A Portrait Company

Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)

A Portrait Company Today or tomorrow  On a claret paper clean and smug,  I have to get it done  With your sucker’s mug.    What a filthy trade it is to paint.  What a filthy, filthy trade,  To limn each puss with no complaint,  And only to be poorly paid.    It’s no great fun, I say,  To paint a janitor all day,  And for some bread  Explore the stupid head    [...]Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)Ur. 24 lutego 1885 w Warszawie Zm. 18 września 1939 w Jeziorach na Polesiu Najważniejsze dzieła: W małym dworku dramat, 1921), Wariat i zakonnica (dramat, 1923), Janulka, córka Fizdejki (dramat, 1923), Matka (dramat 1924), Szewcy (dramat, 1934), Pożegnanie jesieni (powieść, 1927), Nienasycenie (powieść, 1930), Nowe formy w malarstwie i wynikające stąd nieporozumienia (1919), Pojęcia i twierdzenia implikowane przez pojęcie Istnienia (1935), Niemyte dusze (1936; wyd. 1975). Pseudonim Witkacy. Polski awangardowy malarz, dramaturg, pisarz i filozof. Malarstwo studiował na krakowskiej ASP (u J. Stanisławskiego i J. Mehofera). W czasie I wojny światowej zaciągnął się do armii carskiej, ranny w 1916 r., pojechał kurować się do rodziny w Moskwie, gdzie był świadkiem wybuchu rewolucji październikowej. Bezpośrednie doświadczenie historii ukształtowało katastroficzną historiozofię Witkacego. W 1918 roku wrócił do Polski i osiadł w Zakopanem. Pracował zarobkowo jako portrecista (w latach 30. stworzył jednoosobową "Firmę portretową"), tworzył teoretyczne teksty z zakresu estetyki, był członkiem krakowskiej grupy formistów, głosząc teorię Czystej Formy w sztuce, mającej odwoływać się u odbiorcy bezpośrednio do uczuć metafizycznych. Z czasem stworzył własny system filozoficzny. W 1935 r. odznaczony prze Polską Akademię Nauk. Po wybuchu II wojny światowej, nie przyjęty jako ochotnik do wojska, udał się w kierunku wschodniej granicy Polski. Zginął śmiercią artystyczno-samobójczą, zażywając weronal wraz ze swą ówczesną kochanką oraz podcinając sobie żyły na wieść o agresji Związku Radzieckiego na prowadzącą wojnę z hitlerowskimi Niemcami Polskę. Kupując książkę wspierasz fundację Nowoczesna Polska, która propaguje ideę wolnej kultury. Wolne Lektury to biblioteka internetowa, rozwijana pod patronatem Ministerstwa Edukacji Narodowej. W jej zbiorach znajduje się kilka tysięcy utworów, w tym wiele lektur szkolnych zalecanych do użytku przez MEN, które trafiły już do domeny publicznej. Wszystkie dzieła są odpowiednio opracowane - opatrzone przypisami oraz motywami.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

James Joyce

James Joyce first wrote Portrait as a one-thousand page novel, full of well-developed scenes and long explanations of Stephens motives, but he decided to trim it into a short book with a new sort of style. The novel tells the story of the first twenty years of Stephen Dedalus a young Catholic boy growing up in late 19th century Ireland. As the title suggests, this is the story not just of a young man, but of a boy developing into an artist. His search for knowledge and undestanding, and the decline of his familys circumstances, lead him to revelations on the nature of art and politics. His personal renaissance makes him feel unwelcome in his own nation, and forces him to decide whether to leave and accept exile, or to stay and fight. An semi-autobiographic novel, featuring a fictionalized character as Joyces alter-ego, it traces his formative childhood years that led him ambivalently away from a vocation in the clergy and into that of literature.

A Power User's Guide to FL Studio 21. Master the art of music production and advanced mixing techniques to create Billboard-charting records

Chris Noxx

A digital audio workstation empowering both aspiring and seasoned producers to create original music compositions, FL Studio has not only advanced the culture of collaboration across several genres but has provided a creative outlet for up-and-coming artists worldwide.Achieving professional production prowess takes practice, market insight, and mentorship. This book explains how the author used FL Studio as a creative palette to build a successful career as a record producer, using specific techniques and workflow processes that only FL Studio can accommodate. You’ll develop a Power User's mindset, create signature sounds using stock FL Studio One Shots, create top-level drum loops, learn about FL Studio's VST’s, and approach arrangements from a practical and pop music perspective. This comprehensive guide covers everything from crafting and adding hypnotic melodies and chords, to mixing and mastering productions, and promoting those records to artists and companies, to take your career to the next level.By the end of this book, you’ll be able to create original productions from scratch using FL Studio’s virtual instruments and sound kits, mix and master the finished production, and arrange it using the Billboard-charting formula.

A Practical Guide to Quantum Machine Learning and Quantum Optimization. Hands-on Approach to Modern Quantum Algorithms

Alberto Di Meglio, Elías F. Combarro, Samuel González-Castillo, Alberto Di Meglio

This book provides deep coverage of modern quantum algorithms that can be used to solve real-world problems. You’ll be introduced to quantum computing using a hands-on approach with minimal prerequisites.You’ll discover many algorithms, tools, and methods to model optimization problems with the QUBO and Ising formalisms, and you will find out how to solve optimization problems with quantum annealing, QAOA, Grover Adaptive Search (GAS), and VQE. This book also shows you how to train quantum machine learning models, such as quantum support vector machines, quantum neural networks, and quantum generative adversarial networks. The book takes a straightforward path to help you learn about quantum algorithms, illustrating them with code that’s ready to be run on quantum simulators and actual quantum computers. You’ll also learn how to utilize programming frameworks such as IBM’s Qiskit, Xanadu’s PennyLane, and D-Wave’s Leap.Through reading this book, you will not only build a solid foundation of the fundamentals of quantum computing, but you will also become familiar with a wide variety of modern quantum algorithms. Moreover, this book will give you the programming skills that will enable you to start applying quantum methods to solve practical problems right away.

A Practical Guide to Service Management. Insights from industry experts for uncovering, implementing, and improving service management practices

Keith D. Sutherland, Lawrence J. "Butch" Sheets, Lisa Schwartz

Many organizations struggle to find practical guidance that can help them to not only understand but also apply service management best practices. Packed with expert guidance and comprehensive coverage of the essential frameworks, methods, and techniques, this book will enable you to elevate your organization’s service management capability.You’ll start by exploring the fundamentals of service management and the role of a service provider. As you progress, you’ll get to grips with the different service management frameworks used by IT and enterprises. You'll use system thinking and design thinking approaches to learn to design, implement, and optimize services catering to diverse customer needs.This book will familiarize you with the essential process capabilities required for an efficient service management practice, followed by the elements key to its practical implementation, customized to the organization’s business needs in a sustainable and repeatable manner. You’ll also discover the critical success factors that will enhance your organization’s ability to successfully implement and sustain a service management practice.By the end of this handy guide, you’ll have a solid grasp of service management concepts, making this a valuable resource for on-the-job reference.

A Prayer for My Son

Hugh Walpole

This is the story of a sadist, in this case, a grandfather with excessive ego and a thirst for satisfying his sense of strength. The boys mother, his aunt, the boy himself become a victim of his madness, and the story gathers momentum until they are forced to flee from an environment that gives him his strength. This is a skillful build-up of atmosphere and tension.

A Prince of Sinners

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Elegantly written novel, which tells about a young man who can not forgive his newly found father, because he left him and his mother. But after many living trials in many ways teach them both, they realize that there are other more important priorities and forces. A pleasant, easy-to-read, and thought-out essay.

A Prince of the Captivity

John Buchan

A classic John Buchan story of espionage during World War I. It contains several familiar Buchan elements: a motley cast of characters, Great War intrigue, the use of disguises and linguistic talents, the concept of gaining inner strength from a beloved spot in nature, man against the forces of nature in less benign settings, a race against time and evil, and sacrifice for a greater good. This is the epic story of one mans courage. Adam Melfort released from jail just before the outbreak of World War I and becomes involved in intelligence work behind enemy lines. After the war he carries on seeking adventure and tries to prevent the assassination of the German Chancellor. A Prince of the Captivity is not a story about external events, but about what happens in Adams mind and soul as he tries to rebuild his life in a new pattern. However, the external events that forge Melforts soul are drawn from the toolbox of a skillful writer of thrillers.