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Game of Thrones actor Anton Lesser brings poise and depth to this classic adaptation, conjuring monsters, heroes and Gods

With its gods, monsters and dizzying scale, Homer’s the Odyssey is deemed by many to be unfilmable, though it hasn’t stopped directors from having a go, including Christopher Nolan, whose blockbuster adaptation comes to cinemas next week. An audiobook would seem a smart choice, allowing listeners to deploy their imaginations to conjure dark sorcery, supernatural beasts and epic storms rather than leaning on CGI.

This classic recording, first published in 2006, is based on Ian Johnston’s much-admired translation. It is narrated by the Game of Thrones actor Anton Lesser, who brings gravitas and texture to this tale of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, and his efforts to get home after the 10-year Trojan War. Odysseus’s journey is fraught as he encounters the wrath of the sea god Poseidon in the form of a man-eating monster and a whirlpool that swallows ships. Then comes Calypso, the beautiful goddess-nymph and daughter of Atlas who keeps him on an island for seven years in the hope that he will stay as her husband.

Park/Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin/Egel
(BIS)
The young violinist pairs contrasting works by Goldmark and Sibelius in engaging and fluid performances

A relative rarity in the concert hall, Karl Goldmark’s 1877 Violin Concerto has nevertheless fared reasonably well on disc. South Korean violinist Sueye Park pairs it here not with another 19th-century staple but with miniatures by Sibelius: the bucolic Suite from 1929, the Two Serious Melodies, written at the outbreak of the first world war, and two of his six Humoresques.

The composers crossed paths when the Finn studied briefly under Goldmark in 1890s Vienna, but despite the polite whiff of folk music that hangs about the Hungarian’s concerto, it has little in common with Sibelius’s unvarnished Nordic nationalism. It makes the album something of a game of two halves, though there’s nothing inherently wrong with that.

As his American Utopia tour film hits cinemas, the musician answers your questions about his Scottish sense of humour, working with Brian Eno and his desire to direct another film

In May 1977, Talking Heads along with Ramones toured the UK starting at Eric’s Club in Liverpool. Did touring as punk exploded have an impact on you? SpiritofWacker
There was something really great about that tour because other than maybe a few singles the audience had never seen us, so there was a lot of curiosity and openness to us and Ramones, as different as we were. Later on, fans kind of decided they liked this band or didn’t like this band, but everything happened very quickly. I remember we did a show at the Roundhouse [in London] where somebody in the audience was gobbing on the bands and, of course, Ramones really didn’t like this. Understandably enough, they didn’t see it as a sign of – ha! – respect: “We’re with you so we’re gonna spit on you.” Ramones got more of that than we did, but at least they had leather jackets. We didn’t.

Ever since the Stop Making Sense tour, it seems to me that your live shows have been a quest to unchain the band from the physical restrictions of the typical rock concert. If that is so, where do you go from here? Lucifer_Sam
From various tours I’d realised that my guitar could be wireless. Then I did a tour with St Vincent where the brass players had started in marching bands, so were used to being mobile. I thought: “OK, what about drums?” I looked at drumline in American football and samba schools in Rio. I asked my longtime percussionist Mauro [Refosco] how many players we’d need to break down the drum kit into components and he said six. I took a big gulp and said: “I think we can afford it.” Then I discovered a Hungarian company which had invented a Midi keyboard on a self-powered rack. Suddenly, the whole band were liberated to move about, which democratised the concert experience for the musicians and the audience, who get to understand what each one does.

Exclusive: Questions grow over convicted fraudster’s role in Reform UK as party says he has never held official position

• Why is Farage quitting as an MP, only to stand again?

George Cottrell was routinely introduced as Nigel Farage’s chief of staff before the 2024 general election despite denials that he had any official role, according to a Reform UK candidate who stood aside for the party leader.

Others who have been closely involved in the party have also claimed Cottrell arranged the Land Rovers that ferried Reform’s newly elected MPs to parliament, and that he covered the cost of a fundraising lunch with potential donors before the national vote.

Exclusive: Source close to co-claimant Prince Harry says he is protective of social campaigner and will not ‘see her out of pocket’

Doreen Lawrence, the social justice campaigner, will not foot any of a multimillion-pound bill for the failed attempt to sue the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Guardian understands.

Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, whose case was the subject of a long-running Daily Mail campaign from the late 1990s, was one of seven claimants defeated in court over claims the Mail titles used unlawful methods to source stories.

Scarlet Lady’s 2,000 passengers told of change as one of those onboard says they will ‘sparkle and spend elsewhere’

An LGBTQ+ cruise ship blocked from Turkish waters this week has been refused entry into Egypt.

The Scarlet Lady’s 2,000 passengers, including the Broadway performer Patti LuPone, woke on Thursday morning to find a note placed under their cabin doors informing them that the ship was urgently looking for alternative ports.

• Plan unveiled for ground 350 metres from Old Trafford

• Working cost of stadium previously stated as £2bn

Manchester United have said their proposed new 100,000-capacity ­stadium may lead to further debt being loaded on the club but insisted it would be “a sanity, not vanity project”.

Plans for United’s new home were unveiled on Thursday and showed it would be built 350 metres north-west of the current Old Trafford. The club are about £1.3bn in debt and in March 2025 Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, said £2bn was the working cost of the stadium.

City seeking bids to build and operate separate terminal, following Los Angeles, London and other cities

Sick of the TSA lines? Tired of playing musical chairs at the gate? Rather sit as far from your fellow airplane passengers for as long as possible, in the comfort of your own private, luxury airport terminal?

Soon you may get your wish. And San Francisco international airport wants to be your genie – for a fee.

Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in Manhattan

A New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.

At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled water from nearly 160 building cooling towers to test for the bacteria.

Есть закономерность, которую я вижу на многих проектах. Когда собственник или директор впервые формулирует, что он хочет от ИИ, он часто называет не то, что принесёт деньги, а то, что выглядит как ИИ. Голосовой ассистент. Чат-бот, который сам отвечает клиентам. Система, которая слушает звонки менеджеров и оценивает их работу. Всё это яркое, демонстрируемое, «вау». И многие из этих идей становятся ловушкой на старте.

В современной фронтенд-разработке реактивность стала стандартом дефакто. Мы привыкли к ней в Vue, React (если через хуки/стейт - здесь появляется спорный момент), Angular (Signals) и RxJS. Однако тяжелые фреймворки не всегда уместны, если вам нужно построить чистую, легковесную бизнес-логику, абстрагированную от DOM-дерева.

Вот что я хочу Вам показать: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@pravosleva/reactive-engine

NPM-пакет @pravosleva/reactive-engine решает именно эту задачу, предоставляя разработчикам специализированный движок (Reactive Engine) для управления реактивными состояниями и автоматического вычисления зависимостей на чистом JavaScript / TypeScript.

Сегодня мы с гордостью объявляем о выходе TypeScript 7 — нативной версии TypeScript, которая работает в 10 раз быстрее!

С самых первых дней TypeScript обещал сделать JavaScript масштабируемым. Добавив в мир JavaScript строгую проверку типов и мощные инструменты разработки, TypeScript позволил создавать сложные качественные приложения для разных платформ.

Каждый день на человека обрушивается от четырёх до десяти тысяч рекламных сообщений. Баннеры, посты, ролики, сторис, таргет, контекст, e‑mail, пуш‑уведомления — всё это слоями оседает в сознании, и психика защищается. Она учится игнорировать всё яркое, громкое, навязчивое. Она отфильтровывает креатив как раздражитель.

И здесь возникает парадокс: чем больше усилий вы вкладываете в то, чтобы вас заметили, тем меньше вас замечают. Чем ярче вы кричите, тем быстрее ваш голос сливается с общим шумом. Чем неожиданнее и креативнее ваш ход, тем быстрее он превращается в ещё один шаблон.

В этой гонке побеждает не самый громкий. Побеждает самый понятный.

US president contested judge’s order to release money after Carroll’s 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him

A Manhattan federal appeals court late on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s latest bid to delay the payment of more than $5m to E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him.

The US court of appeals for the second circuit made its decision hours after Trump filed paperwork fighting Manhattan federal court judge Lewis Kaplan’s order releasing this money – which has been held in a court-controlled account since June 2023. Trump denies all wrongdoing.

Most cases used to be seen after exertion or being left in cars, but extreme heat has widened risk

Extreme temperatures are causing heatstroke in pets even when they are restricted to homes and gardens, vets have warned, as parts of the UK enter the third heatwave of the year.

Temperatures have reached 40C or more in recent weeks in countries including Germany, France and Spain, with western Europe experiencing its hottest June on record. While such events have been linked to hundreds of excess deaths in people, the rising mercury is also taking its toll on animals.

Former strength and conditioning coach Mark Kulbis was charged Monday in the death of Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr., a freshman athlete with sickle-cell trait who collapsed during training in July 2024.

С момента создания блога, примерно половина запросов на платный контент, рекламу и продвижение, которые мне присылают — про ИИ.

Казалось бы «пиши и радуйся» да считай купоны, тем более когда за окном очередной кризис и ездят танки, а тут дают деньги за буквы на экране.

К сожалению все несколько сложнее чем кажется и невинная попытка вкатиться в «ИИ‑повесточку» может закончиться распятием на кресте. Причем как для незадачливого автора, так и для заказчика, которых к этому кресту приколотят любимые читатели.

Ракрываю тему.