antica ferrovia Valmorea

Si inizia a parlare di una ferrovia lungo la Valle dell’Olona alla fine dell’800, quando i primi stabilimenti per la fabbricazione della carta e numerosi opifici in cerca d’acque pulite e abbondanti, si insediano lungo il corso superiore dell’Olona.
Nel febbraio del 1900, viene presentato il progetto per una linea a binario unico che si stacca dalla Novara Saronno Seregno all’altezza di Castellanza per raggiunge la località di Cairate - Lonate Ceppino. Il 16 gennaio 1902, il Decreto Reale n°21, firmato dal Re Vittorio Emanuele III, approva la costruzione della linea ferroviaria. La Castellanza Cairate – Lonate Ceppino viene inaugurata il 18 luglio 1904.

Nelle intenzioni dei progettisti si tratta del primo tronco di una ferrovia che collegherà il Varesotto a Mendrisio risalendo il corso dell’Olona e quello del Lanza.

La ferrovia viene prolungata di 20 chilometri e dodici anni dopo le rotaie raggiungono il Confine italo – svizzero all’altezza della piana di Santa Margherita, nel comune di Stabio. Il Governo Federale Elvetico, che il 28 giugno del 1906, si era pronunciato favorevolmente sul progetto di un collegamento trasfrontaliero, nell’ aprile del 1916 firmata la Concessione per l’esercizio della linea in territorio elvetico.

I lavori per la tratta Mendrisio – Confine si concludono nel 1926 e il 28 giugno di quell’anno viene inaugurata la linea che collega Castellanza a Mendrisio. La ferrovia transfrontaliera ha una vita brevissima: la scarsità dei viaggiatori e l’impossibilità di sviluppare adeguatamente il servizio merci ( per la scelta delle autorità italiane di non sottoscrivere un trattato tra i due Paesi che regoli i traffici commerciali lungo la linea) fa si che dal 2 maggio cessino di viaggiare i treni tra l’Italia e il Canton Ticino.

Dal 1° giugno 1928 la stazione di Valmorea diventa il nuovo capolinea.

Perso il carattere di un collegamento Internazionale, la ferrovia della Valmorea diviene antieconomica per le Ferrovie Nord Milano che le gestiscono. L’azienda è costretta ad accollarsi gli oneri di un servizio viaggiatori praticamente inesistente.

Il servizio viaggiatori viene soppresso nel 1952. Rimane il movimento merci, che permette la circolazione di numerosi convogli diretti alle cartiere ed alle industrie chimiche di Cairate e Castiglione Olona.

Alla metà degli anni settanta la prima crisi energetica e quella del settore della lavorazione della cellulosa portano alla smobilitazione dei grandi complessi cartari di Cairate, Lonate Ceppino e Vedano. Di conseguenza le F.N.M. dichiarano la cessazione del servizio merci. L’ultima tradotta verso Castellanza viene effettuata il 16 luglio 1977.

Passano anni in cui tutto sembra dimenticato da tutti l’infelicità e la tristezza regnano sulla ferrovia abbandonata. La linea viene ingoiata dalla natura: la vegetazione ricopre i binari e gli alvei dei fiumi e torrenti cambiano il loro tracciato naturale, facendo smottare i terrapieni e lasciando in alcuni punti i binari sospesi nel vuoto.

Nonostante ciò si susseguono gli incontri ed i progetti per recuperare ed elettrificare la vecchia linea in territorio italiano.

Nella parte svizzera la linea, declassata al solo servizio merci e trasformata in raccordo industriale, non viene mai abbandonata. Alla fine del Novecento inizia ad essere recuperata al traffico viaggiatori, come servizio turistico. Durante il 1989 l’Ente Turistico del Mendrisiotto e Basso Ceresio fanno viaggiare le prime vaporiere nel breve tratto ferroviario tra Mendrisio e il Confine.

Nel 1993 il Club del San Gottardo, un’associazione di appassionati di ferrovie storiche nata nel Ticino alla fine degli anni Settanta, si accorda con le Ferrovie Federali Svizzere per gestire il servizio dei treni turistici da Mendrisio a Stabio. Nasce l’idea di aprire il vecchio cancello doganale e proseguire con il treno, anche solo per pochi metri, nel territorio italiano.

Il 12 settembre 1993, durante la manifestazione "TRENO SENZA FRONTIERA" il vecchio cancello si apre, permettendo lo sconfinamento di due convogli.

Vengono percorsi solo pochi metri in territorio italiano, ma da quel giorno inizia il recupero della vecchia linea. Anno dopo anno il lavoro dei volontari svizzeri ed italiani, il supporto degli Enti territoriali, i finanziamenti di Regione Lombardia, Province di Como, Varese, e F.N.M. permettono di riconquistare chilometri di linea.

L’ultima tappa è stata l’inaugurazione della stazione di Malnate Olona, il 12 maggio 2007. Attualmente la ferrovia della Valmorea è percorribile da Mendrisio a Malnate Olona. Sono 7,5 chilometri di rotaia. Tutti quelli in territorio italiano sono stati completamente ristrutturati.

Dopo l’inaugurazione di Malnate Olona, l’associazione Amici della Ferrovia Valmorea sta lavorando per riportare il treno a Castiglione Olona, nel Contado del Seprio, fino a Castellanza.

fonte: Amici della Valmorea - Storia della Valmorea ITA

Alfabeto runico

L'alfabeto runico, detto "fuþark" (dove il segno þ corrisponde al suono th dell'inglese think), dalla sequenza dei primi 6 segni che lo compongono (*Fehu, *Uruz, *Þurisaz, *Ansuz, *Raido, *Kaunan), era l'alfabeto segnico usato dalle antiche popolazioni germaniche (come ad esempio Angli, Juti e Goti).

Il fuþark era inizialmente formato da 24 segni chiamati rune. Si conoscono evoluzioni successive del fuþark, diverse per numero e forma delle rune. La grafia delle singole rune, composte da linee rette, dipende dal fatto che spesso le incisioni erano effettuate su pietra, su legno od altre superfici dure. L'inesistenza di tratti orizzontali è motivata dal fatto che nel primo periodo scrittorio i segni runici venivano incisi su legno: escludendo l'esecuzione di tratti orizzontali si evitava che i tratti coincidessero con le venature del tronco, evidentemente disposto orizzontalmente; in questo modo si evitavano possibili equivoci ed errori di lettura. I primi esempi risalgono alla fine del II secolo d.C.
fonte: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfabeto_runico

vedi anche
L'introduzione dell'alfabeto presso la cultura di Golasecca

Campo archeologico di Lagole

Automated action in Word

To perform an action (such as inserting the current date) when a new file based on a template is created, open the template in Word, and record a macro that performs the action. Name it Autonew. When the Record Macro dialog appears, choose Store Macro In, and specify the template you've modified. For a macro that runs when you open a document based on your custom template, record a macro, and name it AutoOpen. Then store it in the template.

Aphasia in Maurice Ravel

by Richard E. Cytowic, MD

  From: The Bulliten of the Los Angeles Neurological Societies
41:109-114, 1976. Copyright (c) 1976 by Richard E. Cytowic, M.D.
Uploaded by the author for the personal, noncommercial use of
Internet subscribers. Richard E. Cytowic, MD 1611 Connecticut
Ave NW Suite 2B, Washington DC 20009, CompuServe 70524,713,
or Internet p00907@psilink.com


     In 1928 Maurice Ravel accepted a commission from Viennese
pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm in World
War I. The "Concerto For The Left Hand in D Major" allowed this
disabled artist to overcome a tragic misfortune and resume his
occupation as a concert pianist. Unfortunately nothing enabled
Ravel to vitiate his own tragedy and continue work as a composer:
in 1933 he was struck with aphasia which robbed him of language
and caused his artistic career to come abruptly to an end.
    Ravel's recent 1975 centennial has renewed interest in the
popular French composer whose contemporaries included Debussy,
Stravinsky, Satie, Gershwin, Prokofiev, Poulenc, and Bartok.
Whereas other composers were great thinkers, great craftsmen,
great feelers, or great intellects, Ravel was all of these. To
him music was a "divertissement de luxe--a delicious and
perpetually novel pleasure of a useless occupation." A cerebral
rather than emotional composer, Ravel s approach to a composition
was rational and unsentimental, aided by a sensitive ear
carefully tuned to what was yet unheard. Ravel saw music not as
work but as an intellectual exercise:
     My objective is technical perfection. I can strive
     unceasingly to this end since I am certain of never being
     able to atlain it. The important thing is to get nearer to
     it all the time. Art no doubt has other effects but the
     artist in my opinion should have no other aim (2).
    His effects were calculated; nothing left to chance. Such
facility, a musical rompe-l'oeil, was possible only through
Ravel's extensive knowledge and manipulation of the symbols of
his craft, allowing him to conceive of musical relationships that
others had not. Even the ever popular Bolero was based on an
intellectual concept. Ravel said he wanted to write the world's
longest crescendo with only two commonplace motives, making no
attempt to vary the music harmonically or melodically. Referring
to this piece he later said "I have written only one masterpiece,
the Bolero. Unfortunately it contains no music" (3).
    At a time when Debussy had popularized an impressionistic
technique, Ravel commended a style that provided no latitude for
personal interpretation. Fastidious notation and a demand for
precision won Ravel the accolade of being "the most perfect of
Swiss watchmakers." This watchmaker however was fond of
mechanisms gone awry, pianos slightly off tune, and uneven
rhythms--plus vague et plus soluble dans l'air."
     Ravel wore the hat of engineer in his perserial life, too.
This musical factotum collected and built animated models and
mechanical dolls, yet his manual dexterity was paradoxical. While
talented at sculpting small objects in bread, he was maladroit
with elementary actions and facile with only the most difficult
of tasks.
     His neurologic health had been unstable all his life. He
suffered many years from insomnia. An Army physical in 1916
disclosed ventricular hypertrophy, which raised the spectra of
hypertension or heart failure. in 1920, he complained of his
"Tristesse Affreuse" (terrible sadness); a neurasthenic
affliction. "L'anemia do Cerveau" (cerebral anemia) threatened in
1926, manifested by intellectual inertia, confusion, insomnia and
cloudy sensorium. These poetic names reflect a time in medicine
when diagnoses were based on little fact and much speculation.
Contemporary jargon might label these maladies as anxiety
neurosis and transient ischemic attack, respectively. Finally,
Ravel suffered several years from short spells of what he called
"amnesia" (confusion, disorientation, unfamiliarity), but his
first significant amnesic attack, lasting a few days, occurred in
1928. Five years later, while swimming at Saint-jean-de-Luz,
Ravel--an expert swimmer--suddenly found that he could not
"coordinate his movements." His protracted history of a
progressive neurologic deficit, then, seems to have culminated in
a stroke. His doctors branded him aphasic.

THE PRICE OF APHASIA
     One can define aphasia generally as the inability to
comprehend or express the linguistic symbols by which men
communicate, even though the sensorimotor pathways and sensorium
are intact. Assignment of language to a given hemisphere is based
on familiar observations following cortical lesions, and aphasia
frequently follows injury to the parasylvian areas of the left
hemisphere, in which language "resides" in most individuals.
     Hughlings Jackson, as a student of Brown-Sequard, was one of
the earliest neurologists intrigued by the duality of the
cerebral hemispheres and the localization of certain cortical
functions. In 1864 he wrote:
     if then it should be proved by wider experience that the
     faculty of expression resides in one hemisphere, there is no
     absurdity of raising the question as to whether perception
     --its corresponding opposite--may not be seated in the other
     (4).
    For almost a century after Jackson's proposition little if
any attention was given to special capacities of the right
hemisphere. Most neurologists assigned it subservient functions
or considered it a cerebral "spare tire." This tenet was held by
Strong and Elwyn as late as 1943:
     in man, the higher cortical functions are vested principally
     in one cerebral hemisphere, the left one in righthanded
     individuals ... the dominant hemisphere ... lesions of the
     other hemisphere producing as a rule no recognizable
     disturbances (5).
    Although there is bilateral representation of the ear in the
auditory cortex, dichotic listening tests have demonstrated the
specialization of the hemispheres in processing different types
of stimuli; namely, the perceptual superiority of the left for
verbal items and the right for musical ones (6).
    Forceful evidence for cerebral lateralization lies in Bogen's
split-brain patients (7-8) who, following commissurotomy, are
unable to write with their left hands and unable to copy
geometric figures with their right. One can assign verbal
function to the left hemisphere, which may be regarded as
expressive or propositional. Similarly, the right hemisphere
demonstrates a superiority for certain musical and visuospatial
relationships and may be thought of as perceptive or appositional
(9).
    Knowledge of hemispheric specialization and interaction can
help clarify various clinical defects. Ravel's intriguing deficit
was due to the action of aphasia on artistic realization that
depends on the interaction between a musical (right-sided and
intact) cognitive and a verbal (left-sided and injured)
linguistic system.

THE THINKING OF AN ARTIST
     Music is not speech, which is based on morphemes, phonemes,
words, grammar and sentences. Musical notation is an arbitrary
symbolization of soured. Concatenated both horizontally and
vertically with respect to time, interrelated by the grammar of
pitch, melody, harmony, rhythm, key, and instrumental technique,
these symbols are capable of infinite arrangement and
differentiation. As a system of sounds and written symbols, music
may communicate an affective state, the content of which as
perceived by the listener is imprecise, while that of speech is
precise and sometimes even absolute. Musical and verbal language
are alike in that both have expressive and receptive components
and both use a written notational system for documentation. Music
was Ravel's communicative medium.
     French neurologist Theophile Alajouanine documented the case
of Maurice Ravel, for whom he was physician for 3 years. His
originally proposed etiology centered on ventricular enlargement.
in a personal communication shortly before his recent death,
however, Alajouanine abandoned ventricular dilatation in favor of
cortical atrophy similar to Pick's disease. Such diagnoses remain
sadly speculative an autopsy was, unfortunately, never performed.
    Ravel's was "a Wernicke's aphasia of moderate intensity,
without paralysis, without hemianopia, but with an ideomotor
apractic component ... Understanding of language remains much
better than oral or written abilities ... Musical language is
still more impaired ... (with) a remarkable discrepancy between
loss of musical expression (written or instrumental) and musical
thinking, which is comparatively preserved.
    In spite of his aphasia, Ravel recognized tunes easily,
especially his own compositions, and could readily point out
errors of incorrect notes or rhythm. Sound value and note
recognition were well preserved as witnessed by Ravel's
perception that Dr. Alajouanine's piano had gone out of tune due
to the damp winter weather and his demonstration of the
dissonance between two notes played an octave apart. Aphasia made
analytic deciphering--sight reading, dictation and note naming
-almost impossible, hindered especially by an inability to recall
the names of notes just as garden variety aphasics "forget" the
names of common objects.
     Whereas he could hardly decipher musical signs analytically,
Ravel had no trouble recognizing them visually and was able to
select a requested score at first glance without error, thus
demonstrating the difference between pattern-object recognition
and symbolic comprehension, showing he did not have agnosia. He
did have agraphia, however, and any attempt at writing, either
lexic or musical, cost him untold effort. Biographer
Roland-Manuel (11) relates how it took Ravel 8 days to write a
fifty-word letter consoling friend Maurice Delange on the death
of his mother. Although Ravel could "spell the words in his
head," he had forgotten how the letters were formed and had to
look up each word in Larousse.
     Ravel suffered the necessity of remembering through symbols
and, therefore, could not relate a visual image (a note) to a
sound. He had more success in linking a reminiscence to a muscle
impulse: piano playing from memory, while far from perfect, was
much better than sight reading. Ravel was able to play the
opening of Le Tombeau de Couperin, a rapid and ornamented piano
piece, almost perfectly. His success may be attributed to muscle
memory, which, along with visual and aural memory, is one of the
3 ways a musician memorizes a piece. Muscle memory most likely
functions through motor mechanisms independent of language areas.
in fact, when Ravel began thinking about what he was
playing--that is, when language intervened--he immediately began
to falter. Such language interference would occur with anyone
once a piece has been truly memorized.

CONCEPTION WITHOUT CREATION
     Rarely in aphasics is there an extraordinary development of
the cognitive skills of the right hemisphere as in Ravel. The
specialization of the hemispheres for generating and processing
different types of information may explain the dissociation of
Ravel's ability to conceive and create. His case aptly
demonstrates the aphasic schism: musical mentation is preserved
while musical language is not. Unable to express his musical
thoughts either in writing or performance, he became a helpless
spectator of his own misfortune, often lamenting "I've still so
much to say, so many ideas in my head." He was aware of two
people in one body--the awkward fool who had forgotten how to
write, play the piano and notate a score, and the artist filled
with new musical conceptions but lacking the technical means to
express them.
     Because Ravel was able to "hear the music in his head," one
infers that intact selectivity of mental processes allowed
organized intellectual processes to occur. Cortical degeneration
could have, however, made a fluid transition from one
neurodynamic pattern to another impossible. This could have
resulted in a state where neural excitations, crucial to the
transfer of information to kinesthetic and kinetic parts of
[arietal and precentral areas, became pathologically inert,
leading to what may be called a state of internal
right-hemispheric perseveration. Nonetheless, the cause of
Ravel's affliction remains open to speculation. His protracted
downhill course is consistent with cortical degeneration, while
his episodes of "amnesia" and sudden incoordination while
swimming in 1933 suggest a history of transient ischemic attacks
that culminated in a stroke. Which contributed most to Ravel s
linguistic deficit, which essentially was an inability to "get
out" what his right hemisphere had created, remains moot.
     Ravel's fate was sealed when his symptoms worsened. He
complained of the "fog cloud narrowing in" and became profoundly
depressed. When Helene Jourdan-Morhange found him leaning idely
on his balcony one day and asked him what he was doing, Ravel
only replied "l'm waiting." His wait was brief, for an operation
was elected at the Centre Francais de Medecine et de Chirgurie in
Auteuil. Professor Clovis Vincent explored the posterior fossa on
December 19, 1937 but found nothing. Alajouanine was absent from
Paris at the time and was never sure why Vincent decided to
operate. Ravel lapsed into a coma 2 days after the operation and
died on the morning of December 28.
     Like a writer who no longer can translate his ideas and
images into words, Ravel could no longer translate the patterns
which were his music into symbols. Therefore, his music remained
silently imprisoned in his aphasic mind. While attending a
concert of his own works shortly before his death, Ravel
disclosed, with tear-filled eyes, both the horror and frustration
of his affliction:
     C'etait beau, tout de meme. Et puis,
     j' avais encore tant de musique dans
     la tete. Maintenant, c'est fini pour moi (12).

  *******************************************
     Washington, DC neurologist Richard E. Cytowic has authored
both textbooks and popular works. His most recent book is "The
Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Medical Mystery Offers
Revolutionary Insights Into Emotions, Reasoning, and
Consciousness." (Putnam, 1993)

Altro metodo per effettuare una copia di sicurezza del registro

Altro metodo per effettuare una copia di sicurezza del registro e provvedere al ripristino

In tutte le versioni di Windows, molte delle funzioni e delle impostazioni vengono memorizzate nel registro di sistema.
Il registro di sistema ha un'importanza enorme per il corretto funzionamento del sistema operativo ed e' necessario provvedere ad effettuarne una copia di sicurezza.
Il danneggiamento dello stesso potrebbe non rendere piu' avviabile e verranno persi tutti i dati.

Creare nel disco C una cartella con il nome ad esempio "Backup Registro".
Copiarvi dentro i 4 file che troverete nella directory C:\Windows:

• system.dat
• system.da0
• user.dat
• user.da0

A questo punto copiare l'intera cartella appena creata su un altro supporto, per mantenerne una copia di sicurezza.
Se nel caso il sistema non dovesse piu' avviarsi a causa di errori del registro, sara' sufficiente riavviare il PC in modalita' MS-DOS e copiare i 4 file elencati sopra, ceh trovate nella directory C.\Windows o nel FLOPPY/CD di BACKUP.

Terminata questa operazione riavviare il sistema ed il PC dovrebbe partire senza errori come nell'ultimo riavvio corretto.

le sigle che accompagnano i titoli dei files video presenti in rete

I files video presenti in rete in genere hanno un nome composto dal titolo del film seguito da una serie di sigle (cosiddetti TAG) che ne descrivono la qualità

TAG VIDEO

• CAM :il film è stato ripreso dal cinema con una telecamera nascosta.
• TS : metodo telesync, migliore rispetto al CAM, visto che la telecamera usata in sala è di tipo professionale ed è fissa.
• TC: metodo telecine, una macchina trasforma in divx la bobbina in dotazione al cinema.
• R5: “regione russa”: mentre da noi il film è al cinema, in russia già si vende in DVD, quindi la qualità è ottima ed è anche possibile che contenga sottotitoli.
• FS: FullScreen
• WS: WideScreen
• DVD RIP: qualità DVD, null’altro da aggiungere 
• SCREENER/VHS SCR: il video proviene da una videocassetta (VHS) realizzata per soli critici. La qualità è discreta, paragonabile ad un VideoCD solo che, come il DVDSCR, compaiono alcuni sottotitoli di copyright e alcune scene sono in bianco e nero.
• DVD SCR: si tratta di un DVD realizzato per i critici. La qualità è buona anche se qualche scena è in bianco e nero o contiene sottotitoli che fanno riferimento ai diritti ed alle leggi.
• HDTV RIP: film registrato da un televisore HD: qualità eccellente.
• PD TV/SAT RIP: il film è stato registrato da Tv satellitare: qualità ottima.
• TV RIP: ripping simile al SAT RIP, ma la qualità è variabile: se in TV non si vede bene….capisciammè 
• VHS RIP: film rippato da videocassetta (VHS). La qualità dipende soprattutto dal codec usato per rippare.
• WP: workprint, in pratica la copia di un film in versione non definitiva, in fase di montaggio.

TAG AUDIO

• MD : mic dubbed, l’audio è stato preso tramite microfono in sala. La qualità è sufficiente ma può variare a seconda di alcuni fattori.
• DTS : audio ricavato dai dischi DTS2 cinema.
• LD : line dubbed. L’audio è stato preso tramite jack collegato alla macchina da presa. Qualità molto buona.
• DD : Digital Dubbed, audio ricavato dai dischi DTS cinema.
• AC3: audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. Preso da DVD in commercio.

TAG RIPPING

• UNRATED : il film rippato è privo di censure. Di solito questo tag viene messo nei film horror.
• LIMITED: il film è rippato in dvd, molto tempo prima della sua data di uscita nei negozi.
• READNFO: alcune note di ripping di un film vengono inserite in un file .NFO
• STV: il film rippato non è uscito nelle sale,quindi è specifico per l’Home Video.
• REPACK: il film è stato ripubblicato su canali P2P,ma corretto da eventuali imperfezioni.
• INTERNAL: tag che indica la presenza di imperfezione audio nel film rippato.
• PROPER: simile ad internal, in pratica privo di garanzie di qualità audio.
• SUBBED: il film è sottotitolato in lingua specifica. (esempio Nomefilm.SUBBED.iTALIAN)
• REMASTERED: il film è stato digitalmente rimasterizzato. Tag presente in film classici come Via Col Vento,ecc.

Assign a drive letter to a folder in Windows

Windows allows you to define virtual disk drives.

Any drive letter that is not currently used to represent a physical drive can be defined as a virtual drive.

A virtual drive is a folder of a physical drive that acts like it is a separate drive, unto itself.

SUBST w: C:\documents\my

Virtual drive definitions are permanent, until explicitly released. 

SUBST w: /D

To find out what virtual drives are currently defined, just type SUBST on a line by itself:

SUBST

When deleting any files via a virtual drive letter reference, the files are deleted immediately, bypassing the recycle been.

Visual Subst is a small tool that allows you to associate the most accessed directories with virtual drives. It uses the same API similar to the console 'subst' utility, but makes it easier to create and remove virtual drives in a GUI way.