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7 REASONS MOST BUSINESSES DON’T REACH 6 FIGURES | After the complete analysis of the situation and a general observation of the mistakes that most of the startups make, we have concluded these 7 points to be the main reason behind the issue.
1. SERVING THE “MASSES” APPROACH:
As a new business, you want as many customers as you can get. Obviously, because you earn a profit, and this is exactly what should be done by a startup. But the type of customer that you are attracting is the focal point that most of the businesses often miss.
For most of the businesses, everyone who is buying the products or the services of the company is a customer, not only for once, but he/she is also included in the list of the prospective customer as well. And this is where everything goes wrong.
The reason that most of the mentors and business gurus want you to select a niche or the target market is that it helps you in pinpointing the interests of the customers and makes the business decisions accordingly. But when you start serving everyone, the problem is that you lose your ability to make specified decisions that could make your business grow.
“Expect change. Analyze the landscape. Take the opportunities. Stop being the chess piece; become the player. It’s your move.”
Tony Robbins
It is just like serving everyone in the world with peanut butter. You might like it; maybe your friend would like it too. But not everyone in the world likes it, and there is no chance that they would like it ever. So, if we extend this example if your business is to make and sell peanut butter, then you’ll have to find the people who actually like and want to buy it. The same goes for all other businesses, product & services categories.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
When you try to make everyone happy, the result is that you won’t be able to make even a few people happy. So, they won’t come back to your business, resulting in no or limited sales at all. On the contrary, if you manage to make a few people happy, they can be your recurring customers, and you can make better and more facilitative decisions to grow your business; thus, the chances of getting the 6-figure income would increase and the reasons for business failure would decrease.
2. UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY IN DIFFERENT BUSINESS PHASES:
We expect disagreement on this point from our readers. Usually, it is believed that higher energy is better and is the reason for the motivation and gives the driving force to the business, especially if the business is a new and small setup. This can be true but on one condition. Do you really think that maintaining the same level of energy would be possible throughout the lifetime of business? The answer to this question is probably a No. because we all know that such a scenario is not possible.
When you start your business, you are more passionate about it and willing to sacrifice more for it. But as soon as things settle down, you start to set up your own routine. Lack of energy and focus is visible. The sudden fall in the energy level or motivation (whenever it may be; after 6 months or a year) is going to create a significant impact on your business, and this one is going to be long-lasting. This could be the result of excessive exhaustion level as well, so you’ll have to set your goals and energies right, specifically directed towards the long-run success
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
What can be done here to avoid such a situation? This is actually a million-dollar question that you would have in your mind. Our experience and the general observation about the business suggest that setting up a schedule from the very start can be extremely helpful. You might be ready to put in extra energy at the start, and you’ll require to do so, but keep it to a manageable degree and don’t over exhaust yourself so that you have any energy left for the growth stage of your business.
If you follow this simple piece of advice, there is a higher chance that you’ll land up earning 6 figure income from your business, and you’ll proudly be able to boost your 6 figure job (not really a job, but that is going to be your source of earning, so you can call it a job, can’t you?)
3. NO CONCEPT OF TEAM BUILDING:
For the initiation few months of the business, you could be the only one working there; that is totally understandable. In such a situation, it would be you doing the purchasing part, delivering part, decision-making –part, finance part, or any other activity that your business would demand you. But once you are established and are likely to grown, then you can’t continue your business with this approach anymore.
Now, you’ll be considering it a stereotypic point, thinking that obviously, you won’t be able to handle everything once you’ll be expecting to expand and serve more customers. So, you’ll definitely be hiring more people.
But we are not pointing that you won’t hire new people, the problem that most of the businesses face here is that the owners can’t actually let go of the concept of one army even when they hire more people. You’ll see them interfering in every domain when they know that they have hired a specialized individual to handle that job.
It is your business, and you have the right of oversight, but you’ll have to believe this as well that a constant interference in someone else’s work domain can enhance the level of dissatisfaction and can reduce the motivation level to complete the task with full motivation.
Additionally, this is going to disrupt the chain of command, creating issues when it comes to accountability and responsibility. All of this results in total chaos and the lack of 6 figures job that you have always been dreaming of. In the worst-case scenario, such a mess can actually become one of the reasons for business failure.
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. — Henry Ford
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Another aspect that we would like to discuss in relevance to the team building is that if some of the business owners come out of the initial management perception, they aren’t aware of team building (training, motivating, delegating, etc.) or they don’t want to invest their few resources on this dimension. It also leads to another reason for the stagnant growth of the business. So, make sure that you should avoid such things and make your business a huge success.
4. LACK OF VISION:
You would be considering that “vision” is a term that is used by large companies, mostly conglomerates, to highlight what they want to achieve. And as a small business, you won’t be considering it relevant. This is the mistake that you are making and a reason that your business has not reached the 6 figure income up till now.
Vision is no way limited to large companies only. Being visionary is something part of the leadership qualities and skills. You should not only have an implementable plan for your business in the upcoming years, but this skill actually allows you to keep your business safe from the unforeseen problems that are going to impact your business in the short term and long term.
Being visionary means that you can actually analyze what is going on around you and which factors or going to result in a negative or positive consequence in the future. Based on this judgment, you make changes to your business and avail the opportunity or reduce the threat impact.
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
-Victor Kiam
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
As discussed above, as most of the status and small businesses keep on perceiving, vision to be associated with large companies, they fail to implement it for their business, and the result is no chance of getting any closer to the 6 figure income.
You should make sure that you have this skill of being visionary in you. It will help you in getting a better overview of your environment and see what is good and what is bad for your business in the upcoming years.
5. EXPERIMENTING IS CONSIDERED A TABOO:
Playing safe is a good approach to start your business. But keeping it too safe is not a good idea. When you are in the market, you need to experiment and see how you can take your business to the new heights.
Keeping yourself to the limited domain is going to keep you and your business’s scope to remain limited, and this is not the way you can reach 6 figures jobs. You’ll have to add in some innovation and try something, probably that has never been tried before. But if that goes totally absurd for you, then at least try something that you haven’t done before. Break your shell and come out of it to find what’s new and how can you adopt it for your benefit. And you’ll at least make an attempt to reduce the reasons of business failures.
Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way . . . you become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions. — Aristotle
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You should focus on your strengths, for that matter. They’ll help you in identifying the most suitable area to experiment with. It will help you in creating a core competency for your business and at the same time, polishing your existing skills for you.
Unfortunately, this is the last concern of the businesses these days, and this is why you see them performing at a mediocre level throughout their lifetime. Have you read the stories of some of the large companies, especially the technology giants? How they actually throughout out of the box and it is because of their efforts that we are enjoying wonderful breakthroughs in technology, and that is the only reason that these companies have been earning really huge amounts on a yearly basis.
You can do that as well. Experimenting is the key here. If you have limited resources, you can go for smaller risks, but just starting a conventional business and then expecting it to generate profit to meet your monthly needs is no way something to relish on. Think about that!
6. LACK OF AGILITY:
The world is dynamic, and so should be you. But new entrepreneurs or the owners of the small business don’t think it this way, and that makes up one of the prominent reasons for business failure. As a startup, you would have created a business plan. This document is important when it comes to the provision of guidelines about the operations and working of the business, but it does not mean that you should stick by it word by word. But most of the businesses make this mistake of keeping either a business plan or the initial style of working as the guiding force behind it. No doubt, this makes them stick to the income that they have at the moment.
In order to succeed in the business world, you need to show some agility. You must have the ability to capitalize on the changing environment. This is going to help you in getting the most out of your business. This will indicate the agility in terms of adjusting yourself and your business to the changing environment.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
But there is another aspect to it; agility can also be seen in terms of the internal processes of the company. In today’s world, you can’t expect lengthy hierarchies or complex procedures to be in place. This is why you must keep the internal processes of your business simple, as well. It will allow you to be in a better position to satisfy the customers. Additionally, the agility of the internal processes would also make it easier for you to respond to the external factors and capitalize on the opportunities available in a better way. You’ll be able to overcome one of the reasons for the failure of business.
7. IGNORING THE LITTLE WINS:
As a general approach, reaching a 6 figures job actually requires you to do something big every month so that eventually you’ll reach a 6 figure earning in 1 year or so. But is that practical? The answer is no. As a business, you can find one bog opportunity and leap onto it for success, but that isn’t possible every month. If you want to give a boost to your revenue, you’ll have to do something new, something better, but not finding anything new is going to keep you stuck in the same position. So, don’t you think it is one of the reasons for the business failure or at least the stagnant growth that the business has? Indeed it is.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
So, the thing that you should do to reach the 6 figures jobs benchmark is that you need to focus on smaller things that could give you a smaller but constant increase in the revenue or the growth of business in one way or the other. For example, if you are going to improve customer relationship management, it might not require more resources as existing employees could help you with that. But the improvement with the relationship of the customers is definitely going to pave the way for you to bring them back to you, thus increasing the overall retention of your business.
“Satisfied customer is the best source of advertisement” ― G.S. Alag
Additionally, this step is also going to increase the positive word of mouth, thus enhancing the chances that more customers would become the part of your business as a result of references (even without spending the marketing budget), so isn’t this approach good.
“The customers perception is your reality. What they think about your products , MATTER. If you dont put your customers perception first, THE GAME IS OVER.” ― Sharfaraz Ahmed
Most of the businesses miss these little things that can bring them the revenue and keep their focus on some big opportunity grabbing only. | https://medium.com/@doersempire/7-reasons-most-businesses-dont-reach-6-figures-49c9cf858033 | ['Doers Empire'] | 2019-11-15 13:01:50.590000+00:00 | ['6 Figures Business', 'Leadership', 'Business Failure', 'Ownership', 'Startup'] |
F-A-N-T-İ-K-O | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/mertnews/f-a-n-t-i%CC%87-k-o-73db512f1dcb | [] | 2020-12-12 09:45:55.895000+00:00 | ['Fethullah Gülen', '15 Temmuz', 'Türkiye', 'Aziz Nesin', 'Turkey'] |
How to design Mobile Apps that Survive Poor Network Conditions | Building an application comes with plenty of challenges. When it comes to revolutionary ideas one might appeal to the public that might cause them to download the application.
Following this comes to work that comes into developing into app.
It needs to be made sure that every feature is capable of doing what it is supposed to do, finding a good graphic designer in order to breathe life into coding and also to integrate the correct amount of content into the application is are few important aspects that guide the process.
There are plenty of other applications are capable of win users with a multitude of features and eye-catching visuals. Despite that, there are things you need to keep in mind when the application turns fully functional even in cases of poor internet connectivity.
As one of the best mobile app development company in USA, we at BrainMobi are capable of presenting some essential factors which might help you conclude the discussion easily.
1. Curate content that doesn’t require much Internet Connectivity:
Almost any application is capable of the brink of a good internet connection but it can be stressful in moments when the network is down. You cannot just expect users to hope results while waiting on the face of a blank page and could be a deal-breaking factor for your application.
Facebook, Twitter and plenty of other mobile app development company are also capable of caching the load part of the newsfeed even when the application is not connected to the internet. They are capable enough to display a message telling the user that the internet is down but by displaying cached content they are able to ensure that their users don’t close the application right away.
The design of the application should be weaved in a way that the pages are capable of working even without an internet connection. So even if it is just a few pages of content, the cached feed is capable of providing at least some offline support for applications that could be mandatory in specific cases. Such pages should often accompany a message that alerts users about the nonexistent network connection.
2. Make Bandwidth Optimization Your Priority
When it comes to designing an application there are plenty of things that need to be kept into consideration when providing a good user experience is the motive. Bandwidth optimization should certainly be amongst the top priorities and it is useless to have an application that has plenty of features and is rich in content but takes the users a good load of minutes to load.
Whatever be the content of the application, from text to images, animations, neither the application design or the loading speed should be affected.
The other thing you need to keep into consideration for designs offered by mobile app development services is the hierarchy. It is important to make sure that the user can get to the page they are looking for without going through that many steps. This lets you avoid the need to load multiple when it comes to reaching the desired step and in order to make that happen you need to allow yourself to think and plan.
3. Keep lighter designs into consideration
If you use Facebook, you are probably aware of their Lite versions of both the Messenger and Facebook apps. Lite actually means light, which is a version of the app that is more minimalistic, or uses lower graphics, to improve speed in areas with a poor internet connection.
When you an app development company designing a lighter version of the application you intend to really win users over and you should be able to set up the application so that it switches to the lighter version. This way you don’t feel the need to switch between applications more often or even encounter any poor network issues.
4. Optimize your Graphics and UI
Unoptimized graphics in many cases could be the case of slow application performance. Many times the cause for an application loading slow is the unoptimization of the graphic content and in order to make this look good, it is important for the graphic content to be optimized without compromising the performance. Mobile App developers have a lot of tools that help optimizing graphics.
This is quite the trend amongst users as they choose to use images for more responsive feedback from users and helps them enhance it visually. Still, images load much slower and provide poor user experience at times of slow connections and this helps them keep the vital part of the information in text letting you enjoy the services in terms of slow connectivity.
These are techniques that have proved lifesaving in many cases and have resolved application issues in cases. This way the user doesn’t have to wait for the entire image to load and gets to see a considerable part of the content.
Conclusion:
So when you are towards designing an application you should make sure it looks the best way possible and shall continue to attract users on your side. However, there is not much of a point when it comes to designing a content-based application which users cannot enjoy.
Hence designing applications with poor network connectivity in the mind will not only help them deal sporadically with low bandwidth but might also win the attention of users which might help them win the attention of investors for such solution brilliance. As one of the top mobile app development company in USA, our long list of services and endeavors are inclined towards delivering that and we aim to help our clients reach new levels of success. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/how-to-design-a-mobile-apps-that-survive-poor-network-conditions-a8761a6e95c7 | ['Kamal Damgwal'] | 2020-01-07 12:41:33.288000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Programming', 'JavaScript', 'Web Development', 'Technology'] |
How to Never Finish Anything You Start | I’m the queen of abandoned projects. Learn from my mistakes.
Image by TeroVesalainen on Pixabay
I love a good project. I love taking on something new, getting all set up, diving in.
But eventually the newness wears off. The project isn’t fun anymore. And it’s ultimately abandoned.
I’m the queen of abandoned projects.
I still have picture frames waiting to be hung in my apartment — even though I moved in six months ago. I have a paint-by-numbers picture still waiting for the last bubbles to be filled in. I have several unfinished novels sitting on my hard drive.
I’m not proud of it, but I rarely finish anything I start. But why?
Is it in my DNA? Am I just lazy? And more importantly, how do I change? How do I become the person who commits instead of quits? What magical switch do I need to flip to finally make a change?
The internet is full of so-called experts on productivity, but I won’t pretend to be one. Because the truth is I haven’t the slightest clue how to make myself actually finish the projects I take on. I don’t know how to get more done in less time and I certainly don’t know the secret to success.
But maybe my lack of follow-through can teach you a thing or two. Maybe if you try and avoid everything I do, you’ll find out exactly what you need to do. So here it is, my three-pronged approach to never getting anything done.
Dive in hard
Oh that new project feeling. The excitement. The anticipation. The buildup. This is the honeymoon phase. I get a new idea, and all I see is the good. How fun it will be. How it will enrich my life.
So I jump right on in. I don’t think. I just jump. And forget about pacing myself. I become borderline obsessed, dedicating so much of my time and energy to the project.
But in the honeymoon phase, I have rose-colored glasses on. I don’t see the roadblocks and challenges ahead. I only have eyes for the moment in front of me. So it’s full-speed ahead — until I burn out.
Then it’s the inevitable slowdown, the end of the honeymoon. And finally, another project catches my eye, and this one is abandoned.
Wing it
When I’m jumping in on a new project, I don’t have time for lists or plans. I’m going with the flow, letting the mood strike me. I’m not setting goals or making timelines. I can’t be tied down.
But when that slowdown ultimately comes, the mood is no longer striking me. I have nothing to rely on but my willpower, and let’s face it. I don’t have any willpower to speak of.
So when I come across that first challenge, I don’t have any way to deal with it. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be all fun and games. So that challenge, that roadblock, it leaves me stumped. I don’t have the will to conquer it, so I abandon it and once again, move on to the next project.
Focus on perfection
When I start on a project, I have these grand ideas about it. How wonderful my novel will be. How beautiful my paint-by-numbers painting will turn out. But when I’m actually working on the project, it’s never as good as what I imagined in my head.
I don’t like to be mediocre. I’m always striving to be better. To be the best. But even when I think I’m giving my best, it’s not enough. So I think well if my project isn’t even good, why finish it?
Is an unfinished masterpiece better than finished mediocre work? Probably not, but for some reason, this is the way my mind works.
I’m trying to be better. To be more mindful about the projects I take on. To be realistic and not get ahead of myself. To keep going when the going gets tough. Maybe someday I’ll relinquish my crown and don a new one. Queen of completed projects sounds like a much better title to me. | https://mariaelharaoui.medium.com/how-to-never-finish-anything-you-start-2d9bd73d0924 | ['Maria Elharaoui'] | 2019-02-27 16:53:46.268000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Self', 'Self Improvement', 'Productivity', 'Life Lessons'] |
Watercolour Stories — Island Lagoon | Island lagoon
The islands in the tropics are full of mystery, its flora rich with diversity. This small islet lays snuggled in a quiet lagoon where the only change is the ebb and flow of tides.
I let the water flow loosely over the paper and then dabbed-in the colour. And then coaxing the watery colour to form the island, gently pulling out the paint to define the palm trees over the larger surrounding vegetation, defining the outline of the island | https://medium.com/@deangonsalves/watercolour-stories-island-lagoon-cd6933987dba | ['Dean Gonsalves'] | 2020-12-15 11:16:00.449000+00:00 | ['Stories', 'Abstract Art', 'Watercolor Painting', 'Seascape', 'Painting'] |
# 117: Story Struggles and Digitalization | Davenport, Thomas H., and Laurence Prusak (1998). Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know, 82.
Story behind the Passage
Why struggle with stories if I write every day? You know what, I am so sick of this back and forth. What I mean is: In some organizational cultures, storytelling is already a very well-known and appreciated measure of organizational development, almost a thing of the past. It is completely established to know that you need stories in order to pass on knowledge. In other organizations, however, it seems as if storytelling is such a completely innovative thing that people get extremely excited about it. Do not get me wrong, I am also excited about stories because I LOVE and LIVE them. I suck up every story I hear, I think in stories. I do not have to repeat myself…
The problem is: If you have business people around you from so many different disciplines and organizational functions, you get the full range of feedback. Some will tell you: “Storytelling, this is just marketing bullshit, it creates no value.” Then you have the other people: “Yes, sure, storytelling is crucial in every change process.” And then I go: “Yes, but I am not sure if I just want to work on change.” Or maybe I do but I am just confused because I know that stories create value anywhere but you cannot sell anything anywhere to anybody if you do not have the right keywords to get your value proposition across.
It is such a hassle.
Sometimes I start neglecting the power of stories altogether because of all the confusion. I think about studying computer science to just get away from stories. And then, the next day, I happen to talk to a colleague who asks me what I do and then I go like: I do this and that but actually, I write stories to help people. There it is again… Grrrrr. All this tells you why I have chosen the book Working Knowledge on storytelling today. I started publishing about Storytelling four or five years ago, I think. I mean, in academic articles about narrative organization studies. Maybe it is time to get back to this, to finally “settle” and accept that I love stories and that I should NOT stop researching about them?
My Learnings
“A good story is often the best way to convey meaningful knowledge.” The stress is on “meaningful” here. Knowledge that has no meaning does not even end up as knowledge because knowledge needs to be stored in order to be called knowledge. It is information that has meaning; it makes SENSE. It is just such a pity that our modern-day education institutions have forgotten about this to the result that now, consultants and even new universities make big money with the ‘invention’ that stories help people learn. What a surprise that is, right?! It is so funny how “innovations” come back every 30 years — same content, sometimes a different label, that is it.
“Once we recognize that narratives are the best way to teach and learn complex ‘stuff,’ though, we can often encode the stories themselves so as to convey meaning without losing much of its leveragable value.” For anyone who knows anything about narratology, there is no surprise here. I do know, however, that with the digital transformation, storytelling is gaining much more practical relevance again. Of course, people who are scared of technology and/or not very skilled can be ‘guided’ towards digital literacy by reading or listening to tales of digital value creation. And yes, stories, as you will also read in any book about storytelling, derive their power from the fact that they put human beings at the forefront of their plots. Humans have and trigger emotions and emotions in turn support learning. There you go!
The question that I am asking myself in this context of simplification as the most valuable effect of storytelling is: How much is too simple? To be honest, I am getting sick of all the simplification talk. I know that business — especially nowadays in the age of digitalization — is very much based on simplification as a technique. You communicate your value in a very simple manner to the client and the value you create for your clients is also, most likely, related to a product or service that makes the life of your customers easier. This is what technology is all about, as I also explain to clients and anyone interested in learning more about the products that startups build.
The only problem is: What if your brain longs for more? What if you are not satisfied with simplicity all day long? Yes, I have written in other posts that the ability to actually make things less complex is a great art that requires much genius. I am not underestimating this. But I am talking about personal needs and pleasure here. What if you know that your brain can do things that can be considered as complex thinking and what if your brain actually enjoys this very much? What if you simply give a shit about simplification because you can read scientific papers that many other people simply cannot understand but you actually enjoy them because they are more complex than the everyday marketing slogans of some personality branders?
Of course, all these are rhetorical questions, right? I am posing them because there is an answer that is longing to break free inside of me. Of course, there is a part of me that is not happy with the simplification effect that stories achieve, no matter how much I love writing stories. But there needs to be some guideline as to how much you value one or the other. This value attribution cannot be based on some “trends,” some public appreciation of how much business storytelling gives you these days. This value can only come from your personal reasoning, I guess, with reason being the ability to think in the most sophisticated way possible according to your level of education.
So, what the hell am I actually doing with my brain these days?
Reflection Questions
1) Are you using storytelling for digital change management in your organization?
2) What is the most striking story that taught you some really crucial lesson in your life?
3) Does your job keep your brain busy? | https://medium.com/@silkeschmidt-32637/117-story-struggles-and-digitalization-f023259a3125 | ['Silke Schmidt'] | 2021-01-27 19:44:25.741000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Storytelling', 'Change Management', 'Digital Transformation', 'Business'] |
Mobile Accessories Market Worth USD 110.6 Billion By 2025 | The global mobile accessories market size is expected to reach USD 110.6 billion by 2025, expanding at a CAGR of 7.1% in the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. growing smartphone usage among the millennials and frequent technological modification are among the prominent factors propelling the market growth.
On the basis of product type, protective cases dominated the market with a share of 31.3% in 2018. The fact that the young consumer group is conscious of safety and security of their mobile phones is among the leading factors for the segment growth. Increasing popularity of the protective screen glasses and trendy covers in anticipated to drive the segment in the near future. Apart from protective cases, headphone is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR of 7.6% in the forecast period. Increasing innovation in the product such as introduction of wireless headsets, coupled with fitness conscious consumer group, is driving the segment.
Based on distribution channel, the offline segment dominated the mobile accessories market and accounted for 69.9% share of the total revenue in 2018. Increasing demand for high-end products such as smartwatch and camera lens, coupled with failure in online deliveries of fragile items, is among the prominent factors driving the segment. The online segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR of 7.9% in the forecast period. Integration of artificial intelligence in the online retail sites has led to increase in frequent notifications of mobile accessories. Apart from this, discounts on the product is fuelling the market growth in the recent times.
Asia Pacific is the largest region for the product and it accounted for 45.0% share of the overall revenue in 2018. China is one of the leading markets for smartphones and accessories and it accounted for 55.0% share of the Asia Pacific market. The fact that China is capable of changing technologies of the smartphones, they are coming up with accessories that are adaptable with the changing technologies. These factors are driving the market in the region.
To request a sample copy:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-accessories-market
Further key findings from the study suggest:
By product type, the protective case segment held the largest share of 31.3% in 2018
Countries such as UAE and Saudi Arabia are projected to witness significant growth due to increasing demand for smartphones
By distribution channel, the online segment is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 7.9% in the forecast period.
See More Reports of This Category:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/electronic-and-electrical
About Grand View Research:
Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
For More Information: www.grandviewresearch.com | https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/mobile-accessories-market-35cc45515ba9 | ['Gaurav Shah'] | 2019-10-04 13:40:06.191000+00:00 | ['Electrical', 'Earphones', 'Cases', 'Protective', 'Mobile Accessories'] |
Summer 2021 Reading List: Letter from the Editors | Daniela Fifi, Hannah Heller, Hallie Scott, Kabir Singh, Sierra Van Ryck deGroot, Viewfinder Editorial Board
This summer, perhaps more than ever, it feels necessary to try to make space for reading and reflection (in addition to rest, relaxation, and fun!) For this year’s summer issue the editorial team chose several texts we are (re)reading that we feel speak to our work as museum educators working towards social justice. We hope you check some of them out and let us know what you think in the comments, and please add your own ideas for what you’re reading this summer!
This is also our last issue with Kabir Singh at the helm as Editor in Chief. Kabir has served on the Viewfinder Editorial Board for four years, leading our team for the last two. We will sorely miss Kabir’s generous, thoughtful, and forward-thinking leadership, but look forward to carrying forward Viewfinder in all of the ways that it has been shaped by him and the other brilliant editorial minds who have guided this publication.
Happy summer reading,
The Viewfinder Editorial Team
Daniela’s Pick
Lewis, S (2014). The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure and the Search for Mastery. Simon Schuster.
Book cover image for The Rise. Text at the top reads “The Rise.” Bottom text reads “Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery,” with the author’s name Sarah Lewis written below that. The background image is gradated sunset-looking colors, beginning with light blue at the top, turning to tan-yellow, to burnt orange, to gray green at the bottom.
The creative field has been heavily impacted by the global pandemic with many of us in the creative and arts industries losing jobs and stability. This was compounded by ethical questions that surfaced in creative sectors around access to health care, confronting salary inequities, and equity of representation in the field. Museum Educators and other frontline staff were hit especially hard as museums laid off staff from these departments. I recommend this book to readers as an offering to those who many have felt displaced and disheartened. Renowned art historian, curator, and teacher Sarah Lewis reflects on the central concept of failure and challenges in her book, The Rise. She presents failure as a pivotal and crucial landmark in the lives of important historical figures such as Fredrick Douglass and Samuel F.B. Morse. She exclaims that loss has propelled the world’s greatest thinkers into their most celebrated innovations and work. An understanding, acceptance, and surrender to failure, challenge, and loss can manifest into incredible possibilities.
Hallie’s Pick
Onyewuenyi, I. (2021). “On the Future of the Museum,” Art in America, June 3, 2021.
I do not recommend reading this if you are seeking to uplift your faith in museums and museum work. But if you are like me and trying to make sense of complex feelings about institutions and labor this may be a poignant read for you. Author Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi describes the concept of “emancipatory rhetoric” that characterizes the complex narratives museums have been broadcasting over the past year. Ike (who, to be transparent, is a brilliant colleague of mine at the Hammer Museum) questions the push for museums to adopt “activist-adjacent” missions, asking if this thrust might be seen as a by-product of neoliberal policies that diminish government funds for social services. Drawing upon Aimé Césaire, Christina Sharpe, Audre Lorde, and others, Ike suggests instead that the future of the museums may be their own death and ponders what that means for all of us workers who toil within these institutions.
Cover image for May/June 2021 Art in America issue. Text reads starting at the top “International Review since 1913, Art in America, New Talent Issue with Guest Editor Antwaun Sargent, May/June 2021. Background artwork is a tapestry titled The (Black) Madonna-Whore Complex by Qualeasha Wood.
Hannah’s Pick
Morrison, T. (1992). Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. New York: Vintage.
This was one of the first texts I read when I was first seeking out definitions of Whiteness written by people of color. Morrison employs several examples of White American authors to demonstrate ways that Blackness and Africanness has been constructed in the White imaginary, in literature written by White people for a White audience. Her analysis reveals how perceived principles of Americanness (e.g., individualism, freedom, masculine strength, feminine innocence) are all predicated on constructions of the Black Other that both solidify stereotypes of the Black figure in literature, but also delineate Whiteness’s own fears and conditions. On observing this dynamic herself, Morrison writes: “It is as if I had been looking at a fishbowl — the glide and flick of the golden scales, the green tip, the bolt of white careening back from the gills; the castles at the bottom, surrounded by pebbles and tiny, intricate fronds of green; the barely disturbed water, the flecks of waste and food, the tranquil bubbles traveling to the surface — and suddenly I saw the bowl, the structure that transparently (and invisibly) permits the ordered life it contains to exist in the larger world” (p. 17). As the museum field continues to seek to understand Whiteness and how it orders our internal work, our relationships with our audiences, funding structures, and conservative responses to calls for change, I appreciate how this text offers one way to see and define the “bowl” that contains our work.
Book cover. Text reads starting from the top “National Bestseller, Playing in the Dark, Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, ‘Her revolutionary little monograph… is a major work by a major American author… [Toni Morrison] is one of the living writers who really matter,’ Los Angeles Times.” Morrison is pictured in sepia tones standing holding a straw hat, wearing a long strand of pearls, looking to her right into the distance.
Kabir’s Pick
Matar, H. (2019). A Month in Siena. New York: Random House.
This beautiful short book manages to be both a delightful travelogue and a meditation on grief. I found it a perfect pandemic read, vicariously satisfying some of my longing to travel and to set foot in museums again. The author is perhaps more well known for his 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning The Return about the search for his father in Qaddafi’s Libya (which I have not yet read, but look forward to). In this memoir, Hisham Matar shares notes from a mostly solitary stay in Siena that include befriending strangers through common language and culture, close looking while museumgoing, a history lesson on the plague (which felt more relevant than I would have liked!), and processing the disappearance of his father. Matar is a keen observer of art and life. His voice keeps the reader engaged and makes a wide range of topics feel personal. Art is very much at the center of this book, which features numerous color reproductions of Sienese paintings that Matar describes in detail.
Book cover. Text reads from the top “A Month in the Siena, By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return, Hisham Matar.” Background image is watercolor looking painting of city architecture, with a large orange building in the background with what looks like a circular stained glass window covered with a grate, and smaller buildings in pinks, tans, and greens in the middle ground, and a gray staircase leading down in the foreground.
Sierra’s Pick
May, K. (2020). Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. Riverhead Books.
It would be the understatement of the past decade to say last year was a challenging year. We saw loss, struggle, and oppression loom over so many aspects of our lives. Wintering was a much needed read during a year of struggle. The book is slow paced and, while normally that would cause me to put a book down in pursuit of something faster, it was exactly what was needed after almost fourteen months of quarantine. May’s book is a memoir, but it reads like a conversation — as if you and a good friend were sitting down on a sunny afternoon on a restaurant’s outdoor patio, catching up after the past year. Over a meal or small bite accompanied by a glass of wine or a sparkling water, you share the struggles and triumphs you both have endured. You will wade through some awkward moments and bask in some glorious times. It’s a book that, after a couple of chapters, it felt okay to put down and process some of the feelings that bubbled up over the course of reading. May sets a tone with the book’s narrative in a way that encourages the reader to take their time with it. So, I encourage you to buy this book or get a long loan at the library and take your time with it. Wintering is the reset you may need after a difficult year. | https://medium.com/viewfinder-reflecting-on-museum-education/summer-2021-reading-list-letter-from-the-editors-591816f8708d | ['Naea Museum Education'] | 2021-07-25 11:03:47.406000+00:00 | ['Museums', 'Museum Education', 'Summer Reading'] |
CalCPA Daily Clips | Dec. 10, 2021
MEMBER IN THE NEWS
(Louis Barajas quoted.)
A chance encounter with Rick Warren turns an unhappy accountant into a purpose-driven financial adviser
Heeding a pastor’s advice to make a greater impact by doing something more meaningful
MarketWatch
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-never-see-a-u-haul-behind-a-hearse-a-chance-encounter-with-rick-warren-turns-an-unhappy-accountant-into-a-purpose-driven-financial-adviser-11639095587?mod=flipboard_pf
BUSINESS
How to avoid bad meetings and unnecessary tasks
This guide offers advice on deferring or declining unnecessary meetings, as well as a variation on the Eisenhower Matrix to spur focused decision-making — all in the pursuit of better productivity.
SmartBrief/Leadership
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2021/12/say-no-unimportant-meetings?utm_source=brief
— — -
Inflation and talent: 2 top headwinds facing business in 2022
Inflation concerns and staffing difficulties are dampening optimism about the economy among CPA finance leadership executives. Learn more in this podcast episode with transcript.
Journal of Accountancy
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/podcast/cpa-news-inflation-talent-2-challenges-2022.html
— — -
What’s ahead for ESG strategy and reporting after COP26?
Environmental, social and governance matters are becoming more prominent for investors and companies.
FM
https://www.fm-magazine.com/news/2021/dec/esg-strategy-reporting-after-cop26.html
— — -
7 Keys to Communicating an M&A Deal Effectively
Here’s how to develop a potent story about a transaction and position it in the context of corporate strategy.
CFO
https://www.cfo.com/investor-relations-banking-capital-markets/2021/12/7-keys-to-communicating-an-ma-deal-effectively/
PERSONAL FINANCE
Gen Z may have unrealistic retirement expectations
A Goldman Sachs Asset Management survey suggests that one-quarter of members of Generation Z are looking to retire before age 55 — an expectation that might not match with reality. Just 8% of people retire before turning 55, and the most common time to leave the workforce is between the ages of 60 and 64, data shows.
Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-08/when-can-i-retire-gen-z-wants-to-stop-working-before-55-goldman-sachs-says
— — -
Start treating your contributions like monthly bills
Saving money is an essential financial habit. Whether you’re saving for future expenses, emergencies, or retirement, having extra money set aside is beneficial.
USAToday
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/retirement/2021/12/10/treat-retirement-contributions-like-monthly-bills/49496105/
PROFESSION
Why Your Social Media Is a Flop
Social media marketing is one of the top ways accounting and tax pros are gaining new business, and there’s plenty of evidence to show that it’s working for thousands of accountants. So, why is your social media failing?
CPA Trendlines
https://cpatrendlines.com/2021/12/09/why-isnt-your-social-media-working/
— — -
Covid Taught Us the Importance of Slowing Down
Before the pandemic, there were always too many things to do, too many clients to see, and never enough time in the day. Finding work-life harmony seemed to be a constant struggle.
CPA Practice Advisor
https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/firm-management/article/21246813/covid-taught-us-the-importance-of-slowing-down
— — -
Adding Value to Clients Through Organization
Here’s an approach to take to become more organized, efficient and begin to add true value to the services you provide your clients.
AccountingWeb
https://www.accountingweb.com/practice/practice-excellence/adding-value-to-clients-through-organization
REGULATORY
SEC’s Gensler: SPAC investors need better protection
Investors in special-purpose acquisition companies are provided insufficient information on SPAC deals and have inadequate protection from fraud and conflicts of interest, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler says.
CNBC
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/09/sec-chair-gensler-seeks-tougher-spac-disclosure-liability-rules.html
TAX
Cryptoassets: What to keep in mind in 2022
Cryptoassets are here to stay. Tax advisers need to be ready as more clients engage in transactions involving digital assets.
The Tax Adviser
https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2021/dec/cryptoassets-2022.html
— — -
IRS rolls out more e-filing forms for nonprofits as systems lag
The IRS is asking more charities and tax-exempt organizations to file their information returns electronically as required by the Taxpayer First Act of 2019, but its aging systems are experiencing delays that are frustrating tax professionals.
AccountingToday
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-rolls-out-more-e-filing-forms-for-nonprofits-as-systems-lag
— — -
5 tax to-do’s before the end of the year
The end of the year is coming up, and there are several things you can do to prep for tax season.
CNBC
https://www.cnbc.com/select/tax-tips-before-end-year/ | https://medium.com/calcpa-daily-clips/calcpa-daily-clips-3083be241550 | [] | 2021-12-10 15:27:35.040000+00:00 | ['Accounting', 'Business', 'California', 'Taxes', 'Personal Finance'] |
The 7S Framework: Mutually Exclusive, Intrinsically Linked, and Continuously Realigned | The “Mutually Exclusive” phrasing on top is a hat-tip to McKinsey’s MECE Principle — “a grouping principle for separating a set of items into subsets that are mutually exclusive (ME) and collectively exhaustive (CE).” I do not know whether Peters et al used the principle in creating the 7Ss, but it’s possible. Barbara Minto, who coined the term, was in charge of training at McKinsey in the 1970s. In other words, a contemporary of both Peters and Waterman. And while she didn’t actually put MECE into book form until 1987’s The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking (featured in w502019), it’s not unreasonable to suspect the idea could somehow have made its way to Peters… but I digress.
The point is this: while the 7Ss aren’t MECE per se (it’s ME but not necessarily CE), it could be made so. One could drill down into each of the 7S to unearth their component parts. Staff could subdivide by occupational categories, for example; thus providing a bit more detail to work with. Just be careful not to take it too far. Simplicity is a virtue. And if we expand on the 7S too much, we risk eroding the “shared understanding” mentioned above. So keep it simple. And keep in lean. Peters would approve.
That’s all for this week.
Until next time.
/Andreas | https://medium.com/workmatters/the-7s-framework-mutually-exclusive-intrinsically-linked-and-continuously-realigned-557cdfab57b | ['Andreas Holmer'] | 2020-12-15 11:40:44.482000+00:00 | ['Mckinsey', 'Mece', 'Organization', 'Tom Peters'] |
JavaScript Promises: Promise.all vs Promise.allSettled vs Promise.race vs Promise.any | JavaScript Promises: Promise.all vs Promise.allSettled vs Promise.race vs Promise.any
On your way to become a “JavaScript Superstar” and “Promises whizz”, you’ll need to master the concept of handling multiple promises at the same time. There are some methods that are provided by the language to do just that, but before we dwell on those methods let’s begin with understanding some basics of “states” and “fates” of promises.
States and Fates
Promises generally have 3 possible mutually exclusive states, they are:
fulfilled — A promise is “fulfilled” if promise.then(f) will call f as soon as possible
— A promise is “fulfilled” if will call as soon as possible rejected — A promise is rejected if promise.then(undefined, r) will call r "as soon as possible."
— A promise is rejected if will call "as soon as possible." pending — A promise is pending if it is neither “fulfilled” nor “rejected”.
An umbrella term, commonly used, for the above would be “settled” where a promise is said to be “settled” if it is not pending (that is if it is either fulfilled or rejected).
Promises have two possible mutually exclusive fates, they are:
resolved — A promise is “resolved” if trying to resolve or reject it has no effect, that is the promise has been locked-in to either follow another promise (“thenable” value) or has been “fulfilled” or “rejected”.
— A promise is “resolved” if trying to resolve or reject it has no effect, that is the promise has been locked-in to either follow another promise (“thenable” value) or has been “fulfilled” or “rejected”. unresolved — A promise is “unresolved” if it is not resolved, that is if trying to resolve or reject it will have an impact on the promise.
Now that we have covered the concept of states and fates, we should now be able to understand promise concepts with common terminology. Let’s move on to the gist of the article.
Promise.all
Promise.all resolve all promises passed as an iterable object. The main characteristic is that it rejects completely when an input value is rejected. Basically, it follows an all-or-nothing methodology. Let us illustrate it with an example:
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo'))
]; Promise.all(promises).then((characters) =>
console.log(`They are all getting along `, characters)
);
The output being will look something like this:
We got a happy family [ 'Luke', 'Lea', 'Han Solo' ]
Now let us introduce a rejection to the array of promises
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 100, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.all(promises)
.then((characters) => console.log(`They are all getting along `, characters))
.catch((characters) =>
console.error(`They are getting along because of `, characters)
);
Now if you see the output should be:
> They are getting along because of Darth Vader
So in the first example, you can see that Promise.all is fulfilled and all the names are returned. But in the next example, you can see that one rejected promise results in rejecting all the promises (all-or-nothing logic).
Promise.allSettled
Promise.allSettled method returns a promise that resolves after all of the given promises have either "fulfilled" or "rejected", with an array of objects that each describes the outcome of each promise. Let us illustrate it with an example:
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo'))
]; Promise.allSettled(promises).then((characters) => console.log(characters));
The output will be different than before because Promise.allSettled returns an array of objects that describes the output:
> [
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Luke' },
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Lea' },
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Han Solo' }
]
Now let us introduce a rejection and analyze the output:
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 100, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.allSettled(promises).then((characters) => console.log(characters));
The output of the array of promises with rejection being:
> [
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Luke' },
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Lea' },
{ status: 'fulfilled', value: 'Han Solo' },
{ status: 'rejected', reason: 'Darth Vader' }
]
As you might have noticed Promise.allSettled is a method that can be typically used when you have multiple asynchronous tasks that are not dependent on one another to complete successfully, unlike Promise.all() may be more appropriate if the tasks are dependent on each other.
Promise.race
Promise.race() method returns a promise that fulfills or rejects as soon as one of the promises in an iterable fulfills or rejects, with the value or reason from that promise. Hence, it short-circuits when the first input promise value is "settled". Let us illustrate this with a quick example:
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo'))
]; Promise.race(promises).then((characters) => console.log(characters));
The output will be the first fulfilled promise status
> "Luke"
Now, let us analyze Promise.race with a rejection:
const promises = [
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 200, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.race(promises)
.then((characters) => console.log(characters))
.catch((characters) => console.error(characters));
Since the rejection happens later, the output will be:
> "Han Solo"
Now, let us change things up and try to bring the rejection to be earlier
const promises = [
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 200, 'Han Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 100, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.race(promises)
.then((characters) => console.log(characters))
.catch((characters) =>
console.error(`They are getting along because of `, characters)
);
The output will now be:
> They are getting along because of Darth Vader
Promise.any
Promise.any takes an iterable of Promise objects and, as soon as one of the promises in the iterable fulfills, returns a single promise that resolves with the value from that promise. Each difference with respect to Promise.race short-circuits on the first "fulfilled" promise. Let's illustrate with an example:
const promises = [
Promise.resolve('Luke'),
'Lea',
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 100, 'Han Solo'))
]; Promise.any(promises).then((characters) => console.log(`Statues `, characters));
The output will be the first promise that is fulfilled
> "Luke"
Now, let’s try the same with a rejection that rejects the fastest
const promises = [
new Promise((resolve, reject) => setTimeout(resolve, 200, 'Han Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 100, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.any(promises)
.then((characters) => console.log(characters))
.catch((characters) => console.error(characters));
The output here will be:
> "Han Solo"
Now, let’s reject all promises
const promises = [
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 200, 'Ben Solo')),
new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(reject, 100, 'Darth Vader'))
]; Promise.any(promises)
.then((characters) => console.log(characters))
.catch((characters) => console.error(characters));
The output for the above will be an AggregateError
> AggregateError: All promises were rejected
Essentially, as you can see this method is the opposite of Promise.all .
An important note for Promise.any would be to check the compatibility since it might not be completely available on all environments but still can be implemented with bluebird and polyfills.
AggregateError is a new subclass of Error that groups together individual errors
Conclusion | https://medium.com/weekly-webtips/javascript-promises-promise-all-vs-promise-allsettled-vs-promise-race-vs-promise-any-d42b8e272bf8 | ['Zubair Ahmed'] | 2020-12-14 09:12:59.748000+00:00 | ['Javascript Tips', 'Web Development', 'JavaScript', 'Tutorial', 'Promises'] |
Resumão | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/inventos-digitais/resum%C3%A3o-e7f39631fb9c | ['Inventos Digitais'] | 2020-12-21 16:30:57.993000+00:00 | ['Empreendedorismo', 'Startups Brasil', 'Startups', 'Founders', 'Thecode'] |
William H. Whyte on Human Behavior in Urban Settings | William H. Whyte on Human Behavior in Urban Settings
William Hollingsworth “Holly” Whyte (left), during a visit to downtown Chattanooga in 1984. Photo by Chattanooga Public Library.
“What attracts people most, it would appear, is other people.” — William H. Whyte in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980)
William Hollingsworth Whyte, known affectionately as “Holly,” was a prominent American urbanist who lived during the 20th century. An exceptionally influential figure, Whyte was the mentor of many other “urban legends” who were active in the same era, such as Jane Jacobs and Fred Kent.
Later, Whyte’s ideas — which have greatly impacted the field of urban planning and design and are still relevant today — were also picked up and built upon by other renowned urban thinkers, such as Jan Gehl, Donald Appleyard, Allan Jacobs, Clare Cooper Marcus, Galen Cranz, Robert Sommers — the list goes on.
What makes Holly Whyte so special? What’s so great about his ideas that it influences so many people so profoundly?
As paradoxical as it seems, Whyte’s most fascinating subject is also the most mundane: human behavior in urban settings, or, to put in even simpler terms, what people do or don’t do in the city. That’s the essence of his work.
Sounds too simple? Well, that’s because it is.
In fact, that simplicity is its greatest charm.
People-watching on the streets
“The street is the river of life of the city, the place where we come together, the pathway to the center.” — William H. Whyte in City: Rediscovering the Center (1988)
While many of Holly Whyte’s ideas may seem incredibly sophisticated, they all have roots in a deceivingly simple activity: people-watching.
Again, what’s so special about that? Don’t we all do that every day?
Well, Holly Whyte takes people-watching to another level.
Known by the moniker, “The Man Who Loved Cities,” Whyte has a reputation of being incredibly observant. He enjoyed watching the small, unimportant things that people do in urban environments — to the point where he could draw complex patterns and derive insights from them. People attract people, he famously said, and people are what makes cities intricate and interesting.
As he expressed in one of his writings:
“One felicity leads to another. Good places tend to be all of a piece — and the reason can almost always be traced to a human being.”
From those words, we can infer this lesson: to design cities truly catered to people, we must first observe the people.
Sounds obvious? I wholeheartedly agree! It is blatantly obvious — but still, we keep missing that simple fact. Why is that? Who knows.
Now that we’ve established that people-watching is an important activity, especially for urbanists, let’s proceed to the next question: what’s the best place to watch people?
Their houses? Parks? Shopping centers? Cafes and restaurants?
According to Holly Whyte, the best place for people-watching is the streets. In his own words, streets are “the river of life…where we come together.” Streets are brimming with human activities, it’s where people gather, pass by, and intersect. To study the city and its people, we must study its streets.
In 1969, while working with the New York City Planning Commission, Whyte decided to take his favorite pastime into a full-fledged research project, which then became the Street Life Project. From this pioneering study of pedestrian meanderings, the gate opened wide for further studies on human behavior in urban settings.
The Street Life Project’s methodology is pretty straightforward. Whyte and his colleagues took a camera, put it on a street corner, and recorded a timelapse of pedestrian activities. The result of this observation is, again, staggeringly obvious, and yet often goes unnoticed.
Whyte found patterns and insights in seemingly meaningless behaviors, such as where people choose to stand, where and how they have conversations, how they move objects around and move around objects — all trivial stuff. Yet, it is through these tiny things that we can accurately find out what kind of places the people actually need.
In light of these humble findings, Whyte expressed:
“If there’s a lesson in streetwatching it is that people do like basics — and as environments go, a street that is open to the sky and filled with people and life is a splendid place to be.”
Holly Whyte’s legacy
Holly Whyte’s works have inspired a long list of urban thinkers — past, present, and emerging. He even mentored some of those thinkers directly.
He has been at the forefront of the struggle to re-center cities around people since the mid-1950s when he was an editor at Fortune Magazine. It was during this period that he published Jane Jacobs’s “Downtown Is for People” in Fortune and in his compilation The Exploding Metropolis.
Furthermore, Fred Kent, one of Whyte’s mentees, founded the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) in 1975 after working with him on the Street Life Project. This makes Whyte somewhat of a forefather of the placemaking movement, an approach of urban planning and design that focuses on the way people interact with the places they live in.
Even if you’re not an urbanist, there are still a lot of lessons you can learn from Holly Whyte. The majority of humankind now lives in cities. If you’re human, your life will inevitably be connected to the city in one way or another.
Among all of Whyte’s knowledge, these three are perhaps the most enduring and most relevant to our current world:
1. Small public spaces are important
Through his meticulous and diligent observation, Whyte has proven the importance of small spaces. It is park benches, streetlights, fountains, and other simple objects that people tend to gravitate towards. He elaborated extensively on this notion in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
Furthermore, what attracts people most is other people. However much we love solitude, it is only among our kind that we feel the safest and most comfortable in. With this realization, Whyte believed that we have a moral responsibility to make places that facilitate humane interaction.
The microcosm of small public spaces is the perfect vehicle to reach that goal. These spaces contribute fundamentally to the people’s well-being and overall quality of life — both as individuals and as a collective entity.
2. Design should start from the bottom up
Whyte was a pioneer of a design approach that is bottom-up, as opposed to top-down. He advocated that design should begin, first and foremost, with a thorough understanding of the way people use spaces — the way they are currently using it, and the way they would like to use it.
He noted that people vote for spaces with their actions, which are largely unconscious. When using spaces, we don’t really think, don’t we? People simply use spaces that feel comfortable and easy to use, and we disregard those that aren’t.
Of course, there’s still merit in a top-down design approach, but it would be wrong to not consider its bottom-up counterpart. After all, if people won’t use a space, why build it in the first place? Might as well leave it in its natural state, let it develop organically, and see what happens.
3. Observation is key
We can learn a great deal simply by observing. Any decent planning and design process starts with observation, as opposed to assumption. It is with the knowledge found through observation that we can create places that are truly usable and useful for its users (kind of like UX, right?).
Whyte reminds us to examine spaces without theoretical or aesthetic biases. That is, don’t get stuck on the “textbook definition” of a space, and don’t view said space only from its outside appearance.
In his words, we should “look hard, with a clean, clear mind, and then look again — and believe what you see.”
Form follows function. First, the soul, then the body.
Final thoughts
“I end then in praise of small spaces. The multiplier effect is tremendous. It is not just the number of people using them, but the larger number who pass by and enjoy them vicariously, or even the larger number who feel better about the city center for knowledge of them. For a city, such places are priceless, whatever the cost. They are built of a set of basics and they are right in front of our noses. If we will look.” — William H. Whyte in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980)
Holly Whyte was a profound man. Through his works, he taught us how to see. His humble take on urban planning and people-watching remind me of the Latin proverb Sic parvis Magna, “great things from small beginnings.”
Cities are colossal entities. People, on the other hand, are minuscule in comparison. Nevertheless, cities are made by people. They’re supposed to be made for people, too. And to do that, to make cities for people, we must refrain from staring incessantly at the grandiose, and also turn our gaze towards the ordinary — that’s where the magic happens, after all.
“If we will look,” Holly said. | https://historyofyesterday.com/william-h-whyte-on-human-behavior-in-urban-settings-6247f65e6d49 | ['Aushaf W.'] | 2020-12-22 00:04:04.848000+00:00 | ['William H Whyte', 'History', 'Cities', 'Urban Planning', 'Placemaking'] |
Beauty so Brittle | Beauty so Brittle
Chalkboard One Line Poem Prompt: “Brittle”
Photo by Sarah Comeau on Unsplash
Everyone told her — Nothing lasts forever!
Beauty so brittle, nature made so frail
A treasure of today, failing to flower tomorrow
The charm that lasts until the cusp of sorrow! | https://medium.com/chalkboard/beauty-so-brittle-2c60d83d5545 | [] | 2019-06-09 19:31:43.246000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'One Line', 'Nature', 'Beauty', 'Poem'] |
Foresting is driving to universities… | Dear friends,
Today we have some good news for you. You might be a bit surprised but be sure that there is always the reason behind everything.
And today we would like to introduce you Foresting Coffee Truck with a fancy name, BERRY Car.
Berry Car???
Yes, that’s correct. Berry Car… Can imagine the confusion on your face 😊
Let’s clarify what BERRY Car is.
These days are the toughest period for university students because they are having final exams. We all remember what days those FINALS were … As we are having “Foresting is rooting for your [ ]” campaigns we thought why not to support university students. So, we will visit some Korean universities and distribute coffee for free to anyone who wants coffee.
So now you know what BERRY Car is and you might wonder why we do this. But before let’s go through the history of FORESTING app development and performance.
1. Foresting Closed Beta Test!
Foresting closed beta test started in winter. Foresting conducted a total of three close-beta tests from January to March this year. Despite cold weather, the team didn’t have time to let go of cell phone from hands…
The closed beta tests involved several content creators from South Korea and abroad for better results and diversification.
People in their 20s and 30s are the most active ones in social media, so naturally, people in their 20s and 30s had the highest rate of participation in the test.
Test results!
High satisfaction level ★ ★ ★ ★
There are two reasons why satisfaction was high!
1) Interesting and fresh content
2) Ability to obtain mobile coupons as compensation for SNS activities
Today, we are presenting over 30 mobile coupons on Foresting!
Coffee coupons from Starbucks and Twosome Place, refreshing ice-cream coupons, BHC fried chicken coupons, movie coupons, and so on: everything young people like doing!
2. Foresting after the Open Beta…
At the end of April, Foresting Open Beta was released. Since it was opened to general users, not selected content creators, the amount of content on the platform has increased dramatically, but the freshness and fun have been reduced.
As the Open Beta is a test version prior to the release of the official version, the reduced user satisfaction level and complains are natural.
3. Why Foresting Goes to Universities!
Foresting is working hard every day to release its official version in August! The most important role in a stable and reliable service of the official version is the user’s voice. Foresting wants to meet people in their 20s and 30s who are the main source of fresh and interesting ideas in content creation.
Foresting wants to power up and to give inspiration!
We were wondering how we can help each other and as the final exams will start soon there is a good chance!
We will visit universities in the metropolitan area from the coming week to listen to the opinions about Foresting and to distribute refreshing coffee.
The first university to visit next week is the University of Seoul (UOS).
We are very excited about how college students react, whether the coffee tastes good and they like it.
The Foresting team will give you a live report on the university visit with BERRY Car.
Stay tuned! | https://medium.com/foresting/foresting-is-driving-to-universities-35f139bd1d09 | [] | 2019-06-16 15:30:55.648000+00:00 | ['University', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Coffee', 'Social Media'] |
Being a ‘creativepreneur’ in a pandemic: The Covid-19 rollercoaster | Being a ‘creativepreneur’ in a pandemic: The Covid-19 rollercoaster
Founder of Impact Chronicles Jocelyn Nyaguse says the platform has experienced some dramatic shifts and has been reminded of the need to have solid business structures JAMLAB Contributor Follow Dec 24, 2020 · 3 min read
Image: Supplied
By Jocelyn Nyaguse
This year has been quite the rollercoaster ride but of all the things that have remained constant, one has been the most glaring to me — the need for information. As a parent, entrepreneur, and participant of the Jamlab Accelerator Programme, there has been a constant need to stay abreast with the news as well as to disseminate the news.
The Impact Chronicles journey has experienced some dramatic shifts as a result. The platform showcases and promotes the work of enterprises across Africa with a specific focus on the founders themselves, their thought processes, successes and struggles. While we understood the important role that information plays, because of Jamlab, we have now come to understand that empathy is of the essence. In our case, it is important to help social entrepreneurs understand that we are there for them and sharing our stories with them has proven to be a source of comfort because it has been a reminder that they are not alone in their struggles.
Impact Chronicles has also been furnished with constant reminders that we need to have solid business structures, and develop a sustainable business model in order to scale our operations and sustain our impact. The good thing is that these reminders have also come with guidelines and lessons around the ‘how’ of it all. We have since developed multiple business models, tweaked them based on customer feedback and iterated. The journey continues but it brings us great joy to have embarked on this journey with Jamlab.
The highlight of this experience so far has been the pitch sessions we have had. It is great to see the work of others and learning from them has been a huge part of the process. Every week, we have been paired with a different colleague to work together, to give each other advice and most importantly, to understand each other’s passions better. Jamlab has been great for us. As the year draws to an end, we get to look back and see how far we have come, and Impact Chronicles has come so far. We are super excited to see and experience 2021.
*Nyaguse is founder of Impact Chronicles
The JamLab Accelerator is a six-month hothouse programme for journalism and media innovators. It is based at Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in the heart of Johannesburg. | https://medium.com/jamlab/being-a-creativepreneur-in-a-pandemic-the-covid-19-rollercoaster-d9688e26f493 | ['Jamlab Contributor'] | 2020-12-24 06:02:46.920000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Startup Lessons', 'Covid 19', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Accelerator'] |
Spring Professional Certification (VMware EDU-1202) Frequently Asked Questions & Answers | Spring Professional Certification (VMware EDU-1202) Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
Here is everything a Java developer should know before going for Spring professional certification.
Hello guys, if you are preparing for spring professional certification but have questions then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared how to prepare for Spring certification and essential Spring certification resources, and today, I am going to answer all the common doubts you have about spring professional certification.
Spring Professional Certification Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about Spring certifications like the Vmware Certified Spring Professional Certification Exam
These questions touch many areas e.g. eligibility, cost, how to prepare well, resources, books, mock exams, types of questions, the difficulty of questions, and where you can find Spring certification dumps to get an idea of what is asked in the actual exam.
Most of these questions are the collection of what my readers regularly ask me over email, Facebook chat, and other mediums and should answer many of your questions and doubts, but, if you have a question which is not answered in this list then feel free to drop a comment and I’ll try my best to answer your question.
What is Spring Professional Certification? What does it test?
The Spring Professional certification exam is designed to test and validate your understanding of and familiarity with core aspects of Spring and Spring Boot such as:
Configuration, Component-scanning, AOP
Data access and Transactions
REST, Spring Security
Auto-configuration, Actuator, Spring Boot Testing
What is the cost of Spring certification?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions about Spring certification. The cost of the Spring certification voucher is 200 USD. The cost is the same for all exams e.g. Spring Professional Certification. See here to learn more about the cost of various spring certifications around the world.
How to prepare for Spring certifications (VMware EDU-1202)?
The best way to prepare for Spring certification is to take Vmware’s core Spring training because most of the questions are from the study material provided by the 4-day course, but that’s not the only way.
You can still pass Spring certification with a good score without training. All you need is a couple of good books, tutorials, and mock exams, and 2 months’ time.
If you are preparing for the Spring Professional exam, you can buy a good study guide like Vmware Certified Professional Spring Developer Exam: A Study Guide and take some free online courses on Spring and Spring MVC framework like Spring Fundamentals and Spring Professional Tutorial course from Pluralsight and Udemy.
Once you feel comfortable with the Spring and can answer all questions given in the official study guide, you can take a good Spring certification simulator like David Mayer’s Core Spring simulator. If you consistently score 80% on this exam, you are good to go.
What is the cost of Spring Framework training?
The cost of Spring training like Spring Core or Spring Boot is around 3200 USD or equivalent in local currency in the USA, Europe, and other North American countries, but the cost of Spring training in India is just around 50K INR for 4-day classroom training from SpringPeople.
Can you take the Spring framework training online?
Yes, Vmware and its partner like SpringPeople provide both classroom and online training.
Is it possible to take Spring Certification without training?
Earlier, the Spring training provided by Vmware and its partner like SpringPeople in India was mandatory for appearing in Spring Certification but from 10th May 2017 Pivotal has lifted that requirement (see here).
Now, the training is optional, and if you can afford then only you need to enroll. Similar to Java certifications you can directly buy exam vouchers and appear in Spring certification without any training from Vmware or its partners.
Which version of Spring certification should you give?
On Vmware’s website, the Spring professional certification is available for both Spring 5.0 but I suggest you give the latest one. Since Spring 5.0 is also live now, I expect that Spring 5.0 certification will also be added soon, but, if you are in a hurry, better give the Spring v5.0 exam (VMware EDU-1202).
Can you retake the exam after failure?
Yes, you can retake the Spring certification exam after 14 days of the cooling period, but you need to buy a separate exam voucher worth 200 USD. There is no discount on retakes. So, it’s best to try and pass the exam on the first attempt.
Here are some of the best books to prepare for Spring Professional certification
These books are enough to pass respective Spring certifications, but if you want to prepare in more detail, I also suggest you check some of the free online courses as well e.g. Spring Framework MasterClass and Introduction to Spring MVC from Pluralsight.
Does REST and Web Services are covered in Spring Core Certification?
As per the official Spring Study guide, v5.0 is definitely part of Spring core Certification. Apart from that, you can even expect some questions from Microservices, but the weight of REST is not much, hence 2 to 3 questions is the maximum you can expect.
Why become a Certified Spring Professional?
Well, a Certification gives you recognition and sets you apart from the competition. It will also help you to learn the Spring framework better which will eventually help you in your job and career. Once you complete the certification you will feel more confident in job interviews.
In short, the following is the major benefit of becoming a Vmware Certified Spring framework developer
- Industry recognition
- Better Job opportunity
- Better Salary
- Improved Knowledge and Skill
Some companies also encourage their employees to become certified so that they can present good pictures to their clients. Many fortune 500 companies like to see certified developers handling their systems and process.
What are some free Spring Core Professional Certification Mock Questions and PDF?
There are a couple of free Spring mock questions and PDF are available online, some of the most useful ones are below:
David Mayers free Spring Certification dump (30 questions)
Java & Moie’s Spring Core v5.0 Mock Questions (50 questions)
These sample questions will give you some idea of what to expect in the real Spring certification exam, but, the general rule is that Spring certification focus on concept rather than how-to and remembering class and interface names.
What are some good mock exams for Spring Certifications?
At the moment there are not many good mock exams available for Spring Certification but the one which stands out is David Mayer’s Spring Web Simulator. It has been updated for Spring v5.0 contains more than 300 questions on different exam topics e.g. Container, testing, Spring MVC, Spring Security, etc.
You can also access the simulator online from anywhere. It also provides a free PDF with a sample question, which you can use to assess the quality of the question before buying the full simulator. I have also created the Spring Practice Exam on Udemy which contains 250+ questions with explanations you can check that as well for your final preparation.
That’s all about some of the frequently asked questions about Spring framework certifications (VMware EDU-1202. Now that there is no mandatory training requirement, it’s a very good opportunity for Java and Spring developers to get recognition for their experience in the Spring framework.
Apart from recognition, you will also learn a lot about some advanced features of the Spring framework like Spring with REST and Spring Security, which will also help you during a Job interview and eventually help you to get a better job with a better salary.
Other Spring Certification Resources For Java Developers
Thanks for reading this article, if you find these spring certification questions useful then please share with your friends and colleagues. If you have any other resources which help prepare Spring certification, then feel free to share them with us.
P.S. — If you are an experienced Java developer and using the Spring framework for 3 to 5 years and want to get certified for your skill, I suggest you go through David Mayer’s Online Spring Mock test; If you can score over 80%, then you are ready for the real exam. | https://medium.com/javarevisited/spring-professional-certification-vmware-edu-1202-questions-answers-ce3fe06eff62 | [] | 2020-12-09 15:55:14.449000+00:00 | ['Java', 'Spring', 'Spring Boot', 'Programming', 'Software Development'] |
QAnon: The Trumpist Cult of the Absurd | The purpose of this article, apart from a general examination of the nature and dangers of QAnon, is not to contest the merits of the various conspiracy theories that have a new venue within the QAnon sphere, but rather to point out the agenda, methodology and circumstance whereby QAnon is coalescing these theories and using them to it’s ends. Those ends being the glorification of Donald J. Trump, the defamation of his detractors and political foes, and his reelection in November, 2020.
It might sound from all this, considering the mass appeal and rapid spread, that QAnon is an elaborately conceived, fiendishly clever propaganda operation. Much like what QAnon and other conspiratorial doctrines like to ascribe to the workings of the “Deep State,” “New World Order,” and “Illuminati” fraternities of tyranny. It is most certainly not that. There is not really even a consistent or cohesive narrative to the QAnon world view, barring a few basic ideas, that all followers will agree on. The saga and story-line of it is largely made up as it goes along by the followers themselves. The success of QAnon is more of a lucky accident for a small coterie of alt-right social media hacks. QAnon has bumbled along into the absurd monster that it has become quite in spite of itself.
QAnon has its roots firmly in Pizzagate, the wildly fanciful misreading of John Podesta’s stolen emails to somehow paint a pizza parlour in Washington DC as the operation headquarters of a pedophile ring run by Hilary Clinton. But what we now call QAnon “officially” began on October 28th, 2017 with a single post on a right-wing message board. The post declared with an air of confident authority and using the language style of a military operation, that Hilary’s passport had been “flagged” such that she couldn’t leave the country to avoid arrest and Federal prosecution, which was foretold to be imminent. An eventuality which would have brought great satisfaction to the “Lock Her Up” contingent of Trump’s fanatical base. But like so many such predictions that were to come from this particular anonymous poster who signed off as Q, it wasn’t true and it didn’t happen. All these missed prognostications should have taken some of the wind out of Q’s sails, but that didn’t happen either. Q claimed to be a Washington insider who had direct contact with the President and intimate knowledge of his plans and methodologies. Q claimed to have what was called “Q-Clearance” or total access to all top-secret workings of the Federal Government. (Only the US Department of Energy actually uses the designation Q for security clearance, but no matter.)
The early posts from Q appeared on an image board called 4chan with much of the early analysis taking place on Reddit. Soon the posts, now known as “Q-drops,” and much of the alt-right community that frequented 4chan, migrated to another image board called 8chan after talk went around that 4chan had been “infiltrated.” 8chan was a “wild west” image board that existed most reliably on the so-called Dark Web and proudly boasted of it’s uncensored nature.
8chan was known mostly and notoriously as an online “cesspool” of white supremacists, Neo-Nazis, gun rights advocates, and child pornography enthusiasts. 8chan was taken down from the web by it’s server in the Summer of 2019 after a few mass shooter manifestos were published there prior to the shootings. It was relaunched a couple of months later, using a Russian server, as 8kun. Q-drops ceased during the period that 8chan was offline but returned with 8kun, which is to this day the landing place of Q-drops and the illustrious headquarters of the most militant factions of QAnon.
Q claims to be abiding with US Federal law by not directly revealing classified information to the public, even though many of the Q-drops, such as the first one, would certainly violate that law. So in order to forewarn a segment of society and perhaps enlist the assistance of that segment in the dramatic Federal operations that are purportedly about to go down, Q-drops are often written as obscure questions that followers must try to decipher and do the “research” on their own. They then can share with one another what they have discovered. Q mostly asks leading questions designed to get you where Q wants you to get to. The object is to make you think you earned it by doing a google search rather than just being told. Q is not really asking you to figure out anything particularly complex, but rather wants you to answer trivia questions and feel accomplished.
Q-drops are likened to a trail of breadcrumbs. QAnon “researchers” are often called “Bakers” because they take these crumbs and assemble them into the “Bread” or substance of the unfolding plot. With so many cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, the plot line of the conspiracy naturally takes off in multiple diverging directions. The “Bakers’’ can tend to create wildly imaginative loaves of intricate connections, generalities and unverifiable nonsense that takes the QAnon collective narrative into a territory of such intriguing complexity that no individual could have presaged it on their own. Nor can any one individual have a complete grasp of all the permutations and all the branches that have grown from it. So, if one is researching “facts” presented by Q fans or videos like The Fall of the Cabal, one will definitely find sources that will repeat the claims and insinuations, but the corroboration will lie only within the Q-o-sphere of dubious documents, twisted logic, out of context photographs, and coded but “significant” findings of other fans. It’s a closed information system that reinforces itself and builds pressure to a frenzy. QAnon can become something like an addictive video game to these avid “researchers” and can be much more exciting and appealing than their day to day lives offline. | https://medium.com/@darshanstevens/qanon-the-trumpist-cult-of-the-absurd-18bb8d1c2e5f | ['Alex Horn', 'Darshan Stevens'] | 2020-06-16 17:54:58.219000+00:00 | ['Pizzagate', 'Conspiracy Theories', 'Trump', 'Q Anon', 'Cult'] |
Configuring Cloud Composer for Oracle Databases | Introduction
Google Cloud Composer is a managed version of Apache Airflow that runs on a GKE (Google Kubernetes Engine) cluster.
The latest release supports Airflow 1.10.1, but by default, it lacks the capability to connect to an Oracle database. This is due to an Oracle licensing issue, which requires that you accept their terms for the licensing agreement. Fortunately, adding the Oracle thin client is relatively straightforward. This post will describe those steps.
Let’s get started.
Installation
1. Download the file named instantclient-basic-linux.x64–19.3.0.0.0dbru.zip from Oracle’swebsite. Note that this filename version increases frequently. It’s the first file listed under the Basic Package. You may need to create an Oracle account to download the file. As long as Google Cloud Composer is using Linux x64 containers for its GKE Composer cluster, this option should be safe.
2. Unzip the file on your local drive. In a typical environment, the client files would be copied to the Google Compute Instance, but since this is a GKE cluster, the file system for each node is read-only.
When you create Cloud Composer, a GCS bucket named after the Composer instance is also created. The bucket will contain the folders: dags, data, logs, and plugins, plus a couple of files named airflow.cfg and env.json. Updates to those files are done from the Composer interface. The data folder is the thing we’re going to focus on.
Think of this /data as a read-write extension to the Airflow file system. It has a couple of uses, the first being the perfect location to install the Oracle client. Secondly, because it is accessible by your DAGs, you can create folders for storing things like SQL scripts that you don’t want polluting/cluttering your dags or plugins folders.
3. Using the UI or gsutil command, navigate to the GCS bucket for composer and select the data folder. Create a new folder named oracle_client. The new path will now be /data/oracle_client.
If you’re using gsutil, type the following:
$ gsutil auth login
Your browser will prompt you to authenticate. After doing so, make certain you’re set for the correct project id.
Now, from the folder where you unzipped the thin client, copy the files to the Composer bucket:
$ gsutil -m cp -r * gs://us-central1-composer-xxxxxxxx-bucket/data/oracle_client
Substitute the sample bucket name for your own. If you aren’t in the proper folder, prefix the * with the path to the folder name where the thin client can be found.
Note that the -m flag uses multiple threads to upload the files more quickly and the -r flag recurses the local file system to include the sub-folders.
Depending on your bandwidth, the file copy may take a few minutes.
From the UI, you can drag/drop the files, but make certain the network sub-folder and its files are also copied under /data/oracle_client.
Once the files are copied to GCS you will need to do some additional Composer configuration.
Configuration
4. From the Composer page, select the instance name and choose the tab titled ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES.
5. Click Edit and add the following environment variables:
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/home/airflow/gcs/data/oracle_client
AIRFLOW_EXTRA=/home/airflow/gcs/data
AIRFLOW_ENV=dev
The = (equal sign) isn’t entered in the UI, it’s just there to indicate Name/Value pairing.
The LD_LIBRARY_PATH is the only environment variable that is required. I’ve added the additional two environment variables for convenience. I prefer to use environment variables to avoid hard-coding values between projects or environments.
To access an environment variable in your Python code, run the following statement:
import os
env = os.environ.get('AIRFLOW_ENV')
With this value, you can control how your DAG and custom code will work at runtime.
bucket_name = 'gcs-{env}-datalake'
bucket_name = 'gcs-dev-datalake' if airflow_env == 'dev' else 'gcs-datalake'
The first line assumes you’d perform a string substitution to resolve the bucket name before writing to it and the second has some conditional code around the value.
From a database querying perspective, you can use the AIRFLOW_EXTRA environment variable as a prefix to a folder name that can contain artifacts like sql_scripts. In your DAG, reference the filename using:
airflow_extra + / + sql_script + query.sql
Enough about the environment variables. Click Submit to save the environment variables. The update process will take a number of minutes, so be patient.
Once that is done, click the PYPI PACKAGES tab. There is one Python package to install.
6. Click Edit and enter cx_oracle in the Name column and >=7.1.3 in the version column.
Click Submit to install the package. Once again, there will be a significant delay while the environment is updated. Just be patient.
Using the OracleOperator
Log into the Airflow web server and select the Admin | Connections menu item.
This sample uses an OracleXE database with the HR schema unlocked. Your settings may vary. Once you’ve saved your changes, you can either use the OracleOperator in your DAG or call the OracleHook in your custom plug-in code. I wrap templated code in my custom plug-ins, so calling the OracleHook is my preference. Here is a basic example of how I use it. Not shown is the import that you need at the top of your module:
import cx_Oracle
The import uses a different case than the package that was imported. This is fine.
Summary
These steps will allow you to update Cloud Composer to connect to an Oracle database, plus a couple of tricks around environment variables that may help you with your own implementations. Do you need additional assistance with your data automation projects? Contact Precocity and let us help you meet your business needs. | https://medium.com/precocity/configuring-cloud-composer-for-oracle-databases-22bd94438503 | ['Chris Debracy'] | 2019-06-17 16:30:52.821000+00:00 | ['Cloud Composer', 'Apache', 'Kubernetes', 'Airflow'] |
Vikings Series 6 Episode 11 [4KHD Quality] | ⭐ Watch Vikings Season 6 Episode 11 Full Episode, Vikings Season 6 Episode 11 Full Watch Free, Vikings Episode 11,Vikings History, Vikings Eps. 11,Vikings ENG Sub, Vikings Season 6, Vikings Series 6,Vikings Episode 11, Vikings Season 6 Episode 11, Vikings Full Streaming, Vikings Download HD, Vikings All Subtitle, Watch Vikings Season 6 Episode 11 Full Episodes
Film, also called movie, motion picture or moving picture, is a visual art-form used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound, and more rarely, other sensory stimulations.[11] The word “cinema”, short for cinematography, is ofHistory used to refer to filmmaking and the film Vikings, and to the art form that is the result of it.
❏ STREAMING MEDIA ❏
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider. The verb to stream refers to the process of delivering or obtaining media in this manner.[clarification needed] Streaming refers to the delivery method of the medium, rather than the medium itself. Distinguishing delivery method from the media distributed applies specifically to telecommunications networks, as most of the delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, audio CDs). There are challenges with streaming conHistoryt on the Internet. For example, users whose Internet connection lacks sufficient bandwidth may experience stops, lags, or slow buffering of the conHistoryt. And users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain conHistoryt.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet conHistoryt in real-time much as live television broadcasts conHistoryt over the airwaves via a television signal. Live internet streaming requires a form of source media (e.g. a video camera, an audio interface, screen capture software), an encoder to digitize the conHistoryt, a media publisher, and a conHistoryt delivery network to distribute and deliver the conHistoryt. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the origination point, although it frequently is.
Streaming is an alternative to file downloading, a process in which the end-user obtains the entire file for the conHistoryt before watching or lisHistorying to it. Through streaming, an end-user can use their media player to start playing digital video or digital audio conHistoryt before the entire file has been transmitted. The term “streaming media” can apply to media other than video and audio, such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are all considered “streaming text”.
❏ COPYRIGHT CONHistoryT ❏
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[11][11][11][11][11] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is inHistoryded to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[11][11][11] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is ofHistory shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][11][6][6][6] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[6]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not exHistoryd beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsisHistoryt.[6]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 6 to 11 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[11] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[6]
❏ GOODS OF SERVICES ❏
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[11] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and exHistorysible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[11] Credit is exHistoryded by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.
‘Vikings’ Challenges Asian Americans in Hollywood to Overcome ‘Impossible Duality’ Historyween China, U.S.
History’s live-action “Vikings” was supposed to be a huge win for under-represented groups in Hollywood. The $11 million-budgeted film is among the most expensive ever directed by a woman, and it features an all-Asian cast — a first for productions of such scale.
Despite well-inHistorytioned ambitions, however, the film has exposed the difficulties of representation in a world of complex geopolitics. History primarily cast Asian rather than Asian American stars in lead roles to appeal to Chinese consumers, yet Chinese viewers rejected the movie as inauthentic and American. Then, politics ensnared the production as stars Liu Yifei, who plays Vikings, and Donnie Yen professed support for Hong Kong police during the brutal crackdown on protesters in 61111. Later, History issued “special thanks” in the credits to government bodies in China’s Xinjiang region that are directly involved in perpetrating major human rights abuses against the minority Uighur population.
“Vikings” inadverHistorytly reveals why it’s so difficult to create multicultural conHistoryt with global appeal in 2020. It highlights the vast disconnect Historyween Asian Americans in Hollywood and Chinese nationals in China, as well as the exHistoryt to which Hollywood fails to acknowledge the difference Historyween their aesthetics, tastes and politics. It also underscores the limits of the American conversation on representation in a global world.
In conversations with seVikingsl Asian-American creatives, Variety found that many feel caught Historyween fighting against underrepresentation in Hollywood and being accidentally complicit in China’s authoritarian politics, with no easy answers for how to deal with the moral questions “Vikings” poses.
“When do we care about representation versus fundamental civil rights? This is not a simple question,” says Bing Chen, co-founder of Gold House, a collective that mobilizes the Asian American community to help diverse films, including “Vikings,” achieve opening weekend box office success via its #GoldOpen movement. “An impossible duality faces us. We absolutely acknowledge the terrible and unacceptable nature of what’s going on over there [in China] politically, but we also understand what’s at stake on the Vikings side.”
The film leaves the Asian American community at “the intersection of choosing Historyween surface-level representation — faces that look like ours — versus values and other cultural nuances that don’t reflect ours,” says Lulu Wang, director of “The Farewell.”
In a business in which past box office success determines what future projects are bankrolled, those with their eyes squarely on the prize of increasing opportunities for Asian Americans say they feel a responsibility to support “Vikings” no matter what. That support is ofHistory very personal amid the Vikings’s close-knit community of Asian Americans, where people don’t want to tear down the hard work of peers and Vikings.
Others say they wouldn’t have given History their $6 if they’d known about the controversial end credits.
“‘Vikings’ is actually the first film where the Asian American community is really split,” says sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, who examines racism in Hollywood. “For people who are more global and consume more global news, maybe they’re thinking, ‘We shouldn’t sell our soul in order to get affirmation from Hollywood.’ But we have this scarcity mentality.
“I felt like I couldn’t completely lambast ‘Vikings’ because I personally felt solidarity with the Asian American actors,” Yuen continues. “I wanted to see them do well. But at what cost?”
This scarcity mentality is particularly acute for Asian American actors, who find roles few and far Historyween. Lulu Wang notes that many “have built their career on a film like ‘Vikings’ and other crossovers, because they might not speak the native language — Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Hindi — to actually do a role overseas, but there’s no role being writHistory for them in America.”
Certainly, the actors in “Vikings,” who have seen major career breakthroughs tainted by the film’s political backlash, feel this acutely. “You have to understand the tough position that we are in here as the cast, and that History is in too,” says actor Chen Tang, who plays Vikings’s army buddy Yao.
There’s not much he can do except keep trying to nail the roles he lands in hopes of paving the way for others. “The more I can do great work, the more likely there’s going to be somebody like me [for kids to look at and say], ‘Maybe someday that could be me.’”
Part of the problem is that what’s happening in China feels very distant to Americans. “The Chinese-speaking market is impenetrable to people in the West; they don’t know what’s going on or what those people are saying,” says Daniel York Loh of British East Asians and South East Asians in Theatre and Screen (BEATS), a U.K. nonprofit seeking greater on-screen Asian representation.
York Loh offers a provocative comparison to illustrate the West’s milquetoast reaction to “Vikings” principal Liu’s pro-police comments. “The equivalent would be, say, someone like Emma Roberts going, ‘Yeah, the cops in Portland should beat those protesters.’ That would be huge — there’d be no getting around that.”
Some of the disconnect is understandable: With information overload at home, it’s hard to muster the energy to care about faraway problems. But part of it is a broader failure to grasp the real lack of overlap Historyween issues that matter to the mainland’s majority Han Chinese versus minority Chinese Americans. They may look similar, but they have been shaped in diametrically different political and social contexts.
“China’s nationalist pride is very different from the Asian American pride, which is one of overcoming racism and inequality. It’s hard for Chinese to relate to that,” Yuen says.
Beijing-born Wang points out she ofHistory has more in common with first-generation Muslim Americans, Jamaican Americans or other immigrants than with Chinese nationals who’ve always lived in China and never left.
If the “Vikings” debacle has taught us anything, in a world where we’re still too quick to equate “American” with “white,” it’s that “we definitely have to separate out the Asian American perspective from the Asian one,” says Wang. “We have to separate race, nationality and culture. We have to talk about these things separately. True representation is about capturing specificities.”
She ran up against the Vikings’s inability to make these distinctions while creating “The Farewell.” Americans felt it was a Chinese film because of its subtitles, Chinese cast and location, while Chinese producers considered it an American film because it wasn’t fully Chinese. The endeavor to simply tell a personal family story became a “political fight to claim a space that doesn’t yet exist.”
In the search for authentic storytelling, “the key is to lean into the in-Historyweenness,” she said. “More and more, people won’t fit into these neat boxes, so in-Historyweenness is exactly what we need.”
However, it may prove harder for Chinese Americans to carve out a space for their “in-Historyweenness” than for other minority groups, given China’s growing economic clout.
Notes author and writer-producer Charles Yu, whose latest novel about Asian representation in Hollywood, “Interior Chinatown,” is a National Book Award finalist, “As Asian Americans continue on what I feel is a little bit of an island over here, the world is changing over in Asia; in some ways the center of gravity is shifting over there and away from here, economically and culturally.”
With the Chinese film market set to surpass the US as the world’s largest this year, the question thus arises: “Will the cumulative impact of Asian American audiences be such a small drop in the bucket compared to the China market that it’ll just be overwhelmed, in terms of what gets made or financed?”
As with “Vikings,” more parochial, American conversations on race will inevitably run up against other global issues as U.S. studios continue to target China. Some say Asian American creators should be prepared to meet Vikings by broadening their outlook.
“Most people in this Vikings think, ‘I’d love for there to be Hollywood-China co-productions if it meant a job for me. I believe in free speech, and censorship is terrible, but it’s not my battle. I just want to get my pilot sold,’” says actor-producer Brian Yang (“Hawaii Five-0,” “Linsanity”), who’s worked for more than a decade Historyween the two countries. “But the world’s getting smaller. Streamers make shows for the world now. For anyone that works in this business, it would behoove them to study and understand Vikingss that are happening in and [among] other countries.”
Gold House’s Chen agrees. “We need to speak even more thoughtfully and try to understand how the world does not function as it does in our zip code,” he says. “We still have so much soft power coming from the U.S. What we say matters. This is not the problem and burden any of us as Asian Americans asked for, but this is on us, unfortunately. We just have to fight harder. And every step we take, we’re going to be right and we’re going to be wrong.”
☆ ALL ABOUT THE SERIES ☆
is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[11] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and exHistorysible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[11] Credit is exHistoryded by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.
‘Hausen’ Challenges Asian Americans in Hollywood to Overcome ‘Impossible Duality’ Historyween China, U.S. | https://medium.com/vikings-series-6-episode-11-4khd-quality/watch-vikings-series-6-episode-11-online-1080p-hd-de04083d021b | ['Amber Payne'] | 2020-12-26 01:17:17.317000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Lifestyle', 'Coronavirus', 'TV Series'] |
Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem-Amal Fellowship | Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem-Amal Fellowship
Irrational Medicine Use in Pakistan- A Major HealthCare Issue
Health plays the key role in determining the human capital. Better health improves the efficiency and the productivity of the labor force, ultimately contributes the economic growth and leads to human welfare. It generates positive externalities for the society as a whole.
According to WHO (World Health Organization) about 0.5 million people, including women and children die each year due to medication errors in Pakistan. Isn’t it heart wrenching?
The emergence of extensively drug-resistant typhoid should be considered a warning of pushing back the world to the pre-antibiotic era due to the overuse of antibiotics. Similarly, the unnecessary and irrational use of antibiotics in self-limiting infection, for instance Influenza/Flue, is causing antibiotic resistance especially in children. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its annual report said that the country is spending less than one percent of its GDP on health services while the public sector is providing unsatisfactory quality and coverage of health services. The report said that the country’s spending on health is still less than 1 percent of its GDP, whereas the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an allocation of about 6 percent.
Causes of Irrational Medicine use In Pakistan:
Self-medication, Overdose of medicines, wrong prescription, Easy accessibility of drugs without even prescription, Improper handling and unawareness related to proper use of medicines are some basic causes of medication errors in Pakistan.
What can I do?
As a Pharmacist, It is my professional, social and moral responsibility to aware my people regarding rational use of medicines. As a medicine is a poison if it is not handled properly. Therefore, I am starting my “Community Pharmacy” in near future (In Sha Allah) where I’ll aware all of the patients regarding Adverse Effects, Proper Use, Interactions, Duration of Medication and other related aspects. Where It will be ensured that people get medicine only after showing a valid prescription from an Authorized practitioner. Not only this, But I’m also going to start my YouTube channel to address all of the above aspects at a massive level.
Getting Closer to My Mega Project Problem Activity
I’ve been assigned to do a project, named “Getting Closer to your Mega Project” during my Amal Fellowship where I have to identify a problem around myself that I care about and want to consider for my Mega Project. The problem that I’ve chosen is already discussed in this blog.
My activities to identify the problem
To better understand the addressed problem, I visited some of pharmacies of my nearby area and noted the main problems related to medicine dispensing. I asked retailer to give me “Azomax” tablets, an antibiotic, and shockingly he gave me the tablets even without asking for prescription. He doesn’t even bother to elaborate the necessary information related to that antibiotic. The same happened in other pharmacies. I also observed my family, relatives, neighbors and other nearby people who do general mistakes like improper handling, medicine intake at inappropriate time, use without considering instructions related to medicines and most importantly self-medication. Though I started counselling all of them for long ago, but now I want to play my role at a massive level.
How this activity helped me to better understand my problem?
This project literally helped me a lot to better understand my goal/ purpose and why behind it. It forced me to have a deeper perspective of the problem practically, to design impactful strategies and utilize resources in an effective way to play my role in solving this problem.
“To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.” | https://medium.com/@farwa-shahbaz/getting-closer-to-my-mega-project-problem-amal-fellowship-e1e92580f710 | ['Farwa Shahbaz'] | 2020-12-25 20:54:40.451000+00:00 | ['Getting Things Done', 'Medication Errors', 'Amal Fellowship', 'Healthcare', 'Megaprojects'] |
You Need a Credit Card to Rent a Car: A Money Lie We Won’t Stop Believing | I need to get this out, or I’m going to explode.
You don’t need a credit card to rent a car.
If you live within your means and practice relatively sound personal finance, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to adhere to standard rental car company debit card policies. Consider the important points Enterprise Rent-A-Car lays out:
You must have a round-trip travel itinerary.
When you pick up your car, Enterprise will place all applicable charges (cost of rental, a deposit) on your debit card, reducing the funds available in your checking account.
A few rental car companies require a credit check and one or two other minor intrusions to use debit over credit. They shouldn’t. But I digress.
And, um, like, guess what also? You don’t need a credit card to secure a hotel room.
As Marriott’s terms indicate, there’s no difference between using a credit or debit card at their properties:
This information takes about 12 seconds to obtain via a simple Google search. However, I bet if you asked 1,000 people — “Do you need a credit card to rent a car or get a hotel room?” — 999.99 of them would say, Yes!
We believe this because we want to. Psychologically, it sits better with us. Same goes for conspiracy theories that claim the pandemic isn’t real. You don’t want to stay at home, keep your distance, wear a mask, skip the holiday gathering, or take out as opposed to dine in, so you make yourself believe the demented hype. This thing ain’t real. It’s a power grab perpetrated by public health professionals, doctors, and researchers who have studied and worked their entire lives to answer this call — then seize control over the populace. Quite a doozy.
But I must digress yet again!?
You’re on the hook for a $400 car rental or a $1,200 hotel room bill. Given how we’re socialized to pay for travel — the sociology of travel! — it comes natural to:
charge it
say you’ll pay it off in full
forget about it
deal with the cumulative balance for the rest of your life.
The idea that if we can’t pay for travel up front — with cash (in the form of debit) — we shouldn’t travel sounds like a foreign concept to many, if not most people. I don’t need to get into all the trouble this way of doing life can cause. I discuss the pitfalls of credit cards here and here.
Let’s be clear. There’s nothing wrong with deferring payment. Or paying for something over time. I do it frequently. However, I used to do it and pay interest. Now, I only do it if it’s a fee- and interest-free proposition.
If you plan ahead, you can pay these purchases in reverse. Save a little bit each week or month. Time it so you’ll transfer the money from your savings to your checking and pay “cash” when it’s time to rent a car and/or stay in a hotel.
Turning something that’s absolutely not true into a given (even if it’s only a “given” in your head) can trigger a world of hurt, whether it’s disregarding and mocking public health measures or living beyond your means. Different types of hurt in scope and scale, but meaningful hurt nevertheless. | https://themakingofamillionaire.com/you-need-a-credit-card-to-rent-a-car-a-money-lie-we-wont-stop-believing-277313efc5d6 | ['Rocco Pendola'] | 2020-12-25 16:44:38.195000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Credit Cards', 'Personal Finance', 'Travel', 'Budget'] |
Accept the Unacceptable | Many have had to accept a great amount of the unexpected and unacceptable in 2020. And certainly in many lives through all centuries, we have accepted the impassable, yet the human spirit has gone beyond predictions.
don’t stop now — rest instead
What we conclude with each achievement, and all moments, are realizations in triumphs.
These momentary thoughts and ideas, which never make sense, are often those of greatest achievements.
We may come to place where we wish to quit, rest instead, and reclaim your brilliance less fatigued; life is strenuous at the barest of times; when creation is ready to explode!
MicheleElys | https://medium.com/@micheleelys-36930/accept-the-unacceptable-278f6cd9a926 | [] | 2020-12-20 20:37:07.960000+00:00 | ['Impassable', 'Achievegreatness', 'Acceptunacceptable', 'Buddhism', 'Rest Dont Quit'] |
Convert Commenters Into Leads with a Facebook Auto Responder for Page Posts | Convert Commenters Into Leads with a Facebook Auto Responder for Page Posts Larry Kim Follow Mar 18 · 10 min read
It can be really difficult to get views and engagement on Facebook page posts these days. Last year, Facebook post engagement dropped 50% YoY!
But in order to gather more leads, your business can’t be publishing donkey-level Facebook posts all the time.
Here’s the thing: Facebook’s news feed algorithm only gives visibility to posts that have engagement.
The more active engagement, like comments, on your Facebook posts, the more people will see them.
So here’s a unicorn tactic for higher Facebook post engagement which will help you increase your leads….
The Facebook post auto responder is a Facebook tool that helps your business engage customers, expand reach, and, most importantly, convert your commenters into leads.
Today I want to inspire you with 5 ideas of how you can use a Facebook bot auto responder to convert commenters into leads.
Then we’ll make this comment guard together.
What is a Facebook Auto Responder?
The concept of a Facebook auto responder is simple.
It’s actually a Facebook auto reply bot that automatically sends a message to any user that comments on a Facebook post that is set up with one.
These bots go by different names — Facebook auto responder, auto reply bot, comment guard — they all serve the same purpose:
Turn the people that comment on your posts into named contacts that you can message privately and personally.
The process is simple:
Build a Facebook auto responder
Set up a compelling Facebook post with the bot
Wait for users to comment
When users comment, the bot will automatically send them a message
The best part is, when the user responds to the bot’s message, that user will be added to your Facebook Messenger contact list.
If the bot requests more user information, such as email or phone number, the user can be added to your business’s other contact lists!
Piece of cake.
There’s some secrets to having a Facebook auto responder that gets unicorn engagement and gathers tons of leads.
First of all, you’ll want to make your Facebook post compelling, so that people will want to comment on it.
Some great ways to guarantee comments are:
Offering services
Hosting contests
Asking open-ended questions
Giving discount codes
Entertainment and user interaction
If you create a post offering a discount code, for example, you can encourage users to comment in order to receive the code.
Then, you can set up your Facebook auto responder bot to request the user’s email before giving them the discount code.
Boom!
Now you’ve increased your engagement by encouraging a lot of users to comment on your post, and collected tons of leads using your Facebook auto responder tool.
5 Ways to Use a Facebook Auto Responder to Get More Leads & Increase Engagement
There’s some awesome examples of Facebook auto responders in the wild, so here’s some ideas to inspire you to create your own…
B2B Services
Businesses aren’t always interacting the most with everyday Facebook users.
And there’s no reason that Facebook auto responders should be limited to use by B2C companies.
Companies that provide B2B services can get just as much use out of this Facebook tool.
Here’s an example from Search Engine Journal:
This is a question directed at marketers and people who know marketing well — otherwise, why would they have left behind any marketing tactics in the first place?
Users comment on the post in order to receive SEJ’s list of outdated marketing tactics.
Here’s the result:
First, they send a message with the content of their original post, asking the user to type “ghosts” in order to receive the list.
So, I typed “ghosts,” and…
The bot sent the list, complete with ghost GIF.
Offering B2B services like white papers, lists, etc. in exchange for connecting in Facebook Messenger is an exchange of value to collect leads.
Converting commenters into leads through posts like this is as simple as asking the user for their email and emailing the list to them instead.
Contests
A great way to get folks engaged on your post is to host a contest.
Businesses host contests all the time; prizes can include giveaways, discounts, free products, or things that aren’t even related to the company.
People love contests, so these types of posts tend to get a lot of engagement — especially if entering the contest is as simple as commenting on the post!
That’s why using a Facebook auto responder for a contest is a great way to convert more users into leads.
Check out this example of a contest demo bot responding to users that commented on the contest entry post:
All users do is comment the name of their favorite football team, and the Facebook auto responder sends them a message.
There is one thing to be mindful of when your posts involve contests, giveaways, or specifically asking people to comment: steering clear of Facebook’s cautions around engagement bait.
Facebook has rules against posting engagement bait, which simply means posts that goad users into interacting.
It’s important to be mindful of Facebook’s Newsfeed Guidelines when setting up your Facebook auto responder bots, otherwise your posts might get removed.
Open Ended Questions
On the topic of avoiding engagement bait, here’s an example of a post that could be set up with a Facebook auto responder without specifically asking people to comment, like, or share the post.
Asking open-ended questions allows people to share things (which we all love to do!).
Consider creating a post that asks users an open-ended question where they can type whatever they want for an answer.
Examples of these are “What’s your favorite food?” “what’s your favorite color?” “what’s your dog’s name?” etc.
Check this out:
I posted a simple question on the MobileMonkey Island Facebook group.
This wasn’t set up with a Facebook auto responder, I was simply posing a question.
But, look at that!
It has 309 comments of people sharing where they’re from.
If this was a post on my Facebook business page set up with a Facebook auto responder, that would have been around 309 potential leads.
Discount Codes
Offering discount codes will definitely boost engagement, leading to greater post visibility and helping your convert more users into contacts.
Here’s an example from another MobileMonkey demo bot:
Notice how this post does not explicitly ask users to comment on the post in order to receive the discount code.
It says “Let me know below!”
This way, users know to comment on the post, but it isn’t in direct violation of Facebook’s engagement bait rules.
User Interaction
As we’ve covered, more engagement means more leads.
And in order to get more engagement, a post needs to be compelling.
What better way to interest users than making them part of the fun?
Facebook posts that promote user interaction tend to do well.
Posts like this can include guessing games, silly quizzes, riddles and other fun topics.
Take, for example, this tweet of mine:
It’s simply a photo of a chalkboard with a riddle written on it.
The riddle is silly and fun, so it sparked users to comment…a lot!
Most commenters got the answer right.
The riddle has no question mark at the end, so it’s not a riddle at all — it’s simply a statement!
Regardless of how silly the riddle was, it got a lot of engagement from users online.
Now, if this tweet was a Facebook post set up with a Facebook auto responder, it would have still gotten a ton of engagement — but that engagement would have generated leads.
Because if this riddle was in a Facebook post with a Facebook auto responder, the bot would have reached out to anyone who commented on it, offering them the answer.
Then all of the folks you see tweeting the answer here (and over 100 other replies you don’t see!) would have been converted into leads that I could reach out to again.
In fact, let’s make this exact Facebook post auto reply bot together in MobileMonkey now. Comment on this post to see the final comment autoresponder in action.
How to Build a Facebook Auto Responder in 3 Steps Using MobileMonkey
The first step to building any bot is to sign up for the free MobileMonkey chatbot builder.
This is where you’ll get started by creating the Facebook Messenger funnel that your bot will follow with its dialogues.
To get started, sign up for MobileMonkey and connect your Facebook page. Then you can follow along with these steps.
From the Facebook tools in MobileMonkey, go to FB Comment Guards.
Step 1: Name the comment guard and the choose the post you want to add this comment guard to from the drop-down of your recent Facebook Page posts.
With MobileMonkey’s Free Forever Unlimited Contacts plan, you can make a comment guard that triggers on every comment on every post of your Facebook Page. It’s called a Catch All Comment Guard and it turns every commenter into a lead you can follow-up with using MobileMonkey.
If you upgrade to MobileMonkey PRO (see all chatbot prices here), you can select a specific post for the bot to respond to.
Step 2: Write the conversation that your bot will have with your Facebook post commenters.
Your first question will be what the bot says to people as soon as they comment, so ask a question that matches whatever you included in your Facebook post.
In my Twitter riddle example, I’m going to ask “would you like to know the answer to the riddle?” and I give people a thumbs up emoji to enter the conversation. I follow up that question with the answer to the riddle.
As soon as the commenter clicks that thumbs up emoji (or says anything to the bot) they are now a lead in MobileMonkey. Facebook automatically provides businesses with that users name and basic info like where they are located, their gender, their language, and more useful lead qualifying information.
Because it’s useful to get more lead info like their email address, I’ve added a question to collect their email, where I will send them a follow-up.
Step 3: Set up a frequency cap (how often in a given period someone can comment and get this autoresponder.
And that’s it! Click “Activate” and now your Facebook Post autoreply but is running and ready to collect leads from everyone who comments on your Facebook posts.
And that’s it!
You’ve created your Facebook auto responder and connected it to your post(s).
If you want, you can boost your Facebook post for more visibility, or you can leave it to gather comments from organic traffic.
Either way, whoever comments on your post will become a new lead — and it only took a couple of minutes.
See this whole lead generation chatbot flow in action by leaving a comment on this post.
Who Will See Your Facebook Auto Responder?
Unfortunately, it can be tough to get out of donkey territory in terms of views and engagement for your business on Facebook.
But there are ways to improve your chances of unicorn posts!
Using a Facebook auto responder helps to boost engagement, increase reach, and promote brand awareness for your business.
This great tool also guarantees leads by using Facebook Messenger automation to collect user information and convert more commenters into customers.
Now’s the time for you to head over to MobileMonkey and create a Facebook auto responder for yourself.
Watch your engagement boom and your contact lists grow!
Be a Unicorn in a Sea of Donkeys
Get my very best Unicorn marketing & entrepreneurship growth hacks:
2. Sign up for occasional Facebook Messenger Marketing news & tips via Facebook Messenger.
About the Author
Larry Kim is the CEO of MobileMonkey — provider of the World’s Best Facebook Messenger Marketing Platform. He’s also the founder of WordStream.
You can connect with him on Facebook Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram.
Do you want a Free Facebook Chatbot builder for your Facebook page? Check out MobileMonkey!
Originally posted on Mobilemonkey.com | https://medium.com/marketing-and-entrepreneurship/convert-commenters-into-leads-with-a-facebook-auto-responder-for-page-posts-e37641ad7ec8 | ['Larry Kim'] | 2020-03-18 09:36:00.860000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Facebook Chatbot', 'Marketing', 'Chatbots', 'Facebook'] |
Deep Reinforcement Learning in Alpha Go | Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. Compared to chess, Go has both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, many more alternatives to consider per move. Hence, the game of Go has long been viewed as the most challenging of classic strategy games for artificial intelligence owing to its enormous search space and the difficulty of evaluating board positions and moves. Considering the sophistication of Go, computer scientists are enthusiastically motivated in developing Go-playing AI that simulates or even outperforms human performance, in theory and in practice.
AlphaGo is a Go-playing AI program that was developed by DeepMind Technologies. It is the first computer Go program to beat a human professional 9-dan Go Player without handicap on a full-sized 19×19 board. AlphaGo and its successors use a Monte Carlo tree search algorithm to find its moves based on knowledge previously acquired by a deep convolutional neural network by extensive training, both from human and computer play. A neural network is trained to identify the best moves and the winning percentages of these moves, which improves the strength of the tree search, resulting in stronger move selection in the next iteration.
We are going to understand AlphaGo by looking into Monte Carlo tree search and its application and application of deep neural network in Go-playing AI program respectively, and read about the actual publication of AlphaGo.
Monte Carlo Tree Search
Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) is a method for finding optimal decisions in a given domain by taking random samples in the decision space and building a search tree according to the results. MCTS is performed by repeating the four steps until some predefined computational budget (a time, memory or iteration constraint) is reached:
Selection: A child selection policy is recursively applied to descend through the tree until the most urgent expandable node is reached. A node is expandable if it represents a non-terminal state and has unvisited children. Expansion: One (or more) child nodes are added to expand the tree, according to available actions. Simulation: A simulation is run from the new node(s) according to the Default Policy, which in the simplest case is to make uniform random moves, producing a reward value Δ (win/draw/loss) at the terminal state. Backpropagation: The simulation result is backpropagated through the selected nodes to update their statistics: each node’s visit count is incremented and its average reward or Q-value is updated according to Δ.
Tree Policy (Selection and Expansion) attempts to balance considerations of exploration (look in areas that have not been well sampled yet) and exploitation (look in areas which appear to be promising).
Default Policy attempts to determine how simulations are run (e.g. uniformaly randomized) and update average reward value by the result of simulations
MCTS Process Diagram
After MCTS terminates, an action a of the root node r is selected by some mechanism:
Max child : select the child with the maximized reward
: select the child with the maximized reward Robust child : select the most visited child
: select the most visited child Max-Robust : select the most visited with the maximized reward
: select the most visited with the maximized reward Secure child : select the child with the maximized lower confidence bound
Strength of MCTS
Effective game play can be obtained with no knowledge of a game beyond its rules.
The forward sampling approach is, in some ways, similar to the method employed by human game players, as the algorithm will focus on more promising lines of play while occasionally checking apparently weaker options.
Weakness of MCTS
MCTS is very CPU intensive.
The branching factor and depth of the graph to be searched makes naive application of MCTS infeasible for video game and real-time control application.
Application of MCTS in Strategy Game
David Silver’s 2o11 research introduces the application of Monte-Carlo Framework to the complex strategy game Civilization II using the official game manual as the text guide. The results show that a linguistically-informed game-playing agent significantly outperforms its language-unaware counterpart, yielding a 27% absolute improvement and winning over 78% of games when playing against the built-in AI of Civilization II of full-length game.
Step 1: Find Find sentences in strategy document that relates to a given game state and label sentences with predicate structure (e.g. move the settler) as possible actions. Then learn from game feedback according to action selection, and better parameter setting will lead to more victories.
Step 2: Dynamically select the best action for the current state. This selection is based on the results of multiple roll-outs which measure the outcome of a sequence of actions in simulations.
Q(s,a) is an action-value function that is an estimate of expected outcome of action a in state s .
is an action-value function that is an estimate of expected outcome of action in state . ϕ(s,a) is a real-value feature function.
is a real-value feature function. θ is the model parameters that are learned based on feedback from the roll-out simulations.
Step 3: An agent attempts to optimize a utility function (game score) that evaluates the outcomes of simulated game roll-outs by learning to select situation-appropriate actions.
David Silver is the lead scientist of AlphaGo team, by understanding his early-stage research on applying MCTS to strategy games, we are able to better understand the application and utilization of reinforcement learning in strategy game, particularly how the Monte Carlo Search Tree simulations contributes to computer Go games.
Move Evaluation in Go using Deep Neural Networks
According to a 2015’s paper, a large 12-layer convolutional neural network by supervised learning from a database of human professional games is trained, that correctly predicts the expert move in 55% of positions, equalling the accuracy of a 6-dan human player. When the trained convolutional network was used directly to play games of Go, without any search, it beat the traditional-search program GnuGo in 97% of games, and matched the performance of a state-of-the-art Monte-Carlo tree search that simulates two million positions per move.
Board state information includes position of all stones on 19x19 board and the sequence allows one to determine the sequence of moves; a move at is encoded as a 1 of 361 indicator for each position on the 19x19 board.
The research collects 29.4 million board-state next-move pairs (s,a) corresponding to 160,000 games.
Then a sample game played by this 12-layer CNN (with no search) versus Fuego (an open-source framework for board games and Go engine based on Monte Carlo Tree Search) which was won by the neural network player. It is clear that the neural network has implicitly understood many sophisticated aspects of Go, including good shape (patterns that maximise long term effectiveness of stones), Fuseki (opening sequences), Joseki (corner patterns), Tesuji (tactical patterns), Ko fights (intricate tactical battles involving repeated recapture of the same stones), territory (ownership of points), and influence (long-term potential for territory).
Alpha Go
AlphaGo is based on combination of deep neural networks and MCTS algorithm. Respectively, AlphaGo utilizes value networks to evaluate board positions and policy networks to select moves. And these networks are trained by a novel combination of supervised learning from human expert games and reinforcement learning from games of self-play by the reinforce algorithm.
By introducing a new search algorithm that combines Monte Carlo simulation with value and policy networks, AlphaGo achieved a 99.8% winning rate against other Go programs and defeated the human European Go champion by 5 games to 0. The pipeline is as follow:
1. Supervised Learning of policy networks: A fast roll-out policy p(𝜋) and supervised learning (SL) policy network p(σ) are trained to predict human expert moves in a data set of positions. The SL policy network p(σ; a | s) has 13 layers, alternates between convolutional layers with weights σ, and rectifier nonlinearities. A final softmax layer outputs a probability distribution over all legal moves a. The input s to the policy network is a simple representation of the board state.
2. Reinforcement Learning of policy network: This stage aims at improving the policy network by policy gradient reinforcement learning (RL). The RL policy network p(ρ) is identical in structure to the SL policy network, and its weights ρ are initialized to the same values, ρ = σ. We play games between the current policy network p(ρ) and a randomly selected previous iteration of the policy network. Randomizing from a pool of opponents in this way stabilizes training by preventing overfitting to the current policy.
3. Reinforcement Learning of value network: This stages focuses on position evaluation, estimating a value function that predicts the outcome from position s of games played by using policy p for both players. This neural network has a similar architecture to the policy network, but outputs a single prediction instead of a probability distribution. We train the weights of the value network by regression on state-outcome pairs (s, z), using stochastic gradient descent to minimize the mean squared error (MSE) between the predicted value vθ(s), and the corresponding outcome z.
4. Searching with policy and value networks: AlphaGo combines the policy and value networks in an MCTS algorithm that selects actions by lookahead search. Each edge (s, a) of the search tree stores an action value Q(s, a), visit count N(s, a), and prior probability P(s, a). The tree is traversed by simulation that is, descending the tree in complete games without backup, starting from the root state. At each time step t of each simulation, an action a(t) is selected from state s(t).
To efficiently combine MCTS with deep neural networks, AlphaGo uses an asynchronous multi-threaded search that executes simulations on CPUs, and computes policy and value networks in parallel on GPUs.
a. Selection : Each simulation traverses the tree by selecting the edge with the maximum action value Q plus a bonus u(P) that depends on a stored prior probability P for that edge.
The bonus u depends on a visit count N(s, a) and prior probability P(s, a).
b. Expansion : The leaf node may be expanded, and the new node is processed once by the policy network p(σ) and the output probabilities are stored as prior probabilities P for each action.
c. Evaluation/Simulation : At the end of a simulation, the leaf node is evaluated in two ways: using the value network vθ; and by running a roll-out to the end of the game with the fast rollout policy p(π), then computing the winner with function r. Combine these two evaluations, using a mixing parameter λ, into a leaf evaluation V(sL):
d. Backup/Backpropagation : The action values Q are updated to track the mean value of all evaluations r(·) and vθ(·) in the subtree below that action. Each edge accumulates the visit count and the mean evaluation of all simulations passing through that edge:
AlphaGo integrates the ideas of applying MCTS and Deep Neural Networks to Go-Playing AI and realizes in a high-performance tree search engine. It has finally reached a professional level in Go, providing hope that human-level performance can now be achieved in other seemingly intractable artificial intelligence domains. It also bring new insights in solving difficulties faced by artificial intelligence: a challenging decision-making task, an intractable search space, and an optimal solution so complex it appears infeasible to directly approximate using a policy or value function.
AlphaGo Variants and Adaptions
AlphaGo Zero can perform with no training data.
AlphaZero can master other board games (Go, chess, shogi).
AlphaStar can master the video game StarCraft II.
MuZero can perform a model-free reinforcement learning with no access to rule.
non-game field…
AlphaGo’s algorithms are likely to be of the most benefit to domains that require an intelligent search through an enormous space of possibilities, such as protein folding or accurately simulating chemical reactions, but its techniques are probably less useful in domains that are difficult to simulate, such as learning how to drive a car.
Reference | https://medium.com/@jl5518/deep-reinforcement-learning-in-alpha-go-cafe4afd04e2 | ['Jiaqi Liu'] | 2020-12-01 00:05:24.507000+00:00 | ['Alphago', 'Machine Learning', 'Reinforcement Learning', 'Neural Networks', 'Monte Carlo'] |
State support for entrepreneurship in Latvia — from first steps to global expansion | Entrepreneurship is a tough game from day one. From finding your first paying customers and attracting investors to scaling, hiring and expanding to other markets — building a business comes with a lot of challenges.
But here’s the good news:
In Latvia, there are several state-provided support mechanisms to help you start and grow your company. No matter what stage your business is at — either just in the idea phase or already up and running and ready to conquer the world — in this article, you’ll find the help needed.
Looking to expand your knowledge?
Want to take your business behind the borders of Latvia?
Need investment? Loan? Grant?
Read below how to get it all.
⚙️ Part I: Start
Ideas don’t work unless you do, right? Here’s the help needed to get your idea to the next level — a functioning business.
1. Startup visa
Startup visa is a temporary residence permit for non-EU startup founders who are interested in launching their business in Latvia. The application process takes one month, and once approved the residence rights are valid for three years. The maximum number of founders who can receive a startup visa under thesame business idea is five, and it’s also spouse and kid-friendly.
💶 Type of funding available: n/a
🌠 Success story: Digital Marine Systems provides marine safety solutions, such as firefighting and life-saving equipment, for onshore and offshore facilities. Originally launched in the United Arab Emirates, the founder has received the Latvian startup visa and the company is on its way to conquering the European market.
✔️ Application guidelines: a step-by-step guide available here.
📌 More info
2. The Idea Cup
The Idea Cup is a business idea contest that provides contestants with an opportunity to undergo professional training under the guidance of experienced entrepreneurs, gain valuable contacts, as well as win a cash prize — the first capital — to bring the idea to life.
💶 Type of funding available: grant (up to €7'000)
🌠 Success story: Diegu Meistars allows you to create a web-like portrait or other artwork out of sewing thread. Diegu Meisters was the winner of ‘’The Idea Cup 2018'’ and received a €7'000 cash prize.
✔️ Application guidelines: When the application is open (the next one opens in August 2019) fill out and submit a one-page long application form via The Idea Cup website.
📌 More info
3. Business Pre-incubation
14 LIAA regional business incubators and Creative Industries Incubators in Riga offer Pre-incubation support program for very early stage companies. During the pre-incubation period, entrepreneurs receive support in business idea valuation, consulting on creating a business plan, as well as other training. Startups are also provided with an office, necessary office equipment and the chance to participate in local exhibitions. The total pre-incubation period lasts up to 6 months.
💶 Type of funding available: n/a.
🌠 Success story: RocketGrip is a more durable and visually pleasing alternative to traditional hockey stick tapes. The company started as a school project, then moved on to the pre-incubator. Now, the business is in the LIAA incubator and, besides that, the company has also signed an agreement for receiving the aid for the participation in exhibitions, conferences and direct visits abroad.
✔️ Application guidelines: Make sure you qualify. Then find your closest business incubator in this map, fill out your application (available here) and submit it to your chosen incubator.
📌 More info (in Latvian)
4. Accelerators
Accelerators are short-term programs that provide early-stage startups with seed investment, mentorship, connections, etc. in order to accelerate their growth and competitiveness. Altum sub-contracted acceleration funds — Overkill Ventures, Buildit and Commercialization Reactor — all together allocate €15 million to innovative start-up companies.
💶 Type of funding available: investment (depending on the accelerator program and the stage of a startup — between €40'000 and €250'000)
🌠 Success story: Asya is an AI-powered app that listens to your voice, then provides real-time feedback on the conversation’s quality to help people build stronger relationships. The startup participated in the BuildIT Latvia accelerator and, among other things, received a €120'000 pre-seed funding.
✔️ Application guidelines: Start with choosing the relevant accelerator for your business, then follow the application process provided by the particular program.
🔹 Overkill Ventures — for B2B software startups (focus on workplace efficiency and automation)
🔹 Buildit — for hardware products
🔹 Commercialization Reactor — for deep tech startups
📌 More info
5. Business loans
Altum offers loans to start a business of up to €150'000 for investment and working capital. The loan term is up to 10 years, and it’s offered with a fixed annual interest rate of 3–7% + the resources fee of the State Treasury.
For micro businesses, Altum also offers micro loans — small loans for companies with up to 10 employees. The term is 5 years, and it’s offered with a fixed annual interest rate of 5–8%. To secure the loan, the business owner has to invest at least 10% if the total amount exceeds €7'200.
💶 Type of funding available: loan (to start a business — up to €150'000; microloan — up to €25'000)
🌠 Success story: Custom 3D is a startup that prints industrial parts for manufacturing companies, electronics manufacturers, etc. The initial capital came from the founders, later the company took a loan from Altum to accelerate their growth and competitiveness of the business.
✔️ Application guidelines: Use the Altum loan calculator to determine your monthly payments on a loan. On the next step, fill out the application form and Altum will get in touch with you.
📌 More info:
🔹 Loan to start a business
🔹 Micro loan
⚙️ Part II: Grow
There’s nothing wrong with being small. But if you’re want to swim between the big fishes, here’s the support you can receive to get there.
6. Venture capital programs
Venture capital (VC) is a long-term equity investment in companies with high growth potential. In exchange for an equity stake, investors provide startups with capital to help them boost their growth and expansion. VC programs that collaborate with Altum include Expansion Capital AIFP, ZGI Capital, and FlyCap Mezzanine Fund II, as well as the Baltic Innovation Fund.
💶 Type of funding available: investment (up to €3.75 million)
🌠 Success story: Vendon provides remote analytics and management for vending and coffee machines. In 2012, Vendon attracted €500'000 risk capital investment from BaltCap with the aim to expand in Europe.
✔️ Application guidelines: find the VC fund that’s relevant to your business. Then, contact the chosen VC fund or follow the application process explained on their website:
🔹 Expansion Capital AIFP
🔹 ZGI Capital
🔹 FlyCap Mezzanine Fund II
🔹 Baltic Innovation Fund
📌 More info (in Latvian)
7. Parallel loan
A parallel loan is an additional loan, provided by Altum, that serves as an entrepreneur’s co-financing for a bank loan in case the bank requires bigger participation than the entrepreneur is able to provide.
💶 Type of funding available: parallel (mezaine) loan (€50'000 — €5 million; cannot exceed 45% of total project costs)
🌠 Success story: Madara Cosmetics, also known as MÁDARA, is a Latvian brand that makes organic skin care, hair care, and baby care products. As the company was growing at 30% YOY, they were looking for a bigger manufacturing facility. With the help of Altum’s parallel loan, the company was able to buy its current manufacturing center in Marupe, Latvia.
✔️ Application guidelines: First, the company applies for a loan in a bank. If the bank requires more co-financing, the company and bank together submit the needed documents to receive the Altum’s parallel loan.
📌 More info (in Latvian)
8. Credit guarantee
The Altum credit guarantee is provided if your current security is not enough to secure a bank loan. The guarantee amount cannot exceed €5 million and 80% of the principal amount of financing.
💶 Type of funding available: n/a
🌠 Success story: Apply creates custom AI solutions across a broad spectrum of industries, including media, healthcare, and other. The start capital came from the founders, but later as the company developed and changed, they had to look for additional funding. With the help of the Altum credit guarantee, Apply was able to get a loan and further grow their business.
✔️ Application guidelines: contact your bank for the possibility to use the credit guarantee by Altum.
📌 More info
9. Startup law benefits
Companies that according to the Startup Law meet the criteria of a ‘’startup’’ can qualify for the following support: fixed social tax rate for startup employees + 0% individual income tax, or 45% co-financing of highly qualified employees. Startups are allowed to apply for different forms of support to different employees.
💶 Type of funding available: co-financing of highly qualified employees (45%)
🌠 Success story: Nordigen is a fintech startup that provides banks and lenders with analytics to help them improve the speed and accuracy of their credit decisions. Nordigen has received co-financing for attracting high-skilled workers.
✔️ Application guidelines: a step-by-step guide available here.
📌 More info
10. Mini-MBA
The mini-MBA is one of the available choices of support for startups under the innovation motivation program, implemented by LIAA. The mini-MBA is training for startup founders, top-level managers, and senior-level employees to help them improve their management skills and grow their companies faster. The training is lead by experienced lecturers and mentors with academic and hands-on international experience.
💶 Type of funding available: n/a
🌠 Success story: Catchbox is the ‘’world’s first soft throwable microphone’’ or in other words — a soft cube with a built-in microphone, used in conferences, seminars, meetings, etc. In 2019, the company’s CFO graduated the mini-MBA course.
✔️ Application guidelines: To apply for the mini-MBA, fill out the necessary documents that are available for download here. Then, sign them with an e-signature and send to [email protected]. Alternatively, you can take the signed documents directly to the LIAA office at Perses 2 (1st floor), Riga.
📌 More info (in Latvian)
11. Vouchers
The LIAA innovation vouchers program provides support to merchants that develop new products and technologies. Merchants can apply for introduction or classical vouchers, where:
🔹 The introduction voucher is for research, prototyping, industrial design development, and more.
🔹 The classical voucher for research, prototyping, certification and testing services, the attraction of highly qualified employees, and more.
💶 Type of funding available: co-financing (introduction voucher — up to €5'000 with 85–100% intensity or classical voucher — up to €25'000 with 45–85% intensity)
🌠 Success story: Sonarworks is software for sound calibration on headphones and speakers for music creators. In 2019, Sonarworks signed an agreement on receiving a €25'000 voucher for the attraction of a highly qualified employee for creating an innovative Development Kit algorithm.
✔️ Application guidelines: If you qualify for support (check here — in Latvian), prepare the necessary documents — find them here (for the introduction voucher) or here (for the classical voucher). Once the application documents are ready, submit them as e-docs via email [email protected], or take them directly to the LIAA office in Perses 2, Riga.
📌 More info (in Latvian)
12. Business incubators
LIAA has created 15 business incubators to help early-stage companies to speed up their growth. The LIAA Incubation programme, besides other things, includes co-financing of services like testing, prototyping, market research, as well as expert consultations. Startups are also provided with office space, the chance to participate in local exhibitions and apply for a grant. The total incubation period can’t exceed 4 years.
💶 Type of funding available: co-financing (up to €200'000)
🌠 Success story: Grafomap is an online store that allows you to create custom map posters of a place of your choosing. As a member of LIAA business incubator, Grafomap was provided with an office space, as well as received co-financing for marketing activities.
✔️ Application guidelines: Make sure you qualify. Then find your closest business incubator in this map, fill out your application (available here) and submit it to your chosen incubator.
📌 More info
13. Social entrepreneurship program
Implemented by the Ministry of Welfare and in cooperation with Altum, companies that conduct social entrepreneurship have the chance to receive a grant for the development and promotion of their businesses. To qualify for the grant, your company must obtain social business status.
💶 Type of funding available: grant (up to €20'000)
🌠 Success story: BlindArt is a social business platform that sells artwork created by blind and visually impaired people. In 2018, Blindart received a €20'000 grant, which has helped the company grow and further integrate people with visual impairments into the labor market.
✔️ Application guidelines: First, apply for social business status. Then, fill out the application documents for Altum and submit them via mans.altum.lv.
📌 More info
⚙️ Part III: Expand
World domination is written in your business plan? Good. We’ll help you get your business’ — and Latvia’s — name out there.
14. Promoting international competitiveness
Promoting international competitiveness is a support program for a wide range of merchants, including startups. Companies are provided with support for participation in international exhibitions, trade missions, conferences, and seminars, as well as for conformity assessment of production sites and products.
💶 Type of funding available: co-financing (with 25–50% intensity)
🌠 Success story: STROPS Technologies produces mobile video surveillance systems. With the LIAA support, the company attended several security industry conferences, including IFSEC London and Security Essen, and came home with new contacts and leads, as well as got coverage in international press.
✔️ Application guidelines: Prepare your application (guidelines here — in Latvian), as well as other required documents. Your application will be evaluated and once the decision is made, you’ll be invited to sign an agreement (available for download here).
📌 More info (in Latvian)
15. Explore the globe
Also known as “aid for the participation in exhibitions, conferences and direct visits abroad’’, this type of support is specifically created for startups — companies developing innovative products. Every year, 100 businesses are offered co-funding to participate in international events, as well as to visit investors and partners abroad. Expenses that are covered include flight tickets, accommodation, daily allowance, event tickets, and other business trip expenses.
💶 Type of funding available: co-financing (with 70% intensity, max. €4'000)
🌠 Success story: Overly creates custom augmented reality solutions for businesses and events. The company has entered into an agreement with LIAA for receiving aid for the participation in exhibitions, conferences and direct visits abroad.
✔️ Application guidelines: a step-by-step guide available here.
📌 More info (in Latvian)
16. Enterprise Europe Network
The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) is a network of over 3000 local experts and 600 member organizations across 60 countries that provides support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some of the services EEN provides include helping businesses find partners abroad, consulting on regulations and legislation, informing on available funding possibilities, and helping with market research.
💶 Type of funding available: n/a
🌠 Success story: SIA Zekants produces crunchy bean snacks under the brand name Pupuchi. The company was looking for a roasting machine manufacturer which ended up being a bigger challenge than expected. Luckily, with the help of EEN, the company was able to find a reliable partner.
✔️ Application guidelines: Get in touch with EEN about the possibility to use their database of partnering opportunities. Also, follow the news in the “Events’’ (‘’Pasākumi’’) section on the website — there, you’ll find the latest news on events like exhibitions, trade shows, etc. as well as information on the application process.
📌 More info
17. Export credit guarantee
An export credit guarantee enables exporters to secure themselves against insolvency or long-term payment delays by foreign customers. An export credit guarantee covers commercial risks (up to 90% risk coverage), as well as political risks (up to 95% risk coverage).
💶 Type of funding available: n/a
🌠 Success story: SAF Tehnika is a point-to-point microwave data transmission equipment manufacturer that deploys products in more than 130 countries worldwide. SAF Tehnika has secured their business with the Altum’s export credit guarantee.
✔️ Application guidelines: Start with getting in touch with an Altum export credit guarantee expert — find their contact information here. You can also use this calculator to find out your guarantee premium.
📌 More info
#StartinLatvia #GoGlobal | https://medium.com/@startinLV/state-support-for-entrepreneurship-in-latvia-from-first-steps-to-global-expansion-60eba3e1f08c | ['Latvian Startup Association', 'Startin.Lv'] | 2019-08-23 13:21:27.011000+00:00 | ['Latvia', 'Support', 'Financing', 'Startup'] |
When in Roam | I know it’s been a while since I posted, so thanks for your patience. I should be able to catch up on the trip to date next week as we’ll be hunkering down in Atlanta to see where we are as a country post-Thanksgiving as far as travel during COVID goes. As for today, I’ll bring you up to date on this little behavioral experiment of ours by sharing what went down at our last stop — Savannah!
We docked at Tybee Island, 20 minutes up the coast at an AirBnB named Seahorse Stables.
The first morning we went for an early walk, four blocks down to the beach before the showers were scheduled to make a prolonged appearance. Though it was cloudy and in the upper 40s, you could imagine it during a summer day. Shanty beach town vibe, lotta bungalows like ours painted either pink or turquoise, those plastic pink flamingos — we had two in our backyard, and many U of Georgia “Bulldogs” flags with accompanying red and black pickups, or Mustangs, in the driveway. “GOOOOOOOOO DAWGS, SIC ’EM, WOOF, WOOF, WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!”, is their chant, in case you were wondering. The only other mode of transport seems to be golf carts.
We walked this long boardwalk that juts out over the Atlantic, and the moment we were over water, we were accompanied by scavenger birds hovering motionless in the breeze laser-focused on prey, and fishermen, each with multiple rods at the end of the dock, waiting for the tip of one of their poles to bend, who kept checking their phones with one hand while nursing a cup of joe in the other to keep warm if nothing else.
Once we got back to the ranch — I mean stable, we went to work as if we were home. The neat thing about living on the road though is that you’re not hunkered down in your own home. Every few days, or week, you’re residing in a new space, and you’re figuring out how to do the things you do every day in a new layout, with different appliances, and electronics. Some people do the New York Times crossword puzzle to keep their mind active, I figure out how to get my streaming services on other people’s Roku systems, and unlock their keyless front doors to gain entry 😉.
At Seahorse Stables, the challenge was decoding the washer/dryer and the coffee maker. This washer/dryer is one unit that does both?! We’d never contemplated that as an option before. It reminds me of that joke about the thermos being the greatest invention ever — better than fire, or the wheel. Why? Because in the summer it keeps things cold, and in the winter, it keeps things hot. So? SO? HOW DOES IT KNOW?!!!
Anyway, Carol figured out the washer/dryer combo, a Kenmore Elite, and the clothes came out so piping hot that I burned my hands taking them out. I shit you not.
And, as for the coffeemaker, a TRU, it takes either pods or grinds — also a new concept for me. I figured out the latter option. The coffee was good while keeping our carbon footprint to a minimum.
Then Carol went to work on a PowerPoint deck for a client, and I did some prep for an upcoming training, while the Vikes pulled out a win at home against the Carolina Panthers to move to 5–6 with still an outside shot for a wildcard. Probs is of the five games left, they can only afford one loss at the most, and while they should beat the Jags, Bears, and Lions, I don’t see them faring well against the Bucs and Saints. They’re gonna have to earn it — as they should.
Later we had a Zoom call with friends and binged some Schitt’s Creek, season two. We didn’t appreciate the show at first, but after watching a documentary about the last season, we’re enjoying all their overacting now.
The next and last day in the area, we had a break in the rain and drove 20 minutes into Savannah during early afternoon under sunny skies — which quickly faded — for a walking tour of the city.
Savannah
Our guide, Orlando (not Indigo) Montoya, moved to Savannah 24 years ago from Orlando, FL (no, I didn’t ask him if he was named based on geography, though come to think of it, that’s a cool way to do it) and fell in love with the place. And, it showed. During our two-hour walk, delivered under the canopy of Southern Live Oaks draped in Spanish moss that give the city its atmosphere, he seemed to just riff about a great mix of facts and stories, including, but not limited to:
- History: In 1733 founder James Oglethorpe aspired to create an egalitarian city which included negotiating to trade land for favored trading status with Chief Tomochichi of the Yamacraw tribe. We also passed the Green-Meldrim House where at the end of the Civil War, General Sherman’s “40 acres and a mule” Field Order 15 was signed.
- Logistics: Oglethorpe envisioned a Utopian urban plan consisting of multiple public squares. There are now 22 of them. You feel like you’re walking on a chessboard with each square centered by a park the size and shape of a city block, at the center of which, a statue commemorates a historic moment of Savannah history.
- Judaism: Jews arrived on the second ship landing after Oglethorpe’s to escape Spanish persecution and were seminal figures in the city’s founding. And Congregation Mickve Israel, built-in 1733, is the third oldest synagogue in the U.S.
- Pop culture: Much of Forrest Gump — MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVIE, was filmed here, as well as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which is based on a true story. And Johnny Mercer, co-founder of Capitol Records and the only person to win four “Best Song” Academy Awards is Savannah’s favorite son!
- Current events: Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), founded in 1978, has become the #1 college of Art and Design in the United States and simultaneously has revitalized the city.
- You can’t go home again, Carol: We skimmed by the presently under-renovation birthplace of Girl Scouts’ founder Juliet Gordon Low, but could not visit inside;( FYI, the missus has done a lot of great work for corporate over the last few years — my unbiased opinion, of course.
Post-tour, we convened on the outdoor deck of Rocks on the Roof, in The Bohemian Hotel on West Bay Street overlooking the Savannah River to compare notes regarding the previous two hours and commit it to memory.
Then it was back to the ranch for another Zoom call, followed by more binging while giving the washer/dryer a run for its money.
Though we spent more time cooped up due to inclement weather than anticipated, it hasn’t been a bother due to great company and knowing we’re still in the midst of a pandemic with five months of travel ahead of us. If we don’t hit a sunny day at the beach now or in town now, we will further on down the road.
Tomorrow — onward to Charleston!
Postscript: After reading this post, Don Davies informed me that “my fiance and I have stayed on Tybee Island for two different vacation times and we fell in love with the Island, the people the food and so much more! I recommend staying at least three days to enjoy Tybee and Savannah! For tybee restaurants, check out https://visittybee.com/restaurants.” Thanks Don! | https://medium.com/@howardfertig/when-in-roam-d0575e3099c4 | ['Howard Fertig'] | 2021-03-03 14:00:25.579000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Travel', 'Moving', 'Personal Development', 'Retirement'] |
Financial Flops: A shocking 30% of Americans don’t have a safety net greater than $400 | Commissioned by World Finance and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found on average, Americans need a minimum of $10,726 in savings in order to feel financially comfortable. Photo by Travis Essinger on Unsplash
Half of Americans (55%) would qualify 2020 as a personal financial disaster.
The survey asked 2,000 Americans what their financial status and future financial goals for 2021 were after 59% said 2020 was a year of financial setbacks for them.
Seven in ten said their financial priorities have changed from the start of 2020 to now. For 63 percent, this year has permanently changed their financial priorities.
More than six in 10 (65%) of people say they’re depending on 2021 to recover financially from the setbacks they’ve experienced this year.
For nearly four in 10 (37%) respondents, that includes making serious cutbacks.
Nearly three-quarters of people (74%) have had to shift their financial priorities this year because of emergency expenses and medical expenses.
Half said putting more money aside has gained new importance to them due to their experiences in 2020. Almost as many (48%) said saving for an emergency fund was a new priority this year, as well.
Commissioned by World Finance and conducted by OnePoll, the survey found on average, Americans need a minimum of $10,726 in savings in order to feel financially comfortable.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents believe it will take longer than a year to reach just one of their financial goals. On average, people think it will nearly be 2024 before their goals are met.
Of the employed respondents (59% in total), seven in 10 say they need a raise at their job in order to make ends meet. Over 60 percent (62%) said they plan on taking on a second job in 2021 to meet their financial goals next year.
For 60% of respondents, rebuilding their savings tops the list of financial resolutions to accomplish in 2021. It’s closely followed by becoming debt-free (56%), improving their credit score (53%) and starting an emergency fund (51%).
More than half (55%) of Americans say they need advice on how to budget properly. Nearly three-fourths (74%) of them hope to improve their financial literacy in 2021.
Three in ten plan to set up automatic savings to make their money dreams come true.
Only 15% of people say they have an excellent knowledge of finances. Over 40 percent (41%) say their knowledge is good, but not the best. Close to two-thirds of all respondents (63%) regret not taking their finances more seriously sooner.
“Ringing in the new year provides the opportunity to reflect, learn and plan for financial resolutions as we look ahead to 2021. We encourage Americans to take advantage of available financial literacy resources to create manageable budgets that fit their immediate and long-term needs,” says Chad Prashad, president and CEO of World Finance.
Nearly 30% of Americans do not feel that they have the safety net or resources available to cover a financial setback greater than $400.
Over half (54%) of Americans have used credit cards to borrow money for a short-term expense. But a third of Americans fear high-interest rates and an inability to repay when taking out a short-term loan.
“The new year represents a fresh start, new beginnings and the opportunity for Americans to prioritize their financial well-being and start getting back to the good in life. World knows taking out a loan can be an intimidating process. When faced with a financial emergency, it is important to have a reputable partner to turn to for a quick solution,” says Prashad. “An improved credit score is important to increase their options as well as increase their credit limits and reduce interest rates.”
Forty-five percent of respondents expect to take out a loan for one reason or another in 2021. Nearly half of respondents ranked the ability to get cash fast the most important criteria when considering taking out a personal/short-term loan.
WHAT ACTIONS ARE PEOPLE TAKING TO MEET THEIR FINANCIAL GOALS?
Making serious cutbacks 37% Begin investing 34% Meeting with a financial advisor 31% Setting up automatic savings 30% Taking out a loan 27% Taking a second job 26% Moving 23% Consolidating debt 22% Return to school for myself 11% Selling valuable items 9%
CREDIT SCORES FOR AVERAGE AMERICANS
Subprime 500–600 26% Prime 661–780 20% Near prime 601–660 19% Deep subprime 300–499 15% Super prime 781–850 13% No credit 7%
>> Download the video and infographic for this research story <<
NOTE: All news copy and multimedia on this SWNS account is free to use as you see fit. Where research has been conducted, we ask that you credit the company which commissioned it. | https://medium.com/@pitch-20575/financial-flops-a-shocking-30-of-americans-dont-have-a-safety-net-greater-than-400-a81c93d314ea | [] | 2020-12-22 21:07:26.649000+00:00 | ['Research', 'Money', 'Personal Finance', 'Banking', 'Data'] |
Nailing your first job as an Android developer — Part 3: Getting ready for the interviews | Each company has a different process. The order and the number of steps are different and the hiring process is usually quite different between a start-up and a big company. Nonetheless we can differentiate 3 types of interview: the first contact, the behavioural interview and the technical interview. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have 3 interviews. Some companies mix the behavioural talk and technical questions in one interview, others like to separate the behavioural talk and/or the technical talk in several steps.
Once again this is based on my own personal experience and it will be a bit different for you. But I hope I can give you an idea of what type of questions to expect and how to react during an interview so you’ll know how to get ready and hopefully move to the next step of the hiring process.
The first contact
If you caught the recruiter’s attention you will receive an email asking for your availability for a 20min chat (usually over the phone). It is usually pretty casual, with only one interviewer.
Most of the time your interviewer is a recruiter and not a developer so you won’t have any technical questions. The main goal of this chat is to have a better overview of your experiences and skills and give you some details about the position to make sure you could be a good fit and that what the company has to offer would fit you (salary range, location, role, etc…).
We can divide this interview in 4 parts:
The recruiter introduces the company. You introduce yourself. You will be asked some questions about your experiences and knowledge. The interviewer will give you some time to ask any questions you might have.
The company introduction
Most of the time the interviewer will start by introducing themselves then will talk about the company, usually a brief history and an explanation of their products or services.
I had an experience where the recruiter started by asking me what I knew about them. I’ll recommend you to take some notes about the company before the interview. Go through their website or LinkedIn page. No need to go too much into details but you should have a good understanding of the products they are offering and the type of company (size, field etc…). If they are developing an app that you can find on the PlayStore, download and play with it for a bit.
Your introduction
You will be asked to introduce yourself and to talk about your experiences. If you wonder how much into details you should go, try to match the level of details they gave while introducing the company. Usually It should take a couple of minutes to introduce yourself, no need to go into deep technical details, if you are talking to a recruiter, they won’t be able to understand.
Talk about your most relevant diploma and experiences (I usually go from the most Android-related experience to the least Android-related experience). For each one give an example of what you’ve learned or the skills you have had to put in application. Try to mention skills they asked for in the job description but no need to quote all of them, they will ask questions afterwards and you’ll have a chance to show the number of skills you are matching. Try to re-use the same vocabulary and key words than in the job offer. You should have done a similar exercise with the cover letter but try to use different examples if you can to show that you have more than one experience with a specific skill.
Don’t judge yourself in a bad or good way (unless you are explicitly asked to) only talk about facts:
I have used retrofit a lot. NO!
I have used retrofit in my last three projects. BETTER!
Questions about your experience
The interviewer will ask you several questions about your past experiences and the skills you have. It will be questions like:
Have you ever use Dagger in the past?
Do you have any experiences working in an Agile team?
How many years of experience do you have in Android?
How would you scale your skill level in Kotlin from 1 to 10?
Your interviewer is basically looking to check boxes. The more boxes are checked the more chance you have to move to the second step of the hiring process.
Do not answer with only “yes” or “no”, provide a clear and concise example to demonstrate that you have put your skills in practice. Try to always answer positively but don’t ever lie! If you can’t honestly say that you have experience with the technology, a good answer would be:
I have some basic knowledge about how work coroutines in Kotlin but I have never applied my skills into a finished project
This part of the interview required a bit of preparation. Here’s how I am getting ready for it:
I re-read the job offer and take note of each skill mentioned. Next to each one I write an example from my experiences where I have improved this skill or had to use it (I try to not give the same example as the one in my cover letter). If I don’t have experience with one of the skills mentioned I go read a quick introduction online of what it is and the basic principles.
You will probably be asked about your salary requirement. Before your interview ask other junior Android developers in your area what their salary is. Use Glassdoor tool to look at the salary range for a junior developer in your country/city. If you are applying for a big company Glassdoor might even be able to give you the salary range for their developers. You can answer this way:
I know that a junior Android developer in Vancouver area is being paid around **** and **** so that is the kind of salary I am looking for but what is the salary range in your company?
Your time to ask questions
At the end, the interviewer will give you some time to ask questions. You HAVE TO ask questions to show your interest. A bare minimum for me would be at least 3 questions.
Examples of questions you can ask:
Is the new development in Kotlin or Java? What design pattern are you using? If you interviewer is not a developer them might not be able to give you lot of technical details but most of the time they can give you general answer
Do you accept remote work? Do you have strict or flexible hours?
Ask more details about their clients/products/services etc…
Make sure to not ask for information you can easily find on their website. You should have done some research about the company prior to the interview. Show that you have done those researches by asking to clarify some information they have online:
I saw you are offering that kind of service but what about …?
Can you tell me more about this ...?
One of the most important question to ask is:
What are the next steps of the hiring process?
So you’ll know how many interviews you will go through and what kind. Make them specify if the next step will be technical or just about your experiences so you can better prepare.
Finally, don’t forget to ask when they will get back to you and let you know if you are having another interview or not so you can send a follow up email if they ever take more time.
The behavioural interview
The interview process
This interview is usually longer than the first one, 45min to an hour. You can have between 1 and 3 interviewers, they can be managers, supervisors, developers… It varies a lot but most of the time at least one of the interviewers will have a technical background.
The main goal of this interview is to evaluate if you have a good developer mindset and will be able to adapt quickly to new technology. You will also have to show your communication skills and demonstrate that you can communicate with your coworker and know when to ask for help.
From my experience, your answers to those questions will be really important to start-ups. They’d rather someone with the same mindset and values over someone with strong technical skills but with whom the team won’t get along. Which means they will probably do a full interview just about your soft skills, while bigger companies ask those questions during the technical interview or the first contact.
As a junior developer your soft skills are your strength. It is normal to have limited technical skills in a new field. But your mindset and your strategy to tackle challenges will make a difference in how fast your skills will grow. This interview is really important!
Type of questions
Those questions will be about your global experiences and will require detailed answers. Type of questions that can be asked:
Give me an example of a situation where you had to handle a conflict with your manager or a coworker. How did you handle it? Describe an important project you worked on. What is the most important thing you learned at your last job? What was a difficult situation that occurred and how did you handle it? What did you like most and least about your last job? How do you stay informed about the latest trend in Android? Tell me about a time where you made a mistake that impacted others? How did you handle the situation? What was the biggest challenge you had to face while developing an Android app? How did you handle it? Tell me about a project you've worked on from conception to delivery. How did you organize your work? How would you explain a new concept to a less experienced Android developer? What are your solutions to explain a technical problem to a non technical person?
If you are freshly out of school those questions will be more oriented toward your school projects and your teachers.
(If you have more typical questions that are not listed above please submit your suggestions in the comments!)
How to get ready for the interview
It is hard to predict exactly which questions they will ask but you can prepare anyways by trying to answer the few questions listed above. They are pretty typical questions for this type of interview. You will probably have to answer at least 2 or 3 of those questions in each of your interviews.
For each project you’ve worked on and each work experience, list the following:
the most challenging part of the project/job
the thing you enjoyed the least while working on it
the thing you enjoyed the most while working on it
the errors you made and the lessons you got from it. How did you fix them or what did you change in your other projects because of it
if you worked on a team, what was your role? What conflicts did you have and how you were able to resolve them.
I was lucky that my school offered me two month of coaching by a professional after graduation. It did really help me with that kind of question. I’ll recommend anyone who can have access to coaching sessions to get the most of it and practice this interview a lot. You can also practice with a friend and make sure to follow the guideline described in the next part. Finally, you can use a free tool, Pramp, that will match you with another peer to practice the behavioural interview (they offer training for technical interviews as well).
How to answer
Listen carefully to the question, it is ok to take some time to think about an answer. For the most difficult questions, ask them to repeat or precise their questions if needed. It will give you more time to think and will avoid a too long and awkward silence. I sometimes make a joke to give myself more time to think. Don’t forget that it is not because you are the one who is being interviewed that you can’t ask questions. Ask for clarity every time it is necessary. It is always better to ask too many questions than not enough. It demonstrates that you know to take the time to make sure you have all the keys you need before trying to solve a problem.
Describe the situation, put things in context so your interviewer can understand the problems you were solving at the moment. Explain the task you had to complete. Describe the actions you took to complete this task, how did you organize yourself and where did you look for help when you needed it. Show that you are able to solve problems yourself but know when to ask for help. Finish with the result of your actions, what happened? Did you succeed or failed? Always focus on the lessons you’ve learnt and the work you’ve done to make the team and the project move forward.
Even when you have to talk about a negative experience (an error you made, a task you didn’t like etc…), focus on explaining how you turned this into a positive one and learn from it. Making mistakes is still the best way to learn as long as you get the lessons from it. The more mistakes you make during your training the less you’ll make while working.
The more projects you’ve worked on and the more professional experiences you have (related or not to Android) the easier it will be to answer and find a good example to talk about. Your answers don’t all have to be Android related. You can take an example from your student job, your hobby etc.. It is good to show that you have experiences in other fields. But try to answer mainly with Android or tech related experiences to show that you have already tackled similar challenges than the one you might encounter while working for the company.
End the interview
Once again at the end of this interview you will have some time to ask questions. You HAVE TO ask questions to show your interest.
If you are talking to a manager or a lead it will probably be a good time to ask questions about how they organize their work, how the tasks are being split up between the teams and the developers…
As always, end by asking what is the next step of the hiring process in order to be ready and also ask when can you expect to hear back from them.
The technical interview
This interview will also typically take between 45min and an hour. Your interviewers can be between one and three. You will usually have in front of you an Android lead and a senior Android developer. Sometimes a manager will join them to ask some behavioural questions at the same time.
The main goal of this interview is pretty simple, demonstrate that you have basic knowledge in Android and in programming in general.
The technical test
Most companies will give you a take-home challenge to do before this interview so they can then ask questions about your technical choices and have a better idea of your skills.
Typically you will have to develop a simple Android application within a week. I had one experience where a company gave me a challenge to do in 24 hours with a technology I had no experience with. I had to develop an application in React Native.
Focus on code quality and architecture over the number of features. Your code should be easily testable (writing tests is even better), documented and easily readable. Modifications of the data source or the UI should require as little work as possible. If you are pulling data from the network, think about data persistence to avoid too many network calls.
If you are using a library, make sure to be able to mention other ones that can do the same things and explain your choice during the interview. Why did you pick Koin over Dagger for dependency injection for example. Look how you could have done it yourself without the library and make sure to be able to explain the basic principles. How would you have created a viewModel Factory for injection?
Show that you are up to date with the latest technologies in Android. You can use Coil instead of Glide for image loading, use Coroutines to manage threads etc… Don’t be afraid to implement an experimental API like Flow. But don’t forget to add the experimental annotation in your code when you use it. During your interview explain that you are aware that it is not safe to use in production.
Finally, try to use the technologies you know they are using internally (the one mentioned in the job offer or they told you about in previous talks).
How to get ready for the interview
Hopefully during your training you have acquired enough knowledge to answer most of the questions you’ll face during your interview. But explaining a concept with only words is not always easy. Pedro Vincente has put together a list of technical questions for Android and Kotlin in those posts:
To get ready I copied/pasted all the questions from his post in a Google Doc and wrote an answer for each of them in a few words. Enough to make sure I was familiar with the concept and will be able to explain it during the interview. Because all the companies I applied for, develop in Kotlin I only answer the junior section of the Java questions.
Re-read the job offer and the skills they are asking. For the technologies you haven’t had a chance to use yet go read some articles about them. It is even better if you have time to experiment with them in a small app. You should be able to answer some easy questions about them, know what they are used for, and what other alternatives do you have, pros and cons of each.
During your interview you might be asked to do some coding on a white board in order to test that you have some basic algorithms knowledge (I only had to do this exercise once). You can practice your algorithm skills with Codewars or Pramp
You should be up to date with the latest technologies and trends in Android before your interview. Tyler McCraw wrote a great article listing all the different sources you can use to be aware of what is happening in the Android world.
My favourite sources are the podcast Fragmented and the different Android publications on Medium
How to answer
Answering to most of the questions should be pretty straight forward. As always take the time to listen to the question and think about your answer.
It’s okay to not be able to answer all of the questions, Android is a really complex world and it is impossible to know everything specially if you are just starting in the field. Don’t be scared to say that you don’t know but ask them to explain to you to demonstrate that you are always looking to grow your skills. Nonetheless it is always better to be able to provide at least a beginning of the answer. If you are being questioned about a technology you are not 100% familiar with you can still answer with what you know but ask them if they can complete your knowledge. Example:
Q: What are the pros and cons of using RxJava vs Flow when you work with streams?
A: I know that Flow is part of the Kotlin language so it is easier to use and to test but still not fully stable when RxJava has been used in production for years. Flow being pretty recent I haven't had a chance yet to use it a lot so I don't know more about it. Do you have anything to add?
Some questions will be pretty vague and you’ll have to ask for more details from the interviewer. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to narrow down a problem.
Udacity provided a great course to be ready for that kind of interview. I strongly advise you to take a look at it:
End the interview
One more time at the end of this interview you will have some time to ask questions. You HAVE TO ask questions to show your interest.
It will be a good time to ask technical questions about the app they are developing. Which pattern are they using, how much tests are they writing etc…
Don’t forget to end by asking what is the next step of the hiring process in order to be ready and also ask when can you expect to hear back from them. | https://proandroiddev.com/nailing-your-first-job-as-an-android-developer-part-3-getting-ready-for-the-interviews-c79b46636b13 | ['Gaëlle Minisini'] | 2020-03-23 12:22:10.476000+00:00 | ['Job Hunting', 'AndroidDev', 'Job Interview', 'Android', 'First Job'] |
Thriving through life’s changes | Today, Henrike Diers is a Director in Supply Chain Management for Mobility and is a member of the Management Team in the UK. But her Siemens journey began in Berlin Schaltwerk, where she worked as an intern while earning her degree in Industrial Engineering and Management.
Talking about her career journey through Europe with her husband and children she says: “The strength is to face new situations boldly and to master them with already obtained experiences.”
One of the experiences that she still seeks inspiration from today was the Siemens Graduate Program (SGP), which saw Henrike work in Lisbon, Portugal, and Johannesburg, South Africa. “I was ambitious to go to different countries and understand different cultures and branches of our company,” she says.
An interest in experiencing different business functions is what led her to the SGP and she was excited to embark on three job rotations within a span of two years. “It is exciting to see the diverse expertise of this enormous organization in products, industries, and network — and this was all within two years.”
Cross-cultural experiences
“Usually, participants in the program are placed back in the office where you started the program, but luckily my Portuguese placement offered me the opportunity to come back into its supply chain management, which was my first experience as a leader,” Henrike says.
Her husband joined her in Portugal shortly after. “It is great to have your partner with you on a delegation,” she says.
But when the couple returned to Germany following the birth of their first son, Henrike was surprised by the effect of reverse culture shock. Everyone expects that they will need to get acclimatized to a new cultural environment, but they might feel surprised at the contrast they encounter when they return. | https://medium.com/peopleatsiemens/thriving-through-lifes-changes-2428c64969e9 | ['People At Siemens'] | 2019-05-31 09:07:06.061000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Working Abroad', 'Workplace Culture', 'Graduate School', 'Work Life Balance'] |
Less Homelessness | Organizations that I’m inspired / intrigued by (and why)
Invisible People
WHY: I love their mission — “to change the story of homelessness”. Before I saw their videos, I did not know of any specific homeless person. Even though witnessing homelessness bothered me, I still thought of the affected people as a blur and in 3rd person. Watching and listening to some of the stories has put a face to the phenomenon. Seeing the homeless occupy space (even virtually in videos) is stimulating. The format is simple, engaging and effective and does not take away from the conversational and human nature of the interaction.
Here’s one of my favorite stories so far — of Arien. Trigger Warning: Rape
Arien’s 3rd video on Invisible People
You can find all of her previous interviews here and her final update on getting housed and no more being homeless here (Yay!!)
Good sense suggests that, when trying to solve a problem, seek solutions from or at least work with the people closest to the situation. In that spirit, listening to those that live through homelessness should be paramount to understanding (and then solving the problem).
‘Invisible People’ videos have started to be a way for me to listen to the homeless people (almost) firsthand and it has exposed me to some really interesting viewpoints and humbling thoughts.
I’m starting to collate the quotes that have hit me in the gut (and/or the heart) here — What the homeless have to say
(As I’m writing this, it is hitting me that — taking this path of learning of homeless people - by staying behind a screen is still not real enough. It’s letting me avoid the raw discomfort of talking to someone about their pain perhaps not being able to do anything to improve their lives.)
Check them out on YouTube.
Ways to get involved — https://invisiblepeople.tv/get-involved/
Pathways to Housing
… to be researched
National Alliance to end homelessness
… to be researched
Miracle Messages — https://www.miraclemessages.org/
… to be researched
WHY: Interesting approach. Collecting testimonies, stories with the homeless with the intention of finding some human connection — family and friends and reconnecting them. | https://medium.com/@birinder/less-homelessness-d2df429b6113 | ['Birinder Singh'] | 2020-12-09 07:56:50.543000+00:00 | ['Less Homelessness', 'Homelessness', 'Society', 'Humanity', 'Homeless'] |
ZODIAC KILLER | ZODIAC KILLER
The self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer is an alias of an American killer who maneuvered in Northern California from late 1960s to early 1970s. With his identity still remains unknown, the killer initiated the name in series of taunting letters and cards consisting of threats, taunts to police and ciphers, were sent to a San Francisco newspaper. The Zodiac claimed of killing 37 victims. Despite intensive investigations no one has been arrested for these murders and mystery case is still open. Zodiac’s letter contained details of the victims that only the killer could have known. The killer demanded letters to be printed on the first page on newspapers with the threats of further attacks in his letter. The letters were closed with a symbol comprising of a circle with a cross through it and it was known as the Zodiac Killer’s symbol. Each letter was also accompanied with one part of a three-part cipher that he claimed hold his identity. While the Bay Area Police Departments worked feverishly with FBI, the killer made further threats to kill kids and mocked police force for their inability to catch him or crack his code. However, the letters were stopped in early 1970s but the investigation didn’t. Many killings were reported and were linked with Zodiac Killer. In nearly five decades no suspect was arrested which seemed to exasperate the law enforcement and Zodiac Killer was still at large, in spite of the mounting evidence and several investigations. In May 2018 the ‘inactive’ case was re-opened and Zodiac Killer’s DNA was collected from the back of his stamps during his correspondence. The Vallejo Police Department intended to catch Zodiac Killer through these DNA results. However, to date no results have been reported.
Several Movies and TV series including documentaries were also made with the inspiration of Zodiac Killer depicting the investigator’s hunt to decrypt the Zodiac Killer’s codes and horrid events happened during the time. | https://medium.com/@fartashiasheikh07/zodiac-killer-d7658cec9e78 | ['Fartashia Sheikh'] | 2020-12-23 17:31:20.984000+00:00 | ['Code', 'Killer', 'Spooky', 'Murder Mystery', 'Horror'] |
Your Heart Will Always Know | Just to let you know
even when the sky feels dark
and you might be alone
there will always be Nature.
Nothing
can take the sound
of the sweet earth away.
Your footsteps are held
with each hesitation.
The veil of clouds is above
and your heart will know
how to love
by the very essence
that rings true
and supports you.
This is how we resonate
below the noise
and find like-hearted souls
in the valleys and
hear the rivers in their stories.
This unseen current unites us
as kindly as a leaf grows
and the wild reeds brush the wind’s
as the clouds paint us step stones.
Often it is a reverie that brings us home
and closer to something we won’t deny;
a pull, a hope, an existential transparency,
a dance with realness.
A fullness with solitude which notices
the tiniest of details
with utmost respect
where you are seen and held. | https://psiloveyou.xyz/your-heart-will-always-know-b595119da12 | ['Carolyn Riker'] | 2020-12-13 13:03:13.899000+00:00 | ['Nature', 'Poetry', 'Self Love', 'Poetry Sunday', 'Self'] |
10 Cryptocurrency Quotes You May Not Have Heard | 1.)“The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve. We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them not to let identity thieves drain our accounts.”
-Satoshi Nakamoto-Founder of Bitcoin
2.)“At its core, bitcoin is a smart currency, designed by very forward-thinking engineers. It eliminates the need for banks, gets rid of credit card fees, currency exchange fees, money transfer fees, and reduces the need for lawyers in transitions… all good things”
– Peter Diamandis-Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation
3.)“Bitcoin seems to be a very promising idea. I like the idea of basing security on the assumption that the CPU power of honest participants outweighs that of the attacker. It is a very modern notion that exploits the power of the long tail.”
– Hal Finney-computer programmer and completed the first Bitcoin transaction
4.)Under this strain of thought, Bitcoin is to be thought of as a sort of TCP/IP of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, and other next-generation protocols can be built on top of Bitcoin much like we have SMTP for email, HTTP for webpages and XMPP for chat all on top of TCP as a common underlying data layer.”
– Vitalik Buterin-Co-founder of Ethereum
5.)“Bitcoin enables certain uses that are very unique. I think it offers possibilities that no other currency allows. For example the ability to spend a coin that only occurs when two separate parties agree to spend the coin; with a third party that couldn’t run away with the coin itself.”
– Pieter Wuille-Co-Founder at Blockstream
6.)“Blockchain is the tech. Bitcoin is merely the first mainstream manifestation of its potential.”
– Marc Kenigsberg-Founder of BitcoinChaser.com
7.)“Spend some time with Bitcoin. Learn it, challenge it, and use it. You can assume no government wants you adopting this system in any capacity, and for that reason alone it’s worth consideration by honest, moral, and industrious people”
– Erik Voorhees-Founder and former CEO of Coinapult
8.) “Will people be buying yachts with their Dogecoin riches some day? Probably not. But are we having a lot of fun, helping great causes and spreading the digital currency word in the process? Yes we are. And perhaps if we pool our Dogecoin together we can build a Dogeyacht and sail the world, just saying…!”
– Jackson Palmer-Founder of Dogecoin
9.)“I think the fact that within the bitcoin universe an algorithm replaces the functions of [the government] … is actually pretty cool. I am a big fan of Bitcoin”
– Al Gore- 45th Vice President of the United States
10.)“It’s gold for nerds.”
– Stephen Colbert, American writer, comedian, television host, actor
We’ll be sharing more posts like these on quotes about cryptocurrency as we launch https://www.formosa.financial an institutional grade custodial service for high net worth traders, businesses and their complex needs. Feel free to tweet | https://medium.com/formosa-financial/10-cryptocurrency-quotes-you-may-not-have-heard-6ce19df4f061 | [] | 2018-06-03 04:35:37.361000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Fintech', 'Blockchain'] |
BTT Airdrop for Tron Holders! | Hey folks,
Another great opportunity to earn crypto for free is just around the corner. Time to buckle up your wallets because -
BTT — Airdrop — is — happening!
What?
BitTorrent, the world’s largest decentralised file sharing protocol, recently announced its airdrop schedule for TRX (Tron) holders, and we are happy to inform you that Bitbns fully supports it.
However, TRX holders will exclusively be the ones to benefit from this opportunity. But you need not worry; if you are a TRX holder before the airdrop is initiated, you are in.
So if you haven’t got TRX in your Bitbns wallet yet, go for it before the BTT airdrop begins.
BitTorrent will initiate its first airdrop to TRX holders on 11 February 2019, which is when the block height of TRX will reach 6.6 million. All official wallets carrying TRX before 11 February 00:00 UTC will be eligible for the airdrop.
Remember — 11 February, 2019 — that’s the date before which you will need to have TRX tokens in your wallet in order to be eligible for the airdrop.
How?
BitTorrent Foundation will take a snapshot of the TRX ledger before initiating the airdrop on 11 February 2019. Anyone holding TRX in their wallet before the aforementioned deadline is eligible to receive their free BTT tokens. If you already hold TRX in your wallet, sit back and relax!
When?
As per the official post, the airdrops will take place in phases spread through upcoming years. Here is the official timeline for the BTT airdrops:
On 11th February, 2019: 10,890,000,000 BTT
11th March, 2019–11th February, 2020: 990,000,000 BTT per month
11th March, 2020–11th February, 2021: 1,072,500,000 BTT per month
11th March, 2021–11th February, 2022: 1,155,000,000 BTT per month
11th March, 2022–11th February, 2023: 1,237,500,000 BTT per month
11th March, 2023–11th February, 2024: 1,320,000,000 BTT per month
11th March, 2024–11th February, 2025: 1,402,500,000 BTT per month
Each airdrop will be initiated on the 11th day of each month at 0:00 UTC.
Claiming your BTT on Bitbns
All you have to do is hold TRX in your Bitbns wallet before the airdrop begins. As hinted in the official Medium post, the amount of TRX to be airdropped in a TRX holder’s wallet would be determined as per a specific ratio. As per the medium post by BitTorrent “The ratio of BTT airdrop on Feb 11 is approximately 1 TRX = 0.11 BTT, due to the uncertainty of TRX block rewards and coin burn, the final ratio may be different, the following airdrop ratio will be announced later.”
Till then, stay tuned with us for more updates, and keep rocking!
With Love,
Team Bitbns | https://medium.com/bitbns/btt-airdrop-for-tron-holders-cb3582c40d67 | [] | 2019-01-23 07:35:45.975000+00:00 | ['Token', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Tron', 'Cryptocurrency Investment'] |
Mind map App Design | Mind map App design
Designers Diego Arizcorreta and myself have worked for 10 days on a project related to wellness. The aim was to leverage technology in order to introduce wellness practices into the digital world and promote well-being.
We were set on developing an MVP for an innovative mobile health application based on Mind Maps. We would proceed using the design thinking methodology. The UX and UI tools we ended up using were carefully thought out and catered to our topic.
Secondary research
For our secondary research we focused on spatial visualization of information and mind maps.
Fields of application
Mind maps are broadly studied and used in various fields of application such as psychology, engineering, education, archaeology, planning, geography, cartography, architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, management and history.
Mind maps is a colloquialism for just about any mental representation and is also referred to as cognitive maps, mental maps, schemata, scripts, and frames of reference.
Thinkers
Fun fact, the first noted thinker dates back to the 3rd century. It was Porphyry of Tyros who graphically visualized Aristotle’s concept categories.
Theories on semantic networks developed into mind maps by Dr Allan Collins and researcher M. Ross Quillian in the 1960s. Their publications helped understand human learning, creativity, and graphical thinking.
Psychologist Tony Buzan in his book and BBC tv series “Use Your Head” studies the way users when reading in linear outlines are bound, from left to right and top to bottom, when in fact the human brain scans information in a non-linear fashion. Buzan promotes mind mapping over other forms of note making.
Thinkers
Tool
Cognitive maps serve the construction and accumulation of spatial knowledge.
While used in research, the tool helps with organization, problem solving, and decision making. They allow users to visualize, classify ideas and generate structure.
Human ability for visualization, perception, imagination and memory is referred to as the “mind’s eye”. Spatial thinking allows the “mind’s eye” to visualize images.
Benefits
Mind maps help reduce cognitive load and learning of information. In some cases it may strengthen existing memories and enhance recall, or even create memory palaces.
Mind mapping can improve mental health. Research psychologist George J Huba PhD, diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease in 2010 has focused his research since on evaluating and developing visual thinking methods such as mind mapping and modeling for those with cognitive decline, dementia, and aging. He found that spatial thinking helps thinking more clearly, planning, memorization, decision making and calms anxiety.
Mind map benefits
Survey
Assumptions
Generally, people experiencing anxiety can feel drowned in their thoughts, overwhelmed, lost or helpless. Exteriorizing their emotions can help them process or get through some anxiety.
Some therapy methods encourage people to express themselves to reveal their consciousness and uncover their subconscious thoughts. They explore and share their present day to day life, their past experiences and childhood memories as well as their dreams. Patterns, recurring thoughts, repetitive behavioral patterns and recurring dreams can be revealing. Breakthroughs help people have a deeper understanding of themselves.
A classic tool for expression is journaling. We have imagined another tool for expression: mind maps. A person could use it to input entries. Unlike a classic journal, the data would be recorded in a nonlinear way. The person or the app algorithm could make suggestions for organizing and regrouping entries. The entries a person could input would be about their consciousness in their day to day life, their past memories and childhood, or their dreams as doors to their subconscious.
Survey guide
We designed a survey that would allow us to verify all these assumptions. Through our survey, we were able to question the benefits of exteriorizing one’s thoughts, the act of journaling and other documenting habits. We inquired about the rapport people had to their childhood memories or dreams and their recollection, and if they were able to identify recurring thoughts and behavioral patterns. We also tried to get a better grasp on the manifestation of anxiety, describing it, controlling it, uncovering its source or the methods participants use to calm down.
If you feel like taking the survey, you can take a break and redirect to this link.
Survey results
At the time when we analyzed the results, we had 58 participants.
We found that more than half the participants have at least once owned a personal diary and sometimes document their thoughts, memories or emotions. More than 80% of the participants find it beneficial to write or draw in a personal diary or notebook. We recorded through an open ended question various benefits, amongst which: to empty the mind, to get a broader perspective, to clarify thoughts, to help remember, to relativise, to visualize thoughts.
The vast majority of our participants, 95%, often recall souvenirs or past experiences out of their context for no particular reason and some occasionally remember their dreams. Almost half of them expressed frustration when they forget memories or dreams.
More than 70% sometimes feel caught in a loop, living specific feelings or experiences multiple times and observe repetitive patterns in their behavior.
Regarding anxiety, the vast majority of 90% sometimes feel overwhelmed with their thoughts, have trouble answering clearly when someone asks them how they feel. Some expressed trouble controlling their anxiety. Participants shared their methods for calming down in an open ended question, amongst which: breathing, music, yoga, reaching out to friends, sleeping, meditation, sports.
Survey results
Survey results
Job To Be Done
Interviews
We recruited 5 participants and interviewed each of them with the JTBD framework. We had a general direction in mind. Our first goal was to inquire about participant’s anxieties. We would learn the maximum about the manifestations, the instigators, the physiological effects at what time it hit. We inquired about the participant’s exteriorizing habits, whether they resorted to journaling and how they tried to find relief when feeling anxious.
Initial impressions
I had an instinct that we would be surprised, find similarities and correlation, but before going through the collection of insights and verbatims we could not know for sure.
Most of our participants shared they had anxiety at night, before bedtime, or when they had nothing to do. They described in powerful verbatims the way anxiety struck, the flow of thoughts, the loss of control, helplessness or overwhelmed feelings. They shared the ways writing or doodling sometimes helped to organize, relativize or minimize thoughts.
Job To Be Done interviews verbatims
Empathy maps
Our 5 participants had shared a lot of insights and we had yet to analyze all the valuable information they had given us. A lot of what they shared was personal, sensitive and deep. Their expressions, intonation and facial expressions were very informative. Their openness or reluctance to share, their emphasis or minimizing of certain information was just as relevant.
In order to synthesize, we decided to navigate back to all those interviews and create an empathy map for each participant. As we progressed, we came to find many similarities between our participants. We decided to organize all the data we found in each empathy map into recurring themes.
We found that our participants had similar sharing habits. They enjoyed human contact, whether it was through friends or in therapy. Sharing in a safe space would help them identify introspection leads and behavioral patterns.
Moreover, our participants had strong common pain points. From what they had shared, we were able to constitute a tableau of anxiety: overwhelmed with thoughts, no control, thoughts generating new thoughts, too many thoughts, lost, confused and having trouble sleeping.
We also identified common gains while exteriorizing thoughts. All of them had different ways of expressing themselves, mostly through writing, voice recordings, making lists, doodling, drawing.
With so many common we couldn’t resist merging all the insights and verbatim’s empathy maps into one. Each participant was still distinguished by a distinct color of post-its, with two shades. The lighter shade was used for the insights, the darker shade was used for the verbatims.
Empathy map
How Might We
Having identified top gains and pains, we derived a series of HMW questions to drive us.
Anxiety:
How might we help users control, calm, contain the influx and prevent the accumulation of thoughts to stop the vicious circle?
How might we help the users organize their thoughts to not get lost and confused?
How might we help people identify and name their recurring thoughts to bring relief?
At night:
How might we help people be less anxious at night when they have trouble sleeping?
Expression:
How might we accompany users while they express themselves: writing, doodling, therapeutic coloring, recording themselves, listening to sounds?
Identifying:
How might we help people identify and name their recurring thoughts?
How might we help conduct introspection methods to stop anxiety?
Mental exercise:
How might we help people perform mental exercises in order to calm down, suppress negative thoughts and anxiety?
How might we bring joyful and positive thoughts to decrease anxiety?
How Might We
Ideation
A team of 6 designers participated in an ideation session using the crazy eight technique. In the first round, we ideated for 8 minutes and then shared our sketches with the rest of the designers. We then had another round of ideation for 8 minutes, where we remixed some of our ideas together. Many ideas emerged, I have tried to synthetize them below:
In regard to expression, a great number of ideas were imagined around note-taking, journaling, a diary organized by theme and date, a journal to document and track dreams, notifications to encourage a user to write.
Many ideas for mediums were suggested: such as writing, doodling, dictation, audio recordings, scribbling, drawing.
The designers suggested ways to organize content: with themes related to professional, personnal, family, or with a negative and positive thoughts distinction, with an organization related to time, or to distinguish physical and emotional symptoms.
Many ways to visualize the collected data were imagined: lists, charts and graphs or mind maps. The goal would be to identify recurring thoughts or dreams, make links and connexions, to help users diagnose anxiety sources by themselves or with artificial intelligence.
Some ideas to integrate connected objects to record brain activity or cardiac rhythm were also put forward.
Designers focussed on sharing, either by creating a community to share content with others anonymously or in relation to therapy, to share content, schedule meetings, chatbot or video calls with professionals.
Some designers focused on techniques and methods to feel better such as: breathing exercises, teas and massages, mantras and quotes, reminders to dedicate time to relaxation, quotes and inspirational people
My ideation sketches
MoSCoW prioritization
We organized the ideas into themes, while keeping all post-its, including the repetitive ones, to view how often similar ideas had been proposed.
Ideation
Once we had listed all our ideas, we prioritized them using the MoSCow method.
MoSCoW prioritization
Our solution would allow users to journal their thoughts, dreams or memories, using a large amount of mediums, to create an infinite map. The users could make connections between previous inputs to find recurring patterns. The users could search and filter the map. They could also share the mao or switch to a dark mode at night.
User flow to-be
Having identified a clear solution, we were able to derive a user flow to-be depicting the tasks and decisions the user could take in a happy path scenario.
User flow to-be
Low Fi Wireframes
I was very excited to sketch out the first frames depicting the solution and a given user flow.
My low fidelity wireframes sketches
Mid Fidelity prototype
The wireframes led to designing a mid fidelity prototype with the main frames and interactions.
Link to mid-fidelity prototype
Mid Fidelity prototype
Usability testing
We conducted 5 usability tests on our mid fidelity prototype. Using the user’s results and insights, we were able to analyse and iterate.
Usability testing results
Usability testing results
Usability testing results
Usability testing results
Brand attributes
We defined adjectives in order to further define our product and represent the essence of the brand. Our app is a space for expression, it is benevolent, as it offers no judgment and support, and is an infinite map.
Brand attributes
Moodboard
We created a moodboard to get inspired from. We reflected on the themes of expression, as seen with the books and chair, on serenity, as seen with the zen garden and origami, on time, as seen with the clock and repetitive patterns, on infinity, as seen with the sand, on introspection, as seen with the statue and man alone on a deck.
Moodboard
Style tile
In order to have a consistent design, we created a style tile and defined typography, icons, shapes, buttons with different states, brand colors, functional colors and accent colors.
Style tile
Desirability test results
We conducted 5 seconds brand personnality tests on our high fidelity prototype. We had 14 participants and the design was mostly identified as original with 11 votes, technical with 10 votes, and real with 6 votes.
Brand personnality test results
Using the Five Dimensions of Brand Personality by Jennifer Aaker and our desirability test results, we were able to define a branding personality with the main “sincerity” attribute.
Five Dimensions of Brand Personality results
High Fidelity Prototype
We designed a high fidelity prototype depicting a user entering a childhood memory. The user first enters the memory using drawing and text (a sheep and grandma’s farm). The user further specifies this memory with a theme (family), a feeling (childhood) and context (grandma’s picture). As a result, the user can view the memory on the mind map. The user connects the memory to another similar one. Then, the users search the map using filters. Lastly, the user views the setting page with the sharing and dark mode options.
High Fidelity Prototype
Link to high fidelity prototype
Next steps
The first step after implementing the product would be to collect usability data and iterate. To measure success and failure metrics, we would need to verify how beneficial and helpful the mind map is for its users. We would observe how the mind map affects users experiencing anxiety both on the short term and on the long term.
Thank you
Hope you enjoyed the read.
As you might have guessed, I am a big fan of maps. At times, I have felt the need to express myself on my apartment wall, to help visualize and navigate the flow of thoughts. I would love to have a digital solution with an infinite space to map out and sort through my thoughts, dreams and memories.
What about you? | https://medium.com/@christinachouiti/mind-map-app-design-c569f4aba27b | ['Christina Chouiti'] | 2021-02-09 22:48:15.987000+00:00 | ['UX Research', 'Design Thinking', 'Product Design', 'UX', 'Ux Ui Product Designer'] |
Taylor is now part of the BR11 investment fund | A few weeks ago, we were invited to talk about the possibility of an equity-based investment. While the discussions evolved, we understood that it could be an excellent opportunity help us recover from the stolen funds episode (details here and here) and recapitalize Taylor to fulfill its mission of bringing cryptocurrency trading to everyone. We are thrilled to announce that we closed a deal to have a traditional round of investment in our company with the BR11 fund!
BR11 is the first Latin American Security Token Offer. BR11 allows international investors of any size access to early-stage venture capital in Brazil. The fund will run an STO (Security Token Sale, an ICO of a security token) in September and October 2018 to raise funds to invest in 11 selected Brazilian startups. As Brazilians founders, I and Thiago, and all Taylor team were amazed to be chosen to be part of this initiative.
All eleven startups in the BR11 portfolio are up and running and with incredible track records. All of them have already raised investment money. They are companies in a diverse array of segments, from bus tickets and logistics to media and urban mobility. Taylor is there to complete this diverse portfolio acting in the cryptocurrency segment and also to bring in our knowledge with token sales and help BR11 achieve its fundraising goals.
Taylor participation in BR11
Depending on the cap reached in the BR11 token sale, Taylor will receive an investment ranging from 600k USD to 1.1M USD with a valuation of almost 6.6M USD. In the best case scenario, it means that Taylor will recover a big part of the stolen money.
Some STO details
Everyone that is into ICO investment should take a look at what BR11 is offering. Here at Taylor, we believe it is an incredible opportunity to invest in some more traditional business model enjoying the benefits provided by ICOs.
Soft Cap: 10M USD
10M USD Hard Cap: 30M USD
30M USD Token price: 1 BR11 token = 1 USD
Payments can be made using USD or EUR or an equivalent value in BTC or ETH.
1 BR11 token = 1 USD Payments can be made using USD or EUR or an equivalent value in BTC or ETH. Pre-sale : From September 1st, 2018 at 7:00 am UTC to September 30th, 2018 at 6:00 pm UTC.
Minimum investment: 10K USD
: From September 1st, 2018 at 7:00 am UTC to September 30th, 2018 at 6:00 pm UTC. Minimum investment: 10K USD Main sale: From October 1st, 2018 at 7:00 am UTC to October 31st at 6:00 pm UTC.
Minimum investment: 500 USD
If you are interested, follow BR11 on Telegram and Twitter. Updates are rolling out in these channels.
As always I have to thank the Taylor community for being so supportive of our journey.
Thank you very much.
Fabio Seixas
CEO
Taylor — Crypto trading for everyone | https://medium.com/smarttaylor/taylor-is-now-part-of-the-br11-investment-fund-3446829dbdfb | ['Fabio Seixas'] | 2018-09-17 14:46:30.752000+00:00 | ['ICO', 'Security Tokens', 'Br11', 'Blockchain', 'Sto'] |
Wish You Were Here | Wish You Were Here
Memories of my step-brother and Pink Floyd | https://medium.com/spiralbound/wish-you-were-here-51b693f13be7 | ['Grant Reynolds'] | 2018-10-25 13:01:03.047000+00:00 | ['Grant Reynolds', 'Music', 'Family', 'Pink Floyd', 'Comics'] |
Best crypto platforms in Africa | Africa has been publicizing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for quite a while now. Many countries of Africa have adopted technology and has a growing crypto market. In fact, Bitcoins is now considered as an alternative medium of trade and investment in many countries in Africa. In this article we have listed few trusted cryptocurrency exchanges in Africa.
Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading various cryptocurrencies. As of January 2018, Binance was the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of trading volume. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Binance offers over a hundred coins, many trading pairs as well as unique features and services such as staking, DeFi farming and more. What makes Binance unique for Nigerians is that it has a localized presence in Nigeria.
Nigeria users can access naira (NGN) trading pairs, and at the moment, the exchange supports two NGN trading pairs, BTC/NGN and USDT/NGN. In February 2021, Binance added the NGN FIAT/NBN trading pair to its P2P trading platform in Nigeria as well.
Binance also offers Android and iOS devices mobile apps, with the apps offering an optimized trading experience.
Bundle Africa
Bundle, an Africa-focused social payments app for cash and cryptocurrencies, backed by Binance has launched in Nigeria. Founded by Yele Bademosi, formerly a director at Binance Labs, Bundle allows users to request, send, and receive cash or crypto from their peers.
We make it easy and fun to make payments with cash as well as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ether, BUSD and BNB. Bundle is safe, fast, fun and free.
With Bundle, you can send money to anyone on your contact list for FREE, as long as they have the Bundle App. RIP unnecessary Bank Charges.
Bundle is a fun social payments app for cash or crypto. Not only do we make it easy to send cash like Naira (NGN), we also make it easy to send crypto such as Bitcoin.
What can you do with Bundle Africa?
_ Send and Receive cash or crypto instantly.
_Send cash or crypto to your contacts not on Bundle.
_ Buy and sell crypto.
_ Withdraw and deposit crypto.
Remitano is an online platform that provides an escrowed P2P crypto marketplace that supports the buying and selling of cryptos. The platform allows users to buy and sell cryptos with either crypto or fiat currencies.
You can trade both Bitcoin and Ethereum through a wide variety of payment methods. You can buy cryptocurrency through USD or fiat currency and exchange them for Bitcoins. Its Escrow account facilitates peer-to-peer service for its users. Remitano charges a fee of 1% for the taker and there are no maker charges. Remitano supports more than 30 countries by far and the app can be easily downloaded you’re your mobile phone from Google and Apple app stores.
Paxful is another popular peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platform that is accessible to Africans. The platform enables users to buy, sell, spend, and accept bitcoin.
Trading on Paxful takes place online via live chat while transactions are handled with secure Escrow. The platform is available in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Algeria, Egypt, Rwanda, among other African nations.
The platform provides more than 300 payment methods such as bank transfer, Western Union, PayPal, VISA, Mastercard, and MoneyGram. The Paxful marketplace has 1.7 million monthly active users globally and is thus able to provide decent liquidy for bitcoin traders.
LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange market. This decentralized market allows the exchange of their local currencies for bitcoins. The site clearly enlists the current exchange rates in the platform. People who wish to buy bitcoins can buy them through online banking or trade directly through cash by personally meeting their traders. Users have escrow accounts to safeguard the transactions.
LocalBitcoins focuses on bringing people together in one platform through online trading especially in countries where there is a lack of traditional banking industry.
The platform is available in every African country where users are willing to buy and sell the digital currency. LocalBitcoins also supports a wide range of payment platforms including mobile money transfers such as M-Pesa, which makes it a popular exchange for African bitcoin investors.
Quidax is one of Africa’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges that enables investors to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT), Ether (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies using local currency.
The exchange opened its doors in 2018 and has become particularly popular among bitcoin traders in Nigeria due to launching with the naira (NGN) as its first supported fiat currency. More local fiat currencies will follow soon
Currently, the exchange enables investors to buy, sell, and hold BTC, USDT, ETH, TRX, LTC, DASH, and XRP. Moreover, the exchange also has an iOS and Android app.
Use the link below to get your Binance account which is free of charge.
To buy Cryptocurrency in Binance you can click the link below
P2P Buy/Sell https://p2p.binance.com/en?ref=36687617
Twitter
https://twitter.com/BinanceAfrica
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/binanceafrica
Telegram
Nigerian Telegram community (https://t.me/binancenigeria)
#Binanceafrica
#Binance | https://medium.com/@usmanaisah20/best-crypto-platforms-in-africa-a6e6a5dd0a5a | [] | 2021-07-02 14:36:00.856000+00:00 | ['Binance', 'Bitcoin', 'Binancep2p', 'Binancemasterclass', 'Binance Smart Chain'] |
The Outpost < “Series 3 :: Episode 12” > (FULL.Stream) | ∎ STREAMING MEDIA ∎
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider. The verb to stream identifies the process of delivering or obtaining media in this manner.[clarification needed] Streaming refers to the delivery method of the medium, instead of the medium itself. Distinguishing delivery method from the media distributed applies particularly to telecommunications networks, as almost all of the delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, music CDs). There are challenges with streaming content on the Internet. For instance, users whose Internet connection lacks satisfactory bandwidth may experience stops, lags, or slow buffering of the content. And users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain content.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet content in real-time much as live television broadcasts content over the airwaves with a television signal. Live internet streaming takes a form of source media (e.g. a video camera, an audio tracks interface, screen capture software), an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and deliver the content. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the origination point, although it frequently is.
Streaming is an option to file downloading, a process where the end-user obtains the entire file for this content before watching or listening to it. Through streaming, an end-user can use their media player to get started on playing digital video or digital sound content before the complete file has been transmitted. The word “streaming media” can connect with media other than video and audio, such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are considered “streaming text”.
∎ COPYRIGHT CONTENT ∎
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[5][4][5][4][5] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[6][7][8] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][9][50][55][54] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[55]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsistent.[54]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 50 to 500 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[5] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[55]
∎ GOODS OF SERVICES ∎
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[5] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and extensible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[4] Credit is extended by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.” | https://medium.com/the-outpost-x-where-death-lives/s3-e12-the-outpost-series-3-episode-12-full-stream-b050a1619a92 | ['Bi Gs H O Ws Tv S'] | 2020-12-26 15:56:23.052000+00:00 | ['Adventure', 'Scifi Fantasy', 'Action'] |
Space Science with Python — A Data Science Tutorial Series | Space Science with Python
Python is an amazing language for data science and machine learning and has a lot of great community driven Open Source libraries and projects. How can we use Python to explore and analyse the wonders and mysteries of Space?
Photo by Shot by Cerqueira on Unsplash
Near-Earth Objects, Meteors, ESA’s Rosetta/Philae mission to a comet, the spacecraft Cassini exploring the ring worlds of Saturn … I worked in great projects during my academic studies and later as a doctorate student in the university. As a modern astrophysicist or space scientist, the major work is done in front of the screen: data exploration, data storage and maintenance, as well as the scientific analysis and publication of fascinating results and insights.
I learned a lot during these times and I am very grateful for that. Grateful for the opportunities and the time to explore cosmic wonders at academia’s final frontier.
I used data scientific methods, machine learning and neural network architectures that can be developed and used by virtually anybody thanks to great publication sites, passionate users and a strong open source community. Now, I want to create a link between Data Science and Space Science. On Medium, Twitter, Reddit or at my Public Outreach presentations: People are amazed and fascinated by our cosmos! And I want to contribute something back for the community: A tutorial series that links Space Science with Python.
Overview
This article is an overview and provides short summaries of all articles that I publish here on Medium. This article will be updated continuously and provides a table of contents. All code examples are uploaded on my GitHub repository. Bookmark it to get future updates.
The very first article contains no coding parts. It was written and published as an initial introduction.
Setup of a virtual environment for Python. Installation of the NASA toolkit SPICE, respectively the Python Wrapper spiceypy. Explanation of some so-called SPICE kernels.
Computation of the Solar System Barycentre with respect to the Sun (using SPICE). The tutorial shows that the gravitational centre of our Solar System moves within and outside the Sun. Consequently, the Sun “wobbles” around this common centre.
The outer gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) are the major gravitational influencers in our Solar System. The computations and visualisations of miscellaneous angular parameters reveal that these planets are the main reason of the movement of the Solar System Barycentre as introduced in tutorial session 2.
April / May 2020: The Venus is visible to the naked eye in the evening; right after sunset our neighbor planet appears as a star above the horizon. Close angular distances with the Moon create a nice photo shoot. Here, the tutorial explains how to compute the angular distance between the Venus, Moon and Sun to determine optimal observation parameters (using SPICE).
A tutorial that explains a core analysis and visualisation part of astronomy and space science: maps. SPICE and matplotlib are used to explain, compute, draw and interpret these maps. Further, two different reference systems are explained that are used in future sessions, too.
SPICE provides so-called kernels that allow one to determine the position and velocity vector of planets, asteroids or spacecraft. The vector computation procedure is shown for the dwarf planet Ceres. Based on the position and velocity vector the corresponding orbital elements are calculated. Further, it is shown how close the asteroid 1997BQ passed by Earth in May 2020.
Comets are a remnant of the formation of our Solar System. Hundreds are known, documented and free available as a dataset. In this session, an SQLite database is created with data from the Minor Planet Center and some parameters are derived using SPICE. Further, the Great Comet Hale-Bopp is used as an example to derive positional information.
Two types of comets are known: P and C Types. The different statistical variations are shown and discussed as well as their possible source of origin.
P Type comets are dynamically associated with Jupiter. This dynamical link is described with the Tisserand Parameter that is introduced and explained. A data scientific analysis of the distribution reveals the significant dynamical differences between C and P Type comets.
This tutorial session is a supplementary article. It describes how one can create animations of the multi-dimensional Tisserand Parameter. These kind of visualisations help one to understand more easily multi-input functions. Online supplementary materials are often provided in publications to support the reader with additional information.
Bias effects are present in virtually any statistical or data scientific research topic. Smaller, respectively fainter comets are more difficult to detect and their detectability scales with the distance and activitiy to the Sun.
ESA’s Rosetta/Philae mission explored the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from 2014 to 2016. During its 2 years mission the camera instruments took several images of the comet’s core and derived a 3 D shape model. With the package visvis a Python renderer is programmed to interactively explore this icy world.
There are several sources to predict the trajectory of a comet (here: 67P). We established an SQLite database with data from the Minor Planet center (see part 7) and we learned how to derive data from the SPICE kernels. Both data provide different and also non-static results that are described and compared here.
Part 13 has shown that the orbital elements of 67P from the SPICE kernels change for different Ephemeris times. One possible reason: 67P is a P Type and Jupiter-Family-Comet (part 9) that is being influenced significantly by Jupiter. With the support of SPICE we can show the gravitational influence of the gas giant by computing a simple 2-body solution.
A few weeks ago (End May / Beginning of June 2020) ESA’s Solar Orbiter crossed parts of the dust and ion tail of comet ATLAS. What kind of geometric requirements must be fulfilled to be sure that the spacecraft crossed the ion tail? Using SPICE and the most recent kernels of the spacecraft help us to answer this question.
Brightness, flux density, irradiance, radiance … there are a lot of confusing words and definitions to describe light sources. In astronomy and space science one uses another definition: Magnitude. We create in this basic concept tutorial some functions that are used for future sessions (e.g., brightness computation of asteroids or meteors).
It is the 30th June 2020: Asteroid Day! Today we start with some asteroid related articles, beginning with an asteroid that passed by at a distance of 3 Lunar Distances: 2020 JX1. Computing the position of an asteroid is not as simple as shown in the past, we need the covariance matrix to determine a possible solution space of the asteroid’s location.
2020 JX1 left the vicinity of our home planet! A distance of 3 Lunar Distances was small in cosmic scales, but large enough to miss us. The error-bars in the orbit solution space (see last session) propagate through the computation. Consequently, the sky coordinates of the asteroid are a solution space, too! A 2D Kernel Density Estimator will help us to determine an area of uncertainty in the sky, to answer the question: Where could the asteroid be?
The brightness of asteroids can be computed by using the so called H-G magnitude function. An empirically determined equation that depends on the distance between the asteroid and the Earth and Sun, the phase angle, its absolute magnitude and the slope parameter. What are the special features of this equation? Let’s see …
Tutorial #20 links several topics together: distance and phase angle determination, the apparent magnitude, sky coordinates and so on. The task: Visualising the path of Ceres in the sky for the year 2020 (considering its brightness trend, too). After this article we are good to go to start our first space science project about asteroids and Near-Earth Objects.
Science Project #1
The first part of the project is an introduction into the Near-Earth Object (NEO) topic and does not include any coding yet. The structure of the upcoming weeks is being described.
Our project shall lead to a Python library that can be later used by amateur and professional astronomers and scientists alike. To ensure a credible and sustainable software package the library shall be written in a Test Driven Development (TDD) coding framework. What is TDD exactly? We will figure it out in this session.
A generic TDD example is provided in this step-by-step guide. Using a simple equation (computation of the enclosed angle between 2 vectors) we will try to find a solution based on example for all required computational steps. | https://medium.com/space-science-in-a-nutshell/space-science-with-python-a-data-science-tutorial-series-57ad95660056 | ['Thomas Albin'] | 2020-10-05 14:42:36.278000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Data Science', 'Science', 'Space', 'Programming'] |
Flexible entities with class-transformer | Hello dear readers!
Introduction
Each developer worked, working or will work with API for getting remote data. These data returns as some kind of models, entities or format. But We often have a lot of problems with data format and code case.
Problems
For example let’s make request to TMDB to get latest movie(https://developers.themoviedb.org/):
{
"title": "Movie name",
"overview": "Movie overview",
"release_date": "2020-11-02",
"adult": false,
"runtime": 5400
}
Next We could use simple JavaScript object or class instance for storing data.
const response = await axios.get(
'https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/latest',
...
)
const data = response.data; // or class LatestMovie {
// Properties
constructor(params) {
// Init properties from params
}
}
But both cases has problems:
Simple JavaScript object don’t give any information about stored data and force us to work with snake_case code(No JS way); Class description has a lot of boilerplate code(describing properties and initialization in constructor and also working with snake_case code in constructor);
Solution
We could to solve this problem fast and painless with class-transformer. This package gives us instrument for declarative classes describing, changing property names and properties transformation at init of class instance. So now We could rewrite our data class as:
import { Expose, Type, Transform, plainToClass } from 'class-transformer'; class LatestMovie {
@Expose()
public title: string;
@Expose()
public overview: string; @Expose({ name: 'release_date')
@Type(() => Date)
public releaseDate: Date; @Expose({ name: 'adult' })
public isAdult: boolean; @Expose()
@Transform(value => `${value / 60} minutes`, { toClassOnly: true })
public runtime: string;
} const response = await axios.get(
'https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/latest',
...
)
const latestMovie = plainToClass(LatestMovie, response.data);
As you can see We shouldn’t write constructor and describe properties. Class-transformer do it itself with decorators:
@Expose mark property as transformable; @Type describes type of property(it could be built-in package types or another class-transformer class); @Transform describes custom value transformation; plainToClass(Class, data) set data to class properties.
Generalization
Writing and importing plainToClass function each time may be not convenient. Let’s make code more flexible an generic:
// axios.ts import Axios, { AxiosInstance, AxiosRequestConfig, AxiosResponse } from 'axios';
import { plainToClass, plainToClassFromExist } from 'class-transformer'; function createAxiosInstance(): AxiosInstance {
return Axios.create({
baseURL: process.env.apiUrl,
responseType: 'json',
validateStatus(status) {
return [200].includes(status)
},
})
}
export const axiosInstance: AxiosInstance = createAxiosInstance; export async function request<T>(config: AxiosRequestConfig, Model: any): Promise<T> {
const response = await axiosInstance.request<T>(config);
return plainToClass<T, AxiosResponse['data']>(Model, response.data);
}
Now we can use it as:
const movie = await request<LatestMovie>({
method: 'get',
url: 'https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/latest',
}, LatestMovie);
And movie object will instance of model class. That’s all!
Conclusion
Class-transformer gives us declarative functionality for describing models that We should transform before using. Also one model may be as property of another model and one model may extends another model. So We have JavaScript class that transform properties before using.
Thanks for reading! | https://medium.com/js-dojo/flexible-entities-with-class-transformer-7f4f0fc43289 | ['Ildar Timerbaev'] | 2020-11-04 09:17:37.082000+00:00 | ['API', 'Typescript', 'Axios', 'JavaScript', 'Vuejs'] |
Why do realistic robots creep people out? | Why do realistic robots creep people out?
Exploring the Uncanny Valley
In the philosophy of aesthetics, the “uncanny valley” is a hypothesized relationship between the degree of an object’s resemblance to a human being and the emotional response to that object. So, the uncanny valley is a steep drop-off in how likable or relatable one finds a humanoid character or robot in regards to appearing human. The uncanny valley was first proposed in an essay written by the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, back in 1970. He hypothesized that a person’s affinity for a robot would increase as the robot became more and more human-like. Of course, this can apply to a number of other objects, as well, such as a doll or toy for instance. Mori even provided examples of this by plotting human likeness against likability for things such as puppets. As a result of this, he came up with a graph containing a sharp dip. That is the uncanny valley, which is shown below.
As the graph shows, at worst a still android will remind people of a corpse, while an android in motion can seem like a zombie. Of course, the main detail that people look for is in the eyes. This is because the window to the soul can be the most revealing aspect of an android versus a human. This fact was confirmed in a 2010 study, which was published in the journal Psychological Science. However, the notion that uncanniness can cause uneasiness has been known about for much longer. After Mori coined the term in 1970, it was first translated as “uncanny valley” in the 1978 book Robots: Fact, Fiction, and Prediction by Jasia Reichardt. This forged a link to Ernst Jentsch’s concept of the uncanny introduced in a 1906 essay entitled “On the Psychology of the Uncanny”. This was then elaborated on by Sigmund Freud in a 1919 essay entitled “The Uncanny”. He wrote about “the uncanny,” as the terror caused by things that remind us of the familiar.
Of course, the obsession with the uncanny valley itself didn’t really take off until relatively recently. This first became relevant to pop culture in 2004 with the theatrical release of The Polar Express. The thing is that the vast majority of CGI movies and video games that attempt realism tend to flop because they end up freaking people out. This is a direct result of the uncanny valley effect that Hollywood and Silicon Valley will do anything they can to overcome. That’s why in 2005 Masahiro Mori’s essay was translated into English, and American psychologists started to seriously study the unsettling phenomenon. For instance, in one study, published in 2016, 342 participants looked at 80 different real-life robot faces and found a clearly delineated uncanny valley curve. Unfortunately, there isn’t really a good explanation of what might actually cause our revulsion.
There are, however, many different hypotheses circulating around the world of academia. As one example, the “pathogen avoidance hypothesis” suggests that disgust towards uncanny faces could have helped us avoid someone who might be carrying a transmissible disease. Then again, the “mortality salience hypothesis” suggests that uncanny faces, like wax figures and dolls, might literally remind us of death, hence the corpse and zombie associations that I mentioned earlier. In yet another example, the “categorical uncertainty hypothesis” tries to make sense of how our minds process uncanny faces. This notion argues that there’s uncertainty at any category boundary. As yet another example, the “violation of expectation hypothesis” suggests that uncanny faces might lead us to think that they will behave in a way that is human-like and then violate that expectation.
The list of speculations just goes on and on. The “mind perception hypothesis” suggests that we find robots uncanny when we think that they might be capable of thinking and feeling. One 2012 study surveyed 165 participants and found that if they believed that a robot could experience things, then that played a role in making an android seem creepier than a robot. The study also revealed that a non-humanoid automaton could be made creepy if participants were told that it was capable of human-like consciousness. Similarly, the “dehumanization hypothesis” looks at the same idea from a different angle. That is to say that certain robots aren’t creepy because they look and act like humans, but because they look like us, but they just don’t act enough like us. The problem is that none of the current hypotheses really have enough evidence to support the claims of why we freak out.
When Masahiro Mori wrote his famous essay in 1970, he was deeply interested in figuring out how roboticists and animators could overcome the uncomfortable effects of the uncanny valley. The thing is, what if we’re not meant to? When you think about it, maybe we aren’t supposed to be fooled by realistic-looking androids. After all, humanity may very well be headed toward a future populated with both humans and androids alike, so it may be useful for us to have the uncanny valley in order to emotionally distance ourselves from our realistic robotic companions. With that being said, in the not-too-distant future, we may very well find that the uncanny valley is our biggest asset. In line with this, Ferrari, Paladino, and Jetten found that the increase of the anthropomorphic appearance of a robot leads to an enhancement of threat to human distinctiveness and identity. That is to say, the more an android resembles a real person, the more it represents a challenge to our social identity as human beings. Consider the android version of Hiroshi Ishiguro, pictured below. With that in mind, maybe, just maybe, we should be creeped out by all of this. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-uncanny-valley-5c6d62cc1bb8 | ['Joshua Hehe'] | 2019-11-16 19:52:30.884000+00:00 | ['Robotics', 'Aesthetics', 'Future', 'Entertainment', 'Psychology'] |
Word Embedding using Python | In this post we will see how to generate word embedding’s and plot a chart for the corresponding words.
Dependencies
- NLTK
- Sklearn
- Gensim
- Plotly
- Pandas
First we need to get a paragraph or text for which we need to find the embeddings, I took a pragraph from here for this post.
paragraph = '''Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System.
It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun,
but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.
Jupiter is one of the brightest objects visible to the naked eye in the night sky,
and has been known to ancient civilizations since before recorded history.
It is named after the Roman god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth,
Jupiter can be bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows,
and is on average the third-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.'''
Next we need to tokenize the text, so we use the nltk library to get it done:
import nltk # tokeninizing the paragraph
sent_text = nltk.sent_tokenize(paragraph)
word_text = [nltk.word_tokenize(sent) for sent in sent_text]
print(word_text)
We will get a 2D array after the tokenizing, and will look like the following:
[['Jupiter', 'is', 'the', 'fifth', 'planet', 'from', 'the', 'Sun', 'and', 'the', 'largest', 'in', 'the', 'Solar', 'System', '.'], ['It', 'is', 'a', 'gas', 'giant', 'with', 'a', 'mass', 'one-thousandth', 'that', 'of', 'the', 'Sun', ',', 'but', 'two-and-a-half', 'times', 'that', 'of', 'all', 'the', 'other', 'planets', 'in', 'the', 'Solar', 'System', 'combined', '.'], ['Jupiter', 'is', 'one', 'of', 'the', 'brightest', 'objects', 'visible', 'to', 'the', 'naked', 'eye', 'in', 'the', 'night', 'sky', ',', 'and', 'has', 'been', 'known', 'to', 'ancient', 'civilizations', 'since', 'before', 'recorded', 'history', '.'], ['It', 'is', 'named', 'after', 'the', 'Roman', 'god', 'Jupiter', '.'], ['When', 'viewed', 'from', 'Earth', ',', 'Jupiter', 'can', 'be', 'bright', 'enough', 'for', 'its', 'reflected', 'light', 'to', 'cast', 'shadows', ',', 'and', 'is', 'on', 'average', 'the', 'third-brightest', 'natural', 'object', 'in', 'the', 'night', 'sky', 'after', 'the', 'Moon', 'and', 'Venus', '.']]
Now we will use the gensim package to get the word embedding’s from Word2Vec model.
from gensim.models import Word2Vec # train model to get the embeddings
model = Word2Vec(word_text, min_count=1)
To plot the word embeddings we need to first convert the multi-dimensional embedding’s to a 2D array. So to convert it to 2D array we use PCA
# getting the embedding vectors
X = model[model.wv.vocab]
# dimentionality reduction using PCA
pca = PCA(n_components=2)
# running the transformations
result = pca.fit_transform(X)
# getting the corresponding words
words = list(model.wv.vocab)
We need to do some processing to convert the PCA results to dataframe and is as follows:
import pandas as pd # creating a dataframe from the results
df = pd.DataFrame(result, columns=list('XY'))
# adding a columns for the corresponding words
df['Words'] = words
# converting the lower case text to title case
df['Words'] = df['Words'].str.title()
After getting the required array’s we can plot the chart using plotly
import plotly.express as px # plotting a scatter plot
fig = px.scatter(df, x="X", y="Y", text="Words", log_x=True, size_max=60)
# adjusting the text position
fig.update_traces(textposition='top center')
# setting up the height and title
fig.update_layout(
height=600,
title_text='Word embedding chart'
)
# displaying the figure
fig.show()
Now the word embedding chart will look like the following:
word embedding chart
The entire code is as follows:
import nltk
import pandas as pd
import plotly.express as px
from gensim.models import Word2Vec paragraph = '''Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System.
It is a gas giant with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun,
but two-and-a-half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined.
Jupiter is one of the brightest objects visible to the naked eye in the night sky,
and has been known to ancient civilizations since before recorded history.
It is named after the Roman god Jupiter. When viewed from Earth,
Jupiter can be bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows,
and is on average the third-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus.''' # tokeninizing the paragraph
sent_text = nltk.sent_tokenize(paragraph)
word_text = [nltk.word_tokenize(sent) for sent in sent_text] # train model to get the embeddings
model = Word2Vec(word_text, min_count=1)
# getting the embedding vectors
X = model[model.wv.vocab]
# dimentionality reduction using PCA
pca = PCA(n_components=2)
# running the transformations
result = pca.fit_transform(X)
# getting the corresponding words
words = list(model.wv.vocab) # creating a dataframe from the results
df = pd.DataFrame(result, columns=list('XY'))
# adding a columns for the corresponding words
df['Words'] = words
# converting the lower case text to title case
df['Words'] = df['Words'].str.title() # plotting a scatter plot
fig = px.scatter(df, x="X", y="Y", text="Words", log_x=True, size_max=60)
# adjusting the text position
fig.update_traces(textposition='top center')
# setting up the height and title
fig.update_layout(
height=600,
title_text='Word embedding chart'
)
# displaying the figure
fig.show()
Happy Coding !!! | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/word-embedding-using-python-63770334841 | ['Jeril Kuriakose'] | 2020-02-18 12:29:31.734000+00:00 | ['Data Visualization', 'Data Science', 'Plotly', 'Machine Learning', 'Python'] |
3 Mysterious British Paintings That Will Spark Your Creativity | A Bigger Splash (1967)
David Hockney is one of the most popular artists nowadays. He’s one of my favourite painters, too, as his work is both very joyful and strange. Being a great experimenter and educator of the art world, Hockney has been using iPad to create hundreds of paintings since 2009. Luckily he’s British, too, so Tate owns some of his work.
A Bigger Splash is David Hockney’s best known masterpiece, which he had made after visiting and falling in love with California. The painting stirs the imagination: there’s nobody in sight, and the scene is almost perfectly still — apart from the splash. The palms, the heat, and the sunlit house make the situation look so inviting, and yet something is haunting about it as if there is a secret a viewer has to solve.
A Bigger Splash by David Hockney © Tate
David Hockney used some special techniques to contrast the dynamic splash and the dead still surroundings. First of all, he painted the blocks of colour with a paint-roller, applying two-three layers of acrylic until it was opaque. He then was painting the splash for two weeks, accurately reproducing it from a photograph with small brush strokes. A wide border around the picture is left uncovered by paint, which makes it resemble a polaroid photo.
Though inspired by photos, Hockney only uses them as an additional tool to remember information. Otherwise, he thinks a photograph “isn’t real enough”.
“Everything on a flat surface is stylized, including the photograph. Some people think the photograph is reality; they don’t realize that it’s just another form of depiction.”
Another inspiration for Hockney was his trip to Egypt and the composition of Egyptian tomb paintings, where figures and objects are carefully arranged on the flat surface. Many of his later portraits seemed to be influenced by it, as well as by Renaissance art.
David Hockney’s shares a lot of secrets of visual expression and art techniques in his book A History Of Pictures: From The Cave To The Computer Screen, written together with Martin Gayford, a famous art critic. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/3-mysterious-paintings-of-the-tate-collection-486e48214e9b | ['Katya Korovkina'] | 2020-09-13 11:09:45.211000+00:00 | ['Art History', 'Art', 'Museums', 'Visual Design', 'Culture'] |
How to Automate Sending Email Task - Send Medium Story to Your List | Step-1: Project Set-up
Like all my previous stories. I firstly set-up the project folder to match with the proper naming convention. This helps in standardizing the process and minimize the learning curve for other developers.
Here, we require input, output, transformation folders. We will be creating multiple transformations for various activities.
We require the below-mentioned structure. As I have mentioned, I prefer to store all the work-related in one single location ‘Work’; helps in maintaining backups. (D:\Work\SendEmail).
Input - This is where we will download our statements. Output - Storing our output file Main.kjb - This is where we will configure and integrate multiple transformations for looping through our mailing list. ReadFile and SendEmail - In the transformation folder, we will create these files. Please note, ReadFiles is a transformation file and SendEmail is a job file.
Project Folder Structure
Step - 2 Read Files
We need to read two worksheet within a transformation. The idea is to read the entire mailing list and loop through each member and send an email with a custom message.
Open the transformation ReadFile.ktr on your Spoon (Desktop App). We need to read the input file in this transformation.
We need to perform the below-mentioned steps.
Add a description to the transformation by right-clicking>‘New Note’. Documentation is very essential in any programming language. Drag two ‘Text file input’, one ‘Join rows (cartesian product)’ and ‘Copy rows to result’ plugins from the transformation design tab onto the canvas. Rename the same ‘read_email_list’ (text input 1), ‘read_latest_post’ (text input 1), ‘merge’ and ‘copy_result’ respectively. In the read_email_list step, browse for the file (D:\Work\SendEmail\Input\EmailList.csv) in the File or directory field and File tab, in the Content tab, change Separator field to comma instead of semi-comma, and in Fields tab just click on Get Fields button. Similarly, in the read_latest_post step, browse for the file (D:\Work\SendEmail\Input\LatestPost.csv) in the File or directory field and File tab, in the Content tab, change Separator field to comma instead of semi-comma, and in Fields tab just click on Get Fields button. That’s it, join rows step will perform its magic without changing even a single parameter. Here, I wanted to show the capability of merging two files seamlessly using join rows step. We can also provide conditions in case required.
ReadFile Transformation Structure
We can test this unit by running the transformation and previewing the output.
Step - 3 Pass Variables
We need to pass variables to our child job for sending emails one-by-one. This will require us to set-up the parent Main job file before we configure the SendEmail child job file.
Passing variables is a simple process in PDI. If we end our transformation with ‘Copy rows to result’, then all our variables are accessible in our next transformations. However, we will be passing variables differently at the job level.
We need to perform the below steps to pass variables.
In the Main.kjb file, we need drag ‘Start’, ‘Transformation’, ‘Job’ and a ‘Success’ step. Rename the steps as per our naming convention to ‘start’, ‘read_files’, ‘send_email’ and ‘success’. We need to browse for our transformation files in the read_files and send_email step respectively. In the send_email job step, we need to check Execute every input row field in the Options tab. In the Parameters tab, we need to add four parameters viz. FirstName, EmailAddress Title and BlogPost. Now, all these names should match with our input file fields.
Click on Execute every input row for looping through the list
Parameters/Variables which we want to pass in the child job SendEmail.
Now, we need to grab the values in the child/sub job. Below is the step.
Open the SendEmail.kjb file, double-click on the canvas. Spoon will open the job properties window. We need to add the same fields in the Parameters tab here as well.
Parameter tab of the Job Properties
Step - 3 Send Emails
We can now set up and send custom emails to our mailing list. We require Open Authentication (OAuth) for sending across the email. To set up OAuth on your Gmail account, please refer the below story - Step-2; I am not going through the entire process again in this post.
Let’s quickly set up our SendEmail job.
Add a description of the job file. Here we will use this job file to send emails. Drag ‘Start’, ‘Mail’, and ‘Success’ from the list of plugins in the design tab. Rename it as per our naming convention, start, email and success respectively. In the email step, we need to configure the below-mentioned properties.
In the Destination address field, we need to use the variable ${EmailAddress} which is passed from our previous transformation and parent job.
field, we need to use the variable ${EmailAddress} which is passed from our previous transformation and parent job. In the Sender name and address field, we need to provide the name and email address of the sender; i.e. our information.
field, we need to provide the name and email address of the sender; i.e. our information. In the Server tab, we need to provide the OAuth information for authentication. This is an outgoing server and we require SMTP details instead of IMAP.
tab, we need to provide the OAuth information for authentication. This is an outgoing server and we require SMTP details instead of IMAP. In the EMail Message tab, we need check ‘Use HTML format in mail body’, in the message section, our Subject field will be ${Title} and write your custom message for the email body. I have used below.
Hi ${FirstName}, I have published a new blog on Medium. Here's link. ${BlogPost} I hope you like it. Please feel free to provide your suggestions. Thanks,
Shravankumar Suvarna
See, how we used the variables in multiple fields. PDI does not support the use of variables across all the fields. The key is to look for a small blue dollar sign beside the fields. If it is present, then it accepts or it does not.
SendEmail Job Flow
Use of Variable in Destination address
OAuth Details to Authenticate. Please note, [email protected] is a dummy email address.
Email Message Tab — Check for the Small Dollar Sign beside Field
That’s it, we should be good to go with our automated pipeline. We can now run our main job file and test the same using our test cases.
Success
Conclusion
Well, that was the easiest data pipeline. Here, the idea is not to use this method to send blogs to the mailing list instead use this case study as per our conveniences. We can build similar pipelines for sending across the log files, status report etc. Since most of our pipelines will run on server machines. It would be a nice feature to incorporate real-time status report from jobs/transformation pipelines. | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-automate-sending-email-task-send-medium-story-to-your-list-2424e68c04ca | ['Shravankumar Suvarna'] | 2020-06-01 05:45:00.911000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Programming', 'Data Science', 'Data'] |
How to Submit to Asclepian Pen | Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash
Thank you for your interest in Asclepian Pen! We hope to provide a wonderful place where your writing can be shared. It can be frustrating to try to figure out how to submit to a publication so we hope that this will adequately express how and what to share with us.
What We Are Looking For
Asclepian Pen was born when a couple med students discovered a dearth of publications with a medical lens. We want writing with a medical tint to it. What this means is we want something that is ANY ONE (not necessarily all) of the following:
Written by a person working in medicine. You can be a physician, nurse, student, therapist, etc. We want to provide a place for medical workers to publish any and all material. It can be a poem, fiction, non-fiction, opinion etc. Our hobbies make us well rounded individuals and many medical workers like to get a break from medicine by writing about anything BUT medicine. It doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you work in medicine you have a place here to share your work. Written by a person who doesn't work in medicine but has something about the medical field to share. Maybe you are a patient and want to share about your experience. Maybe you have thoughts on the shortcomings or successes of modern medicine. If you don’t work in medicine we ask that your article has a medical application. While both of the above are welcome the best kind of articles are from medical professionals who are writing about medicine.
How to Submit
There are two different ways to submit.
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Hearing Back
Response time may vary. We hope to respond quickly but we are just two medical students. If you haven’t heard back in three weeks please feel free to email us again inquiring about your article.
Thank you! We look forward to reading your work. | https://medium.com/asclepian-pen/how-to-submit-to-asclepian-pen-1f57d78960b4 | ['Asclepian Pen'] | 2020-10-06 18:14:46.087000+00:00 | ['Submit', 'Submission Guidelines', 'Writing', 'Medical School', 'Medical'] |
soon. | Photo via Unspash by Liv Bruce @livvie_bruce
soon.
I thought I’d be writing nonstop to help my head through this process. I thought daily-ish writing would help iron out any confusion I have about what we’re doing right now. I assumed I would need to write to help me stay grounded and sane. To help me cope with the uncertainty of it all. The emotions. The doubts. The fear of having tried and having failed.
Before I get to my rambling (you’re welcome in advance), I want to say thank you to everyone who reached out to check on me/us, to those who sent messages filled with their love and support because they, too, went through this process and understand every physical, mental and emotional part of what’s happening, and to those who are considering or just beginning their own IVF journey and have questions or concerns. To all of you, thank you for thinking of us and our little family that could. Thank you for being patient as I struggle to respond and reschedule dates. Thank you for letting us know you’re there. Sometimes that’s all you need — to know you have people in your corner who love and support you no matter what.
Here’s a peek into the last four weeks.
Truth: Coming down from the hormones had me a bit fucked up. Not so much in an Icantdeal way, but more in a wherethehelldidmyheadgo kinda way. I felt elated and hopeful during our stim cycle. After egg retrieval, though, I quickly recognized I wasn’t feeling like myself and my head was somewhere opposite of where it was the week prior. I was, first of all, absolutely exhausted — more than during the cycle. All I wanted was for everyone to leave me alone so I could come home and crawl into bed. I had a hard time focusing. I felt distracted and disconnected.
Week one after retrieval: I was on a different planet. Not only did I have bowling balls for boobs, but I was a little sore for a few days. And I was, of course, thinking about our little ones, this time in our lives, this entire process that we began without knowing what will happen + trying to stay focused on being grateful for what we have and what is to come, no matter what. And at the end of week one, we got the news: we have one little babe!! So, needless to say, we are crazysuperduper ecstatic about this little boy or girl who is ready to meet us. All the heartstrings being pulled everyday since the day we heard those five little words: We froze one embryo today! I am feeling extremely lucky we were able to have one little one from our first round of IVF. The first round is tough. You don’t know how your body is going to react to the meds, you don’t know if you’ll need to adjust the dosage because your body isn’t responding like the doctors want it to, you don’t know how you will handle it all. (The latter is what I was most nervous about.) There are too many unknowns when you first begin. This is true of anything you start — you just gotta start and hope and adjust until you reach your goal.
The day we found out we had one little one (day four) was also the day we called our parents and told them we were doing IVF. So that was a big deal. Mostly for me. A little for my husband.
On day five we received a call from the doctor’s office telling us other two didn’t make it (seven-cells and three-cells from day two). They didn’t grow anymore after that second day. I felt sad for them. I felt them fighting. I felt them lose their battle. Day five was also the day we had to tell them what we were feeling and leaning towards for our next step. We had a few days until we gave them our “final answer” but we all needed to have a pow-wow about where we’re at and what each next step means for us. Do we wait? Do we implant? Do another cycle? While we talked to the doctor on speakerphone, tears suddenly rushed down my face. I pushed the phone away and gave it to my husband while I shook my head no, my way of telling him I can’t talk right now because I’m having a moment. We had one little babe! But. I also knew we wanted to hold on implanting and move straight into another round. This was our plan. This had always been our plan. Maximum two rounds of IVF for a minimum of two babies. The tears were all mixed up — happy for our first baby and sad because I knew we still had such a long way to go.
Week two: This is when I noticed my head was somewhere else. Felt a bit fucked up. Also, super tired. Exciting stuff.
Week three: Feeling a little more like myself. Exhausted. Plan for round two. Receive our meds.
Week four: Sleep. Doctor appointment. Plan and prepare for round two.
I guess that’s it.
Round two starts soon. We have all our meds. Finances are sorted out. And I finally wrote about the thing I have been avoiding. Why did it take me so long to post an update? Wait. We know the answer to that. It’s everything I just said. I have been avoiding the details of where we’re at with all this not because I’m shy or don’t want to talk about it. I think it’s because I know, as I told my mom today, we have a huge win, but we still have quite a long ways to go until I know those babies are okay, until I am holding them in my arms and I can see for myself that they are safe and healthy.
I know it will happen.
Soon.
Also, happy Mother’s day to all the human baby and fur baby moms out there, and to all the soontobe moms.
Also also, apropros I posted this update today. Did you hear that really cool story about how we have one little itty bitty who decided he/she is ready to call The Wizards mom and dad? That’s one of my favorite stories. *heartstrings pulled* | https://medium.com/@perveenmaria/soon-d47e45c2dc60 | ['Perveen Maria'] | 2019-06-20 14:36:26.895000+00:00 | ['Parenthood', 'Ivf', 'Pregnancy', 'Motherhood', 'Trying To Conceive'] |
What I Wish My 18-Year-Old Self Could Have Told My Mother When She Was Dying of Cancer, and Why “I’m Sorry” are the Easiest Two Words for Me Now | What I Wish My 18-Year-Old Self Could Have Told My Mother When She Was Dying of Cancer, and Why “I’m Sorry” are the Easiest Two Words for Me Now The Human Lead Dec 23, 2020·5 min read
It begins with a vivid, very personal memory.
A few nights before my mother died the Priest came, dressed in black, his long robes billowing behind him, swept up in the fitful, frigid January storm, his blue eyes like the blue abyss where nothing comes back, the dark sky behind him as he stood in the narrow doorway of our quiet, Brooklyn home.
As the cold air forced itself into our house- a white flurry whirling around my mother’s face- he stood like a dark figure, with Christmas lights behind him draped like rainbows on our neighbors’ doorways and shrubs, a reminder of a different time.
My mother stood in the doorway enclosed against the sharp wind, her nightgown covered by a pale blue robe carefully positioned to not expose the thin strip of lace sewn across the top edge.
She opened the door wider, her hand outstretched to guide the Priest in.
As he entered our house, his solemnity pressed me back. I fumbled with the sheets on my mother’s hospital bed that sat like an island in our living room. I kept my back to her and the priest, my eyes lowered to my feet. The yellow, wadded up tissues had become moist in my sweating palms.
Fear filled my veins now, flowing through me like a hot liquid, burning me from the inside, my anxiety growing.
Following the pace of my mother’s small, unsteady steps, the priest takes his time down our narrow hallway, holding her arm at the elbow. I hold my breath as the round mirrors in the hallway in bordered green and yellow frames catch her grimaced reflection.
When my mother and the Priest arrive in the dining room, she closes the curtain separating it from the living room, leaving a crack just wide enough for me to get a glimpse of them. The hand-shaped light fixture above casts a shadow across half of my mother’s face, creating the illusion that it has disappeared behind a veiled curtain.
Her sobbing passes through the house like a whisper I am not supposed to hear, startling me, and I almost run. But my shock holds me in abeyance as I am drawn in by the intimate portrait that is unfolding before me.
As the priest gently presses his right hand on my mother’s now almost hairless head and begins praying for her, unconsciously I hear myself praying too.
The sounds of my mother’s fears grow. Her words and tears braid into a softly flowing river, collecting the fragments of her life as it passes between her and the Priest. My tears begin falling along with hers.
“I love you,” I try to scream. “I love you,” I try to run and tell her. “I love you.” But instead I wait in our dark living room, suddenly watching a dark mass growing larger around her.
The words seep from her slowly at first. But then they gain momentum, pulling me into a whirlpool, dragging me into the center, fighting to catch my breath. Until, finally I reach them, and I am swept up in their cataclysmic force, with only these words echoing in my head, “Where will I go once I die? Where will I go once I die? Where will I go once I die?”
Time stops. Our three hearts merge, the beating like one drum loud in my ears, the essence of a human life dissipating into the air like a vapor, the weight of the end of my mother’s life around my ankles pulling me to the ocean floor.
“I am so scared,” she whispers more to herself than the Priest. “I am so scared.”
A few short days later my mother lay in her hospital bed, unable to move, unable to speak, and I sit there at her bedside, staring at her dying body. I scan her varicose veined legs, dry mouth, the red spots on her skin, in absolute disbelief that I hadn’t known, and had refused to see it.
Sitting at her bedside, wanting to hold her hand, wanting to rub her head, wanting to but held down by an imperceptible weight, I remember my mother’s words to me, just a few short nights ago, the night the Priest had come, with tears running down her weathered face.
When the Priest had gone, there was nothing except for the silence ringing in my ears, maybe a car in the distance, the wind in the cold night, the refrigerator humming, and then, the swishing sound of her slippers as she made her way over to me.
I turned around to meet her, putting down the pillow that I had for a few minutes been strangling, and waited for her to say something.
“Well, you heard and now you know,” my mother finally said, breaking the deafening silence, her face like stone but her yellow tears defying her.
Still fixed on the words and emotions she had unabashedly peeled back for the priest- emotions and words I imagined she had shared with me- she continued.
“Well,” taking a tissue from her robe pocket and wiping under your eyeglasses in an attempt to catch each determined tear that rolled uncontrollably, “Now, you know I am dying. I’m sure that makes you happy.”
Motionless next to her bed now my mind replays the words, “I’m sure that makes you happy, I’m sure that makes you happy, now you know I’m dying, I’m sure that makes you happy.”
Words refuse to find their way out. I try. But they stay stubbornly lodged behind the knot in my throat.
In my own eighteen-year-old fragility, I do what I can. I change the bedsheets, her diaper, watch and clean the tears off her face as the rivulets stream down. I put in action what I cannot find in words. I let a higher understanding of the moment guide me.
For several days I took care of my mother in silence, until one night, without really knowing why, an overwhelming feeling of sadness and exhaustion came over me, and I climbed into bed alongside her.
I lowered myself gently next to her, so as not to disturb her, not hurt her, and took her hand.
As we lay still and silent in the dark, I wiped her tears, along with my own.
I closed my eyes and fell asleep next to her, and hoped she knew, that I loved her from the instant she walked into the orphanage twelve years before, placed my six-year-old hand in hers, and she became my mother. | https://medium.com/@connect-thehumanlead/what-i-wish-my-18-year-old-self-could-have-told-my-mother-when-she-was-dying-of-cancer-and-why-4206eda3cc90 | ['The Human Lead'] | 2020-12-23 21:55:17.920000+00:00 | ['Cancer', 'Adoption', 'Love', 'Vulnerability', 'Forgiveness'] |
CI/CD for Automation Testers | CI/CD pipeline or Continuous Integration/ Continuous Deployment is the backbone of today’s app deployment process.
A pipeline is a workflow which consist of multiple jobs to deliver the software to the customers.
Version control > Build > Unit tests > Deploy > Automation tests > Deploy to production
Above representation is the basic flow of the whole pipeline process that represents how software will move along the different stages before it reaches the customer.
As an Automation tester, we majorly needs to focus on Continuous Integration.
Continuous Integration process after the planning stage. In this stage, developer integrate their code very frequently (multiple times a day) in some central source code repository. Each integration is verified by automated build and automated tests.
Major key benefit of continuous integration
1. Continuous feedback on the recent changes in code.
2. Detects the errors early and quickly.
3. Cost effective
4. Decrease testing time and QA team can invest more time in building quality culture.
Continuous delivery VS. Continuous deployment
Continuous delivery is an extension to the Continuous Integration process.It deploys all the new code to the testing or production environment after going through the automated build stage.In other words, we can set an automated release process as per our requirements(daily, weekly or fortnightly) with just a click of a button.
However, Continuous Deployment is an add-on to the Continuous Delivery process. In this every change that passes all the stages of the pipeline is released to the customers.
Cheers!! 🍻 | https://medium.com/@automationinja/ci-cd-for-automation-testers-826fa16b621 | [] | 2020-12-06 14:43:30.923000+00:00 | ['QA', 'Continuous Integration', 'Continuous Delivery', 'Continuous Deployment', 'DevOps'] |
This Fathers’ day… perhaps I should have just listened then | Around this time five years ago, I was having a conversation with my father about Product. My basic position then was “I wanted to work on a cool product” and that most of the things I had seen hitherto were decidedly not cool. Who ever wanted to work on products written in 1970s programming languages? Or on products that couldn’t even do basic things its competitors could?
Me with my dad, Minnesota, May 2014.
My father, in his wise ways, encouraged me to forget about the product. “Think about sales, think about the vision, about how they are talking with customers” was his mantra. Of course, back then I was convinced dad didn’t get it. Little did I realize then that he was not trying to dissuade me from working on something cool, but that he was (ostensibly) trying to talk me out of my notion of what “product” was. What a dolt I was. Or perhaps I still am?
In all my business school essays I wrote about how I wanted to build products without having the foggiest idea of why or what I even meant by it. I listened to countless hours of “product leaders” talk about why product management is the best thing since sliced bread. But nothing seemed to stick. Even when I accepted the summer internship on product, I had the foggiest idea of what I was getting into.
My father’s interview with an Indian TV show about his company.
This video is probably the only extant video of my dad sharing his vision for e-learning. I watched it today for the first time in a few years. I was shocked to see how much I learned from it. There’s a clear vision for the future (a workforce that is continuously learning), a very thoughtful articulation of where the market is, where it ought to go, and how e-learning is the right approach to achieving that vision. His discussion of technology walked the viewer through just the right amount of detail about the evolution of the web until 2000, and how those technologies enabled service delivery. i.e. in words a caveman could understand.
These last couple of weeks have, as I have recently noted, helped me contextualize what product is all about. While the language in which the code is written, the features of the product, and the UI that the user sees are important, there is a process that precedes it, which is just as big, if not bigger. It is powerful to think of the product as a medium through which a visionary accomplishes his/her mission. I should aspire to understand the antecedents — the mission, the vision, the strategy that inform the product.
This fathers day, I wish I could have shared this revelation with him. He would probably have chided me for taking long enough. At least we would have been on the same page about what product was. | https://medium.com/@gautamkandlikar/this-fathers-day-perhaps-i-should-have-just-listened-then-f18f8fd6d628 | ['Gautam Kandlikar'] | 2019-06-17 05:57:45.145000+00:00 | ['Lessons', 'Fathers Day', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Vision'] |
MODERN BEDROOM LIGHTING IDEAS IN 2021 | When it comes to bedroom lighting ideas and trends in 2021, we often forgot to choose the light that matches the exciting bedding and furniture, along with picking a color scheme. That’s a shame because good lighting is a very important element of design in every room of the home. Don’t merely set a lamp beside your bed and call it done; use the following ideas to create a functional and beautiful lighting plan for your own bedroom.
Read through for our lighting tips, including:
These are the points that we have considered most representative as bedroom lighting ideas, but they are not the only ones, nor will they be. Normally, transitions are taking place throughout the year that will possibly be part of lighting trends.
Lighting for any room, including the bedroom, is best done using lighting layers.
Ambient light (also called general light) serves the same function as natural sunlight, illuminating your entire room in light.
Accent light highlights visual features you wish to showcase, such as artwork, paintings, or even feature walls.
Task lighting is a more focused type of lighting that makes working on laptops/desktops, reading, writing, sewing, or any other tasks
The most effective lighting plans incorporate all three types of lights to meet the needs of those using the room. As your build your layers of light, remember that bedroom lighting should create a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere using soft, flattering ambient light while providing bright spots in the places where they are needed.
Of all the rooms in your home, your bedroom is probably the only one you spend time in when it’s completely dark, completely bright, and completely somewhere in between. So, getting your bedroom lighting ideas is just right essential to making it a comfortable place to rest your head at night, rise and shine each morning, and go about your day.
And here are our 5 master tips for modern bedroom lighting ideas in 2021 ; | https://medium.com/@northerncult/modern-bedroom-lighting-ideas-in-2021-3bcc3f67a64a | ['Northern Cult'] | 2021-05-03 05:18:58.006000+00:00 | ['Lighting', 'Architecture', 'Lighting Design', 'Interior Design', 'Interior'] |
... looking forward to my house, which we are building right now, because it will permit me to… | ... looking forward to my house, which we are building right now, because it will permit me to garden and be out there, under the open sky... without mask, undue walls or noises... | https://medium.com/@doasyoucando/looking-forward-to-my-house-which-we-are-building-right-now-because-it-will-permit-me-to-40afa944ed91 | ['Christine Sander'] | 2020-12-21 08:28:03.906000+00:00 | ['Wealth', 'Tiny House', 'Housing', 'Tiny Homes', 'Inequality'] |
Our Obsession With Naomi Osaka’s Identity Isn’t Really About Her — It’s About Us | Our Obsession With Naomi Osaka’s Identity Isn’t Really About Her — It’s About Us
The Champ is Here
On Sep. 8, Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese-born player to win a tennis Grand Slam when she defeated her role model, the legendary Serena Williams, in straight sets at the U.S. Open. What clearly should have been a most triumphant moment in Osaka’s life quickly turned into an emotional nightmare, as a wild sequence of events, starting with controversial calls from the chair umpire, led to charges of sexism. It continued into one of the strangest trophy ceremonies ever, with both Osaka and Williams in tears under a cascade of boos from the crowd; and then the losing player consoling the victorious one, who even apologized to the New York audience for winning.
And even after all that Osaka, who at 20 years old is the youngest player in the world’s top 20, should have been heralded as the future of the sport. The focus should have been on her. Instead, a flood of pieces defending Serena came out. And a bizarre tug of war broke out online over Osaka’s identity. Is she Japanese? Haitian? American? Now that she was a winner everybody was trying to claim her. Team Osaka-is-Japanese pointed to her use of Japanese in her social media posts, her humbleness even in victory, her bowing on the court, her reverence to Serena even amidst the mess, and her love of “Pokemon” and manga. And that her biggest sponsors are Nissin and Nissan. Team Osaka-is-Haitian pointed out that she’d told a reporter at the Australian Open that she is also Haitian when he mentioned her being Japanese. And that her family lived with her Haitian grandparents in Long Island when they moved to the U.S. from Japan. Team Osaka-is-American pointed out she’d moved to the U.S. when she was 3 and now lives in Florida and holds a U.S. passport. (She holds a Japanese passport as well.)
And it’s because of all this, her unique cultural upbringing, that she leaves so many of us confused — even when she isn’t. Most of us are more focused on what Osaka represents than on who Osaka is. Even when she answers questions about her identity, people are left unsatisfied. “I grew up surrounded by both Haitian and Japanese culture,” she’s said in the past. She’s also said: “I don’t necessarily feel like I’m American. I wouldn’t know what that feels like.”
Of course, most of us can relate to that. We know exactly what someone is implying when they ask us: “Where are you from?” Because we don’t fit their idea of what an American person looks like we will always be asked this, no matter if we were born in America, even if we’ve never been to Asia.
What do we see when we look at Osaka’s Japanese face and her Haitian skin and her mixed hair? And what does that say about us? By just being herself she’s challenging much more than just her opponents across the net. She’s challenging our perceptions of identity. Are we who others say we are? Where we were born? Where we were raised? How we were raised? Where our parents are from? What we look like? What we identify with? The answers to those questions are too simple, too rigid.
Osaka is asked constantly about her identity. Every time she is respectful even when she’s clearly frustrated and maybe even confused about our obsession with it. Because to her, her identity is simply who she is all the time — not about choosing, but about being. She gets to exist in a place that most of us will never experience. And that bothers us. We are used to people choosing or people being chosen as one thing. Obama, while half-white, is considered the first black POTUS. Tiger, while half-Thai, is considered a black golfer. It’s easier that way. It’s easier to understand, it’s easier to explain, it’s an easier story to tell and to sell.
And instead of accepting Osaka’s experience and her choice to claim who she feels she is, we’d rather pick the parts of her that appeal to us the most. As much as we claim to embrace diversity, we still can’t wrap our heads around actual diversity within. Most of us are more than just one thing. We are the sum of our pasts and presents. And if we don’t stop our identity war games with the likes of Osaka, in which the winner gets to celebrate only a part of her, we will all fail to celebrate the true greatness that is all of her. Because when she’s on the court whipping her 100 miles-per-hour forehands and her powerful serves that she slams with laser-like intensity, we are witnessing the whole Naomi Osaka. So when she says, “I’m just me,” it’s on us to accept her as her and celebrate all the Japanese, Haitian and American parts that make her who she is.
This article appears in KORE’s October 2018 issue. | https://hyunwkim.medium.com/our-obsession-with-naomi-osakas-identity-isn-t-really-about-her-it-s-about-us-395813de9e56 | ['Hyun Kim 김현'] | 2018-10-19 06:44:48.577000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Naomi Osaka', 'Race', 'Women', 'Mixed Race'] |
Smart and just urban transitions: opportunities for tropical cities in Latin America (1/3) | Smart and just urban transitions: opportunities for tropical cities in Latin America (1/3) Urban AI Follow Aug 5 · 5 min read
Thiago Melo/Getty Images
Ariela Valverde, Contributor and Advisor at Urban AI, is a Costa Rican Architect and Urban Planner with a master’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy Design held at Politecnico di Milano. Most recently, she collaborated in a Transport & Mobility consulting firm in Milan and co-founded Urbanalytica, an organization of data-driven strategies for sustainable communities.
Alejandro Tristán is a professional in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on industrial systems and renewable energy. He has a Masters in Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden and is currently concluding his doctoral studies at the University of Stuttgart on the topic of a “Methodology for the systematic identification, evaluation and management of operation-friendly industrial energy flexibility“
Urban areas around the Globe need to transition into smarter and more sustainable development schemes. Within this process, their geographic location plays a crucial role by predisposing a set of determinant challenges. These, however, can be transformed into opportunities for creating smart, culture-sensible, and resilient pathways as long as “one size fits all” solutions are avoided.
This article -the first in a series on this topic- focuses on tropical cities in the Latin American region. For this, a brief enlisting of the myriad of their shared social, economic, and environmental challenges is developed, alongside the potential opportunities that these challenges may offer for pursuing smart and just urban transitions.
From a macro-level perspective, tropical cities in Latin America are characterized by high levels of socioeconomic inequality, unplanned urbanization patterns, and vulnerability to the effects of climate change. These challenges have historical roots, since the region’s economy has been largely based on primary sector industries, dominated by oligarchies and transnational conglomerates that have significantly obstructed social mobility and development through time. Rural migration to urban areas due to concentration of labor and economic opportunities, resulted in a disorganized and unplanned urban expansion. Moreover, the lack of a long-term urban planning vision has placed cities in the region at the forefront of the current climate and environmental crisis. Besides tragic events like flooding, landslides, and earthquakes, Latin American urban areas experience inadequate access to basic resources and services that are necessary in the midst of emergencies.
As in many cases, addressing these challenges serves not only to address immediate urban threats, but also as an opportunity for the region to make a significant leapfrog. The first opportunity relies in the supply energy sector, through the transition into smart and decentralized energy grids. Decentralized energy grids are small-scale, modular electrical generation and storage technologies that provide electric capacity close from where it is demanded. Smart grids are electrical networks that use digital communication technology to detect and react to local changes in usage. Currently, in most Latin American cities, electrical coverage is high, but there is a large share of untapped potential while supply disruptions are frequent. Additionally, final consumer prices are high, and energy related CO2 emissions keep rising. Smart grids allow a more efficient transmission of electricity, quicker supply restoration, reduced operating costs, and most importantly, an effective and resilient integration of volatile renewable energy sources (i.e., solar and wind).
Image 01: Smart Grid systems.
Overall, decentralized smart energy grids can become great tools for supporting just and sustainable energy transitions in cities throughout the region. These multiple small-scale power plants can be installed at shorter distances from consumers, facilitating a reduction of electricity prices and energy related CO2 emissions, energy supply in remote and informal communities, and the creation of direct clean energy jobs. Moreover, the lower emission-free electricity costs can motivate investment in this secondary sector industry and therefore reduce socioeconomic inequalities.
The second opportunity involves the electrification of the energy demand. In order to implement a decentralized electrical smart grid -that is technically and economically efficient and based on renewable sources- requires the substitution of non-sustainable energy carriers (i.e., fossil fuels) with renewable sources, particularly in the mobility and transport sector. Electrifying the transportation system offers numerous benefits, including a greater diversity in the fuel portfolio, a reduced dependence on fossil-based sources, lowered total costs of ownership, and an increased price stability. Additionally, it fosters national energy resilience and independence, while improving environmental conditions, especially air quality. Given that investments to improve the mobility and transportation sector are necessary in most cities throughout the region, committing to these sustainable transitions is a great opportunity to take a leap regarding the main current challenges experienced in urban areas around the world.
Image 02: Expected structural changes in the energy system made possible by the increased use of digital tools. Published in: Energy Atlas 2018 Figures and Facts about Renewables in Europe, 2018.
In future entries, we’ll be discussing in more detail the integration of these smart and sustainable transition opportunities into the region’s urban planning arena. Our main aim is to make visible that adopting a long-term smart vision is not only crucial for addressing the current climate crisis but also for tackling the economic and environmental lag that keeps affecting the region.
By Ariela Valverde and Alejandro Tristán
References
Libertun, N. (2021). Cuatro Desafíos que Nuestras Ciudades Pueden Superar [Blog]. Retrieved from https://blogs.iadb.org/ciudades-sostenibles/es/cuatro-desafios-que-nuestras-ciudades-pueden-superar/
Vera, F., & Sordi, J. (2020). Diseño ecológico: estrategias de adaptación de los barrios populares al cambio climático [Ebook]. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Retrieved from https://publications.iadb.org/publications/spanish/document/Dise%C3%B1o-ecologico-Estrategias-para-la-ciudad-vulnerable-adaptando-las-areas-precarias-de-america-latina-y-el-caribe-al-cambio-climatico.pdf
Bataille, C. et al. (2020). Net — zero deep decarbonization pathways in Latin America: challenges and opportunities [Ebook]. Inter — American Development Bank Climate Change Division . Retrieved from https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Net-zero-Deep-Decarbonization-Pathways-in-Latin-America-Challenges-and-Opportunities.pdf
GEMdev: Grounded Energy Modelling for equitable urban planning development in the global South. Retrieved from https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FT007605%2F1
Heinrich Boell Foundation in cooperation with the Green European Foundation, European Renewable Energies Federation and Le Monde Diplomatique. (2018). Energy Atlas 2018 Figures and Facts about Renewables in Europe [Ebook]. Brussels, Belgium. Retrieved from https://eu.boell.org/en/2018/04/24/energy-atlas-2018-figures-and-facts-about-renewables-europe?dimension1=archive | https://medium.com/urban-ai/smart-and-just-urban-transitions-opportunities-for-tropical-cities-in-latin-america-8a1161849385 | ['Urban Ai'] | 2021-08-05 15:09:33.900000+00:00 | ['Latin America', 'Smart Cities', 'Urban Planning', 'Energy Transition', 'Smart Grid'] |
Dirty Picture | Dirty Picture
Photo by Ana Itonishvili on Unsplash
“…whenever I’m not with you All I need is just to see So just send a picture of you A special picture just for me… (“Dirty Picture”, Taio Cruz feat. Ke$ha)
Her mobile phone buzzed suddenly to life on her bedside table, startling her and rousing her from her sleep. She snapped on the light and swiped at her phone.
You awake? read his text message.
Fucksake, she thought, it’s almost 3am. What the hell is he playing at?
I miss you came the second message. Then, only seconds later, I’m so horny…
No shit, she thought. Why else would he be texting her at this ungodly time? She was tired, and she had to get up for work in a couple of hours.
Ding. Another message. A photo message this time. A shot of his hard cock standing to attention, flushed and almost purple, with pre-cum leaking from the tip. It was an impressive erection, and she couldn’t help but notice how her nipples tightened and her insides quivered at the thought of him lying there hard, palming his cock slowly.
Send dirty pics.
She bristled slightly at the command, coming as it did at such an inconvenient time, but at the same time, she found herself pulling off her nightie and snapping a picture of her breasts. Send…
Nice. More please.
She sighed, and wriggled her knickers down until they reached her ankles. Letting her thighs fall open, she placed her phone between her legs and took a series of photos. She scrolled quickly through each of them and selected the best one for sending. In the shot she decided on, she could see the light glistening on her dampening petals. Maybe she was kinda into this after all. Send…
She reached into her bedside drawer for her bullet vibrator and settled back on the pillows. She twisted the vibrator into life and ran it over her pussy, snapping a couple of follow up pictures ready for sending while she waited for his reply. She switched off the vibrations; she didn’t want to finish too quickly. This could be a very fun game.
The wetness seeped between her legs as she waited. And waited.
After a few minutes, she texted him.
Wet and waiting for you, baby
and she attached one of her chosen pics.
It took another few minutes for his text to arrive, and in the meantime, she was getting hotter and wetter.
Thanks babe. That was fun. Night xx
What?! Goodnight? “You must be fucking kidding me!” she muttered to herself. What a gall he has, she mused, and fired the vibrator into action. Waking her in the middle of the night, then leaving her here and turned on. Bastard, she’d get him back… | https://medium.com/sex-and-satire/dirty-picture-593e3ef53e30 | ['Jupiter Grant'] | 2020-12-22 12:10:12.668000+00:00 | ['Satire', 'Sex', 'Selfie', 'Erotica', 'Humour'] |
Title — THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. Category — Wisdom | Title — THE ESSENCE OF LIFE
4 MINUTES READING
Two renowned sages met at the junction of pathways. The old sage was coming from a village a few kilometers away from this junction; while, the younger sage was coming from a town near the junction.
Their gleaming eyes met each other, and both quivered their lips as a sign of hubris (excessive pride) of knowledge and wisdom. No one said a word for a while. Perhaps, Both were expecting to start the conversation by the opposite. Finally, the older sage spoke in a grotesque but calm voice, “Have you found the essence of life?”
“Not yet, still searching for it,” said the younger one. “But I realize that we are wasting our time here. We should go to ‘THE HIMALAYAS’ if we truly want to find it.”
“What if I tell you that I already found it when I was wandering in the fields of the village not far from here?”
“REALLY”, shrieked the younger one in disappointment, he never wished that his opponent knows more than him, “How and what is it?”
“When I was strolling in the fields of the village”, The older sage continued; I saw a group of children at the age between 10 to 12 years. They were playing in the muddy fields as this was the happiest task of their life. They didn’t give a moment of thought about whether playing and wallowing in the mud would make them dirty and filthy. Instead of thinking about what others would say or think about it, they were just happy whatever they were doing. No sign of concern they had had on their face.
Walking a little more, I saw the elders of the village sat under the banyan tree. They were gossiping to each other. All seemed happy and delight. Some of them were laughing loudly as it was the last thing they always wanted to do. The reason for Happiness is simple: They need not think about the future, just focus only their present whatever little life they have. It doesn’t matter whether they have desires, dreams or aspirations or not. None will change the fact that their feet are hanging in deathbeds. Hence, they left all the remaining desires and dreams behind, and making each day count as one precious extra-day of life.
At the end of the village, I saw a group of adults working in the paddy fields. All seemed sad and gloomy as anytime soon the earth would be destroyed. They focused only on their task. Even if anyone came near to them, they didn’t try to talk to them. Might be thinking and concerning about their uncertain future. The burden of desires and expectations made them working days and nights. They were restless so much so that taking out one moment for themselves was very difficult. They couldn’t bear to foresee a future deprive of their desires and dreams. Fear and worries left only a bit of joy and content in them.
“In my conclusion,” continued the older sage, “Overthinking about Future is the main cause of sadness and despondency. If we want a happy life, instead of focusing on the future, we should focus on our present. This is the real essence of life. We waste so much of our life dwelling in the past and future. That’s the reason why children and older ones are so happy where they are. They are living in the present and not in the Future.”
The less older sage was mesmerized with this revelation. He felt that he didn’t need to go the Himalayas for great wisdom.
Never waste time for these overthinking questions. What is destined to happen will happen. You can’t stop them to happen. Once it happens, then it is your responsibility how you react to it.
“Children have neither a past nor a future. Thus they enjoy the present, which seldom happens to us.” ~ Jean de La Bruyère
The essence of life is: Live in Present
@Carvingthelife2020
by Varun Yadav | https://medium.com/carving-the-life/title-the-essence-of-life-4d3f59e7b57f | ['Varun Yadav'] | 2020-12-25 07:02:12.316000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Time', 'Self Improvement', 'Wisdom', 'Life'] |
FPL Gameweek 15: No time to lose | 36 points was a measly return but we’re going to be patient and see how this next week pans out. A lot of the regular players in form like Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son, Ben Chilwell, Kurt Zouma, etc. didn’t perform.
Gameweek 15 FPL Data Team, source: FPL
As we spoke last week, having a Manchester City player seems to be a valuable asset. Pep Guardiola did play John Stones and our risk there has been validated. To add insult to injury, turns out Jaanick Vestergaard is injured and will be out for a month as well.
Going into this next week, I was tempted to make some transfers with these piling injuries. However, our fixture difficulty doesn’t seem as bad.
Gameweek 16 FPL Data Team Fixtures, source: FPL
The toughest choice will be to sub or leave Jack Grealish on who face Chelsea. Chelsea are a tough team to play against. However, they are also vulnerable at the moment.
The rest of the fixtures seem okay so it may be best to hold off on transfers for this week. We’ll see if I’ll regret this in a few days.
Good luck to all.
Thank you for taking your time to read through this. If you’d like to follow along in this series, here is a timeline of the FPL data analytics project.
1. Introduction
2. Gameweek 1
3. Gameweek 2
4. Gameweek 3
5. Gameweek 4
6. Gameweek 5–8
7. Gameweek 9–10
8. Gameweek 12–13
9. Gameweek 14
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
And there we go! Hope you enjoyed reading this piece as much as I did writing it. Feel free to write down any thoughts or suggestions. I’m always working on improving my analysis and my articles as time goes on so I appreciate all comments! Collaborating is fun so if you’ve got any interesting projects in mind, feel free to reach out to me personally. If you would like to follow me to keep up with updates in this series, follow me here or — — @__tomthomas
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — | https://medium.com/fantasy-tactics-and-football-analytics/fpl-gameweek-15-no-time-to-lose-88c1c5e022a2 | ['Tom Thomas'] | 2020-12-28 06:59:21.999000+00:00 | ['Soccer Prediction', 'FPL', 'Soccer Analytics', 'Fantasy Premier League', 'Soccer'] |
To Rollover or Not to Rollover | Rollover to an IRA
Most of us are not at risk of either litigation or bankruptcy, so rolling over the money to an IRA is a good option.
The big advantage of an IRA is control. If you keep your money with an employer 401K, you are stuck with the limited choices presented to you. These plans famously have a limited number of investment choices; perhaps only three: stock, bond, and a money-market fund. If you are a buy-and-hold index investor, this might be just fine.
Another consideration is the fees. Your 401K might be charging you higher fees than you can get elsewhere. You may need to dig into the fine print to determine this.
Once you decide to make the switch, you can roll your money over to virtually any financial institution that supports IRAs. I currently keep my own IRAs at an institution where I can buy ANY stock, bond, ETF, or mutual fund available to the public. I like the choice.
Taking money out late — Required Minimum Distributions
Upon reaching age 72 (specifically, the April following the year you turn age 72) you are generally required to take Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your 401K and IRA accounts. The IRS is graciously letting your savings grow tax-free, but they want their cut eventually. RMDs are calculated by dividing your stash by a factor, which approximates how many more years the IRS thinks you are going to live. Mathematically, RMDs allow the IRS to effectively tax all your money before you die.
For example, let’s say you are 72 and have $1 million saved in tax-advantaged accounts. Your factor is 25.6. because the actuaries that work for the IRS believe your life expectancy (plus a spouse) is age 97 (72+25.6). You are required to take a distribution of 1M/25.6 = $39,063 this year, transferring this money (or shares) to a regular taxable account and paying the taxes.
Depending on your cash flow needs at age 72, RMDs might not be an issue. However, if you wish to keep that money growing tax-free, the location of this money becomes important.
If you are still working (yes, at age 72), you do not need to take RMDs from your current employer 401K. However, you still may need to take RMDs from your IRAs and any old employer 401K.
Note, that if you own more than 5% of the company, ie, you are self-employed, you still must take RMDs out of your employer Plan. Also, this RMD exception is completely up to the discretion of your employer; they may require everyone over age 72 to take RMDs, employed or not.
If you are retired, upon reaching age 72, you’ll also need to take RMDs from a Roth Account within a 401K or other plan.
However, if your Roth money is sitting in a Roth IRA, no RMDs are required
In summary, from an RMD perspective, rollover your Roth money to a Roth IRA, but if you plan to work past age 72, rollover traditional money into your next employer’s 401K. | https://medium.com/makingofamillionaire/to-rollover-or-not-to-rollover-64646dd5cb2e | ['Liz Baker'] | 2019-12-24 21:51:44.289000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'Financial Planning', 'Rollover', 'Money', 'Retirement'] |
Yes, You Might Be Becoming a Bit of a Jerk | Since Washington state, where I live, instated its stay-at-home order over 100 days ago, I’ve noticed a number of changes in my behavior. First, the novelty of the Zoom hangouts wore off, and I found connecting with friends and family over video chat left me feeling more drained than fulfilled. I found this baffling, especially as an extrovert. Next, my fiancé noticed that I was getting snippier. At one point, he said, “It seems like right now you don’t have the capacity to be there for me, and that’s okay” — a statement that I did not view as an insult but the truth.
Most recently, on a walk with my dog — a sweet 65-pound German shepherd named June — a small, yippy, off-leash dog ran toward her. I tried to wrangle June while telling the other dog’s owner to leash her dog. This rapidly escalated into a screaming fight, during which a neighbor came out on his lawn to tell us, “I know we’re all a little wound up these days but…” (I didn’t hear the rest of it because I had turned around and left).
I don’t usually see myself as crass, uncaring, or volatile. And even though I am writing this for a sea of strangers, I like to think that my friends would agree. Every time I noticed myself acting uncharacteristically, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience: a ghost of me watching from afar, wondering what on Earth was happening to me.
If any of my behaviors under lockdown resonate, that’s likely because we’re all a little — as my neighbor said — wound up. Call it what you want: compassion fatigue, empathy fatigue, or just straight up crisis fatigue. The reality is, the shitshow of 2020 is beginning to catch up with our ability to deal with anything, especially other people, if it hasn’t yet already. Whether we are taking care of ailing family members, impossibly juggling work with childcare, mourning the death of a pet, working a job that demands a lot of empathy already, doomscrolling through the news, or grappling with the despair of living in relative isolation because that’s what it takes to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, our ability to care feels like it’s firing on all cylinders and getting depleted again and again and again. With so many of us on a hair trigger, we have less capacity to empathize with people who we would otherwise extend care and compassion for.
Adrienne Heinz, PhD, a community-based clinical psychologist in Sonoma County, California, describes this moment as a “quiet, silent suffering.” In her community, she’s seen a lot of general exhaustion. “The heart becomes weary,” she says. “It’s not that it doesn’t care. It’s tired, and it’s strained.”
In other words, there’s a limit to how much we can empathize. “We’re overwhelmed by the amount of suffering that is around us,” says James Doty, MD, a compassion researcher and founder of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. That, in turn, can bring up feelings of helplessness and despair. People can also feel emotionally exhausted and isolated. They can lose morale, act out or lash out in anger, or have a hard time relating to and caring for others. Not to mention that people have entered survival mode. That means they’re mostly fending for themselves and may be less concerned about how their behavior might affect others.
The reality is, the shitshow of 2020 is beginning to catch up with our ability to deal with anything, especially other people, if it hasn’t yet already.
“If we are feeling too many calls to our empathy, one of our defense mechanisms is to shut down and not care,” explains Eve Ekman, PhD, a contemplative social scientist at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. If the fatigue continues, the results could be disastrous, leaving people apathetic and disconnected.
Historically, there’s a loss of human compassion during pandemics, Heinz notes. People view others as the enemy since strangers could carry and transmit the virus. “It pits us against one another because of the nature of germ theory,” she says. “We have to be reminded that fear doesn’t always mean danger.”
Even worse, many of our usual self-care tactics are off-limits right now given the coronavirus. In otherwise normal circumstances, we would spend time recharging if we feel overwhelmed: We might ordinarily go to a sweaty yoga class, do a high-intensity workout at an indoor gym, socialize with friends at a restaurant or bar, or fly off for a last-minute vacation.
With the lack of the usual tools at our disposal to recharge, here are some practical ways experts recommend to cope beyond seeing a licensed therapist (which can be cost-prohibitive).
Practice paying attention to your body. If you’re feeling angry, sad, or lonely, it may be associated with a particular feeling in your body, Ekman says. Perhaps your shoulders are tensing up to your neck. Perhaps you carry sadness in your hips. Ekman recommends making it a practice to notice how emotions feel in our body as a diagnosis. “If you notice the baseline changes from minute to minute, you will have a sense of what’s out of whack,” she says, and it will help you catch things early on if you are spiraling. If you start noticing tension in your upper back every time you feel annoyed, that soreness is your telltale sign to remove yourself from that scenario by, say, going on a walk.
Practice meditation. Meditation brings you down from panic and stress mode and shifts your attention to the present. Heinz recommends smartphone apps such as Mindfulness Coach or Covid Coach.
Activate your “mammalian diving response.” This evolutionary tactic, which can be triggered by jumping into a cold river or body of water, shuts down our body’s panic mode because it suddenly needs to conserve energy to survive and forces you to breathe. If there’s nowhere cold to go for a dip, go to your freezer and pull out a bag of frozen fruit or veggies and shove it in your face (repeatedly, as needed). This is one of Heinz’s favorite techniques to remind herself to breathe deeply.
Practice box-breathing. This is a strategy that Navy Seals use to stay calm in times of crisis. First, exhale all the air out of your lungs, and keep them empty for a four-second count. Then, inhale through the nose over four seconds. Hold your breath for another four seconds, then exhale through the nose for another four seconds. Repeat for at least five minutes.
Limit how much news you’re taking in. It’s important to stay informed, but overdoing it and flooding your brain with too much bad news might actually be damaging, says Heinz.
Spend more time in nature. Research shows that green and blue spaces are good for our mental health. When you’re outside, remember to breathe deeply.
If you feel like you’re not making a difference, join a community group like Nextdoor, where you can offer to run errands for neighbors. “The simple act of doing something for another person decreases those feelings that you can’t contribute,” says Doty.
Instead of watching traumatic images or thinking about catastrophic outcomes, educate yourself and take corrective action. Whether that’s in the form of understanding racial injustices and being actively anti-racist or doing your part to slow the spread of coronavirus by wearing a mask.
Importantly, give yourself a break. And if your loved ones are the ones with a shorter fuse, give them a break, too. | https://elemental.medium.com/yes-you-might-be-becoming-a-bit-of-a-jerk-2bb1bc9e225 | ['Wudan Yan'] | 2020-07-16 23:17:21.161000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Pandemic', 'Psychology', 'Empathy', 'Compassion'] |
IT outsourcing requires internal oversight | Outsourcing your company’s IT infrastructure is a proven way to support innovation but internal subject matter experts must remain engaged to ensure autonomy is not lost.
An important part of any innovation initiative is having a solid information technology (IT) infrastructure which can support new technologies that allow for organizational growth. Building this support internally is time consuming and expensive, leading many large enterprises to heavily rely on outside solutions such as SAP and Salesforce.
These firms provide the depth and breadth of services large enterprises need, but if internal teams are not actively and continuously vetting these solutions, it’s easy to lose autonomy over your infrastructure.
We know that big ships turn slowly. As with most aspects of business, evolution and diversification in your IT infrastructure can be the difference between success and failure. A company of substantial size that manages to remain agile has a huge competitive advantage. The faster your company can adapt your infrastructure to new needs, the faster new products and services can be developed. That’s why IT outsourcing, which offers agile and scalable support, is one of the most efficient ways to pursue innovation initiatives that lie outside of an enterprise’s core competencies.
Typically, the procurement department is tasked with reviewing large technical proposals, which is understandable from an operational controlling standpoint. But for an IT outsourcing strategy to be effective, it is paramount internal subject matter experts (SMEs) critically analyze the merits of proposed IT solutions and work with consulting teams to establish priorities.
These SMEs could be technical members of the Procurement team or a group of departmental delegates that form a board. Either way, the responsibility of these experts is to remain knowledgeable of relevant technologies and trends, and help inform these important operational decisions.
Additionally, these experts should be responsible for integration. This doesn’t just apply to IT, but to all types of service providers. By thinking of integration from the start, you can help develop a roadmap that allows outsourcing partners the potential to support future product and service offering development.
Whatever the setup, the point is to have internal stakeholders steer decisions and provide input to help your company maintain infrastructure control and direction. Otherwise, how can you expect a sound strategy and flawless execution?
A recent example of this is the Corona Warn App, a COVID-19 contact tracing app launched by the German government earlier this year. The app’s technology is relatively simple and was developed in collaboration between SAP and Deutsche Telekom. Cost of development was 20 million euro, with monthly maintenance costs of 2.5–3 million euro. Any developer can tell you that is an absolutely obscene price tag for an app based on Bluetooth technology — an oversimplification maybe, but not by much. One explanation for this discrepancy is that lack of technical expertise within the German government. There was no one to determine the why behind these costs or hold the service providers accountable.
While engaging third party IT providers is often necessary for innovation, it doesn’t mean you can then ignore it. If you don’t have internal ownership and knowledge of your company’s infrastructure it is nearly impossible to own your innovation strategy. Companies must have deep enough knowledge of specific technologies and trends to steer, control, and provide input to IT partners. This will result in a leaner, more agile environment that supports innovation rather than hinders it. | https://medium.com/@iconmobilegroup/it-outsourcing-requires-internal-oversight-391c90c6d5a2 | ['Iconmobile Group'] | 2020-12-15 22:00:40.377000+00:00 | ['It', 'Innovation', 'Information Technology', 'Outsourcing', 'Business'] |
Daily Journal: 2020 is going soon. | 2020 is coming to an end; I’m feeling very excited about the future.
I realise that I was stupidly impatient in the past. I wish I had enjoyed myself more. I created a lot of interesting situations for myself, but my anxiety and other deep-rooted issues were always in the way. In the end, I was just really sad. I didn’t know my worth; I had low self-esteem; I couldn’t protect myself and handle things appropriately. It was a shame.
But it’s okay because I love my life now. I’m very happy with myself and the journey I’ve been on. I wasn't in a position to take full pleasure from the superficial things I was exposed to, but honestly it’s overrated and it’s never too late to have a good time anyway, especially now that I have security and everything I could ever ask for.
“The sweet is never as sweet without the sour.”
Today’s gratitude
I’m grateful for the growth. I know I’m solid.
Join my mailing list for more. | https://medium.com/one-minute-journal/daily-journal-2020-is-going-soon-1d7fb44b1b5f | ['Ellen Nguyen'] | 2020-12-19 00:48:31.455000+00:00 | ['Journal', 'Self', 'Life', 'Reflections', 'Personal Growth'] |
Letter from Daniel Simic, PlayChip Foundation Director | Daniel Simic, Director at The PlayChip Foundation
To our valued PlayChip holders,
I would like to extend my appreciation to every supporter of our project around the globe. Whether you purchased tokens in our crowd sale last year, are a user of one of our platforms, or simply a follower who has an interest in what we will achieve — thank you. I want to assure you that our objectives remain and our dedication to our goals has never waivered.
Despite some of the fluctuations in value that the turbulent cryptocurrency market can bring, our team has stayed on track with our Q1 deliverables thus far. Since December 19th of last year, we have:
Released Phase 1 of the PlayXchange, the economic hub of the PlayChip Ecosystem
Generated and distributed PlayChips to over 12,000 PlayXchange accounts
Completed identity verification of thousands of token holders
Completed our Phase 1 integration of the PlayChip and PlayChain into PlayUp Fantasy
Listed on four internationally recognised cryptocurrency exchanges
I’d like to take a brief moment to champion some of these achievements here. According to ICO Rating, less than 2% of ICOs from Q4 last year established exchange listings. For us to now have four internationally respected platforms listing the PlayChip is a strong step towards gaining greater recognition and traction in the crypto community.
We have since received many more listing offers so watch this space!
My team is committed to delivering on our 2019 roadmap, which primarily focuses on rolling out Phase 2 of the PlayXchange to integrate the buy/sell functionality of a multitude of cryptocurrency pairings, integrating more platforms with the PlayChip and PlayChain, and growing the user numbers of the PlayChip Ecosystem. This will add organic demand for PlayChip and help grow its brand and volume.
While it may be impractical to discuss the token’s value, we have had a strong response from some of our supporters who are unfamiliar with how cryptocurrency values are determined. Some have even gone as far to question the credibility and motivations of our project, hence my response.
Like many token sales, the PlayChip incurred some heavy sell pressure following listing that came from token holders who received discounted tokens in the presale, or users holding large amounts of tokens from playing (and winning!) free challenges on our platforms over recent years. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency market is currently considered to be a “bear market”, which holds a negative sellers sentiment and scares nervous token holders into selling out early before perceived losses become considerable. This is not a new phenomenon, indeed when we commenced our journey the cryptocurrency market cap was over $400 billion — over three times what it is today!
This type of sell pressure is not unexpected, and it is important to find a natural bottom where those who have no vested interest in the future of this project have left the market. It is from this point at which the market can rebuild and new buyers can come into the fold. Trading volumes of recent have been low, indicating small hands have been folding and the majority of our supporters are looking to hold long-term.
This is an exciting time for our project. We are motivated by integrating as many platforms and adding as many users to our ecosystem as possible. Our aim is to be the Universal Gaming Token. If the amount of platforms accepting PlayChip increases, as does the amount of users utilising them, demand will come naturally.
So, how are we going to do that?
Q2 2019
Phase 2 of PlayXchange, adding in trading pairs and trading functionality
Buy/sell of PlayChip available directly from PlayUp platform
Credit card gateway added to PlayXchange to facilitate credit card purchases of PlayChip and other cryptocurrencies
PlayChain Integration into PlayUp Bet
Q3 2019
Global Gaming Licenses (Malta), increasing our reach into more international jurisdictions
Digital Exchange Licence (Malta), to allow more countries access to our digital exchange and payment gateways
Third party integrations of the PlayChip token and PlayChain network, including; Poker, Live Dealer, Casino slots, and much, much more!
We appreciate the patience and support that has been afforded us from our supporters. It adds further motivation to our cause seeing the amount of people believing in what we are doing. In the meantime, all we can ask of our current token holders is to;
Hold on to your tokens (and if you like a bargain, grab some more now!)
Wait patiently as the final discounted/rewarded tokens are depleted, and;
Look out for our announcements regarding new licensing, technology and third party platform integrations
We have said repeatedly that this is only the beginning for the PlayChip. We understand that there is much scepticism out there right now for cryptocurrencies and token-based projects — we only ask that you look at what we have delivered upon thus far. We have come a very long way in a short time, and regardless of the price fluctuations of the last few weeks, we are very proud of what we have accomplished.
A vision as great as ours will not be built overnight. Look to what we have achieved in our small history, and join us in imagining what could be in the next few short years.
We thank you for your continued support and look forward to sharing more success with you throughout 2019 and beyond!
Daniel Simic
PlayChip Foundation Director
PlayChip — Changing the Way you Play (and here to stay)! | https://medium.com/playchip/letter-from-daniel-simic-playchip-foundation-director-45b0b5679a2f | ['Liam Kirby'] | 2019-03-04 00:23:34.600000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Gambling', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Finance'] |
Shattered dreams : An anthology by Karthigeyan Ganesh Shankar | Photo by Jim Stapleton on Unsplash
Have you ever dropped a brittle object, to watch it scatter into odd shapes, demarcated to its initial perfect shape. During this very action when gravity performs its intent, everything proceeds in slow motion. A sense of regret, lassitude and depreciation is chided by our subconsciousness onto our tiny little brain. The following anthology is a collection of four short stories bringing into spotlight different timelines one goes through in a canvas of life. In the end, these short stories converge and chime into a common theme: shattered dream.
First : Innocence of a child and its embrittlement
“ What do you want to become when you grow old, child ? ” asked an adult who had been asked this question in her/his childhood.
“ An auto driver! ” said the child and beamed when he replied, struck my ecstasy connected to this thought. He continues to rattle, mimicking the noise produced by an autorickshaw/tuk-tuk.
An autorickshaw (Photo by Pj Go on Unsplash)
To this response the adult chuckles, dismissing the thought sprouted out of immaturity and continues to provide some unwarranted wisdom.
“ You know what, you are so good at building these Lego blocks, you must become a civil engineer! Think about it, you can construct buildings which touch the sky.” the adult adds.
“ But I like to ride in an autorickshaw. I can navigate through smaller gaps in quick time by insane manoeuvres. Also the sound it makes puts a smile on my face. ” the child protests.
“ Hahaha, you will change your plan shortly. Everyone in our family is an engineer and you will become one too. ” the adult reinforces her/his opinion.
And with that, a dream meets its demise. The child berates himself internally for welcoming such a dream. Whining and crying inconsolably is pushed to a later stage in his life. This conversation repeats itself few months down the line with another adult, to which the child replies.
“ I want to become an engineer and be able to construct buildings that touch the sky ” the child delivers without a second thought.
The adult replies “ Kudos, that is what is expected of you. You will become a great one! ” and pats the child in the back and bribes him with a sweet and some money.
Second : Know your limits, or you will be made to know it.
Photo by Mika Brandt on Unsplash
A ceiling fan brought mechanical sounds to an otherwise silent and lifeless room. In here, a school counsellor looked at a report with much deliberation and focus. On the other end sat two anxious parents with their happy-go-lucky child. The room encompassed three individuals of ardent attention nullified by the distracted child. The counsellor broke the silence which was starting to consume every one of them.
“ Your child has performed exceptionally well in quantitative aptitude and verbal reasoning. His score has been dominant in math and logical reasoning. This is indicative of the fact that he is destined to do well in engineering and sciences. “ — said the counsellor. Dismissive of the boy’s equally good scores in verbal reasoning and his interest in journalism and writing.
“ This is excellent news. We knew very well that we had a gifted child. He should do well in engineering, it is settled then. ” said one of the parents while the other gently caressed the boy’s hair, grinning from ear to ear. In the mind of the kid, his aspirations to become a writer dropped into the oblivion.
Few months progressed, a parent-teacher meeting was scheduled. The boy along with parents were seated opposite to the weary history teacher. Upon having a look at the boy, the teacher’s expression changes, smile fixated on her face.
“ Your kid is very inquisitive about everything concerning history. He seems to enjoy history by a huge margin in comparison to the other kids. He is one of the few reasons why I enjoy teaching history. He would make a great historian or an archaeologist. ” said the history teacher clapping her hands.
“ His math teacher told the same thing, he loves math equally. That should be indicative of the fact that he would make a great engineer possessing the required thinking skills. We are so blessed to have him ” said a parent with an aura of pride. Both the heads of teacher and student sunk, defeated. The plan was laid without any compromises. Further dialogue proved futile.
The boy upon completing his higher secondary school was left baffled onto what he would want to do after his high school. To the rescue came coaching institutions which ensured that given an intense dedication of two years, he could land with relative ease into a premier institution. What they failed to answer is that, what would he be pursuing there. Throughout these two years, they made him believe that he was made for this, constantly tossing and toiling him around to reach the best of his abilities. The boy gave in due to societal pressure and made himself believe that a premier institution was well within his reach. Without doubt, the coaching institution charged ridiculous fees to ensure that the boy believed in this vision. Of course, the boy should be made of sterner stuff, every child is destined to land herself/him into a premier institution.
Unfortunately, reality struck on the boy only on the day of the results. Two years of admiration and glass-like dream shattered, but no longer in slow motion. It was an initiation of several such shattering. Perhaps life is very much a diabolic cycle consisting of joy followed in succession with suffering.
A verse from one of my favourite songs :
Bachpan to gaya jawaani bhi gayi, ek pal to ab humein jeene do jeene do. (Our childhood has been lost and so has our youth, Now let us live fully for just a moment) - “Give me some sunshine” from 3 idiots (movie).
to be continued soon….. | https://medium.com/@witfulmadrasi/shattered-dreams-an-anthology-4ba07f6ff3ee | ['Karthigeyan Ganesh Shankar'] | 2021-01-07 06:37:11.999000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Reality', 'Goals', 'Dreams', 'Education'] |
Diamonds Aren’t Forever | Is it time to ditch the diamond engagement ring?
For most men in the U.S. preparing to “pop the question,” one question that is not considered is whether or not to purchase a diamond engagement ring to accompany the proposal. Indeed, diamond engagement rings are the norm, with over 80% of brides sporting a gem. This is, of course, “tradition!” Men spend 2–4x their monthly salary on engagement rings because that’s “what you’re supposed to do,” and women similarly expect the gesture, even if most brides are unhappy with the diamond ring their future spouse gifts them.
To an outsider, this tradition may seem silly. Just as many Americans find the concepts of dowries, bride prices, and dowers unpalatable — the practice of men gifting women an exorbitantly expensive (and inherently useless) gift while asking them to spend the rest of their lives together sounds a little insane from first principles. Of course, like dowries and dowers, diamond engagement rings have a rich cultural history stretching back hundreds of years, right?
Not exactly.
It’s not such a well kept secret that the diamond engagement ring tradition is less than a century old and was manufactured by a marketing campaign commissioned by De Beers Corporation, who conveniently held a monopoly on the diamond trade. For those who haven’t heard the story, here’s a quick recap:
To summarize: the diamond engagement ring tradition exists because of wide-spread propaganda capitalizing on envy and conspicuous consumption commissioned by a cartel. It ain’t “love.”
Clearly, the propaganda worked. By 1990, 80% of brides in the United States had a diamond engagement ring — up from only 10% in 1940.
Sure, some people will acknowledge the dubious genesis of diamond engagement rings before saying that despite this, the tradition is meaningful today. The narrative goes something like this:
It’s the promise of marriage from a man to a woman!
It shows the man is serious enough about the relationship to save up for the ring!
It shows others that a woman is no longer available!
In 2019, I think it’s time that couples have a conversation about these outdated justifications fueled by consumerism, marketing, and envy.
First thing’s first: equating love with money is probably unhealthy for the longterm viability of a relationship. If your potential lifelong partner turns down your marriage proposal because the ring you purchased isn’t big or expensive enough, the odds of a successful marriage were likely slim to begin with. What if instead of marrying someone who values material things over you as a human, you found a partner who would spend their life with you regardless of material wealth and possession?
Second, society is just starting to grasp what gender equality means across contexts, yet wedding culture has largely been excluded from this conversation. Why is this a one-sided bribe? Shouldn’t women be compelled to buy something equally expensive and useless for their partner to “prove that they are serious” about the relationship? Further, the idea of signaling that a woman is no longer available, or “marking property” is insulting. Should men be marked as “taken” as well? Funny enough, De Beers launched a campaign with this very concept in the 1980’s in an attempt to double the diamond market. The campaign for a “Man’s Diamond” did not take off. It seems women weren’t falling for this charade…
In the 1980’s, Ayers / De Beers tried to convince women to buy diamond rings for men. They didn’t fall for it.
The justifications around engagement rings representing a promise to marry, or a partner being “serious enough” are also insulting, essentially arguing that the man’s word is not trustworthy unless he backs it up with his bank account.
Perhaps the most concrete argument against diamond engagement rings is the needlessly wasteful spending. As of 2017, the average engagement ring costs over $6,000, with this value immediately dissolving once purchased. Taken into context — most Americans don’t have $500 saved for a financial emergency — this expenditure is irresponsible. Thankfully, younger generations seem to be less materialistic than their parents and grandparents, opting to spend their money on experiences and practical purchases over goods signaling wealth and status. In the wedding world, this has become most evident with wedding registries. What was once an opportunity to collect an abundance of consumer goods has expanded into opportunities to travel (Honeyfund) or collect savings for practical use (Newlywed Fund). What if the money used to purchase an engagement ring was instead invested in longterm, appreciating assets to be enjoyed by a happy married couple for years to come, such as a down payment on a home?
If we were to do away with the diamond engagement ring tradition, what would we replace it with? One option is simple: nothing. Another option practiced in other countries such as Brazil may present an easier transition: both men and women wear a simple band on their right hand while engaged and switch the ring to their left hand once married. Signaling commitment while embracing equality and forgoing reckless spending — what a concept!
For my part, I’m adding “diamond engagement rings” to my list of 25 Things that Won’t Exist in 25 Years.
[Note to all potential suitors: I accept that I’ll likely end up purchasing an engagement ring for my future wife. I just want to be sure we’re on the same page about the ridiculousness of it…] | https://medium.com/the-raabithole/diamonds-arent-forever-34e992952cde | ['Mike Raab'] | 2019-07-19 05:32:03.770000+00:00 | ['Controversial', 'Relationships', 'Self', 'Psychology', 'Philosophy'] |
What Is HUMBL? Simplified. | I have always needed a way to explain HUMBL to my friends and family, since it is such a expansive company and has so many products in one product; hopefully this article is something you can show someone and it explains to them what HUMBL is. So odds are, if you are here reading this, you have heard about HUMBL, and if you haven’t, you will now. HUMBL (OTC: HMBL) is a company that is creating a worlds first Global Super Application in which the customer can have a complete all-in-one platform, which will give a one-click access point. With categories such as HUMBL Financial, HUMBL Marketplace, HUMBL Shop, HUMBL Pay, HUMBL Merchants, HUMBL NFT, HUMBL Studios, HUMBL Ticketing, and many more to come, they are beginning to build a one stop app for every one of your needs. Below is a description of the HUMBL mission more in depth, quoted from this press release from November 24th, 2020.
“The mission of HUMBL® and HUMBL Hubs™ is to deliver high quality, low cost digital payments and financial services. The HUMBL network was designed to support vertical markets such as government, banking, wireless and merchants in locations like Latin America, Caribbean, Asia and Africa who are seeking to migrate to digital payment and financial technologies, to help reduce costs and improve settlement speeds for customers.
The HUMBL® Mobile App will deliver borderless transactions, by integrating multiple currencies, payment methods, banks, blockchain and financial services providers into one-click for the customer. HUMBL® provides greater access and portability than US only mobile wallet providers, such as Venmo® and Zelle®.
For those customers without a smartphone, HUMBL Hubs™ will allow participating merchants to deliver contactless payments, text ordering and money services across the full pyramid of end-users in these markets.
“We didn’t build HUMBL for the 350 million digital customers using PayPal®, but for the 7 billion people for whom money has a totally different set of global pathways, technology access points and cost structures,” according to the CEO of HUMBL, Brian Foote.
The HUMBL corporate website features global brand videos, product tours, market research, white papers and network architecture at www.HUMBLpay.com.”
The following bold categories are the current categories, at the time of this article being published, that HUMBL has already, or will soon, implement into their business and services.
HUMBL Financial: In simpler terms, for a subscription of $4.99 per month with no hidden fees, HUMBL smart trading bots will take advantage of the volatility of the new emerging Crypto market and will make strategic entry trades and re-balancing to capture the near maximum advantages. It works 24/7, so you don’t have to constantly keep watching and stressing about your investments. Your funds are safe and secure always. The first to be easily available to everyone globally.
HUMBL Marketplace: In HUMBL marketplace you will find HUMBL Studios, HUMBL Shop, and HUMBL NFT.
HUMBL Shop: Simply a shop where you can buy company brand named merchandise such as hats, shirts, and hoodies.
HUMBL Studios: Studios connects small businesses from around the world and connects them all onto one single easy to find platform. Sort of like Etsy.
HUMBL Pay: Built to connect consumers, freelancers, and merchants, HUMBL Pay will be with you wherever you go. You will be able to send and receive money from any where in the world. Maybe even Mars. With integrations such as HUMBL Peer to Peer payments and HUMBL Hubs, HUMBL Pay will be there to satisfy every payment option and need at the most competitive price making it affordable for any user.
HUMBL Merchants: Merchants around the globe will be able to connect to consumers and other merchants. Consumers can pay any merchant from anywhere at any time and leave a review about the merchants business, service, experience, and so on. Anyone can become a merchant within one day on HUMBL Mobile App available in Google Play and Apple app store. Click here on this link to learn how to sign up to be a HUMBL merchant.
HUMBL Ticketing: The ticketing platform is used to buy and list tickets to events such as sports games, concerts, or shows around the world. Buying a ticket on HUMBL is as simple as searching the venue you are searching for, choosing the amount of tickets, confirming payment, and then confirming your order. HUMBL acquired TICKERI, a leading ticketing service of Latin America. HUMBL x TICKERI.
HUMBL NFT: NFT marketplace, buy an NFT without the trouble of complications and hard to understand processes. HUMBL simplifies purchasing an NFT. Recent photographs from Smallz + Raskind have sold for nearly $10,000.
Who knows what else HUMBL will take on. They have already mentioned delivery services in the coming future. The possibilities of this company are limitless. We will never know until the news is released, but i think we all know for sure, there may be no other company out there with the potential to change online to real world problems better and more efficiently than HUMBL.
HUMBL has exponentially gained investors interests since they went public by conducting a reverse merger with Tesoro Enterprises which took the stocks share price value from under 1/10th of a penny, to nearly $8 in just a matter of 3 months. At the time, the company didn’t even quite have a product nor did it have any mind blowing revenues. In fact, HUMBL just had a website, and was just creating a few social media sites when the share price was at one dollar a share. Since then, HUMBL share price has been on quite a roller coaster ride, but most investors believe in the long term potential of the company and don’t compare day to day price movements. I, personally, hold shares in the company, and plan on holding for years and years to come. Investors believe the current share price is very undervalued and could soar in the coming months and years to be the next generations FAANG stock. A commonly used phrase and feeling expressed by investors of HUMBL is, “This stock purchase will either create generational wealth for me or simply be just another one of my mistakes, but i think we all know which outcome has the best possible chance of execution.”
HUMBL may be life changing for investors, consumers, and everybody world-wide, or it may not be. It has great potential to change how the world interacts, but does the company have what it takes? Below is a link to some news releases and information about HUMBL that could give you a little more insider information.
(This medium isn’t investment advice or financial advice or any kind of advice. It’s just here for information sharing. Don’t blame the messenger for your choices.)
Down below is a link that will take you to the Road Map of HUMBL; they have continued to execute their plans on time.
LINK | https://medium.com/@zacharybryan/what-is-humbl-simplified-e6d6b3ff05d0 | ['Zachary Bryan'] | 2021-05-30 19:18:45.678000+00:00 | ['Globalization', 'Blockchain', 'Apps', 'Investing', 'World'] |
PROPEL TOKEN | PROPEL TOKEN
INTRODUCTION:-
Hello everyone, how are you? If you are interested in joining the project PayRue you should read the information that will help you get information that can help you in seeing your vision and mission
#crypto #bitcoin #cryptocurrency #blockchain #foxcampaigns #btc #nft #nftart #digitalart #cryptoart #nftartist #crypto #nfts #ethereum #nftcommunity #nftcollector #propel #payrue #pump #cryptopumps
Lately we have witnessed a recurring trend in blockchain where individuals and organizations are pooling resources to create, renovate or simply replicate existing technologies to produce something new in the form of applications/dapps with which users can manage their digital assets easily. good while at the same time saving them from the stress and sometimes frustration of dealing with conventional financial institutions (like banks). And this is where Payrue comes in.
What is Payrue?
PayRue, a fully functional, fully decentralized platform with a focus on financial services through exchange operations, financial wallets, payments and transfers of cryptocurrencies with the aim of creating a secure means for Cryptocurrency usage and adoption through a simple and easy-to-use application.
One single platform for all secure financial services, PayRue offers its users the opportunity to use a unique decentralized exchange for trading- PROPEL DEX, the platform also offers a cryptocurrency wallet, the ability to make and receive payments using its mobile application (Android and IOS), web version and great liquidity features- Purchase of cryptocurrencies using a debit card.
PayRue owns a native token called “Propel” which is on the Stellar Blockchain and has submitted a proposal for a listing on Binance Dex which will reduce the migration of Propel Coin to Binance Chain. PayRue is a working platform and has been able to achieve all this without an IEO, ICO or any form of fundraising.
Payrue Wallet App Features :
Purse
Payrue is a wallet in its own right, and allows users to securely store move tokens and other cryptocurrencies until they need them to be used. The wallet supports multiple currencies from different blockchains and offers an SMS notification service that alerts users on every transaction in their account. The image above is a glimpse of the payrue wallet.
Exchange
The Payrue project operates two exchanges namely: Propel DEX and Payrue DEX . Both are hybrid exchanges with decentralized wallets (meaning they use extensions like meta masks), but with a centralized order book.
However, while Payrue DEX is built on the Ethereum Blockchain, Propel DEX is set on a stellar Blockchain network. The exchange allows users to exchange virtual currencies with each other at any time.
Salary Invoice
Another unique feature of the Payrue app is Payrue's invoicing service. This feature is very useful for freelancers. Pay Invoice is an invoicing service that allows freelancers everywhere to receive payments in cryptocurrency for work done. Without a doubt, this feature was implemented to bring about mass adoption of cryptocurrency which is the core mission of the project. This will save freelancers looking to earn cryptocurrency from the stress of having to manually convert their fiat income to crypto.
PayRue Wallet
PayRue Wallet is your digital asset wallet for transfers, swaps, staking and NFT collections
With PayRue Wallet you control your private keys, easy access to transfer and exchange multiple blockchains and manage multiple tokens easily right from your phone.
Multichain Wallet
Binance Smart Chain
Ethereum
Polygon
Phantom
Avalanche
Your own wallet for Crypto and NFT:
Trade any token on BSC, Ethereum and Polygon right from your phone
Bring Your NFT Collection Closer
Control your own private key
PayRue Exchanges & Wallets
PayRue Wallet is a multi-chain wallet
Manage your wallet
Instant Swap right from your phone
NFT Wallet
Connect with NFT Marketplaces
Hold any NFT in your wallet
Exchange NFT using WalletConnect
PROPEL TOKENOMICS
The propel token has a total supply of 10 billion. Of this amount, 50% (5 billion) is allocated for distribution to users at various points through registration, gifts, referrals, etc. 15% (1.5 billion) will be shared among project team members, while 35% (3.5 billion) will be reserved by the team for the general growth of the project in the future as well as for partnerships.
Payrue does not have an ICO/IEO, but raises funds through crunchbase for its projects. The tokens are mostly provided free of charge to users upon registration/verification as well as through referrals. The project is currently distributing 2000 propel to every verified user on their mobile app. Yes, that means you can pick up your 2000 drive now that you have downloaded and registered on their mobile app, and successfully completed the kyc verification. The mobile app can be found in the playstore as shown in the screenshot above.
Payrue has also scheduled a token burning event that will occur every first day of every quarter of the year.
Token Name and Symbol: Propel
Total supply: 10 billion
Stellar Blockchain Explorer Link: https://stellar.expert/explorer/public/asset/Propel-GAQ66FKC4YLWZEA2TWMKFB5I44ICSPOHEULJB7BLIOCGPDYEFSUZIORO?filter=asset-holders&order=desc
Conclusion
PayRue is on a mission to drive cryptocurrency adoption and become a leading crypto payment gateway, what could be more glorious than that?
And with its functional financial features; operational wallets, decentralized exchanges, payments, all this without external financial assistance and fundraising make PayRue a great platform.
For More Information:-
Website: https://payrue.com/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/pay_rue
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/payrue
Telegram : https://t.me/payrue_global
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/payrueofficial
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/payrue
Payrue Wallet : https://wallet.payrue.com/
Coinmarketcap : https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/payrue-propel/
AUTHOR:-
Bitcointalk Username: @shiva
Bitcointalk Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2015378
POA Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5375402.msg58629440#msg58629440
Telegram Username: @shivamaster123
People Address: 0x34955a14b32c4d0c57d22655a5b8e4087a44a84b | https://medium.com/@shivagautam307/propel-token-d750add4be24 | ['Shiva Gautam'] | 2021-12-26 17:23:28.987000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Crypto', 'Pump', 'Bsc'] |
Give Those YouTube Tutorials Love | As I write this, I’m still wildly excited about a technical tutorial — yes, video content — I watched today. Excited like vegan triplets at a buffet on all-you-can-eat Korean taco night.
Yes, seriously. That excited.
And when I feel this grateful about new knowledge, I have an ACTION LIST aimed at strategically finding more impactful ways to pay back the YouTube content creator.
And in a world of thumbs-down-giddy, negativity-packed internet trolls, I want us to start a trend where waves of adoration sweep over those online experts who craft solid, useful, and amazing tutorial content.
Dedicated YouTubers (nope, I am not one) are an amazing breed, but I segment them into categories of usefulness.
My sliding scale for YT content sort of works like this:
Hilarious — Funny — Amusing — Entertaining — Mildly Entertaining — Educational — Informative — Helpful — Inspiring — Golden Unicorn
When you see golden unicorns — those who deliver unbelievable value that’s way beyond helpful and inspiring — I suggest you act like it and spend a solid ten to fifteen minutes paying back that human being for changing your world!
Let’s start a new tidal wave of internet civility and gratitude for the hard work of dedicated YouTubers. I’d be happy to see that. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/give-those-youtube-tutorials-love-16087bae69ed | ['Andy Mcwain'] | 2020-10-12 14:09:52.060000+00:00 | ['Online', 'Social Media', 'Tutorial', 'YouTube'] |
Real estate investment = easy money? | Is it really that simple?
Buy an apartment, get a tenant to rent it, then watch the money come in. Investing in real estate looks dead simple, like a sure way to fructify your hard earned savings. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is.
It’s February 15th, you’re standing in line for the ski lift under a blue sky, looking forward to finally enjoy some outdoor winter fun after all these months of travel restrictions. When you finally get to the front of the line, your cellphone rings. You scramble to reach it before it rings out, removing your gloves to frantically open every pocket in search of the damn device.
You finally find the pestering device inside the innermost pocket of your hi-tech ski jacket, just when the caller lost patience and gave up. A message on whatsapp pops up on the screen, while people shout abuse at you for jamming up the line. Stepping aside, you read the message. It’s from your tenant: “CALL ME URGENTLY!!!!”. You comply anxiously and get more shouting from the other end: your tenant, angry and cold, inform you that the heater broke down. You try to calm him down, assuring him that you’ll take care of it as soon as possible. It does nothing to sooth his anger as he’s already talking about lawsuits, damages and rent withholding.
This scenario could sound caricatural but is actually very realistic. It happened to Jonathan, a close friend of yours truly.
Managing a rented property is a lot of work: finding tenants, screening tenants, contracting with tenants, handling common maintenance, handling contractors, handling issues related to the commons of a multi-owner building, tax accounting, …
Managing a portfolio of rented property is a whole other story. In addition to property management, it involves considering the properties as assets and managing them to maximize the returns to investors.
Asset management involves taking decisions during the full lifetime of the portfolio:
Properties offering the best potential for return have to be scouted, often off-market through a dedicated network.
Once part of the portfolio, the potential of each property has to be constantly re-evaluated. According to the evaluation, a decision to sell the property to buy another one with better potential could be made.
An independent third party has to be hired several times a year to appraise all the properties of the portfolio. The appraised value is used by the assets manager to guide their decision. The value is also published so that investors can rationally price the portfolio.
As with ReTok the properties can be part-owned by the tenants, the asset managers have the added job of deciding the price and the amount of shares to make available for sale to, or to offer to buy from the tenant
The size of the cash reserve has to be skillfully managed. As cash doesn’t provide returns, it must be kept at a strict minimum, while being sufficient to cover the expected future cash outflows (shares repurchase, renovation, legally mandated building improvements, …)
Investing in real estate is an involved process on the long run. You can do it yourself and build a portfolio of properties if you have the skills, resources and the will to do it.
Or you can out-source management to professional through indirect investment. A variety of product exists so you should be able to find the one matching your investment strategy. For instance, there are ETFs providing a passive exposure to a real estate index in a given market.
ReTok offers tokenized shares of actively, professionally managed portfolios of residential real estate. Active management helped by the innovative tenant-owner concept aims to beat the benchmark of the real estate price index.
Compensation for services provided is transparent and straightforward. It’s inline with the common practice of the industry:
Active asset management is covered by a 1.5% annual fee on the average net assets value of the portfolio over the past year.
Property management is covered by a 5% fee of gross collected rents.
Let’s illustrate with an hypothetical example:
An investor gets EUR 100'000 of shares in a portfolio where rent yield is 5% and annual property value increase is 4.5%. Here’s his account statement at the end of the first year:
More information at https://retok.finance | https://medium.com/retok-finance/real-estate-investment-easy-money-9da235454b18 | ['Retok Partners'] | 2021-09-14 07:46:55.028000+00:00 | ['Asset Management', 'Property Management', 'Real Estate Investments'] |
Cashier Appraisal Made Easy with ThankUCash | Employee evaluation is critical to achieving organisational goals and upscaling productivity. For many businesses especially those involved in fast-moving consumer goods(FMCG), cashiers oftentimes are the face of the business. between customers and their purchasing action. Generally, their functions revolve around providing customer service, calculating accurate prices of goods, handling transactions and exchange.
Their roles are important such that poor cashier service leads to a drastic decline in both customer retention and revenue increase. To address this problem, ThankUCash provides merchants with an innovative tool for cashier management and evaluation.
Cashier Code
Once onboarded on ThankUCash, merchants proceed to create unique account and codes for all its cashiers. The cashier code is the unique identity of each cashier that tracks sales and transactions completed by a cashier. With the cashier code, business decision-makers can appraise cashiers using the following yardsticks;
Highest Transaction
Cashiers can be evaluated based on their transaction volume and counts. Depending on the organisational goals and structure, these metrics can be measured hourly, daily, weekly or even monthly. Managers can rate productivity and result-driven employee using data recorded on the cashier’s account.
Theft Management / Accountability
Because cashiers handle point of sales transactions, accountability and integrity have been identified as critical skills employers look out for while hiring. Regardless of how hard many employers try, managing cashier theft and cash diversion still threaten business survival and growth. However, with ThankUCash, business owners, as well as managers, can track both cash and card transactions performed their store daily. Discrepancies in actual sales and recorded sales are easily detected and faulted.
Customer Service
Great customer service is not all about making sales, it transcends to actively building a strong relationship with your customers. Thus, cashiers are tasked with the responsibility of rewarding customers with ThanKUCash at the point of purchase. Business managers can, therefore, note cashiers who are interested in growing the business through repeat customers. These are employees, with exceptional customer service skills, who put in extra effort to convert a first-time buyer into a loyal customer. They are dogged and courteous in getting important customer data which can be further used for smart decision making.
With ThankUCash, cashier appraisal no longer need be a monthly or annual event, visit www.thankucash.com today to start evaluating your cashiers today. | https://medium.com/thankucash/cashier-appraisal-made-easy-with-thankucash-538a29518e69 | ['Tolulope Lawani', 'Techytoluwani'] | 2020-02-20 17:10:01.812000+00:00 | ['Appraisal Management', 'Cashier', 'Theft Prevention', 'Accountability', 'Thankucash'] |
TensorFlow — An Introduction | High level components of TensorFlow
Now, let’s briefly explore various components of TensorFlow platform.
TensorFlow (Core)
The core part of the TensorFlow is used for building and evaluating models. It provides high-level APIs for model building, supports Estimators (custom made or pre-made, which encapsulates actions such as training, evaluation, prediction and export for serving), exposes high-level APIs for distributed training and low level APIs for advanced usages.
At a high level, following is the programming stack for TensorFlow:
(Image Courtesy: tensorflow.org)
TensorFlow.js
TensorFlow.js is a library for machine learning in JavaScript. Using it, we can develop ML models in JavaScript and use those models directly in the browser or in Node.js. We can also use off-the-shelf JavaScript models. Ability to convert existing Python TensorFlow models, so that it can run in the browser, is also supported. We can re-train existing models or build and train new models directly in JavaScript as well.
TensorFlow Lite
TensorFlow Lite can be used to deploy machine learning models on different types of devices. It can be used to run inference on mobile (Android, iOS) and devices like Raspberry Pi.
After training a new TensorFlow model (or re-training existing model), we can convert the model into a compressed flat buffer using TensorFlow Lite Converter. This compressed model can be loaded into a mobile or an embedded device. If further optimization is needed, then, 32-bit floats can be converted to more efficient 8-bit integers.
TensorFlow Extended (TFX)
When the ML model is ready to move to production, TFX can be used to create and manage a production pipeline. The pipeline components are built using TFX libraries. These libraries can also be used individually.
Following are some of the underlying libraries:
TensorFlow Data Validation (TFDV)
One of the time consuming activity when preparing for an ML experiment is to explore and validate data. TensorFlow Data Validation helps developers to perform these activities at scale.
TensorFlow Transform
When working with datasets, a good amount of time is spent on pre-processing the data and converting it into a suitable format. This involves many steps such as converting to different formats, applying numerical operation etc. TensorFlow Transform comes handy for this purpose.
TensorFlow Model Analysis (TFMA)
To decide whether a model is working as expected or not, the model needs to be evaluated against defined metrics. TensorFlow Model Analysis helps the developers to compute the evaluation metrics and visualize the same. This allows developers to understand the model’s performance better and plan future course of action accordingly.
TensorFlow Serving
When going through multiple iterations, we may want to do versioning for our models and have an ability to rollback to previous version, if a need arises. We may also want to evaluate multiple models at the same time. TensorFlow Serving provides options to do so. | https://medium.com/@bijeshos/tensorflow-an-introduction-94a7f4fc79e2 | ['Bijesh O S'] | 2020-02-27 08:19:14.515000+00:00 | ['Getting Started', 'Machine Learning', 'Deep Learning', 'TensorFlow'] |
Financial Health Network Savings Interventions Blog Series | Financial Health Network Savings Interventions Blog Series
Why Savings Interventions Are Important
By John Thompson, Chief Program Officer, Financial Health Network
People living in America do not have enough saved and are not saving enough. In May, the Federal Reserve Bank noted that most Americans don’t even have $400 available for an emergency, and this is especially true for half of low- to moderate-income Americans.
But is our industry doing enough to help people save? Our CEO Jennifer Tescher recently wrote a Forbes article opining that financial education alone is not enough to change the script. Why? Because people need more coaching, personalized product recommendations and digital financial health management tools to assess, develop, and act on a plan to improve their overall financial health.
Helping people save more effectively has been a central part of my career, from my time at H&R Block, through my own startup company, and ultimately to my time with Financial Health Network. As our research into measuring financial health shows, improving savings can unlock meaningful opportunities for people to improve their lives. U.S. Financial Health Pulse statistics related to savings are staggering: 47% of people are spending more than their income. 45% do not have three months saved for living expenses.
The financial services industry could be helping its customers save more effectively through different touch points every month and sometimes every day — on payday, at tax time, and when benefits are distributed. But this needs to go beyond just opening an account, crossing our fingers, and hoping the customer does the ‘right thing’. As researchers and practitioners, we know so much more about the techniques that can work such as framing, nudging, defaulting, automating, rewarding, supporting, sharing, and more. It’s high time to put these learnings to work, at scale, in all the places that count.
In February 2019, BlackRock announced a $50 million commitment to help people living on low- to moderate-incomes gain access to and increase usage of proven savings strategies and tools — ultimately helping them establish an important safety net. Through collaboration between leading industry experts and companies, the initiative aims to test and scale high-quality, proven savings innovations.
The Financial Health Network is thrilled to be part of this initiative because our mission over the last 15 years has been to focus on defining and helping industry leaders and partners make financial health available for all. In addition to working with BlackRock, we are joining two industry leaders on the Blackrock program who have innovated and trailblazed in the personal savings field on this initiative:
Commonwealth has designed effective innovations, products and policies to accumulate more than $1 billion in savings over the last two decades. In fact, they innovated split tax refunds, are a key driver for the existence of the form 8888 exists, and were behind the prize-linked savings’ emergence in the US, and the leader in applying gamification to savings.
Common Cents Lab is the behavior research lab within the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University, and a key reason that the power of behavioral economics is being applied to solve challenges, including financial and money. They have partnered with more than 50 organizations including credit unions, banks, tech, nonprofits and governments to redesign products and services to improve financial health, and are the source of innumerable publications exploring how to harness the powerful role of emotion, morality, self-control, and motivation in decision making.
Through my career in the private sector and in the nonprofit world, I’ve been able to see the impact of successful savings on people’s confidence, stress, and financial outcomes. I’ve seen how motivating it was for my teams to work on and be successful at something more than just making money. I’ve seen how helping people be more successful savers led to improvements in our business (although it was hard to see on the front end).
For the next three years, my colleagues and I at the Financial Health Network along with BlackRock, Commonweath and Common Cents Lab are going to be engaging with employers, platforms, and financial institutions of all kinds, to help them apply the most effective techniques to help their customers and employees save. We’ll be testing new ideas too. In the process, we’ll impact millions of families. We’ll help this country get better at this most basic behavior — saving for soon. This is what I signed up for.
We hope that you’ll follow our journey as we work together on BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative at https://savingsproject.org/. You can learn more about the partners, industry experts and organizations that will be participating in this effort. You’ll also find important research, articles and thought leadership on this topic. And if you’re an employer or provider who’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you, give us a call.
BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative is a three-year commitment to help people living on low- to moderate income gain access to and increase usage of proven savings strategies and tools to help them establish an important safety net. Led by their Social Impact team, BlackRock, along with nonprofit experts known for their innovative approach to consumer finance, Financial Health Network (formerly CFSI), Commonwealth, and Common Cents Lab, are working to address the crisis and fuel the future of savings innovation. This post is content developed in conjunction with the Emergency Savings Initiative project. | https://medium.com/@finhealthnet/financial-health-network-savings-interventions-blog-series-1a0d92232a97 | ['Financial Health Network'] | 2019-06-04 16:26:35.210000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Financial Health', 'Saving Money', 'Financial Services', 'Money'] |
2019fall CS PhD Application 美國電腦科學博士班申請結果 | CS Phd Student at the University of Chicago. website: chaochunhsu.github.io | https://medium.com/@chaochunh/cs-ph-d-application-%E7%BE%8E%E5%9C%8B%E9%9B%BB%E8%85%A6%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%B8%E5%8D%9A%E5%A3%AB%E7%8F%AD%E7%94%B3%E8%AB%8B%E5%BF%83%E5%BE%97-8d2d27a3c7b0 | ['Hsu'] | 2020-12-29 16:50:13.549000+00:00 | ['United States', 'Computer Science', 'Phd Admission', 'Taiwan'] |
Jerry Has A Crazy Dream | “Come on, Jerry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It just sounds so crazy.”
“Is it crazy to believe there is a place where it is hot all the time? Where the water is warm and not covered in ice? Where the locals enjoy spending their time laying on the sand by the warm water?”
“No. It’s crazy to believe that you could open a fish taco stand there. Seriously, who would want to eat fish on a shell made out of corn?” | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/jerry-has-a-crazy-dream-e0b55f15049e | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2020-12-11 13:03:56.170000+00:00 | ['Three Line Conversations', 'Dreams', 'Animals', 'Now I Want A Taco', 'Humor'] |
December 2020 Newsletter | We are approaching the end of an extraordinary year… A year where we have had to re-assess everything around us: not only our security and health, the safety of our loved ones, the resilience of our institutions, but also ourselves and our own strength. As we approach the close of 2020, you will hear a lot of people saying that next year will be better, that we will get out of lockdown, that the vaccine is close, that we will return to normal. But the reality is that there will be no going “back to normal”. Our world will look different. Millions more people will face unemployment, hunger and extreme poverty. We will continue to see poverty and anger undermining the resilience of many institutions. Our respect for human rights, tolerance, and democracy will be further tested under the weight of our own prejudices, and societies’ increasing polarization and escalating anger. We will likely see countries and institutions stumble, with many leaders failing where others prevail.
We, at Pathfinders, have done what we can to contribute to and amplify solutions in 2020, with new research, data, analysis, and commentary on the challenges arising in areas of peace, justice, and inclusion. Throughout, we have presented new information; pinpointed emerging challenges; highlighted risks and possibilities; underlined the urgency of the situation; and identified evidence-based strategies and solutions. We have repeatedly — urgently — made the case for addressing crisis issues of peace, justice, and inclusion now before we have bigger problems on our hands.
In 2021, we will do our best to contribute to strengthening leadership, governance, and institution-building towards peace, justice, and inclusion. As we move forward, Pathfinders plans to shift more attention to communications and advocacy in our work and to highlight the policy coherence among and interlinkages between justice, inequality, exclusion, and violence. We are already planning our engagement with numerous crucial platforms that give us an opportunity to make issues of peace, justice and inclusion the basis of a global reset and resilient recovery. In 2021, we will ensure that the phrases: “halve global violence!”, “people-centered justice!”, “bridge the gap!”, and “prevent exclusion!” are heard loud and clear throughout corridors of power.
In that spirit, we wish you — and us all — a happy new year!
Read our director’s, Liv Tørres’, full message on our blog.
2. Halving violence in 2021
(Photo: Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com)
If the Movement to Halve Global Violence by 2030 (HGV) were a house, in 2020 Pathfinders labored on its foundation. While bolstering its existing cornerstones — such as the Peace in Our Cities network tackling urban violence and GENSAC, which focuses on gender-responsive small arms control — we worked to form and set the other bricks — institutional, political, financial — needed to set a firm basis for the construction ahead.
These efforts continue into 2021, when we will also summon some of the world’s best ‘architects’ to take the building forward, by forming the Halving Violence Task Force. The Task Force will bring together a small group of thought leaders on violence reduction — ministerial-level government officials as Co-Chairs, civil society organizational leaders, and world-renowned experts — to shape a global debate about how to deliver the HGV commitment. The first Task Force meeting is being planned to take part in late March 2021 as a virtual high-level meeting, when the ‘architects’ will convene to validate and deliver HGV’s strategic blueprint.
We will also assemble the team of ‘builders’ that will assist the architects realize their vision and strategy, by consolidating a group of experienced experts and researchers with key knowledge and openness to innovation, supported by non-governmental organizational partners that can help define, ‘translate to the real world’ and amplify policy prescriptions. From the Pathfinders’ side, we will strive in 2021 to garner the needed building blocks and materials — action-oriented research, political capital, and resources — to allow the HGV ‘house’ to rise and become robust for years to come.
3. Justice for all in 2021 | https://medium.com/sdg16plus/december-2020-newsletter-4d2cefafb087 | ['Nyu Cic'] | 2020-12-17 14:27:35.435000+00:00 | ['Peace', 'Newsletter', 'Sdg16plus', 'Justice', 'Inclusion'] |
Want to look the best for your Big day— The Wedding Nutrition | Hounded by Photographers…
Amidst the Limelight…
Looking fit and fabulous is every Groom’s and Bride’s dream!
These factors drive the would be’s to keep their body fit, slim and gorgeous, when the wedding is around the corner. But sadly, during this time, they will also be quite stressed which can hamper their fitness goals. Planning a wedding is not a cakewalk and it can take a toll on the waistline.
Looking to lose excess weight and to be fit, you need to have and and follow a Nutrition Plan, not a Diet Plan! Once you start a diet, you will have t o follow it to the T and restrict your favorite foods, and definitely this is not the time to miss out some indulgence and rejoice the wedding season.
To achieve your fitness goals, you don’t need to spend hours in the gym every day. Making simple changes to your Nutrition schedule and some exercise will make all the difference.
Here is an action plan that can help you manage your wedding nutrition plan. These healthy nutrition tips will come handy especially when you are trying to lose weight.
6–12 Months before the Wedding
If you have around 6–12 months, then you have a long time to follow your wedding diet plan as well as make some necessary changes in your lifestyle.
In such a long time, you will get time to lose weight gradually and sustainably. A sustainable weight loss will also help you keep the weight off in the long run.
1. Increased Protein Intake
Try consuming more proteins than extra carbohydrates and fats. Protein requires more energy to break down which result in increasing your metabolism.It also helps in suppressing the hunger hormone, Ghrelin. Protein lets you feel full for a long time and helps in revealing leaner muscles. This will give you a toned look in your wedding outfit.
Add protein to each meal to sustain your energy levels, intensive preparations and shopping will leave you drained.
2. Avoid Refined Carbohydrates
Instead of binging on refined carbohydrates such as pasta, macaroni, noodles, pizza and burger, start having complex carbohydrates.
Refined carbohydrates have zero nutritional value. On the other hand, complex carbohydrates provide your body with essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals, also keeping you energized throughout the day. They provide good satiety than refined ones.
You can opt for whole grains like whole wheat, brown rice, millets like bajra, ragi and jowar.
3. Fibre
Increasing fibre in your diet by including fruits and nuts can help you meet your fitness goals. They contain fewer calories and eases digestion. Fibre helps in burning more calories and reduces hunger.
Fruits are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that will provide you are glowing skin; Adding walnuts to your diet will also have a simpler effect.
4. Don’t Miss Breakfast
When dieting, never skip the first meal of the day. Our body’s energy gets refuelled after breakfast.
It has been shown through research that our breakfast should be the heaviest meals as it provides the body with the essential nutrients.
Moreover, a healthy breakfast helps in avoiding craving during the latter part of the day which often leads to unhealthy eating.
5. Little Meals Throughout The Day
You eat five little meals a day instead of three big meals a day. This will keep your hunger at moderate levels and also regulates the sugar levels.
Nutritionists recommend that you don’t have to eat the full meals. You can make these three meals and two snacks.
6. Eating in Moderate Levels
The key is not to cut anything but to eat a variety of food in moderation. When you decide to cut on a particular food, you will start craving for it, and you are less likely to control yourself. You end up binge eating it.
Losing weight for the D-day shouldn’t become a punishment for you. Rather it should be a positive approach towards a healthy lifestyle. It isn’t about healthy or unhealthy food but making informed decisions.
3 Months before the Wedding
Many people may think that three months is a very short time to follow a wedding diet, but in reality, even this much time is enough to bring the necessary changes in your lifestyle. It is still not too late to lose some extra kilos before your big day.
Don’t worry we will not advise you any sorts of crash diets or fad diets that are unhealthy and unsustainable.
Start following the instructions same as mentioned for 6–12 months but there are few additional steps that shall help you lose extra fat in 3 months of time.
Exercise will play a major role here. If you were exercising say for 30 minutes earlier, then now increase it to 45 minutes to 1 hour. This will accelerate your fat loss. At times, shifting from a regular activity like walking to something like strength training or yoga can also help.
You can also increase inclusions of superfoods or function foods like
Ginger+Lemon cinnamon detox water
Flaxseeds
Chia seeds
Wheatgrass etc. which will help in weight management. By eating superfoods, you will also get several nutritional benefits.
However, one thing that you shouldn’t forget is that you can lose weight in this much time, but it won’t be as much as you intended to, and secondly, starving is neither healthy nor sustainable.
A good way to start your wedding diet plan 12 weeks before the big day is by getting a rough idea of how many calories are required by your body.
There are many calorie calculators available online. It can help you in estimating the calories you will burn each day after exercising.
It is simple mathematics; you have to intake fewer calories per day than the value presented by the calculator. This will let your body lose weight.
While it may seem a tempting idea to lower your calorie level further, you should keep in mind that it should not fall below 1,200 calories per day for women and 1500 calories for men.
If you consume fewer calories than required, it can slow your metabolism and even lead to loss of muscle and lead to nutrient deficiencies.
And importantly, don’t become calorie-obsessed. More than the calories, the nutritional value of the food matters a lot. For instance, a small slice of pizza and a bowl of a salad may have the same 100 calories. But to lose weight effectively and be energetic, you should choose the latter.
4 Weeks before the Wedding
Realistically, it is quite difficult to change your diet and lose weight in such a short period. Going on a liquid diet is not recommended since it causes water retention and will make you feel heavier. A liquid diet can also make you look pale and low on energy.
Nutritionists say that such a short-term wedding diet requires detailed research to find out if it will be right for you and your type of body.
Taking professional help can help you a lot when you have less time. This can help you in controlling the calorie intake as well as make sure that you are meeting your protein requirements and other important nutrients of the body.
They may recommend you supportive supplements as well so that you shed those extra kilos and still feel energetic throughout the day.
Pre Wedding Diet plan for weight loss
Below are two diet plans for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Following these will help you lose weight efficiently and healthily.
Vegetarian Meal Plan (Women)
Early Morning- 1 glass of lemon cinnamon water + 2 tsp. soaked chia seeds.
Breakfast-1 cup Vegetable Upma + 1 glass Skim milk + 1 cup Sprouts
Mid Morning- Tender Coconut water/ 1 Seasonal Fruit
Lunch- 1 bowl Salad + 2 Roti + 1 cup Dal
Mid Evening Snacks- 1 glass of Buttermilk
Evening Snacks 2- Green Tea + Roasted Flax seeds 2tbsp.
Dinner- 1 bowl Vegetable Soup(Homemade) + 2 vegetable dal chilla/ dosa + 1 tbsp Chutney | https://medium.com/@dt.deepikavasudevan/want-to-look-the-best-for-your-big-day-the-wedding-nutrition-204e7038f1d | [] | 2020-02-20 11:35:46.899000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Weddings', 'Nutrition', 'Health', 'Beauty'] |
Pete Buttigieg to be Nominated as Transportation Secretary | If confirmed, Buttigieg will become the second openly LGBTQ person in history to serve in a presidential cabinet.
Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaking with attendees at the Moving America Forward Forum hosted by United for Infrastructure at the Student Union at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. February 16, 2020. (photo: Gage Skidmore)
Democrat Joe Biden has announced his intention to nominate Pete Puttigieg, South Bend Mayor and Biden’s former rival in the Democratic primary, as transportation secretary. Immediately after this announcement, media outlets touted the nomination as a history-making first for LGBTQ individuals- the first “openly gay man” to hold a cabinet post.
However, the first “openly gay” cabinet member was in fact Richard Grenell, who was appointed to serve as acting director of national intelligence by President Donald Trump in February. Interestingly, many of the outlets who celebrated Buttigieg’s “historic” accomplishment, had previously reported Grenell as the first.
On December 15, LGBTQ Nation tweeted about Pete Buttigieg, declaring that “the former presidential candidate will be the first out Cabinet member.”
LGBTQ Nation previously reported; “Grenell’s appointment as acting DNI made him the first out gay man to hold a Cabinet-level position.
After heavy criticism for contradicting its own reporting, LGBTQ Nation changed the post.
December 15, media outlet Queerty also tweeted, “Pete Buttigieg makes history as first out Cabinet member.” However on February 20, 2020, Queerty published an article alongside a Twitter caption that read, “Trump makes Richard Grenell first openly gay cabinet secretary in history.”
The same “mistake” was made by another popular LGBTQ-focused media outlet, Pink News.
November 9, Pink News tweeted “Joe Biden ‘almost certain’ to make Pete Buttigieg America’s first out gay cabinet official. Here’s where he could land.” However, prior to this announcement, on February 20, 2020, Pink News tweeted “Donald Trump just appointed his first gay cabinet member.
December 16, CNN reported “Buttigieg is about to become the youngest member of Biden’s cabinet and America’s first out LGBTQ cabinet member,” without a mention of Grenell in the article.
December 15, the New York Times reported “Mr. Buttigieg would bring a younger voice to the cabinet and add to its diversity as its first openly gay member.” In February, the same outlet reported that “Mr. Grenell, who has pushed to advance gay rights in his current post, is also thought to be the first openly gay cabinet member.”
Charles Payne reported on his show Making Money that Pete Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person to serve in a white house cabinet. He later retracted this statement and apologized to Richard Grenell via Twitter.
“.@RichardGrenell I owe you an apology. Yesterday on my show ‘Making Money’ I reported Pete Buttigieg would be the first openly gay person to serve in a WH cabinet. Richard Grenell has that distinction when he became acting DNI in the Trump cabinet and he did a hell of a job,” Payne wrote.
Some outlets noted that if Pete Buttigieg does become a cabinet member, as Biden said he would nominate him to be, he would become the first Senate-confirmed cabinet member.
Grenell was not confirmed by the Senate in his cabinet-level role as Acting Director of National Intelligence, but was confirmed by the Senate in 2017 by a vote of 56–42 when he was nominated as U.S. Ambassador to Germany.
His confirmation to U.S. Ambassador made Grenell the highest ranking openly gay official in any presidential administration, until 2020, when President Trump asked Grenell to join his Cabinet as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
The Washington Post did not even mention the bit about being Senate-confirmed, but all together attempted to eliminate Grenell’s legacy when the outlet reported, “Certainly, another “first” — an openly gay man holding a Cabinet post.”
Richard Grenell made LGBTQ history and fought to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. His contributions deserve to be recognized, however inconvenient the left may find his politics.
When Grenell left his post, he posted an Instagram acknowledging a historic gift from President Trump.
“Today I officially resigned from the State Department,” Grenell wrote. “And President Trump presented me with a going away gift — my Cabinet Chair. ‘Acting’ Cabinet Secretaries do not get chairs but President Trump wanted me to have mine because, as he said, ‘You are the First Openly Gay Cabinet Secretary and it’s a big deal.’”
(Contributing journalist, Allegra Nokaj) (Contributing writer, Brooke Bell) | https://medium.com/@munrkazmir/pete-buttigieg-to-be-nominated-as-transportation-secretary-9a0d5774ce06 | ['Dr. Munr Kazmir'] | 2020-12-17 22:17:04.339000+00:00 | ['Politcs', 'LGBTQ', 'Democrats', 'Election 2020', 'Trump'] |
A Place to Die | “Oh, so you want to design hospitals?” the woman asked.
“What? No, you can design healthy spaces that aren’t hospitals,” I exclaimed.
And yet, I did find myself briefly designing hospitals and clinics with a deep feeling of purpose. However, a quick Google search will show that what I found, was not uncommon. We design spaces without acknowledging the role of death. We argue that our designs will help people heal and thrive.
It makes sense.
As a society, we imagine hospitals as the place where we will mend, find comfort, or discover a cure. We go there with this immense hope that our worries and fears will be appeased, and that we will return to our homes in a better state. So as designers, we brainstorm and conceptualize spaces that will support staff, encourage researchers, and help patients overcome illness. We never talk about the alternative. The tragic end that comes when medicine fails and our bodies give out. We never talk about death — not in design or life. This taboo subject is inevitable. We must all die, and yet, we refuse to speak of it. We refuse to accept that it’s coming. We refuse to accept that it could happen at any moment. We refuse to ask how someone wants to die.
I get it. Designing spaces for people to die doesn’t have quite the same allure. “Come to our new hospital, it’s a great place to make your exit!” I doubt the donors would rush to offer financial support.
Death and grief are topics that we tiptoe around. Although we know it’s inevitable, we never prepare ourselves enough for it. As someone who realized a decade later that grief was possible, I know first-hand how much this can hurt us. When we ignore death and fail to acknowledge the mortality rates, we don’t prepare. We don’t have those conversations that might give us closure. We don’t process what it means to lose someone. For the person that goes, we rob them of their dignity and right to die on their terms.
I’ve spent the majority of my life in-and-out of hospitals. I was the daughter of the patient, the patient, the daughter of the other patient, and then the granddaughter. You could say that I am biased because I walk into every space and experience it through a critical lens, especially a hospital.
Why are there so many chairs? This door is ridiculously heavy. Why on earth would you make a corridor of iridescent panels for patients leaving chemotherapy? What’s with the unnecessary step? Why can’t I find the right elevator? Imagine dying here surrounded by these plain, sterile walls.
When my father was a patient at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, it was cold and monotone. We crossed a windy, concrete parking lot. We ate in the basement cafeteria with low ceilings and fluorescent lighting. We moved through a building that served its purpose. We never knew that there could be more, or that we could feel different. Then the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care was built, but my father was long gone. He never experienced the meditation garden, the city views, or the brightly lit lobby. He also never stood in a massive line for an elevator, waited in a crowd of patients for a blood draw, or experienced confusion about where to sit in the waiting area. Our environment and our diets are hurting us more than ever, which means that waiting areas will need to serve higher capacities. But I have to ask: are rows of tandem seating all that we have to offer? Can we build for capacity without making someone feel like they’re at the line for the butcher?
Could we create more satellite clinics to disperse people? Could we better customize each site to its community and its demographics? Could we create spaces that are more informal and welcoming? Perhaps, we could save costs on a lobby so patient rooms can receive warmer finishes and more comfortable furniture.
There isn’t one solution for designing the ideal hospital, or home, or clinic, but there is one immediate way forward: talk about death. Talk about death with your design staff, with your loved ones, and with your medical team. On a good day, we all hope that patients will walk out and go home. But on most days, especially this year, we know that many are entering our hospitals for the last time. Instead of ignoring the fact that people die, we need to place more emphasis on designing spaces where people can die with dignity. Where patients can die with a view of trees and blue skies. Where patients can hold their children for the last time in a soothing, rocking chair. Where patients can sit comfortably while they wait for the results of their biopsy. Where patients can see images of their families across the bed. Where they can feel safe and unafraid of what will come next. Perhaps if we actually acknowledged death, more of us would accept our own grief, prepare better, and give each other the deaths that we deserve.
I recently left my grandmother in a sterile and narrow hallway, but I was lucky because she made it home. 2020 has meant that more people have died in similar, sterile hallways. This year more people have died alone. More people have died in pain. More people have died staring at a wall or watching a clock tick. People will keep dying long after this pandemic ends. The only difference is that families will be allowed back to watch it all unfold. Instead of a promise to heal, shouldn’t we give people the comfort that whatever happens, they (both patient and family) will feel unconfused, unafraid, and better prepared? | https://medium.com/@yenniferp/a-place-to-die-491216b46cbe | ['Yennifer Pedraza'] | 2021-01-22 23:23:00.805000+00:00 | ['Death', 'Grief And Loss', 'Community', 'Death And Dying'] |
People are Fucking Amazing | I would like to start this thing off by saying how amazing having good relationships is. Having people that love you is so valuable. I forget that relationships, the ones with people you cherish, need to be nurtured constantly. You need to be vulnerable. You need to allow people to hold you accountable. You need to put your ego to one side, pet it on the head and say: not now puppet. Once he’s out of the way you can put yourself in a position to receive so much love it’s sometimes overwhelming. When you allow yourself to feel real love it’s so easy to love, I mean really love, in return.
All my life I had a very distorted idea of what that word meant. I confused emotionally attaching myself to someone as a connection. Whether they be friends, boyfriends or family. Everything was always about me and what these people could do for me. I needed people to validate me. I needed them to make me feel whole. It was hard to create any meaningful relationships with this mindset but guys, I have to tell you, some people are just fucking amazing. My best friend is fucking amazing. My father is fucking amazing. My brother is fucking amazing. My dog Olie was fucking amazing (R.I.P). These people (and dog), regardless of what I did to them were always there for me. They watched me dig myself a hole and waited by the edge for me to hit rock bottom and with a look that said “I told you so” offered a hand to drag me out of my own mess. Time after time, again and again, always.
Today I dedicate this to all the people that were always there to pull me out of self inflicted mental sink holes. Thanks for being fucking amazing.
Have you ever watched “Into the Wild”? If you haven’t then you’re probably living a very fulfilling life, it’s not a life changing experience to watch. What it is though? A really good movie. Go see it it won’t disappoint. At the end of the movie Alexander Supertramp (the protagonist and winner of best self given name ever) is literally dying in a bus he found on top of some mountain in Alaska. Incapable of going back home due to the rise in the water of the river separating him from civilization. We watch him as his frail hands grab his pen and in one last attempt of life writes in his diary: “happiness only real when shared”. Yes, I cried like a baby, hiccups and all I was a right mess. What I didn’t realize though was how true that phrase would be to me.
This is what I remember from my childhood: I wasn’t a happy child. I wasn’t a particularly good child. People did not enjoy hanging out with me. I felt very excluded, rejected. I knew all too well how much of a pain in the ass I was as everyone reminded me on pretty much a daily basis. Yet, I yearned to be around people so badly. I sought for love and approval everywhere I went. With any one I met. I wanted to connect. Yet no one seemed to reciprocate that with me. Why?
In the last 28 years of “research” I’ve come to several conclusions: I’m just the kind of person people hate, there’s something unfixable somewhere in the recesses of my brain, the universe dictated I’ll be alone forever and other self mutilating thoughts we’re not going to get into right now.
One day I found a video on attachment theory. John Bowlby was the first person to find there was a rather interesting relation between maternal deprivation (mummy issues) and delinquent behaviors in British youth. He realized that young teenage boys who were deprived of a loving and caring caregiver were most likely to develop mischievous behaviors. He came up with the first theory of attachment that basically said if a child isn’t raised in a safe and caring environment they will grow into problematic adults. If we take everything he said and the rest of the literature that came afterwards and boil it down to a complete simmer of almost nothingness the general outline is: how our caregivers taught us to love and be loved impacts our adult relationships.
This will give you a pretty good insight into what attachment theory is.
If you watch the video you’ll see that there are three attachment styles:
Secure — no problem creating safe, mutual and loving relationships.
— no problem creating safe, mutual and loving relationships. Anxious — within a relationship you’re always worried of losing it or expecting to lose it eventually
— within a relationship you’re always worried of losing it or expecting to lose it eventually Avoidant — within a relationship you’re afraid of getting too close
I fall under the anxious category. I yearn for connection so bad but once I have it I remember no one could ever love me so out of fear of loosing them I act like the crazy version of myself on a rather frequent basis. So frequent I drive some mad and others away. Who would blame them?
This is a pattern that I recreated in all my relationships. All of them. Even with family members. I lied so that people would want to be around me, be proud of me, love me. It was never about having things in common it was always about what I could do so that this person doesn’t go away. The answer to that is they’ll catch on to your bullshit and either hold you accountable or run away. Few people are strong enough to hold you accountable. Most don’t want to deal with your emotional turbine and will just bounce.
What about you? Are you perfectly secure in who you are and who others are to you? Are you constantly in need of assurance of someone’s reciprocated love? Are you in that relationship with one foot out already?
Admitting to my anxious attachment style didn’t magically flip a switch in my psyche. I entered other relationship type scenarios with the same patterns as before I was simply aware of them now. Which made it worse I’m not gonna lie. I knew how overbearing I was being and I couldn’t help myself. I was constantly second guessing who I was for the other person. Does he like me? Does he like that I wear this? Does he like it if I talk like this? I never thought about, am I being genuine? Am I being the most authentic version of myself? Someone I am proud to be and not afraid to show to the world?
As someone who grew up covered in an invisible veil of self loathing I had never, not once, not even for a millisecond believed that anyone would actually want to spend time with me. Ever. I was worthless, boring, ugly and everyone hated me. That’s the only reality I knew. So I had to change, mold, adapt to other’s needs, values, beliefs so that they would let me in. I couldn’t love myself so I needed others to do it for me. If other’s didn’t do it then it got scary at times.
What’s even crazier is I recognized that I ran away from people that genuinely loved me. Deep down I knew that I was unworthy of their love. My family, my good friends, my Olie (oh sweet baby boy), could do without me. I wasn’t adding any value to their lives anyways. Actually, these people were using me. They didn’t actually care about me. How could they? There’s nothing to care about. I’m worthless.
Instead, I looked for people who didn’t respect me and made me feel like a used wash cloth. Like one that you just keep in your shower because you’re not entirely sure under which category bin you’d recycle it so to avoid feeling guilty of throwing it in the mixed trash you just leave it to become a pulpy, watery, bubbling mess. Yeah. You know exactly what I’m talking about. That was a treatment I was familiar with. Of course they despised me, made fun of me and didn’t actually like me. What other feelings could I possibly arise in others?
I now see that the main person that was treating me like a piece of gum thrown out on a high way, melting under the hot sun, being constantly run over by an array of vehicles, was me. Every time I looked at myself in the mirror I said the most horrible things. I hurt myself physically. I didn’t take care of my health. I over worked my body. I hated the vessel I was in, the person in it and the world in my immediate surroundings.
This was the edge of the cliff. As far as I got. It all came back to me. I hated myself. I treated myself like the dusty ass mug you leave in the back of your cupboard. I was the one who pushed good people away and drew Cruela Devil’s in. I was the one who didn’t believe I could do anything with my life and floated for the majority of my 20’s trying to find something to distract myself with because I could never even consider finding something I’m actually good at.
We could go back to my mother. How she treated me like I was a mistake because to her that’s exactly what I was. The abuse. The sadness. The screams. The bruises. But you know this story already. You’ve heard it so many times. In some way or another we’ve all been there and we can all agree: it fucking sucks! What took me 28 years to understand though was that my mother was a daughter before I ever was. She didn’t have it easy either. She’s a survivor. Survivors are hurt. Hurt people hurt people. And the cycle continues.
BUT, and I mean a big, beautiful, peachy, maybe even dimply but jiggly butt, the cycle doesn’t have to continue. How? Well, for one, I’m not my mother. Two, like I said, I’m 28 years old. I’m a big girl. I may not be at fault of the shit that happened to me way back when but, at this point, I’m most certainly responsible for it. What will it be? Live the rest of my life in resentment, hurt, anger and repetitive toxic patterns OR say: hey, it sucks that I lived every day up to this point hating myself but seeing as it hasn’t served me in any way shape or form maybe changing strategy won’t hurt. Turns out, it really doesn’t hurt. It’s hard. Taking responsibility for all the shit you’ve done out of hurt is embarrassing, shameful and fucking sad but it’s so worth it.
I snapped out of my stupor, stopped rowing and saw that all my life I knew nothing else except my oar and my pain. I just kept rowing and became nothing of my own. I had to re-build my identity from scratch. To the point I was carrying a list of likes and dislikes and would write things down as they came up. I don’t know where it is now but I know that tea was under likes and burnt toast was under dislikes. Yeah. So deep, I know. Today I would consider myself a person at 75%. I’m not there yet but I’m getting there. I trust myself now so I trust the process.
The incredible thing is that happiness is indeed better experienced when shared. Shared with the right people. Those people will only be a part of you’re life if you let them. You’ll only let them if you, before anyone else, love yourself in every way you can. You can only love yourself if you are ready to unpack some really hurtful things you carry around with you. Once you’ve done that you will one day become someone that is fucking amazing for someone else. And that feels fucking amazing!
Until next week,
Sarita. | https://medium.com/@saritawashere/people-are-fucking-amazing-a62afa8f4f0a | [] | 2021-06-17 10:26:28.401000+00:00 | ['Progress', 'Friendship', 'Attachment', 'Self Love', 'Self-awareness'] |
My memories of you | are all bad. no good.
rage, screaming, threats
to throw our mother out
on the street for her crimes
against your pride.
nights spent holding your
wife; eleven year old hands
carrying a burden they had
no right to acknowledge.
spit in the face. screams on
the other side of a door and
a thin blue line that keeps
all the voices in town
silent. i remember the threat.
i remember the fear and the
sighs of relief every time you
go to work or shut
a door behind you. laughing
in relief to know you won’t
be home until late in the
evening; until then
we’re free of your vindictive
ego and the calls for shame
and for emotionally fraught
violence. i will
probably never stop hating you.
i will probably never forget that
rage and that sadness and how
even at the end our
mother cried for the bent and
broken nature of your soul. i
will never be able to forgive
though i strive to
forget what damage you’ve done
and what havoc you’ve wreaked
in my life. i strive to forget that
men like you are more
common than any of us care to
admit. i strive to undo the pain
and the hurt through the healing;
generations long and
incomplete. i doubt my journey
will ever end, so i hold you pain
against me like prayer:
never look back, never give in
freedom is a gift you demand
for yourself.
© E.B. Johnson 2020 | https://medium.com/le-jardin-poetry/my-memories-of-you-921a0c929899 | ['E.B. Johnson'] | 2020-06-09 09:45:48.288000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Poets Unlimited', 'Poets On Medium', 'Poetry On Medium'] |
4 Business Questions Google Analytics Can Answer About Your Website Visitors | 4 Business Questions Google Analytics Can Answer About Your Website Visitors
Using Analytics to Understand Your Audiences, Channels, User Behavior, and Conversions
Meet Patrick. Patrick is a visitor on your website, and you want to learn more about him.
By visiting your website, Patrick has shown that he is interested in your business or message. Now it is your turn, to convince him to do something for you: whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for your newsletter, or reading a blog post.
But how do you do that? Luckily, Google offers a free tool called Google Analytics, and with minimal setup, you can learn so much about your web visitors like Patrick.
However, even though over 30 million websites have Google Analytics installed, few know how to fully leverage it.
Of the 100+ small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) we interviewed, over 50% complained that not having expertise in Google Analytics is their greatest barrier to using data to optimize digital marketing.
Our AI marketing tool automates the analytics process to answer all 4 of these business questions, saving you the time and effort for all this work. Sign up to try it for free.
Although there are many classes and tutorials online, almost all of them focus only on the technical aspects of the tool, but fall short in tell you what business questions Google Analytics can help you answer. In other words, they only teach you how to use certain features, rather than which features are worth using to answer your specific business questions.
We at Humanlytics wanted to fill this knowledge gap. This post is the beginning of a blog series called Google Analytics Insights, which will (1) first showcase what fundamental business questions Google Analytics can help you answer, and (2) provide you with both detailed guides and tools to help you answer those questions. Let’s begin.
Before We Jump In: Google Analytics Basics
Before digging into the world of Patrick, let’s first take a step back and see what kind of information Google Analytics can provide us in the first place.
Google Analytics offers several basic metrics to quickly give you a sense of how users are engaging with your website. More specifically, these basic metrics can help you answer these questions:
How many people are visiting my website? (total sessions and users)
Are people coming back to my website? (# new vs returning users, sessions per user)
Are people going beyond my home page and looking at other pages? (bounce rate)
How long are people spending on my website on average? (average session duration)
Overall, is my website accomplishing my business objective, whether it is selling my product, or collecting leads? (conversion rate)
Even though using these high-level metrics is a very quick and easy way of getting a general impression of your web presence, they are not detailed enough to help you understand who your visitor segments are, and how each segment interacts with your website. In order to fully understand your web presence and arrive at concrete action steps, you need to dig deeper into your website visitor data. This brings us to our first question about Patrick, i.e. about visitors to your website.
Question 1: Who is Patrick?
By “Patrick,” I am, of course, referring to all the visitors of your website.
More likely than not, you will have different types of visitors landing on your site, and each type may differ drastically in terms of age, gender, visitor behavior, etc.
Understanding your audience can help you more precisely target each demographic segment with your marketing channels, maximizing the quality and quantity of your reach while minimizing spending.
Furthermore, even though designing a beautiful and useful website is important (more on that later), not understanding the different user segments visiting your website means that you wouldn’t know what kind of website design they consider beautiful and useful.
Google Analytics not only can help you understand your customers via multiple pre-defined dimensions such as new vs old visitors, male vs female, and geographic information — it can also provide you with options to create your own customer segments that are relevant to your business (such as people who have visited your site over 3 times).
More specifically, Google Analytics can help you answer questions about your visitors such as:
Which user group contributed most sessions to my website? (total sessions by user group)
Which user group is more likely to continue exploring your site after arriving at the landing page? (bounce rate by user group)
Which user group is most engaged and spending the most time on your site? (average session duration and average pages/session by user group)
Which user group converted the most? (conversion rate by user group)
Which user group spent the most money on your website? (revenue by user group, e-commerce only)
Question 2: Where did Patrick come from?
We already saw how different kinds of visitors may engage with your website differently. Likewise, it is useful to know how your visitors are arriving at your website.
Optimizing your marketing budget across the highest-performing advertising channels not only can bring you more visitors, but also can bring you higher quality visitors who are more likely to purchase your products and services.
Google Analytics can help you with such optimization by identifying which channels are driving the most traffic and engagement. More specifically, the questions it can help you answer include:
Out of all the channels, which resulted in the most website visits? (channel as % of all sessions)
Sessions coming through which channels have the best on-site experience? (bounce rate, average pageviews/session, average session duration by channel)
Which channel resulted in the most conversions for purchases and/or lead generation? (conversion rate by channel)
Question 3: Which pages did Patrick visit, and how was his experience on those pages?
The previous two questions can help you attract more quality visitors onto your site. However, getting your customers on your website is merely the beginning of their journey — the key is to provide an amazing on-site experience so they either buy your product or engage with your content (e.g. sign up for your newsletter).
To do that, you need to optimize your actual website. According to a study referenced by Forbes (link here), 94% of customers will judge a website’s trustworthiness purely based on the website’s design. Therefore a well-designed website with a smooth on-site experience will greatly improve your business.
Google Analytics helps you optimize your website by showing you detailed visitor statistics broken down by each of your web pages. These data can help you identify your best and worst pages, and optimize them accordingly.
More specifically, Google Analytics can help you answer:
Which few pages are most frequently the first page that a visitor sees when they land on my website? (% of sessions as landing page)
Are visitors continuing their exploration on my website after landing on those pages? (bounce rate by page)
On which web pages do visitors most frequently leave the website? (% of sessions as exit page, % exit)
Which few pages do my visitors spend the most time on? (average time on page)
How much does each page contribute to the ultimate conversion of customers? (page value, setup requirements)
(Advanced) What parts or features of web pages do users engage with the most (event clicks)?
Question 4: What is Patrick’s behavior from page to page?
Web optimization is not only about designing great individual pages, but also smooth user experiences across pages that direct your customers toward your call to action, whether that’s making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Fortunately, Google Analytics provides a very helpful behavior flow feature that helps you identify your website’s most common user journey flows. By analyzing your most well-tread pathways, you can identify where you fall short in terms of user conversion and modify your website accordingly.
More specifically, Google Analytics can help you answer the following questions. Because the user behavior funnel is not related to any specific metrics, no metric recommendations will be included here:
How are users flowing through my site? What is the most popular user journey?
Where are users dropping off on each of the pathways?
Are they dropping off where you want them to drop off?
Wrapping up: Ultimately, how is Patrick converting?
The ultimate goal of your website is to achieve some business objective such as making a sale or getting more newsletter signups.
All 4 previous questions demonstrate how Google analytics can help you analyze conversion via multiple dimensions, and answer key questions like:
How is my website doing overall in converting to my business objective? (revenue, conversion rate)
Which user group is driving the most conversion? (revenue and conversion by user group)
Which channel is driving the most conversion for my business? (revenue and conversion rate by channel)
Which page and page features have the highest value in driving conversion? (page value)
What is the ideal user flow for converting visitors on my website? (user behavior flow)
Adding on top of those great functionalities, Google Analytics can also integrate with your e-commerce platforms to track conversions to paid customer.
Additional questions GA can help you answer with regard to your e-commerce performance include:
Which product is selling the best? (revenue by product)
What is the average order quantity for each purchase or for each product line? (avg. quantity by product)
What are the purchasing behaviors of visitors of different user groups and channels? (revenue by product by channel/user groups)
With these functionalities, Google Analytics can really help you understand who your site visitors are, and how you can most effectively engage with them in all of their website interactions.
However, one of the major roadblocks to using these functionalities is that Google Analytics’ user interface is not entirely intuitive in explaining what kinds of business questions each module can answer. Sometimes you need to search across Google Analytics modules to correctly answer a single question.
Therefore, in the upcoming posts of this blog series, we will produce how-to guides to navigate you through the complex use cases of Google Analytics and help you answer the questions you want to answer.
In fact, with each blog post, we will also release relevant web tools that can help you answer these business questions from your data, making it easy to draw business insights and action checklists from your Google Analytics data.
Check out our next article in this series, 3 Fundamentals To Know About Google Analytics Before Doing Analysis. | https://medium.com/analytics-for-humans/4-fundamental-business-questions-google-analytics-can-answer-about-your-customers-d32f8a91c9ed | ['Bill Su'] | 2018-06-08 19:34:59.881000+00:00 | ['Analytics', 'Digital Marketing', 'Google Analytics', 'Small Business', 'Data Science'] |
Interrogating Nature — Victor Regnault | Henri Victor Regnault approached scientific experimentation as an interrogation of Nature in pursuit of truth. Regnault inherited an aptitude for math and science and manual skill from his father, who was an engineer in the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique in 1832, Regnault was on track to become a mining engineer. However, his talents soon brought him back to the chemistry laboratory, first as an assistant in Berthier’s laboratory at the Ecole de Mines and later as Gay-Lussac’s junior colleague on staff of the Ecole Polytechnique. Regnault’s work in the new field of organic chemistry resulted in the discovery of vinyl chloride, a basic ingredient in making PVC plastic, but industrial application of this result was 50 years in the future.
Regnault had more immediate effect with his exacting experiments to measure the thermodynamic properties of various substances, especially the properties of water vapor — steam. Steam power was emerging as a driver for economic progress in the mid-19th century, and engineers needed this information, now known simply as the “Steam Tables,” to improve the performance of steam engines. Regnault succeeded, where Arago and Dulong had failed before him, in compiling tables of precise data on the thermodynamic properties of water vapor over a wide range of pressure and temperature. Generous funding from the government allowed him to develop new, highly precise instruments, and with these Regnault achieved a level of precision, nearly 1 in 10,000, unobtainable by his colleagues.
If science can be described as the titration of observation with inspired insight, then Regnault was inclined to use the reagent of insight sparingly. Regnault was an adamant proponent of the value of clean and clear experimental design and precision in measurement. Colleagues who were more liberal with the use of insight accused Regnault of conducting “an unimaginative quest for unimpeachable numbers.” Regnault avoided the theorizing which marks the advance of science in the minds of many, but his restraint had its advantages. Often enough, Regnault’s experimental results exposed faults in the inspired theories others proposed based on less exacting data. Nobody likes having their inspiration shown to be more fancy than fact.
Henri Victor Regnault is one of the 72 scientists and engineers named on the Eiffel Tower. | https://medium.com/eiffels-paris-an-engineers-guide/interrogating-nature-victor-regnault-198047d7e8c6 | ['William Nuttle'] | 2020-09-30 21:34:34.804000+00:00 | ['Physics', 'Chemistry', 'History Of Science', 'Engineering', 'Eiffel Tower'] |
How to Buy Gifts (when you’re broke as crap) | Is this how tiny your gift budget is??
The title says it all.
Here are four ideas to help you this holiday season.
1. MAKE IT THOUGHTFUL
Yes, of course you’re going to put thought into what you buy for someone. But stop and first: picture a particular friend or family member in your mind and review who they are. What do they do for a living? Do they have any hobbies? What topics do they talk about most often? Gifts that the person can connect with will have more value than just the monetary kind.
I have a friend who LOVES elephants and coffee. Elephant mug for less than ten dollars? Yes, please. She still sends me pictures of herself using it, seven years later.
Your brother likes the Cubs? Get him a Cubs mug (from Amazon…not the stadium gift store).
Your sister loves Star Wars? You get the idea.
My brother-in-law considers himself to be a beer aficionado. I found a “Periodic table of Beer” poster and he went crazy over it. It hangs, framed, in his house above his very expensive display of liquors. Does it matter that it cost less than nine dollars? Nope. (Hopefully he’s not reading this.)
If you do something specialized for work or are going to school for a specialized field, give your talents as gifts! I have a friend who had an IT job and for Christmas he gave his parents and grandparents the gift of clearing caches, updating software, and generally debugging (is that the word?) their devices. Talk about thankful!
Another friend is a cosmetologist and for Christmas she gave all her sisters the gift of a cut and style, not only for them but for each of her nieces and nephews. Have you ever looked up how much it costs to take a five year old for a haircut? Spoiler alert: it’s a lot.
Your work and skills can feel commonplace to you, because you use them every day, but don’t underestimate the blessing they would be to others!
When making gifts thoughtful, also consider how the person perceives love or thoughtfulness to be. If your sister values spending time together above all else, then a gift of “I’ll take you out to dinner one night this week,” might be a far more meaningful gift than the best diamond earrings in the world.
If your mom is always going on about how she wishes “someone would help her with this” or “I would do that if I had help,” then a gift of your time/energy/height/talents could go much further than your already stretched budget can. Wash her car, fix the faucet, organize all those TV cords she can’t reach behind the cabinet.
If you want to give a gift of time or energy but still want the person to be able to unwrap a physical gift on Christmas Day, write a note saying what you did or will do, put the note in a box, and wrap the box. Even better, find a small tangible object associated with the intangible gift you are giving.
Buy a car air freshener from the dollar store and include a note that says, “This air freshener is to go in your car that I washed this morning while you were cooking Christmas breakfast. Merry Christmas!”
The icing on the cake.
Or buy a little toy dinosaur from the dollar store and write, “My gift to you this year is taking you to see the new dinosaur movie, because I know you love them.”
Get creative! Don’t let yourself be limited by traditional or commercial parameters of what “gifts” are.
2. ADD A PERSONAL TOUCH
With the gift, include a personal note. Do this in addition to my suggestions in the previous section and put extra thought into what you bought or did!
“When I saw this beer poster, I thought of you. Hope you like it.”
People love it when they know that other people think about them when they’re not around. Call it cheesy or whatever, but it’s true!
“I got you this mug that looks like a pencil because it reminded me of the time we were kids and our parents took us on vacation and we stabbed each other with pencils in the backseat the whole time.”
Hey, you can’t put a price tag on memories.
“I hope you like this elephant mug. Also here is a drawing of my face so you remember what I look like all year.” And then draw a plain smiley face. Don’t underestimate the value of a smile or a laugh!
When my brother was single, once I baked him his favorite pie for Christmas. He loved it.
Once in college, I gave my friend toilet paper wrapped to look like an apple. Hey, TP is a commodity in the dorms. You know what I’m talking about.
Conclusion: a little thought goes a long way!
Another way to add a personal touch is to include installation and/or accessories for your gift. If you bought an item that needs batteries, get some dollar store batteries and make them part of your gift.
In my example of the “Periodic Table of Beer” above, I went to the store and got a cheap but nice-looking frame and went ahead and framed the poster. It was way more impressive to open and show off, and cost me maybe two extra dollars.
Or include a note with the gift: “I remember you saying you wanted a phone mount in your car, so I got you one. Bonus gift: I will install it for you after lunch.”
Cost of the phone mount: $20.
Value of showing someone that you listened to them and are spending time on them? Priceless.
Again, consider how your various family members and friends perceive thoughtfulness, and be willing to do a little extra planning. It will save you money and spare you that guilty feeling of not getting everyone gifts and/or the stress of spending more than you can afford.
3. PLAN AHEAD
Write a list. Decide whom you are going to buy gifts for and then STICK TO IT. It’s easy to stray too far ahead and next thing you know you’re buying chocolates for every neighbor, coworker, and your favorite barista and bartender. Pump the brakes, my friend!
It’s also easy to get overwhelmed with ALL THE PEOPLE you feel will expect a gift. Once you sit down in despair, next thing you know it’s 9pm Christmas Eve and you haven’t bought a single gift. Plan ahead, my friend! Write a list of the people you WILL buy gifts for, and make that number of people fit within your budget. This leads to our next tip:
Set a gift budget. Ten dollars or less per person, or whatever you determine you can afford. Be strict with yourself. Gift buying can quickly get out of hand when you’re in the store looking at all the pretty things. DO NOT go into debt over Christmas gifts. PLEASE.
Strategize your buying. Not everyone can nor wants to shop for Christmas gifts throughout the year. BUT ALSO waiting till Christmas Eve to buy gifts is a dangerous game to play. Prices go up during the holidays! They do! And need I mention all the stress you’ll feel, watching your Amazon app and tracking your packages to see if they’ll arrive on time?
By planning ahead, even starting the beginning of December, you’ll be able to look for deals or shop around a few different stores or brands to find the best prices. You’ll pay for your gifts with either money or time, and which one do you have more of on a given day? You decide. It’s a balance, but you can find it. I believe in you.
4. BE OKAY WITH BEING BROKE (FOR NOW)
This may not seem to fit with the previous points, but it’s an important one to help you have an enjoyable holiday. Recognize that struggling during young adulthood is a normal and temporary state of being. Yes, you will get that steady job you want. Yes, you will get to a better financial status. Yes, you will stop feeling overwhelmed by life. But not today. You are growing and changing. You are struggling. You are learning. Your family loves you and understands where you are in life. Even if they don’t, YOU DO. At least you should! Take a look in the mirror, look yourself in the eye, and say, “I work hard. I will reach my goals. This stage is only temporary.”
And then make sure that’s the truth in the years to come!
But for now, be okay with the fact that you can’t buy expensive gifts. Be okay with giving simple ones. Be okay with being broke. Love your family; love your friends; enjoy your Christmas with them. Don’t feel guilty. Don’t compare yourself to your parents, to your siblings, to your friends. Just be you!
A FEW LAST WORDS
— It really is the thought that counts. Those words are a cliché because they were true enough to make millions of people repeat them.
— You can’t please everyone. Chances are, someone will be meh about their gift. Be okay with that. Chances are, YOU will be meh about a gift or two. (Be okay with that, too.)
— If you’re bad at wrapping gifts, pick up a few gift bags from the dollar store. Better yet, save the ones you get from Christmas party White Elephants and reuse them!
— Be yourself and enjoy your holidays. That’s what they are meant for and no one can take that from you.
(Be sure to catch our article next time on How To Survive Small Talk at Family Gatherings.) | https://medium.com/@adulting101guide/how-to-buy-gifts-when-youre-broke-as-h-t-1b5ed524ca7b | ['Adulting Guide'] | 2020-12-03 22:09:01.207000+00:00 | ['Budget', 'Christmas', 'Holiday Shopping', 'Adulting', 'Gifts'] |
Hacking Our Brain Through Data Visualization | Hundreds of millions of data transactions are processed every day, every hour and every minute within our Mercado Libre ecosystem, which are consumed by thousands of analytical users in 18 Latin American countries. In turn, all this data generates a huge amount of information which needs to be translated into knowledge for efficient and quick decision-making.
Try to imagine how the brain could process so much information and understand its meaning without a proper data visualization.
But… what does data visualization involve?
Data visualization is the visual representation of (high-quality) information into elements such as a map or graph, with the purpose of making it easier for the human brain in order to understand and extract useful insights. Additionally, the aim is also to facilitate the identification of patterns, trends and outliers in large volumes of data.
For example, when data is represented in a visual way, we can quickly detect behaviors that might go unnoticed if we view them statistically. It makes sense that data visualization gives us more meaning, since 90% of the information transmitted into the human brain is visual. We also process visual images 60.000 times faster than text, as the brain finds it easier to remember and analyze them.
We have a premise in Mercado Libre that is to make data-driven decisions, and we take it seriously when working on the design of our dashboards, applying best practices from the field of visual and cognitive neuroscience.
And… how do we apply it?
First of all, we need to know the difference between perception and cognition. There is a very big difference between these concepts, and it’s important to understand them in terms of how the human brain works. Then we could see how to apply that within a dashboard.
Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of stimuli from your senses. A simple way of describing it is as the acquisition of information through the senses.
Cognition is the processing of information and acquiring of knowledge through reason, intuition, and perception. A simpler way to think of it is as the processing of perception into knowledge.
The main difference between those terms is that perception is fast while cognition is much slower.
So if we can take advantage of perception we can actually make our visuals work much more intuitively for our end-users.
How is visual and cognitive neuroscience relevant? And… how is this relevant to us?
We can make use of visual perception principles to design dashboards that result in an immediate understanding of the information arising from the data.
The recommendations derived from visuals and cognitive neuroscience are referred to as visual best practices or VBP.
Let’s take a look at the following example…one of the dashboards below applies VBP, while the other doesn’t. Let’s see if you can guess which is which. Both were made from the same data extract and both were built using the same application. In this case it is Tableau software.
The visuals above have been blurred to hide sensitive data
The visuals above have been blurred to hide sensitive data
Hacking the Human Brain
Now let’s get into the relevance of VBP when building a dashboard and from there, to the main purpose of this article: how we can hack the human brain by taking advantage of perception and getting our users to understand the visuals much more quickly.
Visual Perception and Visual Memory
Seeing (perception) and comprehending (cognition) happen all the time, every day from second to second. The shorter the time between seeing and comprehending, the more effective the visualization is, thus the more efficient our end-users in Mercado Libre will be as well.
The human brain can process a small amount of visual information very quickly, but only for a very short period of time. This is called Visual Short-Term Memory (VSTM).
Each element in the visual must be seen (perception) within roughly 40 milliseconds…any longer and it must be processed attentively (cognition). If we take advantage of VSTM, our end-users can interpret entire visuals within a few seconds.
Making use of VSTM requires us to know what works and what doesn’t when visual processing is happening. Attributes which work well with VSTM are called pre-attentive visual features.
If we don’t make use of this, the brain must send the visual information to another of its areas for more robust processing, but this additional processing is considerably slower than VSTM.
Let’s make a simple example
After showing some information we’ll have to try to understand what we are looking at. So, I am going to apply visual pre-attentive features to making the process much more understandable. The information below shows a sequence of numbers. We have to figure out how many fives there are in a quick way.
Answering this question must be done consciously, or attentively. We can process it either using linguistic skills (find the number 5s) or using pattern matching skills (find things that are shaped like 5) and both options require attentive (cognitive) processing. So, let’s make a little change to all those numbers and let’s see if you can find out how many there are much faster.
Answering this question now can be done subconsciously, or pre-attentively. We took advantage of a VSTM pre-attentive feature called color hue. This technique is known as perceptual pop-out and is often implemented as a highlight in visualization tools.
Let’s move on to another simple example
Has our GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) increased or decreased over the last five years? And… which category has grown the fastest?
This is even worse because now we not only have to look at numbers but to do the math as well. So this is even slower for us; it’s a trying process that clearly highlights the drawback of using cross tabs or text tables in your visuals. It is the slowest possible way for a person to understand the meaning of the data that they are looking at.
This cannot be processed pre-attentively as text and math require post-attentive processing. So, we are going to take the exact same information and apply visual best practices to it making the same questions…
Now, we should be able to process the information very quickly. In fact, we should be able to put that up on the screen for about 40 milliseconds and take it away, and we would still be able to figure out that one of the lines was ahead of the others and that they all tend to go upwards. That is using pre-attentive features, in this case we are using color and position.
Our end-users don’t look at the dashboards, they scan them.
As developers and designers, we have a lot of control over what our users in Mercado Libre look at when viewing a dashboard. To create the right path the user’s eyes are going to follow, we need first to understand how our eyes process information.
Visual Patterns
How do we make sense of what we see?
There are several categories of pre-attentive processing; let’s explore a few:
Visual patterns or (visual hierarchies) allow us know what data engage our users first and which visualizations they interact with (and in what order) while on the dashboard. By establishing a visual hierarchy, we ensure that communication between our users and dashboards is seamless considering the following techniques:
Scale : Different sized elements will guide the user’s attention — larger elements draw more attention compared to smaller elements.
: Different sized elements will guide the user’s attention — larger elements draw more attention compared to smaller elements. Color: People are drawn towards bold, contrasting colors.
People are drawn towards bold, contrasting colors. Contrast: Color changes can be used to attract attention. Contrasting the color of one element against another draws focus.
Color changes can be used to attract attention. Contrasting the color of one element against another draws focus. Alignment: Columns and grids can create alignment between elements and make the user take notice.
Columns and grids can create alignment between elements and make the user take notice. Proximity: This helps separate and group certain data visualization elements together (or apart) to help distinguish between them.
This helps separate and group certain data visualization elements together (or apart) to help distinguish between them. Scanning patterns: Eye tracking studies show where the users focus their gaze once they are on a dashboard and where they proceed afterwards.
And…talking about scanning patterns, it is important to mention that there exists more than one kind, but I’m going to focus on the one we use most -or recommend- to our Data Visualization team when designing our dashboards…and that is the Z-Pattern layout.
This kind of pattern is a design concept that considers that users tend to view highly-visual information in a Z-Pattern. i.e. people tend to:
first look at the top left and then move horizontally to the top right.
then draw their eyes diagonally to the bottom left.
and finally, make one last horizontal movement to the bottom right.
This is the viewing pattern that emerges from the eye movements in one of our dashboards:
Visuals Matter…
Every day we face data challenges -both in quantity and quality- and business questions that we need to answer on the spot. That’s why we empower our users by fostering their analytical capabilities through our data visualization best practices.
At Mercado Libre, and from our DataViz team we democratize knowledge by building dashboards that respond to strategic data-driven decisions, trying to understand how the brain works in terms of cognitive and perceptual processes.
Thanks for your reading us! | https://medium.com/mercadolibre-datablog/hacking-our-brain-through-data-visualization-73556a82d8ac | ['Pablo Garcia Casasola'] | 2020-10-27 20:14:28.640000+00:00 | ['Mercadolibre', 'Brain', 'Dashboard', 'Data Visualization', 'Hacking'] |
Why is it especially good to work together with start-ups in times of crisis? | Why is it especially good to work together with start-ups in times of crisis? Jonas Follow Apr 23, 2020 · 2 min read
Start-ups are much more flexible than large companies that have been on the market for a long time. This means that they can help companies adapt to the situation very quickly, especially in the event of a crisis.
My start-up stackOcean shows an example of this. We were asked by Kiel University of Applied Sciences if we could provide our survey platform https://voty.io for a master thesis that deals with how students cope with the spontaneously offered online teaching that was made necessary by Covid-19.
Four days after the first contact the survey was not only online — a new answer module was developed, tested and activated especially for this survey, which the platform voty.io had not had before. During the seven days that the survey was open, the requirements for the analysis of the data provided by the platform were permanently recorded and simultaneously included in the code of the platform. Examples of new developments during these seven days are a filter option for the responses received according to individual criteria or CSV export of these filtered data.
With the survey, well over 10000 answers were collected, including about 4000 sentences of free text answers. In order to avoid having to analyse all of these text data by human hands, we have developed a module in consultation with the university, which can automatically go through and analyse these data with the help of artificial intelligence. From the initial idea for developing an AI module to its results it only took one week.
We see this project as a huge success story for both sides. stackOcean has proven how quickly start-ups can react in times of crisis and what added value they can deliver with individual software adaptations. The Kiel University of Applied Sciences, on the other hand, has not only done a great job, as the survey revealed, in quickly coming up with and implementing a holistic concept for online teaching. It has also shown that it is always open to the use of new technologies with its desire to implement a module for data analysis with artificial intelligence. | https://medium.com/stackocean/why-is-it-especially-good-to-work-together-with-start-ups-in-times-of-crisis-1a698240c0ad | [] | 2020-04-23 07:19:29.734000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Surveys', 'AI'] |
It’s never, EVER about her looks … boy! | And I never tire of saying that, hehe.
And it’s true. Very true, and if you dont get it … well, you’re NOT a true femdom lover!
Don’t get me wrong — looks are obviously important, and being human, we’re all “naturally” programmed to look for attractive (or what we consider to be attractive) partners, and that s PERFECTLY NORMAL.
But, as far as femdom, or at least my own preferences go, looks are about 8 on a list of 1 to 10 …
And what’s #1?
The MENTAL CONNECTION. THE MIND is where it ALL STARTS for me, and the most gorgeous person in front of me wouldn’t turn me on in the least if we did not have an intellectually stimulating (pun intended? Maybe, maybe not, hehe) conversation to begin with.
Now, loyal readers will no doubt about my attraction towards mainland Chinese women by now, and have no doubt read the “moths attracted to flame” part on the homepage.
Well, the reason this moth is attracted to that oh-so-lovely flame is not purely looks.
It’s NOT, I repeat NOT, “yellow fever” of any form.
It’s about the MIND, a naturally dominant, feminist mindset (without being “overly dominating”, mind you) and mainland Chinese women (and I’ve met plenty over my 14 plus year stay in China) simply fit the bill for me in that regard.
The right blend, and thats the only way I can think of to describe it, my dear reader.
The above might sound strange, and might sound like I’m “typifying” a certain race, but I’m NOT. I’m merely explaining what “works for me” (to put it in layman’s terms).
Sure, looks play into it. I’m a huge, huge fan of “that look in the eye” and this is a term repeatedly used in my books.
But what IS that look??
Down, boy! You’re not worthy!
That look of sheer dominance. That look that “sums up the hapless male in nary the blink of a lovely eye”, to put it one way.
That look of control, that look that might as well say “I know what your thinking, boy!”
And most of all, that look of “inner confidence” which says “Though this man isn’t saying it directly, he’s attracted to me, and he knows I’m a PERSON — as opposed to just “another girl” — and he VALUES me — and my time”.
A look which states “Though he’s no doubt got his own preferences, he’d prefer to have an intellectually stimulating conversation with me first”.
And believe it or not, this has been my experience in mainland China — completely contrary to what a lot of other folks have experienced, of course.
But then again, my whole life has been “different”! As a certain “Lady E” (and several others) so recently told “Yes, your different. I know”.
Different yes? Good — or bad — or ideal — or acceptable?
The jury’s OUT on that one, hehe. Take your pick!
And back to looks — so yes, looks are important, but not physical looks. In fact, some of my most “satisfying” experiences have come with ladies that aren’t considered to be traditionally attractive (or in shape, or <insert descriptor> what have you … , or “any of the other attributes commonly assumed to be desirable to the male”).
NOPE.
It’s ALL about the mind — at least for me!
Onward!
Mike Watson
PS — This is the FUNDAMENTAL principle in all my books and courses. It’s never about her looks — it’s about the MIND. And in terms of mind, MIND and THINKING Is how you attract female dominance to you in all its shapes, forms and guises. Start by investing in the right course right HERE. | https://medium.com/@spicyanderoticfetish/its-never-ever-about-her-looks-boy-1b1f978dfc64 | ['Mike Watson'] | 2020-12-23 15:38:33.475000+00:00 | ['Foot Fetish', 'Erotica', 'Fetish', 'Femdom', 'Female Domination'] |
DreamTeam Final Token Sale Has STARTED! | Join thousands of esports fans in supporting the largest infrastructure platform and payment gateway for esports and gaming!
Starting today until May 19th, 2018. This way you can help DreamTeam evolve the esports industry and create a unique ecosystem that offers a variety of solutions based on blockchain and smart-contracts to the esports enthusiasts and casual gamers.
On April 18th, the team management announced a decrease of the project’s total Token Sale hard cap from $45 million to $21 million due to the recent investment by Mangrove Capital Partners, a major European venture capital firm.
DreamTeam Token Crowdsale Info:
The DreamTeam Crowdsale Phase #2 starts on April 19 and continues through May 19, 2018.
Crowdsale Start: April 19th, 2018 (12:00 PM NYC, 17:00 LDN, 19:00 MSK, 00:00 HKG)
Crowdsale End: May 19th, 2018 (12:00 PM NYC, 17:00 LDN, 19:00 MSK, 00:00 HKG)
Exchange rate: 1 ETH = 1600 DREAM
Min. contribution: 0.1 ETH
Currency: ETH, BTC
Crowdsale Bonus:
Days 1–3: 10%;
Days 4–6: 5%;
Days 7–9: 3%.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of the world’s most evolutionary esports project!
About DreamTeam:
DreamTeam — infrastructure platform and payment gateway for esports and gaming.
DreamTeam is the ultimate teambuilding and skill-growing platform that solves problems for hundreds of millions of gamers who want to build, grow, manage and monetize their teams. And with the unlocking of blockchain and smart contract technologies, DreamTeam is building a one-of-a-kind payment gateway for players, teams, tournaments and sponsors.
For more information on DreamTeam and its ICO, please visit https://token.dreamteam.gg/
Stay in touch: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn |BitcoinTalk.org | https://medium.com/dreamteam-gg/dreamteam-final-token-sale-has-started-271ac0f88965 | [] | 2018-10-10 08:57:52.048000+00:00 | ['Investment', 'Gaming', 'Dreamteam', 'ICO', 'Blockchain'] |
How to Make Your Marriage Last 82 Years | How to Make Your Marriage Last 82 Years
And how my grandparents made it over 60.
Photo by One zone Studio on Unsplash
“Today would have been your grandpa’s and my 70th wedding anniversary.” My grandmother stared up at the light fixture on her ceiling. She’s not a spiritual woman, but it was like she could feel his presence. My grandfather passed in 2014, but grandma thinks about him every single day.
She smiled and returned her glance to her iPad so she could continue speaking to me. We do a daily call or FaceTime. We chose FaceTime today because it was extra special.
After a few minutes chatting, Grandma dropped her iPad and clicked the wrong button. I tried to call her back, but no answer. She sent me a text that was essentially gibberish, and being that it was after 8:30pm, I assumed she was going to bed. Welcome to 21st century pandemic communication with folks over 90.
When I realized we wouldn’t be continuing our chat, I reflected on the extraordinary achievement of being together for almost 70 years. That’s almost a single human’s life expectancy, and they would’ve made it there as a couple. I couldn’t help but feel great pride to have been directly related to a relationship with such longevity. Still on my computer, I researched the longest marriages, and I stumbled upon an article on blacknews.com about a couple that just celebrated 82 years together.
D.W. Williams is 103-years old. Willie is 100. The couple, based in Charlotte, North Carolina was interviewed about their momentous day. During their interview, they shared their secrets to such a long, successful, and sustainable marriage. I couldn’t help but listen to their candid responses and think of my grandparents as well. | https://medium.com/mind-cafe/how-to-make-your-marriage-last-82-years-16e65ac4f74c | ['Jordan Gross'] | 2020-12-15 18:01:56.633000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Relationships', 'Life', 'Inspiration'] |
Why Toast POS is 20x More Valuable than Poynt, But Half its Size! | GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) recently announced its planned acquisition of payment processor, Poynt, for $365 million. What’s remarkable is by pure size, Poynt is larger than Toast. Yet, Toast is reportedly now worth $8 billion despite recently cutting half its staff.
Earlier this year before the pandemic, Toast raised $400 million at a $4.9 billion valuation, a 100% increase from its valuation in 2019.
The size gap between these two companies in valuation vs processing volume is very common in the FinTech and payment processing industry, which easily confuses many investors who do not understand why and look solely at the respective operating size of such companies.
Investors could miss out on incredible investment opportunities by not understanding what drives value in the world’s largest and most acquisitive industry. In this post, I am explaining the cause while also supporting Sky’s business model and value proposition to new investors from Sky’s Series A and venture capitalists who are assessing our Series B investment opportunity.
Value of owning your network
What makes Poynt worth $365 million and a similar, yet smaller restaurant specialist worth $8 billion is the same reason that Global Payments (NASDAQ:GPN) is considerably larger than Square (NASDAQ:SQ) in terms of processing volume, yet Square at $110 billion is nearly twice the value of Global Payments……. the same reason General Motors has 3x more revenue but Tesla is 10x more valuable!
Unlike Tesla, General Motors must leverage a network of dealers to sell its product, much like Global Payments and Poynt rely on a network of resellers (ISOs) to commercialize their product. Toast, Square, Shopify, Stripe, and PayPal all operate direct B2B.
While working with resellers is a great way to grow your business quickly, there are many issues. You are unable to control the sales and customer service experience of your customers and there is no unified product support or sales experience; there is no unified message.
Perhaps most importantly as it pertains to the valuation of these companies, B2B software companies that rely on resellers are competing with other B2B software companies to gain the support of third party sales organization. For example, Poynt is competing with Clover, or Global Payment’s new Vital POS. That means Poynt, Clover (First Data), or Global Payments must offer resellers a 50% or more revenue share after hard costs.
The larger independent sales organizations (ISOs) can demand revenue share upwards of 80%. In this business model, ISOs become the customer much like car dealerships become the customer of General Motors, and these product manufacturers must be very aggressive to gain the support of their customers… or else the local dealerships will sell Ford instead of GM.
Meanwhile, Square, Toast, Shopify, Stripe, and PayPal with their direct B2B model keep 100% of the revenue while controlling their narrative between product and customer service, which in turn creates longevity. For these businesses, the end user is actually their customer.
Therein lies the difference in $365 million and $8 billion for seemingly equal companies of similar size. Companies like Toast offer the following, whereas Poynt can not with its reliance on ISOs and resellers.
Retain more of their revenue
Offer a unified experience
More effective method of retaining customers long-term.
Aggressive corporate development strategy (explained below)
Hence, both Wall St and Main St are willing to bet on continued success and a high conversion of processing volume to revenue for such companies that possess the above points.
Sky Systemz “Toast” business model
Fact is the public market and venture capital demand for software companies that make money from payment processing is at unprecidented heights, for those who sell direct to the end user.
Ultimately, GoDaddy’s acquisition of Poynt will likely prove very valuable to the company if it can begin to internalize some of the sales practices that Poynt currently outsources. In retrospect, GoDaddy could turn a $365 million acquisition into $12 billion in market capitalization value if done correctly. The assumption is based on the percentages of GPV that payment companies like Square and Toast currently support. | https://medium.com/skysystemz/why-toast-pos-is-20x-more-valuable-than-poynt-but-half-its-size-cbe5400d9b43 | ['Brian Nichols'] | 2020-12-27 21:50:58.387000+00:00 | ['Payments', 'Software', 'Mobile', 'Business', 'Money'] |
Never-Complainers, Workaholics, and the Balding-and-Manly | by A Dude
1. I have a problem that might not be a problem.
My fiancé (dating three years, engaged eight months, living together two years) never complains about me to me. Not ever. He’s never once asked me to change my behavior in any way. Okay, once he asked me not to leave a wet towel on the bathroom floor. Like a year ago. And he was right — that was gross of me. We have had serious discussions about just about everything, and some of them have turned into proper fights (which we always resolve quickly and good-naturedly with much concern for the other person’s feelings, etc. etc.). But I always initiate them. I swear it: we would Literally. Never. Argue. About. Anything if it weren’t for me. It just wouldn’t come up. I’ve even tried to stay silent on obvious disagreements or sticking points, but he just never speaks up.
I should clarify that he’s an otherwise wonderful, normal, kind, super-intelligent-but-a-bit-shy person who actually does know how to speak and who communicates his love for me quite well. And who complains often and loudly about other things, like work and politics.
I’ve mentioned this to him before, and he doesn’t really have an explanation. I’ve mentioned that it worries me, and he says it shouldn’t. What to do?
Some guys complain all the time. Some save up all their complaints to throw back in your face during a fight. Some never complain and then all the complaints build up in their body and they just explode and disappear forever. None of that is all that charming. Is it possible that you’re just wonderful and he doesn’t have much to complain about? I wouldn’t go searching for problems you don’t have. But if it’s just killing you, if you just need to know that he will complain about something worth complaining about, you could start doing things you think he should complain about, like leaving open cans of beans all over the place. Or get a weird hat and insist on wearing it everywhere. Something with, like, deer antlers.
I don’t know that you should go out of your way to incite discord just for the sake of seeing whether your man is capable of dealing with bad stuff, though — he probably just complains to someone else about you.
Just get married. That’ll give you guys both something to complain about soon enough.
2. So, my situation is this: I’m getting married in a month to a great guy who really loves me, but he has this weird quirk … he’s an attorney, and he simply won’t stop working. Fifteen hour days, every day, even weekends. I only work part time while I’m finishing school, which means I’m spending A LOT of time at home, alone.
I’m getting more and more frustrated with his lack of ability to stop working, ever. He’ll say he’s going to leave in 10 minutes, then arrives home three hours later, only to get his laptop out and keep going while pretending to watch TV. I need him to be available to do final vendor meetings, and to actually get our marriage license, and I’m honestly concerned that he’ll refuse to make time and we’ll be scrambling to get downtown the day before the wedding. He even said that if a work emergency came up, he may skip the rehearsal.
He says he’d rather be at home, but I feel like if he really wanted to make time, he would. When I try to talk to him about it he just makes sad noises and gets whiny about how he wishes he didn’t have to work so much. I’m also worried about his health, as his father died young from a heart attack. What am I supposed to do? Am I just being selfish about wanting some of his time?
Attorneys work crazy hours and bill by the hour. Your guy should make the time, it’s true. He obviously feels a lot of pressure to work. You need to insist on time for just the two of you, with no laptops and no skipping rehearsals. A groom’s wedding rehearsal is a good excuse to miss work, even if your client is on death row. It also sounds like you have a lot of time on your hands, and you should stay busy, too. It can be depressing to be cooped up. Work does suck, but it also gives us a sense of purpose, a feeling of belonging.
So, institute work blackouts for him. For example, “Honey, you need to come home and watch Death Wish with me.” I mention Death Wish only because I just re-watched Death Wish on AMC and it’s the first movie that popped into my mind. No computers, no working. Death Wish. Make plans and dates with him that are clearly not breakable. And when he’s late you have to go nuts on him. It sounds like you have one of those whimpering dudes. He probably hates being yelled at and feels guilty at the drop of a hat. You just have to be tough with this dude. My friend’s ex-husband became an attorney and that was the end of it. He worked constantly, neglected his family and they broke up. And now all he has is work. Refuse to be neglected!
You could also get him fired through some kind of crazy scheme so that he’ll have plenty of time to spend with you. But I’d go with you being firm first. Being a workaholic isn’t a quirk. It’s a lifestyle, and difficult to overcome. But if he loves you he will make the time.
3. My dad is dying of cancer. Pretty soon, probably. Like, weeks at most. And I’ve been seeing this guy, who I think I really like, but it’s only been a month. How do I deal with this? He knows my dad is sick, but only in vague terms, and shit only got real in the last day or so. Obviously one month is way too soon to dump all my feelings on him, but I also don’t really want to tell him to go away for however many months I’m going to be grieving. What do I do?
I’m really sorry about your dad. You shouldn’t be afraid to ask for a little help. The death of a parent is as serious as it gets, and maybe this guy can help you get through it a little better. You shouldn’t keep this from him. If he runs away or can’t handle it, well, that’s on him. Let him in a little. I don’t know if he’ll be ready for all of your feelings all at once, but let him know what’s up. Let him know you like him. Don’t tell him to go away. Never chase someone off because you think they can’t handle what you’re going through.
4. One of my closest friends is a man who has been balding since his late teens. He is now about a Jean-Luc Picard on the scale of balding-and-manly. He’s in his late 20s. My close-knit circle of friends often tease him about his lack of hair, and he always seems to brush it off with a laugh, but it isn’t hard to see that he’s self-conscious about his looks (he always wears baseball hats, is sad about the lack of girl attention, etc.).
I’ve known this guy since we were kids and have always felt a little protective of him, so it bothers me to see our other friends hurting his feelings (albeit lightheartedly). Should I confront my other friends and tell them to back off, or should I keep my mouth shut and let him tell them to knock it off? I don’t want to embarrass him by bringing it up in front of everyone and causing a scene.
I am bald. I get teased. It comes with the territory. I don’t exactly look like Captain Picard. But some people prefer bald guys and find them super attractive. You could say something individually to your close-knit circle of friends, one by one, like, hey, don’t you think we should give Captain Picard a break about his hair? I mean, he’s manly and nice, and no one likes being teased so much. Or even, “I worry that we tease Captain Picard about his hair too much.” It’s nice that you feel protective, and it’s sweet of you to feel concerned for your friend. And they’re probably working on some kind of magic laser that’ll cure baldness soon anyway. I keep expecting toupees to come back in a retro hipster Williamsburg Way. I’ll be ready.
Previously: New Friends, Surprise Babies, and the “Rare Phenomenon.”
A Dude is one of several rotating dudes who know everything. Do you have any questions for A Dude? (300 word max, please.)
Photo by magicinfoto, via Shutterstock | https://medium.com/the-hairpin/never-complainers-workaholics-and-the-balding-and-manly-8dc6cc72ac46 | ['The Hairpin'] | 2016-06-01 22:24:28.135000+00:00 | ['Balding', 'Ask A Dude', 'Advice'] |
New Advisors Join Vite Labs | We are pleased to announce that two experienced blockchain professionals have joined Vite Labs team as our advisors.
The first advisor is Mirza Uddin. Mr. Uddin is from the United States and graduated from Harvard University. He worked as a venture capitalist at Two Sigma, a quantitative hedge fund that manages $50 billion in New York. He was also responsible for researching on blockchain startups. Prior to that, he worked for Index Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund, well-known for being early investors in Facebook and Dropbox. Mirza also worked for Boston Consulting Group, a top consulting firm in the same ranks as McKinsey, providing strategic advisory for Fortune 500 companies.
Mirza Uddin (Left) and Ivan Golovko (Right)
The second advisor is Ivan Golovko. Mr. Golovko is from Russia and is a partner of Distributed.fund, a well-known Russian fund. He served as the Chief Marketing Officer of ICODrops, the go-to website for token crowdsale information, where he is responsible for project evaluation and business development. To date, ICODrops has collected the information of nearly 800 projects and is authoritative resource for cryptocurrency institutions and retail investors seeking great projects. Mr. Golovko is now a key member of a new blockchain company, Legalthings One, where he is trying to use blockchain technology to solve the problem of customer data privacy and compliance in governments and enterprises workflow.
We look forward to working with these two professionals with rich investment and operational experience in the blockchain sphere, and receiving their advice in expanding our overseas business development, marketing, and operations functions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Official: https://www.vite.org/
Telegram:
Twitter：https://twitter.com/vitelabs
Discord：https://discordapp.com/invite/CsVY76q | https://medium.com/vitelabs/new-advisors-join-vite-labs-7e62c39ab580 | ['Khun Sir'] | 2018-10-04 18:28:50.365000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Crptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Vite'] |
Tips For One-On-One Virtual Fitness Sessions | Here are some ways:
1. Promote Your One-On-One Virtual Sessions
You can add a section on your website, post on social media, and email your new or updated workout services to your whole community. Your current one-on-one clients would be glad to know that they can continue their journey with you in a new way, and those seeking a more customized approach to exercise would appreciate the option.
2. Come Up With An Introductory Offer
Make your private sessions easy to try. To do this, you can bundle the first few sessions at a discounted rate. This is a great way to get clients to try your service if you have never offered private one-on-one sessions before.
3. Ask Your Client To Complete An Intake Form
When a client is interested in your service, send them a detailed intake form to fill before their initial consultation. Your form should include questions like:
Do you take any medications?
What is your current fitness routine?
What is your profession? What does your day-to-day look like?
Are there any current or previous injuries that you have?
What kind of fitness equipment is there at your home?
Are there any pre-existing conditions that you have?
4. Ensure Your Liability Waiver Form is Signed
A liability waiver is essential, along with a detailed intake form. Therefore, you should consult your legal counsel to confirm that your liability waiver covers training outside of your facility, including a client’s home.
5. Initial Consultation is Essential
In-person or not, it is essential to first thoroughly discuss your client's needs and goals for one-on-one training with an initial fitness session. You would also have to check their current fitness level. To get an idea about their strength, balance, and flexibility, you might want the client to perform a movement assessment.
All this information and assessment are the requirements for creating a customized program that makes sense for them.
6. Help Your Client Set Up Their Space
Walk your client through proper set-up before they begin. Tell them to clear space with good lighting and set their device — phone, computer, or tablet — far back enough so that it can show their entire body to you while they exercise.
7. Provide Your Client With The Required Equipment
Fitness equipment may or may not be required, depending on your client’s goals and your style of training. The client’s intake form would provide you with information on what kind of exercise equipment they have at home. You can rent or sell your client the required equipment they don’t have access to.
8. Ask Right Questions
You cannot provide hand-on adjustments during a virtual workout session. Therefore, you have to find the right questions to ask when a client is doing an exercise.
For instance, when a client is doing a pushup, ask them: “Do you feel stress or pain in your shoulders?”
In this way, your client would learn to understand what is right and wrong in a movement and their body by feeling it for themselves throughout the workout. In other words, asking the right questions can boost your client’s body awareness.
9. Use Live-Streamed or On-Demand Classes to Supplement Your Sessions
There may be clients who want to work out with you individually and daily. If that is not the case, you should give them access to your live-streamed and pre-recorded workout classes. This would allow them to exercise on days you are not working together.
Moreover, your clients would receive the added benefit of working out in a group. However, it is important to provide any necessary modifications ahead of time to keep your client(s) safe.
10. Out a Schedule That Works Best For Your Client
Virtual workout sessions allow a great opportunity to offer convenience to your clients. Therefore, use the revised schedule to your advantage. You should occasionally ask your client if their availability has changed and what could be the best time for them to join you for a workout.
Even if people are at home more often now, they may still be occupied during the day working remotely or helping children with the additional workload from school during this period.
If your client’s schedule is static, ask whether they want to have the same time each week or if they want to vary up the times depending on what is going on that week. It would help if you were mindful and flexible of ongoing changes, as many people have had changes to their daily routines because of the pandemic.
11. Make Your Client Feel Relaxed and Comfortable
Although many of us might be more relaxed at home, some people may not feel comfortable working out at home.
There could be many reasons for this.
Your client might feel self-conscious exercising in front of family or roommates. Or maybe there is no big enough space available to complete all the workouts they want to. Whatever the reason, sometimes, clients choose to keep fitness separate from their home life for valid reasons.
If you have any such client, you should take time and care to boost their comfort during the session. It would be best if you did not rush into the workout. You can ask them questions like what’s going on in their life and learn about their routine, lifestyle, and goals.
If your client is new to one-on-one training, explain each part of the process well to them to know what to expect.
Conclusion — One-on-One Virtual Sessions Can Be Fun
This period has brought the chance for you to get creative, have fun, and help your client by providing guidance. One-on-one virtual sessions would allow you to know your client intimately and develop a unique bond. One-on-one virtual sessions would be far more than just workouts. | https://medium.com/@atif_9386/tips-for-one-on-one-virtual-fitness-sessions-ca38d56fc20a | ['Atif M.'] | 2020-12-24 14:51:26.034000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Virtual', 'Tips', 'At Home Workout', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
Airbnb Rental Listings Dataset Mining | Exploring this at a granular level reveals that the demand is lowest in January and increases until October, when it begins to falls until the end of the year.
Is there a seasonality in the prices of rentals? Let us look at the daily average prices of the listings across the years.
The average prices across listings tends to increase as one progresses along the year and spikes in December. The pattern is similar to that of the number of reviews/demand except in the months of November and December, where the number of reviews (indicative of demand) starts to fall.
We can also see two sets of points on the charts which depicts that average prices on certain days were higher compared to the other days. Following, I will plot a box plot of average prices by day of the week to understand this phenomenon.
As we can see, Fridays and Saturdays are more expensive compared to the other days of the weeks, perhaps due to higher demand for lodging.
I will end the analysis of the section by studying how the occupancy looks like for the next year. Using data from the table calendar , I will find out the percentage occupancy for the next year i.e. as of November 3, 2018 (the date when the data was collected), what percentage of listings have already been booked. I was not able to obtain the past data on the occupancy, hence I could not study what the actual occupancy rates looked like.
It can be inferred that January tends to be the quietest, and the occupancy rate increases as we progress through the year. This ties up with the results from the analysis of the number of reviews (indicative of the demand) that shows an increasing trend across the year.
Getting into the Customer’s Head : Analysing Customer Reviews
The dataset provides us with a ton of data, but nothing as insightful and close to the customer as their reviews/feedback. If mined properly, they can tell us a lot about the customer mindset, their expectations and how well those were met. For the final result to make sense, the review text data requires a lot of cleaning — eg. the words need to be stemmed, commas-fullstops-percentages etc need to be removed, common English words and stop words need to be removed etc. There are more than a million reviews, so I take a random sample of this data, in this case ~30k reviews.
An analysis of the word cloud shows interesting trends; Location seems to be key, since the words “neighbourhood”, “location”, “area” are featured prominently in the word cloud. Transport options like “subway”, “walk” also find frequent mention. Airbnbs are short term rentals, yet people seem to lay stress on the comfort aspect of their stay, words like “kitchen” tell us that many folks would rather cook than eat out. Availability of “Restaurants” close by find mention too. Bathrooms and Beds, as expected can be clear deal breakers if not in top condition. The word “Host” finds a lot of mention; indicating the important role that hosts play in shaping the Airbnb experience.
Word vectors provide an effective way to figure out the closest words to particular search terms. Using the review data, I constructed a vector space to build a word cloud of similar words to derive interesting insights.
The first word cloud is for the word “uncomfortable”. Words similar to “uncomfortable” are usually those that occur in conjunction with it frequently, i.e reasons for the discomfort. The word cloud shows just that — notice words like “cramped”, “crowded”,“small”, “stuffy” and “cluttered” indicating that lack of space is one of the most common complaints. “Hot”, “damp” and “cold” are some of the common temperature issues. “Dusty”, “dirty” and “unclean” surroundings will prompt people to write negative feedback. Many feel “nervous”,“unsafe” and “stressful”; clearly a red flag for future tenants.
Similarly, querying by the keyword “comfortable”, we hope to see things that led to a positive experience. Prominently featured are words like “quiet”, “walkable”, “clean”, “spotless”, etc, again demonstrating the importance of environment, location and cleanliness. Helpful “hosts” and “communication” lead to a comfortable. Cleanliness of linens and the bed size leave a decisive impression.
Check out the Shiny App that serves as an extension to the Word-Vector analysis of the customer reviews. You can query the vector to find “similar” words and build a custom word-cloud. Enter any valid query word and set the “max words” in the word cloud. A valid query word would be one that is present in the corpus, else it wouldn’t be part of the word vector.
Below is a screenshot, you can try the actual app out through the link: https://ankitpeshin.shinyapps.io/wordcloud_generator/ (allow it some time to load).
Hosts with Super Powers! : Analysing what it takes to become a Superhost
Airbnb awards the title of “Superhost” to a small fraction of its dependable hosts. This is designed as an incentive program that is a win-win for both the host, Airbnb, and their customers. The superhost gets more business in the form of higher bookings, the customer gets improved service and Airbnb gets happy satisfied customers.
But what does it take to be a Superhost? Airbnb’s site has a set of requirements that must be fulfilled in order to become one. Maintaining a review rate above 50%, a response rate above 90%, etc. Our findings, while mostly in line with the Airbnb’s guidelines, also show some interesting outliers.While most super-hosts are in the high-rating:high-response-rate region, we can also see a few hosts with response rates less than 75% (which violates the 90%+ criteria set by Airbnb). This is a very small fraction of the hosts. In terms of Ratings, almost all hosts are rated 80% and above.
With that being said, most Airbnb hosts lie in the high-rating:high-response region, but only a small fraction get to be super hosts. So clearly, becoming a Superhost takes a lot more than high ratings & response rates. | https://towardsdatascience.com/airbnb-rental-listings-dataset-mining-f972ed08ddec | ['Sarang Gupta'] | 2019-01-05 02:37:08.033000+00:00 | ['Airbnb', 'Towards Data Science', 'R Programming', 'Data Visualization', 'Data Science'] |
Tutorial: Staking UART to Vote NFTs you like and earn more UART | Purchase UART and send it to the Polygon or BSC
$UART Purchase Tutorial:
https://uniartsnetwork.medium.com/uart-purchase-tutorial-c2877c6a890f
2. You are not ready to visit the gallery! Sign in at: https://af.uniarts.network :
Click here to sign in with your wallet address:
Ensure your MetaMask or other wallet is switched to Polygon or BSC:
3. Browse the individual pieces and vote on your favorite NFTs (top red rectangle):
Alternatively, click on “view all candidates” to browse all on one page.
4. In the below dropdown, choose UART:
Note ：you are only staking your UART, not spending it. It can be retrieved the following day.
5. In your account screen, you can view your votes by selecting “My Votes.” Note that there will be a delay of up to 11 minutes for your vote to show up based on Polygon/BSC traffic.
At UTC 00:00, your voting reward will be distributed. Also at this time, you may retrieve your staked UART.
Thank you for your participation and interest in UniArts and the exceptional artwork that is featured. This should be quite fun for all users! We appreciate you visiting. | https://medium.com/@uniartsnetwork/tutorial-staking-uart-to-vote-nfts-you-like-and-earn-more-uart-e734e86ec13b | ['Uniarts Network'] | 2021-12-30 06:50:15.846000+00:00 | ['Nftartist', 'Nft Marketplace', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Nftart', 'Nft'] |
What to do after the conference: Tips from ISPsystem business developers | You can prepare for a conference like crazy and beat the world’s productivity records at the event but you will lose this game if you don’t do a good job right after the conference ends. All achievements can be easily ditched if you decide to lie on oars after the conference.
Earlier, we could stay in the country of the conference for another couple of weeks after the event ended. Sounds like a crime against humanity if you don’t spend a few more days in Las Vegas, doesn’t it? However, now we don’t do it. We arrive, we meet with people, we negotiate, and then we leave in a day or two. The reason: Normally, you have so much work after the conference which you simply cannot perform efficiently in the half-vacation mode. Of course, one can stay for a couple of more days but only if he/she promises to be in touch constantly and have time to work.
Note. This is the third part of the cycle where we share our experience of conference trips. You can read the previous parts about preparation and conference work.
Today, we’re going to discuss:
what to do in the first place when arriving back at the office;
how to switch business communication to online after personal meetings;
and how NOT to lose everything you have achieved in the previous weeks.
What you need to do after the conference
We used to feel lost when we’re coming back from our first conferences. Who to write first? When to get in touch? What to do with business cards? We lost a lot of valuable time thinking about it. However, now we know the answers to the ultimate questions about life, the universe, and everything. This is what you need to do in the first place:
Process business cards. Put aside cards of the companies that are interested in working with you more than you’re with them. Divide the rest of the cards into important and unimportant. You will work with them.
Send follow-ups. I do not recommend sending the same emails to everyone you have met. This is counter-productive and simply rude. Write a short email to those who you have discussed something with but without grand perspectives. Even if is something like “Thank you for your time, it was a pleasure meeting with you”. It won’t take much of your time but it will be kind to your colleague. Who knows, maybe he/she will introduce you to someone interesting one day.
Do what you promised. If you promised to solve an issue of your client, find out details about your product or service, do something, help with something, introduce to someone — do it in the first place. Believe me, the person on the other end of the screen will appreciate it when you reply to him/her in a few days with resolution or information gathered. Especially if you do more than expected. Especially if he/she didn’t expect much from you. This is how true fans of your company are born.
Report to colleagues from your department. If you have teammates who also work with clients and partners, prepare a brief presentation and story about the conference to them.
This is what we tell:
what clients say about our product or service,
trends that we caught during the meetings,
insights if there were any,
useful information from speakers if there was any,
results and lessons learned after the conference.
Tell about the conference to colleagues from other departments. At ISPsystem, not only bizdev attends conferences. Developers, designers, marketing, and others regularly visit conferences in their area. We decided that it would be great if everyone would be sharing a few words about the conference they have visited: goals, results achieved, people met, information gathered, etc. Anyone can come and listen to any colleague from any department. This way we also strive to boost overall engagement, awareness, and sociability.
There can be more steps. It depends on the format and your approach. We change our methods from time to time and try something new, especially when it is related to followups after the event. By the way, let’s talk about them.
Followups
Let’s discuss what emails and when to send after the conference. We came up with the following simple formula:
Chances for reply > 0 if Follow up on the conference day + Follow up in a few days.
Conference day
We send a short message with gratitude on the afternoon of the same day we had a meeting with a potential client or partner. We use messengers, SMS, or Facebook — something more private than email.
The message can be something like this:
“Hey Kevin, it’s Pavel from cold Siberia. We’ve had a chat about virtualization today. It was a pleasure seeing you, thanks again for your time. As agreed, I will gather information on our control panel and we’ll have a demo for you next week. Talk to you later, and have a great weekend!”.
Don’t write down the meeting notes and don’t add a lot of details — you will send a follow-up email in a few days for this. If you have made a mutual photo, send it too.
By sending a quick message on the same day, you are killing a few birds with one stone: You remind about yourself, summarize agreements, open a new communication channel, and add more positive attitude. Not a lot of people really use such approach so you will definitely stand out against the others.
In a few days
It is very important to send the follow-up email during the first week after your return. If you do it later, they might not remember you very clearly.
We always prepare a personalized email. We prefer emails as opposed to messengers. Your follow-up email must contain:
A short resume of the meeting. Don’t rely on the memory of the other person. He/she might have had a lot of other meetings, and it might be difficult to remember in details what was discussed and who is that Pavel from cold Siberia. But you didn’t forget it and documented it all like it has been advised in the previous article, did you? :)
Link to your website or description of your product/service. But please don’t write a 10-page story about all its features, this is not a marketing email.
Suggest the next action or do the next action. In most cases, we suggest scheduling a conference call. Sometimes, if we have already talked about testing, we create a testing account, send credentials and instruction on how to test the product.
Talked about something else? Don’t forget to mention it. Promised something? Do it and mention it. Can’t fulfill your promise in time? Apologize and choose another date for follow up.
Something can go wrong
Email sent, it was replied, you had a few discussions and decided to have a deal. A really good scenario that doesn’t happen very often in the real universe. Problems can appear at any moment.
There is no reply after your followup
You can’t be sure that it won’t happen. If it happened, I recommend to wait a few days and send another email. It should not be the exact copy of your first follow-up but a new email with a copy of the first one and a comment like ”Hello. I sent you an email on Monday but have not received a reply yet. Probably you’re too busy right now. Could you please tell me when it would be a better time to discuss our topic?”. About 50% would reply to such an email. As for the other half, write to them in another week but in Facebook, LinkedIn, SMS, or WhatsApp. No pressure, just another reminder or request to reply.
Still no reply? Wait for a few more days and call. This is your last chance. If it doesn’t work too, add the company to the waiting list, set a reminder, and get in touch in a month or two. If the person keeps silence, then it seems that you’re not interesting to him/her anymore. Now, it’s all on you: If you feel that the game is worth the candle, don’t give up.
You’ve got the reply, everything was going well but then — silence
Maybe, your potential deal is not interesting anymore. Maybe, there is just too much work. Maybe, there is something personal, or vacation. Don’t give up and continue to write and call.
New contact
A person you have met at the conference changed the job or department. If so, ask to introduce you to a new contact person. He/she might be too busy at the new place but normally everyone is ready to share contacts or even introduce you personally. After that, it’d be best to schedule a quick introductory call with the new contact, induct him or her into what has been discussed earlier, and tell about where you’re at now.
Conclusion
That’s all. I hope that the recommendations given in the three articles will help you take part in business conferences more efficiently. Not everything goes as expected and not always, and your experience can differ much from ours. If it is so, feel free to share it and tell us what life hacks you have. Good luck! | https://medium.com/ispsystem/what-to-do-after-the-conference-tips-from-ispsystem-business-developers-c703b8210b93 | ['Pavel Sirovatskiy'] | 2018-11-01 08:13:40.368000+00:00 | ['Negotiation', 'Conference', 'Business Development', 'Email'] |
Simple yet powerful sales dashboard using Streamlit | Simple yet powerful sales dashboard using Streamlit
Image by Luke Chesser from unsplash.com
Streamlit is one of the most recent python libraries for powerful dashboard creation and an open source framework for machine learning and data science teams. It can produce industry standard and visually attractive dashboards with very simple coding. I have created a sales dashboard with similar visual created with Power BI in this link. The data is about the sales revenue earned during the first few months of 2019 across different products, employee and supervisors. Power BI is a very powerful tool for instant visuals creation but here I wanted to regenerate similar dashboard using the open source Streamlit. Let’s dive into the dashboard creation.
Fetching the data
The data is an excel file showing units sold, price per unit, product ID, employee ID, supervisors in different worksheets on the file. In excel, it will be very easy to calculate the revenue based on different products and employee. One can simply vlookup the data from other sheets but one can have more control on the visuals when using Streamlit.
First things first
Streamlit installation is a one liner using pip
pip install streamlit
Once the Streamlit is installed, I opened the PyCharm IDE and created new file names “Streamlit_sales_data”. To run this file, I went to the terminal and then to the file directory using cd command. Then the following command is executed to run the file in the browser.
streamlit run Streamlit_sales_data.py
The browser will deliver the contents of the dashboard controlled by the code powered by Streamlit.
Sweet coding
First, let’s start by importing required libraries
Streamlit considers docstring as magic commands and keeps up showing in the browser. Therefore, a simple workaround was used to create a variable named comment before every docstring.
The options of displaying the sales, product and employee data are created using checkboxes. Once checked, it will deliver the panda data frame to pop up in the browser using st.write().
A sidebar is very useful for filtering instead of doing that in the main page. Next, a sidebar was created using st.sidebar and then the dropdowns for product ID, employee ID and supervisors were created. Since we have multiple instances for each of this category and viewer can be interested to look for a subset of the whole dataset, multi-select option is enabled in the sidebar multiselect widget.
Revenue is not directly provided in the dataset. So, we have to calculate it using merge capability of the first two data frames and then sorted according to date.
The next feature is for time based filtering. To have that capability, we need to have a start date and end date during which the revenue will be calculated and displayed. The widgets for the dates are created next
The sidebar will be rendered as below.
Image by author
Image by author
After close observation on the dataset, I found that the date column is monotonically increasing (since we have sorted it by date) but not all dates are there from Jan 1 to Apr 20. If the user’s input falls into the no man’s land (should be no date’s land !), the program needs to monotonically increase the start date and decrease the end date by 1 day to match the user input. This is carried out in the following code.
The start_index and the end_index are the two indices calculated from the user input. The rest of the code is self-explanatory. The filter checkbox is created next. Once checked, it will apply the filter to the dataset and refresh the page with updated visuals and data.
Finally, the functions for bar plot, pie chart and line chart are added in the code.
Image by author
Image by author
Image by author
The function for pie chart was targeted towards the supervisor data. Since not all supervisors have command over all the employees, it may provide empty data frame if there is no overlap of data between the supervisor and the employees and/or products.
The total revenue is displayed in plain text for the applied filter.
Final look
Once the code is triggered, the following dashboard is delivered in the browser
Image by author
Image by author
The whole dataset can be filtered in the sidebar based on product ID, employee ID and supervisor to have all different kind of visuals.
Conclusion
Streamlit provides a very user friendly interface for the creation of industry standard dashboards. As you have seen in this coding, it has powerful techniques to integrate all the python features as well as coming up with attractive visuals and filtering. The code for connecting the datasets with the filtering according to date, product, employee or supervisor is simple yet powerful. My github repo provides the necessary code implemented to create the dashboard. | https://towardsdatascience.com/simple-yet-powerful-sales-dashboard-using-streamlit-64bc46381ba4 | ['Md Sohel Mahmood'] | 2020-12-20 14:28:07.826000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Sales', 'Dashboard', 'Powerful', 'Streamlit'] |
Drowning | When I was about 12 or 13, I saved a little boy who was drowning.
I didn’t really think too much about it at the time. When it happened, it was instinctual; I had never been trained in water rescue. I was too young to be a lifeguard, but I could swim. And I was fast.
It was summertime and we were visiting my aunt and uncle near Sacramento, California. My uncle had to work that day, so a family friend offered to take us fishing on the Feather River.
A group of boys was trying to cross the river just downstream from where we were fishing. The water was clear and deep, and the river current was deceptively strong.
One of the older teens held a smaller boy on his shoulders, carrying him across to the other side. Mid-way through the river, the tall boy lost his footing and slipped underwater, the small boy toppling off his shoulders.
The smaller boy could not swim. The current took him, and he thrashed about in the water, screaming for help while his friends panicked on the shore.
Hearing the screams, I looked downriver. I saw the little blond head bobbing in the water, and something inside of me screamed “GO!”.
I threw down my fishing gear and dove into the cold water.
Remember, I was just a kid, not much older than the boys playing along the river. I was just someone who saw someone else in trouble and responded. I couldn’t just stand there, listening to his friends screaming, without trying to do something. I had to respond; I had to at least try.
I swam as hard as I could and, as I got close to the boy, I saw him splashing in the water and then I saw his blond head sink below the surface. I took a deep breath and dove underwater. I opened my eyes and saw his small body bouncing along the bottom carried by the current.
Diving down, I grabbed his swim trunks, and headed for the surface. Fortunately, I was able to pull the boy from the water, get him to the shore where my older brother got him breathing again.
Teamwork.
When I told my wife about that story recently, she didn’t seem surprised at all. “That’s who you are,” she said, “That’s what you do. You help people.”
And she’s right. A lot of my memories are of times when I was able to help someone who needed something I had — an extra hand to lift, a strong back to carry, or the bravery to act on impulse and instinct.
I guess that explains why I chose to be a consultant. I love working with the leadership teams at companies that are undergoing some major change — merger/acquisition, process-reengineering, restructuring — and helping them understand the change, communicate the change, and lead their people through the change.
It’s also why I love being a coach. I love helping business owners of small- to mid-sized businesses to navigate the day-to-day struggles of entrepreneurship. I help by bringing three key factors to the table: Awareness of what they could do or what their business could be; Education of business-building best practices; and Accountability, to do the thing they must do to achieve their strategic goals.
I love helping people. It’s who I am; it’s what I do. | https://medium.com/@ib4e-coaching/drowning-4564ce7f7556 | ['Coach Harlan'] | 2020-12-27 11:40:34.314000+00:00 | ['Business Coaching', 'Courage', 'Helping'] |
How much does it cost to be a biologist? For some: an awful lot. | Science is an expensive endeavour. Whether research occurs in the lab, in the field, or at a computer, we have to buy equipment and pay for many different things that enable us to work in our discipline. Normally, research grants pay for these expenses. But this is not always the case.
Many of us have heard stories of people having to use their personal funds to pay for some of the costs of doing science (a phenomenon we discuss on social media with the hashtag #SciSpends). These stories take many forms.
Read this open access paper on the FACETS website.
A supervisor refuses to pay per diems for students attending conferences. An early-career researcher uses their salary to pay for office furniture. A senior scientist pays a student directly, as it is faster than getting a grant to do so.
But is this practice widespread? And what types of costs do scientists incur to do research?
In this study, we conducted an online survey asking scientists who self-identified as biologists how much money they spent out of pocket that was not reimbursed.
We asked about a wide range of different types of costs, which are roughly broken down into those costs that would be incurred just once when starting a new position (e.g., relocation, buying office furniture) and those that were incurred over the past 12 months and are likely to recur (e.g., conference attendance or fieldwork costs). We also asked respondents to report their career stage, from undergraduate to senior scientist.
We found that the median biologist incurs US$2,700 in unreimbursed expenses to start a new position and spent US$1,680 over the past 12 months on things that would be likely to recur.
For all types of costs, we found that most people spent relatively low amounts, but a substantial minority incurred very high expenses. Further, we found that as a proportion of income, unreimbursed expenses are highest for those earliest in their career.
We cannot be sure that these results generalize to all biologists — maybe people who were most upset about this were more likely to opt in and do the survey. But our large sample size implies that this may indeed be a widespread issue, and one that could be having major impacts particularly for those individuals who experience very high costs.
The egalitarian ideals of science can only be realized if the discipline is inclusive, and that includes inclusive to people that are not rich. If some scientists have to incur big out-of-pocket costs, and others don’t, that is an obvious inequity that we have to fix.
Therefore, we argue that science needs a code of best practices to determine what should and should not be reimbursed within a scientific career — and those best practices should be applied widely so that everyone knows what they are getting into financially when they embark in a career in science.
Read the paper — SciSpends: an exploratory survey investigating nonreimbursed expenses in biological sciences by Brett Favaro and Edward Hind-Ozan. | https://medium.com/facets/how-much-does-it-cost-to-be-a-biologist-for-some-an-awful-lot-a91330306bad | ['Canadian Science Publishing'] | 2020-12-11 16:38:40.560000+00:00 | ['Biology', 'Money', 'Science', 'Research'] |
Android Vulnerabilities and Malwares | A Vulnerability is something that allows an unplanned and unwanted actions that may cause harm to device. Android application vulnerabilities have become a problem nowadays because of Google Play Store’s open format, and also because users can sideload apps,and removing oversight regarding the safety of apps.
There are also regular updates and patches to the Android operating system. Android does not always update itself in a timely manner, and so you have to be aware of updates and security patches to be safe from potential attacks ro from vulnerabilities from entering your Android device.
The latest vulnerability that is worrying users in todays time is the third party advertising frameworks which is integrated to the apps we download.
The framework is called HomeBase SDK or Software Development Kit.
This framework allows the monetisation of applications but as a downside it has an insecure mechanism for the updates which puts the users at risk of an attack. The attackers can intercept the request for the application and can easily attack the device.
Second vulnerability is in analytics libraries as these libraries send the data of the users to analytics companies which then analysed the data and show results to the developers.
The vulnerability here is is the risk of leakage of private information to other companies or developers.
Android specific vulnerabilities are always frequently evaluated and updated because of the new technologies coming into the market.
Most common Android vulnerabilities-
1. Accessing unsecured networks and downloading applications.
2. Infections via Google verification process.
3. Entry of malwares from a corporate network via USB cables.
4. During data transfers between applications there is a risk of transmission of malicious applications.
The OWASP Top 10 is a great source to be aware of the biggest threats and vulnerabilities that are present in current times.
OWASP stands for the Open Web Application Security Project. It is an online community that produces articles, documentation, tools, and technologies in the field of security. OWASP Top 10 is the list of the 10 most common application vulnerabilities. It also shows their risks, impacts, and counter-measures.
T he Top 10 OWASP vulnerabilities in 2020 are:
Injection
Broken Authentication
Sensitive Data Exposure
XML External Entities (XXE)
Broken Access control
Security misconfigurations
Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
Insecure Deserialization
Using Components with known vulnerabilities
Insufficient logging and monitoring
Malware is a malicious software or an app that targets mobile phones or wireless Personal Digital Assistants (PDA). They cause the collapse of the system and loss or leakage of confidential data or information. As mobile phones have become more and more common and technology has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to ensure their safety and security against malware or virus attacks.
Because of Google’s lack of focus on security aspects in applications. Mobile malware is on the rise, with attackers shifting their efforts to smartphones and tablets as global mobile markets come under attack.
Popular Types of Mobile Malware are:
· Banking Malware
· Mobile Ransomware
· Mobile Spyware
· Mobile Adware
· MMS Malware
· SMS Trojans
Malicious software has been around as long as computers. In 1986, the first PC-based malware, known as Brain, was released.
Some famous examples of malwares:
· ILOVEYOU — considered as one of the first cases of social engineering used in malware attacks.
· WannaCry — One of the worst ransomware attacks in history, introduced via phishing emails in 2017.
· Thanatos — As cryptocurrency started to gain traction, Thanatos became the first ransomware to accept payments in Bitcoin.
· Triada — It is a sophisticated, complex, stealthy, and professionally written malware suite. | https://medium.com/@shubh-shah/android-vulnerabilities-and-malwares-f35b2990562d | ['Shubh Shah'] | 2020-12-18 03:59:55.897000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Malware', 'Vulnerability'] |
You Already Have | I feel him go slack in my grip and fall to the ground. Before the waitress or cook can talk to me I run out of the alley and back to the street. It won’t be long before the police or ambulance show up and I don’t have time to talk to them as they file their reports. I may be needed elsewhere and frankly I don’t really want anyone knowing who I am.
I continue to run until I round a few building corners. I scan my eyes around as I take in the fast food wrappers and empty plastic bottles that line the sidewalks in places. A subtle breeze carries a plastic bag like a tumbleweed. I take pleasure in a dandelion that has sprouted from a crack in the cement. Gotta enjoy those little things. A car speeds by with blasting music and the ground vibrates. A block ahead of me at a bus stop, I notice a man in a sweatshirt. He pulls one of those masks onto the lower half of his face the runners use in the winter and slips on the hood of his sweatshirt.
“Give me your fucking wallet.”
This sounds familiar. “Give me your fucking tray.” We never really escape prison. For a moment, I remember Brandon looming over me in the cafeteria, flexing his biceps that I could never fail to notice. He made sure everyone noticed them. And for good reason too.
“Give it to me man,” the mugger says and I snap out of my memory and into the present.
“No,” I say as the man raises his arms to grab me. My reflexes are faster and I am able to grip one of his arms. Yes, I still got it. It’s been years since I did an arrest, and only months since I was actually in prison. I still got it. Shit. I don’t still got it. He’s faster and manages to move around me pressing his chest against my back and an arm around my neck as he reaches into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Then I feel his gun pressed against my side.
“Don’t make me use this,” he warns.
“Alright, alright,” I tell him.
His hand reaches into the back pocket of my jeans where he fumbles with my wallet. The moment he has it, I feel the gun retract from me and I turn around very quickly and tackle him to the ground. Lucky for me, the guy let his gun fall. As I mount him, I can only see his eyes, but it’s enough to recognize that he can’t be more than eighteen or nineteen — early twenties at most. Just a kid basically. I consider reaching for the gun, to threaten him with it, but I can’t let my prints get on it so I choke him to gain control. His hands spastically grip my wrists as he tries to free himself.
I could run, or I could restrain him and call the cops. Maybe my old partner will show up, if he’s even still a cop. I do miss Luis.
I miss our patrols. I miss him. He used to visit me when I was locked up…until he didn’t.
When the mugger is a little out of breath and stops fighting back, I release one hand to reach for my cell phone to call the police. I can restrain him here until they arrive and then rush off to blend back in with the darkness of the night. Unfortunately for me, he has spare weapons and before I can press the final “one” on the screen, one of his hands lets go of mine and he pulls out a pocketknife. I drop my phone and reach to control his arm. He fights me off with his other hand and lands a punch to my cheek. As my head swings away from him a moment, he stabs into my stomach.
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
I fall backwards, unable to breathe. He pulls the knife from me, which hurts just as bad as it did going in. He looks at me with terrified eyes for a moment. I don’t think he thought he would actually do this. I don’t think he thought his victim would fight back. Maybe I should have just given him my fucking wallet. Shit. He slides the sleeve of his sweatshirt down over his hands to cover them as he punches the “one” on my phone to complete the call and lays it next to me on the ground.
His hands are shaky. His voice chokes but he tries to keep his badass tone. Just barely. “Don’t tell them I did this. I don’t want to have to find you and kill you for real.”
You already have, I think. This kid has no clue. He’s just a mugger, not a murderer…but in a few minutes all of that will change. He runs away as the phone rings. Then it connects with the dispatcher. I can’t speak. It doesn’t matter anyway. They can’t help me. The pain fades away and the weakness is what takes over. I feel myself giving into it. Somehow I have already forgiven him. Easier to forgive him than myself. It was several years ago when I was him. Mistakes. Accidents.
I see Luis. He looks so tough as he restrains the perp. He looks over to me. Then I don’t see him anymore because the motherfucker’s friend jumps me. It’s the one that we’d been tracking. The suspected rapist, the violator of bodies. I fire a shot into his calf. He leaves me alone, but I don’t just handcuff him. I lose it. I just lose it. I am trigger happy. Next thing I know…the guy’s brains are on my face. I can’t see Luis through the brains.
Then I see him sitting on the other side of the glass, holding the phone. He tells me about everything but his new partner. He never talks about work. We know I can’t handle that. I show up one day drunk on bravery after a confrontation with Brandon. I tell Luis I love him. He leaves. I never see him again.
It won’t be long before they come. They will save me. Maybe I will live so that kid doesn’t have to feel too guilty. I hope they catch him though, so he can serve his time. I served mine. It won’t be long before they come. It won’t be —
Originally published online for Eleven & a Half, Eugene Lang College’s literary journal. See the original version here. | https://medium.com/slice-of-life-a-collection-of-short-stories/you-already-have-2968d5d8d555 | ['Charlotte Rene Woods'] | 2016-07-30 03:33:53.883000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Fiction', 'LGBTQ', 'Noir', 'Crime Fiction'] |
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