A few months ago I let my individual Apple Developer Program membership expire. I have been working on other projects and have not given enough attention to my iOS apps, and though they still worked, I had not updated them in a very long time. The apps were starting to look dated, and were certainly not taking advantage of the latest development frameworks. So, I decided to stop paying Apple for the privilege of keeping outdated free apps in their store.
Rather than just letting my apps disappear, I decided to open source the code so that other people might be able to use it. The apps are written in Objective-C and C, so that may limit interest in it. But, someone may be interested enough in the seam carving algorithms to deal with the archaic languages.
Located in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest, Minister Creek is a great trail for introducing new people to backpacking. It is not terribly difficult and it is perfect for a single overnight stay. So, when Heather said that she would be willing to try backpacking with the boys, our new puppy, and me, I knew this would be the best place to go.
The excerpt below was found in an old book1 while researching historical mead and wine recipes. Hippocras is a type of mead which incorporates grapes and spices.
Hippocras. (Also spelled Ipocras and Yypocras). A medicated drink composed usually of red wine, but sometimes of white, with the addition of sugar and spices. The apothecaries called it “Vinum Hippocraticum,” as Menage supposes, being derived from Hippocrates, as being originally composed by medical skill; but Theobald suggests that it was from its being strained in a woolen bag called by the apothecaries Hippocrates’ sleve. It was a favourite beverage, and usually given at weddings. In an old play, to the question “What’s best to drink in mornings?” the reply is “Ipocras, sir, for my mistress, if I fetch it, is most dear to her.” In the Antiquary, another old play, is the line “Drank to your health whole nights, in Hippocras, “ &c. In onl books are many recipes for its composition. (Nares.) The oldest English recipe for this beverage is in Anglo-Norman, in a cooker MS. of 1300, which being short, we copy: —
Found in a very old book while researching the history of mead:
The Honey of dry open Countries, where there is much Wild-thyme, Roſemary, and Flowers, is beſt. It is of three ſorts, Virgin-honey, Life-honey, and Stock-honey. The firſt is the best. The Life-honey next. The Virgin honey is of Bees, that ſwarmed the Spring before, and are taken up in Autumn; and is made beſt by chuſing the Whiteſt combs of the Hive, and then letting the Honey run out of them lying upon a Sieve without preſſing it, or breaking of the Combs. The Lide-honey is of the ſame Combs broken after the Virgin-honey is run from it; The Merchants of Honey do uſe to mingle all th ſorts together. The firſt of a Swarm is called Virgin-honey. That of the next year, after the Swarm was hatched, if Life-honey. And ever after, it is Honey of Old-ſtocks. Honey that is forced out of the Combs, will always taſte of Wax. Hampshire Honey is moſt eſteemed at London. About Biſleter there is excellent good. Some account Norfolk honey the beſt.
Vorm Sterben mache ich noch mein Gedicht.
Still, Kameraden, stört mich nicht.
(Prior to death my poem still is to be.)
(Quiet, my comrades, do not disturb me.)
Wir ziehn zum Krieg. Der Tod ist unser Kitt.
O, heulte mir doch die Geliebte nit.
(We are off to war, where death is our tie.)
(Oh that my sweetheart would no longer cry.)
Was liegt an mir. Ich gehe gerne ein.
Die Mutter weint. Man muss aus Eisen sein.
(I will happily go, what is it to me.)
(Mothers cry, so of iron one must be.)
Die Sonne fällt zum Horizont hinab.
Bald wirft man mich ins milde Massengrab.
(The sun crashes down on the horizon like a wave.)
(I soon will be tossed, in a peaceful mass grave.)
Am Himmel brennt das brave Abendrot.
Vielleicht bin ich in dreizehn Tagen tot.
(The heavens are burning a valorous red.)
(In thirteen days I will likely be dead.)
– Alfred Lichtenstein (interpreted by Christopher Stoll)
While researching historical mead recipes I found the excerpt below in an old book1. It shows the historical names and spellings of some ancient alcoholic drinks.
The following lines, of a poet of the fourth century, show what wines the Britons of those days had a knowledge of.
“Ye hall have rumney and malespine
Both yprocrasse and vernage wyne,
Mountrese and wyne of Greek,
Both algrade and despice eke;
Antioche and Bastarde,
Wyne of Greke, and Muscadell,
Both clare, pyment, and Rochell.“Some of these liquors, as ypocrasse, pyment, and clare, were compounded of wine, honey, and spices.”
I wanted to know if it would be more efficient, when searching for both a minimum and a maximum value in a list, to perform both tests in a single loop rather than making calls to both the min function and the the max function. The basis for this question was that if the min and max functions ran in O(n) time then, all else being equal, combining them into a single step should cut processing time in half. Apparently, all else is not equal; running both the min and max functions is faster than looping over all of the values once. The detailed results are listed below.
Christopher
