egg white and gum tragacanth as polishing materials [4, 7, 13, 18, 19]. 64 scans were acquired with a resolution of 4 cm−1 over the range 4000–400 cm−1, and averaged to produce the absorbance spectrum. Laboratory-made reference samples of Whatman No. 1 paper (Whatman, Maidstone) sized with egg white (from fresh eggs) and gum tragacanth (Cornelissen & Son, London) were prepared.
Fibre furnish
List of 15 samples from the ref-collection and their properties, selected randomly for fibre furnish analysis
Laid with no chain lines (hand-made)
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Wove (machine-made)
Laid with no chain lines (hand-made)
Wove (machine-made)
Wove (machine-made)
Persian + Arabic
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Laid + chain lines (hand-made)
Wove (machine-made)
Wire-mesh (machine-made)
Laid with no chain lines (hand-made)
Y one side only
Laid with no chain lines (hand-made)
A modified standard cold extraction procedure [38] was used to measure the pH of 70 samples from the ref-collection. Mettler Toledo (Leicester) SevenGo pH/Ion Meter with a micro-combined glass electrode (diameter 3 mm, InLab® Micro, 51343160) was used. Samples (~1.14 mg in ~0.1 ml water) were taken out of the extraction liquid during measurement. All values were rounded to the nearest 0.1 pH unit [38, 39].
Degree of polymerization
The standard method [40] was used. For each sample, 3–5 repeated measurements of effluent time were performed and the average was used for calculating the DP using Mark–Houwink–Sakurada equation [41]. The uncertainty of DP determination of a Whatman No. 1 filter paper (Maidstone) sample was <1 % (n = 3).
Due to the limited availability of historic samples, it was not possible to determine either water content or the content of non-cellulosic additives in each sample individually. As in previous publications [10, 23, 24], we assumed an average content of non-cellulosic compounds (including water) of 5 % knowing that an error of 1 % in this estimation (i.e. 5 % ± 1 %) would lead to ΔDP of 1 %. This could be considered negligible in relation to the observed differences in DP across the collection as discussed later.
Near-infrared spectroscopy
PHAZIR NIR analyzer (Polychromix, now Thermo Fisher, Hemel Hempstead) in the interval of 1600–2400 nm (average of 10 scans), resolution 8 nm, was used. The measurements were carried out using single sheets with a Spectralon target as the background, in areas that contained no inks or visible soiling and away from the margins.
The same samples were measured using the SurveNIR instrument (Lichtblau, Dresden) in the interval of 1100-2200 nm (with 2 nm resolution, average of 8 spectra per sheet with 300 scans each) and the collected data was analysed based on models developed for European paper to explore their applicability.
Multivariate data analysis
Two different multivariate data analysis (MVA) methods have been used to analyse the NIR spectra. For classification, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was used for several historic materials with good results [20, 25, 42–44], therefore this method was used to estimate the presence of starch-sizing and polishing. XLSTAT 2013 v.5.01 software was used to model the presence of starch using spectra of 228 samples and also to develop a model to identify polishing on 104 samples. No spectral pre-processing was used for these models. Calibration and validation datasets were selected randomly.
For quantitative calibration, multivariate regression methods such as partial least squares (PLS) [42–44] have been used to develop NIR-based models for characterization of heritage materials extensively. Models were developed to study different materials properties, e.g. European paper [23, 24, 45], textiles [46, 47], parchment [48] and easel paintings [49]. Polychromix method generator v. 3.101 R2-64 software was used to build two PLS regression models for the determination of pH and DP using the reference data as measured using the traditional methods described above.
Different spectral pre-processing methods have been used to optimize the quality of calibration for the regression models. Standard normal variate (SNV) and Savitzky–Golay algorithm of the third polynomial order and a nine-point window second derivative were used for the pH model in the interval 1600-2400 nm. Only Savitzky–Golay algorithm of the third polynomial order and a seven-point window second derivative was applied to the spectra used for DP model. A dataset of 70 samples was used for the pH model, while 60 samples were used for the DP model as lignin-containing samples could not be measured using viscometry. Validation was performed with an independent dataset. Root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC), cross-validation (RMSECV) and prediction (RMSEP) were calculated to evaluate the models.
Results and discussion
Characterization of the reference collection
Evidence of sheet-forming techniques for papers in the ref-collection
Laid and chain lines
Laid with no chain lines
Starch sizing could be seen as one of the defining characteristics of Islamic paper [4, 6, 15, 18]. Almost half of the samples (110) contain starch, although variation in the reaction to iodine was visible, which could indicate differences in the source and quantity of starch [27].
The Raspail test for rosin gave a positive reaction in only 5 samples out of 146 that were tested. One starch-sized sample (AP125-2) reacted positively to rosin as well. Since the test gives false positives for casein, ATR-FTIR was used to ensure the absence of peptide bonds. As a result of this analysis, two samples were found to contain protein (AP125-2, AP129-2). Consequently, only three out of the five samples reacting positively to the Raspail test were undoubtedly sized with rosin (AP98, AP105, AP128), i.e. ~2 %. All three are written in Arabic, have no starch or polishing, and no watermark. All are mechanically produced (2 wove and 1 wire-mesh).
It is worth noting that both visual and instrumental methods of assessment of polishing are still subject to error as many papers are not uniformly polished and the result may therefore depend on the sampled area. Quantitative imaging tools could be developed to estimate the homogeneity of polishing and visualise its application, as was developed for some European paper properties [51].
As shown in Fig. 7, the peaks at ~1533 and ~1639 cm−1 (amide group bands), indicate the presence of proteins [20, 53, 54]. However, the cellulose peak at ~1630 cm−1 may obscure the nearby amide peak and not allow for gelatine, casein or egg white [20, 53] to be distinguished. Similarly, it would be difficult to distinguish between gums using FTIR alone [53], although the spectrum of the gum tragacanth-coated sample shows a peak at ~1720-1740 cm−1.
To identify the polishing material, spectra of the ref-collection samples (n = 37) were peak-normalized at ~1026 cm−1. Almost half of the measured samples contained well-identifiable proteinaceous peaks. Samples sized with starch could have been polished with egg white or casein, while gelatine was not used in Islamic countries due to "high temperature", though there is no clear rationale given for this in the literature [6, 16].
Several test samples (~10) have shown peaks in the region ~1720–1740 cm−1, which could indicate the presence of gums. However, none were as strong as the gum tragacanth peak in Fig. 7, which makes gums more difficult to identify than proteins, since this peak could also indicate the presence of oxidised degradation products [21].
Two polished samples (AP48, AP131) showed no protein or gum tragacanth peaks.
Fibre furnish
15 samples were randomly selected and investigated for fibre furnish. Only bast (hemp and flax), cotton and wood-based (both hardwood and softwood) fibres were found. All of the identified fibre types are common to European and Islamic papermaking [4, 7, 8, 13, 15]. However, an interesting finding is that most of the samples that were made from wood-pulp are not starch-sized, which might mean that these papers were imported.
Acidity and degree of polymerization
It is well known that acidity in paper negatively affects its permanence [55, 56], however it cannot be directly linked to loss of mechanical properties and degree of polymerization, as the rate of degradation also depends on temperature and RH [57].
The samples show a distribution of DP values that is strongly biased towards low values, peaking in the interval of 500–750. While the collection under study may not reflect an average library or archival collection of Islamic paper, the low values of DP may be a concern if this is encountered in real collections, especially since according to a study performed on papers of European origin, for DP <300, the risk of paper accumulating mechanical degradation due to handling increases substantially [58]. Surveys in real collections would show whether such low DP values are typical of Islamic paper collections and would also enable us to observe whether the same DP value of 300 is also representative of higher risk of mechanical degradation with handling for Islamic paper.
The low observed average DP could be the result of high temperature during storage in the past. Considering that the average apparent Ea for historical paper is ~119 kJ/mol, a 4 °C higher average temperature would double the rate of degradation [51] as observed in more temperate climates.
Non-destructive characterization methodology
Due to the destructive nature of most of the characterization methods used in the previous section, methods need to be developed that allow us to characterize historically valuable collections non-destructively. Using NIR, two classification methods were developed to identify the presence of starch and polishing, and two regression methods to estimate the degree of polymerization and the content of acidity.
Presence of starch and polishing
Validation matrices for LDA models for identification of starch and polishing. 138 and 74 samples were used for calibration, respectively
% correct
No starch
% correct
No starch
A similarly well-performing model was built for the identification of polishing. 74 out of 104 samples were selected randomly for calibration and 30 samples were used for independent validation. Spectra in the interval of 1600–2400 nm were used. 86.7 % of validation samples were correctly identified. Although validation is highly satisfactory, it is worth emphasizing that the model was built based on visual (and thus subjective) assessment of the presence of polishing. It might be possible to improve the predictive value of this classification model by confirming the presence of polishing with SEM and FTIR; however, as it is, the model is useful for collection surveys where visual assessment of the presence of polishing is too time consuming in comparison with the NIR method.
Regression models for pH and DP
PLS calibration and validation parameters for regression models for pH and DP using NIR spectra obtained with the PHAZIR hand-held spectrometer; n-number of samples
PLS model
Validation of the models using independent data sets shows that the model for pH does not perform very well, with the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.7, which is useful for a broad classification of samples, but 2–3-times larger than the uncertainty of the experimental method. The errors in DP determination are satisfactory and comparable with models as determined previously for European paper [23]. This indicates that the methods developed here could be useful for collection surveys, however, particularly for the pH model, more samples might improve the quality of prediction.
Finally, it was of interest to explore whether the PLS regression models as applied to European papers could be of use for Islamic papers. For this purpose, the SurveNIR instrument with the associated software and database for European papers was used. NIR spectra of 70 samples from the Ref-Collection were collected using the SurveNIR Instrument and values of pH and DP were predicted.
To explore whether this reflects the composition of Islamic paper, we plotted points representing starch-containing papers in a different colour in Fig. 10. While the less satisfactory performance of the pH model for European paper cannot be explained by the presence of starch, it is evident that this compound strongly affects the predictions of DP with SurveNIR.
With the non-destructive NIR methods, it is now possible to survey well-dated and provenanced historically valuable Islamic paper collections in libraries and archives, which would give us a much clearer view of how widespread specific papermaking practices were through time and geographically. Additionally, we would gain a better insight into the state of conservation of such collections, as well as develop collection-specific preservation advice. This is the focus of our future work.
We investigated the properties of Islamic paper by exploring the material evidence presented by a reference historic materials database of 228 Islamic paper samples from north Africa, the near East and central Asia, mostly from the 18th and 19th century. For the majority of the documents neither their age nor exact provenance can be established with certainty, however, the collection presents a range of historic material typologies that have not been researched scientifically before. Given that the collection represents a random cross-section of paper production from the Islamic cultural realm, we explored whether typical material properties of Islamic paper could be defined.
The presence of polishing was evaluated visually, although it was found that polishing is often applied unevenly and to different qualities of shine. Since the process of visual evaluation was time consuming, instrumental methods were explored, of which the specular/diffuse reflectance ratio at 457 nm gave results that were most consistent with visual observation.
Due to the semi-transparent properties of paper, optical methods may not be performing optimally and SEM was found to be a reliable technique, albeit destructive. With ATR FTIR, the presence of proteinaceous coatings (casein, egg white) can easily be detected, while the presence of gums is difficult to establish due to the absence of specific absorption bands.
48 % of the collection contains starch and 64 % are polished. 28 samples are neither polished nor contain starch (~12 %), 90 samples are polished, but do not contain starch, 53 contain starch, but are not polished, and 57 are both polished and contain starch.
The majority of samples that are neither polished nor contain starch, are written in Arabic (n = 23), of these, a small proportion (~2 %) are rosin-sized and mechanically produced. It could be hypothesised that these papers were imported; however, it is clear that rosin sizing or the absence of both polishing and starch are not typical of Islamic papermaking practice.
Of the 15 samples of which fibre furnish was determined, none contained fibres that would be considered unusual for European paper making: all were bast, cotton, or wood-derived.
With respect to acidity, samples show a non-normal distribution, with two peaks in the distribution in the intervals of 6.5–7.0 and 5.5–6. Since only 4 samples are very acidic (pH < 5), 2 of which contain lignin, and 1 is rosin-sized, the observed bi-modality cannot be explained as a reflection of different papermaking practices as is the case in European collections where rosin-sized paper represents the acidic peak, and gelatin-sized and post-1990 papers represent the alkaline peak in distribution.
The DP of samples is mostly low, with 69 % having DP < 1000. Given that the typical fibres are bast and cotton with high initial DP, these results might be a reflection of high temperatures during past storage.
In the studied collection, the polished samples are typically associated with higher pH and DP, however, this could also be a reflection of age or past storage. Further research is needed to establish how polishing and the presence of starch affect paper stability.
On the basis of NIR spectra, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression methods were developed for identification of the presence of starch and polishing and for determination of pH and DP. The validation and prediction errors are considered satisfactory for collection surveys, which would enable the collection of relevant data in well dated and provenanced collections.
NIR methods for the characterization of European paper were found unsuitable for application to Islamic paper. While determination of pH gave a larger prediction error, the NIR method for determination of DP of European paper gave inaccurate results due to the presence of starch in Islamic paper.
Scientific evidence of Islamic papermaking practices
For the first time, our research systematically reviewed the evidence of specific papermaking practices associated with paper used in the Islamic cultural realm. We used established or developed new techniques that could be useful to establish the presence of starch and polishing, and developed techniques that could now be used to survey large Islamic paper collections and establish material properties of well dated and provenanced collections, and thus add a layer of scientific data to codicological, historical and palaeographical research.
Since textual evidence alone is not a proof of provenance of the writing support, and the presence of polishing or even starch is not either (both could be applied to imported paper, prior to writing), and since the majority of Islamic paper has no watermarks, or does not contain fibres that cannot be found in European paper, there can be no unequivocal evidence for what should or should not be considered as Islamic paper. The literature reports specific cases of sieve patterning, the use of rice or papyrus fibres, but there is no evidence of these in the studied collection.
However, ~88 % of the studied collection contained starch and/or were polished, and these two practices could be considered typical of Islamic paper of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century.
HM, and MS jointly developed the concept of this work. HM, TB and MS carried out the experiments, produced samples, developed the computational model and analysed the data. TF contributed to data interpretation. DL contributed to the SurveNIR experiment. All co-authors contributed to the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology (SEAHA), Lichtblau e.K., and EU Horizon 2020 project Nanorestart.
Particular thanks go to Jan Wouters for his help with this research and useful advice.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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Sad. But hopefully all aboard will survive.
The plane, a C-47 vintage plane called the "Bluebonnet Belle," crashed during take off, according to the Commemorative Air Force.
The Commemorative Air Force own the plane, which was heading to Oshkosh for an airshow.
All 13 people on board were able to exit the aircraft, according to the Burnet County Sheriff's Office.
One person was airlifted by helicopter to with significant burn injuries to the San Antonio burn unit, according to a spokesperson with the Commemorative Air Force.
The aircraft caught on fire and ignited nearby grass. Fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire.
http://komonews.com/news/nation-world/a ... al-airport


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What is AdSense
Everywhere on the Internet people talk about Adsense. As we know, Google is the most popular search engine on the net. Ad sense is the program of Google only, Adsense works as an advertising platform, it displays related ads on the websites. Ads may be displayed in the form of Banner, Flash banner, Text ads, links, etc. on the website. Whenever Ads are viewed by website users or visitors the AdSense program generates some revenue to the website owner.
How AdSense Program Works
There are two services provided by Google's Advertising Program; the names are ADWORDS and ADSENSE. Google Adwords is used for advertising a purpose. For example, if any company wants to promote new products on the Internet, then that company goes to Adword's program and gets registered there to display their product advertisements on the internet. Now Google shows those ads to their approved websites through AdSense Programs. When Adsense ads on a website or blog get clicked, then for this valid click, Adsense pays to the website owner. Ad sense works on these available options such as, Site Content, Adsense for Search, Adsense for Mobile, Adsense for Feeds.
What Google is earning?
Advertisers pay money whenever clicks are generated. That paid amount by Advertisers is divided into two parts i.e. 80% and 20%. Google gets 20% sharing amount and 80% amount goes to Adsense Account owner.
Requirements for Adsense Account
- Adsense works on the websites and other web applications, so you must have a good quality website or any other application (blog, webpage etc.).
- Your website must be active at least 2 months.
- G-mail ID is asked for applying for AdSense program because it is the program of Google.
- If your website is having some traffic then it is an add advantage to get approved of your application.
- Yours address and phone number is necessary for contact purpose.
- Web Application includes only original content.


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Meet Our Team
David McGranahan
David McGranahan
Partner, Financial Advisor
A Partner at Relative Value Partners, David McGranahan serves as Financial Advisor, assisting with business development and client experience management.
With more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, David came to RVP from Credit Suisse, where he worked in New York, London and Chicago. He most recently served as Managing Director and Head of Wealth Management for the Midwest Region. Prior to overseeing Credit Suisse's Midwest Private Banking operations, David worked his way through the ranks, filling many roles including Head of Fixed Income and Hedge Fund Initiatives for CS HOLT, Head of U.S. Equity Sales (Europe), Institutional Equity Sales and Fixed Income Research Analyst, when he first started at the firm in 1991.
David earned his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University, where he majored in Politics with a certificate in Political Economy and Latin American Studies. He went on to complete a Masters of Management with a concentration in Finance and Strategy from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
A lifelong supporter of education, David is actively involved in helping provide after-school education for children who live in Chicago's most underserved neighborhoods. He is a member and former President of the Springboard Foundation, Trustee of Writers Theatre and a board member, commissioner and coach with the Kenilworth-Winnetka Baseball Association.


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Wed, 17 April 2013
Welcome to another episode of Game On: ESP Edition! This week we're joined by Marc Majcher, game designer at Gizmet Gameworks. Before breaking into independent game design, Marc was a programmer at Richard Garriott's Portalarium and even Zynga! We discuss Chris' updated impressions of Defiance, the upcoming launch of Darkfall: Unholy Wars, and the questionable success of Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter.
Follow the hosts on Twitter! Chris is @gamebynight and Adam is @FerrelES.
Direct download: GameOnESP03.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am EDT


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Setting boundaries is an important part of having healthy relationships. It can be hard to start setting when you have a fear of alienating people or offending them–and you're not weak or wrong because you want to try to preserve relationships or get along with others!
Yet this business of setting boundaries is essential to our well-being. It's essential to our courage. Sometimes, saying "no" to someone else is the only way that you can say "yes" to yourself.
Watch this video to learn more about setting healthy boundaries and how to handle it when you set boundaries and your boundaries are triggered.
- Learn about setting boundaries with friends, without alienating them
- Understand why having boundaries can actually strengthen your relationships
- Learn what to do when your boundaries get triggered
Setting Boundaries in Practice
After watching the video, consider some specific ways that you can start to practice what you've learned. This is one of the best ways to create better habits : by immediately putting the ideas of setting boundaries into place. Where can you start? Write down the top three places in your life where you'd like to set boundaries. Forget being realistic in this case, and just move into "If I could have it the way I wanted, I'd want…" Then see what action steps emerge.
As you start, you'll notice that you stop over-committing and are more likely to trust yourself. It's part of how you choose joy. The more you practice setting boundaries, the better you'll get at it!


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The Woodland Trust is offering the opportunity people to join them for a guided walk through ancient woodland at Brede High Woods on Sunday July 12.
Meet in the Woodland Trust western car park at Cripps Corner, at 10am for a two and half hour to three hour walk.
The walk will be visiting the sites of Austford House and Brede High Farm and will include explanations of the recent excavations at these two sites and discussion about the past use of the landscape and the people who lived there just prior to the building of the reservoir.
Under 16's must be accompanied by an adult. Dogs welcome if on a lead.
Booking is essential. Contact Catherine Vivian at firstname.lastname@example.com. Download a walk leaflet at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/brede .
Don't miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.
Here are four ways you can be sure you'll be amongst the first to know what's going on.
1 Make our website your homepage at www.hastingsobserver.co.uk
2 Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hastingsobserver
3 Follow us on Twitter @HastingsObs
4 Register with us by clicking on 'sign in' (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.
And do share with your family and friends - so they don't miss out!
The Hastings Observer - always the first with your local news.
Be part of it.


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Unit 4
Barnwell Business Park
01223 506001
Catering Equipment | Cookware | Installation | Servicing | Repairs
Established since 1983, Bob Hopper & Co are Cambridgeshire's number one supplier of commercial catering equipment and chefswear. Whether you require catering equipment, chef's whites, installation, servicing or breakdown repair, we can help you.
We are proud to be suppliers of major brands such as Hobart, Maidaid, Lincat, Rational, Instanta, Gram, Sammic, Robot Coupe, Buffalo, Foster, Polar, Falcon, Blue Seal, Inomak, Blizzard and Denny's chefswear.
We are also proud of our association with numerous local businesses, schools, colleges, pubs, restaurants, churches, care homes, breweries, hospitals and of course individuals who are just after some quality crockery or a chef's hat!
If you need any advice or help with equipment, we're here to help. Requests are welcome for anything from a can opener to a complete kitchen installation.
Recent Facebook Posts
Fantastic new kitchen was completed late last year for William Collyn Community Centre in Girton, Cambridge


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Some FAQ'S About the Certificate of Disposition
Let's first talk about what a Certificate of Disposition is. Usually, when a case is settled, it's locked and filed away in a county clerk's office. All it is is document that spells out how a case ended or is going to end. Every case has one filed away, even the smaller ones. It's part of the protocol.
Now, some of you might have some questions about this, like how to obtain one. It's rather easy to obtain a copy of this document, if you live in the same area. All you have to do is walk up to the county clerk;s office and request one. All you need is sufficient ID and permission from the person in question. As long as you have the permission of the defendant in the case and the proper ID, they will most likely give it to you.
Now, what happens when you want one and live outside the area? Let's say you live in Florida, but, the case happened outside of Florida. It's easy to do. All you have to do is find out what county the case actually happened in and filed in. Call the office and find out from them how much it will cost. The cost factor will never waive, unless there are very extreme extenuating circumstances. You will be charged no matter where you live.
Send a money order in the mail to the county clerk's office. You must also send an attached letter of request and written permission. Once the county clerk's office gets all of this, you should have the document sent to you. If you haven't received it within the period of time requested, then you should call them again. Find out what happened and move forward from there.


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Sold for $174,900 on Oct 31, 2018
Great price for the Crestwood neighborhood! Lots of updates but retains many charming features from it's original debut in 1954. Kitchen features updated granite countertops and a one year old gas stove plus a good sized pantry for storage. The original Youngstown brand kitchen cabinets are still here and in excellent condition. Youngstown was considered the ultimate kitchen cabinets in the 1940's and 1950's with items like corner lazy susan storage components. Original hardwood floors have been refinished and look great. Newer windows keep this home quiet and low on utility bills. Covered patio out back and a large fenced yard is great for pets or children to run and play in. Good closet space for this size home. Sidewalks out front for exercise or a walkable distance to Publix, Planet Fitness, or restaurants. 5 minutes to Crestline Village. 10 minutes to UAB, the airport, or Lakeview and Avondale restaurants and bars. One step into house makes this one good for young or older.
Doug Yarbrough | 205-936-1932 | Contact Me
903 Old Montgomery Hwy - Birmingham, AL 35216
Copyright © , All Rights Reserved


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Rome Winter Break Study Abroad
Dates: December 31st, 2016 to January 14th, 2017
Course: MGT 358 Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship
Lavin Entrepreneurship Center Director of Programs and SDSU Lecturer, Bernhard Schroeder, led a group of 17 undergraduate students through the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship course (MGT 358) while studying abroad in Rome, Italy. In addition to the course, students had the opportunity to visit the key incubators in Rome and attend a few startup meetups. Students also stretched their perspective of the world and got a new point of view with a rich set of new experiences in a different culture. Students were part of case-study based classes that focused on topics such as, domains of group formation, market and industry analysis, business forecasting, and target segment benefits. Then they had to create a business model around a disruptive technology with a target audience in mind.
Students also engaged with seven business founders and through their interactions with the different individuals they were able to acquire an understanding of the local environment in terms of entrepreneurship. Students had two free weekends for side trips to Athens, London, Madrid or Barcelona. This course was intended to give the students a deep immersion into entrepreneurship in Rome and a very solid blend of academic and experiential learning.
~ Sol Price, SDSU'34
Price Club
Passionate about entrepreneurship? Want to give an aspiring student or entrepreneur more fuel?


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Chief Awodele Ifayemi comes from a long lineage of Traditional Ifa Babalawos. He is the Atunwase Awo of Ilobu land, Osun State, Nigeria. Chief Awodele Ifayemi is an Oloye and member of the Ifatoogun house of prestigious Babalawos. He is also a recognized member in good standing of the Ilobu Council Of Ifa Practitioners of Ilobu, Osun State, Nigeria. A published author and the publisher of the sites Ileifa.org, and OmoAwo Academy
Be the first to get the latest updates and exclusive content straight to your email inbox.
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Right on schedule, found this little bundle of joy right outside one of our productivity plots! Tern chicks are Semiprecocial. Their eyes are open, they can stand, and take food within a few hours of hatching. These young chicks will stay under an incubating adult until food arrives, and quickly return to the warm safety of its parent after food is delivered. We will be keeping track growth rates and fledging success through an enclosed sample of the population. As well as the rate and quality of food delivered through a different sample of chicks. All of this is about to start on islands across the Gulf of Maine stay tuned for more updates from Metinic and Petit Manan! Posts on provisioning, productivity and telemetry are coming soon!
Always One Day Behind!
June 23, 2011 by Charles Walsh
2 Responses
on June 30, 2011 at 6:12 am | Amy Crane
Wicked cute! Sorry I fell behind in posts… looking forward to a cup of coffee and catching up. Loving this blog this summer. Thanks!


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Ban Agent White Petition
NL NDP Environment and Conservation Critic George Murphy, MHA for St. John's East, is circulating a petition calling on the House of Assembly to ban the use of Tordon 101 for brush clearing on our roadways.
Interested members of the public are invited to contact George's office, and are welcome to circulate the petition and collect signatures.
Email: email@example.com
Phone: 709-729-3651
Fax: 709-576-1443
Postal Address:
Confederation Building
3rd Floor, East Block
P.O. Box 8700
St. John's, NL
The text of the petition is as follows:
Ban Tordon 101 Petition
TO THE HONOURABLE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED The petition of the undersigned residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, Humbly Sheweth;
Whereas Tordon 101 contains the chemicals 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and Picloram; and
Whereas the chemical Picloram is a known cancer causing carcinogen; and
Whereas the provincial government has banned the cosmetic use of the pesticide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2-4-D); and
Whereas safer alternatives are available to the provincial government for brush clearance such as manual labour, alternative competitive seeding methods, and/or the mechanical removal of brush; and
Whereas the provincial government is responsible for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of its citizens;
WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge Government to cease the use of chemicals covered under its own cosmetic pesticide ban and begin using safer methods of brush clearance that will not place its citizens in harms way.
And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.


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YouTube is a playground for personalities, ranging from makeup tutorials to cover artists to gamers. The YouTube style is most successful when ordinary people use existing products, songs or games and apply their sense of humor or intellect to document their experience using it.
Gamers use the platform to show off their own gaming experiences, injecting their own jokes into the experience. Top YouTube gamers like PewDiePie and VanossGaming collect mind blowing salaries for doing what they do best: being themselves. Video game companies have seen the power of the influencers, and many have turned a blind eye to copyright restrictions for the sake of promotion. However, Nintendo seems to be not too savvy in this department.
Nintendo's current YouTube policy flags when users have implemented a slice of their property (mostly via music clips) and proceeds to claim ownership of the video, collecting all ad revenue for as long as the video is up. This has caused most gamers to avoid reviewing Nintendo games for their channels, resulting in a lot of frustration for creators and viewers alike. Some YouTube stars like Josh Thomas (TheBitBlock), Joe Vargas (AngryJoe) and Steven Williams (boogie2988) have taken to their channels to express their opinions on the matter. In a video entitled "A Heartfelt Plea to Nintendo about Content ID Claims…", Thomas makes a practical case against Nintendo's policy, claiming gamers and developers should be allies, not enemies. He said:
"They prohibit so much creativity and stop themselves from getting so much free advertisement on YouTube... They need to realize that they shouldn't be stealing ad revenue from people who are only existing to try and get people excited about their game."
After consistently covering Nintendo games for 10 years, Thomas doesn't understand why the company is not friendly to YouTubers. He goes on to say, "I feel like I'm constantly slapped in the face by Nintendo. ... Please stop trying to stop me from celebrating you as a company."
Many games succeed or fail based on word-of-mouth, and these days, a lot of users check out what their favorite YouTubers think before the make a purchase. In his video, "Will AngryJoe do a Zelda Angry Review?" Vargas also marveled at the policy, saying:
"You would think that they would relax some of their YouTube policies or join 99 percent of other video game companies on YouTube who have now converted and understand the value."
Intellectual property and creative copyrights are hot topics, as the entertainment industry struggles to hang on to pennies with technological advances allowing users to experience their content for free. Without income from ads or direct purchases, companies cannot pay artists and manufacturers to create the content that users love so much. Similar to the film and television industry, the business of entertainment cannot thrive on free experiences. Creators have bills to pay and families to feed, too. Thus, Nintendo's aggressive effort to protect its property is understandable. However, at what point does a lack of PR affect consumer buying habits? Perhaps we're about to find out.
Next: Nintendo Switch Review
Source: YouTube [See above links]


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Putting imagined into how to layout your living space seems to need a appreciable quantity of time. Men and women are likely to consider about diverse varieties of fabrics, swatches or even new flooring. Commencing your design and style undertaking on a modest scale is a good notion. Right here are some alterations you can make that are basic and that you can do as shortly as these days.
It is vital that you decide on the proper shade plan when you redesign any place in your house. You want the hues to compliment each and every other and not clash. Overuse of bold hues can create a place that is as well loud.
A fantastic interior design and style tip is to include various patterns and/or textures into what ever room you are designing. You can draw a whole lot of interest to areas in your room when you use this tip. If you are making an attempt to make your place search greater, you have to combine up your colours and designs.
Think about how considerably light-weight is obtainable in a place when you are contemplating your style. If a single of your rooms will not have a lot of home windows, you must contemplate using a light-weight shade to prevent your room from seeking also dim.
To put together your property for any interior style venture, it is often greatest to totally free the home of any clutter. Practically all properties can benefit from satisfactory cleanups and emptying drawers and closets to dispose of rusty things that are of no use. Make distinct sections for products to donate, recycle and sell to preserve almost everything arranged.
Once you have decided what you would like to do, it will be simple to begin obtaining the materials you want. Once you are carried out with this 1st venture, you will be influenced to keep likely. By changing your house a tiny amount at a time, you will before long observe a large adjust in how it looks!


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Item description: This Accessories Cleaning Supplies product is by Feather Lite - Carpet, Room and Vacuum freshener Lite as a feather and white as snow. Feather Lite carpet and room freshener leaves your carpets and rooms with a long lasting, clean fresh scent. -+ Environmentally Friendly -+ Vacuum cleaner safe -+ Not harmful to carpets -+ Contains no Sodium Sulfates... Learn More
Manufacturer: Feather Lite
Category: Cleaning Supplies
You may also consider:
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Website design by Business Edge


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( Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
Federal Student Aid, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation.
The Federal Student Aid office provides more than $150 billion in federal grants, loans, and work-study funds each year to more than 15 million students paying for college or career school.
The online application process opens on January 1 of each year for the following school year.
The first step in the process is to create a FSA ID, both student and parent must create a FSA ID in order to electronically sign the FAFSA. It is important to keep this login information handy as it will be used every year a student is in college.
For Frequently Asked Questions about the FAFSA click here.
To access the FAFSA website directly click here.


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This weekend, I showed my work for the first time, at Submerge DC. So many things happened this weekend, I just thought I'd do a SUPER POST and tell the whole story. Enjoy!
Entitled Vitalitat, my show told a complex visual narrative of my dear friends Eva and Kerry, who passed away this past January in a tragic house fire. You can read about what happened and see more of the original images here.
It took me two weeks of difficulty sleeping and several very insightful creative friends' input (infinite thanks to Michelle Ferng, Eliot Payne, Martin Swift, and Eric Schulze for being so wonderful) to narrow down 40 images to the 8 that I printed and framed to show; the process was emotionally and artistically draining since the work is so personal. I added the hand-written prose piece on the left for the public opening after struggling to tell the story behind the images to people who went through the work the evening before; I didn't want to run the risk of the context being lost, and loved the idea of putting my own physical mark ont he space itself.
My work is accompanied by a piece by my artist and dear friend, Brandon Hill. Below is what the final installation looks like.
I met them on the hill overlooking the river,
the Hudson.
They knew to dance in the sun, all
sinew and limbs.
They were best friends and we became friends.
In January 2012, 9 months after these photos,
Eva and Kerry passed away in a tragic house fire.
They Vitalitat lives on.
Martin Swift saved the
day week, helping me run all over town, keeping me caffeinated, chilled, and helping me install the work the evening before the show. I took this short series of portraits of him one afternoon during a quick coffee meetup, because the light was incredible, and sort of completely adore them in their magical everyday-ness.
2000 people came to the soft opening of the show, since it was the DCWEEK Closing Party, and boy, was it one hell of a party! Friend and exceptional DJ Jerome Baker III (the "DJ's DJ" someone said) was on the decks, and the space was packed to the nines with techies, creatives, scenesters, and Washingtonians looking for good art and a good time.
I was exhausted after installing my show, creating a short film for the Ford Artist Grant that was screened at the party (no worries, I'm releasing this week!), and putting together another short film that I'll put out soon. Two fims and a show, all put together in 4 days? Phew! Despite all that, I had a great time at the party!
A hand-made journal, for writers or artists who need to roll a cigarette while they get their creative on...brilliant little thing.
The organizers and other artists showing and attending Submerge are among my close friends here in DC, and after the public leaves, everyone just kicks back to relax. These are my favorite moments to photograph; everyone has incredible personal style (I met many of them by photographing them), but it's effortless, and the clothes never wear them. This kind of style isn't playing dress-up, or putting on a costume. It's narrative.
Benevolent Media founder Erika and Peter Chang of No Kings Collective share a rare moment of quiet.
It was a pleasure running into DC fashion icon Anchyi Wei both Friday and Saturday and chatting about how we met - I took her photo, of course!
Shoe swoon.
Fellow photog and general creative Jill-of-all-trades Tré came out!
Josef Palermo celebrates Rah-Jah Kelly's birthday with him!
Add Micah Greenberg to the mix and things always get colorful...and infinitely stylish!
Best. Birthday. Picture. Ever.
And then occasionally, I'll end up in front of the camera, like the old days, with some of my favorites. Silliness with Eliot Payne, Tré, and actress Catalina Lavalle, ahoy!
I'm wearing handmade leather earrings from Butler + Claypool, a necklace from my travels in Istanbul, a Zara top, lace shorts and lace stockings.


text:
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text:
Sild; Reading substringsJune 8, 2016
In the last post, I made a simple little linked list.
I can't expect to make every single cell in a list by hand, of course. I need a way to turn some kind of input into a set of cells that are all semantically linked together. I need a function that reads a string and outputs a linked list! Here's a good first go, annotated:
C * read(char *s) {
if (*s == '\0') {
return NULL;
} else {
return makecell(*s, read(s + 1));
This function returns a pointer to the first cell in the new linked
list. As we saw before, from there we can access further elements by traversing
next members in each cell.
This function accepts a string. In C, strings are not a primitive type,
they're instead represented by a pointer address that points to the location of
the first character in the string. C strings are NULL terminated, which means
that it goes from the "starting" point, to the next null byte. The null byte
here is represented by '\0', but it could just as well be
NULL or
0 or
0.0 or
0x0. They are all equal to the same thing, which is absolute 0,
which is the null byte. Functions that operate on strings implement loops that
go until they run into a null byte, and this one will do that, too.
Notice the
*s's. This is called 'dereferencing'. When we 'dereference' the
pointer we've been given, it returns the actual content of that memory address.
Let's say we're passing in a string like so:
Now, it looks like that string constant is one byte long, and it is… sort of. The contents of that string are only one byte long, but it takes up two contiguous bytes in memory, and looks something like this:
This is the difference between single and double quotes in C. A double quote
represents a string literal, and a single quote represents a single
I'm going to change the struct that represents a cell now, so that the
valmember holds a
charinstead of an
int. This will make it easier to think about parsing strings. From now it will look like this:
> typedef struct C { > char val; > struct C * next; > } C; > ``` So, the function above would look at `"a"`, and find that the first char in the string is `'a'`, and create a cell using `makecell()` whose `val` is `'a'`, and whose `next` cell is...
read(s + 1)
Why are we adding `1` to a ... string? We're not adding `1` to a string, we're adding `1` to the *address* that we were originally given. We're saying, in effect, "Tell me what is right after the first character in memory." This call to `read()` sees whatever the first call saw, but starting on the second `char`. In this case, that's the `NULL` byte! On the second call, we're returning the `NULL` pointer. So the final structure of this linked list looks like this, it is currently just one cell long: ```c { 'a', 0x0 }
How about
{ 'a', 0x7fe6514034c0 },
{ 'b', 0x7fe6514034a0 },
{ 'c', 0x7fe651403480 },
{ 'd', 0x7fe651403460 },
{ 'e', 0x0 }
This is a little more complicated! Each character has been loaded into a cell
val is the
char at the location it was given, and whose
next member
contains the memory address of the return value of the successive call to
read(). Those numbers are pointers that represent memory addresses, and are
the return value of
malloc() via
You might notice that the linked list structure we're using has something in common with the general string structure in C itself… they are both
NULLterminated! In fact, I've written a
read()function that turns a C string (which takes up contiguous space in memory) to a linked list of
chars whose elements could be stored in arbitrary places.
Now we're cooking with gas!
Let's see…
read("a b c d e");
This will make a linked list that looks like this:
{ 'a', 0x7fe6514034c0 },
{ ' ', 0x7fe6514034a0 },
{ 'b', 0x7fe651403480 },
{ ' ', 0x7fe651403460 },
{ 'c', 0x7fe651403440 },
{ ' ', 0x7fe651403420 },
{ 'd', 0x7fe651403400 },
{ ' ', 0x7fe6514033fe },
{ 'e', 0x0 }
This is doing what I told it to do. A space is indeed a
' '. But I
don't really care about space characters. If I add an
if else clause to my
function, I can simply ignore the input if it's a space char.
C * read(char *s) {
if (*s == '\0') {
return NULL;
} else if (*s == ' ') {
return read(s + 1);
} else {
return makecell(*s, read(s + 1));
I'm going to change this from a series of if statements to a
switch. Because
in some ways it's cleaner. The code below is functionally equivalent to the
code above, and while we're at it, let's also ignore
\n newline
chars in
the input:
C * read(char *s) {
switch(*s) {
case '\0':
return NULL;
case ' ':
case '\n':
return read(s + 1);
return makecell(*s, read(s + 1));
It's easy to think of switch statements as a simple refactor of
if and
if and
else clauses when dealing with the various possible states of a
single variable being compared to constant values, and they do often play
that role, but there are some subtle differences and weird little gotchas.
Look at this:
int main() {
int x = 1;
switch(x) {
case 1:
printf("%i", x);
case 2:
printf("%i", x);
case 3:
printf("%i", x);
printf("%i", x);
return 0;
At a glance, you would expect this code to print out
x once, no matter what
it is. But it does not!
x is 1, then this will print
2 will output
3 will print
and any other value will print
x one time.
Under the hood, a switch statement produces jump instructions that act like
goto statements. If
x is 2 at the switch, then it will jump to the
point in the code where this case is stated. After that, it will execute all
the remaining lines in the switch unless you break it off, either explicitly
with a
break statement, like this:
int main() {
int x = 1;
switch(x) {
case 1:
printf("%i", x);
case 2:
printf("%i", x);
case 3:
printf("%i", x);
printf("%i", x);
return 0;
Or implicitly, with a return statement, as I've done above with the
read function.
print_list() function I've been using so far has been useful, but I'd like
more information about the cells that a list is composed of. Here is a function
debug_list(), which has the same basic structure as
print_list, but
prints out all of the information for each cell.
void debug_list(C *c) {
printf("Address: %p, Value: %c, Next: %p\n", c, c->val, c->next)
if (c->next) {
So something like
debug_list(read("abcd")) would output something like
Address: 0x7fb9cbc033f0, Value: a, Next: 0x7fb9cbc033e0
Address: 0x7fb9cbc033e0, Value: b, Next: 0x7fb9cbc033d0
Address: 0x7fb9cbc033d0, Value: c, Next: 0x7fb9cbc033c0
Address: 0x7fb9cbc033c0, Value: d, Next: 0x0
Notice that, as you would expect, each cell's
next member is the same as the
next cell's
Address, with the exception of the last cell, whose
next member
is, again, the
NULL pointer.
It's all well and good to be able to read in individual chars as values for each cell, but it's not very practical in the long run to only have single char long labels for everything. I need to be able to read in arbitrarily long strings, instead.
First, I'll have to adjust the
val member once again, to be a C string (a pointer to a char) instead of a
char by itself.
typedef struct C {
char * val;
struct C * next;
The final new read function will look like this (let's work backwards):
C * read(char *s) {
switch(*s) {
case '\0':
return NULL;
case ' ': case '\n':
return read(s + 1);
return makecell(read_substring(s), read(s + count_substring_length(s) + 1));
As you can see, I need two new functions.
read_substring() and
char *read_substring(char *s) {
int len = count_substring_length(s);
char *out = malloc(len + 1);
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
out[i] = s[i];
out[len] = '\0';
return out;
This function is manually copying the substring into a new,
location, and returning the pointer to that location. I need to know how much
space to allocate, though, and that's where
count_substring_length() comes in.
int count_substring_length(char *s) {
int i = 0;
while (s[i] != ' ' && s[i] != '\0' && s[i] != '\n')
return i;
This function is very simple, it just increments a counter
int i for every
character in a string that is not a space, a newline character, or a
byte. What you get back is a number that is equal to the amount of bytes needed
to store the substring in question, including the one slot for the
'\0' which
will terminate the new string.
I'll use that
count_substring_length() in a couple of places. Once in the
read_substring() function itself, for the aforementioned allocation, and
another time in the succession call to
read() at the tail of the switch
statement, when I need to know how much to increment to pointer so that I'm
starting at the end of the substring that I just processed. This will make
more sense with an example. Let's make a list out of
"red balloons".
read("red balloons") will look at the first char it was given. It is the
default case in the switch, so it will
return makecell(read_substring(s), read(s + count_substring_length(s) + 1));
The first
read_substring will first pass the string into
count_substring_length to figure out the allocation.
count_substring_length will increment until it hits a terminal char, in this
case a space. "red" is the substring, which is 3 bytes long.
Back in
malloc() will allocate space for those 4 bytes,
plus 1 more for the terminating
'\0' in the copied string, and then, one by
one, copy each char of the substring into the newly
malloc()'ed space, then
tagging the end of it with a
'\0', then returning that pointer, which is
loaded into the new cell's
val member in the call to
makecell(). Having
read in the substring, the read function needs to know how far ahead to skip in
the input string
"red balloons" to get past the substring it's processed, so
it counts ahead again, in the line
return makecell(read_substring(s), read(s + count_substring_length(s) + 1));
and adds one more to get past the terminating space. The next call to
will then see
"balloons" by itself, and then read in that substring, and
finally we'll end up with a list of just two elements, instead of an element
for each char as we had before.
Address: 0x7ffb21c033f0, Value: red, Next: 0x7ffb21c033e0
Address: 0x7ffb21c033e0, Value: balloons, Next: 0x0
Now, we have a way to turn some input (a random string) into a linked list structure that contains a bunch of cells that contain substrings of that original string. We also have a couple of functions that can operate on the resulting linked list. Those functions, as they develop, will serve as the prototypes for all functions that operate on these lists.


text:
"There is bad news," she said, almost before he greeted her; "my cousin George is very ill with typhus fever."
"Indeed!" remarked Arthur, rather coolly.
"Well, I must say it does not appear to distress you very much."
"No, I can't say it does. To be honest, I detest your cousin, and I don't care if he is ill or not; there."
As she appeared to have no reply ready, the subject then dropped.
After breakfast Angela proposed that they should walk—for the day was again fine—to the top of a hill about a mile away, whence a view of the surrounding country could be obtained. He consented, and on the way told her of his curious experiences with her father on the previous night. She listened attentively, and, when he had finished, shook her head.
"There is," she said, "something about my father that separates him from everybody else. His life never comes out into the sunlight of the passing day, it always gropes along in the shadow of some gloomy past. What the mystery is that envelops him I neither know nor care to inquire; but I am sure that there is one."
"How do you explain the shadows?"
"I believe your explanation is right; they are, under certain conditions of light, thrown by a tree that grows some distance off. I have seen something that looks like figures on that wall myself in full daylight. That he should interpret such a simple thing as he does shows a curious state of mind."
"You do not think, then," said Arthur, in order to draw her out, "that it is possible, after all, he was right, and that they were something from another place? The reality of his terror was almost enough to make one believe in them, I can tell you."
"No, I do not," answered Angela, after a minute's thought. "I have no doubt that the veil between ourselves and the unseen world is thinner than we think. I believe, too, that communication, and even warnings sometimes, under favourable conditions, or when the veil is worn thin by trouble or prayer, can pass from the other world to ourselves. But the very fact of my father's terror proves to me that his shadows are nothing of the sort, for it is hardly possible that spirits can be permitted to come to terrify us poor mortals; if they come at all, it is in love and gentleness, to comfort or to warn, and not to work upon our superstitions."
"You speak as though you knew all about it; you should join the new Ghost Society," he answered, irreverently, sitting himself down on a fallen tree, an example that she followed.
"I have thought about it sometimes, that is all, and, so far as I have read, I think that my belief is a common one, and what the Bible teaches us; but, if you will not think me foolish, I will tell you something that confirms me in it. You know that my mother died when I was born; well, it may seem strange to you, but I am convinced that she is sometimes very near me."
"Do you mean that you see or hear her?"
"No, I only feel her presence; more rarely now, I am sorry to say, as I grow older."
"How do you mean?"
"I can hardly explain what I mean, but sometimes—it may be at night, or when I am sitting alone in the daytime—a great calm comes upon me, and I am a changed woman. All my thoughts rise into a higher, purer air, and are, as it were, tinged with a reflected light; everything earthly seems to pass away from me, and I feel as though fetters had fallen from my soul, and I know that I am near my mother. Then everything passes, and I am left myself again."
"And what are the thoughts you have at these times?"
"Ah! I wish I could tell you; they pass away with her who brought them, leaving nothing but a vague after-glow in my mind like that in the sky after the sun has set. But now look at the view; is it not beautiful in the sunlight? All the world seems to be rejoicing."
Angela was right; the view was charming. Below lay the thatched roofs of the little village of Bratham, and to the right the waters of the lake shone like silver in the glancing sunlight, whilst the gables of the old house, peeping out from amongst the budding foliage, looked very picturesque. The spring had cast her green garment over the land; from every copse rang out the melody of birds, and the gentle breeze was heavy with the scent of the unnumbered violets that starred the mossy carpet at their feet. In the fields where grew the wheat and clover, now springing into lusty life, the busy weeders were at work, and on the warm brown fallows the sower went forth to sow. From the early pastures beneath, where purled a little brook, there came a pleasant lowing of kine, well-contented with the new grass, and a cheerful bleating of lambs, to whom as yet life was nothing but one long skip. It was a charming scene, and its influence sank deep into the gazers' hearts.
"It is depressing to think," said Arthur, rather sententiously, but really chiefly with the object of getting at his companion's views, "that all this cannot last, but is, as it were, like ourselves, under sentence of death."
"It rose and fell and fleeted
Upon earth's troubled sea,
A wave that swells to vanish
Into eternity.
Oh! mystery and wonder
Of wings that cannot fly,
Of ears that cannot hearken,
Of life that lives—to die!"
quoth Angela, by way of comment.
"Whose lines are those?" asked Arthur. "I don't know them."
"My own," she said, shyly; "that is, they are a translation of a verse of a Greek ode I wrote for Mr. Fraser. I will say you the original, if you like; I think it better than the translation, and I believe that it is fair Greek."
"Thank you, thank you, Miss Blue-stocking; I am quite satisfied with your English version. You positively alarm me, Angela. Most people are quite content if they can put a poem written in English into Greek; you reverse the process, and, having coolly given expression to your thoughts in Greek, condescend to translate them into your native tongue. I only wish you had been at Cambridge, or—what do they call the place?—Girton. It would have been a joke to see you come out double-first."
"Ah!" she broke in, blushing, "you are like Mr. Fraser, you overrate my acquirements. I am sorry to say I am not the perfect scholar you think me, and about most things I am shockingly ignorant. I should indeed be silly if, after ten years' patient work under such a scholar as Mr. Fraser, I did not know some classics and mathematics. Why, do you know, for the last three years that we worked together, we used as a rule to carry on our ordinary conversations during work in Latin and Greek, month and month about, sometimes with the funniest results. One never knows how little one does know of a dead language till one tries to talk it. Just try to speak in Latin for the next five minutes, and you will see."
"Thank you, I am not going to expose my ignorance for your amusement, Angela."
She laughed.
"No," she said, "it is you who wish to amuse yourself at my expense by trying to make me believe that I am a great scholar. But what I was going to say, before you attacked me about my fancied acquirements, was that, in my opinion, your remark about the whole world being under sentence of death, was rather a morbid one."
"Why? It is obviously true."
"Yes, in a sense; but to my mind this scene speaks more of resurrection than of death. Look at the earth pushing up her flowers, and the dead trees breaking into beauty. There is no sign of death there, but rather of a renewed and glorified life."
"Yes, but there is still the awful fact of death to face; Nature herself has been temporarily dead before she blooms into beauty; she dies every autumn, to rise again in the same form every spring. But how do we know in what form we shall emerge from the chrysalis? As soon as a man begins to think at all, he stands face to face with this hideous problem, to the solution of which he knows himself to be drawing daily nearer. His position, I often think, is worse than that of a criminal under sentence, because the criminal is only being deprived of the employment of a term, indefinite, indeed, but absolutely limited; but man at large does not know of what he is deprived, and what he must inherit in the aeons that await him. It is the uncertainty of death that is its most dreadful part, and, with that hanging over our race, the wonder to me is not only that we, for the most part, put the subject entirely out of mind, but that we can ever think seriously of anything else."
"I remember," answered Angela, "once thinking very much in the same way, and I went to Mr. Fraser for advice. 'The Bible,' he said, 'will satisfy your doubts and fears, if only you will read it in a right spirit.' And indeed, more or less, it did. I cannot, of course, venture to advise you, but I pass his advice on; it is that of a very good man."
"Have you, then, no dread of death, or, rather, of what lies beyond it?"
She turned her eyes upon him with something of wonder in them.
"And why," she said, "should I, who am immortal, fear a change that I know has no power to harm me, that can, on the contrary, only bring me nearer to the purpose of my being? Certainly I shrink from death itself, as we all must, but of the dangers beyond I have no fear. Pleasant as this world is at times, there is something in us all that strives to rise above it, and, if I knew that I must die within this hour, I believe that I could meet my fate without a qualm. I am sure that when our trembling hands have drawn the veil from Death, we shall find His features, passionless indeed, but very beautiful."
Arthur looked at her with astonishment, wondering what manner of woman this could be, who, in the first flush of youth and beauty, could face the great unknown without a tremor. When he spoke again, it was with something of envious bitterness.
"Ah! it is very well for you, whose life has been so pure and free from evil, but it is different for me, with all my consciousness of sins and imperfections. For me, and thousands like me, strive as we will, immortality has terrors as well as hopes. It is, and always will be, human to fear the future, for human nature never changes. You know the lines in 'Hamlet.' It is
"'that the dread of something after death,—
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveller returns,—puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of.
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.'
"They are true, and, while men last, they always will be true."
"Oh! Arthur," she answered, earnestly, and for the first time addressing him in conversation by his Christian name, "how limited your trust must be in the mercy of a Creator, whose mercy is as wide as the ocean, that you can talk like that! You speak of me, too, as better than yourself—how am I better? I have my bad thoughts and do bad things as much as you, and, though they may not be the same, I am sure they are quite as black as yours, since everybody must be responsible according to their characters and temptations. I try, however, to trust in God to cover my sins, and believe that, if I do my best, He will forgive me, that is all. But I have no business to preach to you, who are older and wiser than I am."
"If," he broke in, laying his hand involuntarily upon her own, "you knew—although I have never spoken of them to any one before, and could not speak of them to anybody but yourself—how these things weigh upon my mind, you would not say that, but would try to teach me your faith."
"How can I teach you, Arthur, when I have so much to learn myself?" she answered, simply, and from that moment, though she did not know it as yet, she loved him.
This conversation—a very curious one, Arthur thought to himself afterwards, for two young people on a spring morning—having come to an end, nothing more was said for some while, and they took their way down the hill, varying the route in order to pass through the little hamlet of Bratham. Under a chestnut-tree that stood upon the village green, Arthur noticed, not a village blacksmith, but a small crowd, mostly composed of children, gathered round somebody. On going to see who it was, he discovered a battered-looking old man with an intellectual face, and the remnants of a gentlemanlike appearance, playing on the violin. A very few touches of his bow told Arthur, who knew something of music, that he was in the presence of a performer of no mean merit. Seeing the quality of his two auditors, and that they appreciated his performance, the player changed his music, and from a village jig passed to one of the more difficult opera airs, which he executed in brilliant fashion.
"Bravo!" cried Arthur, as the last notes thrilled and died away; "I see you understand how to play the fiddle."
"Yes, sir, and so I should, for I have played first violin at Her Majesty's Opera before now. Name what you like, and I will play it you. Or, if you like it better, you shall hear the water running in a brook, the wind passing through the trees, or the waves falling on the beach. Only say the word."
Arthur thought for a moment.
"It is a beautiful day, let us have a contrast—give us the music of a storm."
The old man considered a while.
"I understand, but you set a difficult subject even for me," and taking up his bow he made several attempts at beginning. "I can't do it," he said, "set something else."
"No, no, try again, that or nothing."
Again he started, and this time his genius took possession of him. The notes fell very softly at first, but with an ominous sound, then rose and wailed like the rising of the wind. Next the music came in gusts, the rain pattered, and the thunder roared, till at length the tempest seemed to spend its force and pass slowly away into the distance.
"There, sir, what do you say to that—have I fulfilled your expectations?"
"Write it down and it will be one of the finest pieces of violin music in the country."
"Write it down. The divine 'afflatus' is not to be caged, sir, it comes and goes. I could never write that music down."
Arthur felt in his pocket without answering, and found five shillings.
"If you will accept this?" he said.
"Thank you, sir, very much. I am gladder of five shillings now than I once was of as many pounds;" and he rose to go.
"A man of your talent should not be wandering about like this."
"I must earn a living somehow, for all Talleyrand's witticism to the contrary," was the curious answer.
"Have you no friends?"
"No, sir, this is my only friend; all the rest have deserted me," and he tapped his violin and was gone.
"Lord, sir," said a farmer, who was standing by, "he's gone to get drunk; he is the biggest old drunkard in the countryside, and yet they do say he was gentleman once, and the best fiddler in London; but he can't be depended on, so no one will hire him now."
"How sad," said Angela, as they moved homewards.
"Yes, and what music that was; I never heard any with such imagination before. You have a turn that way, Angela; you should try to put it into words, it would make a poem."
"I complain like the old man, that you set a difficult subject," she said; "but I will try, if you will promise not to laugh at the result."
"If you succeed on paper only half so well as he did on the violin, your verses will be worth listening to, and I certainly shall not laugh."