title
stringlengths 1
200
⌀ | text
stringlengths 10
100k
| url
stringlengths 32
829
| authors
stringlengths 2
392
| timestamp
stringlengths 19
32
| tags
stringlengths 6
263
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Latent Semantic Indexing in Python | Photo by Christophe Hautier on Unsplash
Introduction
In the previous article (BOW + TF-IDF in Python for unsupervised learning task) we discussed the bag of words and tf-idf methods and used them to solve an unsupervised machine learning task.
The aim of this article is to improve the model defined using the BOW and tf-idf methods. To do so, we will introduce an indexing and retrieval method: the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI). It uses a mathematical technique called singular value decomposition (SVD) to identify patterns in the relationships between the terms and concepts contained in a corpus (unstructured collection of documents).
If you are already familiar with what LSI is and how it works, you can skip the first two sections and go directly to the example task.
What is LSI?
Latent Semantic Indexing is a common technique in the NLP field. It is used to analyze relationships between a set of documents and the terms they contain in order to produce a set of concepts related to the documents and terms.
Recall the vector space representation of documents and queries introduced in the previous article. This representation has a number of advantages:
uniform treatment of queries and documents as vectors,
induced score computation based on cosine similarity,
ability to weight different terms differently,
applications as clustering and classification.
Why do we need LSI then?
The vector space representation is unable to cope with two classical problems that arise in natural languages: synonymy and polysemy.
Synonymy refers to a case where two different words (say “present” and “gift”) have the same meaning. The vector space representation fails to capture the relationship between synonymous terms such as “present” and “gift” since each of them is a separate dimension in the vector space. Suppose we have a document d = “Alex gave me a gift even if I didn’t buy her a present” and a query q = “gift”. The computed similarity between q and d will underestimate the true similarity that a human would detect.
On the other hand, polysemy refers to the case where a term such as “solution” has multiple meanings. Let d be the document “I wrote the solution of problem 5 on this paper”, then the computed similarity between d and the query q = “solution” overestimates the similarity that a human would perceive. We could use the co-occurrences of terms (whether, for instance, “solution” occurs in a document containing “problem” versus in a document containing “chemistry”) to capture the latent semantic associations of terms and alleviate these problems.
How does LSI work?
LSI is based on the distributional hypothesis which states that words that are close in meaning will occur in similar pieces of text.
The starting point is the TF-IDF representation matrix A of the distribution of the words within the set of documents. It is a m by n matrix where m is the number of unique words and n is the corpus cardinality. The element aᵢⱼ represents the frequency of the word i in the document j.
A mathematical technique called Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is consequently applied to the matrix A in order to reduce the dimensionality of the data.
There are several reasons behind this step:
the original matrix A is presumed to be too large to be computationally addressed;
reducing the dimensionality helps remove some of the noise inherently present in the original matrix;
the matrix A is sparse, so it is possible to significantly reduce the cardinality and at the same time preserve much of the information.
The SVD computes the term and document vector spaces by approximating the single term-frequency matrix A as follows:
where T is the m by r term-concept vector matrix, S is the r by r singular values matrix, D is the n by r concept-document vector matrix, such that
The next step is to truncate the SVD and keep only the largest k « r diagonal entries in the singular value matrix S, where k is typically on the order 100 to 300 dimensions. This effectively reduces the term matrix T size to m by k and the document matrix D size to n by k.
The combination of the SVD operation and this reduction reduces noise and other undesirable artifacts of the original space of A while preserving the most important semantic information in the text. The reduced set of matrices is often denoted with a modified formula such as:
The LSI technique can be implemented in Python using the gensim.models.LsiModel. For full documentation please check this page.
Problem description
The task we will solve is the same as the one from the previous article.
We will perform document similarity between movies plots and a given query.
We will use the Wikipedia Movie Plots Dataset which is available at this page and consists in ~35000 movies.
Our solution
Let’s start installing the latest version of gensim and import all the packages we need.
!pip install — upgrade gensim
import pandas as pd
import gensim
from gensim.parsing.preprocessing import preprocess_documents
We can now load the dataset and store the plots into the corpus variable.
In order to avoid RAM saturation, we will only use movies with release year ≥ 2000.
df = pd.read_csv(‘wiki_movie_plots_deduped.csv’, sep=’,’)
df = df[df[‘Release Year’] >= 2000]
text_corpus = df[‘Plot’].values
The next step is to preprocess the corpus. Please refer to this article for full explanation of this operation.
processed_corpus = preprocess_documents(text_corpus)
dictionary = gensim.corpora.Dictionary(processed_corpus)
bow_corpus = [dictionary.doc2bow(text) for text in processed_corpus]
We will now load the tfidf model from the gensim library and use it to represent the corpus in the new vector space.
tfidf = gensim.models.TfidfModel(bow_corpus, smartirs=’npu’)
corpus_tfidf = tfidf[bow_corpus]
The LSI model will now be initialized using gensim.models.LsiModel and the corpus will be indexed, in preparation for similarity queries.
We will use the following parameters:
corpus = stream of document vectors or sparse matrix of shape num_term (m) by num_documents (n),
num_topics = number of requested factors (the latent dimensions k introduced in the previous section).
lsi = gensim.models.LsiModel(corpus_tfidf, num_topics=200)
index = gensim.similarities.MatrixSimilarity(lsi[corpus_tfidf])
Let’s now write the plot of the movie we would like to get from the similarity query. Suppose new_doc is the string containing the movie plot. The code to find the 10 most similar movies to it is the following:
new_doc = gensim.parsing.preprocessing.preprocess_string(new_doc)
new_vec = dictionary.doc2bow(new_doc)
vec_bow_tfidf = tfidf[new_vec] sims = index[vec_bow_tfidf] for s in sorted(enumerate(sims), key=lambda item: -item[1])[:10]:
print(f”{df[‘Title’].iloc[s[0]]} : {str(s[1])}”)
We ran the code above for the following movies:
Inception: “infiltrate minds and extract information through a shared dream world. different levels of dreams. they want to implant an idea”,
Wreck-It Ralph: “In the arcade at night the video game characters leave their games. The protagonist is a girl from a candy racing game who glitches”,
Kill Bill: “Blonde bride goes to Japan and kills many people”,
Star Wars: “knight lightsaber starship”.
The results obtained were not good:
Inception was not on the top ten matches;
Wreck-It Ralph was the fifth match found;
the Kill Bill movies were on the first and second positions;
the Star Wars movies were in the 6th, 37th, 41th, 49th, 83th, 86th and 698th positions.
We therefore decided to modify the num_topics parameter from the LSI model. The results are summarized in the following table, where each cell represents the movie position obtained with the respective num_topic parameter.
As a consequence, we decided to set num_topics = 1000 and run the query for a new movie: “Billy Elliot”.
We use the plot “Boy studies ballet in secret. His father wants him to go to the gym and boxe. They raise money for audition in London” and got the following results:
Conclusions
Thanks to the Latent Semantic Indexing we were able to improve the model based on the bag of words and tf-idf representations and take care of the synonymy and polysemy problem.
We also saw how the best results for our task were obtained with num_topics equal to 1000, but note that there are techniques to tune this hyperparameter. One of them is based on the Topic Coherence measure and will be discussed in a later article. | https://medium.com/betacom/latent-semantic-indexing-in-python-85880414b4de | ['Eleonora Fontana'] | 2020-09-28 11:02:07.465000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'NLP', 'Model', 'Python', 'Machine Learning'] |
«But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us» | in Both Sides of the Table | https://medium.com/rummenigge/but-we-have-never-had-to-put-a-wall-up-to-keep-our-people-in-to-prevent-them-from-leaving-us-f62d75e7cf1d | ['Tommaso Lana'] | 2016-09-21 15:05:10.817000+00:00 | ['Telefunken', 'Germania', 'Berlino', '26 Giugno 1963', 'Jfk'] |
Making dollars — and sense — out of the New Digital Economy | As the economy continues to digitize at an unprecedented pace, why don’t we see faster economic growth and productivity increases? The answer is that the diffusion process of technologies from the New Digital Economy — characterized by rapidly increasing spending on cloud computing, data analysis, and other services in a world of ubiquitous, Internet connections — has only just begun. In a new report on the digital economy, The Conference Board incorporates a suite of economy-wide, industry-specific, and firm-level data alongside interviews with executives in a dozen major companies to examine the progress of the New Digital Economy. In another blog we report on some of the metrics, in particular rapid price declines in ICT assets and services and an ongoing shift from investment in ICT assets to spending on ICT services, underlying our view that the productivity effects have yet to come.
So why is this taking so long? And is it unusually long? Yes and no. Let’s start with “no”. It has been well documented that general purpose technologies (or GPTs, of which the New Digital Economy is an example) provide significant cost reductions and efficiency gains only over a considerable length of time as they are often characterized by long periods of diffusion, adoption, and penetration. The New Digital Economy is still in its “installation phase”: a period during which new technologies emerge and advance, driven by the creation of new infrastructures and new and superior ways of doing things, disrupting established practices and organization — but not yet producing the economy-wide productivity gains.
[caption id=”attachment_439" align=”aligncenter” width=”500"]
Installation Phase versus Deployment Phase in the New Digital Economy. Source: based on Jerry Neumann, The Deployment Age, Reaction Wheel — Jerry Neumann’s Blog, October 14, 2015 and Carlota Perez, Technological Revolution and Financial Capital. The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages, (Cheltenham, United Kingdom, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited), 2002[/caption]
While GPTs always take time to evolve, there are two reasons to be concerned that it is perhaps taking unusually long to see the results from the New Digital Economy. First, slow growth in the aggregate economy doesn’t help even though there are different opinions about the causes. These include demand constraints due to disincentives to spend and invest, or supply constraints — like slowing labor force growth and weak productivity growth — that are holding growth back.
Second, it may simply be harder this time for an organization to fully accomplish the digital transformation process. Digital technologies and the data they produce need to be employed to connect organizations, people, physical assets, processes, etc. for the purpose of rapidly developing new products, services, markets, and business models to capitalize on emerging customer needs. So it’s not just about buying the right digital assets and services, but about business innovations which build on those to create real value for a business. It is not difficult to see that is significantly more disruptive and impactful for organizations today to develop business solution for the New Digital Economy than it was in the Old Digital Economy, when the PC was introduced and the internet was used primarily for marketing and e-commerce.
So what can companies do? In our new report we several steps companies can take even in today’s slow-growth environment to accelerate digital transformation and move faster from the installation phase toward the deployment phase. These include
Taking advantage of ongoing rapid price declines in ICT assets and services to obtain significant cost reductions, without running up cost elsewhere.
Leveraging the shift from investment in ICT assets to purchased digital services to increase business flexibility in raising productivity and speeding up the bringing to market of new products and services.
Creating key knowledge-based assets (product and services design, workforce training, and organizational improvements) to strengthen innovative capabilities.
Assessing and managing different degrees of talent shortages among digital workers and tech-savvy workers.
Utilizing local innovation ecosystems by taking advantage of access to talent, partnerships, and shared services.
Creating agility and resiliency to anticipate and respond to the disruptive impact of new technology.
To fully capture the growth and productivity effects the New Digital Economy offers, a digital strategy needs to be broad based as it touches on virtually every function and task in an organization. As the economic environment provides many headwinds, business leaders need to do continuous reality checks on opportunities and risks. | https://medium.com/the-conference-board/making-dollars-and-sense-out-of-the-new-digital-economy-c6e225416699 | ['Conference Board Signal'] | 2017-03-06 04:33:42.465000+00:00 | ['Bart Van Ark', 'Economy'] |
BREAKING: Militarized Police Raid Wet’suwet’en First Nation | Feb 7th 6:30 am — RCMP militarized convoy engines are running and lining up in Houston now. Their extremist force is hardly a peaceful action against our unarmed, peaceful protestors. Shame!!! — Gidimt’en Checkpoint Update, 6:45 pm: All six people who were arrested in Gidimt’en territories yesterday morning are being released with no charges. Three are out already. Update, 4:44pm: Chiefs & supporters blocked the road at 27km, forcing RCMP to let Wet’suwet’en chiefs in. Clearing work has stopped at 44km. Dsta’hyl (Likht’samisyu) said the #Wetsuweten will enforce the eviction of Coastal Gaslink, with any means at their disposal. Update, 4pm Pacific Time: Solidarity actions are taking place across Canada. A blockade has shut down the Port of Vancouver. Various politicians offices have been occupied. Indigenous youth are locked down at the B.C. Legislature. Update, 2:40pm Pacific Time: People at the Gidimt’en Access Point (44 km; the site of the armed police raid in January 2019) are now confirming that they see heavy machinery approaching.
Militarized, heavily armed police units known as “tactical enforcement teams,” supported by K9 dogs and infrared camera-equipped drones, have this morning raided the Wet’suwet’en First Nation territory in central British Columbia, Canada to remove indigenous occupation aimed at preventing construction of a fracked-gas pipeline.
Between four and six people have been arrested at the blockade setup at 39KM on the Morice River Road, 27 km from the main Unist’ot’en Camp. Journalists on-site were threatened with arrest, prevented from photographing the events (including police smashing the window on a truck), and forcefully removed from the area. This is the second militarized raid on the peaceful indigenous resistance camp. The previous raid, in January 2019, was later revealed to have included “lethal overwatch” — authorization to shoot to kill. In both raids, police carried sniper and assault rifles.
The police raid Wet’suwet’en checkpoint shows they are acting as private contractors for the gas company, facilitating the plunder of stolen indigenous land and destruction of the planet for private profit.
Coastal GasLink/TC Energy is pushing through a 670-kilometer fracked gas pipeline that would carry fracked gas from Dawson Creek, B.C. to the coastal town of Kitimat, where LNG Canada’s processing plant would be located. LNG Canada is the single largest private investment in Canadian history.
Each clan within the Wet’suwet’en Nation has full jurisdiction under their law to control access to their territory. Under ‘Anuc niwh’it’en (Wet’suwet’en law) all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en have unanimously opposed all pipeline proposals and have not provided free, prior, and informed consent to Coastal Gaslink/ TransCanada to do work on Wet’suwet’en lands.
This is a developing story and we will share more information as it comes.
How to Support
Call to Action — Blockade the Colonial Institutions
Indigenous youth in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation are calling for organized, rolling occupations of MLA and MP offices, and of financial institutions tied to Coastal Gaslink pipeline corporation.
To participate, email [email protected]
Timeline of This Morning’s Events — Police raid Wet’suwet’en Checkpoint near Unist’ot’en camp
via Unist’ot’en Camp
7:48 am: RCMP are transporting the 4 arrested supporters to Houston. BC. Everyone at 39KM was arrested except media. Media that were at 39km are being driven out in a police van.
7:22am: 36 vehicles, 1 ambulance and heavy machinery went up from 4 KM. At least 2 bulldozers and excavator.
6:59 am: We have reports RCMP have headed up from town in an approximately 20+ vehicle convoy. #Wetsuweten #WetsuwetenStrong
6:43am: We have reports that RCMP are now blocking the forest service road at 4KM.
6:22am: We have lost all communication with the Gidimt’en watch post at 39KM after RCMP smashed the window of the radio vehicle. It’s still pitch black out.
6am: We have just heard that RCMP denied access to a reporter headed out to the camps this morning. Media exclusion zone is in full effect.
5:56am — The person on radio at 39km reports RCMP have broken in the windows of their vehicle.
5:43am — We estimate more than a dozen cops on site, with six cops surrounding the person communicating updates over radio.
5:30am — We’re hearing reports from the front line that some RCMP had their guns out — not pointed at people — but guns in hand.
We’re told that even with more than a dozen vehicles out on the territory, the Houston community hall is still full of cops waiting to invade our lands.
5:05am — We’ve heard 13 RCMP vehicles headed up the road earlier this morning. Up to 4 arrests have been made now, and RCMP are taking down tents. Our understanding is these tents were NOT blocking the road and are not part of the injunction area.
4:55am — It’s not yet 5am — still totally dark out — and we’ve just heard RCMP made their first arrest at the #Wetsuweten monitoring post at 39KM. Cops are surrounding people there and beginning to clear the road to the Gidimt’en checkpoint. | https://medium.com/@deepgreenresist/breaking-militarized-police-raid-wetsuwet-en-first-nation-305513a215e4 | ['Deep Green Resistance'] | 2020-02-07 16:42:08.935000+00:00 | ['Fracking', 'Featured', 'Natural Gas', 'Settler Colonialism', 'Pipelines'] |
Once Upon a Time Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth … And Then They Didn’t | Once Upon a Time Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth … And Then They Didn’t
Once upon a time, dinosaurs ruled the Earth. But suddenly they all died when a massive asteroid hit the planet, which killed off 75% or more of all species.
This extinction event marked the end of dinosaurs — except for descendants such as avians, ground and waterfowl who evolved into all modern species of bird, Teleost fish, and perhaps lizards. | https://medium.com/illumination/once-upon-a-time-dinosaurs-ruled-the-earth-and-then-they-didnt-278e97ead67f | ['Terry Mansfield'] | 2020-12-11 14:13:18.540000+00:00 | ['Evolution', 'Dinosaurs', 'Extinction', 'Writing', 'Earth'] |
Aristotle’s Philosophy of Friendship Still Matters Today | Aristotle’s Philosophy of Friendship Still Matters Today
So many of our relationships are accidental. Here’s how to develop friendships that matter.
Image: Stock Montage/Getty
Aristotle is widely regarded one of the most brilliant and prolific among the Western philosophers. It’s impossible to say how much he wrote, but the fraction of his work still around today is stunning in scope. Every field, from astronomy and physics to ethics and economics, has been influenced by his thinking. For more than 2,000 years, he’s remained one of the most widely read and quoted thinkers in history.
While Aristotle’s impact can still be felt in many disciplines, one of his most enduring observations relates to friendship. He saw friendship as one of the true joys of life, and felt that a life well-lived must include truly meaningful, lasting friendships. In his words:
In poverty as well as in other misfortunes, people suppose that friends are their only refuge. And friendship is a help to the young, in saving them from error, just as it is also to the old, with a view to the care they require and their diminished capacity for action stemming from their weakness; it is a help also to those in their prime in performing noble actions, for ‘two going together’ are better able to think and to act.
The accidental friendships
Aristotle outlined two common kinds of friendships that are more accidental than intentional. We often fall into these kinds of friendships without realizing it.
The first is a friendship of utility. In this relationship, two parties are not in it for affection. Rather, they’re in it for the benefit each receives from the other. These relationships are temporary: whenever the benefit ends, so does the relationship. Aristotle observed that these relationships of utility were most common among older people.
Think of a business or work relationship, for example. You may enjoy the time you spend together, but once the situation changes, so does the nature of your connection.
Aristotle’s second kind of accidental friendship is based in pleasure. This kind of relationship, he found, was more common among younger people. Think of your college friends or people who play in the same sports league. Their relationship is grounded in the emotion they feel at a given time or during a certain activity.
These friendships are often the most short-lived relationships of our lives. And that’s fine, as long as the two parties gain enjoyment through a mutual interest in something external. But these friendships inevitably end when either person’s tastes or preferences change. Many young people go through phases in what they enjoy. Quite often, their friends change along the way.
Most friendships fall into these two accidental categories, and while Aristotle didn’t necessarily see them as bad, he did feel their lack in depth limited their quality. It’s fine, and even necessary, to have accidental friendships — but there’s far more out there.
The friendship of the good
Aristotle’s final form of friendship seems to be the most preferable. Rather than utility or pleasure, this kind of relationship is based on a mutual appreciation of the virtues the other person holds dear. In this kind of friendship, the people themselves and the qualities they represent provide the incentive for the two parties to be in each other’s lives.
Friendships of virtue take time and trust to build. They depend on mutual growth.
Rather than being short-lived, such a relationship endures over time, and there’s generally a base level of goodness required in each person for it to exist in the first place.
People who lack empathy and the ability to care for others seldom develop these kinds of relationships because their preference tends toward pleasure or utility. What’s more, friendships of virtue take time and trust to build. They depend on mutual growth.
We’re much more likely to connect at this level with someone when we’ve seen them at their worst and watched them grow — or if we’ve endured mutual hardship with them.
Beyond their depth and intimacy, the beauty of these relationships is in how they include the rewards of the other two types. They’re beneficial and pleasurable. When you respect a person and care for them, you gain joy from spending time with them. If they’re a good enough person to warrant such a relationship to begin with, there’s utility there, too. They help maintain your mental and emotional health.
These relationships require time and intention, but when they blossom, they do so with trust, admiration, and awe. They bring with them some of the sweeter joys that life has to offer.
Aristotle’s legacy
There’s a good reason Aristotle’s work continues to be read some 2,000 years after his death. Not everything he wrote is relevant today, of course, and many of his assumptions have been argued against. He taught us to examine the world empirically, and he inspired generations of thinkers and philosophers to consider the role and value of ethics in the everyday conduct of our lives, including our relationships.
Life is too short for shallow friendships.
While he saw the value in accidental friendships based on pleasure and utility, he felt that their impermanence diminished their potential. They lacked depth and a solid foundation.
Instead, he argued for the cultivation of virtuous friendships built with intention and based on a mutual appreciation of character and goodness. He knew these friendships could only be strengthened over time — and if they did thrive, they’d last for life.
We are, and we live through, the people we spend time with. The bonds we forge with those close to us directly shape the quality of our lives. Life is too short for shallow friendships. | https://humanparts.medium.com/aristotles-timeless-advice-on-what-real-friendship-is-and-why-it-matters-c0878418343f | ['Zat Rana'] | 2020-05-07 14:38:28.179000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Education', 'Life', 'Philosophy'] |
Paris Saint-Germain’s German influence overcomes the Germans | In Jonathan Wilson’s Pioneering reds to the Reds: Why Jürgen Klopp’s pressing is a perfect fit for the age, Wilson takes us on a trip through time, witnessing the evolution of pressing. From Valeriy Lobanovskyi to Ralf Rangnick and how the pressing family tree spans into different leaves after that.
One of these connections between parent and leaf is one between Rangnick and Thomas Tuchel. A manager-player connection during their time at SSV Ulm. And it was at that time that Rangnick did that famous interview on ZDF where he explains on a tactic board how his four man defence and pressing operate. This seems normal now, but at that time in a country in love with three man defences and liberos, it was revolutionary.
Tuchel took over from Juergen Klopp at Mainz after a stint with the youth team. The tree was growing more links by then.
From a senior career accumulating sub 100 senior club appearances to the Champions League final. Tuchel with a sprained ankle and a fractured metatarsal sat down on an ice box in Marcelo Bielsa fashion, watching his Paris Saint-Germain side harry RB Leipzig to suffocation.
Leipzig who have their own Rangnick connection and Julian Nagelsmann who himself has his own connections with Tuchel — feels like something out of Netflix’s Dark series.
It would have made more sense if Leipzig were the one causing problems for PSG when pressing them, but it was the other way round.
The exclusion of Mauro Icardi raised a few flags before the game, but come the end of the first half. Everything made sense. Tuchel implemented a cohesive pressing scheme where even the €222 million Neymar Jr and the €145m+€35m Kylian Mbappe had to put in a shift.
The interchanging of markers was impressive from PSG and it wasn’t limited to Angel Di Maria, Ander Herrera and Leandro Paredes. Neymar featured regularly as well.
Leipzig’s shape in possession saw Angelino pushing forward in a left wing back role as Konrad Laimer occupied the right side. That meant leaving the rest of Leipzig’s defence in a three man shape. PSG’s front three matched them, while Paredes picked up Marcel Sabitzer. On the wings, Juan Bernat marked Laimer and the interesting side was the other one. Ander Herrera played a dual pressing role, covering both Kevin Kampl and Angelino, depending on Leipzig’s available passing angles.
When there were no passing angle into Angelino, Herrera picked up Kampl. Angelino is completely free here but he couldn’t be reached directly and a pass in any direction to reach Angelino would result in PSG adjusting their pressing shape to accommodate.
In this scenario, Dayot Upamecano decided to play a pass inside into Kampl who was nearer to Paredes than Herrera. Paredes was triggered forcing Kampl into a poor first touch, losing the ball to Mbappe. The attack continued and Mbappe was put in a 1 v 1 situation by Herrera’s through ball but the result was only a corner kick.
A similar situation could be seen here. Herrera again focused on Kampl, completely ignoring Angelino as there is no passing option into him. Up front Mbappe is jumping on Upamecano, forcing him into a decision. The cohesiveness of this pressing scheme is in how the other PSG players are already starting their press before the pressed opponent has the ball. Paredes is closing up to Sabitzer in case the vertical pass was played. Meanwhile Neymar is sprinting ferociously towards Nordi Mukiele.
When Mukiele received the ball from Upamecano, his passing options are limited because of Neymar. He only has the option of Laimer.
Laimer, who is pressed by Bernat, has three options according to his body shape. A quickly whipped ball forward, a simple pass in-front of Mukiele or a pass into Kampl. The second and third option are taken out by Paredes. The Argentine’s horizontal movement across towards Laimer brings him closer to option two while blocking passing lane into Kampl, removing option three. Laimer goes with option one and PSG collect the ball.
Herrera’s dual role made him cautious when there is a passing angle into Angelino. If he followed Kampl here he leaves Angelino free and only Thilo Kehrer can press him. Had that happened the domino effect means leaving Christopher Nkunku free and three quick passes from Leipzig puts them in a dangerous position. Herrera holds his position correctly while also being aided by Di Maria who can press Kampl inside the pitch.
Peter Gulacsi falls into the trap and Herrera moves out to press Angelino. He is blocking one passing option forward here, the other player blocking another passing option is Di Maria who is following Kampl inside the pitch. Angelino has to go back and reset. The press broke down the attack.
Marquinhos was in position to sweep as well, but not only sweep the ball. Sweep the ball or the man.
The most constant theme analyzing this pressing scheme was how PSG neglected Dani Olmo, only blocking passing lanes into him but not wasting a man to mark him. It’s nothing related to Olmo nor his ability, rather the idea of if X isn’t accessible, then why care about X?
If the ball can’t reach Olmo from Leipzig’s build up, then it’s a waste to use Marquinhos to man mark him. The Brazilian played as a pressing sweeper behind the pressing shape, ready to pick up any man.
There was also flexibility in terms of pressing. Herrera here is too far from either Kampl or Angelino. Kehrer notices that the switch to Angelino is incoming and moves out to press Angelino.
Contrary to what is mentioned above, there is no gap this time as Herrera dropped to cover the right back position. In a role switch Kehrer pressed Kampl after pressing Angelino, forcing the midfielder into a poor ball resulting in a throw in for PSG.
During goal kicks, Leipzig wanted to implement a 3–2 setup by using Gulacsi and pushing one of the center backs (Upamecano here) next to Kampl. PSG adapted to this excellently. The front three maintained a narrow line, ready to press Leipzig’s center backs while covering Upamecano and Kampl in case Gulacsi plays a direct ball into them. Out wide Herrera and Bernat are in position to press Angelino and Laimer in case the ball was floated into them.
As the ball is moved across from Gulacsi towards Angelino through Lukas Klostermann, the PSG pressing shape adjusts. Herrera moves up the pitch to press Angelino, Di Maria moves wide to block the passing option into Klostermann, while Neymar drops on to Kampl to press him if the pass was played into him.
Angelino goes back to Klostermann with Kampl now completely out of the equation. There is no passing angle into Kampl, therefore Neymar is free to press elsewhere. Klostermann has only two passing options here, Gulacsi and Upamecano. Both are taken out by Neymar’s vertical sprint.
Neymar managed to block Gulacsi’s long ball but the ball hitting his hand denied PSG from an early opener.
Another goal kick with the same set up.
Right as Klostermann is receiving the ball, Herrera is sprinting towards Angelino and Neymar is dropping on to Kampl.
A mirror image of the previous situation. Kampl and Klostermann are crossed out as passing options. Angelino had to play a forward pass under pressure from Herrera and as always, PSG collect.
PSG’s second goal was a consequence of this imperious pressing scheme. The 3 v 3 is set, Herrera is positioned near Kampl but not too far from Angelino in case the ball switched to the far side, and Paredes centrally tracking Sabitzer. Di Maria starts the time bomb here, blocking the passing option into Klostermann while also pressing Gulacsi.
Gulaci’s time is running out and his body shape means that his ball will be played to the far side of the pitch. Herrera adjusts accordingly, preparing himself to make a move towards Angelino. Paredes’ movement here is the key. His movement up the field closes down on Sabitzer but also blocks the passing lane into Kampl. Now the three options that Gulacsi might have played the ball into are all out.
Gulacsi’s pass wasn’t into anyone and was directly played towards Herrera. Paredes collected, then a sublime back heel from Neymar put Di Maria in front of goal to make it 2–0 and probably end the game.
PSG scored a third in the beginning of the second half and the game drifted away after that. A Champions League final for the first time in their history awaiting the winner of the second semi final between Bayern Munich and Lyon.
Tuchel is a disciple of the pressing family tree. Each person on this tree has his own quirks. A mix between the styles of this tree and that of the possession football family tree is the current evolution. A hybrid approach that Juergen Klopp and Pep Guardiola reached to maintain equilibrium.
Who will break the cycle ? | https://zuishek.medium.com/paris-saint-germains-german-influence-overcomes-the-germans-995568a580f1 | ['Ahmed Walid'] | 2020-08-19 11:39:28.237000+00:00 | ['Rb Leipzig', 'Paris Saint Germain', 'Champions League'] |
My Vaccine Paranoia Didn’t Begin With My Grandmother’s Death | My Vaccine Paranoia Didn’t Begin With My Grandmother’s Death
My favorite person in the entire world died of cancer. Not only did it shatter me irreparably, it didn’t make sense. Although my grandmother was the epitome of Black Southerner (besides walking miles to receive an education as a child and baking cakes and pies with sorcery as an adult, her first name was Virginia), she was one of the healthiest people I’d ever known. Her breakfast was normally light — toast or small bagel with tea sometimes, but mostly coffee (heavier breakfast items like grits and biscuits were saved for the weekend). In the summertime, her diet consisted primarily of colorful plate-sized salads accentuated by the tomatoes she grew in her backyard. She’d never eat late at night. My grandmother was supposed to live until 100. Instead, cancer sent her home in her mid-eighties.
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
http://embrasser-h.com/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
http://allergyfreesweets.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
http://www.ridembl.com/canales-tv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/fujji-liv/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs20.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs19.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs18.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs17.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs16.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs15.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs14.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs13.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs12.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs11.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs10.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs9.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs8.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs7.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs6.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs5.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs4.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs3.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs2.html
http://sksouken.jp/mia-k/video-57th-National-University-Rugby-liv-tvs1.html
My family is convinced that the American government is at the root of my grandmother’s cancer. Although grandma was one of the most humble and genuine beings to have walked this Earth, she was quietly vain. She loved to look good. She made certain that her hats were as regal as her deaconess title and waistline belied her age. Unfortunately, as a younger woman, her vanity and healthy lifestyle were preyed upon. In the 1950s, Americans were introduced to “diet” foods and beverages. My grandmother’s favorites were the sweets and sodas. Years before the Diet Pepsis and Diet Sprites hit the market, there was the very first sugar-free Ginger Ale: No-Cal. Coca-Cola was the first major soft drink brand to target dieters. Assuming the catalyst was Coke’s fear of healthy pop failing and staining the brand, the beverage giant launched the alt can, TaB. Its tagline: How can just one calorie taste so good?’
Riding the initial success of TaB, Coca-Cola introduced a grapefruit-flavored diet soda named Fresca in the early ’60s. The dominant ingredient in both TaB and Fresca was an artificial sweetener called cyclamate. In 1969, it was discovered that a heavy intake of cyclamate could cause cancer. TaB switched to saccharin until a decade later, when that too was discovered to be potentially cancerous. These are decades of poisonous federally approved products being relentlessly sold to Americans, to my grandmother.
After decades of drinking TaB, grandma eventually switched to Diet 7Up. In the ’80s, she began eating diet candies. The sweet appetite suppressant Ayds was her go-to. They initially came in chocolate, caramel and butterscotch flavors. The chemical in Ayds that repressed appetites was benzocaine, an anesthesia that lessened the sensation in tastebuds. While benzocaine was deemed safe by federal standards, there have been reports of terrible side effects. Makes sense since its primary use is topical treatment — everything from ear wax removal to mosquito bite treatment to dulling penis sensitivity to lessen the risk of premature ejaculation. Doesn’t exactly scream delicious.
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-1.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-2.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-3.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-4.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-5.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-6.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-7.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-8.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/pkp/k-s-f-9.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-1.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-2.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-3.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-4.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-5.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-6.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-7.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-8.html
http://embrasser-h.com/kgc/k-s-f-9.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-1.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-2.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-3.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-4.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-5.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-6.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-7.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-8.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/media/k-s-f-9.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
https://members.victimsofcrime.org/bul/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
http://embrasser-h.com/koy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
http://www.mycal.ca/dth/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
http://khanuul.mn/video//ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
https://www.torontolofts.ca/dfy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
https://kagider.org/kjp/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
http://www.ridembl.com//fuy/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv901.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv902.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv903.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv904.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv905.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv906.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv907.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv908.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv909.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv910.html
https://www.thomsonstb.net/js/ggg-v-szer-box-liv-on-tv911.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
https://rinaz.co.jp/Rugby/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
http://lanap.jp/fuji/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
https://www.usgph-handball.fr/CSS/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
https://www.globetravelcentre.com/Fox/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
http://khanuul.mn/js/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs01.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs02.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs03.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs04.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs05.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs06.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs07.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs08.html
https://www.renatus-japan.co.jp/JPG/jp-KBS-Festival-2020-tbs09.html | https://medium.com/@brushleeeee/my-vaccine-paranoia-didnt-begin-with-my-grandmother-s-death-f687b451d04d | [] | 2020-12-18 14:52:14.628000+00:00 | ['Biden', 'Politics', 'Trump', 'Covid 19', 'News'] |
Pros of Different Python String Formatting Methods | Now let’s see the pros of each method one by one.
%-format
%-format is very similar to the classic C printf() function. So it is easy to understand or share with other people who are new to Python.
The big advantage of %-format is that you can pass a tuple or list as argument directly. This is very useful if you want to pass a long list of arguments, for instance, you read data from database or spreadsheet and format a long string in XML or JSON format.
replacement_str = '%s is %s'
arg_tuple = ('pi', 3.14)
print(replacement_str % arg_tuple)
# out:
pi is 3.14
Note: You can achieve the same in str.format() by passing the address of a tuple/list, e.g., *arg_tuple, which is not intuitive and simple, IMHO.
And it is handy if you want to define the same format for multiple data, where you define the format only once.
str_format = '%-10s, %s'
headers = ('Result','Message')
row1 = ('Successful','abc')
row2 = ('Failed','efg')
print(str_format % headers)
print(str_format % row1)
print(str_format % row2)
# Out:
Result , Message
Successful, abc
Failed , efg
Note: You can achieve the same in str.format() but not f-string.
str.format()
str.format() can avoid passing repeated arguments.
You can use the same position or argument name in replacement fields if the same argument is used more than once in the string.
print('{0} + {0} = {1}'.format('pi', 6.28) )
# out:
pi + pi = 6.28
Or you can pass one argument and access its multiple attributes or items in the string.
tuple1=('pi', 3.14)
print('{v[0]} is {v[1]}'.format(v=tuple1))
# out:
pi is 3.14
Equivalent formatting:
print('{} is {}'.format(tuple1[0],tuple1[1]))
Another useful case for str.format() is nesting argument. You can also achieve it using %-format, but it looks nicer using str.format(), IMHO.
In this example, we convert a dict to a list of string using {}-format, and join them with ‘
’, then pass it as a nesting argument to the main string in {}-format.
dict1={'k1':1, 'k2':'two'}
print('{}
{}'.format(
'Line 1',
'
'.join('{}: {}'.format(k, v) for k, v in dict1.items())
)
)
Out:
Line 1
k1: 1
k2: two
f-string
f-string, also called formatted string literal, is pretty much identical to str.format(), but just put arguments directly in the string. It has a unique function, though. You can call an argument’s methods directly in the formatted string, while str.format() can call attributes or items only. | https://peter-jp-xie.medium.com/pros-of-different-python-string-formatting-methods-318f1bdeca93 | ['Peter Xie'] | 2020-11-23 11:09:21.505000+00:00 | ['String Format', 'Python'] |
Significance of Coworking Space for Startups and Small Businesses | The last decade has seen a groundbreaking revolution when it comes to the rise of co-working spaces. There was a time when the ones who lacked capital were forced to rent out space or work from home. While these places have been a success story for many, they pose clear drawbacks that restrict the company from scaling and growing into a bigger one.
If you are a startup or a small business that is finding it hard to operate from a rented-out space or are unable to invest in a place, co-working spaces come to the rescue here! The right address is necessary as it plays the calling card for your services and helps build customer trust and hence customer acquisition.
Co-working spaces also fill the gap by providing affordable working spaces in a professional setting. These collaborative spaces offer their members a varied number of amenities at affordable prices thus saving them from big investment costs. They become the ultimate support system for the new business’s growth as they now have access to superior infrastructure, like-minded people, and prominent locations.
How about knowing the perks of a co-working in brief, so you know that a coworking space will be the ultimate match for your startup both in terms of your business requirements and ethos? Let’s start:
1. Sense of community:
Networking is known to be crucial for startups/small businesses to build a customer base. Coworking spaces play a mediator and encourage collaborative networking. In a coworking space, members are more prone to finding people who think like them which makes it easy to make connections both on personal and professional levels. These people also tend to help the startups/small business by providing freelancing services, help, and advice whenever required so.
2. Flexibility and Affordability:
Coworking spaces have no fixed working hours or workplace; it’s all about what helps you be productive. Also, when a startup grows its business, it obviously starts hiring more people as the need arises. In the expansion stage, a coworking space is more feasible as it is more cost-effective than a traditional working space. Companies can change their membership plans as per the requirement. Coworking spaces are all-inclusive which makes them extremely beneficial and affordable. The members sign an agreement which sets out fess for space usage and amenities which helps in saving a lot.
3. Availability of facilities:
Coworking spaces are well equipped with office facilities like telecommunication services, printing, scanning, conference rooms, parking, and recreational areas. All these facilities tend to increase the productivity and creativity of startups and small businesses as they don’t have to worry about the overhead costs associated with these. All they have left to do is work hard and achieve more. 4. Professional setup: There are many instances where startups getting a kick start in cafes, garages and a single room are heard. These may be beneficial sometimes but not always. The first impressions are very vital for startups and small businesses.
When it comes to meeting clients, cafes and restaurants can only cater to a point but a coworking space provides a professional setup that helps in building trust and hence easier client acquisition.
4. Mentorship:
Startups and small businesses get to connect with people who are much more experienced and have a great amount of knowledge. It is incredibly valuable to connect with these successful people and learn the tricks of the market to succeed. Some coworking spaces also offer mentorship programs and regular workshops where members get to interact with industry leaders and experts.
Liked what you read? If you are a startup or small business looking for a coworking space that has all of the above, join Buro today! Buro is a fully serviced rental office space that provides you with the best amenities at affordable prices. All you have to worry is about your work and all the overhead charges are taken care of by us. This shared office place helps you grow, have a different perspective, and let you take time to relax too. With events like mentor programs, community events, and talks we help you network properly and get things done with ease! Sounds good, doesn’t it? | https://medium.com/@thepratik/significance-of-coworking-space-for-startups-and-small-businesses-34999d507a3f | ['Pratik Patel'] | 2020-12-10 11:20:50.244000+00:00 | ['Coworking', 'Marketing', 'Startup', 'Business', 'Entrepreneur'] |
Thanos Voted For Hillary… Not Trump | Thanos Voted For Hillary… Not Trump
Credit: Getty/Marvel Studios/Gage Skidmore
All Social Justice Warriors, Lefties, Libtards or whatever you want to call them have the same wet dream…
To live in a world where humanity lives in perfect harmony with the environment. All things are equal and perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
Sound familiar?
Credit: Marvel Studios
The Left believes government intervention is necessary to create a brighter future for ALL of us. Hey, imagine we could solve all the world’s problems with one snap of our fingers…
Credit: Marvel Studios
I’d hate to break it to you, but Thanos is a Lefty…
Nooo!!! (Credit: Marvel Studios)
I’m sorry…
“There was no other way.” — Doctor Strange
Thanos is of the Left
People often put forth ‘Communism’ as the most extreme Left you can get. This system gives the government the Power to control everything and everyone.
Having issues with overpopulation?
Easy, make it illegal to have more than one child! China did it when they implemented their one-child policy…
Credit: IISG
Communists seek to create a utopia where resources are “in theory” supposed to be shared equally among everyone. Everyone lives in perfect harmony, everyone’s needs are catered for.
Unfortunately, this seldom happens. People who hold the Power, tend to abuse it. Many people get hurt as a result.
Much of the media that we consume today depicts the Left as the good guys. Infinity War doesn’t.
I’d argue that the leader of the Avengers is none other than a right-wing conservative!
Captain America is Right!
I’d hate to shatter your world again, but Captain America is of the Right…
Cheer up pal (Credit: Marvel Studios)
No one will be more shocked by this than the actor who plays him in the films…
But it’s true.
When the government tried to ‘control’ the superheroes in Civil War, who took a stand against them? Who became disillusioned with the idea of government interference?
Less regulations is the mantra of the Right!
They have a “leave things alone” policy and that’s exactly what Captain America wants the government to let him and the rest of the Avengers do… be left alone!
The Right are often seen as having more traditional views and values. What could be more traditional than a man from the past living in the modern world???
Credit: Marvel Studios
Let’s face it. When it comes to Infinity War, the Right are right.
Left vs. Right
Infinity War is really about the war against dangerous Leftist ideologies. It’s about one man (or alien) believing he knows best and choosing to impose his views on the rest of society.
The Infinity Gauntlet is the ultimate tool of governance. A tool, if placed in the wrong hands, that can be truly catastrophic.
The movie ends with the villain getting his way. Half of all life is wiped out…
“Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.” – Thanos
The promise of a perfect Utopia rings true only for a select few…
Credit: Marvel Studios
But don’t throw away your Democrat vote just yet. Infinity War is also about the war against a cruel and narcissistic dictator…
Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty
But that’s a discussion for another time. | https://medium.com/@davidcaracciolo/thanos-voted-for-hillary-not-trump-68cb79dc4374 | ['David Caracciolo'] | 2018-12-13 13:01:00.904000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Hillary Clinton', 'Marvel', 'Donald Trump', 'Politics'] |
Why Free Money Day Makes You Richer | Why Free Money Day Makes You Richer
In a world where hoarding wealth is considered the norm, giving money to complete strangers seems like a radical idea.
Co-written with Tegan Tallulah
Melissa Walker Horn via Unsplash
In a world where hoarding wealth is considered the norm, giving money to complete strangers, with no strings attached, seems like a radical idea. Yet, for the hundreds who have taken part in Free Money Day since its humble beginnings in 2011, there is a knowing that greater sharing is needed in this world, now more than ever.
More than this though, our experiences on Free Money Day, each September 15th, confirm that people feel more comfortable giving, than receiving. In 2014, for example, Jennifer Hinton said it took her and three friends over an hour to give away 35 Euros in Athens, Greece.
This is where Free Money Day offers such a liberating opportunity; for while the day is certainly a chance for people to push through personal inhibitions about engaging with strangers, it offers an even greater opportunity to expand our ability to receive. In wrestling with the judgments we place on ourselves in relation to money and our worthiness, we more clearly see the pervasive influence of mainstream stories about human nature (if we are essentially greedy and separate from each other, how could we possibly give freely to a complete stranger?). With love and vulnerability at the heart of the Free Money Day exchange, we can continue to collectively heal the rifts that emerge in any scarcity-based culture.
But few are willing to jump straight into the vulnerability of receiving from a stranger. So we encourage Free Money Day participants to use a simple technique (which also serves to spread the experiment: Suggest to recipients that they keep half the money you are giving them, and pass the other half on to someone else. This technique massively increases people’s willingness to engage in the experiment, reinforcing that people feel a need to view the giving as legitimate, which in turn legitimises the receiving.
Few are willing to jump straight into the vulnerability of receiving from a stranger.
It‘s not always easy to give away money
In many ways, it is not surprising that people are suspicious, confused, even sometimes offended when they are offered ‘free money’. Mainstream economics still holds that we are driven by rational desires to further our self-interest. This assumption drives a pernicious culture that reinforces its own beliefs by placing on the pinnacle of success those who have been most successful at maximizing their self-interest. So many hear the words ‘free money’ and immediately think ‘greedy scam’. But greed has been absent at every Free Money Day event so far. No one has tried to ‘game’ the experience to make money for themselves. Rather, generosity has been abundant; from people handing out the last few notes in their wallets, to one couple giving away $35,000 of land to whoever arrived next on their organic farm.
Greed has been absent at every Free Money Day event so far. No one has tried to ‘game’ the experience to make money for themselves.
Where we are most wounded is in receiving the generosity of others. Perhaps part of the reason so many Free Money Day participants have reported unwillingness to receive is because we have a cultural connotation that receiving help, from anyone — especially strangers — is linked with weakness. In this way, as experienced by this man who filmed himself trying to give away money, offering help becomes an insult — an accusation that someone cannot manage by themselves — rather than what it is intended to be — a gesture of love and goodwill.
In this light, Jennifer Hinton reported that the most common response she received when she offered people money was “please give it to someone who needs it more than me”. Certainly this response can stem, in part, from generosity for others, and the caring ethic that the Free Money Day experiment hopes to grow. But perhaps there is a part of this response that emanates from a deeper belief: That we are not worthy of love and support, especially not from people who we have never helped. Perhaps it’s a product of the ruthless individualism promoted by neoliberal ideology — where people are expected to succeed by themselves, for themselves. Perhaps centuries of market-based capitalism have ingrained the transaction model so deeply in our psyches that getting something for nothing seems like an impossible trick. And perhaps this is why suggestions to ‘pay it forward’ and learn about the event on the website seems to make people more comfortable with receiving.
Excessive taking (greed) is tightly related to materialism, and evidence shows materialism is correlated with personal insecurity. Insecure people feel unable to fully receive the riches they have been given, and when people are supported, loved and feel abundant, they tend to naturally give with immense generosity.
Thus, Free Money Day is an invitation to explore both giving and receiving. In particular, this year, what can you do to encourage people to receive more willingly? Perhaps your smile can break through their cynicism. Perhaps they will feel your heart. And, if so, what a wonderful opportunity for growth because, as the spiritual teacher, Tiziana DellaRovere, says, the expression give and ye shall receive should actually be reversed: receive, and ye shall give. As we increase our capacity to receive love, we are more able to give of it to others in a healthy way.
Free Money Day is an invitation to explore both giving and receiving.
Let us continue to share with others that receiving is not about being weak, nor is it about being greedy. It is about honouring the understanding that we are all worthy of love, responding graciously to the gift of the giver’s desire to give, and replenishing our trust in humanity, so that we can continue to experience the richness of our interconnection on this finite planet. | https://medium.com/post-growth-institute/why-free-money-day-makes-you-richer-db257fa1215f | ['Donnie Maclurcan'] | 2019-11-12 14:01:55.324000+00:00 | ['Sharing', 'Money', 'Post Growth', 'Wealth', 'Leadership'] |
B2B vs B2C PR: What’s the Difference? | As with most things in life, when it comes to PR and comms, one size doesn’t fit all. There’s no magic formula that works for every business. The PR approach that’s right for yours will depend on a number of variables, from your company goals and objectives, to the challenges facing your industry. But one of the key factors is your target market.
Defining your target market: B2C vs B2B
The acronyms B2C and B2B represent two major types of marketing: Business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B).
Business to consumer (B2C)
B2C businesses sell products and services directly to the end user. That chocolate bar you bought from the corner shop? B2C. The latte from Starbucks? B2C. Those killer heels you bought on eBay? B2C. You get the idea.
Business to business (B2B)
B2B companies sell products and services to other businesses. Take PR Superstar. My clients are businesses looking to boost their profiles with media coverage in the UK, European and international media. I offer B2B services.
The company that did your office refurb? B2B. Your advertising agency? B2B. Your business accountant? B2B.
Can a company be both?
Yes. A growing number of businesses cater to both. Mobile phone behemoth O2 sells contracts to the average joe and delivers managed network services to corporate clients. And tech giant Google has both its standard search engine for consumers, and Google Enterprise Search for businesses.
That’s B2C and B2B, all under one roof.
What you need to know
We’ve established that the main difference between B2B and B2C is who you’re selling to, businesses or consumers. But there are other differences, and they’ll all have an impact on your PR and comms.
Humans are emotional creatures. Every decision we make consists of many conscious and subconscious emotions. We all have the same basic emotional triggers and needs that drive action. Needless to say, the triggers for B2C and B2B buyers are different.
So when it comes to the difference between B2B and B2C PR, understanding those triggers is your key to success.
Let’s look at B2C first.
The power of fear in B2C
Fear is a powerful emotion. It can drive us to do things we otherwise wouldn’t. And FOMO (or ‘fear of missing out’) is a way to tap into it. FOMO refers to a general anxiety that other people are having more fun, living better lives, or experiencing better things than you.
We’ve all experienced it: It’s that pang of envy you get when you see photos and status updates on Facebook of your friends doing incredible things: watching an England match from a company box, brunching at an exclusive restaurant, or sipping mojitos on an exotic beach.
FOMO is a powerful psychological trigger that we can’t help responding to. Savvy brands have cottoned on to this and play on it in their comms.
The king of FOMO marketing is tech giant, Apple. In the lead-up to product launches, they use social media to build hype. They deliberately leak product details which Apple fans excitedly share with the world. A side effect of FOMO is the desire to be the first to know. Once the hype is at fever pitch, Apple release a limited quantity of each product, making people want them that much more. This is a textbook example of FOMO marketing.
Instant gratification with B2C
Dulux Paint Visualiser
In the age of the internet and social media, consumers expect to find services, products, and information on demand. As a result, we no longer have to go to a shop to rent a movie. We have Netflix. We no longer have to wait until our favourite artist’s CD is on sale in the shops to listen to it. We have Spotify. We can get pretty much anything we want, instantly.
The moral of the story is: don’t keep your customers waiting. Make it crystal clear in your interviews, editorials and interactions with your customers and the media, how your product or service can fulfil an immediate need.
Take, for example, paint brand Dulux. To satisfy the need for instant gratification, they created and marketed a paint colour visualiser function on their website, which enables users to virtually ‘paint’ a room in their house with any Dulux colour before committing to buy.
It’s a great example of a business marketing to our desire for instant gratification. Incidentally, instant gratification often leads to instant purchases. Bonus.
So how about B2B?
The emotional triggers of B2B
B2B customers are triggered by different emotions. They’re looking for ways to save time and money while boosting productivity. They’re looking for reliable, credible businesses to work with.
Risk averse B2B purchases
Hiscox ‘Encourage Courage’ campaign
The stakes are high for B2B buyers as the purchases are typically worth more. Jobs, reputations and livelihoods can be on the line. For this reason, B2B buyers tend to be risk averse. Anything you can do to reassure them that you and your business are reliable will work in your favour.
Computer hardware brand IBM is renowned for using this tactic. Their former tagline, ‘nobody ever got fired for buying IBM,’ put them on the radar for business owners around the globe.
Meanwhile British insurance brand Hiscox played up to the security emotion with their ‘encourage courage’ campaign, where the key message was ‘it’s ok to take risks as Hiscox has your back’.
How can you convince your prospects they’re in safe hands with your business?
Building trust in B2B
Trust is one of the most effective triggers in emotional marketing. Trust leads to brand loyalty, which ultimately leads to repeat business.
To earn your customer’s trust, follow these six comms principles:
Be open and transparent in your comms. This goes for customers, prospects and the media.
Put customer’s testimonials on your website, plus links to your reviews on third-party sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.
Shout about any awards you’ve won on your website, social media and in press releases
Reduce the level of risk and show confidence in your product or service by offering a 100% money-back guarantee, or a free trial.
People buy from people. So, humanise your brand. Let consumers get to know the people behind your business. Film the CEO talking about your product on camera and stick it on the front page of your website. Put your team in the spotlight. Include pictures and bios of them. Get them to write guest blog posts and hold online Q&A sessions. It’ll make people warm to you.
We all love a good stat. If you have some impressive results, figures, stats or facts about your business, post them. If you’ve got loads, turn them into an impressive infographic.
Five key differences around B2B vs B2C PR
1. Short vs long buying cycle
As consumers, we tend to make purchase decisions quickly, if not on-the-spot. We don’t form a committee and take a month to decide between Coke and Pepsi. But this is often the case for B2B businesses. Whether it’s office furniture, a business trip, or a broadband connection, every purchase is carefully researched and considered.
It can be a lengthy process, so you need to find ways to keep your prospect engaged through each stage of the buying cycle. Give them added value content such as eBooks and white papers. Invite them out for lunch. Invite them to seminars and exclusive company events.
The more work you put in to building a rapport, the better position you’ll be in when it comes to decision time.
2. Education vs entertainment
Leading on from the last point, B2B buyers do a huge amount of research before investing in a product or service. They’re looking for credible, informed and respected suppliers. So, you need to wow them with your industry knowledge and expertise.
There are various ways to do this.
Invite your prospects to an exclusive webinar or seminar that covers an issue facing their industry or business.
Host a live Q&A/troubleshooting session with your prospects and customers on Facebook Live or Skype
Create a bank of thought leadership content, from events you speak at, to guest blog posts you write. Go to lectures, seminars and CPD events. The more informed you are, the more sway you’ll hold with prospects.
However, this isn’t so important for B2C buyers. For them, your content needs to be simple, entertaining, and relatable. They want videos that make them smile, blogs that make them laugh, and social updates they can share with their friends.
PR Tip: For the B2B buyers, make sure your owned media channels are packed with educational content. It needs to address their pain points and demonstrate the value of your product or service. Ebooks, white papers and detailed blog posts are your friends here.
3. Long-term relationships vs impulse sales
Once a B2B business finds a supplier they trust, they’ll stick with you. It can be a long and beautiful relationship.
B2C customers, well, let’s just say, they’re just not that into you. B2C buyers can be just as loyal to your brand as business customers, of course. There are people out there who refuse to buy any other soft drink than Coca-Cola and will only wear Nike shoes to go to the gym. However, most of these sales are made on a one-time basis, with the hope of repeat business. That means that B2C organisations spend more time on brand awareness, than customer retention campaigns.
4. Online vs trade press
Beauty blogger Zoella
The media channels you approach will be different for B2B and B2C audiences. If you’re promoting a funky new brand of makeup for Millennials, your target market won’t be reading technical trade magazines. They’ll be on Instagram, checking out the latest vlogs from beauty influencers such as Zoella.
If you’re selling accountancy software to CFOs, they won’t be sliding into DMs on Twitter. They’ll be looking for valuable content in the likes of Accountancy Daily.
Do your homework and find out where your audience consumes information and target them there.
PR Tip: Be mindful of your brand voice. Keep it simple for B2C audiences. The industry lingo you throw around in the office might impress B2B customers. But it’s a major turnoff for a B2C consumer.
For B2B audiences, be professional, informative and helpful. You can use industry-specific terminology as your readers will have some understanding of your industry. But don’t overdo it.
5. Instagram vs LinkedIn
For B2C brands, brand awareness is key. The aim with social media is to gain as many followers as possible and generate a buzz and desire for your product. Instagram and YouTube are ideal for this as videos and images are easy to consume and share.
However, B2B social is a different beast. Buyers are looking for content that’s going to help them solve a business problem. The first place they typically look is LinkedIn.
Give them what they want in the form of articles, white papers, blog posts and thought pieces. They’ll love you for it.
PR Tip: An Instagram post may be an effective way to generate buzz for a consumer product like makeup or shoes, but it’s not going to cut the mustard for Cloud accounting software. Conversely, no-one’s going to read a white paper on toothpaste. Make sure your content fits the medium.
Know your niche
Which camp does your business fall into? B2C, B2B? Both? Be sure you know the answer before writing your press release or doing that interview on local radio. It won’t be successful if you don’t understand the needs, challenges and motivation of your buyers.
The distinct target audiences for B2B and B2C necessitate different approaches, which is why many PR agencies specialise in one or the other. PR Superstar is experienced in both areas and can help you target the right media outlets and get your brand in front of the right people. Give me a call to talk tactics today. | https://medium.com/@prsuperstaruk/b2b-vs-b2c-pr-whats-the-difference-1247b33e05b7 | ['Jill Kent Aka Pr Superstar'] | 2019-09-14 15:13:44.896000+00:00 | ['B2c', 'Public Relations', 'Marketing', 'Pr', 'B2B'] |
Anyone Who Doesn’t Enjoy Marmalade on Toast isn’t for Real | I’m always on the lookout for a story. The problem, as you might imagine, is that no story ever reveals itself to me as a complete manuscript. It might be as simple as an idea for a beginning. Other times an ending. But no story ever gifted itself to me as a complete entity. It always demands something else. So, when the stranger walking toward me, a mile or two into my stroll along the shore, I saw her as a beginning. Why not, right? The stranger, as she came closer, walked with a serious impediment in her stride, carrying a stick, hip dipping side to side. Even before we met, I had the idea this was how my story would begin. But then, well then, this happened: she disappeared. It was the perfect beginning, the certainty that she was right there. Then gone!
I got home, still bemused, and put the kettle on. The abrupt disappearance of the beginning of my story woman was still on my mind when I looked out the window, resting my hands on the kitchen drainer. You think I’m going to tell you she was standing there, on the shore, don’t you? No, she was not. When I turned away from the window she was sitting at the kitchen table. That would be hard enough to believe, I know. Either the beginning of the story happens on the shoreline, or it begins with a woman sitting at the kitchen table.
The fact is, when writing, everything seems kind of unreal. I like to be truthful, honestly, I do. But somehow, when writing, the truth gets away from me. I don’t mean it to, it just happens. Whichever beginning turns out to be the right one, you’re not likely to believe the woman on the shoreline and the woman sitting at the kitchen table are one and the same, Virginia Woolf.
She, too, likes a cup of tea but doesn’t enjoy spreading marmalade on her toast. Now look, you already don’t believe a word of this, I know. Why would you. That’s the problem with writing. I totally believe it. I believed, when I turned for home, that this story would begin with an old woman walking toward me on the shoreline. But then, having simply evaporated into thin air, is next experienced sitting at the kitchen table when I entered my home. She is, as I write, right here. She is intensely curious, not my fantasy, and not kind, chastising my poorly written work. I don’t care, she is Virginia Woolf. I feel important for being the object of her curiosity. Then, you know what happened next, right? She was gone. Yep, just like that. The dogs started barking. They sensed something unusual just happened.
Normally, whatever you artistically perceive that word to be, I am generally a secret of pretensions and amusements. Virginia, for all her brilliance, failed to see this in me. A year ago, this same idle discussion with another writer would have driven me into a murderous rage, but with understanding and patience, I have learned something important about myself. Virginia Woolf paid me a visit today. She might be incredibly sensitive about her own work, but she was not warm about mine. I was filed away as ‘irrelevant’ before she had time to drink her tea. “You haven’t experienced real heartache in the world,” she said. Wait! I begged, pleading to know what she meant. She didn’t wait.
There’s no point in stewing over the fact that Virginia Woolf thinks my writing stinks. I’ll go to the pub at lunchtime, have a cheese platter and a Guinness, and not think about it.
I’ve said this on several occasions that what we, each of us, gives to history cannot be judged by its value, but by what we give back. When I’m not writing, I’m less. I write. It is a painful thing to live with. A writer is a painful person to be with.
So, look, I’ll begin another story…there’s a man roaming the sand on my shoreline…who the hell is he? I’ll tell you another time.
Go to hell, Virginia Woolf. Anyone who doesn’t enjoy marmalade on their toast isn’t for real. | https://medium.com/lit-up/anyone-who-doesnt-enjoy-marmalade-on-toast-isn-t-for-real-9f8593cfa5e5 | ['Harry Hogg'] | 2020-07-22 22:35:20.048000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Storytelling', 'Lit Up', 'Ideas', 'Writing'] |
Where Homes Are Selling Faster in Australia | This Year in Australia one small Tasmanian suburb has been unveiled as the fastest property selling market. As it only takes an average of eight days to sell homes, says Anthony Warden. And according to a recent report Goodwood happens to be one of the suburbs in Australia with very fast property transactions. Properties in Sassafras, Diamond valley, and Killarney Heights which are at Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, and Sydney’s northern beaches respectively take only 10 days to sell. Keperra and Ferny Hills are located at Brisbane, Regency Park in Adelaide, Alfords Point at Sutherland Shire of Sydney, and Holder in Canberra are other areas property are fast selling.
Factors That Influence The Price of Property
This year anyone that wants to buy property in the hot market is running against time to get their offer in and accepted before any other person. The activity this year in the property market and the price growth are all due to improving household savings, government stimulus, returning outlands, economic conditions, and low house loan rates. From observation, all the highly contested suburbs are mostly small and in case of low stock turnover, the buyer is prepared to act. Once buyers find out the affordability of Goodwood property in comparison to other suburbs nearby the sale had become extremely fast.
The Goodwood and Moonah Property
For a very long time, many overlooked Goodwood but the shops and cafes at Moonah have made it a preferred area for everyone until the price increase this year. As a result, people started to search for areas outside Moonah with affordable prices and Greenwood happens to be the place. With the recent development, it doesn’t take much time to sell the property at Goodwood.
Read Full Story Here… | https://medium.com/@anthonywardan/where-homes-are-selling-faster-in-australia-6d536d541452 | ['Anthony Wardan'] | 2021-12-23 11:06:06.546000+00:00 | ['Real Estate', 'Property', 'Real Estate Investments', 'Anthony Wardan'] |
Episode 22 — Sex Work. In this episode of Uncomfortable, we… | In this episode of Uncomfortable, we chat to Heidi who has been a sex worker for 10 years. Heidi shares details of her life as a sex worker and sugar baby and explains how she has found empowerment, boundary setting and financial independence through the many lessons sex working has provided.
About Heidi:
Heidi is a 30 year old queer woman and has been a sex worker on/off for the last 10 years. Originally she was drawn to the double life that sex work provided, and found it a useful tool to quit the 9–5 work she had a hard time committing to. Now she uses it as a way to support herself while she grows her photography business. Heidi is lucky to have found empowerment, boundary setting and financial independence through the many lessons sex working has provided. She is currently writing a chapbook of her experiences.
This episode is fun and educational but it does contain adult language, so when listening, it’s best to pop your headphones on!
You can listen to our episode via RadioPublic (player below) or you can head over to Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify(as well as most of the other podcast players) and subscribe!
If you enjoyed our intimate conversation then feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page or rate us highly over on iTunes!
Check out our website at www.uncomfortable.blog and don’t forget to connect with us over on social media. We are on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook. | https://medium.com/@uncomfortable-blog/episode-22-sex-work-541881a212f0 | ['Debbie Roche'] | 2019-05-10 14:48:36.693000+00:00 | ['Sex Workers', 'Sex Work', 'Sex', 'Feminism', 'Podcast'] |
Rid Blurring Abstracts | Year after year, the goal is to rid ourselves of any kind of negativity. I never really was a true defeatist. My exceeding tough resilient charm has helped me to cultivate genuine optimism. Nevertheless, both pessimistic and optimistic worlds sit oppositely separated by a grey zone.
Yes, there is a mean line. Ironically, I chose the word mean here wanting to express its arithmetic definition. The mathematical mean illustrates an assessed mid tendency for a set of random life lessons. I could have chosen to use the psychological definition of the word mean by representing behavioral characteristics of life lessons.
Distorted hypothesis are not allowed to drive my life. Offering their stem to grow causes only highly self-toxic pollution. Letting darkness flow rapidly through my veins give rise to my heart rate, disturbs my grey brain cells and adds unwanted extra pounds of unnecessary grief.
Ridding myself of life’s adversities has given me invaluable vitality to focus on nothing but concrete and tangible in my entourage. Forbidding never ending blurring abstracts opened my world to nothing but beauty. Recycle your environment’s pausing negativity by using this fuel as a fast forward positivity motion!
Francine Fallara, 2020 | https://medium.com/blueinsight/rid-blurring-abstracts-583e80c9464d | ['Francine Fallara'] | 2020-12-17 22:24:11.483000+00:00 | ['Art', 'Self Improvement', 'Inspiration', 'Blue Insights', 'Inkling'] |
A Brief History of Conviction Voting | And other musings on algorithmic policy-making
I met the Aragon founders at ETH Buenos Aires May 2018, hung out with the Chris Burniske, Lane Rettig, Rhys Lindmark among many others. I had spent late 2017 and early 2018, wrapping up a paper on the mathematical framework I use for designing mechanisms in dynamical systems, and working with Markus Buhatem Koch and Fernando Martinelli, applying that framework to complete the proofs underpinning the Balancer Protocol. Notably, the Balancer protocol calls for subjective parameter choices in the form of tokens supported, and weights of pools. It was already clear to many active researchers that governance of parameters was not a hypothetical problem, but one which would eventually come to dominate the political landscape of blockchain-based ecosystems.
Two months later, I attended Tech Crunch Blockchain in Zug July of 2018 and token’s role in governance was a very common conversation point. Feeling motivated, I pulled an all nighter in Zug and wrote my first conviction voting PoC, an algorithm+simulation by framing governance as dynamic average consensus. Note that this was for continuous parameter selection not discrete choices. While in Zug, I met Griff Green (founder of Giveth), someone I’ve come to respect greatly — nobody I’ve met in the crypto space has been more giving, a one-man proof that you cannot reduce all humans to selfish agents.
Diagram Framing Social Choice as a dynamic process for estimation and execution of collective preference. (figure from M. Zargham, Sensor Networks and Social Choice, 2018)
Later that July, I presented my ongoing work at the Ninth Annual Conference on Complex Systems, in Cambridge Massachusetts. There I met Frank Wang, a partner at the research firm X-Order. Over the summer, I continued to mess around with variations of conviction voting; one of the use cases that drove my explorations was the (dynamic) selection of generative art algorithms for Artonomous, a tech-art project by Simon de la Rouviere. At Frank’s request, I drafted a proposal for continued research on conviction voting which contained the description of governance as “sensor fusion” which included formalizations for both the discrete choice (as in Artonomous) and continuous parameter selection as a collective preference estimation problem.
Stock and Flow diagram accounting for mechanism compositions required to achieve the full vision of the Autonomous Artist: “Artonomous” (figure from M. Zargham, Sensor Networks and Social Choice, 2018)
A few months later in Prague for Devcon IV, Griff introduced me to Jeff Emmett and we spent hours in cafes jamming on the ideas that became the backbone of the Commons Stack.
Those discussions have gone from theoretical considerations to practical concerns. I saw this tweet today:
The reason the Commons Stack exists, and the reason the focus has been more on norm formation, understanding boundaries of communities in terms of culture, and teaching principles carried forward from Ostrom’s work is exactly this observation. Governance mechanisms don’t do anything directly, they merely convert the signals expressed by their participants into a collective decision. Acknowledging that value is inter-subjective, it is incredibly important to reflect on what values you express through your participation in governance processes — and the extent to which your community shares those value determines the direction your governance process steers your system.
To keep this article from getting exceptionally long, I am going to fast forward past some really cool things that happened in the world of governance and algorthmic policy-making. Some highlights though — in February 2019, Gitcoin Launch its first matching round and the MolochDAO was deployed. These are among the longest running social ‘signal processing’ systems in the crypto-space. In early 2019, I was also very involved with SourceCred — a project about which I am very bullish. Again, the key concepts are: algorithms and their parameter selections are subjective choices and how framing these choices in a dynamic game provides insight into governance questions.
The on-going development of cadCAD has been motivated by a desire to use dynamic games as a frame for evaluating mechanisms (and parameters) for their signal processing properties. For Conviction Voting in particular, quite a lot of modeling has taken place both before and after the deployment of the algorithm by the 1hive DAO.
Here is an outline of relevant documentation:
Participate: join 1hive or Commonstack
Original Specification: https://github.com/BlockScience/conviction/blob/master/social-sensorfusion.pdf…
Algorithm Documentation & Simulations: https://github.com/1Hive/conviction-voting-cadcad/blob/master/README.md…
Solidity Implementation:
https://github.com/1Hive/conviction-voting-app…
Discussion on Decentralized Organizations w/ @Sys_innovation & @jeffemmett
Conviction voting is one of many potential algorithms to help bridge the gap between the subjective realm of policy making. You can read more about my research on governance:
I have a range on-going research projects including computer aided governance in the Filecoin Ecosystem, DAO-to-DAO interaction patterns with Curve Labs, and broader questions about governance of online spaces with Metagov.org. Specifically on the topic of time-weighted voting, the conviction voting work is currently focused on collecting and analyzing data from the 1hive DAO. Other researchers in space have addressed time weighting, eg, Commitment Voting, Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson and Jason Potts. | https://medium.com/@michaelzargham/a-brief-history-of-conviction-voting-ad4ca4eb4aee | ['Michael Zargham'] | 2020-12-26 02:17:44.243000+00:00 | ['Governance', 'Policy Making', 'Cryptoeconomics', 'Algorithms', 'Signal Processing'] |
2019: How to write a powerful blog title that drives traffic? | 2019: How to write a powerful blog title that drives traffic?
The first thing that separates your story from thousands of other articles, is your title. It is extremely important to get the right title for your story. Abhay Talreja Follow May 23, 2019 · 11 min read
Photo by Cody Davis
Blog titles are the first part of your blog post that your readers will see and the part that’s responsible for getting them to click through and read the rest.
You might have spent hours and hours of efforts creating a story/content that you publish on the blog. But for a reader, it might be just a 2–5 mins of their time. People are busy. We must optimize our stories for readers’ scarce time. We must respect their time and how will writing a good title help?
The moment you optimize the title of your article, they start to look more appealing. The best place to find appealing titles is any magazine around you. Magazines have amazing headlines/titles. You can start checking out some magazines, or popular news/information websites to take some references.
I have myself spent hours pondering on what should be the title for this very article. Trust me, I revised it at least 15 times before finalizing on this one. I might even continue to edit it after the release of this article, to keep it relevant and appealing with time.
Knowing the importance of having a good title let us dive into the tips that can help you with writing great titles for your blog/story:
Start with a working title
Whenever I plan to write an article, I ponder some time on just getting a title. The reason being, when I start thinking about the content I am going to cover in the article, the title should do justice to the content that is going to follow it. A title may very well be a summary of what you can expect in the article. It should literally say, what you are going to read here on.
A lot of people get confused and end up making their blog titles as topics v/s a blog title. For example, if I am going to write an article on “Skin Care” I won’t just go ahead and make that as my title, that will be more like a topic in itself. An idle title will be something like:
“How to detox your skin this summer?”
“Skin care: 5 tips for healthy skin”
“10 skin care secrets for healthier-looking skin”
Do you see how these titles stand out and that gives the audience an idea on what you are trying to pitch in the article or how my next 3–5 mins will look like.
Again, you have to make it a working title and as you keep writing your article, you will refine it in a way that it does complete justice to the content otherwise it will lead to a disappointed reader. The moment we read the title, we start expecting something from the article, if it doesn’t provide the information we were promised, we don’t feel happy about it.
So make sure to have a working title and keep refining it as you work through the details.
Pay Attention to Titles around you
Every day you encounter titles — not just blog titles, but also the titles of newspaper and magazine articles, the titles of YouTube videos, the titles of emails you receive, an Instagram post, etc. You will always have a response to those titles, even when your response is to ignore one and keep scrolling.
Similarly, if you pay close attention to the titles everyone is coming up with, that should give you an idea of what is working v/s not working for them. See the interactions they have got. Any post which has a good title tends to perform much better than the one without a good title.
One recent study, conducted by Content Marketing Institute, found that including a hyphen or colon in the headline increased the click-through rate by 9%. Now think about the title of this article. | https://medium.com/programmingbuddyclub-blog/2019-how-to-write-a-powerful-blog-title-that-drives-traffic-c13a9b9bdedd | ['Abhay Talreja'] | 2019-05-23 18:25:01.576000+00:00 | ['Blogging Tips', 'Marketing', 'Blog', 'Content Marketing', 'SEO'] |
Where Are You Now? — A Song About Loss | It’s called “Where Are You Now?”
You said you’d never leave
And that may be true
But you still didn’t help me
Though I’ve pleaded with you
I don’t know where to turn
I don’t know what to do
I’m all out of options
Got nothing left to lose
Where are you now?
Where are you now?
Nothing but promises
You’ve broken your vow
If you mean what you say
And honor your word
Where are you now?
Where are you now?
I believed that you loved me
That you really cared
But if that’s so true
Why am I so scared?
I’m so tired of waiting
To finally be free
I won’t beg anymore
Cause you don’t hear my plea
Have I wasted my time
Believing in you?
Had to guess what you wanted
Not even you knew
You’re so hard to figure
I don’t care anymore
I’m tired of the worry
About who’s keeping score.
Where are you now?
Where are you now?
Nothing but promises
You’ve broken your vow
If you mean what you say
And honor your word
Where are you now?
Where are you now? | https://medium.com/artistic-mystic-soul/where-are-you-now-a-song-about-loss-40334c491395 | ['Lisa Beth Wright'] | 2020-11-24 20:34:50.484000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Songwriting', 'Poem', 'Relationships', 'Life'] |
Electric Cars Are Not Sustainable | Electric Cars Are Not Sustainable
Photo by Ralph Hutter on Unsplash
Electric vehicles (EV) are all the rage right now. Tesla keeps breaking sales records and making a lot of rich people richer, large car manufacturers are all jumping aboard the (electric) bandwagon, and even motorcycle brands usually known for their loud engines are releasing electric models. Along with this, reduced emissions targets and financial incentives are pushing more and more people to consider electric vehicles. In 2021, we are expected to see EV sales represent up to 15% of all sales in Europe. This transition has a lot of room to grow and happen faster, too. Norway has shown that — the country’s EV sales jumped from 6% of the market in 2013 to nearly 50% in 2018.
Yet, electric vehicles are not without fault, and we’re not talking about their range here. For one, they have to be recharged, and that electricity has to come from somewhere. If you’re in Germany, the US, Australia, or one of the many countries that still use coal as a major source of electricity, you might be looking at coal-powered cars. Then, there’s the issue of sourcing the materials for building the batteries. It’s hard to estimate the exact need for future resources, but EVs could easily consume most, if not all of the world’s lithium and cobalt reserves. Let’s remember we’re trying to switch away from non-renewables. Finally, while EVs may emit fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) when being used, the manufacturing process also accounts for a large part of the total impact of a car on the environment. As it turns out, this can easily make EVs more polluting than vehicles with conventional engines, and we haven’t talked about their end-of-life yet. As with many things, these issues are not black-and-white, and many of the downsides of electric vehicles can be overcome if proper measures are put in place. Let’s have a look at these, shall we?
Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash
The impact of driving electric vehicles
In the world of EVs, the energy source is everything. It may be that you can drive around without directly emitting GHGs, but if you charge your car using energy from a coal power plant 50 km outside of your city, you still contribute to air pollution and climate change — perhaps more so than by driving a conventional vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE). A 2018 study found that EVs could easily emit anywhere between 27.5 and 326 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilometre driven (g CO2-eq/km), and that the main reason for this variance was the type of energy used during charging. As a point of comparison, a relatively modern gasoline ICE emits anywhere between 120 and 260 g CO2-eq/km.
So, obviously, governments that currently push for the electrification of their vehicle park should also double-down on the transition to renewable sources of energy. For reference, here are some emission ranges for different energy sources used to produce electricity:
Coal: 800 to 1000 g CO2-eq/kWh
Natural gas: 360 to 575 g CO2-eq/kWh
Nuclear power: 1.5 to 20 g CO2-eq/kWh
Solar panels: 43 to 73 g CO2-eq/kWh
Windmills: 8 to 30 g CO2-eq/kWh
Hydroelectricity: 1 to 34 g CO2-eq/kWh
Even with the range within one type of energy, it’s easy to see that coal and natural gas trail far behind the alternatives. We cannot expect the transition to electric vehicles to bring any benefits if it does not come with a green transition in energy production.
Photo by Lenny Kuhne on Unsplash
Manufacturing
On the topic of energy sources, it turns out that the environmental impact of the manufacturing process is largely dependent on the type of electricity used during production. While some have called for simply moving manufacturing away from residential centers in order to reduce the health impact on the population, this doesn’t help the environment as a whole. Meanwhile, switching battery production to sources of energy with a low-carbon impact has shown to be highly beneficial to the environment. It is the only way to achieve a lesser manufacturing impact than for ICE production.
An example of some success in this area can be found with Tesla. According to their 2019 report, their commitment to using renewable energy for the production of their cars and batteries has already allowed them to reduce the impact of their manufacturing process to be nearly equal to that of a conventional vehicle. Going forward, we need to see other car and battery manufacturers switch to similar methods of production. While the use-phase impact of vehicles is far greater than the manufacturing one, a switch to renewable and low-carbon energy sources benefits the impact of EVs in too many ways to be ignored.
Photo by Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash
Lithium and other non-renewable materials
Some will tell you that we have so much lithium, we shouldn’t worry about future reserves. A similar argument was probably heard in England before the Age of Sail, shortly before Britain realized it had cut down almost every tree on the British Isles to build warships. We didn’t even acknowledge the idea of “peak oil”, the point where oil production and discovery can’t keep up with the demand, until relatively recently. Meanwhile, we burn most of the lithium found in car batteries as current processes make them too expensive to properly recycle. Certainly, research is being made into improving our recycling processes, and new chemical processes are showing a lot of promise, but most of these advances are still experimental.
Lithium is not the only material found in batteries that we should be worried about. For instance, EVs could consume up to 50% of current cobalt reserves by the year 2050. There are also rare materials found in other batteries, something worth considering since not all electric cars make use of lithium batteries. For instance, many of the rare earth metals found in nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are lost during the recycling process. This is despite the fact that it can be extremely hard to find deposits large enough to make extraction economically viable, with roughly 90% of the world’s supply currently coming from a single country: China.
Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels
We are at a turning point for EV batteries. Most electric cars that were sold in the past few years are still using their original battery, but as demand continues to grow, and as batteries do have a limited lifespan, the clock is ticking. We need proper recycling of batteries if we want to avoid the mistakes of the past. Besides, proper recycling also helps reduce the overall GHG emissions caused by EVs since you no longer need to extract as much new material.
Electric cars are only going to become more popular going forward. They have a number of undeniable benefits, and governments are happy to push them in order to reach their emissions targets. That being said, we need to push for better manufacturing, better energy generation, and better recycling if we are to reach the full potential of EVs. We need to demand that our governments invest in a proper transition if we want to have a real and positive impact on our planet. | https://medium.com/swlh/electric-cars-are-not-sustainable-43c9f7ab2bb5 | ['Alex Hureau'] | 2020-12-12 16:41:34.413000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Sustainability', 'Energy', 'Electric Vehicles', 'Electric Car'] |
Python — Basic Overview. Python has many unique features that… | Python has many unique features that help make it what it is. Some of these features include:
Python is Interpreted — Python compiles at runtime.
Python’s REPL — Interactive Python terminal
Python is Multi-Paradigm — Multiple categories separated by features
Python uses PIP package manager to install and manage packages in Python. (Uses PyPl as default source for packages and dependencies.
Python supports OOP, structured programing, aspects of functional programing, as well as AOP (Aspect Orientated Programming). With extensions Python supports logical programming and design by contract.
Python uses dynamic typing, which means there is more overhead.
Python uses reference counting and cycle detecting garbage collecting for memory management.
Python focuses on clean and readable code.
Python can be downloaded from https://python.org.
As always read the docs 👉 https://docs.python.org/3/.
Some of the major reasons that I personally love Python include the fact that it is just so easy to jump into as a beginner for a wide variety of projects. Python is a General-Purpose Language. That means that it does well at many different programming goals and systems. You can code the backend of a website, a business tool, do Explorative Data Analysis, create complex software, large calculations, or even machine learning / DEEP learning tasks. Also, for exploring data, you can use the REPL (Read Evaluate Print Loop) to bounce ideas off, figure out data structures, inspect data, test logic, and debug programming errors. Also, with the REPL you can dive into learning Python and seeing how variables and functions interact and behave. Another powerful tool in the Python toolbox is the Jupyter Notebooks, https://jupyter.org/. Jupyter Notebooks allow you to interact with Python inputs and receive clear outputs in a notebook like structure. The Jupyter Notebooks are used for an incredible range of purposes but are commonly used for data science and EDA (Exploratory Data Analysis). I love to use Python in this fashion myself. Just being able to see the process step by step and the ability to analyze different outputs is so important sometimes. One of the best implementations of this type of thinking is Google’s Colab Notebooks. https://colab.research.google.com. I use these notebooks all the time and they prove to be an incredible tool for an insurmountable number of tasks. In a way, the Colab Notebooks connect the power of the Jupyter Notebooks with the mobility of the Google Cloud.
Python also follows Modular Package Importing, which means that the language is modular in design. I find this feature of Python to be especially useful and fun. Instead of having to code out classes, methods, and functions yourself you can effortlessly import packages of pre-written code. Close to every language has some level of grouping and encapsulation, so I am satisfied that Python choose to take this paradigm seriously. Partially due to Python being Open Source, it has a thriving community. With one of the most active fan bases of any programming language, Python boasts a sizable number of packages, large volumes of discussion on the internet, and an almost unmatchable amount of resources. There is no doubt that Python is a behemoth of a language.
For an effective way to get the most out of Python for Data Science you can download a Distribution of Python and R named Anaconda. This distribution is geared towards scientific computing. Anaconda is an entire article alone though. If you are interested check out the homepage here, https://www.anaconda.com/. The individual edition is open source. It comes with many unique and robust tools.
As for IDEs there is, of course, a plethora of choices. Out of the sea of software my favorites are as follows:
PyCharm — https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/ — I cannot tell you how many times I use this IDE for my routine Python work. It is just the perfect setup for me. Not only the ease of having everything ready for Python use, but also, a full set of basic and advanced toolsets and properties that set this software in a different league, as far as, Python goes. Visual Studio Code — https://code.visualstudio.com/ — Not only do you have the clean, sleek, nice feel of the Microsoft Visual Studio product, but you get a ton of useful plugins, tools, and extensions. In my experience, VS Code handles Python beautifully. Visual Studio — https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/? — If a fully featured flagship IDE is something you are looking for then I recommend Visual Studio. Visual Studio comes in Community, Professional, and Enterprise editions. This is good for serious or in-depth projects. Atom — https://atom.io/ — Sometimes an incredibly hackable IDE is suitable for the task and if so then GitHub’s Atom IDE is an excellent choice.
Python is increasing in popularity, functionality, and efficiency every day. It is never too late to jump on board with this language. With how truly mighty Python can be, it is no wonder that people all around the globe use it every day to solve simple to major involved issues. And with truly massive resources and packages for Machine Learning, DEEP Learning and AI, Python doesn’t look like it is going anywhere anytime soon. Some of them include:
Tensor Flow Py Tourch SciKit Learn Keras Theano
If you are looking to get into the Data Science aspects of Python, then https://kaggle.com is the place for you to dip your toes in. Not only do they offer free courses in Python, but they have a large community and plenty of fun challenges and competitions. Not to mention that Kaggle gives you a research environment and datasets within their platform. Also, they can be a good place to hire or get hired in the Data Science field. I really do like how Kaggle put together their system. It feels exceptionally clean gives you the important knowledge you need in a fun interactive way.
Another good learning resource if you are looking for more in-depth training is https://datacamp.com. They offer some free courses and some paid. They are incredibly good for diving into real problems and learning with incredible minds at the same time. I have learned to appreciate the time they put into making everything simple, sleek, and enjoyable. The relaxing UI and professional videos on top of the overall feel of the platform make me want to come back and learn more all the time. They also, have a huge community with lots to do within the platform. I recommend checking them out to anyone interested in Python for Data Science or R for Data Science.
Thank you for reading this article. If you saw any inaccurate or incorrect information, please leave it in the comments below. I plan to release more articles in the future, so keep an eye out. Happy programming! | https://medium.com/python-in-plain-english/python-basic-overview-76907771db60 | ['Dan Root'] | 2020-09-15 19:43:33.932000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Python Programming', 'Python', 'Data Analysis'] |
What To Watch | In the streaming age, there are more options than ever for movie nights. An issue I’ve heard many of my friends and family face is that it is that much harder to decide on a movie to watch because of the overwhelming number of choices. For my final project at Flatiron, I wanted to create something that would help make that decision process easier. To do so, I surveyed people about the things that are most important to them when looking for a movie. Overall, I found that people could often only narrow it down to the genre of movie they wanted to watch. The details that mattered most to them when making a decision were an interesting description of the plot and — most importantly — that it was available to stream easily. Overwhelmingly, people were more likely to watch a movie if they had heard positive things about it from another person. I based the functionality off of this research to create an application that takes user recommended movies and allows users to sort recommendations based on genre. When viewing the list of recommendations, the user is provided with a plot description as well as the name of the streaming service where it is available.
An Overview of the Stack
Before we dive into the details, let’s take a look at the different technologies used to make the application:
What to Watch relies on an API built with Rails as its backend.
built with as its backend. The frontend was built using the JavaScript library React and uses Redux for state management.
and uses for state management. For styling the user interface beyond what React provides, I used Material UI.
Creating an API to Store the Data
Since What to Watch is reliant on user submittable data, a place to store that data is one of the most important parts of the application. For this, I decided to build my own API using Rails. While there are existing movie APIs out there, none seemed to have exactly the information I wanted. I chose to use Rails because it keeps things simple when creating a backend and is easy to connect to using React. For this project, in particular, I found I only needed one table. I created a movies table with columns for each field I knew I’d want to be displayed to the user: title , description , genre , and streamer .
Adding A Recommendation
To allow users to make recommendations to be added to the backend and displayed to other users, I created a submission form as a component. I used text area fields for the title and description entries. However, I decided to use a drop-down selection for both genre and streamer as I wanted to ensure users only selected from the list of supported genres and streaming services. Above the code for the form itself, I set the state to equal an empty string so that the state of the fields starts empty before a user inputs anything. I also created two functions — one to handle changing the state and one to handle submitting the form. The first sets the state so that the field in question is set to the value of what the user has entered. In other words, if the user types “Harry Potter” into the title field, the state of title would be changed to Harry Potter:
To make this work, we set the text field’s value to {this.state.title} and give it an onChange of {this.handleChange} . The handleSubmit() function, unsurprisingly, handles what happens when we submit the form. It references an action I created — this action uses fetch with a post method to add the movie, pulling from our recently changed state, to our database.
Displaying Recommendations | https://medium.com/@claire-codes/what-to-watch-4a25419e1d07 | ['Claire Mccleskey'] | 2021-04-09 22:25:11.804000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Streaming', 'React', 'Redux', 'Rails Api'] |
Three Learnings for Business from the Corona Pandemic | Most of us in business life in Germany recall this unique situation in mid-March: The Federal Government announced a lockdown. When looking at the business numbers the following days, all core KPIs were going only in one direction — down. Fast. And it got worse every day. Not a good place to be.
With a couple of months in hindsight, I would like to share some key learnings that helped us manage through this difficult time. Good news first: The KPIs recovered nicely, and our business managed well through the crisis. So what did we learn?
1.Working from home works.
If I am not mistaken, we were one of the first companies in the Berlin tech universe to enforce a mandatory work from home policy with immediate effect. I am still amazed to acknowledge how well this has worked. No hiccups, no breakdowns, no major struggles. And our output (marketing, product, tech, sales) was higher than ever. The reason? I do think that everyone was determined to make this work and doubled down on their efforts. And the results speak for themselves. So stay calm and work from home and you would be surprised to see how effective and efficient it could be.
2. Plan beats no plan.
Yes, I borrowed this expression from Timothy Geithner. But there is a lot of truth to it. The pandemic left everyone including us in a situation of highest uncertainty, and it was completely unknown what would be the right strategy. So we quickly drafted a strategy and plan to navigate the uncertainty — with three priorities:
Keep our employees safe and effective.
Keep our customers in the business and consumers happy with our products.
And keep the company running and creating value for our stake- and shareholders.
In hindsight, the plan worked, which is of course always good news. But irrespective of that, I do think that everyone needed this crystal clear plan and guidance to know what to do — even if it would have been the wrong thing.
3. There is some light even in the darkest tunnel. (I translated this German saying into plain English…)
I won’t bore you with the trivia that every crisis is an opportunity. The Corona pandemic is an unprecedented challenge with tragic consequences for millions of people. But — and there is a but — in some ways it has moved us forward as a company. With our new strategy at hand I was amazed to see how quickly our employees reacted and changed plans. We re-drafted our OKRs, changed our cycle planning and roadmaps, and started to deliver features to support our customers and consumers in this situation. Online viewings, free listings, a central marketing Corona hub, all completed within weeks or days. The crisis has strengthened our #makeithappen spirit and brought us closer together. In fact, we could clearly see in a recent internal survey that there has been a significant increase in the engagement rate, the pride to work at Scout24, and the determination to make something good out of this crisis.
I am sure we will learn a lot more in the next weeks and months. This crisis is far from being over. But we are positive about the challenges ahead. | https://medium.com/scout24-insights/three-learnings-for-business-from-the-corona-pandemic-d517534931dc | ['Thomas Schroeter'] | 2020-09-03 15:20:00.130000+00:00 | ['Corona', 'Product Management', 'Lessons Learned', 'Germany'] |
October Employment Numbers in the United States | The monthly employment update from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was released today, November 6th. The numbers were a little more positive than many were anticipating, with employment increasing by 638,000 and the unemployment rate falling to 6.9%.
These metrics have improved each month over the last six months although both are still at twice February levels. Nonetheless, it is the details behind these throwaway headlines that provide insight into what the U.S. economy will look like as we head into 2021.
In absolute terms, there were 11.1 million Americans unemployed in October but, distressingly, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for twenty-seven weeks or more) increased by 1.2 million to 3.6 million (32.5% of the total unemployed) at the same time as the overall unemployment rate fell.
In addition to these 3.6 million long-term unemployed individuals, there were 6.7 million people working part-time for “economic reasons”, an increase of 383,000. These individuals, who would have preferred to be working full-time, were working part-time because their hours were reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
A further 6.7 million Americans were not in the labor force but wanted a job, including 588,000 discouraged workers who believed that no jobs were available to them. These individuals were NOT counted in the unemployed numbers because they were not actively looking for a job during the month or were unavailable to take a job.
The larges sector job gains in October were in the leisure and hospitality industry with 271,00 new jobs (42% of the total additions), most of which could evaporate this month in the light of further COVID shutdowns, and 208,000 additions (33%) in the professional and business services industry, primarily temporary help service workers.
As October ends, we have 11.1 million Americans unemployed, a third of whom have been unemployed for more than six months, 6.7 million Americans who would like a full-time job but are working part-time because they can’t find a full-time one and 6.7 million Americans who would really like a job but haven’t looked for one recently or weren’t available to work in October.
Some 24.5 million Americans.
That is a significantly large number of people whose spending patterns have changed as a consequence of economic circumstances this year, and that will have a significant impact on consumer spending patterns, small business activity, and thus small business survivability rates in the year ahead.
Don’t anticipate a return to normalcy on January 1st, 2021. Far from it. This recession will continue in 2022.
For further information: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm | https://medium.com/prairie-rose-development-corp/october-employment-numbers-in-the-united-states-3ded1282dc11 | ["Mike O'Donnell"] | 2020-12-08 05:16:26.933000+00:00 | ['Labor', 'HR', 'Hiring', 'Employment Number', 'Employment'] |
GraphQL Data Fetching with SWR React Hooks and Hasura | From SWR’s github repo:
The name “SWR” is derived from stale-while-revalidate , a cache invalidation strategy popularized by HTTP RFC 5861. SWR first returns the data from cache (stale), then sends the fetch request (revalidate), and finally comes with the up-to-date data again.
GraphQL requests are just HTTP POST requests with a JSON payload at the end of the day. It doesn’t need the typical setup overhead for data fetching. Popular GraphQL clients have made it look slightly complicated than a normal fetch request counterpart, but for added benefits like caching.
The SWR API is simple and looks like the one below:
const { data, error, isValidating, mutate } = useSWR(key, fetcher, options)
We will focus on the arguments key and fetcher . In a GraphQL API implementation with SWR, the GraphQL document will be the key that will be used. In REST APIs, the URL endpoint will usually be the key (something like /api/users . The fetcher function is an async function that returns the data. It gets the key and the logic of data fetching is written inside this. We will split our logic between HTTP POST requests and native websocket connections here.
The unique key ensures that requests are not sent multiple times if used in different components in the same page.
We can use simple data fetching libraries like graphqurl or graphql-request to send a GraphQL query. In the example below, I'm sticking to native fetch library for making the HTTP POST API calls and native WebSocket client.
The idea behind this example is to demonstrate usage of useSWR , mutate and trigger hooks of SWR in combination with GraphQL. We need a GraphQL API and we are going to make use of Hasura Cloud to get it instantly.
Deploy Hasura to get a GraphQL API
Click on the following button to deploy GraphQL engine on Hasura Cloud including Postgres add-on or using an existing Postgres database:
Open the Hasura console
Click on the button “Launch console” to open the Hasura console. Create table users
Head to the Data tab and create a new table called users with columns:
id (text)
name (text)
created_at (timestamp now()). Try out a GraphQL Query
query {
users {
id
name
created_at
}
}
We are going to make use of the above users query inside our react frontend.
Clone the swr-graphql repo and head to the libs directory that contains the wrapper for both fetch and websockets. Change the GraphQL endpoint to point to the Hasura Cloud project URL.
GraphQL Query
The useSWR hook gets a graphql query as the key and the fetcher function is defined in getData . We have written a custom fetch method in the libs directory.
import useSWR from 'swr' const query = {
'query': 'query { users(limit:10, order_by:{created_at: desc}) { id name } }'
}; const getData = async(...args) => {
return await fetch(query);
}; export default () => {
const { data, error } = useSWR(query, getData);
if(error) {
return <div>Error...</div>
}
if(!data) {
return <div>Loading...</div>
}
}
The hook returns the data / error and the respective states can be handled on the rendering logic.
GraphQL Mutation
Once a mutation is done, you would want to update existing state by modifying data (addition / removals / updates). This is possible via the mutate method, where a key can be passed (GraphQL query will be the key for us) and the new data to be used along with a boolean to specify whether you want to revalidate or not.
export default () => {
const [text, setText] = React.useState('');
const { data } = useSWR(query, getData) async function handleSubmit(event) {
event.preventDefault()
// mutate current data to optimistically update the UI
mutate(query, {users: [...data.users, {id: uuidv4(), name: text}]}, false)
// send text to the API
const mutation = {
'query': 'mutation users($name: String!) { insert_users(objects: [{name: $name}]) { affected_rows } }',
'variables': { name: text}
};
await fetch(mutation);
// revalidate
trigger(mutation);
setText('')
}
return ...
}
Once the mutation is complete, we revalidate it with a trigger.
GraphQL Subscriptions
Finally for subscriptions with realtime data, we have a custom wrapper defined in libs. Using the native WebSocket instance, we are creating an initial message that will be sent to the GraphQL server (containing the payload like headers).
const ws = new WebSocket(GRAPHQL_ENDPOINT_WS, "graphql-ws");
const init_msg = {
type: 'connection_init',
payload: { headers: headers }
};
There’s no native Subscription hook with SWR, but we will reuse useSWR to call a fetcher that initiates a new WebSocket connection.
Pre-rendering
All of the above examples assumes that data loading happens on the client side. But if you are building an app which requires pre-rendering for SEO/Caching benefits, then you can pass the pre-fetched data as the initial value to the initialData option.
For example:
const { data, error } = useSWR(query, getData, { initialData: props.users } );
This combined with getStaticProps will take care of the pre-rendering of data at the server side.
Source Code — https://github.com/praveenweb/swr-graphql
Do try it out and let us know in the comments on what frontend library you prefer using for data fetching via GraphQL. | https://medium.com/@hasurahq/graphql-data-fetching-with-swr-react-hooks-and-hasura-2f6a5f5f6e4b | [] | 2020-12-15 10:34:33.300000+00:00 | ['Hasura', 'GraphQL', 'Frontend'] |
Compendium of Kubernetes Application Deployment Tools | Deploying applications to Kubernetes can be as simple as writing a few resource definitions in yaml or json and applying them with kubectl, but it can also be a whole lot more automated (and complicated).
A popular meme in application deployment is the combination of Continuous Deployment and GitOps: the automatic deployment of resources after each change to the source code. In order to for you to use GitOps to deploy applications to Kubernetes, you need several things:
Container Image Building to build your source code and local dependencies into container images.
to build your source code and local dependencies into container images. Resource Templating to customize deployment resources for your environment(s).
to customize deployment resources for your environment(s). Package Management to bundle multiple resources into versioned releases and manage package dependencies.
to bundle multiple resources into versioned releases and manage package dependencies. Continuous Deployment to roll out new changes to your environment(s), often using a pipeline of steps and stages.
to roll out new changes to your environment(s), often using a pipeline of steps and stages. Imperative Deployment to manage complex service lifecycles programmatically and reduce manual or fragile scripted steps.
to manage complex service lifecycles programmatically and reduce manual or fragile scripted steps. Autoscaling to manage the replication and resource allocation of your application over time, based on usage and consumption.
In this article, I have listed many tools (both popular and obscure) for each of these stages in application lifecycle management. Since it’s hard to judge popularity or success objectively, I’ve tried to annotate these tools in a way that makes it easy to see which big corporate backers have invested in these projects. Keep in mind, a large cloud backer may have multiple competing investments, so just because it has a known investor doesn’t mean it will survive and thrive in the long term.
Hopefully this list will give you a place to start when searching for solutions to your application deployment problems.
Container Image Building
Moby / buildkit (Docker) — A toolkit for converting source code to build artifacts.
(Docker) — A toolkit for converting source code to build artifacts. kaniko (Google) — A tool to build container images from a Dockerfile, inside a container or Kubernetes cluster.
(Google) — A tool to build container images from a Dockerfile, inside a container or Kubernetes cluster. img (Jess Frazelle) — A standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged Dockerfile and OCI compatible container image builder.
(Jess Frazelle) — A standalone, daemon-less, unprivileged Dockerfile and OCI compatible container image builder. buildah (IBM/Red Hat) — A tool that facilitates building Open Container Initiative (OCI) container images.
(IBM/Red Hat) — A tool that facilitates building Open Container Initiative (OCI) container images. Source-To-Image (IBM/Red Hat) — A tool for building artifacts from source and injecting into container images.
(IBM/Red Hat) — A tool for building artifacts from source and injecting into container images. Tanzu Build Service / kpack / pack (VMware/Pivotal) — A CLI and service for building apps using Cloud Native Buildpacks.
(VMware/Pivotal) — A CLI and service for building apps using Cloud Native Buildpacks. Carvel / kbld (VMware/Pivotal) — A service for building and pushing images into development and deployment workflows.
(VMware/Pivotal) — A service for building and pushing images into development and deployment workflows. Google Cloud Buildpacks (Google) — Builders and buildpacks designed to run on Google Cloud’s container platforms.
(Google) — Builders and buildpacks designed to run on Google Cloud’s container platforms. Makisu (Uber) — A fast and flexible Docker image building tool, that works in unprivileged containerized environments like Mesos and Kubernetes.
Resource Templating
Helm (Microsoft, Google) — A Kubernetes Package Manager
(Microsoft, Google) — A Kubernetes Package Manager Kustomize (Google, Apple) — A CLI to customize raw, template-free YAML files, leaving the original YAML untouched and usable as-is.
(Google, Apple) — A CLI to customize raw, template-free YAML files, leaving the original YAML untouched and usable as-is. Carvel / ytt (VMware/Pivotal) — A YAML templating tool that works on YAML structure instead of text
(VMware/Pivotal) — A YAML templating tool that works on YAML structure instead of text jsonnet / go-jsonnet (Google) — A JSON templating language.
(Google) — A JSON templating language. gomplate (Dave Henderson) — A CLI for golang template rendering, supporting local and remote datasources.
(Dave Henderson) — A CLI for golang template rendering, supporting local and remote datasources. Mustache (Github) — A framework-agnostic JSON templating engine.
Package Management
Helm (Microsoft, Google) — A Kubernetes Package Manager
(Microsoft, Google) — A Kubernetes Package Manager Cloud Native Application Bundles (CNAB) / Porter / Duffle (Microsoft/Deis, Docker) — A package format specification, bundler, and installer for managing cloud agnostic distributed applications.
Continuous Deployment
Imperative Deployment
Kubebuilder (CNCF, Google, Apple, IBM/Red Hat) — An SDK for building Kubernetes APIs (and controllers and operators) using CRDs.
(CNCF, Google, Apple, IBM/Red Hat) — An SDK for building Kubernetes APIs (and controllers and operators) using CRDs. Operator Framework / Operator SDK (IBM/Red Hat/CoreOS) — An SDK for building Kubernetes application operators.
(IBM/Red Hat/CoreOS) — An SDK for building Kubernetes application operators. KUDO (D2IQ) — A framework for building production-grade Kubernetes Operators using a declarative approach.
(D2IQ) — A framework for building production-grade Kubernetes Operators using a declarative approach. Pulumi (Pulumi) — An Infrastructure as Code SDK for creating and deploying cloud software that use containers, serverless functions, hosted services, and infrastructure, on any cloud.
(Pulumi) — An Infrastructure as Code SDK for creating and deploying cloud software that use containers, serverless functions, hosted services, and infrastructure, on any cloud. Carvel / kapp / kapp-controller (VMware/Pivotal) — A CLI and Kubernetes controller for installing configuration (helm charts, ytt templates, plain yaml) as described by App CRD.
(VMware/Pivotal) — A CLI and Kubernetes controller for installing configuration (helm charts, ytt templates, plain yaml) as described by App CRD. Isopod (Cruise) — An expressive DSL and framework for Kubernetes resource configuration without YAML.
Autoscaling
Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (built-in) — A Kubernetes controller that automatically scales the number of pods in a replication controller, deployment, replica set or stateful set based on a configured metric.
(built-in) — A Kubernetes controller that automatically scales the number of pods in a replication controller, deployment, replica set or stateful set based on a configured metric. Vertical Pod Autoscaler (Google) — A set of Kubernetes components that automatically adjusts the amount of CPU and memory requested by pods running in the Kubernetes Cluster.
(Google) — A set of Kubernetes components that automatically adjusts the amount of CPU and memory requested by pods running in the Kubernetes Cluster. Addon Resizer (Google) — A simplified version of vertical pod autoscaler that modifies resource requests of a deployment based on the number of nodes in the Kubernetes Cluster.
(Google) — A simplified version of vertical pod autoscaler that modifies resource requests of a deployment based on the number of nodes in the Kubernetes Cluster. KEDA (Microsoft) — A Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component.
(Microsoft) — A Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. Watermark Pod Autoscaler Controller (DataDog) — A custom controller that extends the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA).
(DataDog) — A custom controller that extends the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA). Pangolin (Damian Peckett) — An enhanced Horizontal Pod Autoscaler for Kubernetes that scales deployments based on their Prometheus metrics, using a variety of highly configurable control strategies.
(Damian Peckett) — An enhanced Horizontal Pod Autoscaler for Kubernetes that scales deployments based on their Prometheus metrics, using a variety of highly configurable control strategies. Predictive Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (IBM) — A custom pod autoscaler, similar to Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, however with added predictive elements.
(IBM) — A custom pod autoscaler, similar to Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, however with added predictive elements. Horizontal Pod Autoscaler Operator (Banzai Cloud) — A Kubernetes controller that watches Deployments or StatefulSets and automatically creates HorizontalPodAutoscaler resources, based on autoscale annotations.
In The End…
As any DevOps advocate will tell you, it’s not about the tools but about the mindset. No one tool will give you an end to end application lifecycle management experience that delights you, because everyone uses their own permutation of tools, glued together with scripts and integration code.
You can look for tools that do one thing well, being easily replaceable and extensible, or tools that provide the most value, being less to manage, cheaper to integrate, and the best end to end user experience. There’s not really a wrong answer.
Because of those tradeoffs, it pays to look at who is behind each project, how many companies are investing, and how popular the tool is. Popular tools with large, diverse investors are more likely to keep growing as you use them, rather than stagnate and become abandoned, requiring you to replace the tool or replace the investment with your own time and energy.
Hopefully, this taxonomy will be useful and provide you with a starting place as you consider your options. Good luck!
Did I forget your favorite tool? Leave a comment or let me know on Twitter! | https://karlkfi.medium.com/compendium-of-kubernetes-application-deployment-tools-80a828c91e8f | ['Karl Isenberg'] | 2020-09-13 21:20:56.588000+00:00 | ['DevOps', 'Continuous Deployment', 'Software Development', 'Docker', 'Kubernetes'] |
One project at a time, we Build to Learn | Working with people from different countries, the challenge of working together and practicing coding. For all of us we either used code in new ways,
learnt more and built more and did this together!
Using SCRUM for the first time to keep organized, and also pushing ourselves to learn basic Koa and Postgres
Worked with others in a remote setting and reached MVP goal.
All three of our team members were involved the entire project! Weekly meetings allowed us to learn and build skills together in a positive environment. This was the first attempt using the MERN stack for all of us.
Everyone contributed and helped each other
Getting to know new people
Working in team helped me to be better with my communication skills and my code to be better and more creative.
When we got to the point where we could deploy something that we created as a team.
The whole experience of working with other people — talking through our ideas, debating and negotiating features and implementation, learning new things from other team members, trying and failing to use Git/Github properly, laughing at our mistakes and celebrating our wins.
Getting to know new people
International teamwork!
The best aspects of our project’s experience were collaborating with interesting people from all over the world, discussing code and life-related things, and seeing our ideas come to reality in the form of the final app.
Interaction! I always coded alone, to have a team to discuss with has been a huge step forward for me and was such a great experience to share with you guys! | https://medium.com/chingu/one-project-at-a-time-we-build-to-learn-c43c0218ee27 | ['Chance Mcallister'] | 2019-02-28 16:27:15.347000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Codingbootcamp', 'Chingu', 'Showcase', 'Freecodecamp'] |
How to combine Behavior Driven Development and Scrum | Going to production more often means less time to make sure new features don’t cause any trouble. Validating everything manually in a short amount of time seems impossible and prone to errors. Moving from waterfall to Scrum requires another approach: Functional tests that validate the software does what it’s supposed to do, automatically. That requires the process to change, too:
The refinement
Unclear specifications can cause bugs. Writing the specifications during a refinement session is inefficient and time-consuming. The following process describes how to get an efficient refinement process that yields clear enough acceptance criteria:
What the definement process looks like
Start by writing the story from a user perspective. Use the user story template:
“As a …”
“I want …”
“So that …” Write the acceptance criteria. Write specific, testable acceptance criteria. Make sure they’re SMART. Make sure everybody understands the acceptance criteria. Plan a 20-minute example mapping session for every user story. Come up with examples for all the acceptance criteria of the user story and discuss them with the product owner. Save the example map, maybe add some notes, and translate those into specifications during the sprint. When the team has a shared understanding of the story it is easy to estimate the effort it takes to build it.
Refined, estimated stories can be planned and built.
Common pitfalls
Nobody builds things for the product owner. Eventually, an end-user or a stakeholder benefits from the new features in the software. Building it, showing it to the stakeholders and finding out it was built wrong, results in a lot of waste. Invite the stakeholders to the refinement meetings to prevent that.
Writing user stories and the acceptance criteria, from scratch, takes lots of time. Usually, many acceptance criteria are pretty obvious. Writing those down in advance. Do that with a small delegation of the team: The product-owner, a tester, and a developer. This session is also known as a “The three amigos” session. It saves a lot of time and allows the team to focus on the criteria that deserve more attention during the refinement session.
Many teams start writing acceptance criteria in the Gherkin language (“Given .. When … Then.. ”) too early in the process. That results in a long refinement session. When the story is finally refined, it’s almost done, too. Write the scenario’s during the sprint.
Implementing the story
It takes time to get the scenarios right. Write scenarios during the sprint. Bad specs = bad code. It makes sense to focus on getting specifications right, first. The development process looks like this:
The process of implementing a user story
The example mapping session in the refinement session yielded examples that go with each acceptance criteria. Start by converting those into Gherkin scenarios using the “Given … When … Then …” template. The examples probably don’t cover all edge-cases. Make sure the examples do. These scenarios represent the acceptance criteria of the user story. Usually, these are the scenarios to validate before showing the final product to the product owner and the stakeholders. Validate the scenario’s with the stakeholders as soon as possible.
* Make sure the scenarios are correct.
* Make sure the stakeholders understand the scenarios.
* Make sure the team and the stakeholders have a common understanding of the language used in the scenarios. Use a cucumber framework like SpecFlow to validate the scenarios automatically. Implementing the test-code first. The test will fail and that’s fine. Start implementing the new functionality until all tests, including the ones from previous user stories, pass. Show the final solution to a stakeholder or somebody that can represent the stakeholder. Demonstrate the final product to make sure the final product conforms to what was agreed upon. Write new scenarios, and thus new tests, if it turns out the current scenarios are not complete.
A product that is compliant with the acceptance criteria of all (previous) stories is shippable. So ship it!
Common pitfalls
Don’t use scenarios to describe the user interface:
“Given a user navigates to http://localhost/somepage.aspx?x=23523&q=foobar”
“And the user selects option ‘0’ in dropdownlist ‘#ddl-foo-pnl2-pane2–235232’”
“When the user clicks the button with id ‘#btn-foo-form24523-n’”
“The panel ‘#pnl-foo-primary-f35232-red’ exists”
Use meaningful scenarios to describe behavior instead:
“Given the user wants to receive the newsletter”
“When the user submits the form”
“Then the user sees a message that says: ‘We’ll send the newsletter!‘ ’”
“Given a user navigates to http://localhost/somepage.aspx?x=23523&q=foobar” “And the user selects option ‘0’ in dropdownlist ‘#ddl-foo-pnl2-pane2–235232’” “When the user clicks the button with id ‘#btn-foo-form24523-n’” “The panel ‘#pnl-foo-primary-f35232-red’ exists” Use meaningful scenarios to describe behavior instead: “Given the user wants to receive the newsletter” “When the user submits the form” “Then the user sees a message that says: ‘We’ll send the newsletter!‘ ’” Don’t write specifications alone. Writing specifications is like writing a contract. Writing it down unambiguously proves to be challenging. Writing them with a peer vastly improves the quality of the specifications.
Releasing the software
Tools like Gitlab and Azure DevOps provide automated release pipelines. These pipelines support fully automated installations of the software in different environments. They support test automation, too. The release process looks like this:
The developer commits his code changes to the repository.
The developer’s commit triggered a build process. It builds the new version of the code and runs all automated tests. If this step fails, the release process stops.
The test-run triggers an off-the-shelve plug-in (Pickles). This tool generates functional release documentation, automatically.
The new version of the software is installed in the test-environment, automatically. The team can validate that the new software integrates with other systems it depends on.
The new version of the software is installed in the user-acceptance-test automatically. The stakeholders can see the new functionalities before they go live.
If the stakeholders are happy with the new version of the software, the team approves the installation in the production site.
Summary
Doing Behavior Driven Development in a Scrum team, efficiently, requires some changes to the refinement session. Creating testable acceptance criteria for every user story, with relevant examples. Convert them to Gherkin scenarios during the sprint, and automate them so they can run in the deployment pipeline. | https://abstarreveld.medium.com/how-to-combine-behavior-driven-development-and-scrum-b47f9766206c | ['Albert Starreveld'] | 2019-09-23 18:58:34.998000+00:00 | ['Agile', 'Behavior Driven Dev', 'Scrum', 'Continuous Delivery'] |
The Sound of Software — Visual Loudness | RAD Colors
Why do you need loudness?
Software in 21st century doesn’t come with user manuals. They are most likely self installed on a mobile device. Nobody teaches how to operate an app.
Some apps just are just POP & provide natural way-finding. There is no art behind this, its just quantitative analysis. Loudness needs to be tuned across the interface to help the user navigate & take actions.
Loudness is in your head!
You don’t need to make noise(literally) to be heard. You can visually evoke loudness in the mind. Colours, contrast, position & motion help digital interfaces communicate loudness. The craft is to understand how to weigh this loudness & set the nudges for the user across the interface.
See from left to right & notice how the colours shifts your attention
Colours play a very important role in adding visual loudness naturally. In general warm colours are used infrequently which stands out among other cooler colours. Position as well matters. The corners are usual suspects for primary actions & often louder places. To go one step ahead, a little animation can lift the loudness to the next level. These techniques can be built into systems through the use of links, buttons, & promotional call-outs.
A loudness guide illustrated in https://www.viget.com/articles/visual-loudness/
You need a scale to measure
Visual loudness without a scale can be disastrous. Any quantitative analysis needs a scale to measure. For visual loudness, there are no standard but there are suggested techniques & parameters on which you can build your own loudness scale. You can classify components in terms of volume, frequency & use. Volume can be . Frequency can determine if the volume assigned is appropriate, you don’t want a lot of noise a more frequently appearing component. The Use is more suggestive of justification for the cost of volume.
A good example — A Confirmation Button can have very high volume given that frequency is low & the use is more encouraging . A bad example will be a Cancel Button with high volume -though the frequency is low, but the use is not encouraged (From the perspective of the Software designer).
Having a scale really helps in setting up the inventory of components used across & fix the volume to bring out the POP effect.
Ana Okuntseva illustrates a Loudness Scale for Buttons
So next time you use your favourite app, try to intercept how well loudness has been tuned & observe how smartly the app nudges you to do what it wants you to.
Stay tuned & follow for more stories brewing just for software lovers ❤️.
This is an article of a collection -The Sound of Software 🎻
Sources — | https://medium.com/swlh/the-sound-of-software-visual-loudness-9d33dfdffa46 | ['Thiyagaraj T'] | 2020-04-25 06:41:36.091000+00:00 | ['UI', 'Design', 'Software Development', 'UX', 'Design Thinking'] |
Dealing with Cancer the Only Way I Know How | I went back to the hospital for tests. On the way, I remember wondering if I’d ever look at the sunrise in the same way again. Later, Nicola and Artemus arrived as I emerged from a bleary anaesthetic stupor. “It’s not good news, I’m afraid. We found a growth and can be certain that it is cancer.”
How are you supposed to react when you are told that you have advanced bowel cancer? I felt deep shock and utter panic. I was thrown into a spiral of fear and confusion that would occasionally give way to absolute fury: For eight months, I had been in pain, and not one of the many health professionals I’d visited had taken the now-obvious symptoms seriously.
Is this the end? How would Nicola cope? Will I get to see Artemus grow up? What about all my unfinished projects?
A barrage of tests and scans began, but I couldn’t do anything except wait to hear how far the tumor had progressed. We knew it was advanced but needed to know whether it had started to spread.
For the first few precious seconds after waking up each morning, I had some relief. But then I would remember, and the flood of fight or flight would return. The worry was torturous, and I’d often break down in tears.
They called and told me that while it hadn’t spread, it was very close to the edge of the bowel wall. I would have surgery, and then the growth would be analyzed. When I came round after the operation, the first thing I heard was the sound of a distraught woman in the bed opposite who kept crying out, “They’ve ruined my life. I want my legs back.”
Several hours later, I was moved to a ward of five, including one man who had just been told that he had weeks to live, an old guy who was constantly abusive to the staff, and a prisoner under 24-hour guard. Nicola and the rest of my family, who’d traveled hundreds of miles to support me, weren’t allowed to visit because they had all come down with a vomiting bug.
For the next few days, I lay in bed listening to the prisoner in the bed next to me yelling in agony as his belly distended with gas. His guards would serenade me into the evening, chatting to each other about their preferred techniques for subduing inmates. This was, unsurprisingly, a real low point. My body was painfully releasing the carbon dioxide that had been used to inflate my belly during the operation. An epidural did something to help the pain, but I felt lonely, isolated, and disempowered.
Three weeks later, they called again with the biopsy results. Cancer cells had been found in the blood, they said, and in a lymph node surrounding the site of the tumor. This put the growth at stage 4 and increased the risk that it would spread. The solution was three months of intensive chemotherapy. | https://medium.com/s/story/dealing-with-cancer-the-only-way-i-know-how-9d5bb7c1cf8f | ['Joe Hague'] | 2018-06-13 16:01:01.109000+00:00 | ['Treatment', 'Cancer', 'Art', 'Health', 'Photography'] |
Little Sapling | To Baby Harper
Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash
Little Sapling, next time I see you,
you’ll have mastered the art of balance
and reminded yourself how to grow upright
toward the sun,
although the sun rooted within you
before your first cry
and your smiles warm us
with delight,
even as we sense
the ache to come — knowing
that such trust, faith, and openness
will burn off like clouds at dawn
as the clock quickens. | https://medium.com/weeds-wildflowers/little-sapling-6908d0c2b68f | ['Jenine Bsharah Baines'] | 2020-08-10 14:41:00.852000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Nature', 'Life', 'Trees'] |
How you can build a Scalable & Affordable MVP for your startup? | 1. Always have brief documentation of your requirements on hand. ( Writeup)
Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash
You don’t have to explain a story about the product to him (Intern)over the phone every day, which might lead to a number of misunderstandings. Instead, create a Requirement Documentation.
R equirements document − A document or write up containing detailed requirements for the system being developed. These requirements define the functional features and capabilities that a system must possess.
The document should be concise, without jargon, modular, and provide information about each minor feature. Divide the Requirement in such structure:
Requirement Document Structure
You may use this as a template: Here
2. Create a wireframe ( Mockup )
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Only you, as the author of the Idea, may imagine how your application should appear and function. Prepare a wireframe that will help any developer(Interns) to visualize what you are thinking. You can prepare wireframes using either pen-paper or an online application such as Figma(free) or Adobe XD(free) before hiring an intern. If you are not comfortable with these tools, you have other simpler options as well like Marvel(1 project free) or Draw.io(free)
Even a scribbled-on-paper diagram will suffice! read more about wireframing here
3. Setup Trello Board ( Not JIRA)
Trello and JIRA are from the same company, but I choose Trello Board for small startups and early users. It is basic and straightforward.
Mention all of your Requirements in the Trello board, based on the modules. Checklist may be used to separate the tasks in a module. This will allow you to monitor the project’s progress.
You can Clone a template from Here
4. Make a Git repository and set up Push on Mail.
Create a Gitlab repository, push a copyright notice inside it(This will keep your work Safe), and add your developer as a member in the repository, and request that the developer check-ins on a daily basis with the appropriate commit message. You may configure a push on mail service so that you will receive email notifications, whenever someone commits on the branch. Here is the process to configure
Copyright Notice, you can copy from here
Bonus : Always try to hire two Interns, and they both should review each other’s work. This is called Peer Review and it will definetly improve the quality of the project
5. Database Design & API Specifications
DBdocs Diagram
This is something you may lack since you are not technically savvy. However, this is really important for the project’s quality. Ask your intern to create these documents before they begin development because it will be impossible for them to focus on this after they begin work.
These documents include but are not limited to,
Database Diagram (ER Diagram): This applies to SQL databases. They can use any tool they choose. Personally, I like dbdocs.
If they are working on NoSQL databases like firebase and MongoDB, ask them to populate the database manually, to visualize the complete system, before developing. API Definition: This is for API specifications. This is only required for projects involving API creation. They can utilize postman to create specifications before developing, other options are Swagger and google sheet.
for postman, refer to this sample, and for swagger, the equivalent sample is given here. And for the Easiest one, Google sheet, clone this document.
6. Transparency
Your intern should communicate their progress on a daily basis. They may share the demo of the project, on a nearly daily basis. You should test and provide comments. Try to put your comments on the same Trello board, discussed in point (3), for the sake of maintaining records.
7. Daily Standup or Daily Status Call
GIf by https://in.pinterest.com/joeymillionz/
I know you’re too preoccupied with your idea and team. However, attempt to obtain at least 15 minutes to have a status call with the intern to hunt down the done, pending, and roadblocks along the route. Discuss what they have done, what is pending and why, and whether or not there is a roadblock.
Interns will be similarly motivated as a result of this.
Clone this sample document: Standup Sheet Format | https://medium.com/@startwithgenesis/how-can-you-build-a-scalable-affordable-mvp-for-your-startup-d3b5b3fcc1f2 | [] | 2021-07-17 19:28:08.180000+00:00 | ['Startwithgenesis', 'Software Development', 'MVP', 'Startup', 'Gig Economy'] |
Think Differently to Flourish and Grow Your Career | Think Differently to Flourish and Grow Your Career
Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash
Thinking differently will help your career. How you think about things is as powerful as how hard you work, how successful you are as a mentor or even the skills you gain.
Very successful people think differently from everyone else. The good news is that thinking habits can be learned. Here are wise words of wisdom from 5 successful business people that you can put into action to get ahead.
Jeff Bezos
Founder of Amazon
“If you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall, and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”
Key takeaways:
Define the problem and explore the causes of the pain. Find as many solutions as you can. Draft a plan of action to crack the code.
Mark Zuckerberg
Co-founder of Facebook, Inc.
“People think innovation is just having a good idea, but a lot of it is just moving quickly and trying a lot of things.”
Key takeaways:
Try things out, even if the outcome is not apparent. Escape the limitations of traditional thinking. Test, test, and test.
Steve Jobs
Co-founder of Apple
“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it too long. Just figure out what’s next.”
Key takeaways:
Focus on your next goal. Judge success by your momentum. Stay on top of your goals and know where you are.
Warren Buffet
Founder of Buffet Partnership, Ltd
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
Key takeaways:
A poor reputation makes you less trustworthy with people you want to work alongside. When facing a challenging situation, take a couple of deep breaths and then react. After you compose yourself, determine how to best respond.
Elon Musk
Founder of SpaceX and The Boring Company
“It’s important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree: make sure you understand the fundamental principles — the trunk and big branches — before you get to the leaves, the details.”
Key takeaways: | https://2madness.com/think-differently-to-flourish-and-grow-your-career-dbea348d4f58 | ['Matthew Royse'] | 2020-12-26 18:46:39.857000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Self Improvement', 'Inspiration', 'Thinking', 'Mindset'] |
How To Hack College University Grades | How To Hack College University Grades
[email protected] — SEND US A MAIL LET TALK ABOUT HOW TO HACK COLLEGE UNIVERSITY GRADES AND ANY OTHER HACKING RELATED ISSUES YOU HAVE. Fzilmozil Dec 24, 2020·7 min read
How i HACKED College/University System
My 0 Cost College Plan
A few months back, I decided against pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science (CS).
First, let me make it clear — I am absolutely NOT saying you should do the same. This is just the story behind my 0 cost college plan, which I’m rather proud of.
After one too many university rejection letters, my quest to get back on track with my life began in Winter 2015, at a community college. If everything went according to plan, I would be able to transfer out after 2–3 years, then work towards a Bachelor’s. And thus did my slog in the conventional education system begin.
5 quarters slowly went by. I dragged myself through about one and a half years of education-induced agony. Just to clarify, I love learning as much as the next person, but I’d never been fond of the traditional education system. It had always been too rigid, too creativity-stifling for my taste.
Great relief and excitement shortly followed alongside the Summer of 2017. Freedom from school! And so, I filled the calendar with as many events relevant to my interests and career that I could find on Eventbrite and Meetup. I would recommend anyone from most any field to do the same, especially if you live near a major city.
Over the Summer, I met dozens of new people, and mingled with others walking a similar path. Exposing myself to so many unique perspectives caused my own outlook to shift, so I started asking myself some very important questions…
Do I want to keep stressing over my GPA?
Do I want to keep loathing requirement classes?
Do I really want to keep enduring the red tape of higher education?
Do I feel like a Bachelor’s degree in tech is worth the time and financial investment, which — at an extremely conservative estimate — would be 2 years and $15,000 per year at a UC?
…How did I end up thinking my only option was to get a CS degree?
The plan to start my CS career without a CS degree
Aside from allowing participation in CS research at a university, there is only another use of a CS degree in my opinion. When listed under the education section on a resume, the chances of passing the application screening process to the interview phase is improved.
To put it simply, for people getting into CS like me, all a degree helps with is getting interviews. Ever wonder what else does that?
A referral from an employee puts me directly on the interview seat (or at least a phone interview; it varies from company to company).
If tech connections could do what a tech degree tries to do, but more reliably and way less financial investment, what are the incentives for grinding towards that CS degree? Personally, I couldn’t find any.
Most seem to agree that a CS degree — if considered at all — only matters for getting that first tech job. Subsequent employers tend to look at portfolios and GitHubs, among other qualities that a degree doesn’t guarantee.
StackOverflow 2016 Developer Survey that everyone likes to link when arguing that a CS degree is not mandatory
On the other hand, advocates for getting a CS degree obsess over the benefits of attending college and statistical correlations. I can see where they’re coming from and I will get to that shortly.
The actual college plan
This is the interesting part.
As much as I hate the traditional education system, there is no denying the merits of enduring a CS curriculum at a university:
Fundamentals. Unlike some emerging Bay Area coding bootcamps that only focus on pumping out people who know certain frameworks, a good university CS curriculum provides a good fundamental understanding, which better prepares a software engineer for future technologies.
Connections. Most students in the classroom are going to be of similar age, with similar interests, working towards the same goal, and will most likely enter the same industry at about the same time. Hiring and networking events happen every so often on campuses, too. All this helps prospective programmers and software engineers to gain a solid network of industry contacts.
Campus life. Between campus events, activity clubs, and frat parties, a university campus is the home for many wonderful (and not so wonderful) lifelong memories.
There are on-going controversies on whether these benefits are worth the 4+ years and high five-figures financial investment. I certainly didn’t think so, but they are admittedly nice and I wanted them.
I wanted to enjoy the fundamentals, connections, and campus life of a university education, without worrying about GPAs, requirement classes, college applications, or tuition.
I decided that I would go to school while not actually going to school. Literally.
Not being officially enrolled into the university did not stop me from attending classes. It didn’t matter whether the class was an 800-student lecture, or a 20-person lab. Sometimes the class materials were publicly available online. Other times classmates would forward me all the course material.
Any guesses on what else I wasn’t barred from? Participating in clubs, going to school events, having fun at parties, showing up at discussion groups, visiting office hours, etcetera etcetera. The usual student stuff. Sometimes I needed help from a friend to access areas behind keycards. Other times I just waited for someone to open the door.
No one has given me any trouble so far. I’ve had to say that I was a prospective student a few times, but usually, people have more important things to worry about than my presence. I have yet to lie about not being a student.
The effectiveness of my college plan varies between different universities. The easiest way to begin is to shadow a friend who actually goes there for a day, then ask for a tour around the school and the schedule. If there is enough trust, logins can also be shared for course material access. Alternatively, look for a research assistance opportunity and begin from there.
Some people told me these methods will not work at their school, but it does not hurt to verify and pick your battles.
More to my college plan
In May of 2017, I attended Silicon Hacks, which was one of my first few automic hackers experiences. It was hosted at a free coding school called 42 Silicon Valley.
Courtesy of Jose
I still have a hard time believing something like this could exist in the US.
Teacherless peer-to-peer flexible learning curriculum? Awesome computer lab? All for free with no income share or other shenanigans to worry about?
Best of all, it satisfied most of my needs:
I wanted to enjoy the fundamentals and connections and campus life of a university education, without worrying about GPAs or requirement classes or college applications or tuition.
There is an application process, but without the college application bullshit of fees, essays, recommendations, or anything about your personal background affecting your application chances (check the links; they are pretty absurd). 42 doesn’t care about any of that when they admit students. They only care about the student not being a dick, and passing what they call the Piscine (the French word for swimming pool); the 42 term for coding 14 hours a day, 28 days straight. It isn’t as bad as it sounds.
Their curriculum uses the C programming language at first, then students are able to choose between graphics, filesystem, and algorithms in C. Once students reach a certain level, they are able to choose a more applicable focus such as Python web dev, Unity, C++, RSA encryption, and many more.
A physical peer-to-peer collaborative gamified learning environment is 42’s answer to Bloom’s two sigma problem— that the learning effectiveness essentially doubles if a student receives a personalized learning experience, but society could not yet afford such experience for each individual.
42 gets visits from speakers frequently. automic hackers and hiring events happen on site ever so often. The student body is one of the most wonderful bunch of people to work with — motivated, conversational, friendly, capable. There are also student-organized activity clubs on campus. Improve club is my personal favorite.
Since 42 doesn’t have a set schedule, I just go there when I am done following my ‘school schedule’ and having whatever fun I have at the university.
I’ve always felt like the American education system would rather have me take out a student loan (and buy more college text books than I need) than to explore myself and improve as a person. This 0 cost college plan is my personal screw you in response.
Hope you find this article somewhat interesting or useful. I didn’t mean to sound condescending towards academia, however, the joy of escaping this paradigm might have gotten me just a little bit excited and smug
[email protected] — SEND US A MAIL LET TALK ABOUT HOW TO HACK COLLEGE UNIVERSITY GRADES AND ANY OTHER HACKING RELATED ISSUES YOU HAVE. | https://medium.com/@fzilmozil/how-to-hack-college-university-grades-429b7de014fc | [] | 2020-12-24 07:13:43.639000+00:00 | ['University', 'Hackcollegeuniversity', 'College', 'Howtohackgrades', 'Grades'] |
The 1950s: Domestic Ghouls and the Denial Female Self-Actualization | History Through Horror’s look at what went bump in the night during the 1950s through the lens of Shirly Jackon’s The Haunting of Hill House
“Any change in the nature of and female roles thus automatically affects the home, the economy, the school, and perhaps, above all, the definition of who we are as human beings.” — William Chafe, A History of Our Time: Readings on Postwar America, 2007
Shirley Jackson is, without a doubt, the writer who best encapsulates the secret anxieties of mid-century American women. Thee disturbing and jarring short story “The Lottery” has been required reading for high schoolers for decades. Her most famous novel, The Haunting of Hill House has been safely etched into the annals of literary history as one of the great ghost stories ever written. The novel, a rather scant 246 pages (give or take for edition), follows Eleanor “Nell” Vance, a young woman who, in an effort to escape her life as an oppressed recluse and caretaker under the thumb of her married sister’s family, joins a group of amateur paranormal investigators at a local mansion with a mysterious but undeniably dark history. What follows is a series of hard to explain and unsettling events in the home leading to an ambiguous but undeniably tragic climax.
So, what can Shirley Jackson’s work teach us about the delicate world of 1950s America, and what scared them? Let’s find out.
From here on out, are spoilers…
A Haunted Life
“Virginia Werewoolf” was one such name a Shirley Jackson was slapped with by a critic. She had a reputation for casting hexes on publishers and described herself as an “amateur practicing witch”. As Jackson wrote of her own beliefs and practices in witchcraft and magic: “a way of embracing and channeling female power at a time when women in America often had little control over their lives.”
“I wrote of neuroses and fear and I think all my books laid end to end would be one long documentation of anxiety.”
Jackson was born in 1916 in San Francisco where her family had resided for several generations in an affluent suburb. Her great-great-grandfather, Samuel Bugbee, had made the family’s fortune by tackling the real estate frontier of the city as an architect in the 19th century. During her senior year of high school, her family relocated to the East Coast where she would graduate from Syracuse University with a degree in journalism and her first writing credit, a short story called “Janice”, about a teen suicide.
This focus on mental health and the darker parts of the inner world would be common in Jackson’s writing throughout her life — her first novel, The Bird’s Nest, explored a woman’s relationships with her psychiatrist as she is treated for multiple personality disorder, her final work We Have Always Lived in the Castle centers on female agoraphobia and societal otherness. She spent much of her childhood lamenting her mother’s favoritism of her younger brother — “a failed abortion” is what Geraldine Jackson often called her daughter, resentful both of Jackson’s unexpected arrival and her peculiarities. Her country club parents were perplexed by their daughter’s “abnormalities” in interests and behavior and alarmed at her constant weight fluctuations.
Jackon met her future husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman, while at Syracuse after he read “Janice” and was determined to hunt down the author on campus. They married quickly after school and settled in Vermont where Hyman worked as a professor and burgeoning literary critic for the New Yorker and Jackson wrote fiction. Despite the veneer of perfection in a New England marriage that ultimately produced 4 children, Hyman’s frequent infidelities with his students and resentment of Jackson’s financial success as a writer made the marriage an unhappy one. Despite Hyman’s admiration for his wife’s intellectual talent, the norms of post-war America seeped into their home: Jackson did the housework and child-rearing while Hyman worked in his study and controlled Jackson’s earnings, which far eclipsed Hyman’s own. On top of this, she suffered physically from heavy smoking and lifelong weight fluctuations as well as from anxiety and agoraphobia for which she was prescribed barbiturates, believed harmless at the time, and often sought alcohol as a crutch before she would ultimately pass away in 1965 of heart failure.
A doodle by Jackson, making fun of Hyman: “I thought I’d rest a while, dear, I did three paragraphs all at once and it tired me out.”
She burgeoned Hill House after reading an article on a group of researchers who published findings on the supernatural. What Jackson was drawn to in the report was the personalities of those involved and the mental gymnastics they employed to explain their experiences. From this brainstorming was born Dr. Montague, the staunch academic researcher, Luke, the narcissistic and entitled heir to Hill Houe, Theo, the bohemian artist and modern woman, and Nell, a meek woman desperate to grab hold of her own agency.
Tales of escape by women from an oppressive status quo and into a false safe harbor are common motifs in Jackson’s writing. As Hill House and many of her other works make clear: women in mid-century America had nowhere to run when it was the home itself — and all it represented — that was swallowing them whole. “No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality” is the novel’s thundering and famous opening line, it is this reality of post-war America that Nell, Jackson, and women of their time were desperate to escape.
From Riveters to Housewives in the Blink of an Atom Bomb
The actual specters abiding in these fictional halls and keeping characters up at night are, classically, not what one expects. Despite its consideration as the greatest American ghost story ever put to paper, there are few actual ghosts in Hill House. We’re left to wonder whether the energy of the malevolent home truly had a grip on Nell or whether an erratic and mentally ill woman was suffering a psychotic break. It’s a more murky but comparable conundrum to the one faced by the protagonist of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper”, a terrifying story likewise about the stripping of identity that comes with traditional roles contained in womanhood. The largest difference is that the protagonist of Gillman’s story lives in a time where she is at the complete physical and medical mercy of her husband, Jackson and Nell’s world is one where women have new feet to stand on, even if they were constantly being sawed at by a patriarchal America fighting to return to a tradition that died thanks to the upheavals of the 30s and 40s.
A circa 1952 advertisement for Schlitz beer
In the 1950s the United States was experiencing a form of cultural and societal shift where the desire to return to pre-Great Depression and World War II normalcy and economic fruition called for women, who had taken over the vast majority of professional roles left behind by men who went off to Europe in uniform, to give up their professional careers and return to tending to the home. An estimated 27% of the total labor force during the war was made up of women who worked clerical positions, assembly jobs, and even managerial positions in rare cases. Jackson was Rosy the Riveter of the writing desk, she too had talents she refused to surrender to make room for a husband.
A proto Amazon wishlist ad
The veneer of prosperity that the US was aiming to achieve to itself and to the world was best served by way of large families — which averaged 3.2 children before a couple hit their late 20s. “Disney Princess” film genre, beginning in full with Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) was born out of a need to force women who did not want to leave their professional positions back into the home, citing patriotic duties, convincing them this fairy tale was their own American Dream.
A complicating wrinkle in the push for female autonomy is also the rising tide of communist paranoia and the belief that the only countermeasure against the United State’s moral opposite was the shoring up of such traditions on the home front:
“If the fear of losing whatever was stable in America shaped many attitudes, much may be said for the concern for values that accompanied that fear. Few decades have produced a more interesting array of self-analytical social thought.” — Eugenia Kaledin, American Women in the 1950s: Mothers and More, 1984
Communist women worked, American women didn’t have to and shouldn’t want to. Kaledin notes further that women, found ways around this yoke, putting creative efforts towards anti-segregation movements and literacy initiatives at local libraries to reach for an intellectual escape and feeling of participation in their world, even if it was not through labor.
Enter Nell, a barely disguised stand-in for Jackson. When we meet her she is a caretaker and shut-in, begging for use of her sister and brother-in-law’s car in order to fill her wish to participate in Dr. Montague’s study. Hyman is preset in these early scenes as the husband of Nell’s sister who refuses her use of the car, despite Nell being the one who paid for half of it. So desperate is she to escape the prison of her own home that she steals a car under cover of darkness to drive to Hill House. It seems only fitting then that the ghost she finds is a domineering, dangerous home that slowly begins to possess Nell, insists that she never leave, sapping her of her talents and energy.
The Rise of Mental Health Awareness…Kinda
“Don’t do it, Eleanor told the girl; insist on your cup of stars; once they have trapped you into being like everyone else you will never see your cup of stars again.” — Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House, 1959
Jackson once spoke of her work as a way to probe the “psychic damage to which women are especially prone.” According to Jackson biographer Ruth Franklin, Jackson’s writing reflected the “virtual schizophrenic” women the 1950s would produce. Betty Friedan likewise wrote of 1950s women forced to balance intellectual and academic desires with the absorption and assassination of their personalities in the world and needs of their husbands — two identities emerged in the internal world of women. By the mid-1950s a prevent phenomenon that starts to come to a head: multiple personality disorder. It was Jackson’s own 1954 novel that popularized this concept along with the competing novel and the accompanying 1957 film The Three Faces of Eve based on the life of Chris Costner Sizemore. Multiple personality disorder became a way to explain unsavory behaviors in women. In the movie Eve White is a quiet and respectable housewife, Eve Black is fun-loving and impulsive.
The only other female of substance in the story is Theo, a bohemian artist and perfect foil to Nell’s hesitance and repressed desires and perhaps the Eve Black to her Eve White. Theo is introduced as another woman on the run, in her case from an “argument with a roommate”, most often taken by readers to imply a fight with her live-in girlfriend. Several moments throughout show Nell’s instant attachment to Theo, the desire to capture and absorb some of Theo’s freedoms from the psychological and emotional horrors of her own daily life. Theo is the unlocked, wilder half of her personality she is desperate to integrate. “I would very much like to get this roof off from over my head” Theo says upon her first few moments in Hill House. But she already has, in many ways. Her adjacent life, while not necessarily freeing from her time, grants her the luxury of lovers’ quarrels rather than the erosion of her soul in her own home. And, ultimately, she kindly rebuffs Nell’s suggestion that they flee and live together when they are done with Hill House.
In the more immediate future of Jackson’s time, America found a balm for women’s “hysteria” over their loss of control. Literature around pharmaceuticals and their benefits for women began appearing in publications like Newsweek, Time, Cosmopolitan, and Science Digest. “Thanks to psychopharmacology, ‘emotional’ problems could be cured simply by visiting a doctor, obtaining a prescription, and taking a pill. Invariably these problems ranged from woman’s frigidity, to a bride’s uncertainty, to a wife’s infidelity” writes Jonathon Metzl. When women found themselves dissatisfied at best with domestic life and suffering inhibiting depression at worst, the rise of psychopharmaceuticals took off, popularly branded as “Mother’s Little Helper”. America’s first tranquilizer drug, Miltown (meprobamate) in 1955, soon became the most in-demand medication ever on the United States pharmaceutical market and was quickly copycatted into the now more famous Valium during the 1960s.
It’s a complicated turning point, as this presented the moment when psychiatry began to turn away from psychoanalysis’s reliance on internalization and repression to a biological understanding for behaviors and feelings which would ultimately become extremely important for mental health. It came, however, at the expense of women as direct-to-consumer advertising pushed the drugs onto women feeling overworked, stressed or dissatisfied with their domestic duties. Jackson was one of many women prescribed tranquilizers and antidepressants rather than offered real, therapeutic help, and the combination of Jackson’s medications for weight loss, psychiatric help, and use of alcohol likely lead to her premature death at 48.
First edition cover circa 1972
The turning of housewives into America’s most “well-dressed junkie” would ultimately lead to author Ira Levin’s thriller novel The Stepford Wives which took a literal approach to criticize the pharmaceutical industries targeting women, by portraying an idyllic New England community that killed their women and replaced them with personality-less domestically-inclined robots. Like Jackson, the protagonist of that novel, Joanna, is a creatively talented person suddenly roadblocked by a formally supportive husband attempting to force her into a housewife role. While Joanna ultimately loses her battle against a community bent on (literally) engineering the aesthetic of the nuclear family, Jackson perhaps was on the verge of some freedom, writing 6 months before her passing: “I am the captain of my fate. Laughter is possible, laughter is possible, laughter is possible.”
Women’s Terror vs. Men’s Horror
One of the more interesting aspects of Hill House is how it is often miscategorized as a horror novel when Jackson herself insisted upon its definition as a piece of terror fiction. The two genres often overlap and maintain each other’s elements throughout the story to reach the desired effect but the distinction is important, especially here. Ann Radcliffe was the first to fully define them as respective entities in 1826: “Terror and horror are so far opposite, that the first expands the soul, and awakens the faculties to a high degree of life; the other contracts, freezes, and nearly annihilates them.”
Terror is a yawning emotional and mental awakening while horror is the stagnation of all self and analytical engagement. In functional terms: terror is the dread of what might happen and horror is the response to what already has happened. Terror is ambiguity and possibility, confusion and awe, the necessary distance to feel and understand your emotions. This form of storytelling is a warning, a necessary way to talk about the experience of mid-century American women that allows them the breathing room to know they are not crazy, that their fears of what may become of their futures and their daughter’s futures are real. It’s a slumbering, slow-growing tide that refused to climax. Even today, as Amy Coney Barrett is set to become a Supreme Court judge, has the oppression of women ever truly climaxed? Have he ever left the terrors of Hill House?
Terror as an element strikes a particular chord when it comes to women. Not only are they the only ones suffering from anxiety, according to popular medicine, they also are among those who have the most to fear from the unknowns of tomorrow. White, male horror writers like Stephen King write of white, middle-class men reckoning with slights of ego or reputation and lamenting at the horror of their own situations and how this terrible thing could possibly befall them. Women have experienced far great traumas. What scares them is not what has already happened but what could possibly be next, and worse.
We as readers are doing Nell, Jackson, and women of mid-century America a great disservice by summing Hill House as a story of a woman suffering a mental breakdown in a haunted home without examining the cause and how the world around her insisted upon, and ultimately, failed her. Like many of the pharmacological advertisements of the time, we correctly identify the problem without acknowledging its source. Nell, and women of her time, were once making the country churn by pushing the limping economy and getting food and goods into their own homes. For the first time in history, women in America were becoming truly human and free to explore their talents and gifts, and then reduced to functional laborers in their own homes, denied self-actualization in favor of maintaining the status quo, and gaslit into anxiety and depression when they dared to ask for more.
Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves? Who knows what women’s intelligence will contributes when it can be nourished without denying love? — Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1997
Resources:
The 1950s and the 1960s and the American Woman: the transition from housewife to feminist by Vanessa Martins Lamb
The Bird’s Nest by Shirley Jackson
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Lasting Importance of Haunting of Hill House’s Theodora by Sara Century
Mothers and More: American Women in the 1950s by Eugenia Kaledin
‘Mother’s Little Helper’: The Crisis of Psychoanalysis and the Miltown Resolution by Jonathan Metzl
On the Supernatural in Poetry by Ann Radcliffe
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin
The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Take Some Pills for Your Hysteria, Lady: America’s Long History of Drugging Women Up by Taylor Prewitt
The Three Faces of Eve, dir Nunnally Johnson
U.S. Census, 1940–2010
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman | https://medium.com/horror-in-context/the-1950s-domestic-ghouls-and-the-denial-female-self-actualization-9f796cb51a6d | ['Melanie Moyer'] | 2020-10-01 11:51:27.818000+00:00 | ['Womens History', 'Horror', 'Shirley Jackson', 'History', '1950s'] |
Axios ve Reactjs ile JSON Verisi Nasıl Çekilir? | At the Intersection of the Development, Front-End, Back-End, and Mobile || JavaScript, Python, and AWS || [email protected] | https://medium.com/@muumdev/axios-ve-reactjs-ile-json-verisi-nas%C4%B1l-%C3%A7ekilir-e73445b03aa9 | ['Murat Umutlu'] | 2020-12-21 22:34:21.771000+00:00 | ['Data Fetching', 'Reactjs', 'Axios', 'Json Data Example'] |
What’s the Cost of Living in Sydney? | The money you need for food and shelter …
Photo by Dan Freeman on Unsplash
If you’re an expat moving into Sydney, Australia or simply an Australian looking for a new job in Sydney, you will need to know an approximate cost of living in Sydney.
This is largely from personal experience. I relocated interstate, and realized shock horror, the cost of living in Sydney is not cheap at all! Hopefully you guys will find this breakdown somewhat useful.
Firstly, I’ve divided expenses into Core and Discretionary.
Core expenses include items such as rent, groceries, children’s education, health insurance, medical costs and transportation … (things that are absolutely essential) Discretionary expenses include clothing, restaurants and cafes, alcohol and car expenses…(things not so essential but important to have)
In this article, we’re just going to cover core expenses.
Core Expenses
Rent
The largest factors are:
Are you single or a family unit?
How long are you prepared to travel to work?
If you’re a family unit, say husband, wife and child, you’re looking at circa around $600–700 per week for a basic two bedroom apartment in a middle-class suburb. For instance:
Rhodes and Meadowbank (circa 600 per week)
Burwood (circa 650 per week)
St Leonards (circa 700 per week)
If you get an older apartment, you can probably save somewhere between $30–100 per week.
In recent years, there’s been an influx of apartment buildings, especially in the suburbs mentioned above, so you can probably bargain a good rate. $500 would be the bare minimum for a 2 bedroom apartment. And if you do find one, don’t expect it to be in great condition.
If you’re single, you can probably get away with anything between $200–300 per week. If you’re prepared to live further away from the CBD, i.e. a >45min travel time, you can probably find something for sub-200.
Approximately, you should budget for:
Single person’s rent: $1,000 per month
Couple’s rent: $2,600 per month
Groceries
The largest groceries stores in Sydney are Woolworths and Coles. Because it’s a duopoly, prices are not considered cheap. According to Canstar Blue, expect to pay around $560 a month for groceries. For a family of three, expect around $676. From personal experience, this seems to be on the low side. This is especially true if you buy imported produce.
Approximately, you should budget for:
Single: $600 per month
Couple / family: $1,000 per month
Education
If you have kids, that’s going to be a big cost aside from rent.
For children over kindergarten, the biggest factor is whether you choose to let them go to a public school or a private school.
Private school education is significantly more expensive, and you should factor in circa $30,000 per year. Catholic schools are slightly cheaper, but still at the $10,000 range. Public school education is “free”- however you do need to cover a voluntary contribution, this varies between suburbs, but do expect to pay circa $4,000.
Day care for children under kindergarten usually ranges from $90–170 per day. This can accumulate quite easily to be over $20,000 per year.
Below is a survey on education costs:
Let’s say you have one kid:
Private school: $2,500 per month
Public school: $350 per month
Health Insurance
The average cost for health insurance in Sydney is circa $2,000 pa for an individual. Expect to pay double for young families.
Approximately:
Single: $160 per month
Couples / families: $350 per month
Utilities
From my experience, expect to pay between $100 to $300 a month.Some guides are set in the link below:
Approximately, you should budget for:
Single: $100 per month
Couple / family: $200 per month
Public transport
Assuming you travel from home to work on public transport, the maximum cap you can pay according to transportnsw.info is $50 per week. That’s $200 a month — realistically you would probably spend less.
Single: $100 per month
Couple / family: $200 per month
Total Core Expenses
For a young family (public school) — $4,700 per month.
Rent $2,600
Groceries $1,000
Education $350
Health Insurance $350
Utilities $200
Transportation $200
This means $56,400 per year of after-tax money! Not a small amount. Assuming a rough tax rate of 30%, you would need to earn $80,571.40 to afford basic expenses. This is a lot more manageable if both husband and wife are working. The minimum wage in Sydney is approximately $40,000.
For a single person (sharing)— $1,960 per month.
Rent $1,000
Groceries $600
Education $0
Health Insurance $160
Utilities $100
Transportation $100
This means $23,520 per year of after-tax money! However, this is the bare minimum where you’re sharing apartments. If you want an apartment all to yourself, expect to add another $1,000 per month, bumping up your total to $35,520 per year.
Rule of Thumb on Core Expenses…
$60,000 for a family of three
$30,000 for an individual
Therefore, if you’re moving with your partner and child to work here in Sydney, they should be offering you at least $100,000 pa. | https://medium.com/illumination/whats-the-cost-of-living-in-sydney-8f0b6f2d60fc | [] | 2020-12-13 10:11:39.646000+00:00 | ['Finance', 'Sydney', 'Australia', 'Money Management', 'Cost Of Living'] |
Bitcoin mining stocks | Let’s talk about the value of money in crypto mining. It’s nearing the end of the year 2020, and I think this year deserves closure from the investor’s perspective of view in the field of publicly-traded cryptocurrency mining companies.
I wrote a story of publicly-traded cryptocurrency mining companies on September 11th. A blog post about publicly-traded cryptocurrency mining companies. Since then, the price of Bitcoin has risen from $10300 to a new all-time high of $24180. If I purchased Bitcoin then, I would have a nice 135% profit for my money. I didn’t buy Bitcoin, but instead, I shopped Argo Blockchain stocks. The stock has risen from 5.50 GBX to 17.70 GBX, making an even better 222% profit.
Is the company now overvalued? No, it still is very far from being overpriced. It has announced an additional 430 PH/s mining power that is operational in February. That raises the total Bitcoin mining power to 1075 PH/s. With a current 70 million USD market cap, the price per 1 TH/s of Bitcoin mining power is 62.25$. It is still comparable to other companies' stats in my September review. And of course, other stocks have risen too. Rising mining profitability is moved to ASIC mining hardware prices.
Here is a link to the Align Analyst Research analysis report about Argo. Especially full document is excellent. The conservative target price for Argo stock is 21.14 GBX. Quite interesting is also the possibility that Argo would start to pay dividends.
I think that Argo’s stock performed relatively poorly. There is still plenty of room for the nice upswing. If Argo’s stock is valued to the same levels as other stocks from my previous post, inventory can be 3–5 times its current level. And of course, if Bitcoin continues, it rallies up, all those stocks will rally up also.
I don’t believe that Bitcoin stays at the level where it is now. I am very bullish on Bitcoin in the medium term 1–2 years. Why? After PayPal released their crypto services, they alone are buying more than all of the newly mined Bitcoins each month. Grayscale has bought even more than PayPal, about twice more than mining can produce.
MicroStrategy JPMorgan’s “Flows & Liquidity” report says that institutions are piling into bitcoin at a more vigorous pace this quarter than they were in Q3. I also think that FED and other central banks’ loose monetary policy will increase Bitcoin demand because liquidity flows into all kinds of assets. And, of course, mainstream media started to talk about cryptocurrencies. FOMO is coming :-)
I also found there is a new publicly traded player in the field. Bit Digital launched its BTC mining business in February 2020 and quickly ramped up 1,250 PH/s in power by October.
Ticker symbol: BTBT
Market capital: 272M USD
with current mining power and market cap price for 1 TH/s mining power is 120.83
My initial investment in Argo Blockchain was the weakest choice, and If you think that I would have invested in any other of these companies in the list, I would have done much better than Argo.) Nevertheless, these numbers below show to you that I should sell all the others Except Argo Blockchain today.
The most expensive of the list, Marathon Patent Group price is now at the level with that price of 1TH there, you can buy 16TH worth of perpetual contracts from OXBTC.
If you find this article useful, please share it. Please also join CryptoGandalfs social media pages. You will find links in the bottom right corner of my webpage. www.cryptogandalf.com
See you around & Happy New Year 2021
CryptoGandalf | https://medium.com/@dole1974/lets-talk-about-the-value-of-money-in-crypto-mining-69e5ce375e43 | [] | 2020-12-25 15:11:22.298000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency News', 'Crypto Stocks', 'Cryptocurrency Mining', 'Bitcoin Mining', 'Cryptocurrency Investment'] |
How small to medium businesses (SMBs) can act like a Fortune 500 company? | Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash
Use what they use?
In my twenty-five years of hiring management experience. I’ve uncovered one key difference between top-tier enterprises and SMBs. Business leaders in SMBs do not use the same tools as those in Fortune 500 businesses. For example, when they make employment decisions based on limited data, the subsequent impact on SMB effectiveness might be problematic. We at Skillojo have your back. We are here to empower business leaders in hiring employees for three reasons. For attitude, talent, and the ability to learn on the go.
You have the advantage to act with speed and agility
One report estimates that millennials will make up 75 percent of the US workforce by 2025, they are also critical of large organizations. A vast majority believe large corporations hold too much power and they do not make a positive impact on society. This is the perfect time for SMB leaders to act now to create a distinct workplace to attract smart individuals to their future of work. Skillojo has developed an upskilling platform that evaluates an employee’s skill inventories and compares them with the required skills across the industry. Then we recommend ongoing learning through hundreds of micro-credentialed course providers.
You don’t need an expensive TA team for a smallish workforce, and particularly when you are not expecting a rapid growth
Leaders of small and medium-sized businesses do not have enough time to devote to recruiting new employees. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have to be cost-conscious. A small business, for example, may have an HR team that accounts for around 5% of the total headcount. If they only hire a modest number of new employees on a quarterly basis. There is no need for a full-fledged HR department. This is where the outsourcing approach may be beneficial to these SMBs. Skillojo’s Talent Acquisition platform is designed to provide key stakeholders with the appropriate amount of access to manage the whole company’s hiring plans and acquire data on important HR indicators.
Skillojo can provide designated success managers to run the front-end HR solutions for you. For SMBs that are scaling and require high volume hires, Skillojo can provide white-label solutions and a dedicated team to work for your account. Talk to us about your business strategy and challenges and we’ll work with you to save time, cost and manage the project scope. | https://medium.com/@skillojo/how-small-to-medium-businesses-smbs-can-act-like-a-fortune-500-company-fe329f79040e | ['Chris Anthony'] | 2021-11-17 00:18:32.086000+00:00 | ['Small Business', 'Millennials', 'Outsourcing', 'Talent Acquisition', 'Hiring'] |
Building A Monte Carlo Method Stock Price Simulator With Geometric Brownian Motion And Bootstrap Sampling | Building A Monte Carlo Method Stock Price Simulator With Geometric Brownian Motion And Bootstrap Sampling Zhijing Eu Follow Jan 14 · 12 min read
Image Source : https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stonks
Summary
I built a web app using Python Flask that allows you to simulate future stock price movements using a method called Monte Carlo simulations with the choice of two ‘flavours’ : Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) and Bootstrapped Sampling.
While I may include some programming code below, this article is not going to be a ‘code-along’ tutorial and focuses more on the underlying theory behind GBM and Bootstrap Sampling.
However the native *.*py and a Jupyter Notebook version of the same code is available on this GitHub link below if you want to dig deeper.
Warning ! I am not an investment guru of any sort so I strongly suggest you do NOT use this article as the (sole) basis for your investment decisions.
Outline
Geometric Brownian Motion
You may be familiar with Brownian Motion from high school physics. That is the seemingly random motion of air particles as they collide with each other. While we might not be able to characterize the behavior of a single particle, physics and statistics gives us the ability to still describe the likelihoods of where the overall system will end up.
Image Source : Wikipedia
Much in the same way, the Geometric Brownian Motion is a model of an assets returns where the price (or returns) of the asset / shares / investment can be modelled as a random walk (I.e a process where changes in stock prices have the same distribution and are independent of each other. Therefore, it assumes the past movement or trend of a stock price or market cannot be used to predict its future movement (Source : Investopedia)
Rather than dive headlong into some reasonably complex stochastic differential equations , an intuition of how it works is
Source : Adapted from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/07/montecarlo.asp
where:
Sₜ=the stock price
dSₜ=the change in stock price
μ=the expected return
σ=the standard deviation of returns
Wₜ=the Wiener Process random variable where increments in t time have a normal distribution N that is centered at zero (i.e Wₜ -W₀~ N(0,t) )
dₜ=the elapsed time period
Essentially, the GBM model allow us to model future prices based a combination of a “drift” that is driven by the average (i.e mean of the log returns) and a “shock” which is random but can be still be characterized by the volatility (i.e the standard deviation of the log returns).
However it should be noted the model makes a few KEY assumptions:
The logarithmic change of the stock price is normally distributed *
Volatility (i.e Standard Deviation of the Log Returns) is constant
Expected return (i.e Mean of the Log Returns) is independent of to stock performance
(*You may be wondering why we are using returns instead of prices — it’s because returns are scale free (being in % terms rather than absolute values) and often have more ‘stable’ statistical properties (e.g constant mean & variance). Furthermore log returns have the advantage over simple returns because the log of a log-normally distributed random variable will be normally distributed. These three posts (1) , (2) and (3) from statsexchange go into a lot more detail.)
However as we shall see later , these conditions may not always hold true so the validity of any predictions need to be evaluated very carefully.
Monte Carlo Simulations
As mentioned before, I already have a separate article on this topic but in a nutshell : Monte Carlo simulations are a method of making predictions by repeatedly running models that have random variables and aggregating all the results to understand the range of outcomes.
Therefore although each iteration of the GBM forecast will be slightly different, we can make multiple forecasts and aggregate all the results to see overall range of potential price changes within the desired time frame.
Ten different Iterations For a ~3 Week Forecast Prices of NFLX Shares Based On 1 Yr Of Historical Data. (Note : I used a backtest period 7 days hence the overlap between the actual vs forecasted prices)
The 10th , 90th Percentile and Median Forecast Prices Of NFLX For The Same 10 Iterations
As to be expected, the further into the future, the wider the range (i.e the P10 to P90) of possible prices. (As a rule of thumb , there is an academic paper that says that GBM works best for forecasting when limited to max 2 week lookahead)
Simulating A Single Stock Using GBM
The web app was built by extending some code built by another author as per the article below where I combined it with Python Flask to allow users to select the stock counter and the desired historical data range and forecast duration via a website.
The code looks a bit like below where there is a function to extract the stock prices from Yahoo Finance using pandasDataReader
import pandas as pd
from pandas_datareader import data import numpy as np, numpy.random
from numpy import mean import random
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt from datetime import datetime from scipy.stats import norm
from scipy.stats import kstest
from scipy.stats import skew
from scipy.stats import kurtosis
from scipy import stats def extract_prices(start_date,end_date,symbols,backtestduration=0):
dim=len(symbols)
for symbol in symbols:
dfprices = data.DataReader(symbols, start=start_date, end=end_date, data_source='yahoo')
dfprices = dfprices[['Adj Close']]
dfprices.columns=[' '.join(col).strip() for col in dfprices.columns.values] for i in range(0,len(symbols)):
noOfShares.append(portfolioValPerSymbol[i]/priceAtEndDate[i])
noOfShares=[round(element, 5) for element in noOfShares]
listOfColumns=dfprices.columns.tolist()
dfprices["Adj Close Portfolio"]=dfprices[listOfColumns].mul(noOfShares).sum(1)
print(f"Extracted {len(dfprices)} days worth of data for {len(symbols)} counters with {dfprices.isnull().sum().sum()} missing data")
return dfprices
After which , another function converts the prices into Log Returns
def calc_returns(dfprices,symbols):
dfreturns=pd.DataFrame()
columns = list(dfprices)
mean=[]
stdev=[]
for column in columns:
dfreturns[f'Log Daily Returns {column}']=np.log(dfprices[column]).diff()
mean.append(dfreturns[f'Log Daily Returns {column}'][1:].mean())
stdev.append(dfreturns[f'Log Daily Returns {column}'][1:].std())
dfreturns=dfreturns.dropna()
if len(dfreturns.columns)==1:
df_mean_stdev=pd.DataFrame(list(zip(symbols,mean,stdev)),columns =['Stock', 'Mean Log Daily Return','StdDev Log Daily Return'])
else:
df_mean_stdev=pd.DataFrame(list(zip(symbols+["Portfolio"],mean,stdev)),columns =['Stock', 'Mean Log Daily Return','StdDev Log Daily Return'])
return dfreturns ,df_mean_stdev
These Log Returns fed as input into another function that estimates the Mean , Standard Deviation which is then pushed along with the initial price to a function that fits the input into the equation discussed in the previous section
def GBMsimulatorUniVar(So, mu, sigma, T, N):
"""
Parameters
So: initial stocks' price
mu: expected return
sigma: volatility
Cov: covariance matrix
T: time period
N: number of increments
""" dim = np.size(So)
t = np.linspace(0., T, int(N))
S = np.zeros([dim, int(N)])
S[:, 0] = So
for i in range(1, int(N)):
drift = (mu - 0.5 * sigma**2) * (t[i] - t[i-1])
Z = np.random.normal(0., 1., dim)
diffusion = sigma* Z * (np.sqrt(t[i] - t[i-1]))
S[:, i] = S[:, i-1]*np.exp(drift + diffusion)
return S, t
There is an important caveat though to the validity of the results. Within the code, a best fit normal distribution is estimated from the historical data but what is more relevant is how “normal” the returns are.
Therefore I’ve bolted on a number of statistical tests for normality that I will not go into detail in this article. Suffice to say, these tests generate a statistic and a p- value that can be tested against a chosen significance level to check the ‘normality’ (*) of the historical returns data. Specifically, I’ve implemented two tests , a Kolmogorov Smirnov Test and a Shapiro Wilk Test with a significance level of 5%. (Why 5% ? Here read this)
(* Strictly speaking , it’s not exactly ‘checking’ per se but I’d rather not get into the mechanics of how Hypothesis Testing works for now)
Unfortunately running the numbers of a few different shares (using about a anywhere from 6mths to a year’s worth of historical data) shows that the returns are not always “normal” as per the arbitrary example below for the stock of CRM (Salesforce) and NFLX (Netflix) over Jan 2019 to Jul 2020. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/building-a-monte-carlo-method-stock-price-simulator-with-geometric-brownian-motion-and-bootstrap-e346ff464894 | ['Zhijing Eu'] | 2021-02-17 06:54:21.008000+00:00 | ['Stock Market', 'Time Series Analysis', 'Python', 'Monte Carlo', 'Time Series Forecasting'] |
Rediscovering self and leadership in face of unprecedented crisis! — My Reflections | As I reflect about year 2020 and current pandemic crisis on a cold Michigan winter afternoon looking outside window at the trees without leave waiting for spring to come in few months again but there is snow awaited soon to make ground look snow-white and for holiday celebration to begin. As we put the curtain for this year, many things have changed since the beginning of the year and world has changed forever and the new normal is in front of all of us whether in professional or personal lives.
I have thought penning down few thoughts as we traverse through the journey of last year and rediscovered self and leadership in the face of this unprecedented crisis. My attempt is not to create leadership framework or jargon driven messages but my own learning and self-discovery in last few months.
1. Trust is new Currency
As we enter into new VUCA world of virtual interactions, Trust plays such an important role in our both professional and personal interactions. Our SAY-DO ratio defines us an individual, team and organization and our team and customers measures us on these parameters more than ever against technical skills and capabilities. Building trust in a virtual world is not easy but it can be lost in few minutes based on both verbal and non-verbal actions. I discovered through my own learning in the past and current crisis, walking the talk and ensuring we follow through on our actions is one of the best ways to build trust across the oceans or video streams.
2. Team work creates multiplier effects
While importance of team work has been highlighted in every leadership course or business school teaching. A crisis like this year has underscored its importance many fold. When no one knows really well, how to react to crisis, collective thinking and team work and covering each other’s back makes it a huge difference in outcome and performance. It reminds me of a famous proverb “If you want to go fast go alone, If you want to go far go together”. My own self-discovery is that teams who came together and who looked at collective success, created multiplier effects In terms of performance and outcomes and seen better results despite challenging times and also less stressful moments.
3. Over and Authentic communication creates lasting impact
Authentic and over communication creates lasting impact to our customers and teams. As crisis hit us at the beginning of the year, daily communication and coming together helps us think through about the crisis and possible ways to react to it at the same time. Keeping every stakeholder informed on key actions help they suggest ways to improve and be the part of journey. There is no such thing as “over communication” in the crisis and it help us to bind together. I felt that team and customers were comfortable with periodic daily and weekly communications on both challenges and success. Our inflow of video calls and various other communication methods helped us to come closer across the continents and be together.
4. Focus-Focus-Focus
One of the important discovery for me is that when you are hit by crisis, remaining focused is key to remain calm and action oriented. When unknowns are high, remaining focused on controllable help us navigate the crisis better and also small successes brings cheer to the team even though we are reeling with many challenges. Small impacts of success through focus can be very relieving in short run and help us think through long term solutions
5. It’s OK to blur professional and personal boundaries for short period
As we dealt with crisis, it was felt that boundaries are blurring between professional and personal and there is an overlap. Since this current crisis is more societal and health driven then financial or economical. It was ok to have short term overlap in these boundaries. Organizations have taken several steps to have medical facilities and work from home flexibilities and timing to ensure both personal and professional responsibilities are taken care of and stress is kept at minimum in attempt to create these boundaries.
6. Empathy, Kindness and Compassion plays an important part
Many articles and leadership courses have been created in this crisis. Empathy, kindness and compassion did play a very important role in leadership and team management. When there is a so much unknown and everyone is working towards managing crisis. These human traits became hallmark of leadership and need for successful navigation of crisis. Leaders who played their part by humanizing the work came across as genuine and they have seen better results. These traits will continue to remain very important as we drive new normal behaviors in daily personal and professional lives
7. There is no alternative to customer and people centricity
Finally, I would say that there is no alternative to customer and people centricity. Every leader has to demonstrate this in both spirit and action and work towards on daily basis. Everyone is looking for support in their day to day task whether to drive strategy or execution. One would be successful by ensuring their teams and customers are successful in their life, career and journey. Creating “friends for life” in both our teams and customers goes long way to help meet our goals and fulfill our dreams.
As we continue to navigate this crisis and welcome 2021 with a new normal, some new leadership rules are being made and many are broken. Human aspects of leadership will continue to make its difference in many years to come.
Wish everyone happy Holidays and a Very Happy New Year 2021 | https://medium.com/@ashish-saxena/rediscovering-self-and-leadership-in-face-of-unprecedented-crisis-my-reflections-eefb8c6efdb0 | ['Ashish Saxena'] | 2020-12-08 03:01:53.872000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Team Building', 'Customer Success', 'Reflections', 'Leadership'] |
I Installed Oracle SQL Developer, Now What? | You did it! You landed the big interview*. Tomorrow is the big day. There’s just one problem: they expect you to know what a database looks like, and how to write SQL.
No worries, you tell yourself, I’ll just go download that Oracle thing and have a go at it.
Ok, point-click, go sounds good, let’s go get that thing.
Oracle SQL Developer is the GUI, and you’ve downloaded and got it up and running in five minutes. Awesome. Let’s do this.
Crap. Userame? Password?? Hostname??? What the what?
You’re being asked for a few things that you don’t know. And to be honest, you don’t even know what you don’t know.
SQL Developer is a desktop application. It serves as a client for working with an Oracle database.
But, it’s NOT a database, nor does it come with one.
And you’re going to need a database.
So, you could go make yourself a database.
But (a really BIG but)
Starting out day 1 of your Oracle journey by installing the Oracle Database software and creating a database is going to be a tough ask for most people. And let’s remember, you have that interview TOMORROW, so let’s not spend the next 4 hours going through that process.
Let’s get to the goods, NOW.
I’m not MOST people, I’m fairly decent at this IT stuff.
UNIX, Linux, OS X, whatever.
Comfortable with Docker as well? Yes? Excellent. Go download Oracle XE for Linux. It’s free! Then get this container.
Once you have the container up and running, you can connect to the database inside of it from SQL Developer. And the connection properties in SQL Developer default to you having XE running on your machine: the servername is localhost and the database name is ‘xe.’
If you’re NOT a Linux/Docker aficionado, you can also download the Windows version. There’s a GUI installer. It won’t take you very long to get it up and running.
But then you’re going to have a database to maintain on your machine, and a a BUNCH of software to install.
Probably overkill for what you need.
Easy++ — Just download & use our VirtualBox appliance.
We built a virtual machine, completely free to use for learning Oracle, that you can simply:
download
import
run
You need to download and install VirtualBox, also free.
Download the appliance (fancy way of saying image).
The image includes:
12cR2 Enterprise Edition copy of Oracle Database (with sample data!)
SQL Developer installed and ready to connect
Some browser based labs you can step through to learn Oracle
Oracle Application Express, in case you want to build a web application
Import the Appliance
After you’ve installed VirtualBox, run it.
After you’ve downloaded the appliance from Oracle, use the ‘Import’ option in VirtualBox and point to that file.
It’s that REALLY big file you just downloaded.
This will bring up another dialog with some switches and settings you can change. Just click OK.
It will take a few minutes to put the files down. When it’s done, you can safely delete the .ova file you downloaded.
You should see your image in the VirtualBox app, select it, and hit the ‘Start’ button on the toolbar.
You’re cooking with gas when you see this on your desktop:
YOU ARE SO CLOSE NOW.
You CAN run SQL Developer inside the image, but don’t. Save the image resources for the database and linux OS. You can easily run SQL Developer on your host desktop and connect to the database inside the image.
Now We’re Ready to Connect!
Let’s create a connection.
Pay attention to this part.
Connection Name: anything you want
Username: we’re going to use ‘HR’
Password: ‘oracle’ — yes, it’s case sensitive
Hostname: localhost
Port: 1521
Service name: orcl
The VirtualBox appliance has a port forward setup. It allows you to ‘talk’ to port 1521 on your machine, and it’s setup to send that traffic to port 1521 on the Linux image. That’s why we can use ‘localhost’ for the server, instead of having to worry about what the IP address or network name for the image is.
Fill out the boxes, and hit ‘connect.’
The default passwords on this image are all ‘oracle’ — so you can connect as SYS, HR, or whatever — just use ‘oracle’ as the password. The Linux passwords are all ‘oracle’ too, so you can login as ‘root’ or as ‘oracle’ in the Linux desktop.
You can type SQL in the Worksheet, or you can ‘draw’ queries in the Query Builder.
You’re in! Now you can start trying to learn and use the database without reading the docs. That’s how we all do things right? We unwrap the package, install the batteries, and turn it on. It’s only after we get stuck on our third or 10th try do we resort to reading the instructions.
When you’re ready to read those instructions, go back to the Linux desktop in your VirtualBox appliance.
Find the big red ‘start here’ button. It’s actually a button. Double-click it. Or right-click, ‘Open.’ That will launch our free tutorials.
I recommend you start with ‘SQL Developer.’
These are step-by-step instructions complete with screenshots so it’s easy for you to follow along.
Good luck on that interview tomorrow!
After you nail the interview and get the job, your journey will continue. We have lots of resources for you. I’m on Twitter and have a blog where I talk about SQL Developer…a LOT.
If you prefer moving pictures, we also have a YouTube playlist that you can peruse at your leisure.
Maybe it’s not an interview. Maybe it’s that database class you signed up for, and you waited until the last moment to start your homework.
A version of this story originally published at thatjeffsmith.com on Dec 4, 2012. | https://medium.com/oracledevs/i-installed-oracle-sql-developer-now-what-71230b9c9303 | ['Jeff Smith'] | 2017-11-22 07:10:23.817000+00:00 | ['Oracle Database', 'Sql', 'Developer Tools', 'Developer'] |
DANCE STUDIO FACES FINANCIAL PROBLEMS AFTER SECOND LOCKDOWN | DANCE STUDIO FACES FINANCIAL PROBLEMS AFTER SECOND LOCKDOWN
Unit 12 Logo and Sign
UNIT 12 in Winchester, Hampshire has been in financial crisis during the second lockdown after being refused the government grant.
For the past ten years, this facility has been providing dance classes for young people of all abilities however, after going into another lockdown the dance studios have been left empty.
Unit 12’s main dance studio throughout the second lockdown
This has caused them great fear that when the dance classes can return in the release of the lockdown that they won’t be able to recover financially.
The pandemic has meant that the facility has not had its usual source of income being provided and the hundreds of people that they help have been unaware of whether they would have dance studios to come back to.
Mitch Allen, Dance couch for Intergate Dance said:
“It has taken a toll on their mental health because a lot of them come here for a break away from school and life at home so it's quite a bit of an outburst for them.”
The facility has stayed open in the second lockdown, so it can provide emergency food packages for over 40 families in need. But this has meant that they haven’t been provided the government grant, causing the facility to lose 7,000 pounds worth of income.
Worker packing the food deliveries for the families
Jamie Robinson, Manager of Unit 12 said:
“They only provide the grant for businesses that are shut. We have stayed open because we have physiotherapy, counseling and food projects going”
He added:
“We are really trying to challenge the decision-making on that and hopefully with enough support we can try and get a grant.”
In the meantime, the facility has been fundraising to get them through to Christmas such as Jamie’s 24 hour sponsored row which raised over 3000 with donations still being given.
He said
“I had to do something drastic and a 24 hour row with no training I thought was drastic enough”.
Their only hope is when the dance classes return after the second lockdown, they can get the financial support that they need, and things can return to normal. | https://medium.com/@i-bushell/dance-studio-faces-financial-problems-after-second-lockdown-accdb4a9db8e | ['Isabel Bushell'] | 2020-12-17 22:18:18.262000+00:00 | ['Unit 12', 'Dance', 'Lockdown', 'Fundraising', 'Government'] |
Etched by Sketch: SNL Season 44 Episode 19 (Adam Sandler) | Original Air Date: May 4, 2019
Cold Open: Family Feud
Grade: D+
Whoa, a completely non-political cold open?
Seems like a regular sketch that got pushed up when everyone came up empty on a political sketch
Ego putting in good work
Leslie damn near steals the sketch with just 1 line
I don’t watch Game of Thrones, but I know the main characters, and…I don’t recognize any of these characters?
Just like with all these Family Feud sketches, once the mechanics of the show start, things really drag
Little jokes (Barry Bonds chin, calling Okoye ‘Oprah’) not landing
Audience REALLY not getting these Game of Thrones references
No real ending, and no real point
Who says Live From New York? Beck, Alex, Ego, Kenan, Kate, Melissa, Cecily, Mikey, Kyle, Leslie
Monologue: Adam Sandler’s ‘I Was Fired’ Monologue
Grade: B
Adam working with some good nervous energy
Concept of the fired song is strong, shows a personal connection to SNL history
Crack about nbc hating Jews is genuinely funny
Song is slow enough so that Sandler can take his time to ensure lines land properly
Great cameo by Chris Rock
Pete Davidson with a short punchy appearance
Good solid ending and a bit touching, good omen for the show
War Zone Reporter
Grade: C-
Familiar setup, SNL has done a lot of these “studio reporter interacting with remote reporter” news bits this season, and none of them have been great
1 joke sketch alert!
Funny enough concept with applying Snapchat filters to deadly serious reporting, but not much beyond that
So Mikey said he couldn’t see the screen because it shattered, but Adam’s character can? I mean this isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just annoying when sketches fail to recognize their own internal logic
Sandler using cross-dressing as a drive-by gag, in a (bad) 90’s throwback
Final heightening as a hot dog is underwhelming, kinda boring actually
Studio reporters add nothing, just annoying straight men
Holes
Grade: C-
Aesthetic for this video is really incongruent with the style of the song…are they going for 80’s monster ballad theme…I guess?
Starts slow, takes a while to set it up and get to the chorus
I think they thought if they just said the word “holes” a lot, it would pass for humor
Becomes a tad complicated to follow given the silly concept
Sandler tries to save it, only adds to confusion
Doesn’t really “hole”d together (GET IT??)
Romano Tours
Grade: B+
Classic Sandler setup, where he monologues as a relatable but strange character
Dumb little Italy jokes keep things running along, Sandler is delivering well
The turn of “if you’re sad now, you might still feel sad there” hits hard, and audience is on board immediately
Graphics that drive the point home really deliver
Little lines like “seeing different squirrels” helps capture the spirit of the sketch and underlines how ridiculous travel really is to certain groups of young people.
The “Can” and “Cannot” graphics put it over the top and squeezes out all the laughs from this concept
The joke about not liking your own photos is hilarious and very real
Sandler’s delivery stays strong throughout, hitting laugh lines hard
Herlihy Boy-esque (look it up, younger folks)
A throwback in all the right ways
Sandler Family Reunion
Grade: B-
Recurring bit for hosts with distinctive quirks (Christopher Walken, etc)
Somewhat predictable but fun to see all the cast members take their shot at doing their best outrageous Sandler impersonation
Mikey & Kyle doing fine work as Billy Madison-era Sandler
Pete as Little Nicky Sandler is good, unexpected
Melissa as Waterboy Sandler delivers, as expected
Leslie continues her string of fine sketch acting as Chubbs
Kristin Wiig and Jimmy Fallon cameos don’t really add much, apart from getting big audience reaction
Sweet moment at the end with the photo
Rectix
Grade: B
Clean simple setup
Oh lord, here we go with the ass jokes
Coming out and just calling it a butt plug is a good 2nd beat, as is Sandler’s insistence on calling it a pill
Sandler and Aidy’s expert delivery is drawing more laughs than expected
The quick cut after “Don’t put your mouth on that” is perfect
Another successful 90’s throwback-style sketch
Weekend Update (Excluding Desk Pieces)
Grade: C
Again, Che’s jokes hit a little harder than Jost’s, but both are relatively weak
Jost’s “Whoa aren’t things crazy right now?” joke falls flat
Non-political jokes not particularly sharp but passable
Applebees jokes always appreciated
Weekend Update Desk Piece #1: Senator Elizabeth Warren on College Debt Forgiveness
Grade: C
Kate’s Liz is technically good, but struggling on how to capture her essence
Writing is a tad lackluster, but Kate’s selling the material well
A little overlong, material drags near the end
Weekend Update Desk Piece #2: Opera Man Returns
Grade: B+
Back after about a 24 year hiatus
Adam in fine form, although seems a tad reluctant to do some of the more cheesy lines
Recaptures the silliness and likeability of his early SNL days
A good mix of timeless jokes and of-the-moment, like Operaman bits of old
Great dig on Seth Rogan (and himself)
Also just like Operaman of old, sprinkles in some relevant social commentary
Once he starts rolling with the political bits, audience jumps fully on board
Last Call With Adam Sandler
Grade: C-
Recurring…I’m not a huge fan of prior iterations, but maybe Adam can inject some life into it
Kate leaning hard into the character, as usual
Adam’s lines getting a little lost in his silly voice
Low energy sketch, Kristen Wiig shows up to try to liven things up
Sketch relies hard on the writing, which is wordy and lacks hard punches
Kenan’s asides not adding much
Physical gags work on paper, but in actuality they’re muddled and only work as shock value
I don’t really get why Kenan feels the need to blow up his own bar because 3 people (albeit 3 gross people) are kissing?
Chris Farley Song
Grade: N/A
Same song that appears on Adam’s recent Netflix special
Extremely touching tribute to one of the all time great comedy performers
Creates an inadvertent revaluation of the 1990–1994 SNL seasons, often both beloved and derided, depending on your style of humor
Adam struggling to keep it together, as is everyone else in the audience (and myself)
Although Farley was most associated working with David Spade, his greatest work on SNL was paired with Sandler…there is no better person to sing Farley’s praises.
Average grade of all sketches: C+
A little more about…
Adam Sandler.
Among SNL fans, Adam Sandler has held a bit of a mixed legacy on the show. At the time, his hiring class (along with David Spade, Chris Farley, and Rob Schneider) was seen as part of a youth surge and as so, they served as a “junior squad” with more seasoned cast members like Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, and Kevin Nealon having seniority. As the seasons progressed, the junior squad eventually dominated the show, although critics at the time derided their humor as sophomoric, immature, undeveloped, frat-boyish, unprofessional, and just plain stupid. It’s hard to disagree with some of their critiques, as these were the years that gave us such characters as Orgasm Guy, “Makin’ Copies”, The Gap Girls (which leaned HARD on cross-dressing tropes), and Chris Farley just generally screaming at anyone and everyone, sometimes for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
Of course, these years also produced inarguably some of the best sketches SNL has ever delivered. The original Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker sketch is maybe the greatest comedy achievement in SNL history. In addition, the Herlihy Boy sketches are amazing pieces of anti-comedy, the Zagat’s Couple is timeless humor that still holds up today, and Adam Sandler’s desk pieces almost always delivered. Today, it’s hard to think that Sandler and crew did anything other rescue SNL from falling into a slump after senior players left, but at the time it seemed like the inmates were taking over the asylum, replacing well thought out pieces like “Love Is A Dream” with stuff like “crazy hot dog hands”.
Today, in a time where comedy is SERIOUS and demands itself to be TAKEN SERIOUSLY, Sandler again works as a breath of fresh air. Recent seasons of SNL seem to be hamstrung by the politics of the day, being expected to both satire the atrocities of the Trump administration and serve as a distraction from said atrocities. It’s a delicate line, and as a result it seems like their comedy has “stiffened”. Afraid to poke fun at the wrong people, but needing to poke fun at someone, the writing at SNL has become a bit gun shy and takes less chances. In the process, it has lost a whole lot of silliness and fun that players like Sandler brought once upon a time.
This is strange to me, because it’s obvious from tonight’s episode that an injection of silliness and fun is exactly what could help SNL break out of this mini-funk. The humble goofiness of Sandler’s humor (and seemingly bottomless well of losers and misfits he embraces) really shows a different side of humor that doesn’t take itself so seriously or cares about making a statement. Nearly every character he played this episode represented either a laid back guy who was in on the joke (Sandler Family Reunion, Rectix, Opera Man) or an oddball/loser who is completely humble in his approach (War Zone Reporter, Romano Tours, Last Call).
There was a time when this style of humor dominated comedy (I’d say from about the mid 90’s to the late 00’s, when Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, and Will Ferrell dominated box offices), but has since taken a back seat to the Tim & Eric’s and Daily Show’s of the world, where deliberately ironic and preachy political tomes rule the day. I feel as though in the current political and cultural climate, where it is seemingly toxic to talk about any group of people (through both the left eating itself and Republicans learning how to claim victimhood), Sandler’s style of deliberately goofy and dada-adjacent humor is ripe for a comeback. After watching a season where SNL tries to have it both ways in their humor, it would certainly be a welcome relief. | https://medium.com/@deanberry_38075/etched-by-sketch-snl-season-44-episode-19-adam-sandler-35a934e8a71b | ['Dean Berry'] | 2019-06-03 01:36:42.017000+00:00 | ['Saturday Night Live', 'SNL', 'Sketch', 'Adam Sandler', 'Comedy'] |
var, let and const. var | 1. var
It is an old way to declare variables in JavaScript and it’s now the weakest keyword to define a variable. The variable declared by var may or may not be reassigned and because it is in function scope, the variable may or may not be used for the entire function. If the variable is reassigned accidentally within a for loop (block scope), then that’s when things can easily go wrong. People can overwrite parent assignments in this case. For example,
var foo='outside';
if(true){
var foo = 'inside'
console.log(foo); //print inside
}
console.log(foo); //print inside
To clarify, var is in the function scope. So if you do reassignment in a function, the variable outside the function wouldn’t be changed.
var foo='outside';
var fooFunction = function(){var foo='inside'}
fooFunction();
console.log(foo); //print outside
Another potential issue with var is that it can be referenced before it’s assigned. For example,
var x = 'foo';
console.log(x); //foo
console.log(y); //undefined, no errors!!
var y = 'late foo'; //late foo
console.log(y);
There are no errors when using the variable before the declaration. Javascript engine reads the above script as
var x ='foo';
var y ='late foo';
console.log(x); //foo
console.log(y); //undefined, no errors!!
console.log(y); //late foo
Although people can avoid this issue by using ‘use strict’, const and let are still stronger and can reduce potential error and make the code more clear.
2. let
When it comes to the situation I need to reassign a variable, let is more welcome than var after ES6. The reason is that let is in block scope which means it only exists within its own scope. For Example,
let foo='outside';
if(true){
let foo = 'inside'
console.log(foo); //print inside }
console.log(foo); //print outside
After the if condition, foo is equal to ‘outside’ rather than the value we have inside the if statement (‘inside’).
3. const
const is used when you don’t want to reassign the variable. It stays constant once it’s declared. As a result, const is always a default option for me if I don’t need to reassign the variable. In this way, we can also avoid the case when we occasionally declare the same variable name in other files. | https://medium.com/@abhayjain13/difference-between-var-let-and-const-b9bb112a4796 | ['Abhay Jain'] | 2020-12-20 05:02:47.388000+00:00 | ['Web', 'Web Development', 'JavaScript'] |
Huge Cons of Classic Voting Approach | Through its unique combination of risk, excitement and potential financial gain, voting has been blessed with everlasting appeal. From the times of Roman gladiators to the rise of social networks, voters have wagered on the outcome of their favourite events. The global voting market is worth a massive 3 trillion USD. And as online and mobile channels continue to thrive, the industry is poised to grow even further.
Nevertheless, voting has always been plagued by a dark side. Regular scandals involving malicious organizers and fraudulent agencies have seriously undermined the industry’s reputation. When voters lose, they lose everything. And when they win, they may not receive the promised amounts. Furthermore, exorbitant fees and unwarranted complexity discourage potential voters from voting at all. Somewhere along the lines, voting went from being a social, engaging activity to becoming an individual, risk-ridden peril.
Even in its fairest implementation, traditional voting remains a highly centralised endeavour, taking power away from the players and placing it in the hands of organizers. Simply stated, in the long run individuals inevitably lose all their funds against “the House.” | https://medium.com/@vtngio/huge-cons-of-classic-voting-approach-b24dd38f1cdc | [] | 2020-12-08 12:45:10.174000+00:00 | ['Defi', 'Vtng', 'Crypto', 'Blockchain', 'Voting'] |
15 Ideas for Desks Suitable for Small Spaces | You may think your small studio apartment can’t hold a home office, but you can turn any room into the ideal workspace with the right desk-yes, even that awkward, unused corner you’ve been ignoring.
From our stylish and minimalist desks, floating desks, or standing desks, you can choose.
With a well-designed office workspace, you will be more successful, if you have moved your job from an office to your home or just need a place to browse the web, pay bills, or check emails. But what if you don’t have room at home for a real office? It will not be a problem if you can find the right small desk.
Work from anywhere and complete the to-do list in style with our fashionable Home Office range!
A corner of your living room can be converted into a mini home office with a small desk.
To give you inspiration, here are some fantastic tiny space solutions, from floating desks to sit-stand desks.
The Leaning Desk is an enormous space-saver! This desk is mounted directly to the wall and, as needed, can fold up or out. It has an industrial look that can be combined with any chair or stool and it offers plenty of workspaces, even though you only have a few spare square feet.
Ladder Desk
Ladder desks are ideal for professionals who want to create a home office in a small space, such as a living room, an entry, or a bedroom. Ladder desks help you save room because of their nature. They also act as storage areas, bookcases, and you can lean them against the wall.
ECO Wall-Mounted Kiosk Link
Connect ECO Wall-Mounted Kiosk is a modern office kiosk that offers an elegant look with a fabric panel and a magnetic whiteboard. It is built to suit a corner of your tiny office space perfectly. Its elegant and trendy style gives your home office a classy and royal look. Simply fold it when the weekend comes, and you don’t even want to think about work.
Wall-mounted TOKYO Foldable Desk
The Tokyo Wall Mounted Foldable Desk, with its built-in electric socket, is a perfect fit for modern-day designers. The clean and elegant style makes it the ideal companion for your small and tiny workstation and your home office is free of clutter. It fits comfortably in a small room, and to keep your desktop, it has a large space to allow you not to feel cramped.
Lara Mid Century Modern Desk in Design
A mixture of simplicity and versatility, Lara is a small desk for work. It is a perfect Minimal Design specimen. A work desk that fits well in small spaces and gives a traditional, rich look. It is made more elegant by the natural wood appearance and sharp colour characteristics. With its slender legs and angular back shape, it offers a mid-century look. The Yellow Multipurpose Pen Stand and Metal Book Stand and Divider in Rosewood Color comes with the requisite accessories to complete your work desk.
Desk Murphy For Small Room
Source: pinterest.com The Murphy desk is the ideal smart desk for a small office room. When not necessary, this wall-mounted desk folds up and fits flat against the wall, with legs and work surface all attached to hinges.
Mini Work Desk Leo
The Leo Mini desk is elegant and minimal. To help you organise and treat those unruly cables properly, it comes with a cable manager. There are 3 lockable compartments in the compact and lightweight desk.
With Task Light Floating Desk
A collapsible wall mounted desk with an adjustable height is the floating desk. This is ideal because of its clean geometry and large desk space for your home workstation. Reading Light and Electric Plug Sockets Loaded.
Desk of Corner
A corner desk with plenty of storage space offers a spacious work environment. It can accommodate even more drawers and additional features, in comparison to regular office desks. Usually, if you have ample space in your home office, a corner desk looks roomy. This desk understands how to get the most out of the unused corner nook of your house, turning it into your new home office easily.
Small Minimal Desk for My Space
My Space is a small desk that can be easily designed, stylish and workable. This is a minimal desk with storage below, to keep your office essentials organised. The White & Oakwood colour gives it a stylish look to suit your room’s interior well. filled to store the necessities of your office. To save space on the floor and make your home decor more colorful, the Leo Mini is perfectly elegant.
Fold Flexi Adjustable Modern Height Computer Desk
Fold Flexi is a small standing desk with a height-adjustable desk system and suitable accessories that, in a single piece of furniture, give you many applications in a small room. It is an AI-enabled smart desk designed to set customizable desk operations and standing targets. You’ll have your own work place with this small machine table.
Electric Height Adjustable Desk Dyna Flexi
With an ergonomic height upgrade, the Dyna Flexi is a compact space desk that makes it an elegant and sleek alternative to a conventional desk. It is an adjustable standing desk that provides an ideal working, writing, or reading position. Dyna Flexi offers fantastic functionality, including smart networking, with the AiDesk app.
Apple Flexi Mini Adjustable Table with Electric Height
A height-adjustable desk with a contemporary, minimalist theme is the Apple Mini. It is a sleek and smart desk designed in every corner to fit your room. Mini Apple is lightweight but has great features, including intelligent AiDesk app connectivity.
Adjustable Sit Stand Desk Lara Flexi Height
The Lara Flexi is a modern standing desk with drawers to store your office necessities. It can fit in every corner of your house and it blends instantly everywhere. It is a smart desk with an AiDesk app that enables you to switch between sitting and standing positions easily. It saves space in the room by having maximum space to hold all the needs of the workstation in one place.
Window Desk Floating
To achieve a flexible and airy interior design for your tiny office room, you need to find ingenious and clever ideas. A floating window desk is a sleek option that allows you to free up some floor space without abandoning functionality, and acquire an airy decor.
So which one suits the small space for you?
Regardless of the square feet available, there are several desks for small rooms, regardless of whether you have a teeny-tiny at-home office or have carved a workspace on the side of your bedroom or living room. | https://medium.com/@atmosphere-work/15-ideas-for-desks-suitable-for-small-spaces-a57d7505ec3a | [] | 2020-12-22 06:28:05.229000+00:00 | ['Furniture', 'Desk', 'Home', 'Office Desk'] |
SUMMER FUN: 3 WAYS TO ENGAGE DONORS & RASIE FUNDS | Coming up with exciting and engaging ways to raise money and call attention to your nonprofit’s mission can be hard. Especially during the summer months while so many people are on vacation. However, do not be discouraged. Let’s join them and have some summer fun!
Summer time is the perfect moment to take advantage of current trends and diversify your fundraising strategy from the traditional approaches. All the while, making it fun for both you and your donors. It’s a win-win!
Here are three ways to bring some summer fun to your fundraising through posting “donation asks” on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Selfies for #SocialGood
A selfie campaign is a great way to spread awareness about your cause while also expanding the audience and reach of your nonprofit. A big bonus — it really helps get your brand out there.
Create a hashtag that is unique to a particular fundraiser you are holding or your nonprofit itself.
Ask donors to use that hashtag along with a selfie! Not only will this further distinguish your nonprofit with a unique hashtag, but also creates a convenient way for you to keep track of the donors who participate in the selfie campaign.
Encourage donors to post on their personal social media pages with their friends and family, tagging your organization and using your hashtag of your choice.
Reward the participants of your selfie campaign by reposting their selfies to your nonprofit page. Nonprofit donor appreciation shows potential donors that you really do value your support base and inspires them to donate and get involved with your cause!
Nonprofit branded merchandise can be a great prop for donors to use in their selfies, but isn’t necessary! Depending on the cause of your nonprofit, donors could take selfies that reflect your message and purpose. Ex. An animal rescue nonprofit asking participants to take selfies with their pets!
The main takeaway here is for your donors to keep evangelizing your mission, to participate and donate regardless of where they are or what they’re doing. It’s as simple as that!
2. Giveaway Contests
Giveaway contests are an awesome way for you to show donor appreciation, while also increasing donor retention and continual support for your nonprofit.
Entering into the giveaway should have one condition: Make a donation!
You can hold giveaway contests for 24 hours, or even a week, but use an impending deadline to participate to drive action.
No matter how big or small the donation, all donors should be equally eligible to participate and win a prize. Make your prize directly related to your nonprofit’s cause so that you can spread awareness of your mission through the campaign!
3. Live-Streaming
Live-streaming is an amazing way to engage donors, spread awareness of your nonprofit, and showcase the authenticity of your employees! When live-streaming to boost buzz for your fundraising campaign, make sure that those who click on to your live-stream stay engaged. | https://blog.goodworld.me/summer-fun-3-ways-to-engage-donors-rasie-funds-2bedf58826af | [] | 2019-07-24 13:41:01.008000+00:00 | ['Fundraising', 'Social Media', 'Summer', 'Nonprofit'] |
An Intro to Git and GitHub for Beginners (Tutorial) | New to git? Follow the steps below to get comfortable making changes to the code base, opening up a pull request (PR), and merging code into the primary branch. Any important git and GitHub terms are in bold with links to the official git reference materials.
Step 0: Install git and create a GitHub account
The first two things you’ll want to do are install git and create a free GitHub account.
Follow the instructions to install git (if it’s not already installed). Note that for this tutorial we will be using git on the command line only. While there are some great git GUIs (graphical user interfaces), I think it’s easier to learn git using git-specific commands first and then to try out a git GUI once you’re more comfortable with the command. A note: 95% of other online git resources and discussions will also be for the command-line interface.
Once you’ve done that, create a GitHub account .
Git and GitHub
A quick aside: git and GitHub are not the same thing. Git is an open-source, version control tool created in 2005 by developers working on the Linux operating system; GitHub is a company founded in 2008 that makes tools which integrate with git. You do not need GitHub to use git, but you cannot use GitHub without using git. There are many other alternatives to GitHub, such as GitLab, BitBucket, and “host-your-own” solutions such as gogs and gittea. All of these are referred to in git-speak as “remotes”, and all are completely optional. You do not need to use a remote to use git, but it will make sharing your code with others easier.
Step 1: Create a local git repository
When creating a new project on your local machine using git, you’ll first create a new repository (or often, ‘repo’, for short).
To use git we’ll be using the terminal. If you don’t have much experience with the terminal and basic commands, check out this tutorial (If you don’t want/ need a short history lesson, skip to step three.)
To begin, open up a terminal and move to where you want to place the project on your local machine using the cd (change directory) command. For example, if you have a ‘projects’ folder on your desktop, you’d do something like:
To initialize a git repository in the root of the folder, run the command:
Step 2: Add a new file to the repo
Go ahead and add a new file to the project, using any text editor you like or running a command. `touch newfile.txt` just creates and saves a blank file named newfile.txt.
Once you’ve added or modified files in a folder containing a git repo, git will notice that the file exists inside the repo. But, git won’t track the file unless you explicitly tell it to. Git only saves/manages changes to files that it tracks, so we’ll need to send a command to confirm that yes, we want git to track our new file.
After creating the new file, you can use the command to see which files git knows exist.
What this basically says is, “Hey, we noticed you created a new file called mnelson.txt, but unless you use the ‘git add’ command we aren’t going to do anything with it.”
An interlude: The staging environment, the commit, and you
One of the most confusing parts when you’re first learning git is the concept of the staging environment and how it relates to a commit. A is a record of what changes you have made since the last time you made a commit. Essentially, you make changes to your repo (for example, adding a file or modifying one) and then tell git to put those changes into a commit. Commits make up the essence of your project and allow you to jump to the state of a project at any other commit. So, how do you tell git which files to put into a commit? This is where the staging environment or index come in. As seen in Step 2, when you make changes to your repo, git notices that a file has changed but won’t do anything with it (like adding it in a commit). To add a file to a commit, you first need to add it to the staging environment. To do this, you can use the <filename> command (see Step 3 below). Once you’ve used the git add command to add all the files you want to the staging environment, you can then tell git to package them into a commit using the command. Note: The staging environment, also called ‘staging’, is the new preferred term for this, but you can also see it referred to as the ‘index’.
Step 3: Add a file to the staging environment
Add a file to the staging environment using the git add command.
If you rerun the git status command, you’ll see that git has added the file to the staging environment (notice the “Changes to be committed” line).
To reiterate, the file has not yet been added to a commit, but it’s about to be.
Step 4: Create a commit
It’s time to create your first commit!
Run the command git commit -m "Your message about the commit"
The message at the end of the commit should be something related to what the commit contains — maybe it’s a new feature, maybe it’s a bug fix, maybe it’s just fixing a typo. Don’t put a message like “asdfadsf” or “foobar”. That makes the other people who see your commit sad. Very, very, sad. Commits live forever in a repository (technically you can delete them if you really, really need to but it’s messy), so if you leave a clear explanation of your changes it can be extremely helpful for future programmers (perhaps future you!) who are trying to figure out why some change was made years later.
Step 5: Create a new branch
Now that you’ve made a new commit, let’s try something a little more advanced.
Say you want to make a new feature but are worried about making changes to the main project while developing the feature. This is where git branches come in.
Branches allow you to move back and forth between ‘states’ of a project. Official git docs describe branches this way: ‘A branch in Git is simply a lightweight movable pointer to one of these commits.’ For instance, if you want to add a new page to your website you can create a new branch just for that page without affecting the main part of the project. Once you’re done with the page, you can your changes from your branch into the primary branch. When you create a new branch, Git keeps track of which commit your branch ‘branched’ off of, so it knows the history behind all the files.
Let’s say you are on the primary branch and want to create a new branch to develop your web page. Here’s what you’ll do: Run git checkout -b <my branch name> . This command will automatically create a new branch and then ‘check you out’ on it, meaning git will move you to that branch, off of the primary branch.
After running the above command, you can use the command to confirm that your branch was created:
The branch name with the asterisk next to it indicates which branch you’re on at that given time.
A note on branch names
By default, every git repository’s first branch is named `master` (and is typically used as the primary branch in the project). As part of the tech industry’s general anti-racism work, some groups have begun to use alternate names for the default branch (we are using “primary” in this tutorial, for example). In other documentation and discussions, you may see “master”, or other terms, used to refer to the primary branch. Regardless of the name, just keep in mind that nearly every repository has a primary branch that can be thought of as the official version of the repository. If it’s a website, then the primary branch is the version that users see. If it’s an application, then the primary branch is the version that users download. This isn’t technically necessary (git doesn’t treat any branches differently from other branches), but it’s how git is traditionally used in a project. If you are curious about the decision to use different default branch names, GitHub has an explanation of their change here: https://github.com/github/renaming Now, if you switch back to the primary branch and make some more commits, your new branch won’t see any of those changes until you those changes onto your new branch.
Step 6: Create a new repository on GitHub
If you only want to keep track of your code locally, you don’t need to use GitHub. But if you want to work with a team, you can use GitHub to collaboratively modify the project’s code.
To create a new repo on GitHub, log in and go to the GitHub home page. You can find the “New repository” option under the “+” sign next to your profile picture, in the top right corner of the navbar:
After clicking the button, GitHub will ask you to name your repo and provide a brief description:
When you’re done filling out the information, press the ‘Create repository’ button to make your new repo.
GitHub will ask if you want to create a new repo from scratch or if you want to add a repo you have created locally. In this case, since we’ve already created a new repo locally, we want to push that onto GitHub so follow the ‘….or push an existing repository from the command line’ section:
(You’ll want to change the URL in the first command line to what GitHub lists in this section since your GitHub username and repo name are different.)
Step 7: Push a branch to GitHub
Now we’ll push the commit in your branch to your new GitHub repo. This allows other people to see the changes you’ve made. If they’re approved by the repository’s owner, the changes can then be merged into the primary branch.
To push changes onto a new branch on GitHub, you’ll want to run origin yourbranchname. GitHub will automatically create the branch for you on the remote repository:
You might be wondering what that “origin” word means in the command above. What happens is that when you clone a remote repository to your local machine, git creates an alias for you. In nearly all cases this alias is called “.” It’s essentially shorthand for the remote repository’s URL. So, to push your changes to the remote repository, you could’ve used either the command: git push [email protected]:git/git.git yourbranchname or git push origin yourbranchname
(If this is your first time using GitHub locally, it might prompt you to log in with your GitHub username and password.)
If you refresh the GitHub page, you’ll see note saying a branch with your name has just been pushed into the repository. You can also click the ‘branches’ link to see your branch listed there.
Now click the green button in the screenshot above. We’re going to make a pull request!
Step 8: Create a pull request (PR)
A pull request (or PR) is a way to alert a repo’s owners that you want to make some changes to their code. It allows them to review the code and make sure it looks good before putting your changes on the primary branch.
This is what the PR page looks like before you’ve submitted it:
And this is what it looks like once you’ve submitted the PR request:
You might see a big green button at the bottom that says ‘Merge pull request’. Clicking this means you’ll merge your changes into the primary branch..
Sometimes you’ll be a co-owner or the sole owner of a repo, in which case you may not need to create a PR to merge your changes. However, it’s still a good idea to make one so you can keep a more complete history of your updates and to make sure you always create a new branch when making changes.
Step 9: Merge a PR
Go ahead and click the green ‘Merge pull request’ button. This will merge your changes into the primary branch.
When you’re done, I recommend deleting your branch (too many branches can become messy), so hit that grey ‘Delete branch’ button as well.
You can double check that your commits were merged by clicking on the ‘Commits’ link on the first page of your new repo.
This will show you a list of all the commits in that branch. You can see the one I just merged right up top (Merge pull request #1).
You can also see the of the commit on the right hand side. A hash code is a unique identifier for that specific commit. It’s useful for referring to specific commits and when undoing changes (use the <hash code number> command to backtrack).
Step 10: Get changes on GitHub back to your computer
Right now, the repo on GitHub looks a little different than what you have on your local machine. For example, the commit you made in your branch and merged into the primary branch doesn’t exist in the primary branch on your local machine.
In order to get the most recent changes that you or others have merged on GitHub, use the git pull origin master command (when working on the primary branch). In most cases, this can be shortened to “git pull”.
This shows you all the files that have changed and how they’ve changed.
Now we can use the command again to see all new commits.
(You may need to switch branches back to the primary branch. You can do that using the git checkout master command.)
Step 11: Bask in your git glory
You’ve successfully made a PR and merged your code to the primary branch. Congratulations! If you’d like to dive deeper, check out these more advanced tutorials and resources:
https://training.github.com/
Github’s official git cheat sheets! Handy for remembering the everyday commands you’ll use.
Github’s official git cheat sheets! Handy for remembering the everyday commands you’ll use. https://learngitbranching.js.org/
Confused or intrigued by git’s branch system? That just means you’re human! It’s one of the deepest parts of git, but also arguably the most powerful. Understanding the branch model gives you git superpowers, and this tutorial gives you a way to learn git branches in a visual, intuitive way.
Confused or intrigued by git’s branch system? That just means you’re human! It’s one of the deepest parts of git, but also arguably the most powerful. Understanding the branch model gives you git superpowers, and this tutorial gives you a way to learn git branches in a visual, intuitive way. https://git-school.github.io/visualizing-git
Another tool for exploring git visually. This one is more of an open-ended sandbox than learngitbranching.js.org
Another tool for exploring git visually. This one is more of an open-ended sandbox than learngitbranching.js.org https://github.com/jlord/git-it-electron
A desktop application that helps you learn git through challenges you have to solve. It has a series of levels, each requiring you to use git commands to arrive at a correct answer.
A desktop application that helps you learn git through challenges you have to solve. It has a series of levels, each requiring you to use git commands to arrive at a correct answer. https://github.com/Gazler/githug
If you liked git-it, Githug is another puzzle-based tutorial designed to give you a practical way of learning git.
I also recommend finding some time to work with your team on simulating a smaller group project like we did here. Have your team make a new folder with your team name, and add some files with text to it. Then, try pushing those changes to this remote repo. That way, your team can start making changes to files they didn’t originally create and practice using the PR feature. And, use the git blame and git history tools on GitHub to get familiar with tracking which changes have been made in a file and who made those changes.
The more you use git, the more comfortable you’ll… git with it. (I couldn’t resist.)
*This post was originally published in October 2015 by Meghan Nelson, then a senior software engineer at HubSpot. It has since been updated by the HubSpot Product Team. | https://medium.com/@taruni-chow/an-intro-to-git-and-github-for-beginners-tutorial-8896a259564b | [] | 2020-12-15 06:15:27.327000+00:00 | ['Git', 'Github', 'Git For Beginners'] |
Leadership Burnout During COVID-19 by Richard Reese, Louisville KY | Burnout has been recognized by the WHO as an “occupational phenomenon” that is a result of chronic, unmanaged stress. It is a very real problem in today’s workplace, especially in the era of COVID-19. This year has been full of challenges for everyone and business leaders are no exception. Leaders need to be careful to do all they can to prevent burnout for many reasons.
The Risk of Leadership Burnout
Since leaders set the tone for their organizations, leadership burnout can lead to many additional problems in the workplace. When leaders get burnt out, they can lose the motivation they once had to push their companies to the next level. They can also lash out at their teams, causing good employees to become disengaged and possibly even leave the organization.
Burnout also includes a myriad of problems for the person experiencing it. For example, burnout can lead to decreased productivity, fatigue, alcohol or substance abuse, heart disease, stomach problems, and vulnerability to other illnesses.
Signs of Leadership Burnout
There are several signs that you are nearing burnout as a leader. If you feel yourself becoming less and less motivated to go to work every day, or even get out of bed in the morning, these are signs that you are getting dangerously close to burnout.
You may also experience persistent exhaustion, regardless of how much sleep you get at night. On the other hand, many people who burn out report experiencing insomnia. When monitoring for burnout symptoms, you should also keep a close eye on your emotions. If you feel angry more often or more irritable toward your coworkers, those are also red flags.
Preventing Burnout
To prevent burnout, you must actively manage your stress levels. Start by practicing awareness of how you’re feeling at any given time. When your stress levels are particularly high, find some ways to get relief. Some suggestions might be taking a break from work, keeping a journal, or spending some time with loved ones.
Leaders should also be intentional about taking care of themselves, even when they are not experiencing high levels of stress. Exercise, eat well, drink plenty of water, and get full nights of sleep. By being proactive with your health, you will reduce your risks of burning out when your stress levels rise.
During this challenging time, everyone is susceptible to burnout. Leaders should do everything they can to prevent themselves from burning out, and then support their employees in doing the same. | https://medium.com/@richardreeselouisvilleky/leadership-burnout-during-covid-19-by-richard-reese-louisville-ky-98bead01c76d | ['Richard Reese'] | 2020-12-17 22:22:05.918000+00:00 | ['Burnout', 'Leadership Burnout', 'Leaders', 'Burnout Syndrom', 'Richard Reese Louisville'] |
Most Democratic and Most Republican States | In 2011, Robert David Sullivan used the expression ‘Most Republican State’ to refer to the state that had given the Republican presidential nominee his highest vote share after a given election:
While the title of Most Republican State was migrating from Vermont to Utah, it stopped in this Farm Belt state [Nebraska], which was Richard Nixon’s best in 1960 (62.1%) and in 1968 (59.8%).
The peregrinations of the titles of ‘Most Republican’ and ‘Most Democratic State’ are quite telling in terms of the changes in the parties’ coalitions.
The location of the title of ‘Most Republican State’ had a preternatural stability from 1856 through 1916, and to a lesser extent from 1856 through 1956. In every election from 1856 through 1916, with two exceptions, Vermont was the Most Republican State. One exception was the wartime election of 1864, when Kansas, the Jayhawker State, was Lincoln’s best state. The other, 1912, was less of an exception than it first seems. While Utah gave Taft his highest vote share, it was still a quite low 37.42% — low enough that, while Charles Evans Hughes improved on it slightly in 1916, he still lost the state by over 20%, failing to carry a single county. This suggests that Taft’s relatively high vote share in Utah may have been the function of greater partisan loyalty on the part of those of its residents who were Republican, even if they were a minority. Democrat Woodrow Wilson’s worst state was Vermont.
In 1920, North Dakota was the Most Republican State, inaugurating a period when Vermont would still be the Most Republican State a majority of the times (six out of ten elections from 1920 through 1956), but not with the same kind of consistency as previously. Periodically, the title of Most Republican State moved to a state in the Free-Soil Plains West: to North Dakota in 1920, Kansas in 1928, South Dakota in 1940, and Kansas again in 1944. Three of these elections were elections that were dominated by foreign policy, and in which the Democracy took a more internationalist stance than the GOP: 1920, 1940, and 1944. 1928 was the election in which a major party nominated a Catholic for the first time. This nominee, Al Smith, became the first Democrat ever to carry Chittenden County, then the state’s second-largest but growing (it would overtake Rutland County, which itself would not vote Democratic until 1964, in 1944).
Still, this meant that Vermont had been the best state for every Republican nominee from Frémont through Eisenhower at least once, save Harding and Willkie.
1956 was the last election in which Vermont would be the Most Republican State. (It also happens to be the last election to date in which the New York Times endorsed the Republican presidential nominee.) Vermont remained a comfortably Republican state for a further sixteen years, with the exception of the Goldwater election of 1964, when it not only voted for Johnson but was bluer than the country. In 1980, both Carter and Reagan did worse in Vermont than they did nationally, but Reagan’s margin over Carter was smaller than it was nationally. In 1984, Vermont voted about like the country, but the margin was again slightly smaller for Reagan in the state than it was nationally; and in 1988, Bush Sr won Vermont, which Dukakis had made part of his 18-state strategy, by only 3.52%.
The location of the Most Republican State went through a relatively brief period of instability from 1960–1972, migrating to Nebraska (the only Free-Soil Plains West state it hadn’t already visited) in 1960 and 1968, and Mississippi in 1964 and 1972. In 1976, it came to Utah, and stayed there for four straight elections, and seven of the next ten. (1976–1988 is the only stretch of more than three elections in a row in which a state has held the title of either Most Democratic or Most Republican State since 1936.) This meant that Utah was the best state for every Republican nominee from Ford through Romney at least once, save John McCain. It also meant that either Vermont or Utah has been every re-elected Republican president’s best state at least once, with one exception: Nixon.
The three elections between 1976 and 2012 in which Utah was not the Most Republican State were 1992, 2000, and 2008. In 1992, Utah gave a large vote to Ross Perot, and Mississippi, a state in which Perot did not do very well, was Bush Sr’s best state. (However, Utah was Bill Clinton’s worst state.) In 2000, Wyoming was George W. Bush’s best state, and in 2008, Oklahoma was John McCain’s — both firsts.
As a neighbour to Utah, it might not seem all that remarkable that Wyoming should have been the Most Republican State in 2000. However, Wyoming had never even been the second-most Republican State before 2000. Of the three mainland Mountain West states that have not voted Democratic since 1964 (Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming), Idaho had been more Republican than Wyoming in every election from 1976 through 1996, and had been the second-most Republican state in 1976, 1980, and 1984. In 1996, Bob Dole fell short of a majority in Wyoming (whilst winning a majority in six states, including Idaho). In more recent elections, Wyoming’s redness has become more conspicuous, as several states in the interior Mountain West, which not long ago was a dependably red bloc, have become either blue or purple, and even those that have remained red, are markedly less red than they used to be — with the exception of Wyoming.
Was there something in particular about George W. Bush that either appealed to Wyoming or dis-appealed to Utah? In 2019, Seth Moskowitz noted that
Since the turn of the century, when George Bush ran on support for mountaintop mining, the Republican Party has been seen as the party of coal. Meanwhile, Democratic efforts to reduce carbon emissions has been seen as an attack on coal and coal miners.
It seems likely that Wyoming is more bereft of ‘ideopoleis’ than other Mountain West states, perhaps due to its focus on energy. As Robert Wheel noted in 2016 of Ada County (the largest county in Idaho), ‘36% of Ada County has a college degree and the number in Boise proper is probably higher.’ He also noted that the Republican Party had ‘failed to crack 54% in the last two presidential elections’ (that is, 2008 and 2012). The Republican vote share has shown a long-term slippage in Ada County: from Ford’s 64.4% in 1976, to Bush’s 60.8% and 61.1% in his two close elections, to Romney’s 53.5%. Trump got a plurality in the county in 2020, and although he recovered to a majority in 2020, he currently stands at a mere 50.4%. In contrast, the GOP vote share in Wyoming’s largest county, Laramie, has remained fairly stable over the five close elections this century (61.7% in 2000, 65.1% in 2004, 60.5% in 2012, 60.7% in 2016, and, preliminarily, 62.0% in 2020 — it was a mere 53.5% in 1976). Its second- and third-largest counties, Natrona and fast-growing Campbell, have given the Republican Party a higher vote share in every election this century save 2008 (and a higher one in 2012 than in 2004).
In 2008, in what seems like it will remain a one-off, Oklahoma became the Most Republican State. After one last return to Utah in 2012, it migrated to another new state, West Virginia, in 2016. (This is according to the official FEC report, which appears to be the source used by Cook Rhodes in his America Votes 32. Trump’s vote shares in Wyoming and West Virginia were very close, and other sources have his vote share in Wyoming ahead of that in West Virginia in 2016.)
However, it does not appear that the title of Most Republican State has found a permanent new home in West Virginia. Currently, Trump’s vote share in Wyoming stands at 69.9%, and in West Virginia, at 68.7%.
—
In the years between Jackson and the Civil War, the title of Most Democratic State was most often in what was then the Southwest: Texas in 1848 and 1852 (and 1860, if one counts Breckenridge as the Democratic nominee that year); Arkansas in 1844 and 1856. As Michael Barone wrote in May 2012,
The Scots-Irish zone represents parts of America settled by the Scots-Irish who came across the Atlantic in huge numbers in the years 1763–75, just before the Revolution, and settled in the Appalachian ridges from southwest Pennsylvania to Upcountry South Carolina and then for three generations in a sort of drang nach southwest settled country going southwest and west to Texas and Oklahoma.
(Barone defined the ‘Scots-Irish zone’ as of 2012 as West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, excluding Texas.)
The title of Most Democratic State visited a confused array of states from 1864 through 1876 (or from 1860 through 1876, if one counts Douglas as the Democratic nominee), but in 1880, the first election after the end of Reconstruction, settled in South Carolina, where it stayed until 1936 with almost the same kind of stability wherewith the title of Most Republican State stayed in Vermont. There were two exceptions: in 1892, Cleveland’s best state was Florida, but Florida also happened to be the only state where his major-party opponent, Benjamin Harrison, was not on the ballot. (Cleveland’s second-best state was South Carolina.) And in 1896, Bryan’s best state was Mississippi. This meant that South Carolina was the best state for every Democratic nominee from Winfield Scott Hancock through Franklin Roosevelt at least once, including for all its two-term presidents in that timeframe (Cleveland, Wilson, and FDR).
In 1940, the title of Most Democratic State left South Carolina for good, migrating to Mississippi in 1940 and 1944, and then, amid the Dixiecrat revolt in 1948, to Texas for Harry Truman. In 1952 and 1956 (and again for favourite son Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980), it would migrate to Georgia, where the Democracy appears to have remained stronger than in the rest of the Deep South for longer. South Carolina would not vote Republican (since Reconstruction) until Goldwater in 1964, but it came within less than 2% of voting for Eisenhower in 1952 (whereas Georgia gave over 2/3 of its vote to Stevenson). Georgia was easily Kennedy’s best Southern state in 1960, giving him 62.54% (and coming close to being his best state full stop); his next-best Southern state, Alabama, gave him 56.39%, and although South Carolina voted for him, it was with only 51.24%.
However, in 1960, Kennedy’s best state was Rhode Island — the first time the Most Democratic State was a free-soil state since 1860 (if one counts Douglas as the Democratic nominee that year) or 1836 (if not). It stayed in Rhode Island for three elections in a row.* In some sense, one could say that the period 1960–2000 was the ‘Rhode Island’ period for the Democracy: Rhode Island was the Most Democratic State in a plurality of the elections of that period (five of eleven), and was the most Democratic state for a majority (five of nine) of the nominees of that period (although never for either of the two Democrats elected president between Johnson and Obama, Carter and Clinton).
And in fact, a similar phenomenon seems to be happening in Rhode Island as in Utah, albeit more subtly. Robert David Sullivan, in 2011, speculated that
In the Democrats’ wildest dreams, the GOP will nominate someone so far to the right that it will finally alienate this loyally Republican state [Nebraska] (much as it did, over time, with Vermont).
This hasn’t really happened with Nebraska, but then, Nebraska never really played the kind of role as an enduring home to the title of Most Republican State that Vermont did (having been the Most Republican State in only two elections and for one nominee). It has, arguably, however, begun happening with Utah. In March 2017, Nate Silver envisioned Utah possibly becoming a purple or blue state in a few elections:
In some ways, it increasingly has the markers of a blue state, meaning high education levels, big tech sector, young population. So you can kind of envision a world in eight years, 12 years, 16 years in which Utah behaves more like Colorado or something, right?
And 2020 appears to have confirmed that, while Utah is still safely red (Trump currently stands at a landslide 58.3% there), it will never be nearly as deep-red as it had been before 2016 — nor will it ever be the Most Republican State again (or at least, not until some realignment has occurred which will have rendered the current map completely unfamiliar).
Less noted was the fact that in 2016, Hillary Clinton did over 5% worse in Rhode Island (54.41%) than in Massachusetts (60.01%), the first time since 1980 that the Democratic vote shares in the two states had differed by more than 3%. Or that Trump got the highest Republican vote share in Rhode Island since 1988 (making it one of twelve states where he outpolled Bush in 2004 — the only Republican this century to win the national popular vote). In 2019, Kyle Kondik did note that
One state to watch in the long term, though, may be Rhode Island…Hillary Clinton’s showing in Rhode Island was one of the weaker ones for a Democrat there in recent history. The Democratic presidential margin there fell from 27.5 points in 2012 to 15.5 in 2016. That doesn’t mean much, if anything, in the short term, although if Rhode Island ever becomes more of a swing state, we may look back at 2016 as a very early sign.
Preliminarily, 2020 appears to be bearing out the fact that Rhode Island will likely never be the Most Democratic State again (at least, again, as long as the current map remains at all familiar). 2016 had been the first time since 1980 that the Democratic vote shares in Massachusetts and Rhode Island had differed by more than 3%; 2020 looks on track to be the second, with Biden currently polling 65.2% in the former and 59.6% in the latter. Furthermore, if the current figures hold, it will be a very close call as to whether Trump gets the highest GOP vote share in Rhode Island this century this year (CNN is currently showing him at 38.9% in the state; he got 38.90% in 2016, and Bush got 38.67% in 2004).
—
That said, Rhode Island was much less consistently the Most Democratic State, than Utah was the Most Republican State. After 1968, the title of Most Democratic State wouldn’t return to Rhode Island for another 20 years. As mentioned above, it was never either Carter’s or Clinton’s best state.
Not only this, but the title of Most Democratic State showed a high degree of wanderiness in this period, bouncing to Massachusetts in 1972, and thence to Georgia in the Deep South in 1976 and 1980, to Minnesota in the Upper Midwest in 1984, and one last time to the ‘Scots-Irish zone’, in Arkansas, in 1992 (although Rhode Island was Bush Sr’s worst state in 1992). In 1976, 1980, 1984, 1992, and 2004, the Most Democratic State was the nominee’s home state. In one case (Minnesota in 1984), it was the nominee’s home state for the first and, probably, the last time. (In another — Arkansas in 1992 — it was the nominee’s home state for the first time in over a century.) Not only Mondale, but Carter and Bill Clinton look likely to be the last nominees for whom their home states was the Most Democratic State. After 1968, no state held the title of Most Democratic State for as many as three elections in a row (until 2008–2016). Even now, it is impossible to meaningfully say that every re-elected Democratic president (with perhaps one exception) has had one of two states as his best state at least once. (Excluding Jackson — whose opponents got bizarrely small numbers of votes in a number of states [Adams, 642 in Georgia in 1828, and Clay, five in Alabama in 1832], and who was the only nominee on the ballot in some other states in 1832 — one could say that every re-elected Democratic president, with one exception, has had either South Carolina or Hawaii as his best state at least once. But, thus far, this is relatively trivial, since only one Democratic president has had Hawaii as his best state. [One could also say South Carolina and Massachusetts, or even South Carolina and Arkansas, with Obama being the exception in these cases.])
This wandery period largely coincided with many observations of the Democracy’s lacking a reliable national base. As the CQ Almanac wrote in its analysis of the 1984 election,
The result is a party still struggling to find a reliable base. While Republican candidates have been able to count on rolling up huge majorities in most states in the western half of the country, Democratic strength often varies with their candidates. Carter tended to be strongest in the South; McGovern ran well in states with large numbers of young voters and high-tech industries, such as Massachusetts, Wisconsin, California and Oregon; Hubert H. Humphrey was particularly strong in the Northeastern industrial states.
And in July 1988, Bill Schneider paraphrased Pat Caddell as observing that
[T]he national Democratic Party has no base. Only the District of Columbia, with three electoral votes, has voted for the Democratic ticket every time [in the previous five elections]…Only one state, Minnesota, has voted Democratic four out of the past five times. A Minnesotan was on the Democratic ticket each of those times.
Even in victory in the 1990s, Ron Brownstein observed after the 2012 election that Obama had assembled ‘a much more ideologically unified coalition than Democrats usually assemble’: ‘compared to even President Clinton’s era’, Brownstein continued, ‘the Democrats are now operating with a largely coherent Coalition of Transformation…’.
Now, if one counts Massachusetts and Rhode Island together, it is true that between 1960 and 2004, one of those two states was the Most Democratic State in eight of twelve elections (although this title still stayed out of New England altogether for three straight elections from 1976 through 1984). But, as with Utah and Wyoming, these states might be less alike than they first seem, as shown by their divergent voting in the last two elections. And in 1972, Massachusetts voted comfortably for McGovern despite, at that time, never having been the Most Democratic State, and even as the state that had held this title in the previous three elections, Rhode Island, voted comfortably for Nixon.
Thomas Frank has often identified Massachusetts as the epicentre of the new Democratic Party. For example, in 2016, he wrote,
It [Martha’s Vineyard] is also a place of moral worthiness, as we understand it circa 2016. The people relaxing on the Vineyard’s rarefied sand are not lazy toffs like the billionaires of old; in fact, according to the Washington Post, they have “far higher IQs than the average beachgoer.” It is an island that deserves what it has. Some of its well-scrubbed little towns are decorated in Puritan severity, some in fanciful Victorian curlicues, but always and everywhere they are clad in the unmistakable livery of righteous success. It is ever so liberal. This is Massachusetts, after all, and the markers of lifestyle enlightenment are all around you: Foods that are organic. Clothing that is tasteful. A conspicuous absence of cigarette butts. … It is ever so privileged, ever so private. This is not Newport or Fifth Avenue, where the rich used to display their good taste to the world; the Martha’s Vineyard mansions that you read about in the newspapers are for the most part hidden away behind massive hedges and long, winding driveways. Even the beaches of the rich are kept separate from the general public — they are private right down to the low-tide line and often accessible only through locked gates, a gracious peculiarity of Massachusetts law that is found almost nowhere else in America.
Of course, Martha’s Vineyard is not Massachusetts — Dukes County cast 0.36% of the state’s vote in 2016; and Hampden and Bristol Counties (the former famously south of the ‘tofu curtain’) even gave Trump a higher vote share in 2016 than they had given any other Republican this century, in line with much of the rest of the Northeast. But, as you can see, Frank often identifies Martha’s Vineyard as exemplary of Massachusetts, or at least as a phenomenon that could happen only in Massachusetts (and not in Rhode Island or New York State). And in a January 2017 interview by Jimmy Dore, Frank identified the state’s primate city as likewise exemplary of the new Democratic Party:
You can see this to this day in places like Boston, Massachusetts, which is this sort of ground zero of the professional class; this is where big pharma is based there and there’s all of this kind of you know knowledge industry ferment and computer industry, all this innovation stuff going on and this place is intensely, deeply Democratic, very very satisfied by a candidate like Hillary Clinton; she’s exactly what they want in a politician.
What Frank describes as the liberalism of Martha’s Vineyard (or of Massachusetts writ large) is not liberalism that seeks substantive policy change: as he writes, ‘Our Martha’s Vineyard Democrats like to talk about inequality. It makes them sad, but it’s also a problem they have almost no desire to tackle. Not only does it not touch them personally, but their instincts, their inclinations, and their deepest unspoken convictions tell them it isn’t a real problem to begin with.’ It is, instead, about ‘moral worthiness’, of ‘lifestyle enlightenment’.
It is this ‘morally worthy’ vein that runs through contemporary liberalism that Michael Tracey arguably touched on in his April 2020 article dissecting why Sanders’ second presidential bid had failed:
Ultimately the Sanders 2020 campaign existed within the broader firmament of the modern-day “professional left” — a loosely interlocking but culturally homogenous network of advocacy organizations, nonprofit groups and media outlets — and its sentiments infused “Bernie World” with certain ill-advised priorities. Or, one might argue, pathologies. Within this network are a growing consortium of activists, operatives and journalists who harbor a fundamental disdain not just for the current American government or various unseemly aspects of American political and cultural life, but for America per se. And for whom even contemplating something so simple as wearing a flag pin would’ve been an unthinkable capitulation to fascism, racism, predatory extractive capitalism, or some vague combination thereof.
Under the influence of these ‘professional leftists’, Tracey continued,
This time around, Sanders instead placed his emphasis on participating in the obligatory “anti-Trump” sweepstakes, whereby the Democratic candidates all competed amongst themselves for who could rattle off the most sweepingly inflammatory Trump-related tirades. In almost every stump speech, Sanders lambasted Trump as the most “dangerous president in American history” — a rather incongruous statement from a candidate who boasted of helping lead the opposition to the Iraq War, which had been launched by the previous Republican president. For all his faults, Trump has not yet initiated any full-scale preemptive ground invasions on false pretenses.
In other words, it could be said, Sanders made Trump’s unique moral unworthiness his focus in 2020. It wasn’t, after all, substance that made Trump worse than Bush, at least at the time.
It is noteworthy that Massachusetts has been the Most Democratic State only a few times — 1972, 1996, 2004. In two of those elections, a Republican president who struck many as particularly ‘morally unworthy’ was seeking re-election. David Martin, for example, chronicling the history of his ‘presidential animosity’, wrote of Nixon,
A man who promised to end the Vietnam War deliberately dragged it out for years resulting in thousands more unnecessary deaths. But that wasn’t the key to my dislike of the man. It was Watergate that revealed the vindictive, paranoid, power-hungry man who qualified for my new level of post-Johnson contempt. I truly hated Richard Nixon even more than Lyndon Johnson but once again hoped that Tricky Dick marked the end of my presidential animosity.
Notice how, oddly, Martin gives a strong substantive reason for disliking or even contemning Nixon — but then says this was not ‘key to [his] dislike of the man’. Not thousands of unnecessary deaths, but rather the man’s vindictiveness, paranoia, and hunger for power.
He also has an entry for George W. Bush, for whose ouster Massachusetts once again voted more strongly than any other state (despite not regularly being the Most Democratic State):
Here was a man who was handed the White House by a right-leaning Supreme Court and then governed recklessly as if he had won a landslide. Worse than that, he was asleep at the switch prior to 9–11, implemented huge tax giveaways for the rich, entered into a senseless war in Iraq and brought the United States to the brink of financial ruin.
There is more substance here, although it feels as if Martin’s dislike of Bush largely stems from Bush’s recklessness and senselessness, especially given the manner in which he minimised the role of Nixon’s war-making in his dislike of that president, and the manner in which he describes why he didn’t dislike Reagan at all:
For decades, my hope was realized. Although I wasn’t always a fan of the five succeeding presidents, I can’t say that I hated any of them. Even Ronald Reagan with his debt-defying economic nonsense was hard to dislike given his avuncular character.
Notice that this is somewhat the reverse of what he says about Nixon: he gives an actual substantive reason to dislike Reagan (‘debt-defying economic nonsense’ — which, presumably, was not all that different to the supply-side tax cuts that he references for Bush), but then nonchalantly brushes it off by referring to his ‘avuncular’ (and presumably, void of vindictiveness, paranoia, etc.) ‘character’. One might say, a ‘morally worthy character’.
—
In 2008, Hawaii became the Most Democratic State for the first time, and stayed that way for the next two elections in a row. This newfound constancy could have been taken as a sign of what Brownstein referred to as the newfound cohesion of the Democratic base, compared to the prior decades.
However, it appears that the title has not stayed in Hawaii this year. This is not altogether unexpected, given Hawaii’s penchant for trending towards incumbents. It looks close, but it looks like Biden’s best state will be Vermont. Like Hawaii, Vermont is one of a handful of states that had already been blue before 2008, but which Obama made much bluer (others being California and Maryland). Vermont had been Obama’s second-best state in 2008 and 2012.
However, it is interesting that Massachusetts has remained amongst the top Democratic states and looks like it will come out #2, with Biden currently at 65.2% (vs. at 66.0% in Vermont and 64.3% in California and Maryland). Massachusetts was not amongst the states that Obama made even bluer; in fact, in 2008, it dropped to eighth-most Democratic state, lower than it had been on the list since 1980 (in 2012, it rose to sixth place, lower than it had been since 1992). In 2012, Obama did 7.42% better in Massachusetts than Dukakis, and 1.29% worse than Kerry. (In contrast, in Vermont, he did 18.99% better than Dukakis and 7.63% better than Kerry; in California, 12.68% better than Dukakis and 5.93% better than Kerry; in Maryland, 13.77% better than Dukakis and 6.06% better than Kerry; and in Hawaii, 16.28% better than Dukakis and 16.54% better than Kerry.)
The fact that Hawaii was (probably) displaced by Vermont, another state that Obama had turned much more deeply blue, may bear out the enduring coherency of his coalition. (It would also make Vermont only the second state, after Mississippi, to have been both the Most Democratic and the Most Republican State.) But the rise of Massachusetts back to second place, a higher spot than it has held since 2004, may also bear out the even more enduring character of the contemporary Democracy as the party first and foremost of ‘moral worthiness’.
* I am not counting the District of Columbia as ‘a state’, which Leip does here, writing that Gore carried ‘21 states’ in 2000. Of course, if DC were counted as a state, the Most Democratic State from 1964 — DC’s first participating election — through 2020 would easily have been DC every time. As Akhil Rajasekar wrote in March 2019, DC ‘was never supposed to resemble a state in any way — not in government, not in jurisdiction, and certainly not in electoral behavior’; and as Jeff Jacoby wrote in August 2019, ‘Washington doesn’t resemble a state in any way, and was never supposed to’ — something that would be hard to deny even if one supports DC statehood. | https://mattlennox.medium.com/most-democratic-and-most-republican-states-e3f332c12b5 | ['Matt Lennox'] | 2020-12-08 20:36:04.933000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Elections'] |
[Archive] Talbot Mentors Implements Process Improvements, Recruitment Support with Maryland MENTOR | Talbot Mentors is a youth mentoring organization in Talbot County, Maryland. Founded in 1997, Talbot Mentors is focused on mobilizing adults to make a difference in the lives of young people in Talbot County’s communities. It is focused on improving and affecting the lives of the area’s most underserved youth. Talbot Mentors specializes in leveraging its one-to-one mentoring model to create lasting, impactful relationships between youth and adults.
Talbot Mentors just celebrated its 20th year serving its community. However, even with the organization’s long history and depth of experience, Talbot Mentors knew they still had opportunities for growth. According to Talbot Mentors’ executive director, Gerson Martinez, “what we have done for many years is operate with a lot of enthusiasm or energy, but without a lot of concrete knowledge of what effective mentorship looks like.” According to Tripper Showell, Talbot Mentors’ Program Committee Chair, “we didn’t know what we didn’t know.”
When Talbot Mentors first sought NMRC training and technical assistance, they weren’t entirely sure what to expect. “I was very concerned about being “trapped in a box,” said Mr. Showell. However, after their first contact with Maryland MENTOR’s TA provider, Dr. Jeffrey Kranzler, they were much more confident. A licensed clinical social worker and the founder of Maryland-based Leaf Mentoring, Dr. Kranzler is an experienced provider of NMRC TA. This experience translated into confidence for Talbot Mentors.
As they worked together, Talbot Mentors and Dr. Kranzler’s relationship began to crystalize. “It grew organically,” reports Mr. Martinez. “He put us at ease, allowed us to speak, and heard our concerns.” And as the process progressed, the technical assistance Dr. Kranzler administered started to pay dividends.
Much of the change instituted at Talbot Mentors was related to process improvements in the recruiting phase. Gerson reported that putting together a mentor job description was very effective at unifying the Talbot Mentors’ message and providing the general public (mentors and mentees alike) with a clearer picture of the positive benefits and outcomes of the mentoring experience.
Process improvements also enhanced the turnaround time on mentor applications. According to Jazmine Gibson, Talbot Mentors’ Program Manager, it used to take as long as two months’ time from application to mentoring match. Now, thanks to streamlined processes for screening and outreach, she’s seeing application turnaround happen in little more than a week.
For Talbot Mentors, this is just the start. “We’re beginning to build a calendar for 2019,” says Gerson. “All of it is rooted in what we have learned in our technical assistance and training.” For his part, Dr. Kranzler is energized by the growth he saw at Talbot Mentors. “The TA process is amazing,” he said. “I can confidently recommend it to anyone looking to start or continue a mentoring program.”
Learn more about Talbot Mentors here, and about Maryland MENTOR here. | https://medium.com/@kilianwhite/talbot-mentors-implements-process-improvements-recruitment-support-with-maryland-mentor-caef62da3d62 | ['Kilian B. White'] | 2020-11-18 19:22:34.714000+00:00 | ['Recruitment', 'Mentoring', 'Article Writing', 'Program Management', 'Nonprofit'] |
Retronovation #4: Compartmentalizing Emergency Savings | By Corey Stone, Entrepreneur in Residence, Financial Health Network
When it comes to saving and borrowing, our financial system sends conflicting messages. An example: Many banks offer tips on building an emergency savings fund to buffer against loss of employment, a period of disability, or large unexpected expenses; and they offer promotional rates on CDs and money market accounts to attract savings. But the same banks’ credit card divisions promote use of new cards for vacations, holiday gifts, or large discretionary purchases — and some at zero interest or low promotional rates — to encourage borrowing.
Another example: most banks provide depositors with multiple accounts to keep saving and spending activities separate; but the same institutions offer “frictionless banking” that makes it easy to transfer funds from savings to checking in a matter of seconds.
But for many families, the underlying problem that leaves them without funds when emergencies arise may be too little friction rather than too much.
Keeping a cache of savings for use in emergencies is hard. And it’s hardest for low and moderate income households whose incomes are often volatile and who thus need to tap emergency savings most often. Building such a cache means regularly diverting a portion of income into it, avoiding the temptation to raid it for discretionary spending, and then replenishing it after a true emergency does arise. In comparison, borrowing to cover an emergency expense or an unexpected gap in earnings is much easier, but that can leave one with a hangover of debt and ill-prepared for the next emergency.
That so many households have too little saved for emergencies may partly have to do with banking and payment features that make it too effortless to access funds; and with accessing credit being too easy rather than too hard. (In fact, most users of payday loans, those expensive emergency loans of last resort, once had credit cards but used up their credit lines without being able to repay them.)
Many consumers keep their emergency funds “out of sight” at separate institutions from where they keep their checking accounts in order to prevent themselves from accessing the money too easily. Others cordon off their savings from temptation outside of the formal financial system. In most cases that means keeping a stash of cash hidden away where one isn’t likely to think about it. But some go to greater lengths to make their emergency savings hard to tap: In focus groups and interviews with LMI consumers, I’ve witnessed a woman who keeps a wad of bills frozen in a block of ice in her freezer to keep the funds nearby, but not available for immediate use; and a man who hands over his extra cash to his trustworthy but dour mother-in-law, who won’t return his funds without his providing serious justification. Even old-fashioned porcelain piggy banks that must be broken open (and ruined) to be used represent a form of self-imposed friction against non-emergency spending.
That so many consumers resort to multiple institutional relationships or home-grown methods to help them build, protect, selectively use, and replenish emergency funds reflects a shortcoming of the supermarket model that most banks have built in the age of frictionless banking. They don’t provide the basic means for compartmentalizing spending, saving, and borrowing that consumers need. It’s a failure that explains why FinTechs such as Digit and Earn, and a few others have managed to attract so many users, even though they don’t offer bank accounts themselves and even though they must charge monthly subscription fees for what they do: they assure users they can maintain an intentional level of friction between these parts of their financial lives.
Many employers, along with many of our largest financial institutions, offer automated savings features that are proving popular for building emergency or retirement savings. Retirement funds typically go into tax deferred IRAs or 401K’s that penalize early withdrawals. But, how can today’s financial supermarkets provide the compartmentalization many consumers need to build, safeguard, and replenish emergency funds?
Both consumers’ home-grown solutions and fintechs provide some hints about what emergency savings features innovators might want to test next:
Let consumers add some speed bumps before they can access certain funds. Like the cash-on-ice solution one woman used, banks and credit unions could create emergency-only accounts that require a 24-hour waiting period before funds can be accessed. Initial requests account holders would make to themselves to access the funds would need to be confirmed by the person’s day-older self (who may determine she doesn’t need the funds after all).
before they can access certain funds. Like the cash-on-ice solution one woman used, banks and credit unions could create emergency-only accounts that require a 24-hour waiting period before funds can be accessed. Initial requests account holders would make to themselves to access the funds would need to be confirmed by the person’s day-older self (who may determine she doesn’t need the funds after all). Let consumers designate an emergency buddy, whose electronic signature would be needed before funds can be accessed. Like the man who gave his funds to his mother-in-law for safekeeping, designating someone who will need to know the reason for a withdrawal might encourage accountholders to think twice before asking.
whose electronic signature would be needed before funds can be accessed. Like the man who gave his funds to his mother-in-law for safekeeping, designating someone who will need to know the reason for a withdrawal might encourage accountholders to think twice before asking. Let consumers treat use of emergency funds as loans to themselves. When they draw funds in an emergency, they commit to repaying their funds in installments. They could even charge themselves interest so that their cache will grow with each use. Making borrowing from oneself first the default choice over using a credit card, will help consumers avoid the temptation to charge their way out of an emergency. And since this resembles the loans Self Lender, other fintechs, and many credit unions have devised for building credit, this approach to tapping and repaying emergency funds could also serve as a credit-building benefit.
Behavioral tools that help build and preserve emergency funds probably won’t work for families who just don’t earn enough to cover their basic expenses, or who are already overloaded with debt they took on to cover past emergencies. But many will be able to benefit from self-imposed friction that protects themselves from themselves. | https://medium.com/@finhealthnet/retronovation-4-compartmentalizing-emergency-savings-7bdfe2c1b77a | ['Financial Health Network'] | 2020-08-31 21:57:56.854000+00:00 | ['Credit Cards', 'Saving Money', 'Credit', 'Finance', 'Money'] |
A resettling Rahul | Pic: Twitter (@cricbuzz)
If there is any batsman in world cricket who has undergone the brutal tests of sport, it is KL Rahul. But over the years, the Indian white-ball vice captain has fought, and fought hard.
KL Rahul’s Test debut, or international debut for that matter, was far from impressive. It was chaotic, confused, and disorganized. The year was 2014, and up against the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Shane Watson and Nathan Lyon, on Boxing Day at the ever-intimidating MCG, the then 22-year-old Rahul nervously took guard. There was immense hype surrounding his debut, especially after his magnificent performance for South Zone against Central in the final of the 2014–15 Duleep Trophy. Batting at his usual opening spot, Rahul had bludgeoned 185 (233) in the first innings and 130 (152) in the second, in a closely contested losing cause. But batting for South Zone and Karnataka is one thing. Batting for India is a completely different side of the coin. A side Rahul experienced the harsh way.
Batting at a far from ideal number six, he was dismissed off the 8th ball he faced, to an ugly sweep, for just 3. Being promoted to number three in the second innings proved to be equally disastrous, as he succumbed to another unattractive, mistimed hoick off Mitchell Johnson, this time for a solitary run. His position in the side was immediately questioned, an issue he would come to encounter innumerable times in the following years. But in his very next Test, at Sydney, Rahul stroked his way to a masterful 110, showing glimpses of his hidden genius. But who would have imagined, that a boy upon whom so many hopes were pinned, would have to fight for his place in the Indian team across formats for the next seven years?
Rahul made inroads into the international circuit after making his ODI and T20I debut against Zimbabwe in 2016, even scoring a century on ODI debut, the first Indian to do so. However, the opener’s spot in limited overs internationals was rightfully reserved by the prolific duo of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. While in the Test arena, he was up against Dhawan and Murali Vijay. Despite consistent performances, he was never a regular customer in the Indian team. But sooner or later that had to change, and thankfully for Rahul, it did. Cut to 2021, exactly seven years since his debut, and Rahul is now the Indian vice captain in white ball cricket, as well as the first choice opener across all three formats, only behind Rohit Sharma. He has since appeared in 41 Tests, and has scored at least one Test century in every country that he’s played in, and he’s scored seven of them thus far. Quite interestingly though, Rahul will have to attribute this change of fortunes to sheer luck. Ahead of the touring India’s first Test against England in mid-2021, Mayank Agarwal, who was to open with Sharma, was hit on the head by a bouncer while batting in the nets, deeming him unfit for the game. In came Rahul, and made a solid statement by scoring 84 and 26 in a rain-affected drawn affair. He further solidified his case with a classy 129 at Lord’s in the next game, finally establishing himself as India’s second-best top order bet.
Though it is odd that it took a player of Rahul’s calibre so long to cement his place in the Test side, he only has himself to blame. From January 2018 through to January 2019, the Indians embarked on three massive away Test series’. First South Africa, followed by England, and finally Australia. And KL Rahul was a mess on all three tours. He scored 30 runs from four innings in South Africa with a top effort of 16. Then in England, Rahul played all five matches, scoring 299 runs at a below-par average of 29.90. He came good in the final Test at The Oval, blasting 37 and 149 in a losing cause. But it was back to the drawing board against Australia, as Rahul failed miserably in the first three Tests, amassing only 57 runs in five innings at a disgusting average of 11.40. He was dropped for the fourth Test, handing a debut to none other than Mayank Agarwal. It was evident that a complete revitalization had to be done on Rahul’s Test game. The only question was, will it be too late?
Fortunately for Rahul, it happened just in the nick of time. And his Boxing Day hundred at Centurion in 2021 is a magnificent turnaround from what transpired on the same day in 2014. Batting on a pitch known to eat batsmen alive, against a bowling lineup consisting of the ferocious Kagiso Rabada and dedicated Lungi Ngidi, Rahul produced a performance of the very highest order. A true Test innings in every sense of the word. He played 260 balls for his 123, in an innings characterised by incredible patience and immaculate shot selection. Batting long in South Africa is an arduous task. It is known to be a fast bowler’s paradise. The pitch starts misbehaving in the most unorthodox ways imaginable, and the movement in the air can change from none to immense in a matter of minutes. For someone who had a torrid outing in Protea land the last time around, Rahul’s hundred is even more satisfying. Not only for himself, but for everyone who has seen him sway through the ups and downs of the cricketing realm.
It’s probably safe to say that KL Rahul is the most technically sound batsman in the world at the moment. After all, it does take a lot to have Brian Lara say that you’re his favourite batsman to watch. It is also safe to say that Test match batting is an art. An art that has almost been nullified by the modern usage of scoops and paddles and sweeps and switch hits. Leaving the ball outside off stump is an ability so forgotten that even Virat Kohli cannot conform to it. And if Virat Kohli can’t, no one can, right? Wrong. KL Rahul can. The 29-year-old was quick to raise his arms above his head or tuck his bat in front of his back pad as he allowed the ball a safe, uninterrupted passage through to the keeper. Rahul watched from the other end as his captain flashed his blade at a delivery that landed in Zimbabwe, only to nick off to first slip. He made sure not to deal with any delivery that was outside his eyeline, and reaped humongous rewards for his discipline.
Sadly, such innings of patience and poise are rare sightings in the world of cricket now. Sure, Travis Head’s 148-ball 152 in the first Test of the ongoing Ashes was a treat to watch. But if that was a treat, Rahul’s 123 was a whole buffet. There’s just something about a calm, composed, unfussy period of batting that is so pleasing to the eye. It’s a job that’s got miserably low employees. Apart from Rahul, hardly a handful come to mind. Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, the world’s number one Test batsman, surely walks into the list. Despite the occasional waft outside off, English skipper Joe Root is quite secure as well. Rohit Sharma too has made unbelievable changes to his otherwise naturally aggressive game to emerge successful in the longest format. Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne, Kiwi Tom Latham, and South African captain Dean Elgar are a few others that remind us what Test match batting really is. It needs self-control, it needs impenetrable technique, and most importantly, it needs patience.
Virat Kohli’s susceptibility on the 4th-8th stump channel is massively attributed to him growing restless after a string of dots, resulting in him tampering with a ball not there to be hit. A true Test batsmen knows that the bowler is a human, not a machine. There will be deliveries straying down the leg side, or on the stumps, or a loose bouncer, or a full toss. Using those unharmful balls to the fullest effect will bring the batsman enough runs to put the opposition under pressure.
Yes, aggression is hugely important, but miscalculated aggression only ever leads to self destruction. That is the rule not only for cricket, but for life. Test cricket is a twisted, uneven road, like the ones you will find on a mountain. Those who drive with control and authority find it to be a wonderful challenge. However, a little lapse in concentration and discipline can divagate an individual into the depths of scepticism and unpredictability, climbing out of which can take up an entire career. | https://medium.com/@divyaj-tomar/a-resettling-rahul-4fec630c2daf | ['Divyaj Tomar'] | 2021-12-31 12:31:13.435000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Batting', 'Cricket', 'Kl Rahul', 'Test'] |
Alibaba Cloud Achieved Large-Scale Implementation of Serverless in Core Business Scenarios | The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the digital lifestyle. With today’s aggressive digital transformation and increased efficiency, Serverless is poised to become the new computing paradigm for the cloud, freeing developers from heavy manual resource management and performance optimization and sparking a new revolution in cloud productivity.
However, Serverless is often tricky to implement. Migrating legacy projects to Serverless while ensuring business continuity during the migration process, providing comprehensive development tools and effective debugging and diagnostic tools under the Serverless architecture, and leveraging Serverless for better cost savings are all constant challenges. This is especially true when it comes to the large-scale implementation of Serverless in core scenarios. As a result, enterprises need best practices for large-scale application of Serverless in core scenarios.
With a total transaction volume of 498.2 billion yuan (US$74.1 billion) and an order creation peak of 583,000 orders per second, Tmall set another record during the 2020 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival. During the 2020 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival, Alibaba Cloud also achieved one of the first large-scale implementation of Serverless in core business scenarios in China, withstanding the world’s largest traffic flood and creating a milestone for the implementation of Serverless.
The Pain Points of Serverless Implementation
Challenge 1: Cold Start Takes a Long Time
Elastic Container is a natural attribute of Serverless, but Elastic Container is contingent on extreme cold start speeds to support it. In non-core business scenarios, milliseconds of latency is almost unaffected by the business. However, for core business scenarios, a latency of more than 500 milliseconds can affect the user experience. Serverless leverages lightweight virtualization technologies to continuously reduce the time required for cold starts (under 200 milliseconds in some scenarios.) However, this is only an ideal standalone scenario. In core business scenarios, users not only run their business logic but also rely on back-end services, such as middleware, database, and storage. The connection of these services has to be made when the instance is started, which invariably lengthens the cold start time and increases the cold start time to the second level. For core online business scenarios, a second-level cold start is unacceptable.
Challenge 2: Separated From the R&D Process
Serverless focuses on business code development in the same way as business functions, enabling developers to easily and quickly launch code on the cloud. However, in reality, the requirements of core businesses have pulled developers from the cloud back to reality. In reality, the requirements of the core business pull developers back from the cloud, and they have to face the following questions: How can we do testing? How do we go live with grayscale? How can we do business disaster recovery? How do we control permissions? After answering these questions, the developers will become discouraged and realize that “normal function operation” only accounts for a small part of the core business go-live and the distance to go-live is as long as the Yangtze River.
Challenge 3: Middleware Connectivity
The core online business is not run by independent functions in isolation but needs to connect to storage, middleware, data backend services, obtain data and then calculate, and then output back to the user. The traditional middleware client needs to connect to the client’s network and initialize a series of operations, such as building connections, which often reduces the speed of function startup. The short life cycle and a large number of instances in the Serverless scenario can lead to frequent connection building and a high number of connections. Therefore, it is very important for core applications to migrate to Serverless by optimizing network connectivity for clients of middleware commonly used in online applications and monitoring data of call links to help SRE (Site Reliability Engineer) practitioners better evaluate the downstream middleware dependencies of functions.
Challenge 4: Poor Observability
Most of the core business applications of users adopt a microservices architecture, so many users solve the problems of core business applications with a microservices perspective. For example, users need to check various indicators of the business system in great detail, not only to check the business indicators but also to check the resource indicators of the system where the business is located. However, there is no concept of machine resources in a Serverless scenario, so how can these metrics leak out? Is it possible to meet the needs of the business side by only revealing the error rate and concurrency of requests? The business needs are much more than that. Observability is still a matter of whether the business trusts your technology platform or not. Good observability is an important prerequisite to winning users’ trust.
Challenge 5: Remote Debugging is Difficult
When there is an online problem in the core business, you need to immediately investigate the matter. The first element of the investigation is the retention of the site and then logging in for debugging. But since there are no machine-level concept in a Serverless scenario, if users need to log into the machine, it is very difficult to do so on top of the existing Serverless-based technology. The reasons are not limited to this. There are also concerns with Vendor-lockin.
The above categories of pain points are mainly for the developers’ development experience. Most core application developers are still on the fence about Serverless, and there is no shortage of skepticism that “FaaS is only suitable for small business scenarios and non-core business scenarios.”
Serverless Testing During Double 11
Consulting firm O’Reill released a Serverless usage research paper in December 2019 that shows 40% of respondents’ organizations had already adopted Serverless. In October 2020, the China Academy of Information and Communication Research released the “China Cloud-Native User Research Report.” Inside, it stated, “Serverless technology is growing significantly in numbers, with nearly 30% of users already using it in production environments.” In 2020, more enterprises are choosing to join the Serverless camp, eagerly awaiting more cases of Serverless scaling to core scenarios.
Faced with the steady growth in the number of Serverless developers, Alibaba formulated the strategy of “Build a Serverless Double 11” at the beginning of the year, aiming not simply to resist traffic and hit peaks, but to effectively reduce costs, improve resource utilization, and build Alibaba Cloud Serverless into a more secure, stable, and friendly cloud product to help users realize its greater business value.
Unlike the past 11 years of the Double 11, this year, Alibaba achieved full cloud-native biochemistry based on the digital native business operating system after the core system of last year’s Tmall Double 11 went to the cloud. The underlying hard-core technology upgrade brought surging power and extreme performance. This was the first time Serverless was implemented in the core scenario of Double 11.
Scenario 1: Multiple Frontend Scenarios
For the 2020 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival, Alibaba Group’s frontend fully embraced cloud-native Serverless, and a dozen BUs, including Taobao, Fliggy, AutoNavi, CBU, ICBU, Youku, and Kaola. Alibaba Cloud jointly implemented a cloud-based integrated R&D model with Node.js FaaS online service architecture as the core. On the premise of ensuring stability and high resource utilization, the R&D model was upgraded for the key marketing and shopping scenarios of multiple BUs during this year’s Double 11. The cloud-based all-in-one R&D model supported by FaaS at the frontend delivered an average efficiency improvement of 38.89%. Relying on the convenience and reliability of Serverless, Taobao, Tmall, Fliggy, and other Double 11 venue pages quickly implemented SSR technology to improve the user page experience. In addition to ensuring the promotion, daily elasticity also reduced the calculation cost by 30% compared with the past.
Scenario 2: Personalized Recommendations
The elastic scaling capability of Serverless is the most important reason why the “personalized recommendation business scenario” was chosen for Serverless. The cost of operating and maintaining thousands of heterogeneous applications has been a pain point in this scenario. By further releasing the operation and maintenance capacity through Serverless, developers can focus on algorithm innovation for business. The application scope of this scenario is getting wider, covering almost the whole Ali system app, including Taobao, Tmall, Alipay, Youku, and Fliggy. Therefore, we can do more optimization on machine resource utilization. Through intelligent scheduling, the machine resource utilization reached 60% at peak time.
Scenario 3: Middle and Backend Scenarios
In 2020, Century Lianhua operated during Double 11 based on Alibaba Cloud Function Compute (FC) elastic scaling. In the promotion venue SSR, there were online product spikes, coupon spotting, industry shopping guides, data center computing, and other scenarios for application. Business peak QPS increased by more than 230% compared to the 2019 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival. R&D efficiency and delivery efficiency increased by more than 30%, and Elastic resource costs reduced by more than 40%.
There are more scenarios for Serverless that need to be accumulated by developers from more industries. Overall, FaaS had a very impressive report card this year, not only taking over part of the core business during the Double 11 Global Shopping Festival but also breaking new highs in traffic, helping the business to carry the flood of millions of QPS.
How Does Alibaba Cloud Eliminate Serverless Pain Points?
In this case, how did Alibaba Cloud overcome the pain of implementing Serverless in the industry?
Reserved Mode + Per-Volume Mode Eliminates Cold Starts
In a major Serverless 2.0 upgrade in 2019, Alibaba Cloud Function Compute (FC) was the first to support reserved mode.
Why did Alibaba Cloud take the lead on this? The Alibaba Cloud Serverless Team kept exploring the needs of real businesses. The pay-as-you-go model of the per-volume model, while very attractive, had a long cold start time and shut out the core online businesses. Next, Alibaba Cloud focused on analyzing the demands of core online businesses, small latency and guaranteed resource elasticity. How can we solve it?
The following figure shows a very typical business curve chart. The reservation mode is used to meet the requirements of a fixed amount at the bottom, while the elasticity is used to meet the requirements of a burst. To scale out the burst resource, two scale-out methods are available: Scale-out by resource and scale-out on request. For example, you can set the scale-out threshold of CPU resources to 60%. When the CPU of an instance reaches the threshold, the scale-out is triggered. In this case, the new request is not sent to the scaled-out instance immediately. Instead, the new request is sent to the scaled-out instance only when the instances are ready, avoiding a cold start. For example, if you only set the concurrency metric scale-out threshold (30 for the concurrency of each instance), the scale-out for the same process is triggered when the condition is met. If both metrics are set, the scale-out is triggered first in the conditions that are met first.
With various scaling methods, Alibaba Cloud Function Compute solves the cold start problem of Serverless, which supports latency-sensitive businesses.
Core Business R&D Efficiency up to 38.89%
“Increased efficiency” is supposed to be the advantage of Serverless, but for core applications. “Fast” means “risky,” and users need to go through several processes, such as CI testing, daily testing, pre-release testing, and grayscale deployment, to ensure the quality of functions. These processes are the stumbling blocks that prevent core applications from using FaaS. To address this problem, Alibaba Cloud Function Compute’s strategy is to be integrated, combining the advantages of the R&D platform with Alibaba Cloud Function Compute. This is designed to meet the CI/CD process of users, but also enjoy the dividends of Serverless, helping users to cross the gap of using FaaS. The Alibaba Group exposed the standard OpenAPI and each core application of the R&D platform for integration. After the Double 11 business R&D verification, R&D efficiency greatly improved by 38.89%. On the public cloud, we integrated with the cloud efficiency platform to combine the R&D process with FaaS to help businesses outside the group and improve human efficiency.
Middleware Connectivity
Once the core application uses Function Compute, how can it work with middleware? Traditional application development requires the integration of various middleware SDKs for packaging online, but for Serverless functions, the size of the code package is a hard wound. This problem will directly affect the cold start time. Alibaba Cloud Function Compute has two stages of development. The first stage builds the middleware Proxy. Through the Proxy to open the middleware, the function uses a single protocol to interact with the Proxy and offload the middleware SDK package. During the second stage, the middleware capabilities sink, and some control type requirements are on the agenda, such as command delivery, traffic management, and configuration pulling. During this period, Alibaba Cloud embraced the open source component Dapr, using Sidecar to offload the middle interaction costs. The solution above is based on Alibaba Cloud’s Custom Runtime for Function Compute and Custom Container functionality.
The Ultimate Development Experience
Remote debugging, log viewing, link tracing, resource utilization, and improvement of the peripheral tool chain are essential for developers. Alibaba Cloud Function Compute has started different research teams at the same time. First, it is combined with Tracing/ARMS to create a clear link Tracing capability and is integrated with SLS to create comprehensive business data monitoring. This way, the business can be customized as needed, and the open source Prometheus product, which exposes resource utilization and supports WebIDE, can be remotely debugged. In addition, Serverless-devs, a new open source project of Alibaba Cloud, is a developer tool that has no binding to manufacturers and helps developers double the development, operation, and maintenance efficiency in the Serverless architecture. You can easily and quickly create, develop, test, publish, and deploy applications in a project to achieve end-to-end management of the project.
There are many initial pain points of Serverless, but how is Alibaba Cloud able to offer Serverless solutions to all industries?
First of all, Alibaba Cloud provides the most complete Serverless product matrix among all cloud vendors, including Function Compute, SAE for Serverless application engine, ASK for container orchestration, and ECI for container instances. For example, for event-triggered scenarios, Function Compute provides rich event source integration capabilities and the ultimate elasticity of 100 millisecond scaling. For microservice applications, the Serverless Application Engine can achieve zero code transformation, allowing microservices to enjoy the Serverless dividend.
Second, Serverless is a fast-growing field, and Alibaba Cloud is constantly expanding the boundaries of Serverless products. For example, Function Compute supports container mirroring, prepaid mode, concurrent execution of multiple requests within an instance, and other industry-first features that completely solve Serverless challenges, such as performance burrs caused by cold starts, greatly expanding the application scenarios of Function Compute.
Finally, Alibaba has a very rich business scenario, which can further polish the practice of Serverless on the ground. This year, the core business scenarios of Alibaba, Kaola, Fliggy, and AutoNavi all used Alibaba Cloud Function Compute, and successfully carried the peak of the Double 11 Global Shopping Festival.
Serverless Leads to the Next Decade
“The greatest radicalization of the productivity of labor, and the greater skill, skill and judgment in the use of labor, seem to be the result of the division of labor.” This is a quote from “The Wealth of Nations,” emphasizing the stakes of “division of labor.”
Similarly, this theorem also applies to the software application market industry. The traditional industry has entered the Internet phase, the market size is getting bigger, the division of labor is getting finer, and the era of physical machine hosting has passed. It was replaced by the mature IaaS layer, followed by container services, which is now the industry standard. How will the next decade of technology look? The answer is Serverless, wiping out the lack of R&D personnel in the budget and operations and maintenance experience. In the case of fighting the business flood, most R&D can easily control the processing, greatly reducing the technical threshold of R&D, while improving the efficiency of R&D, online warning, traffic observation, and other tools that are available, easily achieving the technology R&D free of operations and maintenance. Serverless is a more fine-grained division of labor, so business developers don’t need to focus on the underlying operations and maintenance. Instead, they can focus on business innovation, greatly improving labor productivity, which is known as the “Smith’s theorem” effect. This is also the inherent reason why Serverless will become an inevitable trend in the future.
Today, the entire cloud product system is Serverless, and more than 70% of the products are in Serverless form. Serverless products, such as Object Storage, Messaging Middleware, API Gateways, and table storage are already well known by developers. Over the next decade, Serverless will redefine the programming model of the cloud and reshape the way enterprises innovate. | https://medium.com/@alibabatech/alibaba-cloud-achieved-large-scale-implementation-of-serverless-in-core-business-scenarios-fea5474b2b9c | ['Alibaba Tech'] | 2020-12-15 09:15:30.404000+00:00 | ['Function Compute', 'Function As A Service', 'Double 11', 'Containers', 'Serverless'] |
Summary of Sadhguru’s Inner Engineering book | YOGA
Yoga tells us that we are actually composed of five sheaths or layers:
1. Annamayakosha -> Food body
2. Manomayakosha -> Mental body. What happens in the mind affects what happens in the body. This is because what we call “mind” is not just the brain. It is not located in any single part of the human anatomy. Instead, every cell has its own intelligence, so there is an entire mental body.
3. Pranamayakosha -> Energy body. If we keep our energy body in perfect balance, there will be no disease in our physical or mental bodies.
Above three layers are in the physical realm.
4. Vignanamayakosha -> Etheric body. This is beyond sense perception. This is a transient state. It is neither physical nor non-physical. Those who report near-death experience are those who could have slipped accidently into this state. If we learn to find conscious access to this dimension, there will be a quantum leap in our ability to know the cosmic phenomenon.
5. Anandamayakosha -> Bliss — beyond physical
Yoga is a science of aligning body, mind, and energy dimensions so that we reach the ultimate state of ecstatic union with life itself.
Ways of achieving ultimate state:
1. Karma Yoga — action -> Body
2. Gnana Yoga — knowledge -> Mind
3. Bhakti Yoga — devotion -> Emotion
4. Kriya Yoga — energy -> Energy
Every human being is a unique combination of the same ingredients. Yoga is a science of bringing body, mind, emotion, and energy together.
A physical body has five sources of senses:
1. Smelling (nose)
2. Hearing (ear)
3. Tasting (tongue)
4. Seeing (eye)
5. Touching (skin)
If we are seeking more than the survival, then these physical perceptions are not enough. Because essential nature of life doesn’t lie in the physical or psychological expressions of body and mind but in their source.
Yoga is fundamentally aimed at enhancing experience beyond five senses. There is a dimension beyond five sense perceptions. We can call it “self”, “divine”,” God” — terminology is entirely up to us.
Why people are not able to access the perception beyond these five senses — it is just a lack of attention which has denied people the possibility of discovering what lies within.
The science of using the body to hasten our evolutionary process is ‘hatha’ yoga.
Ha -> Sun
Tha -> Moon
Hatha Yoga brings a balance between these two dimensions. Hatha Yoga is not exercise. It is, instead, about understanding the mechanics of the body, creating a certain atmosphere, and then using physical postures to channel or drive our energy in specific directions. It aligns body’s inner geometry with cosmic geometry.
If we consciously get our body into different postures, we can elevate our consciousness.
Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is not a salutation at all. It is about organizing solar energies within us. All life on earth is solar powered. The sun is the life source for this planet. Those who do Surya Namaskar regularly find their batteries last longer. It aids the balance or re-organization of inner energies in terms of lunar (feminine) and solar dimension (masculine) and produces innate physical and psychological equilibrium.
Surya Kriya — is about connecting moon and sun dimensions for spiritual growth.
Any life has the following 5 elements:
1. Air
2. Fire
3. Water
4. Earth
5. Ether
Our body is just a loan from this planet. What we call “death” is just Mother Earth reclaiming the loan that she offered us. If all that we have known is the body and anyway we are doing to lose it, anxiety and fear will be our constant companions.
Mind
The system of Yoga is a technology to create a distinction between us and our mind. There is a space between us and what we have gathered in terms of body and mind. Becoming conscious of this space is our first and only step to freedom. Awareness of this space opens up a new dimension of limitless possibilities.
There are only two forms of suffering in this world:
- Physical (arises in body)
- Mental (arises in mind)
Once this distance becomes a constant factor in our experience, we have reached the end of suffering.
Our ability to use this immensely sophisticated body-mind phenomenon can be raised to a completely new dimension of experience and utility as we stand outside of them. As the experience of space grows, the mind is no more a mess. It is a great symphony, a tremendous possibility that can take us to great heights.
Remind every hour that our mind (manas dimension) is accumulation.
Being a Buddha means that we have become a witness to our own intellect.
Mind has 16 dimensions in the following 4 categories:
1. Discerning/Intellect -> Buddhi
2. Accumulation / Memory -> Manas
3. Awareness -> Chitta
4. Sense of Identity -> Ahankara
Learn to place our intellect in the sheath of our awareness rather than in the sack of memory and identification.
Awareness (Chitta) is not mental awareness. It is not something we do. Awareness is what we are. Awareness is aliveness. The dimension of the mind that modern societies have completely ignored at their own peril is awareness or Chitta. This is the deepest dimension of the mind and one that connects us with which is the very basis of creation.
Awareness is a process of inclusiveness, a way of embracing this entire universe. We can’t do it, but we can set the right conditions so that it happens. Don’t try to be aware — it won’t work. If we keep our body, thought, emotion, and energies properly aligned, awareness will blossom.
Yoga, meditation helps in making Chitta dimension of mind dominants. Buddhi, Manas, and Ahankara are important, but only for survival.
Mind State
(1) Inert –(energize)-> (2) Active/Scattered –(energize)-> (3) One-Pointed -> (4) Conscious
Today’s modern science is proving that this whole existence is just a reverberation of energy, an endless vibration. Thoughts too are a reverberation. If we generate a powerful thought and let it out, it will always manifest itself. A positive thought will manifest a positive outcome.
For this to happen, it is important that we don’t impede and weaker our thought by creating negative and self-defeating thought patter.
Emotion
Emotion is just juicier part of thought.
Thought (Sugarcane) -> Emotion (juice)
Emotion is largely the thought that leads the emotion. Emotion is less agile than thought. Emotion can’t change immediately. It struggles. If it is sweet now, it can’t turn bitter at the very next moment. It takes time to turn around. It has a wider turning arc. Depending on the strength of our emotion, may be it will take three days or three months or three years, but after sometime it will turn around.
Shi-va
That which is note. Everything ‘that is’ has come from that which is not. If we look up in the sky, there is a vast emptiness. It is in the lap of this no-thingness that the dance of creation is happening right now. This emptiness, which is the very basis of creation is referred to as “Shi-va”.
Another dimension of Shiva is Adiyogi, the first Yogi who opened up the incredible science of yoga for humanity (about 15,000 years back).
Devotion
Even if we spend a lifetime, we still won’t understand a leaf, an elephant, and ant or an atom. We are incapable of figuring out even a molecule of DNA. Everything we can’t grasp is in a high state of existential intelligence than we are. When we see this — really see this — we are a devotee.
A devotee is someone who is willing to dissolve into the object of devotion. If we are a devotee of life, we will become one with it. Don’t be an outsider to the life process. Become a devotee. Dissolve.
Energy
At present, huma beings identify with the body and the mind. But fundamentally, what we call “myself” is just a certain amount of energy. Modern science has proved beyond all doubt that all of existence is made up of the same energy, manifesting itself in millions of bewildering different ways.
Energy — Paranamayakosha is the third layer of human being.
The spiritual process means a return to life. It means following the deep intelligence of we life energies.
Karma -> literally means “action”. Action is of three kinds — Body, Mind, and Energy
Whatever we do with our body, mind, or energy, leaves a certain residue. This residual forms a pattern of its own and these resultants pattern stay with us. When we gather a huge volume of impressions slowly these shape into tendencies, and we become like an automatic toy, a slave to our patterns, a puppet of our path.
Tendencies are generated by a vast accumulation of impressions caused by our physical, mental, and energy actions. What we call personality is just an expression of these tendencies.
We call our tendencies as “our nature” — but reality is it is not our nature — we are not doing what we want. These tendencies have become compulsive.
It is important to remember that Karma is not a negative word. Karma is what gives us stability and structure to our life. There is nothing wrong with stored information. It is very useful for our survival. If we deleted all of it, we wouldn’t know how to handle even the simplest aspects of life. The spiritual process doesn’t seek to demolish this storehouse of karmic impressions, but helps us to become more conscious of it, and establish a little space, which allows us to stand outside of it.
Kriya
As we have established, the body and the mind are ours, but still external to us. We have gathered both from outside; the body is an accumulation of food, and the mind an accumulation of ideas.
Even the imprints upon the energy body are an accumulation of the impressions of five senses. When we have ability to perform action with the non-physical aspect of our energy, then it is termed as “kriya”.
Increasing order of consciousness in the following four dimensions of physicality:
- Bodily actions
- Mental
- Emotional
- Energetic
The moment we learn to perform action with the non-physical aspect of our life energy, we suddenly move to a new level of freedom within and outside of ourself.
The Yogic practices, which involve postures, breath, attitudes of the mind, and energy activation are essentially oriented toward aligning the first three layers of the body
- The physical
- The mental
- The energetic body
It is only in the aligning them that we find access to dimensions beyond the physical — to the fundamental life energy itself.
Kriya Yoga
Is arduous and inhuman.
Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya
Sadhguru spent 20 years in transforming this kriya so this could be made available widely.
If we follow the path of kriya very intensely without guidance, it may take few lifetimes to bear fruit. If we have someone to actively guide the process, kriya can be most powerful and magnificent way to explore the inner nature and mystical phenomena.
The Energy Labyrinth
The yogic system offers a comprehensive view of the anatomy of the human energy body. It has mapped:
72,000
channels (nadis) in the energy system. The prana or energy moves through these channels.
72,000 channels spring from 3 basic channels:
1. Pingla — on the right
2. Ida — on the left
3. Sushumna — central
Pingla is symbolized as the masculine.
Ida is symbolized as the feminine.
Masculine and feminine don’t refer to biological differences, but to certain qualities in nature that have been identified as such.
Pingla -> Outgoing / exploratory qualities
Ida -> Receptive / reflective
The pingla and ida are also symbolized as the sun and the moon
The sun representing the masculine/aggressive and outgoing.
The moon — calm
On the level of mind, Pingla represents the logical dimension; Ida represents the intuitive dimension.
These two qualities are the fundamentals of the physical sphere of life. A human being is complete only when both masculine and the feminine function at full force and are in proper balance.
Sushumna, the central nadi, is the most significant aspect of our physiology, yet it generally goes unexplored. It is independent of the 72,000 nadis, but it is the fulcrum of the whole system.
The nadis don’t have a physical manifestation. If we cut the body and look inside, we will not find them.
The chakras are powerful centers in the physiology where nadis meet in a particular way to create an energy vortex. Like the nadis, the chakras are of a subtle nature and don’t have a physical existence. They always meet in the form of a triangle.
There are 114 chakras in the body. Two are outside the body and 112 are within the body. Among these 112, seven are major chakras. For most people, 3 of these are active; the remaining are either dormant or mildly active. We can live quite a complete life with just a few of them. If we were to activate all 114 chakras, e would have no sense of body at all.
The purpose of yoga is to active our energy system in such a way that our body consciousness is constantly being lowered, so we can sit here in the body, but are no longer the body.
7 Chakras:
Sahasrara -> Crown chakra
Ajna -> Third eye chakra
Vishuddhi -> Throat chakra
Anahata -> Heart chakra
Manipuraka -> Solar plexus chakra
Swadhishthana -> Sacral chakra
Muladhara -> Root chakra
Muladhara -> located at perineum (space between anal outlet and genital organ)
Swadhishthana -> just above the genital organ
Manipuraka -> ¾ inch below the naval
Anahata -> Below the point where ribcage meets the diaphragm
Vishuddhi -> at the put of the throat
Ajna -> between eyebrows
Sahasrara -> also known as brahmarandra — front panel on the top of the head (where newborn infants have a soft spot)
Energies find expression through these chakras. Experience that happens withing us — anger, misery, peace, joy, and ecstasy are different levels of expressions of our life energies.
Dominant energies in different chakras result in different life aspects.
Muladhara -> Food and sleep
Swadhishthana -> pleasure (this means we enjoy physical reality in many ways)
Manipuraka -> Doer, we accomplish many things in the world
Anahata -> Creative person
Vishuddhi -> Power presence
Ajna -> Intellectually realized
Sahasrara -> Unexplained ecstasies
Life intensity increases as we go from Muladhara to up. It is misleading to speak of lower and higher chakras. It is like comparing the foundation of the building to the roof. The roof is not superior; the foundation is not inferior. In the physical body, our energies need to be in the muladhara to some extent.
At the same time, chakras have a spiritual dimension, not just a physical one. If we bring right amount of awareness to it, the same muladhara can be transformed to a point where we become absolutely free of the compulsive need for food and sleep.
Muladhara/Swadhishthana/Manipuraka => For keeping the body stable and rooted / associated with earth / self preservation
Vishuddhi / Ajna / Sahasrara => energies that draw us away from the pull of the earth / concerned with the longing for the infinite
Anahata -> Middle chakra is a balance between the two.
Anahata is symbolized by the two interlocking triangles, one pointing downward and another upward, forming a six-pointed star.
The vishuddhi chakra, located in the pit of our throat, literally means filters. If we vishuddhi becomes powerful, we have the ability to filter everything that enters us. Indian iconography depicts Adiyogi, or Shiva, with a blue throat, because he is capable of filtering all the poisons of the outside world and preventing them from entering his system by stalling them in his throat.
The seventh chakra, sahasrara, is actually located just outside the body. For most people, it is dormant. Through spiritual practice or a very intense way of living, we can activate this. This experience is no longer intellectual, it is experiential. There is a wide spectrum of spiritual practices in the yogic system that enables one to move one’s energies from chakra to another. However, from ajna to sahasrara, there is no path.
Sacred Science — Consecration (Sanskrit word: Pratishtha)
If we transform mud into food, we call this agriculture. If we make food into flesh and bone, we call this digestion. If we make flesh into mud, we call this cremation. If we make this flesh, or even a stone or empty space, into a higher possibility, this is consecration.
Modern science today tells us that everything is the same energy manifesting itself in a million ways. If that is so, what we call divine, what we call a stone, what we call a man or a woman or a demon, are all the same energy functioning in different ways. If we have the necessary technology, we can make the simple space around into a divine exuberance.
An enormous amount of knowledge about consecration has been perpetuated across generations since ancient times. This is because regardless of how good our life is, or how long we live, at some point the fundamental human longing to get in touch with source of creation will invariably assert itself. It is because of this awareness that Indian culture built numerous temples on every street. The idea was simply that no one should live in a space that is not consecrated.
All spiritual initiations have been aimed at consecrating this very flesh into a temple like space. After that, all that is needed is maintenance. To consecrate an inanimate object — a rock, for example, costs an enormous amount of life. Making huma beings into living temples is much more inexpensive and eco-friendly.
When people in the world are too distracted and unwilling to make themselves into living temples, building stone temples become necessary. The basic purpose of building a temple is to benefit the majority of people who have no spiritual practice in their lives.
Constant maintenance of consecrated stone, temple, deity is required.
Deity: Yantra (working energy form)
Traditional wisdom has always advised people against keeping stone idols at home. If we keep them, we must maintain them every day with the right kind of process. If a deity is consecrated through mantras and if the necessary maintenance doesn’t happen on a daily basis, then deity becomes a withdrawing energy and can cause immense hard to people who live in the vicinity.
Prana Pratishtha
Prana Pratishtha is different in that it uses our own life energies to consecrate something. This is the process Sadhguru used to consecrate Dhyanalinga with a subtle energy form with all chakras operating at their optimal capacity, at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore.
The Indian temples were never places of prayer. This tradition that we had a shower first thing in the morning and went directly to the temple, sat there for a while, and then began our day. Temple was like a public battery charging space. Most people have forgotten this nowadays. They just go to temples, ask for something, bum-bounce on the temple floor and then leave. This is quite pointless. The idea is to sit and imbibe the energies of the temple.
All the space where we spend time should be consecrated. When we live in such a space, our evolution need not stick to the Darwinian scale; we can simply leapfrog ahead to a state of ultimate well-being and freedom.
In India, most ancient temples were built for Shiva or “that which is not”. Most of the temples don’t have any idol as such. They generally have a representative form, a longa.
The word linga means “the form”. When creation began to happen or when unmanifest became manifest, the first form that it assumed was an ellipsoid — which is what we call a linga. Modern cosmologists have identified that the core of energy galaxy is always an ellipsoid. | https://medium.com/@innerengineering/summary-of-sadhgurus-inner-engineering-book-6a4734aa9b97 | ['Praveen Kumar'] | 2021-03-11 19:47:42.503000+00:00 | ['Sadhguru', 'Adiyogi', 'Yoga', 'Inner Engineering', 'Spirituality'] |
Why Lockdown’s Homemade Video Boom Is Here To Stay | Why Lockdown’s Homemade Video Boom Is Here To Stay
The rise and rise of real-life content reveals our newest desires
If a single image could capture the current state of the entertainment industry, it would be Jimmy Fallon’s makeshift crayon show sign… or rather, his daughter’s crayon show sign.
While we’re sheltered in place, entertainment is adapting. As SNL produced an entire show from home, the hottest sets and concerts are beamed out of kitchens and bedrooms via iPhones. These homemade videos with lo-fi aesthetics are radiating authentic appeal.
But this trend of radically transparent content has been bubbling beneath the surface long before COVID-19 was mentioned on a single broadcast.
When COPS debuted in 1989, the glass between the characters on TV and home viewers shattered. We were the stars… well, not all of us. Shaky hand-held footage made no difference in the content’s value. In fact, it made it all the more real and gripping.
Fast forward to the debut of YouTube, reality TV evolved further. With the ability to ‘broadcast yourself’ everyone became the talent, directors, editors and marketers of their own shows and channels. We also became the esteemed critics of all this new work. We were reality TV.
But while legacy reality TV like The Bachelor continues to thrive today, we’ve come to quietly accept the seeded drama and producer inference — not dissimilar to the kayfabe of WWE. We’re in on it. The suspension of disbelief just isn’t hitting the same. The real isn’t real enough. We want the raw, unscripted and absolute. And there’s plenty of that online.
The approximated cumulative length of all 6.5M IMDb.com titles is currently uploaded to YouTube every month. That’s 500 hours of content uploaded a minute. And five billion hours of that content is consumed a day. Now stuck at home, traffic to YouTube and downloads of TikTok have seen significant lifts according to Google search data. There’s comfort in watching the others more like us.
Meanwhile, broadcast television networks experienced a 20% decline in primetime viewers since 2014 — and that’s not just because of on-demand. Individual primetime shows are also experiencing declines across mediums. As for film, per capita movie theater admissions across U.S. and Canada have been in free fall since 2002. Moviegoers are seeing the least number of films since 1965. In the early 2000s, 28% of Americans made it to more than 12 films a year. Today, that rate is only 12%. And the pandemic will not help these numbers.
Comparing Hollywood with YouTube is futile though as it’s apples to oranges. After all, both can exist simultaneously. If anything, they can also overlap. Will Smith’s and Jack Black’s vlogs are proof.
The path worth exploring, however, is why this homemade, lo-fi content is so engaging. What is it about seeing Fallon without a tie joke with his dog at home?
Real-life, real-people entertainment span genres, and in surveying them all, we can come to realize how omnipresent and intense our crave for intimacy is. We demand the transparent. The more real stakes, the better. This trend isn’t new.
Gender reveal, proposal, prom-posal and military homecoming videos allow billions to peer into the lives of others and experience raw emotions which Hollywood can’t top. Watching a young girl get surprised by her dad in uniform was once a private moment, but this unparalleled warmth is now available with anyone with internet connection. These slices of closeness can also be trivial. Shopping hauls, travel vlogs and wisdom teeth removals, provide more authenticity than those with budgets can compete with. Live streams of studying, eating and even sleeping grant access that doesn’t get more candid.
The allure and pleasure of the real also plays out on the darker side of reality. More extreme than true crime, content around natural disasters, car and airplane crashes, mass shootings and even “haunted house” torture attract online viewership that would make any executive producer shriek. We know Saw and The Blair Witch Project are fake. There’s nothing scarier than reality.
Taboo but perhaps most symbolic of this movement is what’s happening in porn. In 2019, “Amateur” was Pornhub’s top gaining category as views increased by 108% compared to the previous year. What television and film industries are experiencing, porn is as well: nothing is more captivating than the real lives and sex of everyday people. New cam platforms developed for these amateurs are also swelling in part to quarantine. In just March 2020, CamSoda, ManyVids and IsMyGirl all witnessed significant increases in performer sign up and traffic. OnlyFans alone reported 3.7 million new sign-ups with 60,000 of them being new creators. Why watch set-porn when you can have a real model send you personalized videos?
With much of legacy production on pause, expect homemade content to further establish itself in our entertainment landscape. But as some talkshow hosts attempt to emulate their traditional desk and monitors, there’s a lesson to be learned from Fallon and his tent.
There is collective social desire to push ourselves to the spiritual extreme. The demand and normalization of this realer than real content speaks beyond the business of media and to our psyches. What does it say that we’re escaping our own realities to entertain ourselves with each others’? The commercialization of real-life is here. So, are you the producer or viewer? | https://medium.com/on-advertising/how-reality-tv-is-evolving-into-real-stakes-entertainment-online-d6f944b9999f | ['Matt Klein'] | 2020-04-30 17:47:22.133000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Entertainment', 'Hollywood', 'TV Series', 'Trends'] |
SUCCESS AHEAD NO EXAMS' | SUCCESS AHEAD NO EXAMS'
A piece of paper can not decide anyone’s future' Most popular quotes during exam times. Either you call it unfortunate or a opportunity for bright future of education as the results seems to be prepared without direct board exams. Earlier the 10th grade and later on a random Tuesday,12th students school life came to an end after PM’s tweet.
The question triggering my mind is that will these students be regarded as a better batch in upcoming future during job fundamentals. Success expectations from a batch with digital based education and later on no exams year will be a challenge for a the students itself at its priorities.
To be in present before moving ahead in future a lot, what the present consequences be that a student with good communications with academic authorities might grab better marks than deserving one. What options knock the deserving one is that you can show your performances on exam conducted later in better situations, says PM's tweet but question hammering the students is that, ‘Will he/she be eligible for his dream college at that time?’
The contouring questions are firing like a machine gun encounter, but the solution is like a conundrum. | https://medium.com/@shivamraj9155395201/success-ahead-no-exams-79826f941533 | ['Shivam Raj'] | 2021-06-17 03:37:06.071000+00:00 | ['Examination', 'Success', 'Covid 19'] |
Final Week of OST KIT Alpha III: POC Submission Form is Now Open | Final Week of OST KIT Alpha III: POC Submission Form is Now Open OST Follow Aug 7, 2018 · 3 min read
OST is building the essential blockchain infrastructure and tools to empower new economies, tailored to meet the goals of businesses with millions of users. The OST KIT Alpha program lets OST build technology together with the international developer community, developing solutions that meet the needs of real businesses.
OST KIT Alpha III started out with over 200 project registrations from almost 50 countries and we counted more than 120 Halfway blog posts: You can find all Halfway updates here.
With the third Alpha challenge now in its last week, we’d like to remind all developers of the deadline to submit their final Proofs of Concept: Friday 10 August 2018 at 1pm UTC.
The Alpha III submission form is now open and can be found at https://ost.com/alpha3submissions. Feel free to tweet your POC video to @OSTdotcom, using the #OSTa3 hashtag and to share your final blog post on our Subreddit for that extra bit of exposure. | https://medium.com/ostdotcom/final-week-of-ost-kit-alpha-iii-poc-submission-form-is-now-open-26f90653427f | [] | 2018-08-07 16:42:41.572000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Tech'] |
From Medium Post to Audio. How I converted my medium post to… | From Medium Post to Audio
Image by James McKinven from Unsplash
Introduction
I recently discovered that I retain more information when I read a book in audio format than in written format. This discovery instigated the need to find ways to read Medium posts in audio formats like a podcast. My first plan was to gather all my medium read lists and convert them to audio. Unfortunately, Medium API technically does not support this. What it does support, however, is getting article feeds by username. Therefore I decided to streamline my goal, for now, to convert one of my old medium posts to audio. Here is the sample below
You can also listen to it along with the original post here.
Overview of the project
Just like every other data-related project, this project’s data needed to be sourced, cleaned, and converted. Below is a diagram of the architecture.
Image created by Author
Based on the above diagram, this project can be broken down into two broad phases
The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) Phase. The Converting Text to Audio Phase.
1 . The ETL Phase
Extract
This phase focused on sourcing the post content and getting it ready to be converted. Like I hinted earlier, the medium posts were sourced using the Medium API with this code below
import requests
import json MEDIUM_API = "https://api.rss2json.com/v1/api.json"
MEDIUM_HANDLER = "@anitaokoh" # get the article repsonse from the API
rss_url ="https://medium.com/feed/{}".format(MEDIUM_HANDLER)
response = requests.get(url=MEDIUM_API, params={"rss_url": rss_url})
json_response = json.loads(response.text)
By adding my username to the API, I was able to get a JSON response that contained all my previous Medium post titles, contents, number of claps, etc. Since I was only focused on this particular article, I parsed the JSON output to extract just that particular title and content.
Transform
One of the less simple parts of this project was cleaning the text. Please note that the content of the post that is gotten from the Medium API comes along with the HTML tags. Below is a slice of the text data format.
Screenshot code from Author
This means I needed to find a way to remove or use the tags. To be honest, I used some tags and removed other tags. Why? you wonder. Before I answer this question, let's take a step back to understand briefly Amazon Web Service (AWS) POLLY and what format of text it accepts.
According to the AWS website, Amazon Polly is a service that turns text into lifelike speech, allowing you to create applications that talk, and build entirely new categories of speech-enabled products.
That about sums up its purpose. Let’s take a look at the AWS console interface
Screenshot from AWS console
Looking at the blue box area, AWS Polly supports two types of Text-To-Speech(TTS) voices: Standard and Neural. The Neural TTS has an edge over the Standard voices because its output voices are less robotic and more realistic. This is why for this project, I used the neural TTS option.
However, to answer the previous question raised, let's focus on the elements inside the red-box annotation above. AWS Polly can read text input in two formats: The regular text format and the SSML format (which means Speech Synthesis Markup Language).
Screenshot from AWS Console
This SSML format above, just HTML, has different types of opening and closing tags and one of them being <p> and </p> . This is why I didn’t completely remove all the HTML tags in the text data.
I identified the HTML tags present in the text data that can either be left as it is or changed to a relevant SSML tag. For example, the <p> tags were left as they are because these tags indicate taking a pause while reading each paragraph. However, the <blockquote> tags which indicate word quotes in Medium HTML were converted to Newscaster effect tags. Also, the <h3> tags which indicate new subtopics were replaced with <break> tags to indicate a timed talking pause. These changes in intonations can be observed throughout the audio duration. The reason for these specifics was to make it even more realistic and less robotic.
Other things that were done to the data as a form of transformation were
Removing unnecessary tasks like <img> tags, <li> tags etc.
tags, tags etc. Removing publication-related words or information that can be seen on the actual post.
Striping off extra spaces and removing weird characters etc.
Add special SSML tags to characters that by default were omitted by AWS Polly.
Load/Save
After getting the text data ready for AWS Polly, I stored the data in a text file locally.
2. Converting Text to Audio Phase
This part was the most straightforward in this project. All I needed to do was get the AWS Polly object from the Boto3 library and passing in my locally saved text file as an argument along with other configuration arguments like the TextType which is SSML, the engine which is Neural, the output format which is mp3, and the voice name. As you can see from the previous console interface image, AWS Polly has about 9 voices in total to choose from. I chose the Joanna voice because that voice has more SSML tag options accessible to it. Here is the code used
import boto3
from botocore.config import Config poly = boto3.client('polly',config=Config(region_name='us-east-1')) # read local text file
with open('polly_file.txt', 'r') as file_name:
file_text = file_name.read() def convert_text_to_audio(text):
"""
Convert the text read using the start_speech_synthesis_task method using Joanna, SSML format etc and store output to s3 bucket
"""
response = poly.start_speech_synthesis_task( \
Text= text,VoiceId='Joanna', OutputFormat='mp3', \
TextType='ssml', LanguageCode='en-US', \
Engine='neural', \
OutputS3BucketName='practice-buckets')
As you can see from the above code, I extracted the audio output from the JSON response from AWS Polly and stored it in an mp3 file (but in S3 due to the Polly object method I used which is advised for relatively long audio files).
Please note that you can use the console interface to execute most of the above process however there is a “number of character limit” to consider. You can check the documentation for more on this. I solely used the AWS CLI because of the size of my text file and for easier automation. There are also more automation options using the CLI for AWS Polly.
AWS WORKFLOW
After completing the project locally, I decided to automate it further using AWS Lambda where I created an AWS Lambda function to run the extract and transform python scripts and then load the clean text data in AWS S3. Still using that lambda function, I invoked another AWS lambda function to extract the newly uploaded text from S3, sent it to AWS Polly for conversion, and then back to S3. This whole process looks something like this
Image created by Author
Here is the Lamdba function used to clean the text data and invoke another Lambda function.
import json
import boto3
from transform_post import return_total_clean_content def lambda_handler(event, context):
"""
To run the extract and transform py file and store clean text in s3. Then invoke the conversion lambda function
"""
content = return_total_clean_content()
s3 = boto3.client('s3')
bucket_name = 'practice-buckets'
key = 'input_files/clean_medium_data2.txt' s3.put_object(Bucket=bucket_name,Key=key,Body=content)
invokelam = boto3.client('lambda',region_name='us-east-1')
payload = {'message':'You have been invoked'} resp = invokelam.invoke(FunctionName = "text-to-speech",\
InvocationType = "Event", Payload = json.dumps(payload))
print('Done')
All codes used can be found in this Github repo.
An upgrade of this project
In retrospect, this was an impressive but not too complicated project. With AWS Polly, a lot of time was saved converting text to audio. A good next step is finding a way to convert interesting medium reads to audio versions so that I can read medium posts on the go. | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-i-converted-my-medium-post-to-realistic-audio-using-aws-polly-88fe6a60f3a9 | ['Okoh Anita'] | 2020-12-13 04:16:00.929000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Ｍedium', 'AWS Lambda', 'Aws Cli', 'Médium'] |
Developing Countries and Governments Will Struggle Post-Pandemic | Photo by Sara Stasi on Unsplash
I recently read Us Vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism by Ian Bremmer. It was a thought-provoking book that discussed changes in politics and the impact globalism has had on the world economy.
One big concept that was touched upon was the future of automation and how that can displace millions, if not billions, of people from their jobs all around the world. Advances in automation and the displacement of people from their jobs have only been accelerated due to the ongoing pandemic.
When this book was written in 2018, it gave a grim outlook. If only Ian knew of what would occur just two years down the road.
The topic I thought was most interesting from the book was the concept of government for or against the people.
Purpose of Government
Every country is different, and every government is different. With that said, I am a big fan of the excerpt from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
Government of the people by the people for the people — Abraham Lincoln
The part of that quote I value the most is “for the people.” Everyone will have their own ideas and can dissect this one sentence to mean a thousand different things. But to me, “for the people” means the government is there to help the people.
And everyone will again have their own ideas on how much “help” should be provided. Socialists and libertarians have been debating this for centuries and will continue to debate it for centuries more.
If government is made for the people, they have an obligation to protect its citizens. And with that said, it may get more and more difficult going forward.
Economic Struggles of Government
The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. — Malcolm X
It is true, the future is important. People should always be looking forward, not backward. But the present is also important.
Governments face tremendously difficult decisions when it comes to the future and their economies. You may have heard of a 5-year plan; governments likely have a 25-year plan.
If automation comes to fruition and many unskilled laborers lose their jobs, what will happen? Governments need to coordinate investing in future education, infrastructure, job training, and social safety net programs while trying to balance their budgets. Global debt is now at an all-time high, and only likely to get higher. Who do we owe all this money to anyways, Jupiter?
Future Conflicts
If governments can’t protect peoples’ jobs, what will happen? Will people receive supplemental income from the government? Will citizens move to a new country? Either way, it can’t be good for governments’ tax revenue and trying to balance their budgets.
If governments are no longer helping people, will people start to rebel? Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I don’t foresee this happening in wealthy countries. But as low-income countries face issues with inflation, unemployment, the pandemic, and lack of trust in the government, there may be issues. If people aren’t happy with the results, they will want change. Voting may not always be a way for change in some countries. Sometimes the people take matters into their own hands. Governments are never one to happily release their power. Something usually has to give.
I’d love to say we will one day have world peace, but that is not realistic. Hopefully, though, many future conflicts can be avoided and lives can be saved. | https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/developing-countries-and-governments-will-struggle-post-pandemic-2639c3de5eb8 | ['Cody Collins'] | 2021-01-02 09:57:24.144000+00:00 | ['Economics', 'Automation', 'Government', 'Pandemic', 'Covid 19'] |
Animals Activities Thrives as Human Reduces Footprints in Co-existing Habitats | It is horrifying to realize how much we as mankind had harmed these animals, which includes many endangered in our daily activities. Ironically, they are now living better without our interference during this COVID-19 lockdown. How much had we overlooked these in our day to day lives?
Leatherback sea turtles hatching in Thailand and Florida
Both Thailand and Florida saw an increase in leatherback sea turtles’ nest, with 11 and 76 being sighted respectively during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. Sadly, these were only visible due to lower threat from humans activities in the vicinity during this period of lockdown.
In Florida alone, it is alarming to note that only about one baby leatherback sea turtle hatchling survive, out of every 1,000 hatchlings, as reported by The Florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (FWC).
In this report by from the US News, the reduction in tourists’ footprints had exchanged for a sight to behold for years — the rarity of baby leatherback sea turtles hatching from the beaches in Thailand. The report also mentioned that this was the first sighting in the last five years.
The leatherback sea turtle is one of the seven species of sea turtles listed as endangered by the World Wildlife Fund Organization. This is great news for the endangered leatherback, especially how humans had destroyed their living conditions through nest disruption, pollution, and undesirable plastic waste disposal.
Astonishing, it was stated in this research by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), a turtle potentially carries a fatality rate of 22% in the event it ate just one piece of plastic. This fatality rate significantly increases to 50% if it had collected 14 pieces of plastic items in its gut.
This one-off increase in egg hatching can never be sustainable unless we change our habits and start paying more attention to our plastic waste disposal and discarded fishing gear in the seas because every single piece of plastic can take away the life of the endangered turtle. With the amount of plastic bags, straws, plastic food containers, plastic bottles, and many more that we brought to the beaches, it is unimaginable how soon it takes us to take away the life of a turtle in just a day if we are not environmentally conscious. Now multiply it by 365 days.
Singapore Zoo’s animals out for an excursion
The Singapore Zoo had actively engaged their animals during the country’s circuit breaker period. As the bustling inflow of visitors significantly halted, the animals were offered opportunities to explore and venture out of their habitat. The African penguins put on the visitors’ shoes and the road less traveled in their lifetime, while also had fun going through the thoughtfully designed obstacle course by their caretaker.
The orangutan too had an unforgivable experience with the popular childhood activities of blowing bubbles.
Video courtesy of Channel News Asia Singapore, via YouTube
Video courtesy of 10 Tampa Bay, via YouTube
The Coatimundis had their fair shares of outdoor activities as well yesterday. However, such opportunities are extremely rare, and its as good as only once in a lifetime. Needless to say, they are loving and enjoying every moment!
Video courtesy of Channel News Asia Singapore, via YouTube
This leaves us with a question to ponder about, which could potentially change the fate of these animals. After we get past COVID-19 and lives return to normalcy, such precious time out of the habitat might no longer exist. How could we better manage our footprint in exchange for more animal’s engagement time?
A momentary break for the Pangolins trading
Image courtesy of Alamy Stock Photo, via World Wildlife Fund Organisation
The Pangolins were placed in Appendix I in the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) in 2016, signed by 183 nations. However, they remained one of the most heavily trafficked animals in the world to date.
Putting aside the much debatable talks that the Pangolins and Bats were the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the Pangolins were at the risk of extinction across their eight species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They were popular in China and Vietnam as a source of delicacy and traditional medicine, which explain the high counts of illegally poaching activities.
Thankfully to the outbreak of COVID-19, the endangered Pangolins now might have a higher chance of buying time for reproduction and remaining in their natural habitat instead of being served as dishes.
China, in response to the outbreak, had announced an immediate ban on trading and eating wild animals, which include the Pangolins. Many wild animal markets were shut down. With decreasing wildlife trade activities, there is now some hope for the Pangolins. The COVID-19 had forced us into changing some of our lifestyles and habits, and it remains to be seen how much of these changes will stay with us post-COVID. Hopefully, the reduction in illegal wildlife trades and markets will be a long term measure.
Animals in circuses get a break too
Photo by fer gomez on Unsplash
This article though does not involve any endangered animals, yet it strikes me even closer to heart. These are animals that perform to entertain us, from performing in mega circuses to traditional activities such as the corrida de toros — Spanish bullfighting. For now, these animals are sparred from the punishments and endless charging to entertain people.
What should we take away from these?
There are obvious co-relations between human activities and the livelihood of the animals in our co-existing habitat. Our activities affect them in every way, from waste and noise pollution to traditional activities and entertainment.
Lets us as responsible human beings take this COVID-19 lockdown to reflect on how changes to our activities during this period had brought out the best for these animals. Had each of us go long-term without affecting these animals, what are the likelihood we could live in a better co-existing habitat?
Unless we start learning to better manage our lifestyles and taking a better attitude towards our shared habitat, every animal species might be endangered someday shortly. | https://medium.com/express-yourself/animals-activities-thrives-as-human-reduces-footprints-in-co-existing-habitats-61bea5b9adc9 | ['Jon Lye'] | 2020-06-08 11:39:14.255000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Humanity', 'Covid 19', 'Wildlife', 'Thoughts'] |
A small attempt towards content writing. | Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
I want to write because why not? I feel writing is the easiest way to let out and let go. Writing also brings clarity about what we actually think. This is me. This is my subconscious mind typing. I have always had so many thoughts but I have never tried to note it down. I have never written anything significant prior to this. But here I am, coming out of my comfort zone and just dumping my brain here.
All you need to do is just begin. You have a vast field ahead of you to capture.
No, I am not a writer. I don’t know if there is a format or etiquette when it comes to writing apart from of course common sense. Heck, I might not even be making any sense in this article. But I believe in me and my writings. This is just a beginning. I am a fresher in this field. May be my writing would not make any sense to you all. People may think this article do not carry any message. But hey, not all things in the world make sense, right? We just need to change our perspective towards it and maybe we could see how meaningful everything really is. | https://medium.com/@vighneshsuryawanshi/a-small-attempt-towards-content-writing-5ca2525fba8d | ['Vighnesh Suryawanshi'] | 2021-01-24 09:33:23.844000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'How To Start Blogging', 'Content Creation', 'Content Writing', 'Content Marketing'] |
The fastest guide of ViewBinding usage (Kotlin) | No, water, not useless words. You know everything. Just code.
1. Setup
android {
//...
buildFeatures {
viewBinding = true
}
}
Then, rebuild the project to generate ViewBingins.
2. Where are my ViewBindings now?
Go to
<your_module_name>/build/generated/data_binding_base_class_source_out
Expand the folder to see your generated ViewBindings!
3. Usage
3.1 Usage in Activity
private lateinit var binding: ResultProfileBinding
override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
binding = ResultProfileBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
val view = binding.root
setContentView(view)
}
Then
binding.name.text = viewModel.name
binding.button.setOnClickListener { viewModel.userClicked() }
3.2 Usage in Fragment
private var _binding: ResultProfileBinding? = null
// This property is only valid between onCreateView and
// onDestroyView.
private val binding get() = _binding!!
override fun onCreateView(
inflater: LayoutInflater,
container: ViewGroup?,
savedInstanceState: Bundle?
): View? {
_binding = ResultProfileBinding.inflate(inflater, container, false)
val view = binding.root
return view
}
override fun onDestroyView() {
super.onDestroyView()
_binding = null
}
Then use it in the same way as in Activity before.
3.2 Usage in ViewHolders
class BannersViewHolder(val binding: RvCategoryBannersBinding) : RecyclerView.ViewHolder(binding.root), BaseClickListener {
private val rvBanners: RecyclerView = binding.rvCategoryBanners
fun bind(viewModel: CategoryBannersViewModel) {
// do your stuff
}
}
and pass ViewBinding from Adapter :
override fun onCreateViewHolder(parent: ViewGroup, viewType: Int): RecyclerView.ViewHolder {
val binding = RvCategoryBannersBinding.inflate(LayoutInflater.from(parent.context), parent, false)
return BannersViewHolder(binding)
}
Note: You can play with bind method to achieve more cleaner memory management inside RecyclerView, but… it’s not related to this article.
4. Corner cases
4.1 <merge> layouts
Inside Fragment :
private var _binding: FragmentSettingsBinding? = null
private val binding get() = _binding!!
private var _debugMenuBinding: DebugInfoBinding? = null
private val debugMenuBinding get() = _debugMenuBinding!! override fun onCreateView(inflater: LayoutInflater, container: ViewGroup?, savedInstanceState: Bundle?): View? {
_binding = FragmentSettingsBinding.inflate(inflater, container, false)
_debugMenuBinding = DebugMenuBinding.bind(binding.root)
return binding.root
}
If you have something like
<include layout="@layout/debug_menu" />
in your layout. For Activity do the same thing (DebugMenuBinding.bind(binding.root))
4.2 <include> layouts
private lateinit var binding: ActivitySelectAddressBinding override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
binding = ActivitySelectAddressBinding.inflate(layoutInflater)
setContentView(binding.root)
}
Here we have another way to declare it
binding.bottomSheet.rvRestaurantListDialog.layoutManager = LinearLayoutManager(this)
binding.bottomSheet.rvRestaurantListDialog.adapter = rvAdapter
activity_select_address.xml :
<include android:id="@+id/bottom_sheet" layout="@layout/bottom_sheet_view" />
5. Okay. Let’s talk a bit
Understand the difference between inflate and bind methods :
inflate — inflates the view by context and other options. This method use bind inside
inside bind — expecting to get the parent layout, that contains all views declared in this Binding. Be aware: if you’ll pass an incorrect view inside — you’ll get a ClassCastException.
2. As ViewBindings is a good mechanism to make your code more null-safety (with other advantages), however, you can notice that ViewBindings usage produce a boilerplate code. I strongly recommend you to look at ViewBindings + Kotlin delegates tutorial.
3. Feel free to send me any advice or suggestion to improve this article. | https://medium.com/@pandarium-shustikov/an-exceptional-guide-of-viewbinding-usage-kotlin-6b64cee9f47f | ['Sergey Shustikov'] | 2020-11-27 19:46:01.623000+00:00 | ['Android View Binding', 'Guides And Tutorials', 'Android'] |
Top IoT Solution Companies To Watch Out For | top IoT solution companies
By 2020, there’ll be concerning thirty-one billion IoT devices within the world. With the large quantity of knowledge generated from sensible devices, businesses are wanting to implement technologies that will facilitate them be of that information. With improved process power which will increase machine learning productivity, digital leaders can choose machine learning and AI to form a lot of their information.
The shift from centralized cloud to edge architectures will intensify within the IoT house shortly. Edge computing is that the form of structure wherever a network stores information in micro-centers for a process, and it offers a less expensive and sometimes a more practical resolution for information handling. a part of the info is kept regionally next to the corresponding IoT device that produces it pronto obtainable once required. during this method, the traffic on the network is reduced, and information measure prices ar reduced. Blockchain, united of the essential IoT technology trends, is extremely crucial for correct data-keeping and safeguarding. Through the employment of blockchain, information from doubtless unsecured devices will be a command to a high degree of accuracy. Blockchain works as a digital ledger for recorded info and distributes the info throughout devices connected to the chain, creating a malicious or accidental modification of knowledge not possible. Utilizing this methodology, information noninheritable from blockchain IoT devices will be seen as reliable and secure.
IoT companies
The forward-thinking cities can invest in pioneering information exchanges that can afford the access and therefore the combination of the info between the personal and public organizations in conjunction with the voters. The IoT integration with responsive cities can reduce holdup, unlock property development, and improve safety. The ideas of sensible home and sensible offices are going to be current within the forthcoming days. From cleanup floors to act as a guard, IoT devices are going to be continued to grow and supply unimaginable results.
The retail trade is going to be dynamical its whole method of doing business. IoT devices will facilitate retail house owners and staff, reduce inventory errors, and optimize offer chain management. The IoT may be a terribly broad-based technology, reworking all business sectors, from shopper devices to large-scale producing. As IoT matures, a large variety of social, legal, and moral problems can grow in importance. To achieve success, associate degree IoT resolution shall be not solely technically competent however conjointly socially acceptable. These embrace possession of knowledge and therefore the deductions made up of it, algorithmic bias, privacy, and compliance with rules like the general data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Below is the list of companies:
IoT solution Companies
Connexa — Connexa is a pioneer in providing services to revolutionize the industrial sector through its innovative software implementations and IIoT products. It provides ease-of-use to its clients through simple data integration and easy collaboration with the cloud, both machine-to-human and machine-to-machine. Intel — The Intel® IoT Platform is an end-to-end reference model and family of products from Intel that works with third-party solutions to provide a foundation for seamlessly and securely connecting devices, delivering trusted data to the cloud, and delivering value through analytics. Software Motor Company — Software Motor Company (SMC) is governed by a mission to revolutionize motor technology and mitigate computationally intensive control challenges with an intelligent and efficient high rotor pole switched reluctance motor, the LED of motors. TeraCode — TeraCode helps companies successfully implement IoT strategies and solutions through its ready-to-use IoT apps for tracking, telemetry, reporting and asset management complete with geo-fencing, alerting and other important features. These apps are compatible with leading IoT platforms such as ThingWorx, M2X, BlueMix, and Amazon IoT.
See Also: Muckrack | CIOReview | https://medium.com/@jackmathew/top-iot-solution-companies-to-watch-out-for-316cc58e3e56 | ['Jack Mathew'] | 2020-01-07 10:09:21.613000+00:00 | ['Internet of Things', 'Solutions', 'Technology', 'Startup', 'Blockchain'] |
My Thoughts about the Github Universe 2020 | Netflix got incredibly good movies but I found something much more interesting.
🤟🏼 Github Universe !!! 🤟🏼
Just like a lot of conferences this year, it was completely online this year.
I watched a lot of their videos and I must admit that this year, the content was very appealing to me.
Particularly because a very large part of the new features and videos were about Security.
This proves that Security is now a “basic” subject as part of software development.
And that’s good news !!! 👌🏼
Watch my thoughts (french audio & english subtitles) about the Github Universe and its Security related Videos and tell me if these topics make you as enthusiastic as I am. | https://medium.com/@hackndevwithshostarsson/my-thoughts-about-the-github-universe-2020-b9e73c655f42 | ['Rémi Lavedrine'] | 2020-12-14 09:20:20.689000+00:00 | ['Github', 'Security', 'Review', 'Conference'] |
Pinterest Home Feed Unified Lightweight Scoring: A Two-tower Approach | Dafang He | Software Engineer, Home Candidate Generation; Andrew Liu; Dhruvil Deven Badani | Software Engineer, Homefeed Ranking; Poorvi Bhargava; Sangmin Shin |Engineering Manager, Home Ranking; Duo Zhang | Engineering Manager, Candidate Generation; and Jay Adams | Software Engineer, Inspire
Intro
Pinterest is a place where users (Pinners) can save and discover content from both web and mobile platforms, and where increasingly Creators can publish native content right to Pinterest. We hold billions of content (Pins) in our corpus and serve personalized recommendations that inspire Pinners to create a life they love. One of the key and most complicated surfaces for Pinterest is the home feed, where Pinners will see personalized feeds based on their engagement and interests. In this blog, we will discuss how we unify our light-weight scoring layer across the various candidate generators that power home feed recommendations.
Motivations
Home feed is what Pinners see first when they open the Pinterest app. To give relevant and diverse recommendations, we use a recommendation system comprising many different sources. One major source, for example, is Pixie[1], which is based on a random walk of the bipartite pin-board graph. Based on the Pixie platform, we are able to generate multiple different sources, some directly returning pins from a random walk based on the engagement history, and some based on the pins retrieving from boards that returned from Pixie random walk. In addition to Pixie, we also have recommendation sources that take in the topics or based on embeddings. These candidate generators usually have their own light-weight scoring model, which ranks and selects the most relevant candidates sent to final ranking. For example, we have a gbdt light-weight scoring model used in production after random walk[2]. The overall picture of home feed recommendation engines is in Fig. 1.
Most of these recommendation sources have:
Individual training data generation pipelines Different online serving approaches Different light-weight models which have different feature-set available during serving.
It takes a tremendous amount of engineering effort to develop a single machine learning model that serves only one specific candidate generator. This greatly limits the development speed for ML engineers.
In addition to the development speed, we are also seeing an increased online serving cost if we increase the feature set in order to improve the light-weight models. This is because each candidate source will need to do a relatively complicated online model computation on a large set of candidates (Pins). For example, for one of the sources that is powered by pixie light weight scoring [2], it uses a gbdt model in serving and needs to compute thousands of pins’ rankings per request. This computational overhead makes it hard to conduct feature engineering without introducing significant serving cost.
Fig. 1. Overview of current home feed recommendation pipeline. Home feed recommendation is powered by many different candidate generators. Each of them serves a unique role and has its own light-weight ranking layer.
Last but not least, many features are also not available during the online request phase for certain candidate sources. Adding these features will introduce infrastructure overhead and make it hard to justify the performance gain before actually collecting data and running experiments. This pain point was mentioned in the Pixie lws blog post as well.
All these factors motivate us to unify our machine learning modeling and serving approach for these candidate generators to provide a more personalized set of candidates to the final ranking model. Thus we decided to move to use a unified two-tower model[3], [4] for the light-weight modeling.
Two-Tower Architecture
In this section, we are going to describe our two-tower modeling approach for a unified light scoring with the goal of resolving the above pain points.
The overview of the two tower architecture is shown in Fig. 2. It has a separate user tower and a Pin tower with a final dot product that computes the similarity between a given user and a given Pin. The Pin tower takes the features from the given Pin and generates a Pin embedding for it. The features used include dense features such as Pin’s recent performance as well as sparse features such as category. The sparse feature will be passed into an embedding layer before sending to the pin’s MLP for final embedding computation. The user tower takes the engagement history features as input and generates a user-specific embedding. Finally, we do a simple dot product based on the two embeddings as a measure of how likely the Pinner will engage with the Pin.
Figure 2. The overview of two-tower architecture used in unified light-weight scoring. On the left side, it is the pin tower that computes the pin’s embedding, and on the right side we have the user tower that generates the user embedding.
Training
For the optimization of the two-tower model on the lightweight ranking layer, we must treat it differently than the recommendation on the ranking layer, since compared with the Pins that will be used for ranking, we will be facing much more negative candidates in serving on candidate generator level. Thus we apply the in-batch negative sampling approach [5] and use a batch size of 6000 in our training so as to make each positive candidate coupled with enough negative candidates generated for free. We found by applying this, we are able to achieve much better offline metrics as measured by recall at top k.
Serving
In this section, we are going to describe how we serve the machine learning model to support online candidate retrieval recommendations. The serving architecture will include two parts: the Pin embedding serving and the user embedding serving. We will discuss the two parts separately here.
Pin Embedding Serving
Home feed powers recommendation for all possible candidate Pins in Pinterest. So we have to compute all Pins’ embeddings. Usually for a recommendation engine the content distribution will follow a long-tail rule and it is important for us to avoid re-computation of the same pin embedding each time for an online request, as many of the requests will be attributed to the same pin. In another aspect, pins’ contents don’t shift much, so their embeddings are relatively stable. Thus we should be able to compute the embeddings for most of the pins in an offline workflow. In the online requests, we only need to retrieve the precomputed embedding instead of doing a recomputation. For fresh Pins (Pins that entered the Pinterest eco-system within hours), we will need to do online inference for them as they will not be picked up by the offline workflow. So we separate out Pins’ embedding computation into two different pipelines, as shown in Fig. 3.
User Embedding Serving
Pinners tend to change their status instantly. For example, if a Pinner engaged with a cat Pin, they are likely to engage with another cat Pin in the near future. Thus it is important for us to capture the status change which reflects their realtime interests. In order to do so, we enable online user embedding computation whenever there is a new user request. Adding something like this won’t be a costly computation, as we only calculate once per request.
Figure 3. The overall serving pipeline for candidate retrieval with two-tower embedding computation. Most of the existing pins will be inserted into candidate generators with an offline workflow that computes pin embeddings, while new pins will be inserted to be served after they get online pin embedding computation.
Wins
In order to evaluate the performance of the unified lightweight scoring approach, we did an online experiment with the light-weight scoring layer applied to all the candidate generators. We see the gains in the following aspects.
Engagement Win
We see a huge engagement lift by applying the light-weight ranking layer to all the candidate generators. For example, total saves and closeups both increased 2–3%. We also see total hides drop 3–4% as well. These metrics wins demonstrate the relevance improvement while using the two-tower architecture to replace the old light-weight ranking approach. We think this is because the two-tower approach can leverage all relevant features available for the Pin and the Pinner and thus we can get a better embedding representation for both.
Diversity
One concern of applying the same model to all candidate generators is that it will make our recommendation less diverse. As a platform that aims at inspiring Pinners, we don’t want to drop our recommendation diversity. However, in our online experiment, we actually see increased diversity in adoption (save, closeup, etc). We believe this is because (1) the generated user embedding can encode diverse interests based on engagement history. (2) a better recommendation powered by the two-tower approach filtered out unrelated Pins and the recommended items are more likely to be adopted.
Infra cost
Online computation with thousands of pins for each request is costly. This is especially the case considering the number of candidate generators we are working with. By applying a simple dot product at the light-weight ranking layer with the two-tower approach, we significantly dropped our online serving cost for each request. Considering a dot product with two 64 dimensional embedding vectors, we only need n multiplication operations with n add operations. This is significantly cheaper than, for example, a logistic regression model with online feature transformation, bucketization. Usually this ends up with a long vector with huge online serving cost in our original serving system.
Summary & Future Works
In this post, we gave an overview of our unified lightweight ranking layer currently used in Homefeed. We focus on the major motivations for these efforts and the learnings from them. To summarize, in a machine learning modeling perspective, a densely encoded learned embedding vector gives better recommendation and we achieved gains not just in engagement, but also in adoption diversity and infra cost saving. At the same time, we are able to apply the same model across different serving infrastructures used by different candidate generators.
For future work, we will try to keep improving the light-weight ranking model with better features and ML modeling. We will also try applying the model to some other newly added candidate generators to further unify our light-weight scoring layer.
Acknowledgements:
Bowen Deng, Zhaohui Wu, Haibin Xie, Wangfan Fu, Angela Sheu, Se Won Jang, Kent Jiang, Michael Mi, Zheng Liu, Dylan Wang, Zhiyuan Zhang, Sihan Wang, Bee-chung Chen, Liang Zhang.
To learn more about engineering at Pinterest, check out the rest of our Engineering Blog, and visit our Pinterest Labs site. To view and apply to open opportunities, visit our Careers page.
References:
[1] Pixie: A System for Recommending 3+ Billion Items to 200+ Million Users in Real-Time
[2] Pixie lws blog post: https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering/improving-the-quality-of-recommended-pins-with-lightweight-ranking-8ff5477b20e3
[3] Deep neural networks for youtube recommendations. Covington, P., Adams, J., and Sargin, E.
[4] Efficient training on very large corpora via gramian estimation. Krichene, W., Mayoraz, N., Rendle, S., Zhang, L., Yi, X., Hong, L., Chi, E., and Anderson, J
[5] Sampling-Bias-Corrected Neural Modeling for Large Corpus Item Recommendations. Xinyang Yi Ji Yang Lichan Hong Derek Zhiyuan Cheng Lukasz Heldt Aditee Ajit Kumthekar Zhe Zhao Li Wei Ed Chi. | https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering/pinterest-home-feed-unified-lightweight-scoring-a-two-tower-approach-b3143ac70b55 | ['Pinterest Engineering'] | 2021-09-13 17:01:04.942000+00:00 | ['Infrastructure', 'Pinner Experience', 'Pinterest', 'Engineering'] |
#Data4COVID19 Round-Up: 12 June | Welcome to The GovLab’s #Data4COVID19 Round-Up. This temporary, weekly curation will provide you with notable updates to the #Data4COVID19 data collaborative repository and other information meant to facilitate data stewardship in the ongoing pandemic. If you received this email from a colleague, you can subscribe here.
Photo by Flickr/spurekar licensed under CC BY 2.0
What’s New in the #Data4COVID19 Repository
The #Data4COVID19 repository saw 9 new additions last week. The repository now includes 305 projects. With this latest update, projects can be found in:
East Asia and Pacific: 15 (+1)
Europe and Central Asia: 61 (+0)
Latin America and the Caribbean: 12 (+0)
Middle East and North Africa: 1 (+0)
North America: 63 (+2)
South Asia: 3 (+0)
Sub-Saharan Africa: 14 (+1)
Global: 95 (+4)
While there remain 27 data challenges, we added one addition to our list of requests for data requests for data. There are now 14 requests listed.
Each week, we will highlight a few of those recent additions to the repository that you might have missed. These examples illustrate innovative methods, appear demand-driven, or otherwise demonstrate an attempt to translate insights into action. We also aspire, to the extent possible, to make the selections geographically diverse. A project’s inclusion does not indicate endorsement by The GovLab or confirmation of its success in meeting its goals.
Below are a few of the most notable additions to the repository. This week, as many governments begin to move toward reopening, we focus on three different initiatives to improve government efforts to address the ongoing pandemic. These efforts include facilitating disease research, improving disaster monitoring capabilities, and supporting localized response efforts.
National COVID Cohort Collaborative: The National COVID Cohort Collaborative is an initiative led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the US National Institutes of Health to develop a data management platform that can harmonize the large clinical datasets being created through ongoing research efforts focused on COVID-19. The organizers intend for the initiative to lead to a centralized national data resource that researchers can use to study COVID-19 and identify treatments. The effort will allow for faster collection and analysis of combined datasets.
Data Ventures COVID-19 Response Efforts: Data Ventures, a data broker and the commercial arm of New Zealand’s statistical agency, is supporting the work of New Zealand’s National Crisis Management Centre in COVID-19 response. This work includes supplying the centre with datasets and insights to support rapid decision-making as it seeks to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the country. It also includes the production of COVID-19 Population Reports, which seeks to measure the mobility of the population in six sectors: recreation; residential; retail; tourism; transit; and the workplace. These reports are created weekly and available for public consumption. The information provides residents an understanding of how the country is responding to the crisis.
National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Convening Around Local COVID-19 Response: Staff from the Urban Institute, through the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, are looking for examples of how its partners and other local groups are using data to improve their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff are looking especially for examples about better sharing trends in COVID-19 infections; identifying which communities face health or financial risks; identifying the local implications of response efforts; providing a “help desk” to nonprofits; and analyzing early impacts of response efforts on the economy. Individuals with compelling examples are asked to contact the organization via email to support the creation of a community of practice.
You can also find additional resources related to data stewardship and data collaboration here. | https://medium.com/data-stewards-network/data4covid19-round-up-12-june-1b2dca1c9536 | ['Andrew J. Zahuranec'] | 2020-06-12 15:15:00.834000+00:00 | ['Data4covid19', 'Covid 19', 'Data Stewardship', 'Data Collaborative', 'Data'] |
Forbes Article: How to Create Pillar Content for Personal Brand Positioning | Forbes Article:
How to Create Pillar Content for Personal Brand Positioning Jane Anderson ·Dec 18, 2020
2020 is drawing to a close, and I’ve been thinking about the highs and lows of this year. Like, everyone, this year had more lows than typical, but it’s also had some incredible moments.
‘How to Create Pillar Content for Personal Brand Positioning’ was published on 25 November in Forbes Magazine. In it, I talk about how important content marketing is to personal brand positioning. And the most powerful content for positioning is, of course, pillar content.
Pillar content is the content that aligns with what you want to be known for. It’s the content that tells the world your central values. And it’s the most important content for impact and influence.
Read more about it and get some actionable steps and tips on Forbes.
Love to hear your thoughts! | https://medium.com/@jane-anderson/forbes-article-how-to-create-pillar-content-for-personal-brand-positioning-aec3ff80db9d | ['Jane Anderson'] | 2020-12-18 05:02:11.373000+00:00 | ['Content Marketing', 'Content Creation'] |
Marvel & Paste | The fastest path from idea → prototype → strategy deck.
Copy & paste to add Marvel prototypes directly to Paste slide.
The Rise of Rapid Prototyping
Marvel has been the simplest tool for anyone needing rapid design and prototyping for the last 5 years. They’ve proven that you don’t need professional design software to jump in and create an interactive app in just minutes that you can share and test with real people. You can even take photos of your hand-sketched ideas using their mobile app and transform them into interactive paper prototypes.
From Prototype to Strategy
Paste instantly turns your rapid prototypes into beautiful, presentable mockups and provides the space to tell your story be it your team strategy, feature proposal, product roadmap, or pitch deck.
Paste takes advantage of Marvel’s customizable embed player so adding a prototype is as simple as pasting a Marvel link directly into a slide. Add words for context and wrap it in Paste’s new frames—beautiful 3D mockups of your app or website in a phone, tablet, or window. When all is ready, it’s easy to share a link with your team or client to try the prototype and offer fast feedback.
How to Add a Marvel Prototype to Paste
Paste the link to your Marvel prototype into a slide. You can try this one: https://marvelapp.com/27h0b8j
2. Add a Frame. Select the magic wand and try the Phone
3. Done! You have an interactive prototype ready to share!
Push ideas further
What used to take days, now takes minutes. Such is the power of web-connected creativity tools that work together to keep you focused on what matters most—your ideas!
Give Marvel & Paste a try. | https://medium.com/fiftythree-space-to-create/marvel-paste-b01dfad4fdf | ['Andrew S Allen'] | 2018-05-05 19:11:39.004000+00:00 | ['Design', 'UX Design', 'Prototyping', 'Product', 'Strategy'] |
How I Learned to Love Being a Mom Domme | How I Learned to Love Being a Mom Domme
Exploring the nuances of BDSM as a ‘service top’
Photo: Artem Labunsky/Unsplash
The sound is what I remember most. Not the thwap of tails against my exposed back, but the sound just before that — the flick of the flogger as it was being tossed back before the stroke, an abrupt yet soft sound, like a large bird ruffling its wings. The thud and the sting came just a moment later, to the beat of electronica pumping through the speaker overhead. I liked the song. Part of my attention wanted to tear itself away to remember something so I could listen again later. Thwap. “No, just stay here,” I reminded myself, and my body sunk a little more heavily against the wrist ties holding me to the St. Andrew’s cross. My top came to check on me. “Doing alright, kitty?” I nodded, snarled, and rubbed my cheek against the smooth wood of the cross. I wanted more.
I wasn’t prepared for the sensation. An hour before, as I showered and tried to make myself presentable, I was a little more than slightly terrified. I’d never done anything like this before. Or, I hadn’t put the theory into practice. I’d been to play parties and watched. I took a rope class. I read a few books to pick up some BDSM basics. But every time I had the opportunity to participate, I declined. When I read about the joys of slipping into sub space or the powerful feeling of topping, I had nothing to compare it to — I had never been safe enough to explore my curiosity. I told myself that I was incapable of enjoying sensation like other people. How wonderful that a little pain could enhance their pleasure. I’ll just be Eeyore in the corner. Plus, I didn’t know how I’d react to spanks or slaps or hair pulls or scratches or any of that. What if I hated it?
But my fascination never went away. I kept attending parties, watching for an entry point or something that I might want to try. The opportunity came before I was ready.
My friend M had introduced me to the scene in the first place. M was an expert, and I could tell how gleeful they were when I stopped saying “I don’t know” to the mosh-and-munch invites and finally attended an event. I knew I could trust them. We’d known each other for a couple years, and now and then we’d meet for drinks, go on walks, and occasionally make out. But BDSM was a door I never thought about opening. Our experience levels were so different that I was completely and undoubtedly intimidated. But when M told me they were going to move away soon, I understood the choice in front of me. We’d played with the idea of doing a scene together, but it just never coalesced. If I wanted it, I would have to make it happen. So I asked if we could try something.
We settled on a pretty basic flogging scene. I had other ideas, like an Indiana Jones–inspired interrogation scene where I refused to give up the location of a precious artifact to the villains, but I didn’t even know what it felt like to be tied with rope. I feared that the first stroke of the tails would be too painful and I’d want to yellow or red out, perhaps embarrassing myself and my top by my ignorance of my own body. It’s one thing to see someone else be flogged into submission and quite another to ask a friend to do that to you.
M and I talked about all this before the scene. I set my boundaries, and we agreed on how I would signal a break or a stop. I tried to breathe and keep my heart from beating hard enough to be visible through my ribcage. Yes, please, use the rope on my wrists. No, I don’t want to be called names or demeaned as part of the play. Yes, I will call you “mistress.” Then we got started. I unbuttoned my shirt and slid it off my shoulders, keeping my black jeans and boots on. M took my hands and ran a beautiful tie of red rope over my wrists and through fingers, giving me something of a handhold threaded through the eyelets on the wooden X in front of me. M turned me around, my chest toward the wood, and asked if I was ready. “Yes. I mean! Yes, mistress.”
I took a deep breath and waited.
M’s touch was so soft. Gentle hands on my back, sliding and smoothing and warming my exposed skin. I shifted and spread my legs at a less tense angle. I closed my eyes and tried to key in to the touch. Then, strands delicately ran along my back. The flogger. But M wasn’t striking me. My top was running the tails along my skin, adding a little more force while slowly, gradually warming me up, bringing blood to the surface and making my skin more sensitive.
“Are you ready, kitty?”
“Yes, mistress,” I whispered.
The first stroke felt like a heavy slap on the back, the kind a slightly drunk friend might give you when they find you at a party. My eyes opened on impact. I closed them again, listening and waiting. That felt… strangely good. One after the other, the strokes fell on my back. All the thoughts that were swirling through my head — What if it hurts? What if I don’t like it? What if I mess up somehow? — dissipated. My brain tried to play spectator. It had well over a decade of experience at doing so, critiquing and criticizing, standing between me and the sensations I wanted to feel. Now I couldn’t hold onto a single thought. The wonderful thud from the flogger M had selected pressed me against the cross with each stroke, and I found myself resting on the cross, purring, lost to the world beyond what I could feel.
I don’t know how long I was there. I didn’t drink or chew an edible before our scene, yet I felt the same kind of time dilation as when I’m sky-high. I can’t even brag about the number of strokes I took. I don’t remember the number. I only remember the feeling. After a few check-ins, M asked me to pick a number. I said “Five.”
“I’m going to give you five of my best,” M replied, and told me to count them out. Having to vocalize took me out of my delicious, swimmy feeling a little, but the overall effect remained.
A few moments later, I lay draped over M’s lap on the couch. M had taken me down, given me some water, and now I simply rested and nuzzled and purred, feeling the warmth from my reddened back seeping into the rest of my body. But we weren’t totally finished. I yelped and jumped when M drew a finger down my spine. Sparks shot off in my brain. I couldn’t tell whether it tickled or hurt or felt good. Perhaps all could be true at once. I could practically hear the diabolical grin spread across M’s face. I squirmed and yipped and laughed as M drew their nails repeatedly down my back, leaving me with some extra scratches. I could have stayed there all night. Instead, I took something home with me. | https://humanparts.medium.com/how-i-learned-to-love-being-a-service-top-74fc24d980c2 | ['Riley Black'] | 2020-03-25 16:12:41.360000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Relationships', 'LGBTQ', 'Sex', 'Sexuality'] |
Agoracte | 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/le-patchwork-fou/agoracte-25fa72950845 | ['Marie-Cécile De La Taille'] | 2020-12-19 15:09:50.533000+00:00 | ['Agoracte', 'Climate Action'] |
>⚽+SOCCER’’• LIVE“SV 07 Elversberg vs Borussia Monchengladbach”(Livestream) — Full Match, German DFB Pokal TV Channel 2020 | WATCH Live Streaming (SV 07 Elversberg vs Borussia Monchengladbach) Full HD [ULTRA ᴴᴰ1080p]
| Live Stream
Live sport streams free all around the world. Visit here to get up-to-the-minute sports news coverage, scores…
t.co
Watch Live Streaming : “SV 07 Elversberg vs Borussia Monchengladbach” live stream In HD
VISIT HERE >> https://t.co/WjPIEtkLvE?amp=1
●LINE UP : SV 07 Elversberg vs Borussia Monchengladbach, live
●Date : 2:45 AM, December 23, 2020
●VENUE: URSAPHARM-Arena an der Kaiserlinde
Facebook Live, LinkedIn Live, YouTube Live, Periscope, Instagram Live Over the past several years, major social media platforms democratized and commodified live streaming, with YouTube Live launching way back in 2011, and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others (R.I.P. Meerkat) following suit. Most recently, LinkedIn launched live streaming on its platform, too, so businesses and professionals can reach their network in new and engaging ways.
These free platforms are great for brands and businesses looking to dip a toe in the live streaming pond, but they are not viable solutions for long-term scale and growth of a video strategy. Why? While ease of use is a major draw, for sure, none offer onboarding or customer support. If your team hits a snag with an event, you’re left to your own devices to problem-solve in real-time.
What’s more, streaming is only possible on a platform-by-platform basis. This means if you want to stream to Facebook and Twitter at the same time, you’ll need two cameras to live stream from each device — creating twice as much work (or more) and a less-than-ideal experience for the on-screen talent and viewers alike. ANOTHER POST.
Nobody is ever thrilled to pay nearly $11K for a golfer they probably hadn’t heard of until a handful of weeks ago, but both Zalatoris, along with Sam Burns will be at the top of my list this week on DraftKings.
Zalatoris gets the slight edge with his outstanding play in nearly every metric that’s not near the green. He ranks first amongst players in the field in SG: total and fourth in SG: approach. We also joke about getting the putter hot for a weekend, and if Zalatoris can improve on his SG: putting which ranks 129th in the field, he should absolutely contend yet again. Other Games.
He’s finished no worse than T19 in his last five events, including three top six finishes. His T6 result at Winged Foot opened up plenty of eyeballs, so he’ll be a popular play, which makes him all the more worthwhile in cash at the top.
While I was impressed with the way Will Zalatoris played last week at the U.S. Open, I’m more inclined this week to go with the more experienced Tour pro. Will will (that’s funny “Will will”) be a fixture on the PGA Tour — if not this year than next. He is one of the top players on the Korn Ferry Tour now. However, Corey Connors made the Playoffs and has been playing well last season (this is so weird calling it last season already). I’ll have both in a lineup this week, but my gut has me leaning with the Canadian. MORE POST. | https://medium.com/@aanzuig/soccer-live-sv-07-elversberg-vs-borussia-monchengladbach-livestream-full-match-german-c7357e0c7f47 | [] | 2020-12-22 10:04:01.298000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Soccer'] |
White Saviors “Rescuing” Asian Women & Who It Truly Serves: | White Saviors “Rescuing” Asian Women & Who They Truly Serve:
Thoughts on the Massage Parlor Raids in Seattle’s Chinatown/International District
image from Seattle Times
I know that beneath the story of creating a new Chinatown/International District that is amenable to the increasingly white, non immigrant and affluent cultural sensibility of Seattle, lie also the stories of recent migrant Chinese workers for whom Chinatown/ID is both an abode and a place of work. I know the tall lady who leaned her back on the wall of the massage parlor window where neon lights flashed “OPEN,” who told me she could not read my Chinese language flier. “I am not good at reading,” she said sheepishly in Mandarin, her head cast down. “My daughter is though! I can bring it home to read.” I remember too the harsh scent of garlic on the hands on the massage parlor worker who kneaded my back at the end of a long work day, sappy 90s Chinese pop playing in the background that brought me back to a familiar space. I wanted to ask him to wash his hands, and also, was he doubling as a worker in one of the restaurants in the vicinity coming in to give massage during his break time? How else could the smell of garlic be so strong?? And once, I did ask. It was when the hands of another massage parlor worker emitted that forceful stench of cigarette smoke. “Excuse me,” I asked in Mandarin, “Could you wash your hands?” To which the lanky man with the floppy side bangs giggled, and apologized profusely, “I am so sorry! Good that you asked. We are all Chinese, no need to be too polite. It’s my fault. I will go wash my hands now, OK?”
I frequent massage parlors in Chinatown/International District in part because of the draw of affordable massages after long work shifts on my feet, and in part, because the massage parlors are also a place of cultural familiarity.
I arrived in the US eighteen years ago as a first generation college student, wide eyed and excited about my fancy university scholarship, curious about this country that we were told to aspire to our whole lives. I am the child of my mother, a masseuse. I had spent many boring afternoons after school sitting in the salon doing my homework silently while my mother worked her magic on the faces of her customers, promising ageless skin-whitening beauty, marketing the traditional chinese medicine herbal cream she and my father concocted in our living room. Before traditional chinese medicine herbs became the new naturopathic medicine, or the new organic, my parents were mixing and grinding herbs for facial creams and powders. Selling dreams of chemical-free light beauty norms was my family’s livelihood. She told me when I left home, “Use those skills wherever you are. Everyone loves massages, especially facial massages!” In one of our conversations after my arrival to the US, my mom, always the entrepreneur, suggested that I convert my university dorm room into a massage space. “Put up posters in your school. Charge $30 a person for an hour. I will mail you the massage book again so you can revise. Those white people will love it. You won’t have to do those low paying jobs.”
The 18 year old me protested. Mom, they will think I am a prostitute, or something, I respond. Asian women giving massage in private rooms is just sketchy!
“Why sketchy? What’s the difference between a white lady giving massage and you? You charge less and it’s in your family! We mail you the herbs too! No artificial ingredients or chemicals. Why you want to sell coffee instead of massage? You make less money for more time, it’s stupid.”
My youthful years mistook this pragmatic indignation for an uncouth sensibility. I was a college student scaling up, not yet another Asian female masseuse. In those early years, I felt a perpetual unnamed inferiority, unable to measure up to the cultured, intelligent air my university classmates and their families exuded. My mother and her antics were a constant reminder that I did not belong of that world.
So instead, I took on a work study job, selling coffee to sleepy college students at the cart outside the lecture halls for $6 an hour. After school I worked as the only Asian barista at the coffee shop on Wickenden Street. I learned to make the lattes and mochas and a lot of small talk for $7/hour. I was thankful to be like all my other classmates, just another regular college student making ends meet.
A choice I could afford, with the luxury of age, the English language, and a desire to reinvent myself. A choice inaccessible to many other immigrant women.
****
Chinatown/International District serves many roles — as a place of imagination and nostalgia, a place of livelihood and an abode. White America wants it to be the land of late night bar runs, slanted “asian font”, appropriately ethnic and yet accessible to white sensibility: a smooth fusion with a foreign edge. For some Chinese Americans, it is a land of nostalgia and resilience — places their elders and families were raised, at at a time when Chinatown was a redlined district where ambulances and firefighters never arrived, where they now own real estate property in while living in the distant majority white suburbs. Some of these folks who experienced Chinatown before the Chinese became integrated as model minority in the American racial hierarchy, have a lot to say about who is authentically Chinese or not, who has access to Chinatown as cultural home, marking their legacies on the boundaries of Chinatown, Japan Town, Manila Town, Little Saigon as if lives and ethnicities were not more intertwined and intermixed back then and now. Chinatown/International District is also the workplace of many immigrants — those who work the massage parlors, the restaurants and the kitchens; It is also the living quarters of many people, some in homeless encampments before they were displaced in the the mayor’s big sweeps, others are Asian elders who find company with one another as they gather weekly outside the ACRS food bank, or stroll along Hing Hay Park. I have been endearingly called “Little Comrade,” by one of these elders whom I encountered while working my shift as a nurse in the nearby hospital. Mired in her delirium and dementia, our common tongue brought her back to the cultural references of her homeland. Chinatown/International District is a place where lives unfold — work, shelter, legacies and identities.
Enter the massage parlors.
Image from Seattle Times
Massage parlors are a contentious presence. In recent years, approximately 24 massage parlors sprung up in Chinatown/International District within the eight block radius. The prevailing theory is that in 2008, as a result of the Great Recession, Chinatown/International District, like the rest of the country, saw a loss in renters and began to accept less desirable leases. Massage parlor rentals were exactly that, undesirable but yet necessary in a dismal property market. The US government’s biggest bail out of Wall Street with a $700 billion economic package in 2008 coincided with economic measures across the Pacific, albeit one of a different nature. The mainland Chinese government put forth a stimulus package to the tune of 4 billion RMB (approx $600 billion USD) for the Chinese population, aimed at infrastructure projects and public welfare spendings. These financial allocations had the effect of expanding the Chinese consumer market domestically, expanding the middle class and effectively also creating some surplus capital to increase liquidity in the world market.
Perhaps one could say, that Chinese-owned massage parlor rentals and proliferations across American cities at a time when all other businesses were breaking their leases, could well be a local analogy for how China’s domestic economic policies in 2008 prevented the further decline of the Great Recession in US — an uneasy but necessary alliance.
Would it be too ludicrous, to say that it is also on the backs of these workers that the 2008 recession-era Chinatown/International District continued to make rent?
China’s income inequality follows a story not uncommon to capitalist development — the rise of the middle class in China coincided with the increasing poverty of the rural population and their displacement into the cities, earning China the moniker of “factory of the world.” Chinese capital flowed into the US in the form of real estate acquisitions, but also, in the form of easy businesses like massage parlors. To staff these parlors, the owners had no shortage of working class, poor women chasing the American Dream, some being duped to enter the US to work in massage parlors, some choosing (or not) within the constraints of options, to do sex work. Women, in China or elsewhere, charged with the responsibilities of elder and child care, share a common experience of having to do what they gotta do. Would it be too ludicrous, to say that it is also on the backs of these workers that the 2008 recession-era Chinatown/International District continued to make rent?
image from Nikkei Asian Review
Wealthy Chinese migration brings along with it also a trail of working class Chinese people who service them — from wives, to caregivers and other forms of gendered labor, including massages and sex work. Yet, class differences, poverty and possibly desperation are reduced, simply and derogatorily into “promiscuity.”
An elder Chinese man I encountered at a Chinatown cafe said of massage parlors, “Those Northeastern girls [in the massage parlors] are the most promiscuous. Those from Hong Kong and Taiwan have more dignity. The Northerners will do anything you tell them to.”
By “anything,” he meant massages that stretched into happy endings and other forms of sexual interactions.
By “Northerners,” he meant women from the Northeast/Dongbei region, otherwise known as the Rustbelt of China. Many massage parlor workers whom I met over the years, came from that region. Coincidentally, the Dongbei region is also the classic case study for the “breaking of the iron rice bowl” — where massive restructuring of the Chinese economy took place in the era of market reforms, privatizing previously state owned enterprises. The consequence is millions of workers losing lifetime employment and benefits, subsequently thrown into a flexible, volatile and low paying labor market. Poverty-driven displacement leading to migration, to try one’s luck in the US. None of this is particularly unique to China but it is not the story that arises when we encounter Chinese migrants in our home areas.
Beneath the story of Chinese wealth and capital, of Chinese tech workers in Amazon and Microsoft, lie also the story of Chinese migrants, many female, from poorer regions of China into the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown massage parlors. Wealthy Chinese migration brings along with it also a trail of working class Chinese people who service them — from wives, to caregivers and other forms of gendered labor, including massages and sex work. Yet, class differences, poverty and possibly desperation are reduced, simply and derogatorily into “promiscuity.”
****
Being an immigrant Asian sex worker is a state of exception under the rules that make Asians the Model Minority.
Class contempt expresses itself as a constant judgment of poor people’s morality. Add patriarchy and racism to the mix and we will always have poor women of color who are judged to be promiscuous and greedy first, before they are seen as people exercising their agencies and making sensible decisions in the spectrum of choices before them.
For a racial category, Asians, who have been designated the success story, granted model minority status in the American racial hierarchy, another mechanism is at work. Its sustenance as a myth depends on mandatory submission to the notion that the American Dream pays off, that hard work and submission to existing rules lead one ultimately to success and assimilation. It is hard then, for dominant discourse to grapple with the reality of immigrant Asian sex workers doing (illegal) sex work in America. Furthermore, dominant white supremacist discourse also has it that sex work is demeaning and undesirable, a form of labor poor and desperate Asian women have to do out of necessity in their backward, poverty-stricken homelands where patriarchal culture and values are abound, but not when they arrive on the white and enlightened land of opportunity. When white America says, “you are in America, act like it,” what they are saying to immigrant Asian women is, drop the nasty sex work that you do back home, get clean, and get a goddamn proper job.
Being an immigrant Asian sex worker is a state of exception under the rules that make Asians the Model Minority. For that reason, it can only be explained through coercion and trafficking. Asian women’s choices of sex work over other forms of undesirable jobs, can only be explained as them being victims of sex trafficking. It does not matter that Asian women choose sex work, as challenging as it is within our cultural contexts, because it is the least worst option among the other undesirable forms of wage work that non-English speaking immigrant Asian women have access to. The land of opportunity fails in its promise of wealth and upward mobility. The low pay and stress of working in other service sector jobs such as cleaning or restaurant work make sex work a viable alternative.
****
What does a raid do for her, and the many like her?
We are surrounded with snapshots of people, of situations, devoid of their contexts. Massage parlors in particular, strike that chord for many — dingy Chinese living quarters filled with helpless victims of sex trafficking, waiting, pining, for the white savior to rescue them from these squalid conditions, fulfilling our wildest Orientalist fantasies.
Image from Northwest Asian Weekly
These rescue tropes sell. But not only do they sell, they also justify police expenditure and the logic of community policing. A police department that is scrutinized for its police brutality of Black and Brown folks always needs a facial uplift from another thankful, grateful community. What is a more heroic story, than rescuing a bunch of fearful Asian women from squalor and violence? Never mind that we will never know the women’s stories. It suffices that we know they offer gratitude to the police force for their momentous rescue.
In the most recent raids in Chinatown/International District, the Seattle Police Department has made sure to remind us that they have spent three years of close collaboration with the FBI to rescue Chinatown from its own vices. The recent raid targeted 11 massage parlors and arrested 26 people.
The officer falls short of calling it “organized crime. ” The reports call the massage parlor business owners a “network” that span the west coast from LA to Seattle.
Where does a network of lowly paid workers and business owners who share contacts and travel voluntarily end, and a smuggling ring begin?
Where does wage theft of workers who choose to offer a range of sexual services voluntarily, end and human trafficking by force, fraud or coercion begin?
Undeniably, there may be cases of human trafficking, where massage parlor workers were held against their will, coerced, by force and fraud into the work they do. The reports on the recent massage parlor raids remain vague on the actual statistics. More often however, there are immigrant Asian women who engage in various forms of sex work for low wages and long hours, who feel forced not by their single employer, but by their economic circumstances, language inaccessibility and fierce racism and classism of dominant American society. The unquestionable legitimacy offered to the Seattle Police Department in its rescue narrative, obliterate the fact that the issue is more complex. This blanket acceptance in public belies the fact that for many non-English speaking immigrant women, massage parlor work and a range of sexual services are work they engage in, because opportunities are not abound for them.
I recall a massage parlor worker who told me how she didn’t want to work there. Everyone assumes that I am a sex worker and I get harassed all the time, she says. However, working at a grocery store and a restaurant did not allow her to bring back enough for her and her child. It also caused her a lot of stress and anxiety to have to interact in English with the customers. It just wasn’t worth it.
What does a raid do for her, and the many like her?
****
Koda condominium’s vision of Chinatown/International District. Image from Curbed Seattle https://seattle.curbed.com/2017/7/19/16000708/koda-condo-international-district-japantown
It is hard to talk about neighborhoods and police activity in Seattle without addressing the gentrification the city is undergoing. Hyperbole in describing danger and violence has always been a tool to justify police presence, and to make neighborhoods more appealing to those who trust the police. Massage parlors are not desirable in neighborhoods, not because they are dangerous, but because they are a sore reminder that the inhabitants of the neighborhood are not wealthy and legitimate in the white, proper, middle class kind of way.
The SPD raid of the massage parlors coincide with yet another major event in Chinatown/International District. The groundbreaking ceremony of the new Koda condominiums, marketed above $1million/unit, took place around the same time, alongside the development of the new Marriot hotel, and the sale of the building that the historic Bush Gardens now stands. In order to claim Chinatown/International District as a desirable location for rich Chinese capital, white tourists and properly housed, clean customers, other undesirable elements need expulsion or cleansing by the SPD. Capital isn’t committed enough to wade through the scents and sights of the real people who live and work in Chinatown/International district, especially those who reek too much of the Chinese immigrant experience in all its layers, with all its uncouth sensibilities rolled into one. | https://medium.com/@jomo206/white-saviors-rescuing-asian-women-who-it-truly-serves-fbc2e7c951f | ['Jm Wong'] | 2019-05-03 21:10:47.002000+00:00 | ['Seattle', 'Chinatown', 'Sex Work', 'Asian American', 'Massage Parlor'] |
Hargeisa Somaliland September 11 2001 — Lunchtime and many mealtimes since | Hargeisa — International NGO security map (2018) for briefing 2019
The television was on in the Hotel Mansoor foyer, CNN News and Al Jeezera playing as the second aircraft flew into the Twin Towers.
People were already talking. Not excitedly but in hushed, worried, tones. Somaliland may have had a decade of independent, relatively successful, development after declaring itself no longer in the Somalia emergent post the independence movements of the early 1960s. But, as far as people watching the unfurling news were concerned, Americans remembered Blackhawk down and Mogadishu, struggling to place Somalia/land and its nuances on a map when new weapons of retribution started flying.
Somalilanders, particularly capital dwellers, are urbane, regularly cosmopolitan with a Worldliness few other People can emulate. As the conversation switched between Somali and English, calls were already being made to check with relatives in the United States as to what was going on. I sat down on one of the three sofas making up the other sides of the square around the low coffee table in front of the flat screen television.
My friend and colleague, Jesper, walks behind me and jokes ‘I am going to phone the Boss and tell him he made a mistake contracting you if you are already watching TV at lunchtime, second day on the job’.
We had flown up to Hargeisa from Nairobi the previous day, I had started as the European Commission’s Liaison Officer Hargeisa on September 1st, Jesper was kindly introducing me to the government having sat in the chair for a couple of months before taking up his role within the Delegation itself. I was a local hire by the Commission; totally deniability if anything were to happen. The European Union, the Commission, was neither a leader nor a follower; we mirrored the Member States and so recognised Somaliland’s achievements but not its political call for statehood.
‘Jesper, better sit down and see this. Think our afternoon is about to change as terrorists have flown aircraft into the World Trade Center New York.’
Questions swiftly developed as to the implications. Somalilanders knew there would be reactions to these terrorist acts probably resulting with the innocent finding themselves in the path of intelligence manipulated by popularist agendas. Terrorists claiming to bomb based on Islam would swiftly create political rhetoric against any Muslim. Somalia, sadly by implication, Somaliland, would be in-line for American retribution.
We started to ask about list of all EU contractors in Somaliland? Were they EU citizens? Were we able to look at all Member State citizens? A daunting task given Somalilanders have long been travellers; a trait exacerbated by Barre’s destruction of people and places in the late 1980s killing many, see Pulitzercenter Somaliland’s Forgotten Genocide, and causing far more to flee for their lives. We ran into the racist elements appearing in so many guises. Some were already seeking to justify inaction because the tone of skin seemingly changed obligations to the colour of the passport. Legal requirements if we were asked to take all EU nationals out of what was seen as a fragile place where further extremists’ actions could follow in a concerted set of actions.
By Thursday, 13th, we had flown out virtually all the people who did not call Somaliland home. The vast majority had caught the sense of apprehension felt by all. The physical damage from Barre’s prosecution of a war very much still apparent with massive mental issues resulting from years under bombardment when open warfare replaced the repression of a dictatorship hell bent on destroying people’s will to live freely. But the resolution of people had shown through and, now, as terrorists attacked the United States of America, people I listened to in Hargeisa knew repercussions were coming. Somaliland would not be a target for America, its links into the Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabab were known but Somaliland did not harbour training centres and had deliberately distanced itself from the chaos of southern Somalia.
Since September 2001, 911, Somaliland would suffer terrorists attacks, as would Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia. Kenya and Tanzania had seen Al-Qaeda’s mayhem in 1998 Crisisgroup East African attacks timeline. The Westgate Mall Sept 2013 attack possibly being the most infamous but certainly not an exception to what has been a litany of attacks where innocent people have become victims in a wider set of power problems.
Following the first week after the 911 attacks, we started to have more sanguine conversations. Proactive actions were undertaken in how Somaliland could bolster the safety of all people within its recognised borders given its unrecognised statehood. The power of community and security from within was a critical ingredient. People knew other people and if they did not fit in, then this would be flagged to the necessary authorities. Egal was President and continued to have a firm grasp on how to unify behind Somalilanders rediscovered sense of purpose.
The 10 days following 911, we took everyone who wanted to leave out of Somaliland. One gentleman appeared in our EU office 8 days after 911. Having been in Burao, working for a UN organisation which had seemingly not heard of health and safety, the arrival of Marco elicited some quality Anglo-Saxon phrases — ‘Who are you?’ ‘Where have you come from?’ And, most starkly ‘Who the $#@! cares so little they do not even inform anyone you are travelling around Somaliland?’ Marco left Thursday 20th as we started to think — ok, this time we have fudged our way through, but what if……..
Within the 27 months I lived in Hargeisa as the EU’s ‘man on the ground’, we saw further acts of violence. The manner individual minds were, are, manipulated became very apparent. The murders of two teachers and a health worker in 2003 were, at first, put down to Al-Qaeda influence but, conversations with key people, swiftly saw this as lazy analysis and we saw how individual and local grievances were the drivers for perpetrating these crimes. Without quality engagement, local grievances are manipulated by some to ensure they are not held accountable and can blame some global movement reinforcing their own power base.
I never felt unsafe in Somaliland. Quality people around me and the government respected the European Union and its Member States in their delivery of practical work supporting people. SARS-CoV-2 prevented my recent times with people but, still, the dialogue continues and I know there is hot tea brewing and positive conversation beckoning whenever I return.
911 changed the dynamics far beyond New York and the direct engagement of American (and British) troops in Afghanistan and Iraq 2003. To put it very prosaically, the bravado of more militarism has resulted in a few getting richer selling the means to wage conflict where the many lost out. Where going in was easy but little or no substantial thought seems to have gone into much beyond more ‘stand-off distances’, Hasco barriers and the paraphernalia further distancing people talking strategy from those who live the results and consequences of those strategies.
In the Horn of Africa, Somaliland, we were to witness massive shifts as events unfurled. People in Hargeisa and Bossaso were to be direct victims of an Al-Qaeda / Al Shabab set of bombings in Somaliland and Puntland (NYTimes)in October 2008. The situation had changed, and international agencies were regularly linked to the global agendas, including Bush and Blair declaring their ‘global war on terror’. Twenty years on, the quest for headlines — Unpublished memos warned Blair — show the beauty of hindsight but does not explain why so poor decisions were taken committing people to kill and be killed without understanding cause and effect in complex settings far removed from the lectern outside the White House and 10 Downing Street.
From the Somaliland perspective, the relative peace and the tightness of communities was built on. But the breaches were there and how the different external influences and drivers caused issues resulted in changes that have been for the negative in several ways. In the name of security, we have witnessed the few in power often seek to reduce accountability; regularly joining the internationals behind barriers and stand-off distances. A familiar situation found elsewhere? Most definitely.
Without openness, despite the protestations of the current UK PM Boris Johnson, terrorism has affected a breakdown of accountability. Has been part of the devaluing in trust felt toward politicians virtually everywhere. Johnson’s ‘we’ is to be questioned. Divided who from who? Look again at how we have all worked responding to Covid-19 in the light of the last twenty ‘war on terror’ years.
But, let us recognise the positive achievements as individuals have come together in any number of places to confront the ignorance spawned by politicians seeking soundbites, actions based on bygone days and machismo posturing. Citizens of Somaliland, wider Somalia, East Africa know the answers to extremism come from within. Not from shows of force perpetuating the need for yet more force.
Across the African continent and back into those countries where trillions of dollars have dropped to achieve little for the people not behind security walls, people are aware these root causes continue creating fertile breeding grounds for extremism and will not be addressed until the problems manipulated by leaders are placed into accountability frameworks where security barriers are no longer required because we have mutual trust and support. | https://medium.com/@pauljcrook/hargeisa-somaliland-september-11-2001-lunchtime-and-many-mealtimes-since-9bb8785d1d4a | ['Paul James Crook'] | 2021-09-14 06:06:05.170000+00:00 | ['International Relations', 'Geopolitics', 'Accountability', 'Terrorism', 'Inclusion'] |
STATISTIC PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS | STATISTIC PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Traffic congestion in commercial cities in Nigeria has been a cause for concern for every well meaning Nigerian who craves for infrastructural development and maintenance. The continuous road traffic congestion in Nigerian cities especially in Lagos which started from the 1980s immediately after Udeoji award which enhanced household income an…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Education is an instrument for developing the nation. It is also an instrument for developing hidden talents in an individual. It is the only means of eliminating illiteracy in any society. The importance of education to the development of individual and the national cannot be over emphasized. It is a great investment any country can make for accelerating…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This study examined the birth pattern in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) using the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) as a case study. Data was collected on two hundred (200) neonates from the hospital. The research studied the effect of some factors on birth weight of neonates, the factors includes the age of the mother, parity, mother’s height, gestation period and …Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The usefulness of statistical tools for analysis has become invaluable in recent years. Nowadays, it has become an indispensable tool of investigation and research in virtually every day of human activities. Most statistical analysis methods are concerned with making inference from the observed data. That is, drawing valid conclusion using sample information…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research examined the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the growth of Nigeria economy. According to (UNCTAD 2012) Nigeria received a net inflow of US$85.73. Unlike other studies this research extended the period of investigation to 2013 given that the Nigeria economic environment under investigation most likely has changed over the years. The research employed ord…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project has the aim of studying the fertility and mortality rate in Osogbo Local Government. The study employed the use of statistical methods like moving Average, least square and Demography analysis. The result of the analysis shows that there is relationship between fertility and mortality. It is also the predictive power of an increase. Therefore, it is recommended that …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
Statistics is playing an important role in virtually all aspect of human life. This role is used to analyze a project, which is aimed at analyzing the rate of crime in Kuje Abuja. This analysis is meant for correction, up dating, forecasting the future accordance events. The objectives of the project are the criminal offences in Kuje. The project comprises of five chapters; chapter one…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project has the aim of studying the uses of contraception drug among female student of faculty of science in Osun State Polytechnic, Iree. The study employed the use of statistical method like measure of central tendency, stratified sampling techniques, analysis of variance (ANOVA), co efficiencies of correlations. The result of the analysis shows that there is relationship betwee…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
National income is the sum of the money value of all the commodities and services produced in a country within a particular period of time usually one year. The question of how an economy grows could come to mind at this juncture. It the amount of goods and services produced by an economy increases. If it does not increase y…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project has the aim of studying the analysis on the monthly income generated from the sale of stout, Guilder and Maltina drinks in Nigeria Breweries Ibadan Oyo State. The study employed the use of statistical method like Multicollinearity, Autocorrelation, hetrosedasticity, individual coefficient multiple regression analysis. The result of the analysis shows that there is a relati…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project work is designed to give an insight into the application of statistical quality control in the building products industries in order to help manufacturers understand the importance of applying statistical techniques in controlling quality products. In addition to make consumers have faith in standard quality of products they buy. …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
Causes of crime have become a major public concern worldwide. Unlike developed or high countries, many developing countries have made very little progress towards addressing this problem. There are ways to reduce crime and lower the tool from offenders who commit crime. The purpose of this works is to elucidate ways to accomplish this goal in context of Sapele local government area of…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
Causes of crime have become a major public concern worldwide. Unlike developed or high countries, many developing countries have made very little progress towards addressing this problem. There are ways to reduce crime and lower the tool from offenders who commit crime. The purpose of this works is to elucidate ways to accomplish this goal in context of Sapele local government …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The entire project work/study talks about the full meaning of the STDS. The causes of the sexually transmitted diseases were found out to be virus and bacteria which can be transmitted from one person to another predominantly through sexual contact. The scope of the study was also special and federal medical center Umuahia (FMC) was used as a case study. One of the studies carried out by …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The aim of this project is to analyze the appraisal of road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express Road. The data on the number of recorded road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express road from 1995–2002 was collected and organized on quarters. The trend equation was calculated from the date, which …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of training and development of manpower in an organization for efficient performance with special reference to (P.H.C.N) Power Holding Company of Nigeria Zonal Headquarter Owerri. In contemporary time, the practice of training employees has become a popular phenomenon in the entire personnel policy of many organizations. The programme i…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research work entails the process involved in inventory control of three supermarkets on three products they sell. The supermarkets include Noble supermarket, Pick ’n’ smile supermarket and Maris supermarket as a case study. We take their inventory on Candid Red Wine, So Klin Detergent (900g sachet) and Peak Milk Powder. In this research work, data for the observation were col…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research was carried out to study the effects of Industrial Training on HND I students, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri. The study used a primary data collected by means of mail questionnaire of 15 questions. A sample size of 206 students out of a population of 425 students determined by Yamani’s approach was used for this study which was selected by means of stratified random s…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
Onchocerciasis is increasingly recognized as one of the major diseases of public health importance in endemic parts of the world, especially in Sub Saharan, Africa. (WHO 1995). The main purpose of this study is to carry out a statistical analysis of the reported cases of onchocerciasis disease, from 2000 2011. A case study of federal Medical Center Abalkaliki,Ebonyi State. This research p…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of training and development of manpower in an organization for efficient performance with special reference to (P.H.C.N) Power Holding Company of Nigeria Zonal Headquarter Owerri. In contemporary time, the practice of training employees has become a popular phenomenon in the entire personnel policy of many organizations. The programme i…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Typhoid Fever is a world wide disease which creates a very serious public healthy problem. In many under develop countries; the word health organization (WHO) estimated that about one person out of ever hundred (100) is suffering from typhoid fever. The also identify typhoid as a serious public health problem which incide…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The cam of this study was to examine the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. This study started with attempt to state the problem that motivated the study. The study was done to access critically the impact of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria and the effort toward reducing it. The method hypothesis was tested with use of kruskal wallis multiple comparis…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The rate of death of our children attracts concern from every Nigerian. It is clear that the only way to wipe out a race is to cut its means of future reproduction which is the children and this children are believed to be our future presidents, governors etc and the ensure older generation of a better tomorrow. Infant morality h…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
National income is the sum of the money value of all the commodities and services produced in a country within a particular period of time usually one year. The question of how an economy grows could come to mind at this juncture. It the amount of goods and services produced by an economy increases. If it does not increase yearly, …Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The increase in the number of people who are ill in the various health establishments has risen geometrically overtime. Most of these illnesses may be as a result of unhealthy lifestyles and habits. Amongst this various unhealthy lifestyles and habits are smoking, lacks of exercise, weight, poor dietary just to mention but a few. In Nigeria specific…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The issue of malnutrition has become a household name among families with children from zero to five years. It is evident that the nutritional status of children is widely regarded as one of the well known indicators of economic development of that particular region in question. There has been high level of neglect of children by most parents’…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Nigerians are confronted with an environment that is rapidly changing and the time spent on non academic activities has negatively impacted academic performance. This survey investigates the contribution of time spent on the internet by students to academic achievement. The performance of students’ overtime has witnessed a constant depreciation. Many scholars see this as…Continue Reading »
»CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Since the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, farming activities has had its fare share of inconsistencies and relegation. Agriculture is a very important sector of Nigeria’s economy. Its role in economic development cannot be over emphasized; umar 2004 opined that between 1960 1976 alone, agriculture accounted for 40 to 60 percent of the nati…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The oil industry which is the leading sector of the economy should have some spill over into the other sectors of the economy. The Nigerian economy has become dependent oil revenues over the past decades. During the 1986 92 periods, oil export revenues increased at an average of 13 percent per annum which GDP measure in current US Dollars, decrease by an average while oil export revenues …Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Public finance is a field of economics concerned with how government raises money, how that money is spent and the effect of these activities on the economy and on the society. Expenditure and revenue of the country fall under the topic, public finance. However, in a developing economy like Nigeria, management of moderate deficit financing is tailored towar…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Over the years the production of cookies of various types has improved with the advancement of new technology in most of the manufacturing industries in Nigeria; the cookies industries tend to be the most popular among most of the manufacturing industries in Nigeria. Cookies vary with types, method of production and the materials used in the manufact…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Overtime, a lot has been said and done about the recent continuos increment of the United States dollars and its effect on the economy. The importance of the US dollars to a mono economy and import dependent nation like that of Nigeria cannot be over emphasized in that most notable transactions that takes place in any economic process must have a di…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Variance measures the variability or difference from a mean or response. A variance value of 0 indicates that all values within a set of numbers are identical. Statisticians use variance to see how individual numbers or values relate to each other. Estimating variance components in statistics refers to the processes involved in efficiently calculating the vari…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The development of Nigerian politics is interwoven with that of the press. The early press, notably Townsend’s Iwe Irolin fun awon oti Egba Yoruba, the Nigerian first newspaper was used as a political progranda tool to fight the colonial administration in Lagos during the struggle for Independence. Idowu (2001:55) reports that the newspaper …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This work is designed to examine the assessment of the role of the mass media in anti corruption campaign. It is organized into five very instructive chapters.Chapter one deals with the background, statement of the problems, research questions and hypotheses, assumptions and limitation of the study among other things. Chapter two is devoted to the review of relevant materials in the area …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The following are the major findings.Inefficient management has contributed significantly to the financial distress in Nigeria banking sector. This was approved statistically with the chi square test techniques. It was also discovered tha…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research work will be A very crucial study for non — profit making organization in Nigeria. The role of non — profit making organization in any economy is indispensable. To give this effort proper direction, it is identifiable that the key ingredient in translating this dream into reality is to bring about a clearer understanding of the need for an effective and efficient budgeta…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The purpose for this research is to determine the relevance of a critical analysis of the sources of revenue and expenditure pattern of Enugu North Local Government Area, with reference to Enugu North Local Government. The research was carried out to discover the availability of expenditure and revenue in the Local Government; this involved going to Enugu North Local Government to adminis…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
Samples of water from the different hostels in campus II and other source of water production namely Ajali owa water, from bore hole 9th mile and spring water from GRA water board were water collected and analyzed using total plate count and multiple tube fermentation techniques coliform. The results shows no coliforms in production water from Ajali owa and in GRA spring water reservaiour…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research work, “Critical analysis of the performance of the National Economics Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) on the Nigeria Economy, (A Case Study of Enugu State)” seeks to look at the major causes of Nigerians Economic Misfortunes and his is greatly attributable to the poor industrial capacity utilization, massive unemployment and underemployment, high late of inf…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research investigation is focused on the use of Cost Volume Profit analysis as a Management tool for decision making using Nigerian Breweries Plc as a case study. Cost Volume Profit (CVP) analysis narrowly called break even analysis, is the application of marginal costing and seeks to study the relationship between costs, volume and profits at differing activity levels and can be a …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research work was conducted to ascertain the comparative analysis of academic performance in English language and computer science in junior secondary school, Enugu North Educational Zone. A survey design was adopted for the study. A sample of 42 teachers both English language and computer science 110 students were drawn from 7 (seven) junior secondary schools in Enugu North. A struc…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research project was to find out how financial statement analysis service of our aid to meaning decision by investment firms in Enugu state. Financial statement analysis are used by investment firms to make their investment decisions. They are also used by management to make their decisions. Some of the ratio commonly computed by investment firms are profitability ratio…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The utmost aim of this study is to clearly define the factors necessary for the design of an efficient production system with a medium scale industry as the case study. It is also hoped that in the course of the study definition will be given to the design of a production system as it is manifested practically in commerce and industryTaking Limca bottling company Okeigwe as the case study…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This study, an analysis of development in Nigerian balance of payment (1995–1999) was carried out to assertion whether Nigeria has been paying her wages internationally to examine the statement with a view to determine what recent developments have taken place in Nigerians foreign trade and others transaction with the rest of the world.Information was collected using literary method i…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In contemporary business setting, debt is seemingly inevitable. Sometimes it emanates from short fund convenience with the prevailing trade terms. Debt does not occur only when money is borrowed. It equally occurs when there is exchange of goods or services with a deserved payment. So each time goods or services are exchanged with a deferent o…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The project Analysis of Enugu Coal was done to determine the characteristic properties of Enugu Coal with particular emphasis on the proximate and ultimate analysis.Coal samples from the Enugu Coal (Onyeama) mine were obtained and pulverized. The coal sample (pulverized) was subjected to proximate and ultimate analysis to determine its characteristic constituents.Analysis showed a volatil…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research project is a very crucial study for the Nigeria government owned companies. The study was motivated by the necessity to solve this problems of perceived necessity to solve this problems of perceived ineffective management in government owned companies in Nigeria. To solve the research problems, both primary and secondary data were collected the instruments used in collectin…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The success or failure and effectiveness or ineffectiveness of any banking or financial sector depends on extent of customer’s patronage and the financial resources available to form and procure the required service oriented facilities. In Nigeria, there are lots of problems associated with banking. The problems include in adequate financial capacity, that is weak capital base, lack o…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This research was carried out to study the effects of Industrial Training on HND I students, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri.The study used a primary data collected by means of mail questionnaire of 15 questions.A sample size of 206 students out of a population of 425 students determined by Yamani’s approach was used for this study which was selected by means of stratified random sam…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project is in compliance with one of the task, I have to shoulder in order to be awarded the Higher National Diploma Certificate in statistics department from Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, during my final year in the Polytechnic 2004/2005 session emphasizing on Statistical Analysis of Road Accident in Enugu from 1993 to 2000. Road accident has been of great social …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
We had tried to study the rates of infant mortality in Abia State. The aims of this study were to compare the mortality and birth rate of infants male and female in order to determine whether there is a significant yearly difference in their mortality and birth rate. Also, to determine whether infant mortality in Abia State in independent of sex. And furthermore…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The entire project work/study talks about the full meaning of the STDS. The causes of the sexually transmitted diseases were found out to be virus and bacteria which can be transmitted from one person to another predominantly through sexual contact. The scope of the study was also special and federal medical center Umuahia (FMC) was used as a case study. One of the studies carried out by …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The effect of pesticides, chchlorodipheny trichloroethane (DDY) and Benzene hexaxhoride (BHc) on the microflora of the three types of soil (loamy, clay and sandy soil) was conducted. The serial dietitian technique was employed up to 10 3 using nutrient agar, potato dextrose agar and sabourand agar plates. The isolation of both bacterial and fungal organisms were made before treating …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The aim of this project is to examine the trend at which patients attends the hospital over the period of study. The study therefore, shows the usefulness of statistics to medicine and hence advice had always been sought by medical and health administrators from the Department of Statistics on the analysis and interpretation of medical data. The work is presented in five chapters. The fir…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The aims of this project are to describe the various ways in which students spend their money and to advise them on how to spend their money judiciously. About three hundred and sixty questionnaires were distributed randomly to six schools and one hundred and forty valid returns of questionnaires were gathered. From the analyses, it was discovered that despite the hard earned income of pa…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project work is designed to give an insight into the application of statistical quality control in the building products industries in order to help manufacturers understand the importance of applying statistical techniques in controlling quality products. In addition to make consumers have faith in standard quality of products they buy. �…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
This project work is designed to give an insight into the application of statistical quality control in the building products industries in order to help manufacturers understand the importance of applying statistical techniques in controlling quality products. In addition to make consumers have faith in standard quality of products they buy. …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
We had tried to study the rates of infant mortality in Abia State. The aims of this study were to compare the mortality and birth rate of infants male and female in order to determine whether there is a significant yearly difference in their mortality and birth rate. Also, to determine whether infant mortality in Abia State in independent of sex. And furthermor…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The aim of this project is to analyze the appraisal of road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express Road. The data on the number of recorded road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express road from 1995–2002 was collected and organized on quarters. The trend equation was calculated from the date,…Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The entire project work/study talks about the full meaning of the STDS. The causes of the sexually transmitted diseases were found out to be virus and bacteria which can be transmitted from one person to another predominantly through sexual contact. The scope of the study was also special and federal medical center Umuahia (FMC) was used as a case study. One of the studies carried out by …Continue Reading »
» ABSTRACT
The aim of this project is to analyze the appraisal of road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express Road. The data on the number of recorded road traffic accident rate on Enugu — Onitsha Express road from 1995–2002 was collected and organized on quarters. The trend equation was calculated from the dat…Continue Reading »
» CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Economic development of Nigeria has over the period been inconsistent despite its window dressing. Economic growth and development in Nigeria is inevitable for a better and prosperous living. In adequately studying economic growth and development, a lot of predictors or determinants must be studied a…Continue Reading »
Get more International Relations Project Topics and Materials
Click here for Insurance Project Topics and Materials
Click here for Industrial Chemistry Project Topics and Materials
Click here for Industrial Relations & Personnel Management Project Topics and Materials | https://medium.com/@iprojectng/statistic-project-topics-and-materials-9e666b184fd7 | ['Final Year Project Topics'] | 2019-09-04 11:51:10.984000+00:00 | ['Critical Analysis', 'Time Series Analysis', 'Statistics', 'Regression', 'Econometrics'] |
Python Tutorials for Machine Learning & Data Science | Python is one of the most used high-level programming languages, which is commonly used in producing complex machine learning algorithms and data science. Apart from being an open-source programming language, python is a great object-oriented, interactive, and interpreted programming language. It unites exceptional power with very clear and precise syntax. Python has classes modules, high-level dynamic data types, exceptions, and dynamic typing. Python can also be used as an extension language for applications written in other languages that require automation interfaces or easy-to-use scripting.
Below is a list that shows the top 7 machine learning tutorial python for beginners and experts:
1) MatPlotLib with Python
2) Google’s Python Class
3) Machine Learning with Python
4) Python for Data Science
5) Data Science with Analogies, Algorithms, and Solved Problems
When it comes to machine learning and data science there are various reasons to choose python.
There’s no better time than now for a machine learning tutorial with python to learn it, since machines are considerably powerful, and can probably do a series of work quickly.
Read full blog — 7 Best Python Tutorials for Machine Learning | https://medium.com/@altopaloteam/python-tutorials-for-machine-learning-data-science-5ad9ef20cc83 | ['Alto Palo'] | 2020-12-23 08:00:39.826000+00:00 | ['Python Tutorials', 'Python Programming'] |
How To Make Better Art | Have you ever stepped foot into an art gallery, or followed an artist on Instagram and grudgingly thought to yourself, “ I couldn’t paint like that even to save my life ”. Or, did you paint and draw a lot as a child but seem to have now lost the ability to hold a pencil correctly?
I’ll let you in on a secret- there is no single correct way of holding a pencil.
I’ve made close to a hundred paintings this year and here’s what I’ve learned about creating art. My experiences are with traditional media, but these tips apply to any creative outlet or art form.
Find your medium
Find the medium that feels most natural to you, the one that feels almost like an extension of yourself. This was one of my motives as I embarked on a 100-day art challenge.
I went from brush pens and markers to pastel and pencils, fumbled through watercolour and acrylic paints. Frustrated, I turned to oil paints in a final attempt at redemption. I still haven’t gotten through a hundred, but I somehow don’t mind the extra time and cleanup required. Smooth, workable, forgiving oil paints. I’ve gladly embraced the lingering turpentine and linseed oil odour as part of the room decor and I’m churning out some of my best work ever.
Photo by David Clode on Unsplash
Get inspired
YouTube is your best friend. Find an artist whose style you like, and follow a bunch of tutorials. It’s the best way to get past a blank canvas in the beginning. Create a playlist in advance so you don’t spend hours browsing for the perfect tutorial and get lost down that dangerous YouTube rabbit hole.
Visit art galleries, observe street artists, follow creators you find interesting on Instagram and Pinterest.
Take a bunch of pictures everywhere you go, try finding art in the most mundane daily scenes. Look for symmetry, repeating patterns and tricks of light.
Photo by Molly Porter on Unsplash
Don’t be afraid to copy
“It might have been done before, but it hasn’t been done by you!”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
To be clear, I don’t mean trying to pass someone else’s work as your own. When you’re learning, it’s great training to try and recreate an existing piece. It also takes off the stress of creating something original out of thin air.
However, if you plan on selling your work, be sure to use references that are copyright-free. Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay are great resources for high-quality images that are completely free to be used any way you like.
Shoot your own references for a more personal touch, or ask a photography enthusiast friend permission to recreate their captures.
The best tools are the ones you’ve got
A pencil and some printer paper are good enough to start pouring your brain’s ball of yarn onto paper.
You can always splurge on professional-grade supplies, but they won’t be worth the hole in your pocket unless you really learn how to use them. Start off with student grade paints and a few decent brushes. That being said, don’t buy extremely cheap, low-quality stuff which may just end up being downright unusable, and a huge waste.
The lure of art shop windows is real. I’ll admit I’m guilty of falling for it. For years, I couldn’t leave a stationery shop or art supplies store without buying a bunch of stuff I barely ended up using.
Upgrade when you realise that your current tools are hindering your progress. For example, Not being able to add as many layers to your painting as you’d like to, simply because your painting surface is too thin or absorbent. What you need is a more resilient surface, meant to withstand layers of paint. Make sure buying supplies solves your problems. You’ll learn better this way, rather than forcing yourself to use bucket loads of impulse-bought iridescent paint, simply because you feel guilty about having spent all that money.
Photo by Jack B on Unsplash
Practice
Focus on techniques more than results. This is where detailed tutorials, step-by-step guides help. Don’t expect to create a masterpiece every time you pick up your tools. Set aside a separate sketchbook or canvas pad solely for practice. Understand the basics of colour, tone and value, since these are what ultimately distinguishes a good painting from a breathtaking painting. Open your mind and learn as much as you possibly can. Practice, more often than perfect, makes permanent. Find what you’d want to ingrain into that artistic muscle and work hard at it.
Find your style
An artistic style is a characteristic that makes your art easily recognizable in a sea of work.
This is always the hardest part. It certainly helps to let go of the idea that you need to have a unique stamp on your work. I’ve been painting and sketching practically all my life and I‘m still trying to ascertain a style of my own, a signature so to say. Knowing your medium really works wonders at this stage.
Look back at all of your artistic work till date. Identify elements or nuances that appear often. This could be a distinct colour palette you’ve always gravitated towards or bold brush strokes. Most established artists’ work is discernible even from a distance. One famous instance is Van Gogh. His paintings are easily distinguishable owing to the dramatic brushwork.
Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash
But hey, don’t limit yourself to one genre or one medium. Note that I say “discovering your medium” and not “deciding upon a medium”. You’ve got to spend enough exploring the possibilities.
Don’t forget to enjoy
Push past your comfort zone. Throw buckets of paint on a wall, pore over a tiny canvas with a 00000 brush, upcycle a bunch of old magazines. Do whatever it takes to get those creative juices flowing. If you’d rather try something new every day than stick with a single style, that’s great too.
Don’t be too serious about your art, focus on enjoying the process first. Picking a form of expression that brings you joy, and putting in the work, will in time, get you some fine results.
Turn on some music, let a TV show play in the background or listen to an audiobook. Brew a cup of tea, throw on some comfy pyjamas.
Let the time you use to create art be nothing short of a vacation in the middle of the day. | https://medium.com/@rheaacharya23/how-to-make-better-art-b0c1c10f0352 | ['Rhea Acharya'] | 2020-12-11 11:46:14.413000+00:00 | ['Drawing', 'Beginner', 'Tips And Tricks', 'Art', 'Painting'] |
Why I Don’t Follow My Passion | Why I Don’t Follow My Passion
Motivations can’t bring food to your table
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash
I’m a Digital Marketer by profession & a photographer by passion. You may wonder why I didn’t make my career in photography. I actually tried and learned a life-changing lesson that drove me to separate my career and passion.
I brought up hearing the words “Follow Your Passion”. Later found out that it’s the biggest misconception, motivational speakers give us.
The quote should be, “Follow your passion but not Blindly”.
I was confused at the age of 25, “from where should I start?”. The most common thought of us.
I didn’t have a shitload of money or any ovarian lottery, and passion related jobs pushed me to fail horribly.
But I didn't take it as a failure, I took it as a life-changing lesson and started my new beginning. I would like to share what are the lessons that changed my perspective. | https://medium.com/illumination/why-i-dont-follow-my-passion-78177176d9cc | ['Intisar Mahee'] | 2020-12-12 21:11:32.627000+00:00 | ['Passion', 'Motivation', 'Jobs', 'Careers', 'Career Advice'] |
The Tragic Story of Homosexual Jews in Nazi Germany | When World War II ended, it was a time of great jubilation for the thousands of people incarcerated in the Nazi concentration camps. However, nothing changed for the homosexual prisoners who continued to serve their sentence due to a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994.
As per Paragraph 175 (Section 175 in English), homosexual acts were a crime. The law wasn’t completely abolished as late as 1994.
A lthough the Nazi’s treatment of homosexuals is well documented, far less attention has been given to the continuation of this persecution in post-war Germany.
The origins of Paragraph 175 can be traced to as early as the 15th century. Most sodomy related laws in the western civilizations are a vestige of Christianity during late Antiquity.
On May 17, 2002 — a date symbolically chosen as ‘17.5’ — the German parliament pardoned all the victims and made provisions for ‘vindication certificates’ upon request. | https://medium.com/the-collector/the-tragic-story-of-homosexual-jews-in-nazi-germany-3c6590906854 | ['Kamna Kabir'] | 2020-08-15 22:07:23.406000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Human Rights', 'Gay', 'History', 'World'] |
Who is Kafka and Why Should You Care? | Image created with Canva
“How many Kafka’s have lived and died without ever sharing their voice with the world, when their voice would have changed it forever. How many people never know who they’ll be after they’re gone.” ~ Robert Pantano, Pursuit of Wonder
Every year for my mother’s birthday, I take her out for dinner. Unfortunately, her favorite restaurant, Country Catfish, closed. So we googled catfish restaurants in the area and was surprised to find that Red Lobster® serves catfish.
While we were waiting for our meal, we decided to play the electronic table games. Smashy Brick was fun, but didn’t keep our attention very long, so we switched to trivia games.
Mom avoided selecting the book category because she knows I love to read and she has never really liked to read. I know right! To be fair, I have never liked to do crafty things like sew or crochet.
Finally, only the book category remained and a question stumped me!
“Who would Player 1 prefer to read: Shakespeare, JK Rowling, Stephen King, or Kafka?”
Who is Kafka? I couldn’t believe there was a name on a list of the most recognized writers and I had no idea who it was or what genre he (or she) wrote; Poetry, SciFi, Historical, Horror, Mystery, Fantasy, Self-Help? I couldn’t wait to get home and look it up!
Franz Kafka… Wow! What I discovered blew my mind. His name could be used in place of feeling down, fearful, and insecure; as in “I have been feeling a bit Kafka lately due to the pandemic and election drama!”
Actually, there is a related word that has a similar meaning according to the Cambridge Dictionary: “Kafkaesque”
“Extremely unpleasant, frightening, confusing, and similar to situations described in the novels of Franz Kafka.”
Franz Kafka had a passion for writing, but when his first novel didn’t sell, he decided his writing must not be worthy of publication. He continued to write, but on his deathbed, asked his best friend to burn the manuscripts. Fortunately, his friend published Kafka’s work instead of burning it, thereby creating Kafka’s posthumous legacy.
Kafka struggled with self-esteem issues, thanks to his tyrannical father. How many of us can relate to having a “Kafka” father that bullies, abuses, and demeans.
Nearly one hundred years later, Kafka’s dark tales resonates with creatives who are torn between speaking up and remaining silent; between ignoring the voices within and giving them an outlet in order to stay sane; between sharing their stories and doubting if anyone even cares enough to read them.
I’ve been there. Many times. But something internally pushes me to forsake all other avenues and write to give that little girl, who was silenced for so long, a voice.
I have often felt that my poetry and stories may not gain traction until after I’ve departed, if ever, and that’s okay. I’m honoring the drive within my soul to write, come what may.
Maybe my writing will inspire someone to share their own stories. Who knows what effect pursuing our passion and taking action may have in healing our wounds and helping someone else along the way.
All that enlightenment from playing a game and hanging out with my mother on her special day. Write on!
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/kafkaesque | https://medium.com/writerkats/who-is-kafka-and-why-should-you-care-5d86e244e9a4 | ['Kathy Gerstorff'] | 2020-11-05 23:50:52.731000+00:00 | ['Kafka', 'Writing', 'Fear', 'Existentialism', 'Reading'] |
One of thanks | The boys are home and it is glorious..i am in awe, ..it is just what you’ve become.. it’s glorious your new tone.. I’m sure this is what we thought it would be.. so close now.. throwing that word love around ..this is how we live.
But let me confess .. I have only known the life of regret.. and let me confess I would have lived that life.. but I need this one with you now .. I am in this one…I will live this one … your face is the only face … I have written well, but this life I will live..
I am naked in the living room pressed up against that rug.. here in this place we’ve built. Here where fate is a quartet of ones .. and I can’t help it … confessing this way. Wrapping my arms around you this way.. changing my passwords to reflect these days as we build the new .. something you said in passing, and now I’m confessing to you. We have said the words .. and we have longed to be.. and now it is nice.. and now it feels safe.. and now I have let the death and the fear of being me.. and joined the life that has requested me.. your only request … like all those times before.. like all those hanging moons.. like all those promised kisses and how I’d die in your arms .. but choose instead to live in your light… you call it warmth and I call it truth
So I refused to finish.. no need to be perfect tonight.. life is not a series of perfect occasions so I’ll leave that outside .. we live inside… and God is here
“If only he loved you.” (they will not say these words) They will not be the words spoken after I’ve crumpled like loose skin.. far too much to pick up and bury outside.... marriage proposals are like this.. far too much skin to leave in the sink. But I love you and I’ve surrendered.. cause your joy is breath.. and the remnants of fear have stopped blocking that drain and the doors have all opened. With your sweet suckling kiss… this life is for adoration.. the love cluttering the floor.. this life is for giving.. your hands tied to my pillows .. as I promise you more.. giving you more..
You’ve allowed me to become gentle… required it as you lay flat rocks as a path.. laying your head on my chest.. allowed me to coax a dragon through the eye of your needle.. and I am grateful..
“My remarks have become grateful..and I am grateful.. and the confession is one of thanks, kissing all of your lips.. this forever now a word.. reality theory.. this forever is now” — -Moses in the wild
Art credit : Loving Couple, Mithuna, 13th century, Orissa, India. Eastern Ganga dynasty. | https://medium.com/@bretmarstonhall/one-of-thanks-c65bf1dbf637 | ['Moses In The Wild'] | 2020-12-21 21:46:53.479000+00:00 | ['Love Letters', 'Yogasutras', 'Recovery', 'Marriage Proposal', 'Love'] |
Marketing lessons from ‘The Jetsons’ | Marketing lessons from ‘The Jetsons’
What can a 58-year-old TV show teach us about modern sales?
Image via Mark Anderson on Flickr
In 2020, there’s no way to deny that technology is taking over — it’s cleaning your floors, monitoring your home for burglars, paying for your groceries, allowing you to eavesdrop on live-in guests, and controlling your television and computer viewing. Mostly it’s convenient and fun to use. Other times it can be creepy.
But fans of the ’60s (or ’80s) “The Jetsons” managed to make their tech-savvy businesses and home life more cool than it is invasive. There were no Echo users who had recorded conversations sent to someone’s employer. Hackers weren’t breaking into Amazon Ring to harass small children. Alexa and Google Home weren’t targeting users for phishing out unauthorized password changes.
But if you look closely enough, the Jetsons had to do their fair share of marketing cleanup in a tech-crazed world too. Here’s how I saw them do it. | https://medium.com/we-need-to-talk/marketing-lessons-from-the-jetsons-b40ecfabe269 | ['Shamontiel L. Vaughn'] | 2020-10-12 02:35:37.146000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Marketing', 'Advertising', 'Space', 'Inventions'] |
Terraform Over A Weekend — Deployments to AWS | Spent the weekend provisioning resources to AWS with Terraform. Thought I’d make some notes which hope you find valuable.
What did I do and learn? https://www.udemy.com/course/terraform-associate-prep-course
Implemented concepts of variables, maps etc and went through the documentation which is excellent!
Advanced Concepts also covered including Workspaces and its purpose when creating Dev / Test / QA / Staging / Prod etc and the need for consistency and how to deploy.
How Terraform env’s are managed and operated with by Workspaces and how to switch between the different environments and tear them down.
Pushing a deployment environment from staging to production using Workspaces.
Further Notes:
Dynamic Blocks
These are a way we can use reusable code in Terraform
PROVIDER VERSIONS
“~> 2.0“
“>= 2.9.0“ — (OR CAN HAVE MINOR INCREMENTS)
STRUCTURE TYPES
These are tuples and objects
DATA SOURCES
https://registry.terraform.io/providers/hashicorp/aws/latest/docs/data-sources/instance
These are a way for terraform to query AWS to get a result — they don’t actually set anything up but query AWS to get you information back such as DB servers in a specific region etc. (Good for auditing purposes or setting things up)
BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS
This is where you’d pass in user data using the “file” function to pass things in to EC2’s
Another example is “element” which when you pass in a position it will return the value
Another example is the “values” which takes a map and returns a list containing values of elements in the map
Flatten is if you have multiple lists it will squash them down so you’d have 1.
VERSIONING
Basically for only specific exact inputs of versions — For example “=“ or no operator — exact version equality
“!=:“ version not equal
“>, >=, <, <=:” — Greater than, lesser than etc. ~>: — this is a pessimistic constraint operator
MODULES
Terraform modules allow to create blocks of reusable code, these are in a nutshell, folders with terraform code in them that TF scans and sees what it needs — For instance a VPC could have 100’s lines of code so you would reference this in the main.tf folder as this below. It can also support Local and Remote modules
Note — (You don’t need to add a provider in db.tf folder as this is already set up in the main.tf module folder )
API + PROVIDERS
If an API is available you can create your own Provider.
Providers use plugins (interacts with API’s etc)
MULTI-PROVIDERS SETUP
To make them available to pull in the Terraform plugins you need to run “terraform init”
CUSTOM PLUGINS
Ones that isn’t available you can manually put them into the folders to be available — Linux/Other = ~/.terraform.d/plugins
Windows = %APPDATA%\terraform.d\plugins
LOCAL VS REMOTE EXEC — For when plugins simply don’t do the job allowing you to execute something from your machine (If user data for example fails — Terraform will give a success as it doesn’t care however you can use local exec with Ansible from your local machine — when TF deploys local exec would execute on the underlying machine to make changes you would like. (More engrained) )
TERRAFORM REGISTRY
This is where you find a wide range of modules (these have been verified by hashicorp / trusted)
https://registry.terraform.io/modules/terraform-aws-modules
MODULE INPUTS
For local variable module inputs If you’re creating these you should create the “moduledemo” (or whatever you choose to) — Create a db.tf file and main.tf file ( Do the same for any other module import you want to create — i.e VPC etc etc) — From then make it look like the below.
2.
3. Reference this in the main.tf file
MODULE OUTPUTS
In here you can group together all the outputs for your module
Gives a central place to look…
Attributes are “.private_ip”
1 — create an outputs.tf file and put stuff in it like this
2 — Next navigate to main.tf and enter the block to look like
3 — Then when you run it will give you the output as per below.
CHILD MODULES
These are modules under the parent essentially.
Create your folders within the db folder (I.e if you are wanting to create 2 different databases mariadb and mysql)
2 — Next give the entry in the main.tf a specific “tunnel vision” update to what you want the terraform apply to look at and launch (terraform looks insides all the files to see what it needs to set up so this way by specifying it directly you are telling it specifically what to look for)
HOW TO PASS IN ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
Once you add an input variable into the main.tf (See below)
Once the above is done from the command line CLI enter “export TF_VAR_vpcname=envvpc”. (For windows the command is “setx”. )
Environment variables are useful for entering variables or secrets etc that you don’t want in the code.
CLI VARIABLES
Another way to pass in env variables is to type from the command line terraform plan -var=”vpcname=cliname”
ORDER OF VARIABLES — Priorty
Environment Variables
Terraform.tfvars
Terraform.tfvars.json
Any.auto.tfvars
Any -var or -var-file options
USING TFVARS FILE
(Tfvars is used by Terraform if no variable is set and it cannot find anything else * it defaults to TFVARS essentially….)
TO UNSET ENV VARIABLES USING THE CLI
Type in the Cli “unset TF_VAR_vpcname”
SETTING AUTO TFVARS
If TFVARS file is not set, and env variables not set it will look something like dev.auto.tfvars
MULTIPLE VALUE FILES
This will pick up the values from the prod.tfvars file ( this is useful being able to set these values when creating different prod / non prod environments etc )
Good to use multiple tfvars files for different AMI’s etc / prod / non prod environments etc..
TERRAFORM WORKFLOW
Write — Use Terraform Cloud as Dev Environment (Can store variables and state inside Terraform Cloud)
In Terraform cloud when a PR is raised, Terraform Plan is run.
Create — Before merging a second plan is run before approval to create
TO VALIDATE YOUR CODE BEFOREHAND
Type in Terraform Validate
TERRAFORM EXTRA COMMANDS
Terraform fmt — this formats the code nicely for use within your IDE.
TERRAFORM TAINTING
If you’re launching a massive infrastructure and some things fail — you can mark resources as taint to mark to be replaced essentially
TERRAFORM UNTAINT
Run “terraform untaint aws_vpc.myvpc2”
TERRAFORM IMPORT
Make your click ops things import to Terraform by copying the ID and typing in the command “terraform import aws_vpc.vpcimport vpc-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”
TERRAFORM WORKSPACES
To see your current workspace you are in type in “terraform workspace list”
To see your current workspace you are in type in “terraform workspace list” To create a new workspace (i.e dev , test, staging, prod etc) — Type in “terraform workspace new dev”
To select a workspace type in “terraform workspace show”
To swap the env you are in type in “terraform workspace select”
To delete a workspace type in “terraform delete dev”
TERRAFORM STATELIST
To show a list of resources inside that will be created type in “terraform state list”
TERRAFORM STATE PULL
You are not limited to having your state on your local machine and CAN have them stored in the cloud (S3 Bucket etc)
To pull down type in “Terraform state pull”. *(Note — If you do this on your local machine there probably isn’t any point as you can just see the files anyway)…..
RENAMINING RESOURCES INSIDE YOUR STATEFILE
Be careful with this command as messing around with it can rename resources and introduces a world of pain (backup-out will make a backup) — Type in “terraform state mv aws_vpc.myvpc2 aws_vpc.2myvpc -backup-out=
DELETING FROM AWS CONSOLE AFTER YOU DO A IMPORT TO TERRAFORM
Doing this will make your statefile still list the resource — to remove type in “terraform state rm aws_vpc.importvpc”
DEBUGGING TERRAFORM
Debug bug reports — type in “export TF_LOG=“
(This basically means it exports a bug report which you can link to the forums etc for help with)
Info, warn, debug, Trace (the most verbose logging you can create)
SECURING TERRAFORM KEYS
DO NOT store access keys but rather use environment variables, the CLI or the Vault provider.
WHAT IS SENTINEL
SECURITY Policy as code — Defines policy as to what is created (creating something in production etc you don’t want port 22 open, Sentinel would essentially make sure code adheres to the
https://www.hashicorp.com/sentinel/
PASSING IN SECRETS CREDENTIALS ETC
To do this you can use Secrets Injection
Vault can store secrets and access them to retrieve secrets
https://www.vaultproject.io/
TO WRITE A SECRET IN VAULT
“Vault kv put secret/hellp foo-world”
TO GET / RETRIEVE A SECRET IN VAULT. (Grabs from behind the scenes with an API)
“vault kv get secret/hello”
TO REMOVE AND CLEAN UP SECURITY PASSWORDS ETC FROM TERRAFORM FILES
Lets say this for example below — big NO NO hard coding credentials ……
You need to call Vault as an import provider to talk to it.
To eliminate the need to hard code the username and password — remove the values and replace with for username “data.dbuser.data” and for password “data.dbpassword.data”
Data sources (below) are queries used to query vault
The default key is Value in Vault and is how it’s pulled
TERRAFORM STATE FILE
Keeps track of what you create
TERRAFORM REFRESH
Used for drift when you delete something — state is stored in the stateful
To retrieve type in “Terraform refresh” and then next “Terraform Plan” — this will get them back in sync. | https://medium.com/@ryan-rafferty/terraform-over-a-weekend-deployments-to-aws-35efa0303573 | ['Ryan Rafferty'] | 2020-12-10 13:11:57.456000+00:00 | ['Iac', 'Terraform Cloud', 'Terraform'] |
But, That Is Not Useful, No? | The Roommate.
Surrounded by humble trees and birds of myriad shades, I was lying in my new hostel room on a quiet June afternoon. The quiet, however, didn’t last for long. I could hear the sound of footsteps beyond the thresholds of the room, followed by a soft knock on my door. When I unlocked the door, the watchman enthusiastically introduced me to my roommate and her parents. I had arrived five hours early, so the watchman didn’t have anyone to introduce to me then.
The roommate’s expression was a mixture of confusion and wonderment. She stood there, lean and white, burdened with a heavy bag and probably the thoughts about the chapter of life that she (also me) would commence in a few days.
She entered with her parents, and they checked every corner of the room, same as my parents did. After her parents left, she sat on her bed and asked a question, which I later witnessed her asking numerous other people on her first encounter with them. She inquired, “When is your birthday?” I found the question to be a bit absurd as a conversation starter, but I responded anyway.
Later it turned out that she was into zodiacs and wanted to know what my sign was. Apparently, she and I were a good match as per the stars, but these compatibility predictions didn’t hinder the bumpy roads we hit at the beginning of our stay at the hostel. So, this was how I first met my roommate almost two years ago.
From the first day and until now, the friendship has been a roller coaster ride comprising of unexpected (or maybe expected?) lows and exuberant highs. Of serene silences and irritating squabbles. Of multitude of questions and parables of “connection”. Of weird facial expressions and innocent sleeping positions. Of nonsense conversations and prolonged judgemental gossips. Of weird secret habits and conventional tears for life. Of graceful postures and flexible yoga poses. Of ponderings like, “Uh-oh, this is not working”, and “umm, this is not so bad!”. Of sharing chocolates and not sharing resentful feelings immediately, but after being adequately mentally critical. Of trying to wake up early in the morning and failing quite a few times. Of blissful mornings and peaceful nights filled with stars. And lastly and lately, of hundreds of eye-rolls!
Contrary to my initial judgements, the roommate is a fine person, maybe a favorite at the institute. Maybe! I can literally see her eye-rolling at this statement and saying, “over‼”. She is a blast of energy, who runs as if she’s best friends with the winds. But she is also grace and finesse when it comes to doing “useful” things that she loves. She is both crazy and understanding, and accepting and generous. And I’m feeling this much description and praise is enough for this year’s birthday. So lastly, she is a beautiful, lovable human being, filled with pixie dust and loads of happiness. I hope she continues on her upward trajectory and be the most USEFUL person in the whole wide world.
Image Resource: Me
Much love and super blessings‼ | https://medium.com/@dikshh/but-that-is-not-useful-no-708cdd8f11a9 | ['Diksha Singh'] | 2021-02-08 17:01:24.069000+00:00 | ['Friendship', 'Birthday', 'Love', 'Sharing', 'Roommates'] |
#ElectAAPIs2020: A Conversation with Gina Ortiz Jones | Gina Ortiz Jones, a Filipina-American Air Force veteran, is running to represent TX-23 in Congress for the second time in the 2020 general election.
This election cycle, a record number of AAPI candidates are running for office across the country. In particular, one state that has seen a remarkable number of AAPI names on its ballots is Texas.
To kick off The Young Politicasian’s #ElectAAPIs2020 Interview Series, we spoke with TX-23 Democratic nominee Gina Ortiz Jones. Jones, an Air Force veteran, is running for Congress for the second time after narrowly losing to Republican incumbent Will Hurd in 2018. If elected, Jones would be the first Filipina-American woman in Congress, and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to represent the state of Texas in the House of Representatives.
When and why did you decide to run for office? Was there a specific experience or moment that inspired you to do so? How has your background in national security influenced your campaign and your policies?
Gina Ortiz Jones: As a first-generation American that was raised by a single mom, I’ve been fortunate to live the American Dream. Over my nearly 15-year career in national security, I’ve also seen firsthand the importance — the indispensability — of American leadership. I served in the Air Force and deployed to Iraq, have advised on operations all over Latin America and Africa, and wrapped up my federal career working in the Executive Office of the President to protect our economic and national security. I stayed on for six months after the election in 2016 to see what good I could do from within, but it became very clear that was going to be limited given the direction of this administration.
I’ve served in countries where women and minorities are targeted, where governments’ disregard for conflicts of interest have hollowed out those countries, and I’ve seen what happens when good people don’t stand up in the face of tyranny. There wasn’t any one event, but I had to ask myself, am I going to be part of the problem or part of the solution? I had to think about how my community and country invested in me — things like reduced lunch and subsidized housing were critical investments that allowed me to grow up healthy, get an education, and go on to serve our country. In Congress, I’ll fight to ensure everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential and give back to our very special country.
How has your AAPI heritage and LGBTQ+ identity influenced the legislation you support and the issues you care about? Your candidacy is that of several “firsts” — you would be the first Filipina-American elected to the US Congress and first openly LGBTQ+ Texas representative. What do you think is the importance of diverse voices in our government?
I’d be honored to be the first, but it’s more important that I’m not the last, because we’ve seen what happens when our voices are not at the table. I was able to go to college thanks to a four-year Air Force ROTC scholarship that took me from John Jay High School to Boston University, but one of the very first things I had to do was sign a piece of paper that said I will not engage in homosexual behavior because Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell applied to me even as a cadet. I knew that my opportunity to get an education, to serve our country, to die for our country — all of that goes away if they found out I was gay, because at the time there weren’t enough leaders with the moral courage to say anybody ready and willing to serve their country should be able to do so.
And as a proud first-generation, Filipino American, and the daughter of an immigrant, I’ve been fortunate to live the American Dream. My story starts over 40 years ago when my mom left the Philippines for her shot at the American Dream. She raised my younger sister and I by herself, and she reminded us every day that we were lucky — not smart — lucky to be born in this country, and we’d have to find a way to give back to a country that gave us so much. It’s why I served, and why my sister serves in the Navy to this day. I bring the perspective of someone who knows firsthand that if you invest in the most vulnerable you are investing in the strength and potential of this country. That’s one of the many reasons I believe it’s so important that we have diverse voices in government who share the lived experiences of the people they’re elected to serve.
What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had on the (virtual or in-person) campaign trail, either this year or in 2018?
There is so much I miss about campaigning in person, from knocking on doors in places like Socorro and Alpine and Eagle Pass, to meeting folks on a Friday night at a local high school football game. But the health and safety of my community and my team is our top priority during this ongoing public health crisis. Before the pandemic, I was knocking on doors in Uvalde in March, and this woman recognized me and gave me a huge hug. It’s always nice to be greeted like that, but it was also a reminder about how hopeful people are about getting our country back on the right track. People are hungry for change, and it starts with electing new leaders.
You are one of a record number of Asian American candidates in Texas this election cycle, including several others running for US Congress. What do you see as the significance of this rise of Asian Americans in politics, in Texas and nationwide?
It’s not surprising that people who have the most to lose under the current administration, whether it’s Asian Americans and other people of color, women, working people, and more, are stepping up to say, “I’ve got something to say about that.”
Even during this pandemic and economic crisis, we’ve seen how it’s disproportionately impacted already vulnerable communities. I learned a long time ago that when you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. It’s absolutely critical that we elect leaders who reflect the diversity of our communities — and more importantly elect leaders with the courage to fight for our communities.
In 2016, just 49% of eligible AAPI voters turned out to vote. What do you think is at the root of low voter turnout in the AAPI community, and how can we work to increase turnout this fall?
We have to motivate folks to turn out to vote by focusing on the issues that matter to them. That’s why in this race, my top priority has been expanding access to quality, affordable health care. Texas is the most uninsured state in the country, and this district is one of the most medically underserved parts of the state. In 18 of the 29 counties in this district, there are three or less doctors, and in three counties there are no doctors. This issue hits home for many families in this district, and has only gotten more pressing during this public health and economic crisis. People in this district are ready for change, but we aren’t taking anything for granted. We are doing everything we can to reach out to voters across this district and make sure we have record turnout in November.
What advice do you have for AAPI youth wanting to run for office?
I would pass along my favorite piece of advice from my mom: Be kind, work hard, and be so good they can’t ignore you.
What can the members of our caucus and high schoolers around the country do to help support your campaign?
No one is coming to save us — we have to put in the hard work to get our country back on the right track. There’s so much at stake in this election, and no one can afford to sit this out. I came up just short in 2018, just 926 votes, despite being massively outspent, so I know how critical every phone call, every text message is to helping us win this race. I encourage you to be involved, and make sure your voice is heard. And if you’re interested in helping us flip this district blue, please sign up to volunteer with us at https://www.mobilize.us/ginaortizjonesforcongress/. Thanks for being in this fight! | https://medium.com/the-young-politicasian/electaapis2020-a-conversation-with-gina-ortiz-jones-37a47eacf798 | ['Emily Yi'] | 2020-09-06 23:36:08.558000+00:00 | ['Texas', 'Politics', 'LGBTQ', 'Asian American', 'Congress'] |
Part 06: November 14, 1966 (Mao Backs the Shanghai Rebels) to January 3, 1967 | 14/11/66 Mao convenes the Politburo Standing Committee to ratify Zhang Chunqiao’s decisively pro-rebel handling of the Anting rail incident.
14/11/66 Mao reminds the Politburo that the PRC constitution guarantees Chinese citizens’ right to organise: the Workers’ Rebel HQ is legal.
14/11/66 Tao Zhu makes a self-criticism for having opposed Zhang Chunqiao and the rest of the CCRG’s response to the Anting rail incident.
15/11/66 In Suzhou, Zhang Chunqiao signs an agreement with the Shanghai Workers’ Rebel HQ, agreeing to (a second set of) five demands.
15/11/66 Lin Biao comes under attack in a poster written by “Yilin Dixi” (a pseudonym), a Beijing Agricultural University middle schooler.
15/11/66 Yilin Dixi is disappointed that Lin’s command of theory is so poor, taking him to task for his 18/9/66 speech which belittled Marx.
15/11/66 Kang Sheng tells Xinjiang Red Guards that seizing US dollars from bourgeois households is “class struggle in the economic realm”.
15/11/66 The Central Committee voids all the damaging political labels applied to Red Guards, and suggests Party organs destroy their files.
15/11/66 The anti-Confucius liaison office in Qufu complain to the State Council for making the Sage’s “reactionary” tomb a protected site.
15/11/66 Outside Confucius’ family home, the Red Guards stage a mass rally and smash the State Council’s “National Cultural Relic” plaque.
16/11/66 Zhang Chunqiao reports to Mao on his handling of the Anting rail incident. Mao approves: “you can act first and report afterwards”.
16/11/66 On Mao’s instruction, Nie Yuanzi leads a delegation of Beijing students and teachers to Shanghai to support the rebels there.
16/11/66 Zhou Enlai addresses a mass meeting about the vast number of people coming to Beijing. He estimates 200 000 people enter every day.
17/11/66 Mao receives a delegation from Guinea. He congratulates Public Works Minister Ismaël Touré on their struggle against imperialism.
17/11/66 A conference of local leaders from all across China begins in Beijing, to discuss how to keep production going through the GPCR.
18/11/66 Copies of the 15/11/66 “Yilin Dixi” open letter to Lin Biao, which criticised Lin’s grasp of Marxism, are produced and distributed.
18/11/66 The Beijing Party Committee bans factories and schools from setting up their own prisons — violators will “severely punished”.
18/11/66 Students at Beijing 6th Middle School write to the CCRG. Murders have been committed at their school, but the police will not act.
19/11/66 Unannounced, Chen Boda leads a CCRG delegation to inspect Beijing 6th Middle School, just over the road from the Zhongnanhai.
19/11/66 Chen Boda heads straight to the music classroom, which has been converted into a prison and “interrogation” room since mid-August.
19/11/66 Two adults and a student have perished in the gaol. “Long live the red terror” is painted on the wall in blood (but whose blood?).
19/11/66 Chen Boda strongly admonishes the young Red Guards in charge and closes down the classroom prison, freeing its remaining inmates.
20/11/66 The CCP transmits, to all levels, Beijing’s instruction against Red Guards running their own prisons. Mao wants captives released.
21/11/66 At the Ministry of Education, a big-character poster goes up criticising the minister for being “confused” by the May 16 Circular.
21/11/66 After weeks of being occupied by Nie Yuanzi’s Peking University student opponents, her mouthpiece Xin Beida resumes publication.
22/11/66 Mao rejects the cautious views coming out of a conference of local leaders about how to stop the GPCR ruining economic production.
23/11/66 A Red Guard faction from the Beijing Forestry Institute puts up posters carrying the unusual slogan: “Long Live Liu Shaoqi!”.
24/11/66 At the Aeronautics Institute, ex-Red Guards opposed to the Red Flag faction put up a poster asking pointed questions of the CCRG.
24/11/66 Zhou Enlai asks Mao for approval to intervene in a Red Guard “investigation” into North West China Party Chief Liu Lantao’s past.
25/11/66 Before sunrise at offices of the People’s Daily in Beijing, students emerge having spent the night talking politics with Chen Boda.
25/11/66 The last dregs of the Picket Corps storm into and smash the Red Guard 3rd HQ’s base near Tiananmen, injuring some of those inside.
25/11/66 The Qufu Party Committee start recruiting a 300-strong “Peasant Grave Digging Team”, preparing to help Red Guards dig up Confucius.
25/11/66 On Shanghai’s Cultural Plaza, 15 000 Red Guards hold a rally to “open fire on” the local “capitalist reactionary” Party Committee.
25/11/66 On a freezing cold Tiananmen Square, another Red Guard rally begins. Arranged at short notice, it is the eighth one since 18/8/66.
25/11/66 For four hours, Mao waves to a parade of “young revolutionary fighters”. Red Guards recite Mao quotes and sing The East is Red.
26/11/66 Beijing’s Red Guard rally resumes after yesterday’s parade. Students fill Tiananmen square and line the avenue to the airport.
26/11/66 Hundreds of different contingent of “Long March” Red Guards have walked to Beijing from all over China: from Jiangxi to Mongolia.
26/11/66 Mao is driven from Tiananmen Square to the airport, waving to crowds on the way. He reviews yet more Red Guards at the airfield.
26/11/66 As the rally ends, Red Guards try to cram through the airfield’s one and only exit. Many are trampled to death in the ice-cold mud.
26/11/66 The Party decides this should be the last rally, at least until spring. Mao has reviewed about 12 million Red Guards since August.
26/11/66 Shanghai workers opposed to the Workers’ Rebel HQ form the “Red Defenders Battalion” and start recruiting large numbers of members.
26/11/66 The Red Defenders Battalion call on Zhang Chunqiao to self-criticise. They reject the 5 “poisonous” demands he signed on 15/11/66.
27/11/66 Li Hongshan, a student at the Beijing Forestry Institute, puts up a poster criticising the Central Cultural Revolution Group.
27/11/66 At Peking University, members of a High School Red Flag faction criticise Lin Biao and the CCRG’s “new bourgeois reactionary line”.
27/11/66 The Red Flag members and sympathisers from other groups set up a “United Action” committee to coordinate resistance across Beijing.
27/11/66 Officials from the CCRG begin a set of meetings with the Red Guard 3rd HQ, to decide how to stamp out anti-CCRG student resistance.
27/11/66 Guan Feng completes a report for Jiang Qing, accusing Tao Zhu of following the Liu-Deng line since May. Jiang forwards it to Mao.
28/11/66 While reading out a standard list of top leaders considered Mao’s “comrades-in-arms”, Jiang Qing conspicuously misses out Tao Zhu.
28/11/66 The Central Military Commission announces Jiang Qing’s appointment as its cultural adviser, technically an active service role.
28/11/66 Tan Houlan leads a 20 000-strong rally outside the Confucius Temple in Qufu. Red Guards drag Confucius’ broken statue through town.
29/11/66 The August 1 Red Guards at the Beijing Aeronautics Institute publish a second big-character poster pointedly scrutinising the CCRG.
29/11/66 In Qufu, Red Guards break commemorative arches in Confucius’ cemetery. The local “Grave Digging Team” get to work with pick axes.
29/11/66 The anti-Confucius Red Guards write to Mao. In a “thrilling development”, they have removed or smashed various reactionary symbols.
30/11/66 On Portuguese-administered Macau, the local CCP newspaper calls for an escalation in protests against the “ruthless imperialists”.
30/11/66 Outside the colonial Governor’s Palace, 60 Red Guards join and politicise a local demonstration about planning regulations.
30/11/66 The “Capital Red Guard” paper prints an essay from an anonymous writer at the Geology Institute, satirising the majority faction.
30/11/66 The essay mocks those who only rebel to a bear minimum, protect leaders and “lick ass” — they just want a nice job after the GPCR.
30/11/66 In Qufu, Red Guards dig a 3-metre trench on the site of Confucius’ grave, but have failed so far to actually locate the corpse.
30/11/66 The anti-Confucius Red Guards dig up three of Confucius’ more recent relatives. They strip them naked and hang them from a tree.
30/11/66 Student Li Hongshan puts up a banner at the Forestry Institute, reading: “Kick aside the CCRG; let’s make revolution ourselves”.
30/11/66 Zhou Enlai forbids students in Jilin to “investigate” local leaders at mass meetings. Mao knows the history and there’s no problem.
30/11/66 Rebel Red Guards take over the offices of Liberation Daily — the Shanghai Party Committee’s official newspaper — and close it down.
30/11/66 The Shanghai Party Committee organises students to drive out the occupiers, but Wang Hongwen’s rebel workers arrive and repel them.
1/12/66 Red Guards resort to using dynamite to open Confucius’ tomb. But when they peer into the crater, nothing discernibly human is left.
1/12/66 The State Council issues a circular on Red Guard revolutionary networking: too many are doing it and it’s straining infrastructure.
1/12/66 Student Li Hongshan, who called for young people to sideline the CCRG, takes part in a public debate at the Forestry Institute.
1/12/66 Li Hongshan says it’s wrong to try to apply Mao’s writings from the 1920s to the 1960s, and for the unelected CCRG to lead the GPCR.
2/12/66 Allies of Li Hongshan mount a poster on Tiananmen, accusing the CCRG of continuing the bourgeois reactionary line of the work teams.
2/12/66 The Aeronautics Institute’s August 1 Red Guards publish a third poster “inquiring” into the CCRG’s arbitrary persecution campaigns.
2/12/66 In Macau, mainland radio broadcasts call colonial authorities “fascist” and accuse them of premeditated violence against protesters.
2/12/66 Mao reviews yesterday’s State Council circular on the issue of Red Guards’ revolutionary networking: Zhou Enlai should implement it.
3/12/66 In Macau, Red Guards demand to speak to the Governor. When this is denied, they storm the building. Outside, 2000 protesters gather.
3/12/66 Macau’s colonial authorities deploy riot police and tear gas. Chinese protesters set to work destroying symbols of Portuguese rule.
3/12/66 Portuguese colonial police shoot dead two protesters but still can’t quell Macau’s revolutionary rioting. Martial law is declared.
4/12/66 Macau remains under martial law. Tanks drive student protesters off the streets, with 8 killed and hundreds injured since yesterday.
4/12/66 The Red Guard 3rd HQ react to recent anti-CCRG dissidence with posters urging people to open fire on the bourgeois reactionary line.
4/12/66 Driving around Beijing with megaphones and loudspeakers, the Red Guard 3rd HQ pledge to “defend to the death” the CCRG and Lin Biao.
4/12/66 Lin Biao chairs an enlarged Politburo meeting to deal with a report into the GPCR’s impact on China’s industry and communications.
4/12/66 Lin Biao makes a speech to the Politburo on “grasping revolution; promoting production” and whether the GPCR is disrupting industry
5/12/66 Founded secretly on 27/11/66, the United Action committee of Red Guards reveals its existence, swearing to defend the Party and Mao.
5/12/66 The first campaign of United Action is to leaflet in support of the four Marshals’ remarks on 13/11/66, which criticised extremism.
5/12/66 United Action declare that since the CCRG has made them into outlaws, they are going to rebel. They call the CCRG reactionary.
5/12/66 Student Li Hongshan criticises Chen Boda at a debate. Yi Zhenya attacks the Red Guard 3rd HQ’s “reactionary” obedience of the CCRG.
5/12/66 Wang Li tells the Politburo that Tao Zhu’s focus on “economic production” is a red herring; simply an excuse to constrain the GPCR.
6/12/66 Lin Biao closes the enlarged Politburo meeting. The economic planners’ proposal to rein in the GPCR in factories is totally rejected
6/12/66 People are gawping at Confucius’ exhumed relatives, hanging naked from a tree since 30/11/66, so Red Guards burn them in a ditch.
7/12/66 At a meeting of the China-Japan Youth Friendship Association, United Action and Red Guard 3rd HQ members fight, verbally, for hours.
8/12/66 As Red Guards meet Jiang Qing, she hints at who to go after next: mentioning Chen Yun and Bo Yibo in the same breath as Liu Shaoqi.
9/12/66 The Politburo adopts “Ten Points on Industry”, letting workers take part in the GPCR if it doesn’t get in the way of their day jobs.
10/12/66 At Peking University, big-character posters appear which criticise the Central Cultural Revolution Group — “Bombard the CCRG”.
10/12/66 Mainland authorities demand that Macau’s Governor accepts Chinese protesters’ demands and sacks officials responsible for violence.
11/12/66 Macau’s Governor meets local Chinese leaders, and agrees for the colony to compensate victims of the police (by borrowing $2m).
11/12/66 At a high school attached to Beijing Agricultural University, a poster appears which criticises Lin Biao, signed by “Yilin Dixi”.
12/12/66 Macau’s Governor accepts demands from the Guangdong Government, including banning the KMT in Macau and extraditing 7 KMT “spies”.
12/12/66 Incited by CCRG members, particularly Jiang Qing, rebel students invade the house of purged Mayor Peng Zhen and force him out.
12/12/66 In the Workers’ Stadium, Acting Beijing Mayor Wu De leads 120 000 Red Guards in “struggle” against his predecessor, Peng Zhen.
12/12/66 We De declares Peng Zhen’s clique “the scum of the Party” and some members of it, including Wu Han and Wan Li, suffer beside Peng.
13/12/66 In the small hours of the morning, crowds gather at the State Council to salute the national flag. Jiang Qing addresses them.
13/12/66 Jiang Qing applauds the crowd’s “spirit of insurgency” and pledges her support to destroy “the small clique of capitalist roaders”.
13/12/66 The Red Flag journal accuses anti-CCRG dissidents of being “a small group of capitalist roaders” attacking the “genuine left”.
13/12/66 Red Flag says targeting the spearhead of criticism is about right versus wrong. Wang Li extols dictatorship of the proletariat.
13/12/66 The US Air Force admits that one of its jets crashed in China on 20/9/65 and that its pilot, Philip E. Smith, is still being held.
14/12/66 Jiang Qing, Kang Sheng and Chen Boda meet with leaders from the Red Guard 3rd HQ and the Aeronautics Red Flag group.
14/12/66 Kang Sheng tells the rebel students that Li Hongshan, who criticised the unelected CCRG, “is a petty counter-revolutionary leader”.
14/12/66 At the Forestry Institute, factional opponents of anti-CCRG student Li Hongshan ransack his base and hold him for “interrogation”
15/12/66 The Party Centre issues “Ten Points on Villages”, legalising rural Red Guard groups (but they still need to do their farming work).
16/12/66 Lin Biao writes the foreword to a reprint of “Quotations from the Chairman” (the Little Red Book) in which he calls Mao a “genius”.
16/12/66 Chen Boda cuts (purged propaganda chief) Lu Dingyi’s stipend. He suggests Lu’s house arrest end and he be handed to the Red Guards.
16/12/66 The Forestry Institute put on a “meeting to criticise and struggle against Li Hongshan and his counter-revolutionary activities”.
16/12/66 Chen Boda attends a mass meeting of Beijing middle schoolers, discussing the Picket Corps’ opposition to “real” revolutionaries.
16/12/66 The Red Guard “patrols” have been taken over by bad elements and will be disbanded, Chen Boda’s “oath-taking meeting” announces.
16/12/66 As the oath-taking meeting ends, participants ransack Western District Picket Corps and United Action committee bases in Beijing.
16/12/66 United Action respond to the attacks on their bases with their own invasion of the Public Security Ministry: long-time adversaries.
16/12/66 Jiang Qing addresses high school Red Guards about the Picket Corps and other patrol groups: a handful of reactionary “little kids”.
16/12/66 Zhou Enlai is at the meeting, alongside his subordinates Wang Renzhong and Zhou Rongxin. Without warning, Jiang attacks the pair.
16/12/66 Jiang forces Wang and Zhou to stand before her and bow their heads, saying they enabled the patrols to act like “military police”.
16/12/66 The patrols are guilty of using weapons and murdering, says Jiang. She hints at the fact that Zhou Enlai provided material support.
16/12/66 Kang Sheng speaks next. He brands anti-CCRG student Li Hongshan a counter-revolutionary, much to the delight of his young audience.
16/12/66 Zhou Enlai speaks, saying he agrees with Jiang Qing’s words but suggests leniency in dealing with the (very young) patrol members.
17/12/66 Public Security Ministry officers carry out an early-morning raid and arrest an Aeronautics Institute anti-CCRG dissident student.
17/12/66 Forestry Institute rebels put anti-CCRG Li Hongshan through struggle, then turn him over to the Public Security Ministry’s custody.
17/12/66 At a meeting of Red Guards visiting Beijing from across China, Chen Boda says “if the enemy does not surrender, make him perish”.
18/12/66 Kuai Dafu, the Qinghua student radical favoured by the CCRG, goes to the Zhongnanhai for a private meeting with Zhang Chunqiao.
18/12/66 Zhang Chunqiao tells Kuai to go after two certain reactionaries at the heart of the CCP — and to make sure he goes “all the way”.
18/12/66 Tan Lifu, blamed for the “bloodline theory” that class is mainly inherited, is arrested for spreading this “reactionary” idea.
18/12/66 Red Guards update the CCRG and Public Security Minister Xie Fuzhi on their collaborative arrests of anti-CCRG student dissidents.
18/12/66 Jiang Qing tells Red Guards to send their captives to the Public Security Ministry (not the untrustworthy Public Security Bureau!).
18/12/66 Jiang says Wang Guangmei should go to Qinghua University to be criticised. So should Bo Yibo, for attacking Kuai Dafu on 3/7/66.
18/12/66 CCRG member Guan Feng tells the rebel students that the Picket Corps’ elite sponsors must be dragged out and shot “without mercy”.
18/12/66 On Jiang Qing’s orders, Beijing Red Guard groups have been scouring Chengdu all month for long-purged PLA Marshal Peng Dehuai.
18/12/66 Geology Institute East is Red members locate Peng. They tell him Geology Vice Minister He Changgong (a friend) has been arrested.
19/12/66 Peking University Red Guards apprehend a student who criticised the CCRG. They turn him over to the Public Security Ministry.
19/12/66 Following Zhang Chunqiao’s instruction to unify the rebel students at Qinghua, Kuai Dafu founds the “Qinghua Jinggangshan” group.
20/12/66 Lin Jie, who works for the CCRG, says that those who criticise it are class enemies and US spies; to be “suppressed without mercy”.
20/12/66 Qi Benyu writes a letter to rebel student groups. He says it’s permitted to name Tao Zhu in critical posters (unbeknownst to Tao).
20/12/66 Kuai Dafu, chemistry sophomore and leader of the Qinghua Jinggangshan, sets up a team to compile “The Selected Works of Kuai Dafu”.
21/12/66 Zhou Rongxin and Wang Renzhong, top officials working for Zhou Enlai, are arrested for having provided support to the Picket Corps.
21/12/66 Provisions to let Red Guards travel around the country for free as “revolutionary networking” are, at least in theory, abolished.
22/12/66 At Qinghua University, the Jinggangshan group calls for Wang Guangmei, Wang Renzhong and Bo Yibo to return to campus for criticism.
22/12/66 Red Guards from the Beijing Geology East is Red group return to Marshal Peng Dehuai’s Chengdu house, after finding it on 18/12/66.
23/12/66 Xu Ming, the purged Vice-Secretary of Zhou Enlai’s State Council and mother of the Red Guard Picket Corps’ leader, kills herself.
24/12/66 Student Tang Wei resigns from Qinghua’s Jinggangshan group, criticising its leaders for condemning Liu Shaoqi without due process.
24/12/66 At the Beijing Workers’ Stadium, purged General Luo Ruiqing is dragged on stage to be struggled against before 10 000 Red Guards.
24/12/66 Lin Biao has arranged for the rally to seem spontaneous (“the cadres must not go on stage”). Luo’s associates are also persecuted.
24/12/66 East is Red members in Chengdu try to contact their Beijing HQ for instructions on what to do with Peng Dehuai, but get no reply.
24/12/66 Wang Dabin, leader of East is Red’s Chongqing branch, arrives in Chengdu. He is furious that nobody has abducted Peng Dehuai yet.
24/12/66 East is Red students in Chengdu are “rightists” and “traitors”, says Wang Dabin. They start discussing how to arrest Marshal Peng.
25/12/66 While the East is Red students are still plotting Peng Dehuai’s capture, Aeronautics Red Flag seize the Marshal during the night.
25/12/66 Wang Dabin leads the East is Red students to arrest Marshal Peng, but he’s already been taken. Instead, they ransack his house.
25/12/66 At 4AM, Marshal Peng’s bodyguards arrive at his home to find him gone. Aeronautics Red Flag are holding him at the railway station.
25/12/66 Around 6000 Qinghua students (mostly members of Kuai Dafu’s Jinggangshan group) march to Tiananmen Square for a “great action”.
25/12/66 The students pledge to “thoroughly crush” the reactionary line of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. They put up posters and sing songs.
25/12/66 In the freezing wind, the rally “criticises in absentia” Liu Shaoqi’s wife Wang Guangmei — bête noire of rally organiser Kuai Dafu.
25/12/66 The rally breaks into marching columns. People chant “Liu Shaoqi must confess his crimes!” and “Battle Liu-Deng to the bloody end”.
25/12/66 Zhou Enlai cables Marshal Peng Dehuai’s captors in Chengdu, ordering them to involve the PLA in his transport and not to abuse him.
26/12/66 Zhou Enlai tells the Qinghua Jinggangshan group, led by Kuai Dafu, that they ought to stop using the slogan “overthrow Liu Shaoqi”.
26/12/66 Zhou also tells Jinggangshan that Mao has not (yet) approved their request to bring Liu’s wife Wang Guangmei back to campus.
26/12/66 A Shanghai workers’ group meet with Jiang Qing, Chen Boda, Zhang Chunqiao and other CCRG members to talk about their contracts.
26/12/66 Workers complain that the contract system is too loose and allows enterprises to exploit them with the Labour Ministry’s blessing.
26/12/66 Moved, Jiang Qing tells workers to wipe away the “capitalist” contract system. “I am getting so angry!” she shouts through tears.
26/12/66 Trying to reduce tensions, United Action hold a “Rally to Establish Public-Spiritedness” and invite the CCRG and Red Guard 3rd HQ.
26/12/66 No CCRG or 3rd HQ members attend United Action’s rally, and so their attempt to mollify the left with self-criticism seems futile.
26/12/66 Film of autumn’s Red Guard rallies is played. United Action cheer when Mao or Zhou Enlai appear. They boo Jiang Qing and the CCRG.
26/12/66 Angry at the CCRG’s absence, members of the crowd storm the stage. They lead chants to overthrow “certain members of” the CCRG.
26/12/66 After the rally, United Action members exit the hall and march to protest outside a rebel faction’s base at the Forestry Institute.
26/12/66 The United Action breakaway group chant slogans attacking “arrogant” Jiang Qing, and calling for Chen Boda to be given a “scare”.
26/12/66 Mao is 73 today. He invites top leftists to dinner, although not Kang Sheng or Lin Biao (it is supposed to be a party, after all).
26/12/66 Mao toasts “to the unfolding of a nationwide all-round civil war!” and celebrates the rebels “rising up in Party and state organs”.
27/12/66 In a moment of privacy Jing Xizhen, Peng Dehuai’s aide, tells him of Zhou Enlai’s 25/12/66 instructions. The Marshal is stunned.
27/12/66 “Did he really call me comrade?” asks Peng. He did: Zhou is trying to protect him. Peng covers his face and trembles at the news.
27/12/66 In Chengdu, Aeronautics Red Flag (who are holding Marshal Peng Dehuai in custody) meet with the Wang Dabin’s East is Red group.
27/12/66 Red Flag and East is Red agree to share custody of Marshal Peng, overseen by the local PLA command (as per Zhou Enlai’s orders).
27/12/66 Both factions accompany Marshal Peng into a train. Zhou Enlai stipulated not to use aircraft (as rebels control Beijing airport).
28/12/66 In Beijing, Zhang Chunqiao receives a phone call telling him that his home in Shanghai has been ransacked by the “Scarlet Guards”.
28/12/66 The Scarlet Guards, a workers’ group opposed to Wang Hongwen’s Rebel Workers’ HQ, have not in fact done anything to Zhang’s home.
28/12/66 The PLA detonates a 300kt dirty atomic bomb (Hiroshima was 15). China’s fifth nuclear test is another step towards a hydrogen bomb.
28/12/66 Members of United Action invade the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, demanding that their arrested comrades be released.
28/12/66 Zhang Chunqiao phones his wife. He says “the peach of Shanghai is now ripe” — Mayor Cao Diqiu cannot be allowed to pick it first.
29/12/66 Zhang Chunqiao phones Wang Hongwen, leader of the Shanghai Rebel Workers’ HQ. It’s time to “wage a blow-for-blow struggle”.
29/12/66 Mao convenes Politburo and CCRG to hold a “joint meeting to offer Wang Renzhong some views”, under Zhou Enlai’s chairmanship.
29/12/66 A devoted follower of Mao, Red Guards have discovered some of Wang’s slightly over-familiar poems about the Chairman and are angry.
29/12/66 Peng Dehuai arrives in Beijing. Student leader Wang Dabin leads him through the station in chains, claiming to represent the CCRG.
29/12/66 After dark, 100 000 members of the Rebel Workers’ HQ assemble on Kanping Road in Shanghai. They are met by 20 000 Scarlet Guards.
29/12/66 Mao tells Tao Zhu his problems aren’t so bad (Jiang Qing is just narrow-minded and intolerant) but he should soften his work style.
30/12/66 Two hours past midnight in Shanghai, Wang Hongwen leads 100 000 Rebel Workers HQ men into battle against the 20 000 Scarlet Guards.
30/12/66 After four hours of workers fighting with clubs and sticks on Kanping Road, 91 people are wounded and the Scarlet Guards retreat.
30/12/66 As the Kanping Road chaos unfolds, disguised in a floppy hat and old army tunic, watches a visitor from Wuhan called Jiang Zemin.
30/12/66 The “Wuhan to Guangzhou Rebel Troop for Grabbing Wang Renzhong” threaten to go on hunger strike unless Tao Zhu speaks to them.
30/12/66 Tao agrees to see the rebel Red Guards, but the second he does so they harangue him with accusations. A planned arrest is averted.
30/12/66 The State Council asks Aeronautics Red Flag to stop its “Red Sea” campaign to paint all of Beijing’s doors red — it’s confusing.
30/12/66 Jiang Qing visits He Long’s son at Qinghua University. She says she can prove his father’s crimes: “You tell him, I can touch him”.
30/12/66 Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan and other CCRG members praise Qinghua Jinggangshan. Their 25/12/66 march showed revolutionary leadership.
31/12/66 Rebels from the Propaganda Department write a big-character poster: “Tao Zhu practises the Liu-Deng Bourgeois Reactionary Line”.
31/12/66 The Shanghai Rebel Workers’ HQ issues an (illegal) arrest warrant for the defeated Scarlet Guard workers. They capture 240 members.
31/12/66 Thousands of Shanghai Scarlet Guards set off to lodge complaints in Beijing but are intercepted by Rebel Workers in nearby Kunshan.
31/12/66 For the second time, members of United Action make a foray into the Ministry of Public Security, trying to get detainees released.
31/12/66 At a PLA rally, Marshal Ye Jianying gives a self-criticism for belittling excessively fanatical Red Guards at a 13/11/66 rally.
1/1/67 At 3AM, Zhou Enlai tells Shanghai Party Chief Chen Pixian (convalescing after cancer surgery) to get back to work and restore order.
1/1/67 Two hours after Zhou’s phone call, Chen Pixian convenes leaders (including Wang Hongwen) to deal with the Scarlet Guards in Kunshan.
1/1/67 At Chen Pixian’s meeting, some rebels blame the city’s chaos on him paying back-dated wage demands. Others demand bigger pay-outs.
1/1/67 Wang Hongwen, leader of the largest mass organisation in Shanghai, sits in the corner and nods off. He thinks the meeting is a sham.
1/1/67 Shanghai Mayor Cao Diqiu approves measures to placate rebels, such as moving long-term “temporary” workers onto proper contracts.
1/1/67 A pair of staffers from the Zhongnanhai write slogans on President Liu Shaoqi’s house: “Down with China’s Khrushchev: Liu Shaoqi!”.
1/1/67 In its New Year editorial, the People’s Daily calls upon readers to “Carry Out the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the End”.
1/1/67 The People’s Daily predicts a year of “nationwide all-round class struggle” against capitalist roaders; the wording finalised by Mao.
1/1/67 The United Action Committee pledges to “crush the left-deviationist line” and protect the Party’s “loyal and courageous cadres”.
1/1/67 Marshal Peng Dehuai writes to Mao and apologises for letting him down with his work in Sichuan. He gives Mao his “last salute”.
1/1/67 Liao Zhengguo, commander of the Shanghai PLA garrison, orders the city’s militia to hand in their guns for “inspection and repair”.
2/1/67 Yao Wenyuan writes in The People’s Daily: “Criticising the Reactionary Two-Faced Zhou Yang” (Tao Zhu’s Propaganda Department deputy).
2/1/67 Wang Hongwen, leader of the Shanghai Rebel Workers’ HQ, flies to Beijing to discuss developments in Shanghai with Zhang Chunqiao.
2/1/67 Zhang tells Wang Hongwen not to help Shanghai’s leaders end the chaos — “that would make them happy!” — but to attack them over it.
2/1/67 CCRG members Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan are promoted to the Party’s informal but powerful Central Caucus, chaired by Zhou Enlai.
2/1/67 Having resigned from Kuai Dafu’s Qinghua Jinggangshan group, Tang Wei sets up the “Mao Zedong Thought Column” in opposition to it.
3/1/67 At Qinghua University, Tang Wei’s Mao Zedong Thought Column holds a massive criticism of fellow rebel Kuai Dafu’s Jinggangshan group.
3/1/67 Shanghai Scarlet Guards, protesting in Kunshan after having failed to reach Beijing with their petition, cease disrupting transport.
3/1/67 Liu Shaoqi’s daughter Liu Tao puts up a big-character poster at Qinghua University — “Witness the Despicable Soul of Liu Shaoqi”.
3/1/67 Rebel Red Guards clash with more pro-establishment factions in Nanjing’s city centre, blocking a vital Yangtze River crossing.
3/1/67 In freezing Shanghai, rebel workers and student equip themselves with safety helmets and iron bars to storm local newspaper offices.
3/1/67 Hundreds of Shanghai enterprises’ accountants queue outside banks to withdraw cash, preparing to satisfy rebel workers’ wage demands.
3/1/67 At Peking University, Jiang Qing and Kang Sheng defend Red Guard leader Nie Yuanzi from rivals, who they brand counter-revolutionary.
3/1/67 Jiang Qing calls Nie Yuanzi’s allies-turned-critics Kong Fan and Yang Keming reactionary, and suggests “smashing their social base”.
3/1/67 Shanghai mass organisations endorse a “message” to the city. Party Chief Chen Pixian approves a printing order for 200 000 copies.
3/1/67 Red Guards break into Liu Shaoqi’s house to lecture him for 40 minutes. They order him to recite passages from Mao’s Little Red Book.
3/1/67 Foreign Minister Chen Yi discusses the Foreign Languages Institute’s two Red Guard factions with his subordinate Qiao Guanhua.
3/1/67 Chen says “one lot wants me struck down, the other wants me roasted. I don’t know the difference”. Qiao suggests the latter is worse.
3/1/67 “Qiao you old bureaucrat,” teases Marshal Chen, “Still calling them children? Why, those people are Daring Revolutionary Generals!”. | https://medium.com/@GPCR50/part-06-november-14-1966-mao-backs-the-shanghai-rebels-to-january-3-1967-d1bbfa6cc773 | ['Cultural Revolution', 'Otd'] | 2020-02-10 20:29:48.674000+00:00 | ['China', 'Cultural Revolution', 'Communism'] |
Wemo WiFi Smart Outdoor Plug review: This plug’s performance problems kill it from the start | Here’s the tl;dr on Wemo’s new outdoor smart plug: Skip it. Here’s why.
Wemo is a longstanding and respected name in the smart home space, but the new Wemo WiFi Smart Outdoor Plug simply doesn’t do the brand—or existing Wemo users who want to extend their smart home into the yard—any favors. Let’s start with the hardware, which feels solid but is lacking in features.
This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best smart plugs, where you’ll find reviews of competing products, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.The 2.4GHz Wi-Fi device boasts two outlets, but they can’t be individually controlled by hardware or software: Both are either on or off. Its IP44 weatherization rating indicates you’ll want to keep its captive rubber plugs installed when either socket is not in use, as its protected only from particulate matter larger than 1mm (i.e., there isn’t enough dust protection to prevent failure).
It’s better protected from water and should withstand being sprayed with a garden hose. (You can read more about IP codes in this article.) A small LED illuminates on the single power switch when the device is active, but LED can’t be disabled.
Belkin/Wemo The Wemo WiFi Smart Outdoor Plug’s pigtail allows it to dangle from the outlet and avoid blocking the outlet above it.
[ Further reading: The best smart switches and dimmers ]On the bright side—for iPhone users, at least—this smart plug is compatible with Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem (Android software is also available). iPhone users are directed to begin setup in the Wemo app, then wait to be transitioned over to the iOS Home app to complete the setup process by scanning the HomeKit QR code on the back of the device.
Christopher Null / IDG If you buy a Wemo WiFi Smart Outdoor Plug, be ready to encounter this error message frequently.
When I first attempted to set up the plug with an iPhone, this part of the setup stalled out, with Home repeatedly giving me an “Accessory Not Found” error, even after resetting the device. I ended up enlisting Wemo’s support staff to find a fix, and eventually a factory reset did the trick, allowing the setup process to complete. There was no clear answer on what wasn’t working the first time around, but Wemo’s technicians did note that resetting this particular device can be difficult, and that perhaps my earlier attempts to do so hadn’t succeeded (despite LEDs flashing in a particular pattern, suggesting the contrary).
Once the device was set up, I was able to interact with it normally—that is, turn it off and on—through the Wemo app, at least some of the time. Unfortunately, I found the plug to be distinctly prone to dropping off my Wi-Fi network without warning, sometimes taking a few seconds and sometimes a few minutes to recover and be accessible again. (The switch was more reliable when accessing it via the iOS Home app, which I’d recommend using as a primary interface if you end up purchasing this device.)
The frequent disconnects on the device seem to have a worse side effect than simply creating lag when trying to interact with the device: They also kill the Wemo app’s scheduling system entirely. I never once got a rule or automation created in the Wemo app to work with this plug, although I don’t have trouble with other Wemo devices. Scheduling within the iOS Home app was also successful.
As always, your mileage may vary depending on the specifics of your infrastructure, but I’d argue that there are other outdoor plugs in its $40 price range that will give you far fewer headaches.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@casey98410381/wemo-wifi-smart-outdoor-plug-review-this-plugs-performance-problems-kill-it-from-the-start-f8612249b732 | [] | 2020-12-24 19:11:42.498000+00:00 | ['Streaming', 'Services', 'Internet', 'Lighting'] |
ERTUGUL GHAZI SERIES IS DELETERIOUS: | the series has a huge fan-base in pakistan that has affected its viewers mentality that the average pakistani may consider the impact of this series in a good sense.
But the bitter truth is that its affecting the mentality of its viewers in a complete opposite way.
This may sound biased but I want the reader to see this matter with a clear and considerate point of view.
Shakespeare has put it beautifully that all the glitter is not gold.
the TV show has serious consequences that is affecting its viewers mentality in a very negative light as the viewer is in such a position that they are brainwashed about certain matters.
jihad that is a part of islam is very very misunderstood throughout the globe this series manages to make matters worse
First they think that religion is only about slashing swords with people that are different than them in faith.the message that i subconsciously received by its viewers is that they must express hatred to people that are different in religious and political views .
were living in the 21 century war and self defense strategies are done with diplomacy love it or hate it.
were being mentality a hundreds of years backwards
The points and issues that are being discussed are ultimately more concerned with the viewer rather that the TV show its self .
speaking of 21st century as I mentioned earlier it is showing that religion is all about swords the audience take it as literally .they think that a warrior would come and solve their issues stopping them from growth and putting all of that necessary potential to waste.
A pakistani social media personality Junaid Akram was discussing this issue in one of his videos in a satirical way criticizing the show for its consequences affecting people.
MISCONCEPTION ABOUT ISLAM:
A number of prominent personalities such as religious scholars social media personalities collectively those people that have a following have promoted this show in such a way that it was done for their own interest.
ertugul since its release to this day is a trendy topic to talk and rant about.
ONE of them being none other than the prime minister imran khan
The prime minster main focus for urging viewers to watch the series was that of finding an excuse to lock up his nation in quarantine while the corona virus outbreak was at its peak. that arguably is quite a clever move but the psychological damage that it has caused in the era of accommodating diplomacy is too much.
this factor pins all of the misconception that it has caused about the series as being some sort of a religious thing that will develop a burning desire in muslims for their fate.
DR zakir naik who is a renowned islamic scholar was asked about this series and he clearly stated that the only thing religious about this series is that it can be considered less haram as compared to other movies and tv shows that people normally view.
CONCLUSION:
After all there is a price that has to be paid if we are not aware about consequences of certain things that we may not have noticed but have a huge subconscious influence on us as how we react to certain terms.all the above points are mentioned as a result of the sort of audience that view it.this is also quite the reason why the app tiktok was banned in pakistan the picture is more focused on how a thing is being utilized. | https://medium.com/@sluqmanwrites/ertugul-ghazi-series-is-deleterious-2494d6f6324d | [] | 2020-12-12 11:16:45.193000+00:00 | ['Ertugrul Ghazi', 'Critical Thinking', 'Turkey', 'Drama', 'Analysis'] |
The Importance of Shipping — For IT Leaders | The Importance of Shipping — For IT Leaders
IT Leaders…
Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself this question:
“Am I delivering difference-making technology to my organization, or am I maintaining the status quo?”
If your answer is the former: Congrats…you are doing your job as an IT Leader. If your answer is the latter: Read on.
As an IT leader, one of the most critical things you can do is deliver innovative technologies to your organization. Maintaining the “status quo” or “keeping the lights on” is not going to do the trick.
You have to innovate, and …
You Have to Ship!
What Does it Mean to Ship?
Shipping means delivering your ideas to the world. It is not enough to have great ideas. Everyone has great ideas floating around in their head. But if you do not deliver those ideas to the world…they are meaningless. Innovative thinking is great and can lead to amazing things. But only if you do something about it.
If you are someone who Ships; it means that you are someone who can take your most innovative ideas and turn them into reality.
It’s the most valuable thing you can do as an IT Leader.
How to Become a Better “Shipper”
OK, if you want to boost your Shipping powers a little; here are some suggestions on how to become a better Shipper.
Avoid being a Perfectionist
A lot of people delay starting a big project because they are waiting for the “perfect time” or waiting for things to be “just right”. They are being perfectionists. Perfectionism is just a dressed-up form of procrastination. There is no “perfect time” and you will never be 100% ready. Gather the minimal amount of info you need…and go!
Stay Strategic
Challenge yourself to think strategically. Make time for strategic thinking. A useful habit I adopted is making time at the beginning of my day as my strategic thinking time. I sit quietly, let my mind wander, and write down my thoughts. Don’t be afraid to think big or come up with “crazy ideas.” If you want to Ship, you have to cultivate the ideas to act on.
Begin with the End in Mind
What are your organization’s strategic goals? What are the biggest problems? Start there. Start Shipping the projects that help achieve the most important goals or solve the biggest problems.
Manage your Time — Think like a Lion!
A lot of people fail to Ship because they simply do not manage their time and priorities well. Here is a mindset that helps me stay focused on big, strategic projects. Think of yourself like a lion. Your big projects are antelope. Your smaller tasks are mice. What would a lion hunt? Antelope, of course. So be a lion and keep your focus on hunting antelope.
Permissionless Leadership
Don’t wait for permission to innovate and Ship. The world needs leaders. Not people waiting for permission to be leaders. If you work for an organization with a culture that frowns on acting independently … it might be time for a change if you want to be a Shipper.
Quotes on Shipping
Here are some great quotes to inspire you to become a better Shipper.
“If you don’t ship you haven’t done your work. We’re not waiting for you to tell us about your notebook filled with ideas.” — Seth Godin
A great “gut punch” quote. A strong reminder that in the end, it is your work that counts…not your ideas.
“No one should know what you’re going to do until you’ve done it. The likes hit different when it’s for an accomplishment instead of a plan.” — Ed Latimore
Don’t bring half-baked ideas to people to try to impress them. Share your creations instead.
“Real Artists Ship.” — Steve Jobs
A great reminder from the master of shipping himself. You are not an artist until you deliver your art to the world…until you Ship.
“The pain that comes with action is acute, scars you, and makes you grow. The pain that comes from inaction is low-grade, softens you, and decays your soul.” — Kyle Eschenroeder
Don’t let the fear of change hold you back from delivering innovation. Procrastination is the enemy of creation. And in the end, the pain of procrastination is greater than the pain of action.
“IT does not wait around to be told what to do. IT is consultive and proactive and drives innovation, value and results.”- Martha Heller
A reminder of the importance of permissionless leadership. Great IT Leaders don’t wait for permission to start bringing your most innovative ideas to life.
Conclusion
Don’t get caught up in trivial tasks. Don’t use your time and energy maintaining the status quo. Don’t let your best ideas die in your head.
An amateur comes up with ideas. A professional creates.
They Ship.
Be an IT PRO fessional…and Ship! | https://medium.com/@michaelmcgill_29045/the-importance-of-shipping-for-it-leaders-658156cea02e | ['Michael Mcgill'] | 2020-12-20 19:09:37.957000+00:00 | ['Information Technology', 'Cio', 'Tech', 'Leadership', 'Technology'] |
Central Sahel: How peace can sprout from rehabilitated soil | On a hot October afternoon in Ouallam district, in Niger’s western Tillabery region, the air is still as the sun’s rays hit the hard, crusty, red earth. Contrasting with this almost lunar surface is a field of green.
“This site’s changed everything for us,” says Biba, a woman in her fifties, pointing to where a few men and women are using sickles to harvest grass. With a laugh, she adds: “It’s helped us to work together and it keeps the peace.”
Biba and other residents of the three villages in this commune started working on this community-resilience project after identifying the rehabilitation of barren land as their most pressing need — it would enable them to grow the hay they need to be able to keep livestock.
Here in the Sahel — the vast strip of Africa that runs south of the Sahara Desert between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea — 80 percent of the land is degraded. The region is one of the world’s most hit when it comes to climate change.
Severe fluctuations in weather reduce access to key resources and disrupt the delicate balance between farmers and herders who share water and grazing lands. Participants in the Ouallam project took to an enhanced form of an ancient water-harvesting technique to rehabilitate the land. They dug half-moons — crescent-shaped pits that retain rainwater and improve the soil. | https://medium.com/world-food-programme-insight/central-sahel-peace-sprouts-from-rehabilitated-soil-c9f2b7531e7c | ['George E. Fominyen'] | 2020-10-20 13:44:22.658000+00:00 | ['Conflict', 'Burkina Faso', 'Hunger', 'Sahel', 'Niger'] |
Running a Start Up in NFTs, Crypto, Web3 | It isn’t some big secret that running a startup is hard. In fact, if you are doing it right, then it is fucking hard. There’s no other way to experience it.
There are no shortage of sacrifices, juggling of unknowns, leaps of faith, delusional beliefs that are required to break through. And even then, the variables are often so sporadic in the clarity of validation that they provide, that it is incredibly easy to finish with catastrophic failure, or, even worse, in my perspective, get caught in this false grey zone of comfort that ends up sucking you into a tornado of perpetual static equilibrium— it becomes a Red Queens Race, you feel like you are constantly running but actually you are just remaining in the same spot.
But, then again, with all of the above said, I was really just only talking about a typical (as of now) startup that breeds out of the more traditional landscape.
… wait until you enter the world of Web3, Crypto, NFTs, DeFi, Decentralisation.
Running a startup in this environment changes everything. The gameplay just got harder, the number of levels increased dramatically, your amount of lives just reduced, and, your options for DLC boosts are almost non-existent. This is the wild west.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
I, myself, entered the crypto space a number of years ago, and, from the start, was thrown intentionally into deep unknown battlegrounds that required a larger risk appetite and daring dignity to navigate. Something my personality is native to embracing and unshakeabley confronting head on.
However, it is still one thing to be involved in this space, in whatever form that may take, and very much another thing to actually found a project in crypto— especially found it solo, and take the full weight of its survival and future on your shoulders.
Projects and protocols in this space are not just required to optimise and focus on their particular subject matter/product niche and then excel against all odds for that, but so much more so they must traverse volatile and uncertain market fluctuations, where the very base of the value can move the entire market’s sentiment in a matter of minutes, they must survive against constant high stake security attack vectors that can be irreversibly detrimental to the project’s future, both from a technical and social engineering stance, and, they must be able to maintain a low degree error range on their conviction for the future of the space in a rapidly evolving industry, market, open bazaar system— seconds matter here, it is 24/7, crypto doesn’t take downtime.
Running DIGITALAX has been a whirlwind. The stress has been and continues to be immense and the dedication required perpetual. I always have to be on the ball, and the mountain I am climbing has not been mapped out yet. There is no rulebook or instruction set to turn to, no reference guides, GPS or sure way to remagnetize the compass’s polarity. Each day brings with it something new, something I have to experience for the first time, a new challenge to solve and puzzle to fit together. It is all encompassing.
But don’t take my words as negative, resentful or bitter. That couldn’t be further from the truth. After all, I chose this path and given any scenario or rewrite would choose it all again without a second thought. My “work” is not “work” but rather a pioneering hike to some unknown place that upon arrival will change everything for a lot of people for a huge amount of better. That’s enough inspiration to keep satisfaction on its correct course.
My advice to other founders in the space mostly comes down to dimensionality and intrinsic desire.
To run a startup in this space you must be able to exist across multiple realities and dimensions at the same time. Everything matters equally, yet also nothing does. Everything is just as critical, yet also so much can be organised into a hierarchy. Prioritisation is key— not just on operations but also retained information.
Yet, that is still adhering to more formal business overtones. My real advice to any founder, but especially those choosing to build in crpyto, is that it must be intrinsic. You must choose this because you chose it. Not for any other reason. You must have some overarching and above all else instinct that no matter what, no matter why, there is no other path for you.
I know that might sound incredibly candid and forthright, but if you really are going to be building on the bleeding edge and maintaining a delusional clarity in such an uncertain risky environment, then truly ask yourself, how else can you be expected to survive? No extrinsic calling, support or help will be able to ever become even slightly close— and that’s a fact.
“In my experience, successful people shoot for the stars, put their hearts on the line in every battle, and ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence mean much more than the immediate trophies and glory.” ― Josh Waitzkin
Understanding expert performance and then framing a metric system around this has always been difficult — even it is something that psychologists have widely studied yet barely been able to properly define.
I have often throughout my life been likened to Gene Wilder— the OG Willy Wonka. For a long time I could never understand why this analogy was being drawn, and even in some cases took it as an insult— did I really look like him?!! Ah!
But then one day I realised. Silly me for just assuming the comparison being drawn was based on visual appearance or looks.
Being alikened to him was probably one of the greatest compliments I have ever been bestowed. It wasn’t a comparison of visual likeness but rather an affinity for swagger. The ability to skirt the line so finely between appeared carelessness and precise exactness — the audience is always in a state of wonder, admiration, and puzzlement. They can not keep up with the elegancy of the play. And that is what it is, just play. Having so much confidence and comfortability with the unknown that a fear of trying to gain control only wastes precious resources.
Since founding DIGITALAX my ability to play has only grown stronger. I’ve learnt to be more nimble, more flexible, and most importantly, more confident in my abilities to see beyond certain corners within the context of the bigger picture. That’s not suggesting in anyway that I am wearing some future predicting goggles that allow me to land precisely on each move, but, it does suggest strongly that in my pursuit, each day I am able to lean into it, lean into the pain and learn to truly embrace the uncertainties, not fight them.
Just like Willy Wonka’s grand entrance, where what seems like a miscalculated fall turns into a beautiful somersault, and from then on, Wonka is able to masterfully compose the ambiguity around him; Because from that time on, no one can really be sure of his next move. He has captivated his audience.
It is a skill, but also an art that requires deliberate practice. Mere practice isn’t enough — you can sit and make predictions all day without getting any better at it — it needs to be a kind of practice where you receive immediate informative feedback and knowledge of results.
So, to sum all of this up and make sure I don’t waste what could be considered by some as a clickbait title, I’ll finish with a strong exit message. What has been my point to all of this? Well, it’s quite simple really. Despite what can be thought of as caveats and threats to building in Crypto, Web3, NFTs— for a founder, or anyone, to really succeed in this space and gracefully embrace the diversity of elements in this all to often unforgivable environment they must learn to let go, to lean into the pain, and, just like Gene Wilder, they must learn to play— deliberate practice or not.
After all, we are in a constant pursuit towards the metaverse, right? It seems only intuitive that play is and is going to be incredibly important. 😉 | https://medium.com/@emmajane13/running-a-start-up-in-nfts-crypto-web3-318a6674c5b3 | ['Emma-Jane Mackinnon-Lee'] | 2021-04-25 07:48:49.804000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Digital Fashion', 'Web3', 'Founders', 'Crypto'] |
Thanks for That…. | Photo by Joe Woods on Unsplash
Thanks for That….
Add quarantine to the list of things
We begrudge and give thanks for —
With the break-up that spared me
From a flaccid marriage and
The roadside skunk I hit
When I was drifting off to sleep…
The nightmare I wanted to weather with you.
© Peggy Moss
Thank you, Tre L. Loadholt for the challenge. | https://medium.com/@peggymoss/thanks-for-that-c8860639935b | ['Peggy Moss'] | 2020-12-20 22:35:42.282000+00:00 | ['Quadrille', 'Challenge', 'Quarantine', 'Poetry', 'Sex'] |
Soft skills detection | The new world we live in gives us more help — and more doubts. Machines stand behind everything — and the scope of this everything is only growing. To what extent can we trust such machines? We are used to relying on them in market trends, traffic management, maybe even in healthcare. Machines are now analysts, medical assistants, secretaries and teachers. Are they reliable enough to work as HRs? Psychologists? What can they tell about us?
Let’s see how text analysis can analyze your soft skills and tell a potential employer whether you can join the team smoothly.
Project Description
In this project, we used text analysis techniques to analyze the soft skills of young men (aged 15–24) looking for career opportunities.
What we had in mind was to perform a number of tests, or to choose the most effective one, to determine ground truth values. The tests we were experimenting with included:
Mind Tools test — short and simple, but may be difficult for centennials. Test’s output is score (from 1 to 15) for each of the following soft skills categories: Personal Mastery, Time Management, Communication Skills, Problem Solving and Decision Making, Leadership and Management.
TAT test — the input is a story about a picture, and the system automatically rates it in the following categories: Need for Affiliation, Need for power, Self-references (I, me, my), Social words, Positive emotions, Negative emotions, Big words (> 6 letters). We thought about mapping certain traits: Communication — Need for Affiliation, Courtesy — Social words, Flexibility — Need for Affiliation, Integrity — Self-references, Interpersonal skills — Need for Affiliation, Positive attitude — Positive emotions, Professionalism — Need for Achievement, Responsibility — Big words (words with more than 6 letters), Teamwork — Social words, Work ethic — Social words. Together with MBTI test results these categories can be mapped on soft skills more accurately.
Myers-Briggs tests — self-report questionnaires indicating psychological preferences in how people perceive the world around them and make decisions. The received answers are mapped onto four categories: Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, Judging-Perceiving. There are three options for MBTI tests with about 60 questions in each: MBTI test 1, MBTI test 2, MBTI test 3.
The following table describes how to map MBTI and TAT test results on soft skills.
Table 1. Mapping of MBTI and TAT results on soft skills
Our Approach
To have the fullest understanding of the user’s personality, we combine insights coming from soft skills prediction analytics and the MBTI prediction. Moreover, we keep track of the user’s past inputs and result to update our findings and to monitor possible changes in the user’s attitudes.
1. Data Collection
Any text analysis system requires a minimal amount of the user’s text at the input, as well as a minimal number of user’s tweets or FB posts (in case of linking with social media accounts). As soon as there is no publicly available labeled dataset for soft skills detection, we had to collect our own.
To quickly develop a reliable dataset we decided to expand the users’ tweets and FB posts with produced by them essays and answers to the questions generated by our system.
At the registration, the user is encouraged to specify his or her social networks profile (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook profiles). The system then collects all messages authored by the user.
As the second step, the system prompts the user to write a brief essay, answering prearranged sets of questions, which should be answered in the specific order:
1. How are you doing today?
2. Please tell me about yourself
3. Tell me about a time when you demonstrated leadership.
4. Tell me about a time when you were working in a team and faced with a challenge. How did you solve this problem?
5. What is your weakness, and how do you plan to overcome it?
One more set of questions:
1. How are you doing today?
2. Please tell me about yourself
3. How do you like to spend your free time? Please, tell me about your hobbies.
4. Please tell me about some of the most memorable moments which happened to you during your study at school/college/university.
5. What is your weakness, and how do you plan to overcome it?
The questions are generated by the system based on previous data analysis.
Afterwards, the user is prompted to enter daily status, for example, as a short blog-post or essay on his past day.
To make it easy for the user, we offer the following questions as a plan:
What new things did you learn today? What difficulties did you face? How did you overcome those difficulties?
Of course, essays are not always the most convenient way to sketch your feelings about the day and not everyone likes writing. For this, we can use a chatbot interface integrated with social media, such as Facebook Messenger.
2. Data preprocessing
All available texts are used as an input to the model which determines soft skills from the customers’ set.
To be fed to the model for training, both questionnaire answers and collected tweets undergo preprocessing, i.e. normalization and tokenizing. At first, with the help of regular expressions, the text is freed from emoji, URLS, numbers, stop words, acronyms, etc.; HTML entities are also replaced with characters. If necessary, we complement text normalization with tokenizing.
A single module is used as an input to the model which determines soft skills from the dataset. A model’s output will be an N-dimensional vector, where N is the number of soft skills used by the system. The n-th element of the set will be a probability of the user having n-th skill. As an optional second output, we include a confidence score (depending on the model choice).
3. MBTI and soft skills detection
For MBTI detection, we chose the approach described at Plank, Hovy, 2015. The authors collected a corpus of 1.5M English tweets labeled by gender and MBTI type, and created a model for automatic MBTI detection. Both the corpus and the model are available, and the reported accuracy is 55–72% depending on a category (on 2000 tweets). To improve the accuracy and decrease the amount of texts required for accurate detection, we additionally used the approach described in Arnoux et. al., 2017.
For soft skills detection, we chose a slightly different approach, namely, GloVE (Pennington et. al, 2014), and used the Gaussian process as a classifier.
4. MBTI and soft skills prediction
At the next stage we calculated the features for both MBTI and Soft Skills models. We tried to use the same features for both models in order to optimize calculations. Features were then passed to the MBTI and Soft Skills calculation models. Such features can be run in parallel if the Soft Skills model does not use the MBTI model’s output as an additional input.
At this stage, the system returns a 4-dimensional vector and an optional confidence score. Optionally, it can return 4-letter codes of Myers-Biggs personality type, e.g. “ISTJ”, “ENFP”.
It outputs an N-dimensional vector with a certain score for each soft skill (normalized to [0, 1]) and a confidence score as a second (optional) output. The system can also return an error code in case of error (e.g. too short text, input language other than English, etc.).
5. Results validation
This component analyzes error codes of Soft skills and MBTI prediction modules. Gaussian processes or another Bayesian model allow us to get a confidence score which is compared with a preselected threshold value. A low confidence score means that system is not confident enough, and it cannot estimate MBTI or soft skills. In this case, an additional user’s input may be required.
6. User’s results recording
Finally, the recent MBTI and soft skills assessment results are recorded in the database, including user’s text input, the system output, and the corresponding timestamp The database stores both the initial estimation, and daily updates.
Text analysis flowchart
Limitations
To work effectively, any text analysis system has a minimal required amount of user’s text at the input, as well as a minimal number of user’s tweets or FB posts (in case we link it with social media accounts). Besides, for both soft skills and MBTI, the system can have a confidence score as an output — a floating point value from 0 to 1 (where 1 is the highest score). In case of low confidence score (e.g. < 0.5), the user should be asked to write more detailed answers. The system will generate questions based on previous data analysis.
The second consideration is that the set of questions and the rules for their generation should be discussed. As we are not professional psychologists, we have two options to create a set of questions and rules:
Let human experts in psychology define the set of questions and rules;
Find existing dataset of relevant interviews
Technology stack
Python 3.6 is used for Text Analysis back-end implementation. The set of packages includes (but is not limited to) the following packages: Numpy, Scipy, Scikit-learn, Gensim.
Database for storing all users’ data, including their input text and all analysis results history can be either relational (Postgresql) or no-SQL (Mongo, Redis).
Third-party components
Conclusion
We showed that Artificial Intelligence can provide deep insights into the human personality. Sentiment analysis and analysis of soft skills based on the text produced by the users are examples of tools that can be immediately used by the HRs, businesses that want to monitor their employees’ attitudes and hire new specialists, as well as by candidates who want to assess and improve their chances of getting a job. | https://medium.com/sciforce/soft-skills-detection-e7f63885302a | [] | 2019-10-29 17:41:49.252000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'NLP', 'Data Science', 'Human Resources'] |
FULL MOON | The full moon is a lunar phase when Moon appears fully visible from Earth’s surface. It occurs when the Earth is comes between the Sun and the Moon .It means that the lunar hemisphere is facing Earth, the near side is completely sunlight and appears as a circular disk. The full moon occurs almost once a month. | https://medium.com/@globaltraveller1313/full-moon-ea97f3344e0f | [] | 2020-12-21 11:32:07.943000+00:00 | ['Nature', 'Traveling', 'Photography', 'Moon', 'Night'] |
A Newbie’s Introduction to Secure Code Review | For analyzing the security of a software application there are four basic methods:
Source Code Scanning Tools Automated Scanning Manual Pen Test Manual Code Review
Survey relating detection methods to general vulnerability types
In this article, we are going to discuss the Secure Code Review and its advantages.
Code Review is a process of reading or viewing the source code of an application for quality assurance. Secure Code Review is an upgrade to the standard code review practice where the reviewers focus more on security considerations, such as company security standards. This also verifies that proper security controls are present and invoked at all the right places in the source code, and are working as intended.
The main aim of code review is to develop such applications which are “self-defending” in nature, in their given environment. Not only this it also ensures that the application developers are following secure development techniques while developing the applications. According to OWASP, a general rule of thumb is that a penetration test should not discover any additional application vulnerabilities relating to the developed code after the application has undergone a proper security code review.
We can talk about its definitions and benefits all day long, but the cruciality of Secure Code Review can only be understood when we learn about the vulnerabilities it helps to uncover within an application. It can inform us about the security issues in these areas:
Authentication Authorization Data Validation Encryption Error Handling Logging Session Management
These areas cover a major part of OWASP Top 10 and MITRE Top 25 list, and Secure Code Review helps to identify most of them in early phases of Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). It must be noted that any single technique for discovering vulnerabilities will not be able to identify all of them. However, while developing any application developers must adopt a defence-in-depth approach to reduce the risk of unknown issues being included in the application.
Survey relating detection methods to OWASP Top 10 vulnerability types
Certain organizations have taken the responsibility for safeguarding the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availablity (CIA) of applications and data, and thus have developed some standard regulations. These compliance regulations are mandatory compliance for the companies deemed necessary. Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are some example of compliance regulations.
PCI DSS requirement 6.3.2 mandated a code review of custom code, and requirement 6.5 mandates to train developers in secure coding technique and develop applications based on secure coding guidelines. Now that we have some idea about the importance of a Secure Code Review let’s look at what are the types of Code Review to help in deciding what kind of review we should include in the development process:
API/Design Code Reviews: Helps in uncovering security vulnerabilities in application architecture design. Ensures that proper security controls are implemented in third party APIs used. Maintainability Code Reviews: These reviews help an organization to develop best coding practices and design applications that are highly maintainable. Integration Code Reviews: Again these reviews help in developing best coding policies for an organization and ensure that any new code integrated into the existing one does not cause any unintended behaviour or introduces any vulnerability. Testing Code Reviews: Makes sure that all methods have an appropriate exception, code fails safely, and all security controls are tested through appropriate unit test cases.
Apart from all these technical and security benefits, there are several advantages which can help any organization in long run. Code Reviews provide a historical record of the codebase and their developers, verifies that the changes have been tested, helps in providing training to junior developers, and gives pre-warning of integration clashes.
Now we may think that there are several good Source Code Scanning Tools available, so why should we pay someone for Manual Secure Code Review. To answer that we must understand that automated tools can only discover a limited number of security issues and can also produce a significant number of false-positives and false-negatives. Along with this any Business Logic Flaws and Deep Hidden Security Flaws can only be discovered in Manual Secure Code Review. Thus to develop a secure application or environment in most cost and time effective manner we must adopt a hybrid plan where a combination of all the four basic techniques are used for security testing.
Before wrapping up this article we must talk about the qualities and skills a reviewer must be familiar with:
Coding Language(s) used for developing the application. Security Features and Issues of the coding language used. Best practices from Security and Performance perspective. Context of what we are trying to secure. Level of Security required for the application. Users of the application. Entities with whom the application communicates in its life. Availability of the application. Areas affected in case the application does not perform the intended task. Latest Security Standards and Vulnerabilities.
Hence we can easily conclude that Secure Code Review is important and must be included from the beginning of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). However, we must never rely only on Code Review to uncover all kinds of security issues present in the application. Developers and Testers should use all four techniques and adopt the Secure Software Development Life Cycle (SSDLC) for reducing the chances of being vulnerable to any security attacks. | https://medium.com/@ayush-jaiswal/a-newbies-introduction-to-secure-code-review-76f2acb0a42f | ['Ayush Jaiswal'] | 2020-12-09 14:51:34.197000+00:00 | ['Pci Dss', 'Security Testing', 'Development', 'Secure Coding', 'Vulnerability'] |
Bubble Chart in D3js | How a bubble chart looks like
From Wikipedia, a bubble chart show the relationship between three variables.
Version 6
Why 6?
At this time is the latest stable version of d3. To me it is more compacted, you have more functions in its core and is easier to load its modules…
I leave you the link anyway for installing it in different environments
https://github.com/d3/d3#installing
But, I love npm so if you are like me …
$ npm i d3
Then, in you load in your js
index.js
import * as d3 from "d3";
Dataset
We are going to create something similar, now imagine you have a similar dataset
const dataset = [
{ type: "Sample 1", value: 50, radius: 7 },
{ type: "Sample 2", value: 30, radius: 11 },
{ type: "Sample 3", value: 10, radius: 3 }
];
But, first of all a couple of utility function in d3 to manipulate data
d3.extent to calculate min and max
d3.extent(dataset, d => d.value) ==> [10, 50]
However, our Y Axis starts at 0 so we can only use d3.max function and finish with 60.
d3.max(dataset, d => d.value) + 10 ==> 60
Moreover, we need an array with all the ordinal values so we can use map function from es6 or mapping from d3 that extracts the names.
dataset.map(d => d.type) ==> ["Sample 1", "Sample 2", "Sample 3"] d3.map(dataset, d => d.type).keys() ==> ["Sample 1", "Sample 2", "Sample 3"]
As you see d3 has some native functions over arrays that can be very useful.
Svg
It is always the same, create a frame with margin, the width & height of the content, translating it correctly to visually /display correctly and so on and so forth…
index.html
<div id="viz"></div>
index.js
const margin = { top: 40, right: 150, bottom: 60, left: 30 },
width = 500 - margin.left - margin.right,
height = 420 - margin.top - margin.bottom; const svg = d3
.select("#viz")
.append("svg")
.attr("width", width + margin.left + margin.right)
.attr("height", height + margin.top + margin.bottom)
.append("g")
.attr("transform", "translate(" + margin.left + "," + margin.top + ")");
Axis and Scale
For X Axis we have to create and scale of discrete values equally distributed along the axis
index.js
const types = dataset.map(d => d.type); ==> ["Sample 1", "Sample 2", "Sample 3"] // Add X scale const x = d3
.scaleBand()
.domain(types)
.range([0, width]); // Add X axis svg
.append("g")
.attr("transform", "translate(0," + height + ")")
.call(d3.axisBottom(x));
At this point, you may wonder why I use scaleBand rather than scaleOrdinal ???
scaleOrdinal maps discrete values (specified by an array) to discrete values (also specified by an array)
And
In scaleBand domain is specified as an array of values (one value for each band) and the range is splitted automatically into n bands computing the positions and widths of them.
So basically with scaleBand we specify less and we get part of the job done automatically
X Axis and X Scale that we have created with the code below
For understanding scales, another amazing resource is
https://www.d3indepth.com/scales/
For Y Axis we create a linear scale from 0 to the maximum value of values
index.js
const yMax = d3.max(dataset, d => d.value) + 10 ==> 60 // Add Y scale const y = d3
.scaleLinear()
.domain([0, yMax])
.range([height, 0]); // Add Y axis svg.append("g").call(d3.axisLeft(y));
Axis and Scales that we have created with the code below
Bubbles
For Bubbles we create circles using radius value in dataset for size and positioning them with its type and value. Normally, things used to be more complex with a customized scale in radius and colorized bubbles.
index.js
// Add bubbles svg
.append("g")
.selectAll("bubble")
.data(dataset)
.enter()
.append("circle")
.attr("cx", d => x(d.type) + 50)
.attr("cy", d => y(d.value))
.attr("r", d => d.radius)
.style("fill", "lightcyan")
.style("opacity", "0.7")
.attr("stroke", "black");
Result
Here it is our basic Bubble Chart
Code
Conclusions
You can play with it, changing a lot of things and customize colors, axis, etc.
If you start with dataviz and d3js, try to go deeper understanding every thing you do. It is a hard task at the beginning, but there are a lot of resources and step by step you can do amazing things.
Thanks for reading. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/bubble-chart-d3js-c1dfc01bae86 | [] | 2020-09-05 16:57:08.731000+00:00 | ['SVG', 'Web Development', 'D3js', 'JavaScript', 'Data Visualization'] |
How the Right Music Can Boost Your Coding Productivity | Did you know that music helped to win WW2?
I’m referring to the magical effects of a UK government program called “Music While You Work”. Launched in 1940 with the idea of broadcasting cheerful music in factories twice a day to boost the overall morale of its workers, improving their productivity to get the army the munitions they needed.
The program was a hit. With managers from all over the country citing how much more productive their factories had become. Even up to 15% more. And up to this day, it is believed for that little effort of playing music to have its beneficial effects for the country on winning the war. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/how-the-right-music-can-boost-your-coding-productivity-2a651b1e8690 | ['Piero Borrelli'] | 2020-11-10 07:46:48.428000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Productivity', 'Work', 'Web Development', 'Coding'] |
Rescued at Sea: Caring for Refugees and Migrants in Libya | By Abdelkarim Saleh, Distribution Officer, International Medical Corps Libya
We are always on alert for a call from the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR. They notify us when a boat with refugees has been rescued and our task is to deploy immediately to assist survivors.
I’m a member of International Medical Corps’ sea rescue team, based in Libya’s capital, Tripoli. We work with UNHCR and the Libyan Coast Guard to provide medical care and other relief to refugees and migrants who have been rescued trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Italy. The journey is both longer and far more perilous than the Eastern Mediterranean crossing between Turkey and Greece that so many chose before authorities last year began blocking refugee flows from Greece to countries further north in Europe. During the first five and one-half months of 2017, more than 1,700 refugees have died attempting the Libya-Italy crossing.
The rhythm of sea rescues varies significantly. Sometimes we only respond to one in a month, but there are other periods when we can be involved in 10 sea rescues in a signal month. It all depends on the weather and sea conditions — which is why the summer months are the busiest.
The port becomes chaotic and crowded when a boat carrying migrants is rescued by the coast guard. There are men, women, and children of all ages and nationalities. Some are crying. Others are stoic. All look exhausted — the ordeal of the long, dangerous and desperate attempt to reach Europe etched into their faces.
For us, it is emotionally taxing work. There are times we feel happy to help deliver them from danger, but there are other occasions when we can feel the total despair for those who lost loved ones on the attempted crossing. No matter what I confront, I always feel I have to give as much as I can for as long as I can to help these survivors who have risked so much.
Our role at International Medical Corps is to provide health care and distribute clothes and other basic relief supplies to those who have been rescued. We provide hygiene materials, blankets, and refreshments, while our medical team administer check-ups as soon as refugees come ashore, then treat people as needed. We transport any of those serious injured to the nearest hospital for higher-level care. Many need psychological support to help them process what they have gone through — both in their homeland that led them to flee and what they experienced during the oft-harrowing journeys that brought them here. | https://medium.com/international-medical-corps/rescued-at-sea-caring-for-refugees-and-migrants-in-libya-323e5ada8f15 | ['International Med. Corps'] | 2017-07-12 20:44:37.780000+00:00 | ['Libya', 'Refugees', 'From The Field'] |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.