Airfrost

#11 is not only my favourite overall number, but Chopin's Etude (opus 10) number 11 has also been my favourite piece for many months now.

Each and every one of Chopin's études presents a unique technical challenge while retaining the musical originality and beauty of a Chopin piece, and Op.10 No.11 is no exception. The melody is hidden within the unrelenting rolled chords of this piece, and its beauty can only be fully coaxed out by a virtuoso's wrist control and finger dexterity and with well-practiced hands.

When properly executed this piece, with its flowing legato, relaxed rubato, and complex harmony, paints a serenely fragile yet lucid musical image. Valentina Lisitsa's (wiki) interpretation is among the best ones (if not the best one) I've heard of this piece.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

Here’s a quick and simple Ruby method I wrote that turns an array into a nice, formatted list.

def list(array, options={})
  options[:conjunction] ||= "and"

  list = ""
  array.each_with_index do |string, index|
    list += " " if array.size == 2
    list += options[:conjunction] += " " if array.size == (index + 1)
    list += string.to_s
    list += ", " unless array.size == (index + 1) or array.size == 2
  end

  list = "nothing" if list.empty?
  return list
end

Because I make stuff for the web, I care a lot about my browsers. I use them all the time for what I do, and I tend to change my default browser just as often. In fact, only a few days ago have I switched from the Firefox beta to the WebKit beta (again).

Anyone coming from Firefox can tell you, however, that plugins, (especially an ad-blocker), are necessities if you ever plan on making the most of your web browser. Seeing as a lot of people either aren’t aware of many of the great Safari plugins out there, or haven’t yet discovered that such plugins exist in the first place, I thought I’d share with you four of my favourite Safari plugins that I wouldn’t be able to browse the web without.