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升級 Xcode 12 之一連串的坑 😅. 但為了避免升級到一半死機或其他狀況，建議預留20GB的儲存容量，且使用時光機備份… | 原本Mac OS為Mojave 要升級xcode12 ，勢必是一定要先升級Mac OS，但為了避免過程中死機或其他狀況，建議預留20GB的儲存容量，且使用時光機備份電腦(第一次使用時光機會需要比較多時間，大概5–7小時，視使用狀況做增減)
確認備份檔案無問題後，可以開始升級OS了
請前往Mac的”系統偏好設定”中的”軟體更新”檢查最新版本並點擊”立即更新”
Mac會開開關關很多次 且更新及安裝時間要抓個一個小時以上
此次更新的OS版本為Mac OS Big Sur
但與前一版(Mac OS Catalina)一樣都停用32位元的app了(可以在”關於這台mac”中的”系統報告”裡的”已停用的軟體”中看到)
更新完畢後
可以先更新xcode 因為一樣要下載安裝很久….
確認安裝沒問題後，
我們要來除坑了….
首先
新版的Mac OS 的Terminal預設shell 改為 zsh (原為bash)
在你突然想排除xcode錯誤的時候 一定會想先排除第三方套件的錯誤
這時候因為預設更換的關係 cocoapods 失效了…
連續更新了2台mac後 ，得出了以下sop，請在Terminal中依序輸入：
首先 把shell改為zsh
chsh -s /bin/zsh
接著確認ruby版本
ruby -v
確認rvm版本
rvm -v
列出rvm中目前有哪些可以安裝的列表
rvm list known
設定環境變數的路徑
source ~/.bashrc source ~/.bash_profile
安裝最新的ruby版本(版本號請依據所列出來的最新版號做調整)
rvm install 2.7.0-preview1
==> Downloading and installing Homebrew…
xcrun: error: active developer path (“/Users/XXX/Desktop/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer”) does not exist Use `sudo xcode-select — switch path/to/Xcode.app` to specify the Xcode that you wish to use for command line developer tools, or use `xcode-select — install` to install the standalone command line developer tools. See `man xcode-select` for more details. Failed during: git init -q Requirements installation failed with status: 1.
若出現xcode路徑的報錯，重新設定路徑
sudo xcode-select -switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
若出現以下錯誤：
Failed to update Homebrew, follow instructions at https://docs.brew.sh/Common-Issues and make sure `brew update` works before continuing. Error running ‘requirements_osx_brew_update_system ruby-2.6.0-preview2’, please read /Users/XXX/.rvm/log/1607656059_ruby-2.6.0-preview2/update_system.log Requirements installation failed with status: 1.
要先更新brew
brew update
更新brew update時若出現
Error: homebrew-core is a shallow clone. To `brew update` first run: git -C “/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core” fetch — unshallow This restriction has been made on GitHub’s request because updating shallow clones is an extremely expensive operation due to the tree layout and traffic of Homebrew/homebrew-core. We don’t do this for you automatically to avoid repeatedly performing an expensive unshallow operation in CI systems (which should instead be fixed to not use shallow clones). Sorry for the inconvenience!
從git 更新homebrew-core
git -C “/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-core” fetch — unshallow
再次更新brew
brew update
更新brew時若出現
Error: homebrew-cask is a shallow clone. To `brew update` first run: git -C “/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask” fetch — unshallow This restriction has been made on GitHub’s request because updating shallow clones is an extremely expensive operation due to the tree layout and traffic of Homebrew/homebrew-cask. We don’t do this for you automatically to avoid repeatedly performing an expensive unshallow operation in CI systems (which should instead be fixed to not use shallow clones). Sorry for the inconvenience!
從git 更新homebrew-cask
git -C “/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask” fetch — unshallow
再更新brew
brew update
再次安裝最新的ruby版本
rvm install 2.7.0-preview1
再次檢查ruby版本，是否為剛剛安裝的版本
ruby -v
使用gem安裝cocoapods
sudo gem install cocoapods
確認cocoapods是否設定完成
pod setup
若出現下列錯誤：
zsh: /usr/local/bin/pod: bad interpreter: /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.3/usr/bin/ruby: no such file or directory
請更新gem
sudo gem update — system
使用gem安裝cocoapods 於/usr/local/bin
sudo gem install cocoapods -n /usr/local/bin
若出現cannot load such file — rubygems-bundler/noexec (LoadError) 需解除安裝 rubygems-bundler
gem uninstall -i /Users/XXX/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.7.0-preview2/lib/ruby/gems/2.7.0 rubygems-bundler
出現Successfully uninstalled rubygems-bundler-1.4.5即成功
確認cocoapods是否設定完成 | https://medium.com/@artkiki5528/%E5%8E%9F%E6%9C%ACmac-os%E7%82%BAmojave-%E8%A6%81%E5%8D%87%E7%B4%9Axcode12-%E5%8B%A2%E5%BF%85%E6%98%AF%E4%B8%80%E5%AE%9A%E8%A6%81%E5%85%88%E5%8D%87%E7%B4%9Amac-os-5591895ec2c7 | ['Kiki Art'] | 2020-12-18 02:08:51.792000+00:00 | ['Macos Big Sur', 'Xcode 12', 'Xcode'] |
Some minor but life-saving tips in Python | Hi, I hope everyone is still ok from this tedious 2020! I was gone for a few months, and I came back with some tips that I found life saving while preparing for my master’s degree paper. (can’t believe how time flies)
So, this post will not be consistent nor explanatory but it will be a list of problems that I faced while coding and their solutions to help those of you who might have the similar problems. I was able to get the solutions from searches after searches, and it is my turn to repay back for their help. Without the help of the people answering at stackoverflow.com or the anonymous bloggers who did such a work without any ‘economical’ interest, I think I would have given up at the very first stage.
Also, one more thing is that, in my case, regardless how much I knew about the algorithms and their mechanisms, ironically the very first codings were more challenging.
CAUTION! Unlike my previous posts that were mostly very detailed with step by step explanations, this one would be less like that.
1. arma_generate_sample
First, what I wanted to do was to generate, for example, AR(1) processes with distinct coefficients.
Before moving on, let’s have do a simple practice with AR(1) process. (which is very recommended to check your minor problems)
from statsmodels.tsa.arima_process import arma_generate_sample rho=0.5
nsample=200
ar_coefs = [1,-rho]
ma_coefs = [1,0] ar1=arma_generate_sample(ar_coefs, ma_coefs, nsample=100, sigma=1)
So in this coding I generated a sample from AR(1) process with its coefficient 0.5 with sample size=100. Which would look like following;
array([-0.43327517, 0.3061977 , 0.80159066, 1.49798894, 2.58501507, 1.67462174, 1.25875958, -1.42044711, -0.68007658, 0.37558947, …
…-0.26342701, -0.53688217, 1.93173622, 1.10047058, 0.6058739 ])
ar1.shape #(100,)
Tip: notice that ar_coefs=[1,-rho] “- rho”
Then, we would like to check if the rho=0.5 is well estimated by Python.
from statsmodels.tsa.stattools import acf
modela = sm.tsa.ARMA(ar1, (1, 0)).fit(trend='nc', disp=0) print('estimated rho=%f, actual rho= %.3f' % (modela.params, rho ))
This will result in:
estimated rho=0.559307, actual rho= 0.500
Fair enough! Now let’s try generating say, ten AR(1) samples with 100 time steps each.
Here my strategy was to define a function based on the previous practice and stack the 10 samples for later use.
np.random.seed(12345) def AR1(timestep):
rho = np.random.uniform(-1,1,1)+1e-6
ar_coefs = [1,-rho]
ma_coefs = [1,0]
ar1=arma_generate_sample(ar_coefs, ma_coefs, nsample=timestep, sigma=1)
ar1=np.array(ar1)
return ar1
Then from my expectation, AR1(100) should have the same shape as our previous exercise, however, things were a bit messy.
tmp=AR1(100)
tmp.shape #(100,)
The shape were the same but in depth, they were 100% different.
array([-0.9678381828411187, array([-1.39385533]), array([-0.88148675]), …, array([1.82240015]), array([3.56664748]), array([3.20947843]), array([3.55423975]), array([3.03438549]), array([1.81995384]), array([1.59298593])], dtype=object)
This is not how we want it.
Further more I had to notice that the dtype were also different.
ar1.dtype #dtype('float64')
tmp.dtype #dtype('O')
This had to be solved before being stacked!
I could not notice such problem until I actually commanded AR1(100) so to say until I saw how it looked like. I made the plot which worked fine and then the shape was the same, so it took me a while to even notice the problem. My tip is to at least see by your own eyes if it really works!
The solution was very simple! rho=float(rho)
def AR1(timestep):
rho = np.random.uniform(-1,1,1)+1e-6
rho=float(rho)
ar_coefs = [1,-rho]
ma_coefs = [1,0]
ar1=arma_generate_sample(ar_coefs, ma_coefs, nsample=timestep, sigma=1)
ar1=np.array(ar1)
return ar1
At last, it looked liked this;
ar1=AR1(100)
ar1.shape #(100,)
ar1.dtype #dtype('float64')
array([ 0.10050124, 0.64788036, -0.9043851 , 1.62197309, -1.11857796, 0.7803612 , -0.0176377 , 0.24278273, -0.74016969, 1.49048946, …,1.54750935, 2.40578187, -0.15412767])
2. Generate 10 AR(1) processes with T=100
Then, what I wanted to do was to stack 10 AR(1) processes which would look like following;
numpy stack or other things were also possible but I found the following way more intuitive; make an empty np array of intended shape and then, fill out the empty array.
rs=10
timestep=100 ar1 = np.empty((rs,timestep),dtype=float) for i in range(rs):
ar1[i]=AR1(timestep)
Let’s check the shape of the ar1.
ar1.shape #(10,100)
3. Save numpy array into npz file and then load
This is simple and easy to search, but anyway.
from numpy import save
from numpy import load from numpy import savez_compressed np.savez_compressed('file name here', ar1=ar1, ma1=ma1)
So, let’s say we made two arrays; an array with ten AR(1) processes with timesteps 100 (of shape (10,100)) and then same for MA(1) processes, with names ‘ar1’ and ‘ma1’ respectively.
Then the arrays will be saved in npz file for later use.
Now load the data
data = load('drive/My Drive/file name here.npz')
So, I mounted Google drive in my colab note book, which is very convenient, you should take care with the file path and name!
Then from the data you will be able to retrieve the ar1 and ma1 like following.
ar1 = data['ar1'] ma1 =data['ma1']
4. Data preprocess for LSTM
In this simple coding, I prepared two (10,100) datasets meaning that the data is 2D tensor. However, LSTM takes 3D tensor as an input with shape; (sample, time steps, features). Questions like how to reshape the data? or what is feature? might arise.
First, in our example, sample=10, time steps=100 and feature=1. Feature is the most tricky part, but it can be viewed as number of ‘features’ that characterize a sequence. So, in my example, a single AR(1) process is defined by a single row vector — feature=1
However, take example of the Human Activity classification problems. Your smartphone/Apple watch collects your health data; say heart beat, blood pressure and body movement. (don’t know how nor what kind of data it collects in reality) I mean, there exist detailed explanations about the dataset, but the medical terminologies complicate the problem.
Then by analyzing the three data at each time step the application will analyze whether you’re sleeping or walking or doing sports, etc. So, in this case feature=3.
ar1.shape #(10,100) rs=10
timestep=100
feature=1 ar1=ar1.reshape(rs,timestep,feature)
ma1=ma1.reshape(rs,timestep,feature)
Here I did the reshape for ar1 and ma1 respectively and then concatenated to make a train and test dataset. However the process can also be reversed. The motive for my procedure was for later use. Actually what I did was to make so called ‘prediction_dataset’ in my own words to see the accuracy for ar1 and ma1 separately.
Anyway,
X=np.concatenate((ar1,ma1),axis=0) X= np.asarray(X).astype(np.float32)
5. Binarize and categorize
So, my problem was to classify AR process vs MA process, and labeling can be done in 2 ways.
A. Binary labeling.
ar_label=np.zeros((rs,1))#(rs,1) is our desired shape ma_label=np.ones((rs,1))
ar_label and ma_label would look like this with shape (10,1) respectively;
array([[0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.]]) and array([[1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.]])
Then label for X can be made by concatenating the ar_label and ma_label.
label=np.concatenate([ar_label,ma_label],axis=0)
Here, label would look like this with shape (20,1);
array([[0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [0.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.], [1.]])
B. Categorical labeling
One hot encoding is often preferred, so we can do that by doing the following.
y=tf.keras.utils.to_categorical(label,num_classes=2)
Then, y will look like with shape (20,2);
array([[1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [1., 0.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.], [0., 1.]], dtype=float32)
C. Multi-label classification
So, my final goal was to do a multiple classification so, the label was made by using the following lines of code.
Similar to np.zeros or np.ones integers 2, 3, … can also fill a numpy array with np.full.
ar1_label=np.zeros((rs,1))
ar2_label=np.ones((rs,1))
ma1_label=np.full((rs,1),2)
ma2_label=np.full((rs,1),3)
For example, ma1_label would look like this:
array([[2], [2], [2], [2], [2], [2], [2], [2], [2], [2]])
Then, we want to do one-hot encoding. Actually, to_categorical is useful in this situation; it is time consuming to type [1,0,0,0] to [0,0,0,1]. Imagine if you are doing a classification with 10 categories!
label=np.concatenate([ar1_label,ar2_label,ma1_label,ma2_label],axis=0) y=tf.keras.utils.to_categorical(label,num_classes=4)
Here y will have a shape of (40,4) :
array([[1., 0., 0., 0.], …, [1., 0., 0., 0.], [0., 1., 0., 0.], …, [0., 1., 0., 0.], [0., 0., 1., 0.], … , [0., 0., 1., 0.], [0., 0., 0., 1.], …, [0., 0., 0., 1.]], dtype=float32)
D. Category to binary?
In some cases, you want to return from the one-hot encoded label to the labels 0 to 3. np.argmax can be used to do such job.
i) np.argmax
It returns the index of the maximum value.
From the numpy.org example, let x look like this with shape (2,3);
array([[10, 11, 12], [13, 14, 15]])
np.argmax(x) #5
When axis is not defined, the array will be flattened like [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Also, notice that index starts from 0, 5 implies that the 6th element has the maximum value.
np.argmax(x, axis=0) #array([1, 1, 1])
When axis=0 is defined, it will explore column-wise and then return in which row the largest value exists. So, to put it more specifically, for the first column the largest value is in the 2nd row, etc.
np.argmax(x, axis=1) #array([2, 2])
When axis=1 is defined, it will look through each row and tell in which column the largest value situates.
ii) Back to our example
So, what we want to do is to retrieve the numerical labels from the one-hot encoded labels.
So, from our practice with np.argmax, we can see that we need to look through row-wise and then get the index for the columns that have the maximum value (or which row has the value 1) — axis=1!!
y_non_cat=np.argmax(y,axis=1) y_non_cat.shape #(40,)
So, the numerical label can be returned like this; array([0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3]) with shape (40,).
5. Confusion Matrix
The numerical label was necessary to make the confusion matrix.
y_classes = np.argmax(ar12_ma12_model.predict(X),axis=1)
So, here y_classes will have the predicted labels in numerical version, i.e.,
array([0, 0, 0, …, 3, 3, 1])
By comparing it with the true labels, we can make a confusion matrix.
from sklearn.metrics import confusion_matrix cm =confusion_matrix(y_classes,y_non_cat)#(predicted result, truth)
Confusion matrix can later be used to calculate the precision, recall or to draw roc (receiver operating characteristic) curve or calculate AUC (area under roc curve) and PRC (precision-recall) curve.
This is all for this post, and I hope this list of problem shooting experience might help your struggles.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
Cecilia Kim. | https://medium.com/python-in-plain-english/python-some-minor-but-life-saving-tips-b69443c8da3a | ['A Ydobon'] | 2020-09-17 12:07:16.077000+00:00 | ['Numpy', 'Python', 'Classification', 'Confusion Matrix', 'Lstm'] |
Monitoring .NET Core apps on Microsoft Azure: Introduction | Before opening access to your app on a production environment, it is important to ensure that your app is consuming resources in an acceptable way. In order to check for any anomalous behavior that causes metrics such as CPU utilization to highly increase, monitoring comes to the rescue.
Microsoft Azure offers a service called “Azure Application Insights”. As you can expect from it, it makes your requests, responses, perfomance counters, trace logs and other monitored items of your application accessibles on Azure, allowing you to perform data analysis and searching on that data.
You can access it by typing “Application Insights” in the search bar, from the Azure portal home page. The search result will show it.
Right now, we do not have any web applications deployed to the Cloud. First, we should publish one web application to Azure, and then we will be able to use Azure Application Insights.
The Azure App Service service offers a really easy way to publish and monitor our .NET Core app in the Cloud. Visual Studio 2017 enables developers to easily deploy an application on Microsoft Azure.
First, right-click your ASP.NET Core project, and select “Publish…”. A window will be opened, and you will be prompted to select the publish target.
From that list, let’s choose “App Service” and then click “Publish”. The next step will be set the basic information for creating App Service. Information such as App Name and the Resource Group will be asked.
I am going to leave the default values for the form. Click “Create”, and the publish process will get started. Once it is finished, you can go to the Azure Portal, and search for App Service. You will find the App Service we just created. Left-click on it, and a blader menu will be opened. From there, you have access to a whole set of functionalities for the App Service product.
How convenient, the Azure Portal itself recommends us to access Application Insights. Click on the violet alarm, and it will bring you to the Application Insights page. But first, it will ask you if you want to enable it for your application. We want it, of course. Leave every option of the “.NET Core” tab enabled, and click “Apply”.
Once it is finished, we will have an Azure Application Insights service available for our app. From there, you can access several activity logs and even an Application Dashboard.
Easy, huh? You can customize that dashboard, including or removing items as you want. Since alerts are really important for monitoring, it is worth to show how to create them once we have our Application Insights service set up.
We can access the alert window by clicking on the “Alerts” item from the “Configure” category, from our app Application Insights instance page on Azure Portal. You will be prompted to choose under which conditions your alert rule will check on for the threshold value. There are several values from which we can choose, but let’s stick with the “Process CPU”.
Also, we can define “Action Groups”, meaning that we can trigger notifications for our team via email and text messages or automate actions such as function, logic apps and others.
Finish the creation process by clicking on “Create alert rule”.
Once it is created, we will be able to see it on the alert’s list and once the specified threshold is reached, actions will be executed depending on your configuration. | https://medium.com/cloudy-days/monitoring-net-core-apps-on-microsoft-azure-6e3cc866c576 | ['Luis Felipe'] | 2019-03-11 00:26:03.437000+00:00 | ['Cloud Computing', 'Monitoring', 'Dotnet', 'Net Core', 'Azure'] |
Enabling Encryption and Harden your setting to protect your Privacy | Enabling Encryption and Harden Your Setting to Protect Your Privacy.
Securing your data on device and on transit between the network.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
This is fourth part of the series How to stay/safe secure in digital life.
Before getting started, let’s first understand what is Encryption and why it matters for you privacy and security.
Encryption is a technique in Computer World that is used for making your data ( SMS, Photos, files, etc. ) secure so that your or to whom is given access can only see that. How does this even happen, Let me explain it -> When you encrypted your data ( it can be in any form ) using an encryption algorithm (some kind magic/technique), it converts your data into random character ( in some kind of mysterious form) and it can only reverse/ decrypt by using the Encryption key / Password that you have access.
And you don’t need to worry about all these technical terms, you just have to remember that one key/password using which you perform encryption.
By now you must have understood how encryption happens, but you will be thinking, why you should care about that? And the best example is that ( let’s assume you lost your phone somewhere or a thief stole it from you, if you have enabled encryption on your device thief can access data without the PIN or a password using which you have enabled encryption on your device).
I’ll walk you through how you can enable encryption on Mobile and Computer and what are other tools/techniques you should be considering for hardening ENCRYPTION on your data so that no one can peek in.
Enabling encryption on Mobile ( Android )
Setting -> Security -> Press ‘Encryption’ option
Setting may be vary for phone to phone, you can look in the search in setting search bar and find it out.
Enabling encryption on Computer( Window)
Control Panel -> System and Security -> BitLocker Drive Encryption -> [ select the drive ] -> Turn on BitLocker -> Enter the Password [ Easy to remember(for yourself) but hard to guess ( for other)]
Using Bitlocker you can Encrypt your external storage(HDD). | https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-stay-secure-in-digital-life-v-4-2203dd030c4b | ['Pawan Trivedi'] | 2020-09-14 10:03:08.877000+00:00 | ['Encryption', 'Digital Security', 'Privacy', 'Digital Life', 'Internet'] |
Donuts cumple 50 años. Conoce su historia | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/himarketing/donuts-cumple-50-a%C3%B1os-conoce-su-historia-310d6c477451 | ['Isabel Herrera'] | 2017-01-28 13:41:42.446000+00:00 | ['Donuts', 'Reportajes'] |
Grab a Tissue Before You See Richard Simmons at 72 | Grab a Tissue Before You See Richard Simmons at 72
Creative Commons License, photo No, by wsh1266
No, that’s not Richard at 72. That’s him 8 years ago. He’s even sexier now. But in order to see the photo, you have to undergo a certain ordeal — scrolling through the slides of this clickbait presentation, called “You’ll Be Shocked At How Old and Horrifying These Once Beautiful Celebrities Look Today.” Richard Simmons, on the other hand, is still sexy because he exercised so much. Exercise is magic and keeps you young and sexy, so what are you doing sitting here reading this? How about going for a jog, you lazy bum!
Why would you click on a story with that title?
It’s true, we all get older and lose that fresh-faced shine of youth. Maybe it’s nice to see that we’re not the only ones getting wrinkled by time. Misery likes company?
That’s a possible explanation. But psychologist Betsy Croaker has another idea.
“Human beings are sadistic,” she claimed. “Do you ever wonder why people slow down to look at traffic accidents — they’re hoping to see a bloody mess.”
And a bloody mess is what you will find when you scroll through these photos of beloved stars.
OK, it might be good old-fashioned sadistic fun seeing others fall victim to the ravages of time. But are you sure you want to look at this? There are some things you can’t unsee. Here are some of the most frightening ones that you might want to skip.
Katherine Ross
She was so sexy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Remember the fake rape scene with Robert Redford? Yeah, that was fun. It really was another time when you could play a fake rape scene for comedy. Ha, those crazy seventies folks.
Well anyhow, she was pretty sexy back then when she was being fake raped, that’s fer sure. But get prepared, here comes a snap of what Katherine Ross looks like today. Jeesh!
Yeah, that fake rape scene is going to play very differently today if they film it. Sundance comes in and says he’s going to rape her because he too has survived a nuclear war and she’s the first female he’s seen since the explosion. Then she lights a cigar, trying to gross him out. But it turns him on. He grabs her. They smile — turns out they were lovers just playing out a rape fantasy! Ha! Those crazy post-apocalyptic kids!
Tom Jones
Remember him? He was the sexy singer with the Welsh accent, so sexy that women threw their undies onto the stage!
Well, take a look at him as an old man, Jeesh!
But he’s still pursuing the singing career, and lives forever with his wife in Transylvania. He tells us that his hobbies are hanging upside down and biting. And by the way, the Welsh accent is sexy as ever — “It’s not unusual to want to suck your blood,” he sang, to crack us up. I mean, I think he was joking. We got the hell out of there just in case.
What about people of color, do they age badly too?
Thank you for asking. Since this summer we clickbait article writers have become aware of our white privilege. It’s time that we included some BIPOCs in these kinds of slide shows. The problem, of course, is that old saying, “Black don’t crack.” Do African-Americans age better than whites? You be the judge.
Dihann Carroll
Remember the beautiful young star of Julia? Her name was Dihann Carroll and she played one of the first black female protagonists on TV. She was beautiful and inspiring to all. Now she just scares the shit out of people — take a look.
Yeah, I guess black does crack. And hair falls out, and you end up in the forest, and there are other scary-looking people behind you, and what can we say, getting old sucks no matter what ethnicity you are, I guess.
Well, congratulations!
You made it to slide 75 of this never-ending slide show, although it’s true that you haven’t made it to the photo I promised to show you of the sexy fitness guru Richard Simmons at 72.
Just 75 more photos to go, probably. There’s really no way of knowing. Maybe there are 750 photos in this presentation. The only way to find out is to keep clicking.
OK, next up it’s child actor who played Potsy on Happy Days. I wonder how horrible he looks today. Probably pretty horrible.
Alright, here we go. Brace yourself. Click NEXT. | https://medium.com/the-haven/grab-a-tissue-before-you-see-richard-simmons-at-72-c5fe5069c6e7 | ['Simon Black'] | 2020-12-16 05:23:50.578000+00:00 | ['Celebrity', 'Hollywood', 'Humor', 'Satire', 'Aging'] |
Getting started with Flutter Development — Setup | Step by step setup process
*Note: This article will focus on setting up and running the Flutter demo project using VS Code on Windows using an Android Emulator. No Flutter code will be written in Android Studio, Xcode nor will an iOS Emulator be used (as i don’t have a Mac). This being said, I would assume that the setup on a Mac would be very similar to the one provided here.*
Navigate to: https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/install and select the OS that your computer is running.
You can follow the instructions for your respective OS. I’m installing it on Windows, so I will create a step by step process of how I’ve installed it:
Downloaded the Flutter SDK via the flutter.dev link above
Extracted it to (C:/src), creating a new folder called ‘src’
Navigated to “Edit the System Environment Variables” menu by typing “env” into the start menu search box
On the “System Properties” menu, clicked on the “Environment Variables” button
Selected the “Path” User variable (if you haven’t got a “Path” User variable, you can create one… although it should be there already) and click on “Edit”
The “Edit Environment Variable” window should appear. Click on “New” and add the path where you extracted the Flutter download from (e.g. C:/src/flutter/bin) including the directory to the “bin” folder
To check the System now recognises Flutter, navigate to the Command Prompt and type in “flutter”… this should show a list of Flutter commands
If all is good with your Flutter installation, in the Command Prompt, type “flutter doctor”
“flutter doctor” checks for the required dependencies to create Flutter apps
Flutter Doctor: Checklist
The checklist should include information about:
Flutter, Android toolchain, Android Studio, VS Code and Connected Device
Some warning or error messages may appear. If so, navigate through them and fix them accordingly
Warning/Error messages may include: [Android Studio] Flutter plugin not installed, Dart plugin not installed, [VS Code] Flutter extension not installed…
In the case of Android Studio errors , it is likely that you will need to go to Android Studio (assuming you have it installed), “SDK Manager” → “Plugins”, search the plugins marketplace and install Flutter and Dart
, it is likely that you will need to go to Android Studio (assuming you have it installed), “SDK Manager” → “Plugins”, search the plugins marketplace and install Flutter and Dart In the case of Visual Studio Code errors , it is likely that you will need to go to VS Code (assuming you have it installed), go to the “Extensions” icon on the left, search for “Flutter” and “Dart” and install them both. Dart installed automatically when I installed the Flutter extension.
, it is likely that you will need to go to VS Code (assuming you have it installed), go to the “Extensions” icon on the left, search for “Flutter” and “Dart” and install them both. Dart installed automatically when I installed the Flutter extension. Don’t worry about the “Connected Device” warning , you can either setup an emulator in a minute, or use an actual device.
, you can either setup an emulator in a minute, or use an actual device. Rerun “flutter doctor” to check if the issues have been resolved
Hopefully, this is what is shown in your Command Prompt
If your Command Prompt looks like the image above, then…
(Hopefully you didn’t get lost with the then… on the last part and are reading this).
VS Code
Create a new folder for your Flutter projects to be stored in.
Go to VS Code, click on “File” → “Open Folder” and navigate to the folder you just created and click on “Select Folder”
You should see the VS Code UI update and the name of the folder should appear on the left pane in VS Code
I created a folder called “Flutter Projects”
Now, click on “Terminal” → “New Terminal” to open a new terminal window.
You should see this appear at the lower-centre part of VS Code, with the directory to where the folder is located listed.
This is the cooler part. To create your flutter app, type the command: flutter create {project_name}
I’ve called my project “firstFlutterApp”
The project should now be created and shown as above (good stuff!)
The place to write your code is in main.dart, which is located under “lib”.
Dart is the programming language used to write Flutter apps. If you are used to developing in a language that uses the Object Oriented Programming Paradigm, you should be fine.
Running your Flutter code
Now is the part where you have 2 options:
Run the Flutter demo app using your actual Android/iOS device* Run the Flutter demo app using an Android/iOS emulator
*This article will cover the 2nd option, running the Flutter demo app using an Android emulator.
*As I’m using Windows and don’t have access to a Mac, I won’t be able to show using the iOS emulator. The process should be fairly similar to using an Android emulator though, where instead of navigating to Android Studio, you would use Xcode to access an existing iOS emulator or to setup a new one.*
Navigate to Android Studio and go to the AVD Manager.
If you haven’t got an Android Emulator already setup, click on the “Create Virtual Device” button and follow the process to setup a new emulator.
If you already have an Android Emulator configured, click on the “Run” icon to start it.
Once your Android Emulator has started, run the “flutter run” command in VS Code.
Awesome! It worked!
If you see the same as the screenshot above, congratulations! You’ve successfully setup Flutter and are now ready to start your journey developing cross-platform apps using Flutter/Dart!
I’ve included a celebratory image below because things can go wrong with setting up dev environments and if you’ve got to this point, why not have a way to celebrate! :)
If you have found this article useful for helping to setup Flutter on your computer, feel free to follow me here on Medium… and clap to our success! Much appreciated, see you in the next article. | https://blog.devgenius.io/getting-started-with-flutter-development-setup-afd5d5e197f0 | ['Andy Ward'] | 2020-07-20 18:55:14.162000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Flutter', 'Mobile App Development', 'Dart', 'Cross Platform'] |
The Attack Path Management Manifesto | Table of Contents:
· What Are Attack Paths?
· Directory Services: Active Directory
· Why Active Directory Is the Adversary’s Favorite Target
· Comparing Attack Path Management and Vulnerability Management
· Why Attack Paths Are Challenging
· Why Current Options to Address Attack Paths Fall Short
· What Is Attack Path Management and How It Works
· Attack Path Management Benefits
What Are Attack Paths?
Attack Paths are nothing new. Identity-Based Attack Paths (referred to herein simply as Attack Paths) are particularly well-studied. Attack Paths are the chains of abusable privileges and user behaviors that create direct and indirect connections between computers and users.
Microsoft Research published a paper in 2009 describing Attack Paths as “Identity snowball attacks [that] leverage the users logged in to a first compromised host to launch additional attacks with those users’ privileges on other hosts.” The French government presented their work in 2014 to “…highlight [Active Directory] control paths involving non-trivial chains of relations and objects… to measure the effective extent of an account’s power”, titled “Active Directory Control Paths”. In 2016, we created BloodHound to make our jobs as red teamers easier.
While Attack Paths are not new, existing defensive literature is too academic to be practical, and practical tools have focused on Attack Paths from the attacker perspective — not the defender’s. Defenders have been plagued by Attack Paths for decades (whether they’ve known it or not), but have never been able to directly deal with the root cause of those Attack Paths.
The primary goal of Attack Path Management (APM) is to directly solve the problem of Attack Paths. Today, the problem of Attack Paths is felt most acutely in the world of Microsoft Active Directory and Azure Active Directory. These platforms provide the greatest payoff for attackers, since taking control of the fundamental identity platform for an enterprise grants full control of all users, systems, and data in that enterprise.
The concepts discussed here will focus on Active Directory (both Microsoft Active Directory and Azure Active Directory), but can be applied to other identity and access management systems, such as AWS and G-Suite.
Directory Services: Active Directory
Microsoft Active Directory and Azure Active Directory are directory service products that provide several critical services to organizations: identity and access management, endpoint management, business application management, and much, much more.
Organizations see Active Directory as:
FOUNDATIONAL
Active Directory is the foundation upon which access is managed for endpoint management services, identity and authentication services, email authentication, and critical business operations are built, making it one of — if not THE most — critical services used by organizations of all sizes.
UBIQUITOUS
Active Directory is by far the most widely used directory service product. Banks, government and military agencies, retailers, small businesses, and the vast majority of the Fortune 500 use Active Directory. That ubiquity comes with several benefits for organizations, including a rich community to get support, a highly mature Active Directory management and engineering training ecosystem, and a large talent pool filled with thousands of professionals with years (even decades) of experience in Active Directory.
POWERFUL
Active Directory includes several powerful features that simplify user and endpoint management, increase uptime, and streamline the endpoint user experience. Features like security group delegation, Group Policy, and domain trusts enable Active Directory admins to organize and control the IT environment so that it best serves the requirements of the organization.
Adversaries see Active Directory as:
FOUNDATIONAL
Because the entire organization is tied in to Active Directory, an attacker can gain control of any computer, any user, any business process by first taking control of Active Directory.
UBIQUITOUS
Because Active Directory is so widely used, an attacker can invest time, money, and effort into developing their skills at attacking Active Directory, and then use those same skills and tools to attack almost any organization.
POWERFUL
The features that make Active Directory so powerful from the administrative side are the very same features that attackers love to abuse. Some of the most widely used tools for attacking Active Directory (BloodHound, Mimikatz, Responder) do not use exploits, but abuse features in Active Directory and Windows instead.
Why Active Directory Is the Adversary’s Favorite Target
Adversaries have been targeting Active Directory for decades, and there are at least 5 major reasons why they continue to love targeting Active Directory today:
Reason 1: Unmatched Payoff
Taking control of Active Directory is not the end goal for any adversary. Adversaries’ true objectives range from industrial/nation-state espionage to ransomware deployment, and everywhere in between. While taking control of Active Directory is not the end goal, no other tactic provides the guarantee of achieving the true objective that taking control of Active Directory does. Why is this?
When an endpoint is joined to Active Directory, several mechanisms allow the administrators of Active Directory to take control of that endpoint — this is, of course, by design. For example, organizations use this control to perform tasks across all endpoints in an enterprise like installing anti-virus, configuring local security policies, or controlling other business software installed on endpoints. The mechanisms that enable all of this can be abused to take control of the endpoint. Once an endpoint is joined to Active Directory, the scope of who controls the endpoint is no longer controlled by the endpoint itself.
But even when a system is not joined to Active Directory, Active Directory may still be used to validate the identity of a user with access to that system. Think of technologies like RADIUS or SSO — Active Directory validates the user for the system, and then the system grants the user access. For the adversary, this means that gaining control of the identity authority (Active Directory) almost always means taking over any system, user, business process, data, etc.
For the adversary, it couldn’t be more clear: no matter what you want to achieve, control of Active Directory will get you there. This makes Active Directory an extraordinarily attractive target for every adversary.
Reason 2: Common Weakness
There is one common weakness across all Active Directory environments that spells disaster for the enterprise’s security posture: Windows and Active Directory make it nearly impossible to effectively and accurately audit permissions. Whether that means permissions on an Active Directory object, or local administrator rights on a computer, or even effective rights granted to a security group, Windows and Active Directory are not designed to answer questions like, “How many users have administrator rights on this computer?”
In the BloodHound GUI, we can see that 1 group and 3 users belong to the local admins group on the computer on the right
The Windows command line similarly lists just the principals that directly belong to the local admins group on a computer
Windows will only report which principals have a direct “admin rights” relationship to a computer or object.
In reality, a computer can have hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of administrators thanks to nested security groups. Above, we can see that, thanks to security group nesting, 7 users have admin rights on the computer — not just 4.
This lack of clarity regarding permissions, coupled with the extraordinarily rare usage of endpoint firewalls and the near-universal ubiquity of Active Directory means adversaries can use the same fundamental tactics to attack almost any organization. An adversary can master the techniques for attacking Active Directory once, then use that mastery anywhere.
These weaknesses are so common, reliable, and consistent, that they have enabled offensive tooling that is just as common, reliable, and consistent — offensive security tools like Mimikatz, Responder, and PowerView.
Reason 3: Detection is Hard, Evasion is Easy
There’s a common phrase in the information security field: “Defenders have to be right every time, but attackers only have to be right once.” This is of course a gross oversimplification of reality, but it rings true when talking about detecting malicious behavior used in the course of an Attack Path. Because adversaries often use built-in, legitimate administrative tools and abuse existing privileges and permissions in Active Directory, it’s very difficult for defenders to tell the difference between “good” admin behavior and “bad” admin behavior.
Consider a help desk user who logs in to dozens, maybe even hundreds of systems every week. This user may use different administrative tools to do their work, may frequently log into systems for the first time, and may perform privileged tasks on the system. Hundreds of logons, multiplied by hundreds of generated events and artifacts — it’s no wonder adversaries can slip under the radar by “living off the land”.
Looking past the easy tactic of slipping under the radar, there is an entire world of defensive evasion techniques. From evading static hash detection by changing a bit of code, to disabling endpoint security solutions — adversaries have a very wide set of tactics at their disposal to evade detection, no matter how sophisticated that detection capability.
Reason 4: Deep Persistence Options
Whether working toward short-term or long-term goals, adversaries need to maintain persistence in the network to avoid operational disruption. With low levels of privilege, adversaries are limited on their persistence mechanism options, and are forced to use options which may be easier for defenders to identify. But with high levels of privilege, persistence options become much greater, and can be much harder for defenders to find and eliminate.
The adversary doesn’t need to constrain themselves to “Domain Admins” when installing persistence. Domain Admin means control of every system, and control of a system means control of the kernel. Most defenders today already struggle with detecting commodity-level persistence mechanisms like malicious scheduled tasks, and the vast majority are not equipped or staffed to handle kernel-level persistence mechanisms.
To complicate detection efforts even further, control of Active Directory means control of the operating system on every domain-joined machine, including domain controllers. Because most detection and threat hunting systems rely on information coming back from the operating system, an adversary with control of the operating system itself can defeat some detection and threat hunting efforts with one simple tactic: lying. More specifically, with control of the operating system, the adversary can cause the same pieces of the operating system queried by defenders to report everything is A-OK.
Reason 5: Unlimited Retries
The SpecterOps Red Team has been lucky enough to face some of the best Security Operations Center (SOC), Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR), and threat hunting teams in the world. These are world-class professional defenders who are on the cutting edge of detection and response for adversary Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTP). They have to be — they are specifically targeted and attacked every hour of every day.
But no organization has perfect security, and oftentimes we find well-funded SOCs are partly there to make up for other weaknesses in the bigger IT security picture. For the adversary, this means it may be simple to gain initial access into such an organization, but the slightest OPSEC mistake from the attacker, such as writing a well-signatured binary to disk, virtually guarantees getting caught and kicked out. Does that mean the adversary is shut out forever? Of course not.
Every time an adversary regains access into a well-defended network is another opportunity to learn more about the network and map Attack Paths — Attack Paths that grow and remain unseen and unmanaged every day. It may only take one or two rounds of attack path data collection on the adversary’s part to discover an attack path to their objective. While adversaries certainly do not enjoy needing to rebuild phishing, payload hosting, and command and control infrastructure, the juice is worth the squeeze — the adversary gets and uses unlimited retries to attack Active Directory.
Comparing Attack Path Management and Vulnerability Management
Over the past twenty years, Vulnerability Management (VM) has matured into a critical pillar in enterprise IT security. The sheer volume of software vulnerabilities in the 2000s and 2010s necessitated the creation of vulnerability management platforms, and vulnerability management programs to validate the effectiveness of an organization’s patching and secure configuration practices.
Attack Path Management (APM) is a different solution for a different set of problems than Vulnerability Management (VM).
Patches vs. Privileges
Software vulnerabilities have been, are, and will continue to be a big problem. While vendors are getting better at producing software with fewer bugs, they’re never going to produce bug-free code — nor should they be expected to. But new software isn’t the only risk here — old software, or old code that new software is written on top of, can also have exploitable bugs just waiting to be found. For this reason, organizations must be able to react to software vulnerabilities by testing, deploying, and auditing patches, as well as mitigating risks on systems where patches can’t be deployed.
Vulnerability Management (VM) solutions provide specific vulnerability risk using the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). While vulnerabilities are an arrow in an adversary’s quiver, they come at a cost. First, each exploit leaves bread crumbs which defenders can find; potentially risking the adversary’s network access, exploit, or both. Second, developing, aggregating, and maintaining an exploit is time consuming for the adversary. Last, the use of exploits to pivot / move through a network is commonly time-consuming.
In contrast, an adversary with mastery of attacking Active Directory can gain privileges and move freely on Attack Paths leaving minimal risk of discovery from defenders, achieving persistence, and gaining the keys to the kingdom. For this reason, adversaries prefer to use exploits only when necessary and default to Attack Paths.
Why Attack Paths Are Challenging
Attack Paths have plagued organizations for decades. SpecterOps has observed several patterns emerge across hundreds of organizations that explain why they have historically been unable to manage Attack Paths:
The Least Privilege Pipe Dream
When people talk about the “Tough exterior and soft interior”, they are often referring to the fact that while the perimeter controls are hardened and given appropriate attention, the situation inside the perimeter is very, very bad (i.e., full of Attack Paths). Most commonly, this is because the organization has lost control over Windows and Active Directory permissions, which have created critical Attack Paths linking every user and computer in the environment into the most highly sensitive systems and highly privileged principals — a group of assets known as Tier Zero in the Tiered Administration model.
Microsoft’s Enterprise Access Model https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security/compass/privileged-access-access-model
Enter Least Privilege — the foundational security control that absolutely no one implements. But it’s not for a lack of trying or any professional shortcoming of the administrators. Least Privilege has historically been out of reach for several reasons. Why? Because the very opaque nature of how privileges are granted in Windows and Active Directory, and how that opaqueness precludes even the most talented administrators from effectively auditing privileges at scale. For an admin to effectively implement least privilege, they must perfectly understand all of the following elements of every privilege that exists in the environment:
Question #1: Is this an abusable privilege or not?
Answer: The answer to #1 is always going to be either, “I don’t know”, “Yes”, or “No”. But with new Attack Path research coming out all the time, that last “No” almost may as well be “Not Yet”. Answering this question for dozens of privileges across thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of assets requires appropriate, up-to-date tooling — tooling that historically has been unavailable to administrators or simply didn’t exist yet.
Question #2: Who has been granted this privilege?
Answer: The answer to #2 can be very deceiving because of security group nesting. A security group with a privilege is represented by one privilege. But that security group may in reality have dozens, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of principals added to it via security group nesting. Unrolling those group memberships by hand once is enough to make most administrators give up on the whole idea of auditing privileges at all. To make matters worse, users and computers and groups are being added to and removed from groups all the time, so the fruits of that manual group unrolling process quickly become out-dated.
Question #3: Is this privilege required?
Answer: The hardest question of all is #3. Ask any software vendor whether their software really needs local admin rights, and they’ll almost always tell you, “Yes”. Ask any IT admin or business app owner if their service account really needs a particular permission, and they will almost always tell you the same thing. But as many of us know, granting liberal permissions like this is the easy way to ‘Just Make It Work’. Despite this, providing that a particular privilege is not required is actually much easier said than done. Proving you won’t break something by removing a certain privilege is actually very difficult. Not many organizations are going to want to implement a security “fix” that may cripple a business critical application.
This endless loop of non-starters prevents the vast majority of organizations from ever really achieving effective least privilege enforcement. Yes, an organization may achieve least privilege on a particular set of systems or use logical network rules to mitigate privilege abuse. However, the reality is that Attack Paths persist, grow, and go unmanaged — flying in the face of almost every least privilege accomplishment an organization has.
Red Team Assessments: The Wrong Tool for Mitigating Attack Paths
The goal of a red team assessment as defined by SpecterOps is to test the detection and response capabilities (people, processes, and technology) of an organization. Red team assessments are not designed to identify Attack Paths within an organization. However, red team assessments are unique in the professional services arena in their ability to expose how the organization’s defenders respond to realistic, threat-representative attacks. There is often an organizational “A-Ha!” moment when the red team report starts making the rounds. For maybe the first time ever, the organization sees from start to finish the exact steps an adversary took to go from no access to total control of the enterprise. They also clearly see areas where the organization’s response didn’t do enough to prevent it.
Then some familiar questions are asked: “On step 2, you used User X’s password to pivot to Computer 5. But if User X didn’t have admin rights there, you wouldn’t have been able to do that, right?” This kind of thinking is very common — that by taking specific pre-emptive action, the organization would have been free of Attack Paths and, therefore, safe. It’s a comforting — and misinformed — thought. Here’s why:
A “small” organization with around 1,000 endpoints will typically have millions, if not billions of Attack Paths. Attempting to remediate the specific Attack Path presented by the red team assessment would be like trying to stop someone driving from Seattle to New York City by removing a one block stretch of road in St. Louis. It has no effect on the driver’s ability to reach their objective and is likely a waste of resources.
Removing any one route does not inhibit the ability to move from one point to another
The problem is not that the red team assessment provides no value. Red team assessments provide tremendous value by training or validating the detection and response capabilities of an organization. The problem is in trying to use the red team assessment for something it wasn’t designed for: understanding, quantifying, and eliminating or mitigating Attack Paths. This can lead to frustrating outcomes for red team professionals and their customers, where Attack Paths are discovered and executed year after year after year — it can start to feel like chasing your tail.
Sizing the Problem: Attack Paths as the Unknown Unknown
There are at least three types of problems that present risks to organizations:
Known knowns — well-understood problems that the organization can easily determine their exposure to with tools and methodologies. For mature organizations, Patch Management fits in this category, as the organizations know the importance of patching and can measure their effectiveness at patch management.
Known unknowns — well-understood problems that the organization struggles to determine their exposure to. These are problems that the organization acknowledges to present risks, but for whatever reason, can’t measure how well they are protecting themselves from those risks. Many organizations feel this most acutely with “standard” security controls that are actually incredibly difficult to deploy and maintain in the real world — asset management, least privilege, and tiered administration, for example.
Unknown unknowns — the most dangerous type of risk on this list. These are problems that the organization does not know about, and cannot measure how effectively they are protecting themselves from the risks created by those problems. Attack Paths fit in this category for most organizations.
Unknown unknowns are not the fault of the affected organizations — an organization can not be expected to manage a problem they are not aware of and have no way of measuring. And for those organizations that are aware of the problem of Attack Paths, most lack the ability to use accurate and meaningful statistics to measure their exposure from Attack Paths. You can’t manage or make real progress against a problem that you can’t measure. Fortunately, advancements in Attack Path Management can now transition Attack Paths from ‘unknown unknowns’ into ‘known knowns’ for enterprises. To explain this transition, the details of why Attack Paths are currently ‘unknown unknowns’ must be explored in detail to illustrate how Attack Path Management works and the benefits it provides.
Why Current Options to Address Attack Paths Fall Short
Simply put, the current options for dealing with the risks brought on by Attack Paths fall short because they:
Don’t or can’t measure the magnitude of the problem.
Attack the symptoms rather than the problem.
Ultimately fail to provide practical approaches to resolve risk.
Today, organizations try to deal with Attack Paths in three different ways:
Best Practices Are Often Impractical Practices
In theory, there are two particular methodologies an organization can use to very effectively mitigate the risks brought on by Attack Paths: Tiered Administration and Least Privilege. But for the vast majority of organizations, these methodologies are out of reach.
Tiered Administration sounds simple on paper: split your administrators and endpoints into different “tiers”, and only allow principals and systems in the same tier to access one another. Effectively deployed, this promises to eliminate lateral movement between tiers, so that an attacker with control of a lower-tier principal or system cannot pivot to higher tiers.
Least Privilege Access sounds even simpler: only give users and other principals the privileges they need to do their job, and no more privilege than that. But several factors prevent organizations from deploying Tiered Administration or Least Privilege Access:
Opaque and confusing privileges make it too difficult to understand effective permissions against any particular system or object. If you can’t easily audit who has access to one system or object, you can’t determine whether a tier-separation violation exists, or whether a user or principal has the least amount of privilege required. Effectively implementing and maintaining Tiered Administration has historically required architectural changes to several fundamental services, including identity and access management, endpoint management, and even network architecture. This is the biggest reason more organizations didn’t deploy Microsoft’s now-deprecated ESAE, also known as Red Forest. There has historically been no way to accurately predict the real benefit that Tiered Administration or Least Privilege Access would have on eliminating Attack Paths. The inability to demonstrate risk reduction has kept Tiered Administration, Least Privilege, and many other “basic” security controls within the realm of impractical best practice at best, and industry buzzwords at worst.
Products
We have seen some products have an effect on Attack Paths, namely those products in the Privileged Access Management (PAM) category. And some other products, like Anti-Virus (AV) and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), can have a positive effect on hindering an adversary’s ability to execute a particular step in an Attack Path. And yet, Attack Paths continue to grow, and Red Teams and adversaries continue to execute Attack Paths. At the end of the day, PAM, AV, and EDR have served more as speed bumps, not roadblocks, when an adversary is executing an Attack Path. Why is this?
The biggest and most obvious reason why existing products do not solve the problem of Attack Paths? They aren’t designed to. Each product within existing categories has been designed, built, and maintained to solve one, or a few specific problems in the information security space. But just as an Attack Path Management solution will not solve the problem of malicious software running on endpoints, EDR solutions will not solve the problem of Attack Paths.
A Step Forward: Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) — BloodHound
Almost immediately after BloodHound was released, the FOSS BloodHound creators and many others realized that the potential for the tool was far more compelling on the defensive side than it was on the offensive. Many organizations have used BloodHound to identify and eliminate Attack Paths in their own networks, to varying degrees of success.
But there are several problems with using FOSS BloodHound as an Attack Path Management solution:
Building on top of FOSS BloodHound with custom scripts and methodologies requires a full-time commitment and dedication to mastering graph theory concepts, graph database management, the Cypher query language, and an existing expertise in Active Directory security concepts. FOSS BloodHound offers no way to generate meaningful statistics or measurements. This precludes the possibility of tracking progress over time or demonstrating Attack Path reduction before a remediation is made. FOSS BloodHound’s data collection architecture was designed to facilitate offensive security assessments which take place in a discrete span of time. It was not designed for, nor does it support continuous data collection. This means that the data in the database quickly becomes inaccurate and unusable.
While some organizations, including SpecterOps, have had success with deriving defensive value out of FOSS BloodHound, it is neither good enough nor designed to effectively manage Attack Paths on its own.
What Is Attack Path Management and How It Works
Attack Path Management is a fundamentally different, unique methodology designed to help organizations understand, empirically quantify impact, and eliminate Attack Path risks. To achieve this goal, Attack Path Management is based on three fundamental pillars:
Attack Path Management Defined and APM’s Foundational Pillars
Attack Path Management is the continuous discovery, mapping, and risk assessment of Active Directory (on-prem and Azure) Attack Path choke points. Organizations can use APM to eliminate, mitigate, and manage Attack Paths, finally achieve effective Tiered Administration and Least Privilege, and significantly reduce the attack surface presented to the adversary by Active Directory. APM does not require fundamental architectural changes, and helps organizations achieve the above benefits without endlessly chasing down misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, and dangerous user behaviors. To achieve these goals, APM is based on three fundamental pillars:
Pillar 1: Continuous, Comprehensive Attack Path Mapping
Continuous Mapping
Enterprise networks are not static. Privileged users log on to different systems every day (leaving behind tokens and credentials that can be abused by an adversary), new applications require newly granted permissions, and security group memberships change to accommodate business requirements. These individual changes and events don’t just affect the principals and objects directly involved — they have far-reaching effects in the creation of Attack Paths. Consider for example the Panama Canal. In its simplest form the canal connects two oceans; however, it opens a pathway for distant nations and economies.
Because the connections and behaviors that form Attack Paths are continuously changing, the Attack Paths themselves must also be continuously mapped.
Comprehensive Mapping
When continuously mapping attack paths, every relationship / connection must be charted. From critical servers like Domain Controllers to individual endpoints, comprehensive enumeration of relationships and connections enables full understanding of the real permissions against any given object, computer, user, etc., and also enables the empirical measurement and impact of any particular connection.
Furthermore, ongoing research produces new techniques for abusing legitimate privileges. Those new techniques must be included in the Attack Path Mapping as well. Often, introducing a simple technique to the Attack Path Map can reveal Attack Paths that were always there, but remained hidden for years or even decades.
Imagine Active Directory is a labyrinth of ever-changing paths. It must be continually, and comprehensively mapped
Pillar 2: Empirical Impact Assessment of Attack Path Choke Points
There are numerous solutions that will point to a particular configuration and offer a subjective risk assessment of that specific configuration. Equally as unhelpful, it’s very common for consultants to instruct their clients to broadly “do least privilege”. Attack Path Management is different. By continuously and comprehensively mapping all Attack Paths that exist in a directory services environment, Attack Path Management can empirically measure the impact any particular privilege or user behavior has on the overall security posture of the environment. As an example, the driveway in front of your house (specific privilege) doesn’t just connect your house to the street, it connects your house to every other origin that can be traversed by car.
Each privilege enables new attack paths
Choke Point Identification
Attack Path Choke Points are identified as those common privileges and user behaviors that, like the driveway to your house, connect the rest of the environment to an asset or collection of assets. For example, any connection into the collection of Tier Zero assets is a Tier Zero Choke Point — a privilege or user behavior the adversary must abuse in order to compromise a Tier Zero asset. No matter where the adversary initially starts or the pathway they take to this point, there is a finite set of connections into Tier Zero that separate the adversary from their objective. Continuous, comprehensive mapping enumerates those choke points. But identifying those Choke Points isn’t enough — they must also be prioritized and their individual impacts must be measured to understand the benefit of revoking privileges or forcing privileged users to change their behaviors.
Choke Points represent the optimal location to block the largest number of pathways / Attack Paths…
…protecting an organization’s critical systems, data, and assets from malicious access
Choke Point Impact Assessment
Attack Path Management must assess and describe (in simple language) the impact any particular Choke Point has. This is done by comprehensively walking the Attack Paths backwards to discover how many users and computers have access and pathways to each Choke Point. One Choke Point may enable 100% of users to access Tier Zero, while another Choke Point only enables 2% of users to access Tier Zero — this makes prioritization and urgency immediately clear.
Pillar 3: Practical, Precise, and Safe Remediation Guidance
The primary objective of Attack Path Management is to help organizations eliminate key Choke Points such that it’s no longer worth the adversary’s effort to try to enumerate or execute Attack Paths in that organization’s network. With this end-goal in mind, it is vital that Attack Path Management produce practical, precise, and safe remediation guidance that organizations can easily implement.
Practical
Attack Paths present a large risk to every organization, but every organization must choose for themselves how much time, money, and political capital to expend in the name of managing Attack Paths. For this reason, Attack Path Management must provide practical remediation guidance that adheres to three criteria:
Remediation actions should not require drastic changes to the environment’s directory services architecture Remediation actions should not require the organization to migrate from one directory services platform to another Remediation actions should not require expert-level knowledge to implement Remediations should have expected outcomes, and both the remediation and the expected outcomes should be verifiable
Precise
Any inexact or incomplete guidance runs the risk of not eliminating the intended Attack Path or impacting critical business processes. Due to the complex relationships and connections of the real permissions against any given object, computer, user, etc., Attack Path Management Choke Point remediation guidance must be precise and comprehensive.
Safe
Because Attack Path Management is constrained to privileges and user behaviors, remediation guidance is focused on removing, altering, or otherwise mitigating those privileges and behaviors. Removing privileges can be a particularly anxiety-inducing exercise, as it may be unclear what critical business processes may fail as a result. Each remediation guidance produced by an Attack Path Management solution must include instructions for how to determine whether those privileges are actually required.
Attack Path Management Benefits
Attack Path Management provides enterprises a pathway to secure Active Directory, stripping away AD as an adversary’s favorite target while returning confidence in AD as an enterprise’s identity authority. More precisely, enterprises will observe the following gains:
Elimination of ‘Band-aid’ Fixes
Attack Path Management allows organizations to directly address the risk of Attack Paths at precise Choke Points rather than applying thousands of cosmetic ‘improvements’ that do not hinder an adversary’s advancement.
Measurably Improved Security Posture
Attack Path Management provides meaningful, transparent measurements that reveal the real risks created by Attack Paths and enable tracking an organization’s AD security posture progress over time.
Clear Active Directory Visibility
Attack Path Management delivers clarity on Active Directory Structure, facilitating better architectural design (for both AD and for applications), IT and security team productivity gains, and the end of the misuse of penetration test results leading to tedious, unproductive configuration changes.
Impractical Best Practice Made Practical
Tiered Administration, Least Privileged Access, and credential hygiene have always been the best theoretical best practices but have remained out of reach. The visibility and clarity afforded by Attack Path Management enables all three within reach for anyone.
Active Directory Security for Everyone
The ultimate result of continuously mapping, measuring, and eliminating high risk Attack Path Choke Points with Attack Path Management is that you have hardened Active Directory against abuse, bolstered Directory Services availability, and protected the ‘keys to the kingdom.’ Further, attackers are forced to go elsewhere or use different tactics that are more difficult and have less payoff than they do today.
What’s Next?
Attack Path Management is our vision for how organizations can finally solve the problem of Attack Paths through practical and precise implementation of best practices like least privilege, tiered administration, and credential hygiene, measured by the empirical assessment of how those remediations will reduce critical Attack Paths and improve overall security posture.
Attack Path Management is the methodology employed by BloodHound Enterprise, the first commercial product from SpecterOps.
Learn more about BloodHound Enterprise.
Thank you to Justin Kohler, Leo Pitt, Will, Jeff Dimmock, David McGuire, Matt Nelson, Andrew Chiles, Matt Hand, hotnops, and Jason Frank for your in-depth reviews on this post. | https://posts.specterops.io/the-attack-path-management-manifesto-3a3b117f5e5 | ['Andy Robbins'] | 2021-05-25 17:52:32.434000+00:00 | ['Active Directory', 'Information Security', 'Attack Path Management', 'Bloodhound', 'Attack Paths'] |
Mandalorian Ep. 7 was the Best Episode this Season (Spoilers) | Screenshot: Disney
I know that saying that the most recent episode of the Mandalorian is a bold statement, after a season that has given us some amazing episodes.
looking back at previous episodes this season has been absolutely fantastic. I am a big fan of the the animated Star Wars series Rebels, so I was very happy to see the introduction of Ashoka to the show.
We have also seen the introduction of Bo-Katan another Rebels character. This is still not mentioning Boba Fett’s return and so many other amazing characters and plot points that we have seen this season.
So, after such an amazing season with so many great characters, why is that I believe that episode 7 of Mandalorian was so important. Let me explain.
Episode 7, The Believer, was a slower episode that was meant to show us the perspective of the other side. It gave us a look at storm troopers struggles. The show even early on in the episode uses Bill Burr’s Mayfield as a device to carry the message that wherever you grow up is the message that you believe.
This message is carried out through the episode. We see that Cara Dune does not want to work with Mayfield, we see that the pirates want to destroy the empire for militarizing their planet and that the message can even change as we see Mayfield’s character get revenge against the empire.
Speaking of Mayfield, I am also really impressed with the way that they used his character in this episode. While I like the episode where they sneak on the ship from the previous season, and then the Mandalorian takes them all out one by one. I did not feel that Mayfield was all that interesting of a character, I didn’t really think anyone in that episode was all that interesting. It was a pleasant surprise to see them bring this character back and actually make him interesting.
Yet, even with all these great moments I have not touched on why I think that episode 7 is the best episode of the season. It all lies in the structure of this episode. The episode starts out with them picking up Mayfield. He is freaked out when he sees Boba Fett, then realizes that it is not Mando, but then gets freaked again when he does see Mando.
The episode then tasks the group with breaking into a base controlled by the empire. There is great action in this episode and they kill a lot of Storm troopers and blow up their base. I personally loved this as it reminds me a lot of Rebels. Rebels was always about them going into bases filled with storm troopers and sabotaging the bases.
Finally, we have the moment that Mando has to take off his helmet in order to have the empire’s system scan his face. This moment is super important, as earlier in the episode Mayfield talks about how everyone has their line, but sometimes it has to be moved. This is an example of Mando doing something he truly does not believe he should do, in order to save Grogu. It then leads to another great moment where Mayfield hands a trooper helmet back to him and tells him you did what you had to, I never saw your face.
This episode was so important, developmentally for so many characters. It changed Mayfield’s outlook on the empire, it changed Mando’s outlook on what lines he’s willing to cross and it changed Cara Dune’s out look on Mayfield who she just saw as a member of the empire. It makes me so excited for what episode 8 will bring, what did you think of episode 7? Let me know in the comments. | https://medium.com/@connor636/mandalorian-ep-7-was-the-best-episode-this-season-spoilers-a595e199c29f | ['Connor Edrington'] | 2020-12-13 16:13:59.520000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'Disney Plus', 'Mandalorian'] |
¿Cómo viajar de EE.UU. a Perú? | COVID-19 Travel Advisory
Exceptions to the travel advisory are permitted for essential workers and are limited based on the duration of time in… | https://medium.com/guvery-blog/como-viajar-de-ee-uu-a-peru-requisitos-147b40799e7c | ['Guvery Oficial'] | 2020-11-01 02:59:28.409000+00:00 | ['Viajar', 'Vuelos Internacionales', 'Guvery', 'Estados Unidos', 'Peru'] |
AMA with TAG Ventures Vietnam: Importance of User Protection and Security and $SNE Token Distribution for StrongNode.io | AMA with TAG Ventures Vietnam: Importance of User Protection and Security and $SNE Token Distribution for StrongNode.io StrongNode Oct 10, 2021·5 min read
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) tech company and innovation lab StrongNode.io’s CEO and Co-founder Daniel Saito talked with the TAG Ventures Vietnam community for a new AMA episode last 22 September 2021. Daniel replied to the questions about our company and shared facts about the upcoming IDO launch and $SNE token public sale.
Our $SNE Token Sale will roll out on 3 launchpads. The IDO is happening on TrustPad.io, Starter.xyz, and BullPerks.com.
For the IDO on TrustPad and BullPerks, details on how to join will be available later on their website. For Starter, here’s how to participate in our IDO: https://starterxyz.medium.com/guide-how-to-take-part-in-the-strongnode-edge-ido-on-starter-c09233aa3d70. The KYC process for the StrongNode IDO on Starter started 30 Sept via Blockpass, please click here.
Don’t despair if you missed it. Check out some of the highlights from the AMA session between StrongNode and TAG Ventures Vietnam:
$SNE Token Adoption
What do you consider to be the best features of “StrongNode” ? Are there any features that “StrongNode” has that we can’t get on any other platform? Where can we stay informed of all the news that “StrongNode” has to offer us?
Daniel Saito: Thank you for the question, you can follow us here for a lot of follow up questions and answers. As we get closer to launch, you probably want to keep informed of all product and platform updates
🥮 http://strongnode.io
🗯 https://t.me/strongnodechat
🗣 https://t.me/strongnode
📚 https://twitter.com/StrongNodeEdge
🎟 https://discord.gg/Gk2ka3NCR6
📚 https://medium.com/@strongnode
When we first started the thought of StrongNode we looked outside to see what we can do to help solve some of the world’s problems. Last year wasn’t any joke and now we have a pandemic on our hands. We went to our clientele and saw what keeps them up at night. We noticed that the cost of computing has gone up, these cloud providers have a foothold on us and they know it. With that said, we had to come up with a solution or an alternative and looking inwards of what is available we noticed that we already had the blueprint already in front of us in the form of Open Source.
We wanted to address the last mile, which is the EDGE. It’s the consumers’ latent resources from your PC/MAC/LINUX [environment] (CPU, bandwidth, storage) and use it for a batch processing cluster using the map/reduce method of sorting jobs and processing it with a token economic incentive to participate both as a broadcaster and a receiver. The solution was designed with security in mind and made with ❤️ for the NEW NORMAL.
We wanted to grow the digital footprint of our decentralized distributed network and to be able to get token distribution to as many wallets as possible which will, in the long term, help the value of the $SNE token.
The StrongNode $SNE token has so many use cases within the StrongNode ecosystem which includes our innovation lab projects focused on gaming, social impact, entertainment, lifestyle platforms building on the StrongNode Edge technology. You get paid for your idle resources and others get to run workloads, processed in chunks, on your idle resources. In return, you get paid in StrongNode tokens [$SNE] when you lend your network and compute resources. There are more mechanics yet to be announced that will enhance the appeal of token adoption.
USER PROTECTION and PRIVACY
User Protection and Privacy has become an issue that many projects face in their development. Can you explain the security of the StrongNode and how the StrongNode protects its users?
Daniel Saito: As a former security analyst, researcher and developer; I was originally tasked at designing the framework for the trusted mobile platform using a TPM or otherwise known in today’s term as “secure enclave” in 4G devices with NTT DoCoMo R&D, Intel and IBM. I want to take the same principle but also apply it to the anonymous / cryptographic model of crypto and create the ultimate solution in network and privacy where the user add value and in return they receive a monetary reward.
As for privacy, we only know you by your wallet address at any time. All personal KYCd data will be stored offsite with our KYC authentication partners. You will need to be properly KYCd to join the StrongNode Network. We plan to not only have Audit certificates but we also plan to use 3rd party services to attack our network, have bug bounties, and most of all it will be OPEN SOURCE (even that will be all audited).
In order to help this process, we reinvented OpenID. This is our SSO (Single Sign On) approach like “Login with Google” or “Login with Facebook” to validate you as a user to enter the network. Upon completing the KYC component at User Registration, not only do we airdrop you $SNE tokens, but you also get this nifty NFT dropped into your wallet. This NFT is specific to your wallet address and your identity, which cannot be moved out of your wallet. This NFT acts as an access token (a key) to login to various crypto properties that we are working on in our innovation labs. We want to use best of breed open source projects and develop StrongNode with the tech.
Security and anonymity are always prioritized by BlockChain projects in the development of project platforms and technologies. So, do you have any technological solutions or plans to enhance user trust in these issues?
Daniel Saito: Yes, we took extra constraints to ensure data sovereignty distribute our MASTER nodes in locations where GOV’T have strict regulatory on user privacy and encryption.
This is the next era of where and how data is stored. Cloud makes things easy, but if the provider is a USA-based corporation. The US government will have access to that data.
Daniel Saito: Please join us and grow Vietnam’s digital footprint on StrongNode.
For more information, visit us: http://strongnode.io
##### | https://medium.com/strongnode/ama-with-tag-ventures-vietnam-importance-of-user-protection-and-security-and-sne-token-e066cf41778d | [] | 2022-01-05 07:51:16.865000+00:00 | ['Token Sale', 'Strongnode', 'Security', 'Edge Computing', 'Vietnam'] |
How digitalisation fosters revolution of audit practices? | We have heard that 3 Ds (Decarbonisation, Decentralisation and Digitalisation) are the key to the energy transition in the previous discussion. One of the very important D also leads the audit industry — Digitalisation.
Why be certificated?
After the industrial revolution, society enjoys the benefit of massive production and wealthy. To keep growing in terms of business development, the Giants try to reduce cost by hiring slaves or minor in the global south. Regarding the food supply chain, the farmers are usually the one who gets far underpaid while the massive production damage the natural environment. Thus, customers concerning these issues ask for ingredients which are not genetically modified organism (GMO) or from free trade. Various certificate come out with the need of the market, such as organic food, free trade cocoa, FSC paper. Then, customers can easily distinguish the “good” products or services by looking at the certificate they trust and with the vision which they agree on.
The transitional way of auditing provides a clear analysis for organisations and businesses on certain objects with a range of identified measures aimed at making savings or demonstrate the value of the products or services, helping firms take steps towards the development of the objects. In the past, the audit processes are closed to the auditors and the suppliers. This makes the information inaccessible to the public. The audit companies are in charge of communication with individuals and help suppliers to save time and resource in public relations.
Transformation of the traditional practices
The certificate eco-system have worked well in the previous two decades, but it ended up a day meeting some difficulties. One of the main challenges of the certificate nowadays is how to communicate with customers (end users). The traditional models sound understandable as the society was not very keen in the disclosure of businesses. However, as the environmental consciousness of the public is improved. It is undebatable that the customers today do not just expect the product or service with a certain certificate. Individuals start understanding that even the products with the same certificate may have various impacts from different perspectives. They are more up to look at the exact engagement of the supplier behind the products. Thank the innovation of digitalisation, we now have very reliable technology to disclose information.
While the certificate can only tell the product or service meet certain criteria, individuals are looking for more reliable information. A platform they can access and disclose the information they concern would help to fill this gap. With the blockchain technology, the audit practice can be transparent and open for the public to review, improving the communication and the reputation for industries. | https://medium.com/@lifansuu/audit-revolution-d1f575618cbf | [] | 2019-06-07 17:27:38.262000+00:00 | ['Sustainability', 'Blockchain', 'Digitalization', 'Revolution', 'Sustainable Development'] |
Semantic Segmentation: A Deep Dive | by Vamshi Kumar Bogoju
Now that we’ve laid the fundamentals for computer vision, let’s dive deep into one of the most important aspects of computer vision: Segmentation.
Understanding the scene is one of the most important aspects of computer vision. To address this challenge, image segmentation is used.
As discussed in the previous article, the segmentation task has 2 variants:
● Semantic Segmentation: all objects of the same class are classified as a single instance, represented with the same color
● Instance Segmentation: each unique object is represented as different instances with different colors
Here, we’ll deep dive into semantic segmentation. Semantic segmentation is the process of labeling the image at pixel level to its corresponding class. In semantic segmentation, if the objects which belong to one class then their corresponding pixels will be categorized to the same class.
Notable applications of semantic segmentation are:
● Medical Image Analysis — segmentation is used for image guided interventions, radiotherapy, or improved radiological diagnostics
● Autonomous Driving — recognition of roads, pedestrians, other cars, and sidewalks is required for accuracy.
● Robotics — Robot Vision to enable accurate job completion.
Currently, deep neural networks and the availability of data have made the work of segmentation easy and accurate. However, before the introduction of neural networks, conditional random fields are one of the methods used for segmentation.
Conditional random fields (CRFs):
CRFs are the probabilistic framework for labeling and segmentation of structured data. They take into account the relationship between the neighboring pixels, i.e. nearby pixels are more likely to have the same label as that of the current pixel.
Every pixel in the image belongs to one of the classes or the labels. For CRFs, these are treated as states. To segment the image, a loss function which is a sum of two costs, is minimized.
● Unary cost: cost of assigning a label or state to a pixel
● Pairwise Cost: cost of assigning pair labels for pair of pixels
Depending on the way the pair pixels are considered, CRFs are divided. Grid CRF considers immediate neighbors as pair of pixels, whereas dense CRF considers pairs of pixels in an image.
The Deep Learning Era:
In the early stages of deep learning, segmentation is done by using superpixels. Here, classification is performed on each superpixel.
Later for segmentation, Fully Convolution Networks[2] (FCNs) are being used. FCN consists of an encoder and decoder network. The encoder part of the network downsamples the input image by using series of convolutions to produce a feature vector. The decoder part upsamples the feature vector to the size of the image using transposed convolution.
Sometimes few features from the input might be lost while downsampling. To address this kind of problems, skip connections are added between encoder and decoder layers. In this article, one of the architectures of similar kind, U-Net[3], as above will be discussed below.
U-Net:
This architecture consists of two paths: contracting (left) and expansive (right). In the contracting path, the input image will be downsampled, whereas on the right path the downsampled image will be upsampled using up-convolution.
In the left path, there is a series of two 3x3 unpadded convolutions (unpadded convolutions), each followed by a rectified linear unit (ReLU) and a 2x2 max pooling operation with stride 2 for downsampling. On the other hand, the expansive path consists of an upsampling of the feature map followed by a 2x2 convolution (“up-convolution”) that halves the number of feature channels, a concatenation with the correspondingly cropped feature map from the contracting path, and two 3x3 convolutions, each followed by a ReLU.
Source: UNet++: A Nested U-Net Architecture for Medical Image ….” https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.10165
U-Net uses various data augmentations to compensate the low availability of training data. In the paper, elastic deformations like linear transformations, rotations are employed. The loss function used in this network is pixel wise soft-max over the final feature map combined with cross entropy loss function.
Various other loss functions can also be used depending on the application like:
● Dice loss
● IoU- balanced loss
● Boundary loss
● Weighted cross entropy
Few other networks which can be used for image segmentataion are :
● UNet ++[4]
● Seg-Net[5]
● Mask-Rcnn[6]
As illustrated above, semantic segmentation provides a critical aspect of computer vision, enabling scene understanding for additional analysis and intelligence. At DIG labs, we apply semantic segmentation to isolate stool and analyze it to provide health-related tips and recommendations. Check out our research areas here!
[1] “Feedforward Semantic Segmentation ….” Feedforward Semantic Segmentation With Zoom-OutFeatures.
[2] “Fully Convolutional Networks for Semantic Segmentation.” https://arxiv.org/abs/1411.4038.
[3] “U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image ….” https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.04597.
[4] “UNet++: A Nested U-Net Architecture for Medical Image ….” https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.10165.
[5] “SegNet: A Deep Convolutional Encoder-Decoder Architecture ….”https://arxiv.org/abs/1511.00561.
[6] “Mask R-CNN.” https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.06870. | https://medium.com/@diglabs/semantic-segmentation-a-deep-dive-6651f081d02e | ['Dig Labs'] | 2020-11-11 04:26:30.819000+00:00 | ['Pets', 'Image Processing', 'Computer Vision', 'Semantic Segmentation', 'Machine Learning'] |
How Wendy’s Revolutionized Corporate Social Media Accounts | How Wendy’s Revolutionized Corporate Social Media Accounts
From Twitter to Twitch
Source: author’s screenshot from Twitter
In 2017, one of the biggest memes on the internet was Wendy’s Twitter account. One of the most unexpected things for a fast food joint to do in order to get an edge on their competitors, Wendy’s started roasting other Twitter users and brands in order to gain popularity.
Source: author’s screenshot from Twitter
Wendy’s Twitter account quickly became one of the best places on the internet if you wanted to search for roasts or memes. This quickly made Wendy’s popularity increase both on Twitter and in house. In 2017 Wendy’s Twitter account went from 2.1 to 2.4 million followers in just six months, and their account currently has 3.7 million followers.
Source: author’s screenshot from Twitter
Financially this also proved to be an ingenious marketing move by Wendy’s as their net income increased from $129.6 million to $194 million. For those of you that don’t want to do the math, that is a 49.7% growth in one year. For any brand, that kind of growth would be wildly impressive but it is even more impressive from an established brand that many people might assume has already reached most of their consumer base. | https://medium.com/better-marketing/how-wendys-revolutionized-corporate-social-media-accounts-6d4aec739f37 | ['Justin Thorne'] | 2020-12-02 18:02:16.983000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Advertising', 'Wendys', 'Twitter', 'Social Media'] |
W3C Webdriver…Selenium 4 | Selenium 4
Many testers and developers who use Selenium WebDriver or Selenium Grid sometimes report some stability issues, some cases do not automatically work on all browsers, they need to be modified according to the browser’s needs. And this problem has been solved very well in Selenium 4.
What is Selenium 4.
The W3C standard will encourage compatibility across different software implementations of the WebDriver API and Selenium 4 is the new and highest upgraded version of web-driver who is coming with W3C standards. Earlier versions of selenium used JSON wire protocol to communicate with the various browsers. In Selenium 4, the whole JSON wire protocol is replaced by the W3C web-driver protocol and now they interacting with help of updated protocol.
Why do you need Selenium 4 or W3C protocol, in the past, you had to deal with errors like NoSuchElementException or ElementNotInteractableException, but since Selenium 4 has improved stability we don’t have to deal with these types of errors. Normally when two communicators speak a different language they have a slight error in speaking but when they speak the same language they communicate better with each other, and the same thing is happening in Selenium 4. All browsers were following W3C standards to communicate with other applications but were using the JSON wire protocol with the Selenium HTTPS request. Now, the W3C standard web-driver protocol has replaced the JSON wire protocol and this will make the interaction between the client request and the browser better.
W3C Webdriver protocol
Features of Selenium 4
Any browser vendor will now be able to easily plug into the new Selenium IDE. You can have your own locator strategy and plug in the Selenium IDE. The new CLI runner will also support parallel test case execution and will provide useful information like time taken and the number of test cases passed/failed. Node and Hub elements are upgraded and improved in the Selenium grid. Selenium 4 will come with a more user-friendly UI for Grid, with relevant information about sessions running, capacity, etc In selenium 4, we will get proper docker support and also introduced Actions APIs. You can access these developer tools by calling the methods in Selenium 4.
Action API : The user can press multiple keyboard buttons or even zoom in / out through Action API and handle complex drag and drop scenerio's efficiently.
In Selenium 4 they have added/removed some capabilities, they have deprecated or added some API/methods. Now, the interaction between selenium and appium has also improved as both are using the W3C standard protocol.
In Selenium 4 alpha version we can also get locators relative to any other locator.
toLeftOf(): Element located to the left of specified element.
toRightOf(): Element located to the right of the specified element.
above(): Element located above with respect to the specified element.
below(): Element located below with respect to the specified element.
near(): Element is at most 50 pixels far away from the specified element. The pixel value can be modified.
You can use selenium with new features and new locator techniques and don’t forget to check the compatibility between the driver and Selenium before using Selenium.
If the above information is helping you to understand Selenium 4 then please give some claps to the story and also share your feedback.
Thank you. | https://medium.com/nonstopio/w3c-webdriver-selenium-4-6b5caf92053e | ['Kishor Munot'] | 2020-11-13 03:58:01.558000+00:00 | ['Selenium 4', 'Selenium', 'Automation Testing', 'Software Development', 'Software Testing'] |
Beyond 559 | 6 Subtle Side Hustle Ideas To Boost Your Income As A National Service Person
All too soon, final year university students will be bringing their 4 year journey to a close. Upon completing university in Ghana one is obliged to undergo a one-year mandatory national service to the country.
Since 2017, the basic NSS allowance has been GH¢559.04. Several calls have been made by student leaders to have an increment in the monthly allowance but to no avail.
A satisfying breakfast can cost at least ¢5. Deduct your feeding expenses and cost of transportation from the basic salary of a service person in the country and you are left with almost nothing. A meagre amount to save or sometimes nothing to save at all and absolutely nothing to spend on leisure.
Yet still man must survive. Below are some basic ideas to ace up your game and earn extra.
Sell
With as little as ¢100 you are good to go with capital to help you start selling something. Then again the question bothers on what can you sell.
From hair and beauty products, to thrift clothes, jerseys, phone accessories, watches, jewelleries et al. Now here is the catch. Technology has made a whole lot of things possible. You do not necessarily have to go around with your goods on your head looking for customers to patronize your goods.
Behind a monitor and a click, you can start selling. The use of social media platforms makes it even more plausible. By posting your goods on the appropriate social media platform, you can grow your customer base. You could also partner with online stores; Jumia, Tonaton, Jara, Kikuu to sell your products.
2. Create
By this you bring something into existence. Creating mouth watering delicacies, it could be an assortment of pastries, local Ghanaian dishes or neatly packaged handy snacks.
You could also venture into areas like photography, drawing and painting. Picture freaks would love their moments captured. From weddings, to graduations, to naming ceremonies everyone would want their memorable moments captured, and you could be the one to bring such moments into a reality.
You could also design. The demand for graphic designers are on a daily rise, hence if you have a skill in graphic designing, you are good to go on the financial breakthrough ladder.
The idea of a social media content creator also sounds intriguing. The likes of facebook, youtube, clubhouse and instagram offers the platform for interactions with a wider fanbase.
You could create comedy skits, cartoon skits or anything light entertainment. You’ve ever thought of starting a YouTube channel, this is a go getter for you. You can document your daily routine, fun moments you had at a tourist site or anything creative and upload on Youtube to earn something.
3. Perform
This is a good shot for those in the creative art industry. If you are a poet or you are good at playing around with words, you could start by performing at events to carve your niche. You could write for others to perform or perform your own art to your audience.
If you are a master in the art, you can perform at programs or have live sessions on social media platforms to earn views. The more views you get, could translate into extra cash for you.
If you vocal dexterity is top notch, you might give it a try by performing at small shows. You could also hit the studios to do a recording of your songs. Who knows that might usher you into the beginning of stardom.
4. Write
If you have a good command of the Queen’s language and are fluid with penning down your thoughts or daily happenings, then venture into writing. As a writer you can start by creating a blog where you document your stories. You could also apply to work with online news portals or magazines.
On the other hand, if proofreading or editing is your thing, then you are a perfect pick for what others have written. Also, be sure to keep your ears open for writing contests you can participate in. You can be sure to earn some good cash, if your write up is good and meets the set standard.
5.Teach
You are a math guru, a music genius, or a good swimmer, you could begin by teaching those to kids and earn some cool cash. You could start by having private classes for kids in your neighbourhood. From subjects taught in their school, to music lessons or swimming lessons, you could teach them if you are knowleadgeable in those fields to enable you earn something
In fact anything teachable which you think others will patronize, do go for it.
6. Drive
If you love to drive and have a driver’s license, this is a great opportunity for you. You could sign up to drive with ride hailing apps, the likes of uber, bolt, yango.
This option comes with more flexibility, as you can drive at a time most suitable to you. So while working as a service person on weekdays, you could be your boss by driving on weekends.
If you do not have a car too, that’s something you shouldn’t worry about at all. You know how the traditional “work and pay” thing works like with drivers and car owners, same applies to these online ride apps. They could provide a car for you to work with at a fee.
The key requirements are that you must at least 25 years old, have a valid Ghana driver’s license, and have an Android or iPhone smartphone with GPS. | https://medium.com/@nannielottie/beyond-559-8ec48d1c327c | ['Charlotte Derby'] | 2021-09-06 13:16:52.379000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Business Ideas', 'Money Mindset'] |
Voltron Partners Not Responsible for Failures in Gay Inclusion; Sources Dispute Claim From DreamWorks Staff | DreamWorks, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Lauren Montgomery, after claiming to make content “as inclusive as possible,” failed to follow basic best practices on handling diverse characters respectfully, ignored clear warnings that their depictions were harmful, and attempted to blame external partners to hide their studio’s mistakes.
With a 5% audience score for the last season on Rotten Tomatoes and countless messages on social media from upset fans, no one can deny that DreamWorks’ Voltron failed its audience. The animated show about giant robots, which was directly marketed to LGBT individuals with rainbows on its Netflix title cards and a cast and crew that spoke constantly about the value of diversity, delivered a marginalizing ending that left queer fans hurt, angered, and confused. Since then, many people have been asking, “What happened?” How did a show with so much promise fail so spectacularly?
Despite claiming the show’s staff were “champions of inclusivity and acceptance,” and having multiple resources within the studio to tell an inclusive story, showrunners Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery failed to follow even the most basic best practices for depicting minorities during their tenure at DreamWorks. At the same time, the studio ignored warnings from LGBT individuals that Voltron’s story, one that the Dos Santos would later declare was “an animated olive branch” to the queer community, would have a profoundly negative impact on real people in the queer community.
After seeing the negative reactions, the showrunners attempted to shift blame onto the intellectual property holder, World Events Productions (WEP), by claiming they were hamstrung in telling diverse stories by the show’s status as a licensed property. However, GeekDad has confirmed that the showrunners’ claim that the license holder put up roadblocks to depicting queer characters is utterly false. Voltron’s diversity problems are the fault of DreamWorks management and the showrunners themselves.
So what happened?
Gay fans have spoken on how the ending of Voltron sent a clear hurtful message: you could be gay, or be a hero, but not both. As we discussed in our previous article , Shiro (the sole gay hero) was, before the final season, a complete character, one defined by more than just their queerness. Shiro is significant not in that’s he’s just gay, but that he’s a hero. He’s a main character in an action show. He’s respected and admired by his peers. He faces significant adversity throughout the show (as queer people often do), but he survives and triumphs over it. That narrative of overcoming obstacles, of earning respect and becoming a leader, a hero, is so important-before the final season, we have a glimpse of what it looks like to see a queer man succeeding.
In the last season, after being revealed as gay, Shiro’s friendships, dreams, and career are all sidelined. His role in the story, despite being a leading character for the previous seasons, is greatly diminished. His friends barely interact with him. Though we see him find fulfillment in his job as leader for eight seasons, we’re told (though not shown) he “finally finds happiness,” by abruptly retiring in his late twenties, abandoning the admiralship we saw made him happy, and marrying a guy he’s never spoken with in a five-second epilogue.
The loss of the sole gay male hero in western animation was a devastating blow for queer fans. After waiting decades to see themselves represented by a hero who was more than just a gay person, queer fans saw their hero tokenized and taken from them in the final seconds of the show. Further, the gay wedding to a random character, after the showrunners had repeatedly claimed that any relationship would be developed over several seasons, dripped with insincerity. While straight relationships were, as promised, developed over time, the showrunners haphazardly threw a gay one in at the last minute for points, as though they were far more interested in getting the credit for a gay wedding than actually writing respectful (but potentially less flashy) stories about queer people.
But how was this allowed? DreamWorks had diversity consultants that existed to prevent this kind of hurtful depiction, and the studio acknowledged they had multiple gay writers on staff for other shows, any of whom could have easily been called in to consult.
The answer, unfortunately, appears to be simple arrogance. DreamWorks does not mandate that showrunners use the resources available to them, nor provides oversight at the studio level to ensure diverse content is handled respectfully ( something they acknowledged in our interview with She-Ra executive producer Noelle Stevenson ).
The showrunners did not seek review on the first animated gay male wedding from a single gay person. A source familiar with the events confirmed to GeekDad that the two straight showrunners wrote the the ending without involving the people they claimed to represent, or their own diversity consultant, in the process. Ultimately, when Dos Santos and Montgomery set off to depict the first gay male wedding in western animation, they chased their own ephemeral idea of “what’s good for gay people,” instead of actually speaking to gay people.
Joaquim Dos Santos, “We are honored to have been embraced so tightly by the fandom, more specifically the LGBTQ segment of the fandom.”
— Voltron Executive Producer
While there were gay writers on other shows at DreamWorks, the source confirmed they weren’t consulted. Additionally, GeekDad would like to stress that simply having queer staff within the company doesn’t lessen the problem of showrunners failing to use readily-available resources. Expecting non-show staff to step up and offer feedback for issues in representation, especially when it’s outside their core role, means asking them to give unsolicited criticism on behalf of their entire group (and create more work for the studio, potentially harming their career for failing to be a team player). The entire purpose of having dedicated diversity consultants is to avoid asking any individual at a company to speak on behalf of their group at risk to their career.
Despite their failure to do basic review, DreamWorks was given a clear opportunity to correct their mistake. In late October, several days after the showrunners reported they had completed work on Voltron , but still months before the final season would air, screenshots of the ending leaked from BTI Studios, one of the localization firms DreamWorks hired to translate the final season. The leaks, shown above, depicted Shiro marrying a parody character resembling Roy Falkner from (another animated show about giant robots, and one the showrunners are known fans of). Macross
Fan reaction was swift and intensely critical, and fans reached out to DreamWorks, as well as Montgomery and Dos Santos, to discuss how destructive this ending would be. While at this point the studio’s options would have been limited given the show was technically complete, they could have trivially cut the hurtful epilogue, or they could have modified the text underneath the still of the wedding to prevent the gay hero from retiring, potentially softening the blow.
However, DreamWorks remained confident in their vision of gay representation, and despite the feedback from the leaks that the epilogue, that a sudden sloppy wedding, that the retirement of the sole queer hero, would be injurious to the queer community, the studio and its staff again prioritized their own idea of “what’s good for gays” over the opinions of the real gay fans who reached out to them.
The show’s final season aired on December 15, 2018. Unsurprisingly, queer fans hated it-the show, which had been explicitly marketed to LGBT consumers, quickly saw its approval rating tumble into single digits on Rotten Tomatoes. Many queer fans expressed confusion and hurt on Twitter. One fan would later recount to me, “The ending of Voltron, specifically season 8’s ending, left me feeling empty. There was an intrinsic thought that enveloped me, reminding me that no matter what, people like me don’t get their stories to be told.” This sentiment of hurt and exclusion, that Voltron wasn’t for everyone, was echoed again and again on social media.
Dos Santos and Montgomery were silent, and would not give an interview for the next three months. DreamWorks refused interview requests, and did not release a comment, but instead released a small clip on Twitter entitled “our heroes” that showed every major character except Shiro, they gay one they stripped of his hero status. Afterwards, they posted the entire epilogue to their social media in a tactless attempt to advertise the gay wedding, further antagonizing queer fans.
In stark contrast, fans on Twitter reported that Bob Koplar, the president of World Events Productions and Voltron’s IP owner, was reaching out to individual fans, returning calls to his office to personally apologize to people that were upset or felt lesser at the end of Voltron .
Many fans steadfastly refused to believe the wedding was the product of Dos Santos and Montgomery, who had made repeated prior statements that romances would be developed over time, and that the Shiro’s queerness would not become his only defining trait . More than thirty thousand fans signed a Change.org petition asking for DreamWorks to release the ending that the showrunners wanted, believing the released epilogue must have been a result of DreamWorks changing the planned ending by the showrunners.
When they finally emerged months later, Dos Santos and Montgomery explained on podcast) that they had wanted to tell a more inclusive story, one that involved Shiro potentially reconnecting with his former boyfriend Adam. The showrunners claimed that, because they “didn’t have the position of being the creators of the IP” and because AfterBuzz TV (a YouTube talk show) and on Let’s Voltron (the official AfterBuzz Voltron and Voltron wasn’t “creator-owned,” (claims they made on Let’s Voltron respectively), they were unable to add in the fact that Shiro was gay until very late in production, after they already planned to kill off Shiro’s ex, Adam.
Confusingly, they also stated in multiple interviews they were given complete freedom to craft the epilogue as they saw fit. By their own admission, nothing was impeding them from writing a respectful conclusion in the epilogue, only that they could not pair Shiro with his (now dead) ex.
Dos Santos also made the misleading claim on AfterBuzz that they only had a day to make decisions about the epilogue. While the initial concept for what to depict in the epilogue may have been determined rapidly, production would not complete for at least six to eight weeks (as we know from the timestamps on the leaked animation and their own tweets about the show’s status). During this time a review could have been conducted in parallel, and they could have course-corrected by making changes to the animation storyboards, altering the text, or cutting the epilogue entirely.
The showrunners’ repeated claim that not owning Voltron is what caused issues with queer representation seemed to implicate WEP, Voltron’s IP holder. This is especially true when the claims are paired with a comment from Ty Labine, one of the voice actors on the show, who claimed that “keepers of the lore” had “kept the gates shut” regarding representation.
GeekDad’s source close to DreamWorks and WEP refuted this, and was able to confirm the IP holder was not responsible for blocking the introduction of queer characters.
Further muddying the waters, Dos Santos frequently contradicted himself in interviews. On the same episode of AfterBuzz where he claimed the issue of external ownership was part of the problem, he later stated, “ To DreamWorks’ credit, the tide started changing internally… [they were] open to exploring this relationship between Adam and Shiro,” implicating DreamWorks as the party blocking queer characters.
Dos Santos also contradicted himself on , opening the door for them to have a gay hero. However, Let’s Voltron . He stated that as She-Ra , helmed by the queer Noelle Stevenson, was in development at DreamWorks, attitudes within the studio began to shiftShe-Ra was several months from release when Dos Santos and Montgomery got the green light from DreamWorks to say that Shiro was gay. The statement that a series in production changed minds at DreamWorks, and, by changing minds at DreamWorks, opened the door to representation seems to further confirm that forces within DreamWorks, not external partners, were blocking the introduction of queer characters. The issues in introducing a queer character were caused by DreamWorks, not external parties.
Though it is difficult to pin down exact statements since their answers constantly change (mid-interview in some cases), we can say that Dos Santos and Montgomery, as well as some voice actors, attempted to shift part of the blame onto the IP holder. In reality, the issues have always been with DreamWorks’ studio management, or with the showrunners themselves.
Unfortunately, Dos Santos and Montgomery still do not appear to understand the extent of the injury they caused. In their interview with AfterBuzz , when asked directly about Shiro’s abrupt retirement, they simply responded, “We saw it as ‘dude had been through a lot’,” but didn’t acknowledge the criticism from so many queer fans. Nor, when discussing the epilogue, did they acknowledge that they didn’t speak to a single gay person about the epilogue. Nor did they pledge to do better by involving more diverse voices in their creative process in the future. They even claimed to the AfterBuzz interviewers “we did the right thing,” despite the overwhelming evidence they did not.
As media consumers, if we’re going to claim a show is actually groundbreaking, the staff should do more than simply tell us they care about diversity. Regardless of intent, the fact that Dos Santos and Montgomery failed to follow even the most basic steps to ensure that the first gay male wedding in western animation was actually positive for gay men, and the fact that they, and their studio, ignored clear warnings, demonstrates an utterly broken content review process at DreamWorks, and a system in which executive producers and show staff are permitted to skirt responsibility for their failures by shifting blame onto external parties.
DreamWorks and representatives for Dos Santos did not respond to our request for comment. We were unable to reach representatives for Montgomery. Additionally, in retaliation for this article, author Sean Z’s interview with DreamWorks’ Executive Producer Brenden Hay was delayed indefinitely. Sean Z would like to thank GeekDad Editor-at-Large Ken Denmead and core contributor Jules Sherred for their support on this piece, as well as the sources who shared this information with us.
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Filed Under: Entertainment, Featured, Television
Tags: Shared to GeekMom, Voltron | https://geekdads.medium.com/voltron-partners-not-responsible-for-failures-in-gay-inclusion-sources-dispute-claim-from-55e93927b831 | [] | 2019-05-02 14:17:19.789000+00:00 | ['Shared to GeekMom', 'Television', 'LGBTQ', 'Dreamworks', 'Voltron'] |
Best and Safest IV therapy in LOS Angeles | What is IV therapy and Its Purpose:
Intravenous therapy is a short form for IV therapy. Its is helpful to deliver the medicines or any liquid directly into a patient’s veins. It is mainly used for the patient who faces difficulties in consuming liquids or food. This helps the patient to stay hydrated and also provides nutrition instantly.
Benefits of IV therapy
Wellness: IV therapy improves the immune system of the body by providing all that the body requires like vitamin, nutrients etc. It will boost up the energy level and maintains the strength of muscles and tissues. IV therapy not only helps with bodybuilding but also helps with improving depressions, anxiety, mental clarity and cognitive function.
Beauty: IV therapy on beauty adds the vitamins and nutrients which helps in strengthening the skin hair nails and eyes. It prevents from showing age and reduce appearing the wrinkles. Brighten and glowy skin can be achieved with the use of IV. Hair and nails maintain strong and improve its texture.
Athletic performance: Athletes are the person who competes in sports that involve physical strength and speed. Athletes need ample of energy and stamina to achieve their goals. IV therapy on athletes helps to provide fast and effective hydration which improves their performance to a great extend. Inducing proteins and amino acids through IV helps in building the muscles. Workouts are tiring on muscles and exercise also leads to the gradual buildup of free radicals. IV drips for athletes are designed to flush out free radicals, promote healing, and maintain muscle and tissues.
Hangover Relief: Alcohol mainly dehydrates and extracts all the valuable nutrients from our body. Excessive consumption of alcohol leads to headache, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain etc. Drip Hydration’s Hangover IVs contain electrolytes, vitamins, and anti-nausea medication. This combination of IV rehydrates and detoxifies your body and restores nutrients and electrolytes lost during drinking. This medications in this IV produce relief from symptoms within an hour of treatment.
Supports Healthy Weight loss: Nowadays obesity been like a disease where we get inactive, lazy, irregular shapes and strengthless. Weight loss IV is formulated for fat burning that helps the body break down fat naturally. This therapy is more effective when maintaining a proper diet and exercises.
Addiction Recovery: Drug Addiction can affect a personal relationship and friendship. Work imbalance situation may also occur. NAD IV treatments are formulated for a full addiction recovery program. NAD IV helps to reduce symptoms of withdrawal, the critical first step in any drug addiction recovery program. It restores metabolic function and improves energy levels.
Best IV therapy in LOS Angeles
RenewMe MedSpa:
RenewMe MedSpa is a famous provider of IV Vitamin Therapy and aesthetic services located in LOS Angeles. RenewME has a certified medical specialist that includes medical doctors, Registered Nurses, Clinical Pharmacists and Nutritionist. RenewMe believes that the consultation or a discussion with the patient is a key to developing a personalized IV plan that will be an efficient way of their care from beginning to end. Each IV is blended and formulated according to the customer’s need in order to meet their satisfaction. RenewMe MedSpa gives the quality of living by restoring your health, beauty, and energy.
RenewMe MedSpa is providing several IV treatments that are
RenewMe Drip : This drip is used for the person who gets tired and drained out very easily and needs some energy to boosts up.
This drip is used for the person who gets tired and drained out very easily and needs some energy to boosts up. Hydration Drip : Hydration drips provides the extra hydration to your body which needs from the inside out
Hydration drips provides the extra hydration to your body which needs from the inside out Immunity Drip : It increases up your immunity level which will help you to fight with infections.
It increases up your immunity level which will help you to fight with infections. Hangover Drip : It will help to protect the liver and kidneys. Rehydrates your body which was drained out due to consumption of alcohol.
It will help to protect the liver and kidneys. Rehydrates your body which was drained out due to consumption of alcohol. Vitamin C Drip : Vitamin C is used for cancer treatment patients to inhibit the growth of harmful cells.
Vitamin C is used for cancer treatment patients to inhibit the growth of harmful cells. Aches and Pains : Reduces premenstrual depression, fatigue, edema, and pain associated with PMS.
Reduces premenstrual depression, fatigue, edema, and pain associated with PMS. Detox Drip: Removes all the harmful toxins out in a safe way.
Few amazing services that are provided by RenemME MedSpa are:
Botox / Dysport.
Dermal Fillers.
Microneedling.
PRP Therapy 1) PRP For Hair Restoration. 2) PRP Joint Pain & Injury.3) Vampire Facial.
1) PRP For Hair Restoration. 2) PRP Joint Pain & Injury.3) Vampire Facial. Stem Cell Therapy
RenewMe also exclusively test for COVID -19 in 3 techniques.
1) Rapid antibody test where a finger stick recognise where you have been previously infected with COVID-19 and developed your immune system. Duration of this test detection is 15 minutes
2) Rapid antigen test- nasal swab discover whether you are currently infected with COVID-19 by detecting the presence of viral proteins. Duration of this test detection is 15 minutes.
3)PCR Test- This nasal swab determines if you are currently infected with COVID-19 by detecting the genetic material of the COVID-19 virus. This test holds the highest level of accuracy. Swabs are sent to a CLIA-certified lab for its process. Duration of this test detection is 24–72 hours.
Los Angeles based RenewMe MedSpa is a prominent provider of on-demand Hydration Infusion Therapy. You can book your appointment on RenewMe MedSpa website. They also providing their services in your home, office, hotel or wherever you are in LOS Angeles. | https://medium.com/@padmapriya-signin/best-and-most-experienced-iv-therapy-in-los-angeles-f72a9bbc2f9 | [] | 2020-12-17 14:17:47.637000+00:00 | ['Med Spa', 'Los Angeles', 'Drip', 'Iv Therapy', 'Iv Vitamin Drips'] |
Her Story | They called out her name
In awe
And mob applauded
At her beauty
Her dress flowed like an angel
Shimmering like diamonds from sky
The train let behind
As she step out of the door
An artistic line on her face
Audience thought she was happy
One familiar past
In the crowd
Could see the scars behind
Hiding in the dress
The fake smile
She put upon
Eyes met for a fraction
And a tinge of relief lit her face
She looked away to the man beside her
And walked her way. | https://medium.com/poets-unlimited/her-story-4c4ed607e2c9 | ['Nalini Gupta'] | 2017-09-24 16:16:59.473000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Poetry', 'Fiction', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Love'] |
Microsolidarity Part 4. An Unorthodox Recipe For Social Change | There are many components of the microsolidarity proposal that are out of step with the prevailing currents of progressive and radical thought. I’ll name five of those attributes here. I intend to acknowledge the risk of travelling off piste, and start the process of building accountability. This is a very exposing piece of writing, so please assume positive intent and check in with me if something triggers you.
1. Exclusivity
One of the most striking counter-intuitive parts about the microsolidarity proposal is that, if you’re reading this and we don’t know each other personally, you’re not invited. I invite you to start your own Congregation, but you’re not invited to join mine. That’s a bit shocking, eh! 😨
Most progressive social change actions start with inclusion as one of the top priorities. For this action though, we’re prioritising trust far ahead of inclusion. Actually there could be two barriers to inclusion: first to join the Congregation, then an even higher threshold to join a Crew.
I want to look around the circle at our first gathering and see 20 or 30 people with a specific set of traits. I’m thinking of people I can count on to contribute to the psychological safety of others, people with high emotional intelligence and good boundaries. We’re going into experimental and challenging territory, so folks need to be extra-tolerant, open to different ways of knowing, being and doing. My people know how to DIY (Do It Yourself) and DIWO (Do It With Others). We call each other to develop the highest parts of our Selves and to embrace our incomplete parts.
All of this exclusion is necessarily going to select for people with specific privileges, so it’s not a comprehensive plan to erase oppression and injustice in the world. Our collective has many responsibilities to the commons, beyond our own artificial borders. It’s critical that we use our increased resilience, resources, and opportunities to serve the needs of people outside of our tight circle. As a minimal gesture, I commit to continue doing the work of documentation, translating everything I learn into terms that make sense for people outside of my context.
But I’ve learned from long exhausting experience that there is no such thing as complete inclusion: the more permissive your entry criteria, the more you include people whose behaviour excludes others. So the question is not “should we exclude people?” but “which people should we exclude?”
2. Not for profit but with profit
Here’s another zinger: we’re going to deal with money, so that means we’re going to have to deal with people’s money traumas. I’m hoping Tom Nixon can join us at least in the early days, to help us renegotiate our relationships with money.
Most of us are clenched when it comes to money, because of the stories and experiences attached to it. This seems to be especially true of people who are committed to making positive social impact with their work (me, for instance). We see the harm done by wealth inequality and corruption, so we conflate the wealth with the inequality. Anticapitalists conflate the marketplace with capitalism. We treat money as if it were dirty: I handle cash with my left hand while my right hand pinches my nose shut against the dreadful smell. It’s as if money is a pernicious acid that is just waiting to dissolve my values. Taboos prevent us talking about it, asking for what we need, and offering to help when we can.
I’ve tried being broke, and I’ve tried having enough to be generous, and I know which one is better for the planet.
When I was 21, after reading Small Is Beautiful, E.F. Schumacher’s powerful short book on meaningful work, I immediately wrote a blog post publicly declaring my rejection of bullshit jobs (if you follow that link, pls don’t read anything else on that blog because it’s super embarrassing 😅). I didn’t grow up with easy access to capital, so it took another 7 or 8 years before I started to earn a minimal wage on my own terms. (Note: this is not a “bootstraps” story though, as I certainly did enjoy the privilege of New Zealand’s social welfare system to pay my rent when I couldn’t.) Now I’ve co-founded two small worker-owned businesses which pay me to do my most meaningful work (Loomio & The Hum), and pay taxes so the state can do things like running the social welfare system.
These companies are not built for profit, but with profit. Generating our own income means we have the freedom to chart our own course. I think it takes money to do something ambitious, and it takes freedom to do something radical. So I want to be in community with people who are growing their financial resilience and co-investing in each others’ commons-building companies. I know the marketplace can be distasteful, but the situation is urgent, we need to be super effective.
3. Do Better Than Good
A lot of political strategy aims to change people’s behaviour because it is the right thing to do. If you want to be a “good” person, you’ll recycle, give to charity, and stop saying sexist things.
I’m more interested in strategies that can outcompete the “bad” option. I’m a feminist not because it’s the “good” thing to do, but because my quality of life improves as my relationships come out of patriarchal patterns. I absolutely believe we’ll all be better off without patriarchy, it’s not a tradeoff between winners and losers.
So I propose to outcompete individualistic consumerism with microsolidarity. I mean, how hard can it be to do a better job of meeting people’s psychological and material needs than this shitty 21st century gig economy? How many people have I met in the past few years who lack meaning and stability in their work, or who lack a sense of belonging? That’s our opportunity! Belonging is not a binary, like “yes” you’re connected or “no” you’re isolated. Belonging is a fractal: I have distinct needs for connection at each scale, from my Self, to my Partnerships, up to my Crew, Congregation and beyond. So do like the Emotional Anarchists do, and find freedom in the interpersonal.
4. Decentralised governance with not a blockchain in sight.
‘Nuff said 😂
5. Design for smallness.
In a world obsessed with big and fast, I’m designing for small and slow.
If our Congregation gets much bigger than 100 people, it’ll be time to start thinking about how to split in two. I’m starting “an independent sibling” of Enspiral rather than growing Enspiral to include more people, because I think the size is a critical success factor. I expect to be in this project for years before we see great returns.
In the past few years I’ve learned another important reason why “small is beautiful”, beyond what Schumacher wrote: our intimate peer-to-peer relationships have an extraordinary capacity for ambiguity and complexity. A high trust group can be very coherent and effective even with very low levels of explicit agreement about our state, direction and norms. It’s impossible to maintain this level of trust and connection beyond one or two hundred people. As organisations grow in size, they are governed less by interpersonal relationships and more by formal written policies, procedures, and explicit agreements. The written word is intolerant of ambiguity, and can only ever capture a tiny subset of reality, so groups that are governed by text are much less able to cope with complexity.
If you want to be agile and adaptive in a complex and rapidly changing environment, you must move as much decision-making power as possible into groups that are small enough to be governed by spoken dialogue, not written policy.
(For more on this theme, see my article The Vibes Theory of Organisational Design. If you want to go deep into the difference between written and spoken records see also Walter Ong’s Orality and Literacy. For case studies demonstrating the relationship between performance and small-scale autonomy across many different industries, see Reinventing Organisations by Frederic Laloux and Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal.) | https://medium.com/microsolidarity/microsolidarity-part-4-an-unorthodox-recipe-for-social-change-a947d881f4b8 | ['Richard D. Bartlett'] | 2019-04-22 23:44:42.838000+00:00 | ['Collaboration', 'Microsolidarity', 'Coops', 'Activism', 'Politics'] |
Reflections of a Youth Worker: Working with an Ex-Girlfriend | Context: A reflection from a series I did for my studies several years ago, reviewed and published to encourage reflection on both a small and large scale within youth work. No real names or organisations have been revealed. The reflections all follow David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle as a method for reflective practice.
A meeting took placement between me, my ex-girlfriend and another colleague, who are both Macedonian, about a training that was to be happening within the next few days in a rural town in North Macedonia. The meeting started by discussing a session that would have the participants understand and engage in ‘mapping the local environment’. During this discussion a small debate arose about the difference between ‘mapping the environment’ and a needs assessment to which my ex-girlfriend became a bit hostile about myself ‘assuming’ a needs assessment of the area. As a non-formal educator sensitivity to feelings is an essential part of good practice, therefore I avoided the conflict and we moved on a decision where the participants were to engage in a street-based youth work style mapping of the local environment. Then debate ensued about what they would do with this information as my ex-girlfriend did not believe the information would be used by the local organisations / NGOs. I responded with hostility to this commenting on my own 6 months of street work in the nearest urban town and how her organisation didn’t use it, stating all we can do is try, to which she dismissed the comment.
“It is important that our own feelings are taken into account, as failure to do so can lead to a number of problems, both for ourselves and for people we work with” — Harrison and Wise
My ex-girlfriend wanted to connect this information to some form of measurement of active youth participation in the rural town. This would pave the way for sessions in basic youth work, specifically with rural young people. My colleague suggested maybe the mapping should be done in the nearest urban city rather than the rural one to which me and my ex-girlfriend both disagreed and ensured that it should be done in the rural city.
This discussion was followed by jokes being made about the local media of the rural town doing a press conference with us and the participants at the end of the training. Then we finally came to a full agreement about the mapping of young people in in the town to try and measure active youth participation. We just had the issue of agreeing upon the times of the sessions which to my surprise was fairly simple. However, we were unsure about whether sessions on active participation needed to be conducted before the mapping. We agreed that this needed to sorted so we started to discuss whether we should use Rodger Harts ladder of participation or another model. Eventually, agreements were made, and we had created the first half of the training course, the main issue to be addressed here was how we use such data. I suggested producing a publication for the end of the training to present at the press conference to the local community and NGOs.
An issue ensued where my ex-girlfriend was angry that I and my colleague were assuming that everyone in the town was rural. We made our case that the town was only a couple of thousand people who worked mainly in agriculture and was surrounded by mountainous villages, therefore making the area rural. Although she did not like this, she accepted it and the conversation moved on.
As we came towards the end of the development of the project my ex-girlfriend and I engaged in some sarcastic banter that we seemed to both appreciate after some semi-heated debates. We managed to start closing up the session and agreeing upon final details. The atmosphere was finally relaxed, and we agreed that due to the nature of these participants they would have more free time than is usual for a training course of this nature. The meeting finished with a final agenda which we all agreed on. The other two made jokes about foreigners coming to help Macedonia well looking towards me and I was a little bit unsure of how to take this. This could affect my future work on the project as according to Ledwith; principles of participatory democracy call for an understanding of power and discrimination at every stage of our practice. I got up to leave and agreed to meet them tomorrow to head to the rural for the day; however, I was unsure this was needed.
Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash
I was very uncomfortable when entering the meeting as I did not wish to work on this particular training or with my ex-girlfriend as it made me very anxious.
“Anxiety is a state of generalized emotional discomfort. It is similar to fear, but also different in so far as fear tends to be more specific” — Harrison and Wise
As the first small debate started, I was unsure of how much to express my opinion as I wanted to avoid conflict. However, when I did, my ex-girlfriend became a bit hostile which made me extremely uncomfortable and I was completely unsure of how to react. I avoided the conflict by controlling my feelings and calmly stated the way I saw things and how certain words and names are perceived from my working background reminding them it is ethnically and culturally very different. Due to this, we managed to reach a compromise, but it used up a lot of my restraint. Naturally, it is difficult to be positive towards people we do not like or have past grievances with, good practice requires that we overcome such difficulties. From this, yet another disagreement occurred between me and my ex-girlfriend of which this time I reacted with hostility and after I was personally ashamed of my reaction which was made worse by a blatant dismissal of my viewpoint. The situation improved however when we found ourselves agreeing on the particular topic of where the mapping should be and this help to relax the atmosphere.
Due to the relaxed nature that had now developed the meeting flowed with jokes and little to no hostility along with easy agreement on the training courses agenda. When it came to the use of dissemination and outcomes of the project my ex-girlfriend showed some extreme anger towards my colleague and me for what she considered a presumption. I managed to stay calm and state our case which was accepted, but it was obvious she did not agree. This left a very awkward situation in the room that was hard for me to work in. However, as time passed, and the finer details were put in place and some sarcastic humour was exchanged that lightened the mood and made it easier for us to work together.
The end of the meeting however became very uncomfortable for me when a joke was made about foreigners in North Macedonia. Due to this and the previous hostility, I was very unsure of visiting the working area in the rural town the next day. I had generally throughout the day been attempting to use the stoic approach, but several issues do not make this the perfect approach to dealing with feelings within people work.
It was always going to be uncomfortable working with and ex-partner, however, it had to be done so I continued. Experiencing the first hostility I knew I didn’t want any conflict, but I also know my temper and patience. Therefore I needed to stay calm or I would escalate such matters. When I reacted with hostility it was an extremely shameful moment and affected my working ability for the next few minutes. If we had not both agreed on something later, I’m not sure how I would have improved the situation or if the situation would have improved.
Things became much easier when hostility was turned into sarcastic banter and jokes, the only issue being these are always on a fine line with hostility. The extreme anger I received from her later threw me right off course, although I managed to stay calm and simply state a case. I was extremely worried this meeting would not work as well as about my professional ability to resolve such situations. Through staying calm and only engaging in work and light banter, while ignoring any hostility the situation became far more manageable. It was only at the end of the meeting that made me feel isolated and different due to a joke about me being a different nationality. This plus a roller coaster of emotions just for a meeting made me unsure of how the future meetings and work would go. The stoic approach was failing me and this was because as Harrison and Wise state there are three main problems associated with the approach:
- Often the energy it takes to repress the feelings leaves less energy for tackling the problems that gave rise to the feelings in the first place. - Our own feelings can be a source of positive and constructive energy, a tool to be used to promote change and enhance problem-solving in people work. - If feelings are repressed over a long period of time, the result can be that ‘burnout’ is experienced.
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
Working with ex-partners is something to be avoided and the best way to avoid such a situation is to avoid getting into such relationships with people in the same field of work. When dealing with conflict, especially that that may have deeper roots in its creation, one must stay calm and think rationally on how to react. If one finds they did not stay calm and did react is a hostile manner one must be sorrowful and apologetic and carry on professionally, taking time to calm down if necessary.
Humour can be a get tool for reducing conflict, however, different people have different humour therefore it must be used carefully and with people, you know well. When dealing with such extreme emotions one must take time to think rationally, this is paramount to resolution. When working abroad or in an inter-cultural environment, especially in your ex-partner’s culture, it’s easy to feel isolated and discriminated. However, one must carry on and see whether it is just a translation / cultural issue or if it is true while expressing their feeling or they may experience ‘burnout’.
“Burnout minimizes or destroys job satisfaction and can, in extreme cases, lead to mental health problems such as depression” — Harrison and Wise | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/reflections-of-a-youth-worker-working-with-an-ex-girlfriend-acb29b9324d4 | ['Daniel John Carter'] | 2021-01-04 20:34:07.713000+00:00 | ['Reflections', 'Meetings', 'Youth', 'Youth Work', 'Conflict'] |
Explore Immutable Data Structures In Dart & Flutter | Immutable Data in Dart:
Immutable data builds are those that can’t be changed after they’ve been introduced. The Dart language is loaded with these. Once made, strings, numbers, and boolean values can’t be mutated. A string variable doesn’t contain string data, itself. Non-final string factors can be reassigned, which directs them toward new string data, yet once made, string data itself doesn’t change substance or length.
var str = "This is a Flutter Devs.";
str = "This is a Aeologic Technologies.";
This code pronounces a string variable called str. The data is set in memory, at that point, a reference to its area is put away in the variable str. The subsequent line makes an all-new string and relegates a reference to its memory area to a similar variable, overwriting the reference to the primary string. The first string isn’t changed; however, on the off chance that there could be no substance in your code at this point, it is set apart as inaccessible, and its memory will ultimately be liberated by Dart’s garbage collector.
Final Variables vs Constants:
The differentiation between Dart’s final and const a word can be fluffy for beginners. While making your own immutable data, it’s imperative to see how they’re unique and where to utilize each.
The final permits just a solitary task. It should have an initializer, and whenever it has been instated with a value, the variable can’t be reassigned
final str = "This is a Flutter Devs.";
str = "This is a Aeologic Technologies."; // error
Dart won’t permit you to change the value of the final factor str . The final variable may depend on runtime execution of code to decide its state, yet it should happen during initialization.
Constants in Dart are compile-time constants. The const word adjusts values. A constant whole deep state should be definite at compile time.
Dart constants share three fundamental properties:
> Constant values are profoundly, transitively immutable. On the off chance that you need to make a steady collection (list, map, and so forth), every component should likewise be constant, recursively.
Constant values are profoundly, transitively immutable. On the off chance that you need to make a steady collection (list, map, and so forth), every component should likewise be constant, recursively. > Constant values must be made from data accessible at compile time. For example, DateTime.now() can’t be constant, because it depends on data just accessible at runtime to make itself.
Constant values must be made from data accessible at compile time. For example, can’t be constant, because it depends on data just accessible at runtime to make itself. > Constants are canonicalized. A solitary item is made in memory for some random consistent value regardless of how frequently the steady articulation is assessed.
A few constant instance are :
const str = "This is a Flutter Devs.";
const SizedBox(width: 5); // a constant object
const [1, 2, 3]; // a constant collection
1 + 2; // a constant expression
The str constant is allocated a string exacting, which are consistently compile-time constants. The SizedBox example made here can be constant and immutable because Dart can set it up before executing the program since the entirety of the properties of SizedBox are final inside and we’re passing an exacting contention( 5 ). The articulation 1 + 2 can be determined by the Dart compiler before executing the code, so it likewise qualifies as steady.
List<int> get list => [1, 2, 3];
List<int> get constList => const [1, 2, 3]; var a = list;
var b = list;
var c = constList;
var d = constList; print(a == b); // false
print(c == d); // true
Even though a, b, c, and d each reference a list with indistinguishable substance, just the constant variants analyze as true . Dart is contrasting the memory address of the list, not the values of the components. Each call to the constList getter returns a reference to a steady list, yet recall that Dart just places the list into memory once.
Immutable Data in Flutter:
There are where a Flutter application can utilize immutable constructions to improve readability or execution. Bunches of structure classes have been composed to permit them to be built in an immutable structure. Two normal examples are SizedBox and Text.
Row(
children: <Widget>[
const Text("Flutter Devs"),
const SizedBox(width: 10),
const Text("Flutter Devs"),
const SizedBox(width: 10),
const Text("Its a software company?"),
],
)
This Row has been developed with five children. At the point when we utilize the const keyword to make cases of classes that have const constructors, the values are made at compile time and every special value is put away in memory only a single time. The initial two Text examples will make plans to references to a similar object in memory, as will the two SizedBox instances. If we somehow happened to add const SizedBox(width:20), a different constant example would be made for that new value.
Let’s look at another instance:
final size = 15.0; const Text(
"Flutter Devs",
style: TextStyle(
fontSize: size, // error
),
)
This code snippet has lots occurring. we’re trying to create a constant example of text content, but understand that a legitimate consistent is regular all the way down. The string literal "Flutter Devs" works best. Dart will attempt to create the TextStyle as a steady, TextStyle can not be regular here due to its reliance on the variable size, which would not have a value until runtime. To restoration, this, changing final to const within the declaration of size might additionally do the trick.
Creating Immutable Data Classes:
Creating a simple immutable class magnificence may be as easy as using very final properties and adding const to the constructor.
class Student {
final int rollNum;
final String name;
const Student(this.rollNum, this.name);
}
The Student class has two properties, each declared final, and these are initialized routinely with the aid of the constructor. The constructor makes use of the const key-word to inform Dart it’s okay to instantiate this elegance as a compile-time regular.
const std1 = Student (1, "Sam");
var std2 = const Student (1, "Sam");
final std3 = const Student (1, "Sam");
The Simplest one constant instance of the Student is created right here, and each variable is assigned a reference to it. For std1, we don’t need to include the const keyword with the constructor, because its need is at once implied with the aid of our use of it on the variable, even though you could consist of it if you desire. The std2 variable is a normal variable with a sort of Student, however, we’ve assigned it a reference to an immutable, consistent object. The variable std3 is equal to std2 except that it can by no means be assigned a new reference. No matter wherein you pass these references, you may continually ensure that when tested, the object’s rollNum maybe 1 and the call can be “Sam”, and you’ll always be analyzing the identical values in reminiscence.
Using Metatag Helper:
You could use the @immutable metatag from the meta package to get useful analyzer warnings on classes you ought to be immutable.
import 'package:meta/meta.dart'; @immutable
class Student {
int rollNum; // not final
final String name; Student(this.id, this.name);
}
The metatag does now not make your elegance immutable, however, in this case, you’ll get a caution declaring that one or greater of your fields aren’t final . In case you attempt to add the const keyword to your constructor at the same time as there are mutable properties, you’ll get an error that tells you essentially the same aspect.
Complex Objects in Immutable Classes:
What if a student’s name was represented by an object more complex than a string? As an instance:
class StudentName {
String first;
String middle;
String last; StudentName(this.first, this.middle, this.last);
}
So Student would now look like this:
class Student {
final int rollNum;
final StudentName name; const Student (this.rollNum, this.name);
}
Generally, the Student works very much as it did previously, with one key contrast. Since we haven’t characterized StudentName as an immutable class, its properties will be liable to change after initialization.
var std = Student (1, StudentName ('John', 'Eben', 'Thomas')); std.name = StudentName ('Jane', 'C', 'Disuza'); // blocked
std.name.last = 'Disuza'; // allowed
The name property of Student is final, so Dart keeps it from being reassigned. The properties of StudentName are not ensured similarly, notwithstanding, so changing that information is permitted.
Immutable Collections:
Collections present another challenge to immutability. Indeed, even with a final reference to a List or Map, the components inside those assortments may, in any case, be variable. Likewise, lists and maps in Dart are mutable complex objects themselves, so it can, in any case, be feasible to add, eliminate, or reorder their components.
Consider a simple instance using message data:
class Message {
final int id;
final String text; const Message(this.id, this.text);
} class MessageThread {
final List<Message> messages; const MessageThread(this.messages);
}
With this arrangement, the information is genuinely protected. Each message made is changeless, and it’s unrealistic to supplant the list of messages inside MessageThread whenever it’s been initialized.
final thread = MessageThread([
Message(1, "Message 1"),
Message(2, "Message 2"),
]); thread.messages.first.id = 10; // blocked
thread.messages.add(Message(3, "Message 3")); // This works!
=> Return Copy of the Collection
If you wouldn’t fret the calling code accepting an alterable duplicate of the collection, you can utilize a Dart getter to return a duplicate of the expert list at whatever point it’s gotten to from outside the class.
class MessageThread {
final List<Message> _messages;
List<Message> get messages => _messages.toList(); const MessageThread(this._messages);
} thread.messages.add(Message(3, "Message 3")); // new list
With this MessageThread class, the genuine message list is private. A getter named messages is characterized that profits a duplicate of the _messages list. When outside code calls the list’s add() technique, it is doing as such on a different duplicate of the list, so the first isn’t altered.
In the first place, with extremely enormous records or regular access, this could begin to burden execution. A shallow duplicate of the list is made each time messages is gotten to. Second, it tends to be mistaken for users of the class, as it might look to them like they’re permitted to adjust the original list.
=> Return Unmodifiable Collection or View
Any other manner to save you changes on your collections within a data class is to use a getter to return an unmodifiable version or unmodifiable view.
class MessageThread {
final List<Message> _messages;
List<Message> get messages => List.unmodifiable(_messages); const MessageThread(this._messages);
} thread.messages.add(Message(3, "Message 3")); // exception!
This methodology is basically the same as the recently examined approach. A duplicate of the list is as yet being made, however, now the duplicate we’re returning is unmodifiable. We utilize a factory constructor characterized on Dart’s List class to make the new list. Presently, when the user endeavors to add another message to their duplicate list, a special case is tossed at runtime, and the change is prevented.
import 'dart:collection'; class MessageThread {
final List<Message> _messages;
UnmodifiableListView<Message> get messages =>
UnmodifiableListView<Message>(_messages); const MessageThread(this._messages);
} thread.messages.add(Message(3, "Message 3")); // exception!
Doing it this way may play out somewhat better because an UnmodifiableListView doesn’t duplicate the original list. All things considered, it envelops the first by a view that forestalls change.
=> Truly Immutable Collections
You can have noticed that each one of our hints for returning immutable versions of collections with getters nonetheless leaves the original collections technically mutable. Code inside the library can manage the structure of the private _messages list.
One approach to accomplish this is to make our unmodifiable version or view as the MessageThread object is developing
class MessageThread {
final List<Message> messages; const MessageThread._internal(this.messages); factory MessageThread(List<Message> messages) {
return MessageThread._internal(List.unmodifiable(messages));
}
}
The principal thing we need to do is conceal the steady constructor from code outside the library. We change it into a named constructor with a highlight prefix, which makes it private. The MessageThread._internal() a constructor does precisely the same occupation our old default constructor did, however, it must be gotten to by inner code.
We make the default, public constructor a processing factory constructor. factories work a great deal like static strategies, in that they should expressly return an occurrence of the class as opposed to doing so naturally as normal constructors do.
final thread = MessageThread([
Message(1, "Message 1"),
Message(2, "Message 2"),
]);
This actually works, and nobody can tell that they’re calling an industrial facility constructor rather than an ordinary one. By chance, this method resembles the one utilized for the Singleton configuration design in Dart.
Updating Immutable Data:
Whenever you have all your application state securely concealed in permanent constructions, you may be thinking about how it tends to be refreshed. Singular occasions of your classes shouldn’t be alterable, however, the state surely needs to change. As could be, there are a couple of various methodologies, and we’ll investigate some of them here.
State Update Functions:
Quite possibly the most well-known method of updating immutable states is utilizing some sort of state update work. In Redux, this can be a reducer, and there are comparative builds when utilizing the BLoC design for state management.
Beginning with the least complex student, we should take a gander at a couple of conceivable state update capacities for the immutable Student class presented before.
Note that these functions are not part of the Student class:
class Student {
final int rollNum;
final String name; const Student (this.rollNum, this.name);
} Student update StudentR ollNum( Student oldState, int rollNum) {
return Student (rollNum, oldState.name);
} Student update Student Name( Student oldState, String name) {
return Student (oldState.id, name);
}
This example is simple, and it works really hard of ensuring just upheld refreshes are finished. Essentially, each capacity takes a reference to the past student state, at that point it utilizes that and new information to build an all-new case, returning it to the caller.
State Update Class Methods:
You can utilize class strategies rather than discrete, high-level functions on the off chance that you like to keep all that identified with state control with the state code.
class Student {
final int rollNum;
final String name; const Student (this.rollNum, this.name);
Student updateRollNum(int rollNum) {
return Student (rollNum, name);
} Student updateName(String name) {
return Student (rollNum, name);
}
}
With this methodology, you can be less verbose in your naming, since unmistakably each update strategy has a place with the Student class. Without great code shading, it might look like both update strategies have indistinguishable code, however, updateRollNum() is making another case of Student with the approaching rollNum contention and the old name . The updateName() a strategy is doing the inverse.
Copy Methods:
A typical strategy utilized in Dart and Flutter projects with immutable information is adding a copyWith() technique to a class.
class Student {
final int rollNum;
final String name; const Student (this.rollNum, this.name); Student copyWith({int rollNum, String name}) {
return Student (
rollNum ?? this.rollNum,
name ?? this.name,
);
}
}
The copyWith() technique ought to as a rule utilize named discretionary boundaries without defaults. The return proclamation utilizes Dart’s if invalid operator, ?? to decide if the duplicate of student ought to get another incentive for every property or keep the current state’s value. On the off chance that it’s missing or unequivocally set to invalid, this.rollNum will be utilized all things being equal.
final std1 = Student(1, "Jake"); final std2 = std1.copyWith(rollNum: 2);
final std3 = std1.copyWith(name: "Jerry");
final std4 = std1.copyWith(rollNum: 2, name: "Jerry");
When this code executes, the std2 variable will reference a duplicate of std1 with a refreshed rollNum value yet the name will be unaltered. The std3 duplicate will have another name and the original RollNum. With this Student class, the std4 duplicate activity is indistinguishable from making another object altogether, as it replaces each value.
Student update StudentR ollNum( Student oldState, int rollNum) {
return oldState.copyWith(rollNum: rollNum);
} Student update Student Name( Student oldState, String name) {
return oldState.copyWith(name: name);
}
You may even consider the utilization of state update works here to be needless excess, as they’re currently such slim coverings around the call to copyWith() .
Updating Collections:
The structure you use to refresh immutable collections depends both on how you’re setting up your collections and the amount of an immutability perfectionist you are.
class NumberList {
final List<int> _numbers;
List<int> get numbers => List.unmodifiable(_numbers); NumberList(this._numbers);
}
This class actually has an mutable list, yet just uncovered an unmodifiable duplicate to the rest of the world. To refresh this list with a state update function
NumberList addNumber(NumberList oldState, int number) {
final list = oldState.numbers.toList();
return NumberList(list..add(number));
}
This methodology isn’t very effective. The articulation oldState.numbers convey us a duplicate of the oldState list, however, it’s unmodifiable, so we need to utilize toList() to make one more duplicate, this one changeable.
class NumberList {
final List<int> _numbers;
List<int> get numbers => List.unmodifiable(_numbers); NumberList(this._numbers); NumberList add(int number) {
return NumberList(_numbers..add(number));
}
}
There are decent things about this technique. It’s less verbose and requires less code. One nuance to know about is that we’re mutating and reusing _numbers.
Conclusion:
In the article, I have explained the basic structure of the Immutable Data Structures In Dart & Flutter; you can modify this code according to your choice. This was a small introduction to Immutable Data Structures In Dart & Flutter On User Interaction from my side, and it’s working using Flutter.
I hope this blog will provide you with sufficient information on Trying up the Immutable Data Structures In Dart & Flutter in your flutter projects. We will show you what Immutable Data in Dart and Flutter is?. There are numerous methods of taking care of object and collection immutability, and now you ought to be comfortable with a portion of the manners in which the Dart aces approach keeping even complex data from startlingly mutating. So please try it.
❤ ❤ Thanks for reading this article ❤❤
If I got something wrong? Let me know in the comments. I would love to improve.
Clap 👏 If this article helps you. | https://medium.com/flutterdevs/explore-immutable-data-structures-in-dart-flutter-86c350b7d014 | ['Shaiq Khan'] | 2021-05-24 07:23:29.815000+00:00 | ['Flutter', 'Mobile App Development', 'Dart', 'Data', 'Flutter App Development'] |
Rethinking Political Involvement | Photo by annie bolin on Unsplash
In 1979, Jerry Falwell established the Moral Majority, an organization with the goal of pushing for conservation moral values within the American political sphere. At the time, persuading Christians to join together politically was a logical way to influence the direction of the nation. At the time, 58% of Americans identified as Protestants, along with another 29% who were Catholic (Gallup). These numbers gave conservative Christians tremendous power in the political arena. In its 10 years of official existence, the Moral Majority helped elect a socially conservative president 3 times. Now, over 3 decades later, the scene has shifted dramatically. In 2018, only 35% of Americans identified as Protestant, and the number of Catholics have also fallen (Gallup). In this context, a sense of fear seems to have gripped Christians across America. Because, after decades of political influence, we, as American Christians, are losing our grip on the power that we’ve fallen in love with.
I enjoy discussing political opinions and ideas, although I have no intention of doing so now. Instead, I want analyze and discuss the situation that the American church is in. I don’t care which party you vote for, or if you vote at all. What I care about are the methods that Christians intend to use as they follow Christ’s command to be salt and light to the world. And above all, I care about what God thinks about us, Christians in America in 2019. As I read about what Jesus said, and more importantly, did not say about the politics of his own time, I am deeply burdened that He would not be pleased with the church in America.
On that note, I want to look at what the New Testament says about Christians and their relationship to their respective governments. It is important to point out that the New Testament believers lived under a very different government than our current American government. However, this difference does not change the fundamental principles of the commands in the New Testament. Jesus himself said very little about the political situation of his day. He told his followers to pay their taxes, and his instruction to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s (Matthew 22:21, ESV)” was a warning not to give Caesar the glory that God deserved. Paul instructed the Christians in Rome to respect their authorities, which was a government led by Nero. However, beyond this, there is virtually no mention of politics in the New Testament. Since the political situation of the day was undoubtedly an important subject, this omission in the New Testament is fascinating. Personally, I think that this omission points to the fact the God did not intend his people to be focused on political goals. Whether or not any degree of political involvement is permitted could be debated, but I believe that God did not intend for his church to invest time and energy into political goals. To further prove this point, I want to examine the effect that political involvement has had on American Christianity.
There are probably a number of related reasons why Christians in American became increasingly more politically active. However, the single biggest reason that I would point to is an obsession with the idea of “protecting our rights.” While Christians are worried about their right to worship freely, other traditional American rights have also become a concern for many Christians. The right to own guns, the right for your church to hold a tax-exempt status, and the right to do business without government interference are just a few of the rights that Christians in America have come hold very tightly. And here, I believe, lies the problem. These “rights” were never really ours to begin with. God warned his followers that they would face trials and persecution in life, and for Christians in America to expect freedom as a right is inconsistent with Scripture. As believers, we relinquish all of our personal rights when we commit our lives to Christ. The rights that we receive at conversion are strictly spiritual in nature. Unfortunately, the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” are found the in United States Constitution, but not the Bible. An obsession with “our rights” has led many Christians to expect blessings that Christ never promised us.
With the possibility of losing many of their most prized rights, many American Christians looked to political involvement as the only way to save liberties. Encouraging others to vote for your candidate, giving money to political candidates, and attending political rallies and protests have become methods used by ordinary American Christians to try to influence the political process. On a different level, businesses and special interest groups lobby in Washington D.C., and party members sign up to serve in various election campaigns. As I examine this political involvement, I am fearful that it has cost us, as American Christians, far more than we realize. Of course, my judgment in this area is fairly subjective, simply because these things are very hard to measure. However, I challenge each of you to think carefully about what political involvement may have cost your family, your church, or yourself.
Political involvement has cost the American church the ability to focus on its most important goals: discipling believers and evangelizing the lost. Because, while it is possible to be involved in many different things, it is only possible to focus on a few things. If politics are the focus of a church, other important things will inevitably get less focus. While it is theoretically possible to be involved politically without making it a primary focus, many churches and denominations across the United States have been miserably unsuccessful in doing so. In fact, many Americans have come to think of evangelicals primarily as a conservative voting bloc. This hardly seems like the identity that Jesus intended for his followers.
Beyond simply being a distraction, participation in political affairs has pushed the church to compromise many of its values. This does not mean that every church and every individual Christian in America has compromised its values; it simply means that political involvement creates a very strong temptation to do so. This is due to the fact that all people are inherently biased in their views of the world. As a result, if I support a certain political figure because his policies would benefit me, I will find it very easy to overlook his character flaws. Similarly, if I support certain legislation that I believe will help me, it will be very tempting to ignore how that legislation will negatively affect someone else.
An excellent example of this tendency toward bias is found in the way evangelicals responded to Donald Trump. For years, evangelicals claimed that personal character was the most important factor in evaluating a person’s qualifications for the presidency. Conservative Christians raved against Bill Clinton for his moral failures, and tirelessly attacked Barack Obama for his views on marriage and abortion. However, when Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for president, these same Christians were more than willing to forgive his dishonesty and moral failures. This is curious, since Trump’s character, by nearly any measurement, was no better than Clinton or Obama. The difference, it seems, was that Trump was more willing to support gun rights, lower taxes, and strong immigration laws, all issues that evangelicals cared about very deeply. When looking at this blatant inconsistency, it seems as though conservative Christians, like most other Americans, are willing to overlook character flaws in order to support a candidate who favors their political views.
An example of this inconsistency can be found by tracing the views of James Dobson, a popular evangelical teacher known for his focus on political issues. In 1998, Dobson wrote an open letter to Christians in the United States about moral failures of President Bill Clinton. In his letter Dobson stated that “As it turns out, character DOES matter. You can’t run a family, let alone a country, without it. How foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world! Nevertheless, our people continue to say that the President is doing a good job even if they don’t respect him personally. Those two positions are fundamentally incompatible. In the Book of James the question is posed, “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring” (James 3:11 NIV). The answer is no.” Dobson’s viewpoint seems understandable, even if it was politically motivated. However, eighteen years later, Dobson had a much different viewpoint on a candidate who supported his political viewpoints. In giving his assessment of Donald Trump as a candidate, Dobson downplayed Trump’s shortcomings in character, saying in an open statement that “Only the Lord knows the condition of a person’s heart. I can only tell you what I’ve heard. First, Trump appears to be tender to things of the Spirit.” Dobson later added in the statement that “If anything, this man is a baby Christian who doesn’t have a clue about how believers think, talk and act.” It is curious that Dobson’s trusting, forgiving attitude toward Trump was not present when Bill Clinton failed morally, nor was it present for Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton. Instead, Dobson seemed to pick and choose when to forgive shortcomings based on whether or not a political figure agreed with his political viewpoints.
There is one more danger that I believe American Christians need to recognize on this issue. Political issues can be very divisive, and Christians who are politically active run the risk of building walls between themselves and other people around them, particularly unbelievers. It is heartbreaking to see people who desperately need Christ refuse to consider the gospel because of the political ties of the church. The perception that Christians want to force others to follow their morals may or may not be fair, but the American church has done a poor job in dispelling this idea. Ultimately, the political involvement of the American church does not seem to have attracted people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because of the intricacies of these issues, I feel confident that no one reading this post will fully agree with me. This is perfectly OK, because my goal is not to have everyone arrive at my own conclusions. Rather, I think it is important for all of us, myself included, to regularly evaluate this issue in our own lives. In spite of the differences believers may have on the subject of political involvement, we should all agree that our attitude toward politics and political involvement will have significant consequences on the American church. We should all carefully consider whether our own approach toward these issues is the approach that Christ would have us to take.
Sources.
Dobson, James. Letter to Friends. September 1998.
Dobson, James. “Dr. James Dobson on Donald Trump’s Christian Faith.” 2016.
Gallup. Religion. 2019. | https://medium.com/christian-perspectives-society-and-life/rethinking-political-involvement-7160ba319bf1 | ['Jacob Zimmerman'] | 2019-10-28 23:36:44.182000+00:00 | ['Politics', '2016 Election', 'Christians', 'Trump', 'Evangelicals'] |
Optimizing Bugs Fix Policy | On the two last engineering organizations, I led as a VP, when I joined, we faced that kind of dilemma daily. When we analyzed it, we figured out that there are just too many open bugs all across. In this reality while the support is trying to call what is the right SLA, the developers are overwhelmed with the number of open bugs without a clear idea on how to prioritize between them, therefor calling loose deadlines, and the client-facing teams are also trying to figure out how to move in this mess and lack of SLA communication, while not counting on the R&D to solve soon enough (or even to solve at all), therefore expediting those bugs, more than needed.
The solution, was a combination of “Zero Bugs Policy”, formulating a “fix policy”, and enhancing communication interfaces. This was achieved in some easy-to-implement / straightforward steps.
Reducing the number of open bugs.
Go over the list of all your open bugs and decide for each one of those if it is a real bug, which requires a code change and a new version deployed, or is it some logical issue (e.g statistical AI-related) and then move it into a task (if required), or is this some configuration issue, for which, you should open a support ticket and let your technical support personnel solve it soon enough. Even if this is a real bug, decide if it is something you need to fix, if it’s minor and already alive for a few months, it probably not worth a fix, either-wise if it is on some component you are going to replace soon, don’t fix it. If it still “survives” as a bug — You should solve it fast enough (not longer than 30 days), which means bugs are not aging in the system.
Issues workflow
This step resulted in reducing the number of open bugs in the system from high 100’s into low 10’s. Now it’s clearer and easier to communicate over a shorter list of bugs. On average every team has not more than 5 open bugs to solve in any given moment.
Formulate the fixing policy and correlate between it and contractual SLAs
The next step was to make sure everyone is aligned on what are the fix policies required for different bugs. Adding custom fields into JIRA, using some of the existing JIRA fields for bugs, and making sure that all the fields that are needed for this formula are mandatory when ticketing a new bug — We, automatically (JIRA script based) formulated a “bug score”, which is advised to be revisited in some months frequency.
Such fields can be the Number of effected clients and end-users (we are a B2B, SAAS product). The effected component. Is there any workaround?. Which client is it? (prioritizing clients with some VIP score which the client-facing organization can reset every month). Is this a mission-critical function?
Once we had this score we tied it with the “fix policy”. We decided that we want to support the following SLAs: Incident (ASAP), 48 hours, 1 week, 30 days.
Excel based (before we automated it) calculator to figure out bug’s fix policy
This step result was that every bug in the JIRA has a clear fix policy. Statistically, we found out the 95% of the fix policies that were the automation result, were all agreed by the client-facing team, technical support team, and R&D organization. We also add a JIRA process in which one can argue the automatically calculated score.
Monitor Bugs Fixing progress
The last step was to create visualization and a push/pull call for action items over our fixing policies.
JIRA dashboards and data studio reports that present all the needed information, including aging bugs, policy meeting grade (on a team level), and bugs amount (created and solved).
Zero Bugs Policy — Compliance
A list of bugs that didn’t meet the fix policy
Push notifications, Slack channel, and Email based were sent to the bug’s reporter and assignee whenever a bug wasn’t progressing at the right pace. We allowed a maximum of 3 days in which the bug’s assignee could have “argued” the “fix policy” and/or confirm and verify the bug is on him. We alerted “close to aging” bugs and we nudged when a bug was crossing its fix policy. | https://medium.com/@dudu-cohen/optimizing-bugs-fix-policy-49838be8a8a1 | ['David Cohen'] | 2021-05-19 13:14:33.757000+00:00 | ['Policies And Procedures', 'Process', 'Engineering', 'Management', 'Quality Assurance'] |
Friday the 13th: The Series episode review — 1.21 — Double Exposure | Original air date: May 21, 1988
Director: Neill Fearnley
Writer: Durnford King
Rating: 7/10
This is my favourite episode so far. It’s weird, looks great visually, and has some blood, though not until the end. There’s a machete killer on the loose, having killed about eight or nine people so far, and the story’s being closely monitored by TV reporter Winston Knight (Gary Frank), who’s actually behind the whole thing, but in a very strange way.
Eventually, Ryan, who had just ended his date with his new girlfriend, sees someone being killed, and he tries to intervene. Though we don’t see the killer’s face, he claims it looks exactly like Winston Knight. But of course Knight has a perfect alibi, since he was on television at the time.
Even Micki kind of doubts Ryan this time around, so that’s a bit new. Eventually Jack does some research on doubles as the three figure out that Winston has used a curse camera to create one. The episode does a pretty good job of explaining what’s going on in a fairly short period of time.
It should probably come as no surprise that Ryan’s girlfriend is killed, but she’s pretty much the one who solves the crime, so good for her. Jack gets captured, and Winston creates a double to deceive the other two after Ryan comes away with the negative of him (which is necessary for the double).
A lot going on here. It’s a very fun episode, and like I said, ti is my favourite so far. Good stuff, even if Micki has nothing really to do. | https://medium.com/as-vast-as-space-and-as-timeless-as-infinity/friday-the-13th-the-series-episode-review-1-21-double-exposure-5661ad51519d | ['Patrick J Mullen'] | 2020-06-05 12:21:00.953000+00:00 | ['Friday The 13th', 'Horror', 'Supernatural', '1980s', 'TV'] |
TOP 5 WAYS TO GET PRESS AT CES | www.visitingfromspace.com
6500 of the world’s top reporters will be at CES. If you want them stopping by your booth, you should be reaching out to them well ahead of time. Reporters plan what booths they’ll be visiting well before the show.
That’s where we come in. We’re PR specialists. We work with thousands of top journalists throughout the year and leverage our relationships during CES to get you all over the news, guaranteed.
#1 START REACHING OUT TO REPORTERS MONTHS AHEAD OF CES
There are 6500 reporters headed to CES. The top journalists in the world will be there. Just one article from one reporter can expose your company to millions of people. It’s great exposure if you can get it, but if you plan on getting their attention at the show you’re too late …. way to late. Reporters are planners. They know what booths they’ll be visiting and what companies they’ll be featuring well before the show begins. Sure, there’s a chance you might capture their attention at CES, but your chances are slim. You’ll be competing with 4500 exhibitors for their attention. Some companies will spend millions of dollars on their booths making it near impossible to stand out. Make the most of CES and start reaching out to reporters months ahead of the show, before it’s too late. Get interviews lined up early and win the battle before you get to the show.
#2 PITCH THE RIGHT STORY
When you reach out to reporters make sure you use the right pitch. Remember these aren’t consumers or venture capitalists you might be interested in attracting. These are journalists so you’ll need a different message. Know how to tell your story. Don’t sell it. Know how to make the story of your business compelling. Define the why’s and how’s that helped create your business or launch your product or service. Don’t make your pitch read like a fact sheet highlighting benefits. While benefits are important, they don’t show a journalist what your company, product, or service means to customers.
Answer questions like how and why your business will change their world?
What is the human interest angle of your story?
#3 CREATE A PRESS PAGE ON YOUR WEBSITE
Reporters have a stressful job. They’re on constant deadline and have many articles they have to write every single day. They’re under a lot of pressure so the easier you can make their job, the better your chances of getting coverage. Create a press page on your website and fill it with all the information they need. Add pictures they can download, videos if you have them, founder bios, company history, etc. With an online press kit you’re basically writing the article for them and leading the story in the direction you want it to go.
#4 DON’T STOP WITH CES
There will be 6500 reporters at CES. That’s a lot of reporters, but a small fraction of the 1.9 million reporters all over the world. There are thousands of relevant reporters NOT going to CES, but will consider writing about your business if you give them the opportunity.
To get the most coverage possible reach out to these reporters also. Find out who they are and email them on the instant CES doors open. Make sure you include them before you become old news. If you wait a few weeks after CES reporters will think “Why should I write about them now? They’ve already been featured all over the news at the show.” Strike while the iron is hot and while your news is still relevant.
#5 SEND A WRAP-UP PITCH AFTER CES
Things quiet down a ton after CES, but that doesn’t mean that you have to shut it down. Don’t stop now. A post-CES recap can ensure that you get that last bit of coverage after most of your competitors have already called it quits.
“ONE article can transform your business. Imagine what HUNDREDS would do. Get started now!” — www.visitingfromspace.com | https://medium.com/@VisitingFromSpace/top-5-ways-to-get-press-at-ces-dda2974acf09 | [] | 2020-03-27 01:22:55.701000+00:00 | ['Best Marketing Agency', 'Public Relations', 'Top 5', 'Marketing', 'CES'] |
Treedom: un regalo che cresce nel tempo | 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/this-is-digital-experience/treedom-un-regalo-che-cresce-nel-tempo-94030d303ba6 | ['Giulia Ferrero'] | 2021-02-15 06:52:11.970000+00:00 | ['UX', 'Eco', 'Gifts', 'Digital', 'Tide'] |
How Does the Blockchain Work? | So, how can the system trust that input transactions are valid? It checks all the previous transactions correlated to the wallet you use to send bitcoins via the input references. To speed up the verification process, a special record of unspent transactions is kept by the network nodes. Thanks to this security check, it is not possible to double-spend bitcoins.
Owning bitcoins means that there are transactions written in the ledger that point to your wallet address and haven’t been used as inputs yet. All the code to perform transactions on the bitcoin network is open source; this means that anyone with a laptop and an internet connection can operate transactions. However, should there be a mistake in the code used to broadcast a transaction request message, the associated bitcoins will be permanently lost.
Remember that since the network is distributed, there is no customer support to call nor anyone who could help you restore a lost transaction or forgotten wallet password. For this reason, if you are interested in transacting on the bitcoin network, it’s a good idea to use the open source and official version of bitcoin wallet software (such as Bitcoin Core), and to store your wallet’s password or private key in a very safe repository.
But Is It Really Safe? And Why Is It Called Blockchain?
Anyone can access the bitcoin network via an anonymous connection (for example, the TOR network or a VPN network), and submit or receive transactions revealing nothing more than his public key. However if someone uses the same public key over and over, it’s possible to connect all the transactions to the same owner. The bitcoin network allows you to generate as many wallets as you like, each with its own private and public keys. This allows you to receive payments on different wallets, and there is no way for anyone to know that you own all these wallets’ private keys, unless you send all the received bitcoins to a single wallet.
The total number of possible bitcoin addresses is 2¹⁶⁰ or 1461501637330902918203684832716283019655932542976.
This large number protects the network from possible attacks while allowing anyone to own a wallet.
With this setup, there is still a major security hole that could be exploited to recall bitcoins after spending them. Transactions are passed from node to node within the network, so the order in which two transactions reach each node can be different. An attacker could send a transaction, wait for the counterpart to ship a product, and then send a reverse transaction back to his own account. In this case, some nodes could receive the second transaction before the first and therefore consider the initial payment transaction invalid, as the transaction inputs would be marked as already spent. How do you know which transaction has been requested first? It’s not secure to order the transactions by timestamp because it could easily be counterfeit. Therefore, there is no way to tell if a transaction happened before another, and this opens up the potential for fraud.
If this happens, there will be disagreement among the network nodes regarding the order of transactions each of them received. So the blockchain system has been designed to use node agreement to order transactions and prevent the fraud described above.
The bitcoin network orders transactions by grouping them into blocks; each block contains a definite number of transactions and a link to the previous block. This is what puts one block after the other in time. Blocks are therefore organized into a time-related chain (Fig. 6) that gives the name to the whole system: blockchain. | https://onezero.medium.com/how-does-the-blockchain-work-98c8cd01d2ae | ["Michele D'Aliessi"] | 2019-07-04 09:06:58.142000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Token', 'Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'ICO'] |
Nonbinary Identities and Individuals in Research, Community, and the Academy | Introduction by series editor Shanna Katz Kattari, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and Department of Women’s Studies (by courtesy) and core faculty in the Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities
Nonbinary, genderqueer, genderfluid, gender nonconforming, agender, and/or two-spirit individuals have always existed; our world just has not always recognized them as such, and often has taken action to try and harm or destroy those who are outside of binary systems of gender that come out of white, colonized, Christian ideals. However, even as researchers and society are doing a better job recognizing and upholding transgender experiences, much of the research with this population, and policies that exist continue to erase and actively harm nonbinary individuals.
While many research studies and even campus application forms (for student, staff, and faculty) have moved from a simple man/woman option to man/woman/transgender (which is problematic in that it views transgender people as one monolith), or slightly more nuanced with man/woman/trans man/trans woman, these options only touch the tip of the iceberg regarding gender, while continuing to invisibilize nonbinary people. Given that a recent 2015 study of trans individuals in the United States found that over a third of the trans community identifies as nonbinary, this is a huge omission. Bathrooms that force individuals to select between two genders can be incredibly stressful for those whose gender does not align with one of the two options, and in fact, can be physically dangerous as well. Experiencing colleagues and students using the wrong pronouns over and over, being told not to stir the pot with your identity, and getting “lady” or “sir” when you use neither are all examples of transphobic microaggressions, which can have lasting correlations with mental health.
It should be noted that I, editor of this collection, am myself cisgender (non-transgender); there are few trans and nonbinary faculty members in many academic spaces due to so many of the issues discussed within. Many of those who do have a position in the Academy feel unsafe coming out as their authentic selves in those spaces, and those who do are often pressured away from gender related research (seen as “me-search”) and practice. Given that so much of the research on trans and nonbinary populations is created by cisgender academics, often without any input from trans or nonbinary individuals themselves, I thought it was necessary to create space for a series where we center the voices of nonbinary people and hear their stories, experiences, and research directly.
As discussed by Elroi J. Windsor and Betsy Lucal, some nonbinary academics have made it successfully to and through the tenure process, but had to feel incredibly strong in their tenure packet to have even been open about their identity and pronouns (or lack of pronouns) to get to that point. These challenges of navigating can be even more complicated for nonbinary people of color, with Jan Estrellado, Amanda Breen, and G. Nic Rider speaking to this double burden. Katta Spiel & Emeline Brulé discuss some of this issues they’ve run into, constantly having to answer questions about their genders, and also the challenges of working with youth that also are nonbinary, but have unsupportive parents, and how they must balance their own truths with their research spaces.
This liberation of space is not a band-aid fix as people often want it to be. Simply mandate pronoun-go-rounds isn’t the way; Oliver Haimson and Lee Airton offer ways to engage around pronouns that don’t further harm individuals in those spaces who may not be out or comfortable sharing for a variety of reasons. Similarly, T. J. Jorian and Z. Nicolazzo strongly caution against the cis-centric push to re-create the extant and problematic gender binary by creating a new binary of transgender people versus nonbinary people, as if they are singular entities.
Nonbinary people exist in the Academy at every level; both undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and among all types of faculty. The pieces in this series, and the resources and references linked in these pieces, all provide not only the stories of these members of the Academy, but also tangible concepts for how to improve academic spaces to make them more inclusive and affirming for people of all genders. I hope this series serves as an incubator for more of these conversations to be at the forefront, and to spark action among cisgender accomplices in making policy shifts, and then moving back to create space for nonbinary people to fill with their knowledge, practice, and research. | https://medium.com/national-center-for-institutional-diversity/nonbinary-identities-and-individuals-in-research-community-and-the-academy-e2b8a3f23684 | ['National Center For Institutional Diversity'] | 2019-11-07 14:31:40.478000+00:00 | ['Series', 'Gender', 'Community', 'Nonbinary', 'Academia'] |
The Downtown Restaurants’ List | Food
The Downtown Restaurants’ List
“When you first entered the restaurant, I thought you were handsome… And then, of course, you spoke.” — Helen Hunt in “As Good As It Gets.
Courtesy of Soya & Pomodoro.
Here is the February List:
Area 31
area31restaurant.com
270 Biscayne Blvd Way, Miami, FL 33131
Great food and better views.
BAYSIDE Marketplace
baysidemarketplace.com
401 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33132
Plenty choices.
Fratelli Milano
ristorantefratellimilano.com
213 SE 1st St, Miami, FL 33131
One of the best Italian.
D’Oro Caffe & Market
17 NE 3rd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
www.dorocaffe.com
A deli plus.
Pollos y Jarras (CVI-CHE 105)
www.ceviche105.com
115 NE 3rd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
Pollos y Jarras is as good Peruvian place as CVI-Che — undergoing renovations.
Novikov Miami
www.novikovmiami.com
300 S Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33131
Posh. Fine International food.
RAKIJA GRILL
www.rakijagrillmiami.com
139 NE 3rd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
Balkan homey.
Red Carpet
www.redcarpetrestaurant.com
69 E Flagler St, Miami, FL 33132
New Italian. Cozy and “very good,” said a resident.
Sagrado Cafe
www.sagrado.cafe
900 Biscayne Blvd, Downtown Miami, FL 33132
Best Brazilian for breakfast and lunch.
Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue
sparkysroadsidebarbecue.com
204 NE 1st St, Miami, FL 33132
A downtown barbecue institution.
Soya & Pomodoro
soyaepomodoromiami.com
120 NE 1st St. Miami, FL 33132
Simple food made with love, creativity and fresh ingredients.
SUSHI SAKE
www.sushisakemiami.com
900 Biscayne Blvd, Downtown Miami, FL 33132
The neighborhood Sushi place, plus some international surprises.
Toro Toro
torotoromiami.com
100 Chopin Plz, Miami, FL 33131
International at the intercontinental hotel.
The quote:
“I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called Mother and Child Reunion. It’s chicken and eggs. And I said, I gotta use that one.” — Paul Simon
If you liked what you read, please share it. To receive Downtown News updates, register by clicking here. | https://downtown-news.com/the-downtown-restaurants-list-19945b418d7e | ['Raul Guerrero'] | 2021-02-07 16:13:26.078000+00:00 | ['Restaurants Miami', 'Food', 'Foodies', 'Downtown News Culture', 'Downtown Miami'] |
IS THE TRINITY BIBLICAL? | Trinity is one of the most important Christian doctrines, yet also the most misunderstood. Sometimes it is considered illogical, unreasonable, unbiblical, and even pagan. That’s why today we are answering the question “ IS TRINITY BIBLICAL?”
so the short answer is yes and the long answer is “of course yesss…” Reasoning with the scriptures I can understand that Trinitarians didn’t came up with the idea rather they were forced to believe in it by their scriptures. and first and most we need to know what’s the trinity?
Trinity is the belief in a single God who has three personalities. unlike humans which have one personality, God has three(the father, the son, and the holy spirit) and this is just the summarization I’m not gonna go into details about the definition, if you want a detail about the definition of trinity this Article is not what you want but at least gives you a biblical image of the trinity. we will look at trinitarian doctrine based on the fact that it’s domain is the bible as follows:
MONOTHEISM
One of the pillars of the trinity is the belief in a single God. The Bible obviously teaches that there is only one God, it’s found throughout the whole scripture but I’m only quoting three:
(Isaiah 44:6 ) Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; besides me there is no God.
(Isaiah 43:10 ) Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me, there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
God is saying right now I’m the only God and there won’t be any other God even in the future. so not only that there is one God present but also no other God will be made, so trinity is a belief within the domain of “always one God present”
1 Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one.
even in the new testament nothing changes paul said God is still one, there is no God other than one.
THE FATHER IS GOD
Actually, there is no dispute among Christians and others if the bible teaches that the father is God. so I’m just gonna give some verses and leave it be.
(Ephesians 4:6 ) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
(1 Peter 1:3 ) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
(Ephesians 1:3 ) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Clearly, the scripture teaches that the father of our Lord Jesus Christ is God, so the trinity is within the domain of the father being God.
THE SON IS GOD
This is highly debated, but the biblical answer for it is yes Jesus is God. that’s clearly what the bible teaches. I don’t really get why people who claimed to well study the bible denies it. Maybe it’s because he is introduced as a man, but that is only an idea that leads us to the incarnation of God and there is no wonder He is God since Isaiah prophecized the messiah to be God
(Isaiah 9:6 ) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Also, Thomas who’s one of the apostles called him my God
(John 20:28 ) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
The interesting thing is how Jesus answered him saying “ now you believe?” Jesus here was literally being like “finally”. Moving on Thomas wasn’t the only one who called Jesus God
John 1:1–3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. (3) All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
First, the Word was God. The Word had the character and nature of God; what God was, the Word was. Second, the personal pronoun him is applied to the Word, indicating that the Word is a personal being. Third, the Word was with God. The term with* indicates that the Word was not the same Person as the One with whom he was, One who is also referred to as God.
(John 1:14 ) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Just a few verses down john said this word become flesh and dwelt among them. He is speaking about Jesus as if he is God. Just by reading the first chapter of this book, we can conclude that the author(John) believed Jesus to be God.
(Titus 2:13 ) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ;
I can’t help but love this verse because it speaks of hope. but that’s not the point, the point is Paul is calling Jesus our God and savior and it’s not like he is saying God separately and then savior, because Paul is talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ about how Christians should wait for that day holy and clean if Jesus isn’t God then why mention God as if he is appearing in the second coming of Jesus Christ, second the Granville sharp rule which states that: if two substantives the first has an article and the other doesn’t has an article and both agrees on the number, case, and gender then they are referring to the same person. and Titus 2:13 falls under this rule since the substantive God has an article(our) and is joined with the substantive savior which doesn’t have an article using the word καί (and) so the great God and Savior is Jesus Christ that is what Paul was saying.
(2 Peter 1:1 ) Simeon Peter, a servant, and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 peter 1:1 also has the same structure so we can see that Peter is calling Jesus our God.
In the new testament, Jesus is referred to by names and titles that are used to God in the old testament let’s see some
(Isaiah 45:23 ) By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
Philippians 2:10–11 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Look at how in Isaiah God sworn that every knee shall bow to him and every tongue shall confess to him and the way Isaiah put’s it God seems very serious but when it comes to the new testament Paul is referring this same phrase to Jesus. Paul is a rabi who knows the scripture inside out and he knew this is saith about God there is no way he would use it to someone else. the only reason he is telling these exact words about Jesus is because he is the same God who sworn by his name in Isaiah.
Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
In Isaiah God is saying I’m the first and the last which Jesus said about himself in revelation. none except God can say that he is the first and the last mainly because creatures can either be the first or the last but not both.
Mark 2:7–10 “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (8) And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? (9) Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? (10) But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — he said to the paralytic —
The scribes immediately concluded this man is blaspheming knowing that no one can forgive sins unless he is God, Jesus didn’t excuse himself instead he made it clear he also has the ability to forgive sin. It’s true none but God can forgive sin. this was to demonstrate his ability and who he is, that he can do what only God does, revealing his true nature.
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Matthew 14:33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Throughout the hall bible, it is written worship non but the Lord your God(Due 6:14, Isa 42:8, Psa 97:7…). Jesus himself is saying don’t worship anyone but God, interestingly enough things are changing very quickly, Jesus who said don’t worship anyone else is now receiving worship himself, so are we supposed to conclude he is a blasphemer, therefore, a sinner? Certainly not! Jesus didn’t blaspheme or lied he only receives worship because he is God worthy of worship.
In fact with all these scriptures supporting the idea Jesus is Divine I must say without him being God the Gospel is destroyed. The Gospel makes it clear for us that the sinless man Jesus is the one who saved us from our sins, and without him being God and all those claims he made(forgiving sin, that he must be honored the same way the Father is honored(john 5:23), that he is the final judge in the day of the judgment, The Lord of lords) he is a blasphemer, therefore, a sinner. so no one is saved, But luckily That’s not the case the Gospel is just as True as the deity of Jesus.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD
Also known as the spirit of God or the Spirit with capital “S”.Now one obvious question is he God? well there is almost no argument about the Spirit being God the true question is “Is he a person or impersonal force?” which we are covering next. for now, let us just support the idea the Spirit is God.
Acts 5:3–4 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? (4) While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
One of the most convincing statements in the Bible about the Holy Spirit being God is found in the above passage. When Ananias lied about the price of a piece of property, Peter said that Satan had filled Ananias’s heart to “lie to the Holy Spirit” and concluded by saying that Ananias had “lied to God” (verse 4). Peter’s words equate the Holy Spirit with God; he spoke as if the Spirit and God were one and the same.
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
The bodies of those in Christ are described as temples of God because the Holy Spirit is in us. for even more clarification, God said he will dwell in us which the Spirit did. therefore it’s a fulfillment of promise when the Spirit dwelt in us.
And for the personality of the Spirit, the answer is yes the Spirit has a personality, here are few reasons why:
(Philippians 2:1) If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
(2 Corinthians 13:14) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The first reason is that we can have fellowship with the Spirit, a thing an impersonal immaterial force can’t do.
(1 Corinthians 2:11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
another characteristic of a personality is the ability to know, which the Spirit has. the spirit also teaches:
(Luke 12:12) For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
and most of all the Spirit loves
(Romans 15:30) Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me;
All these characteristics leave us with no choice but to conclude the spirit has a personality and it is not just an impersonal immaterial force of God. with that said let us pass on to the next important pillar of the trinity.
EACH PERSONALITY IS DISTINCT
The distinction of each personality is simply; having a different personality rather than one personality manifesting itself in three forms, which is unbiblical. The bible teaches that each person of the trinity is somehow different from the other person and that they interact with each other which is not something that a single personality can do, with this said let us see the biblical pieces of evidence:
send or been sent by one another:
(John 3:17) For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
(John 14:24) He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
(John 15:26) But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
(Isaiah 48:16) Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
the father sent the son and the son sent the spirit with the father together likewise the spirit also send the lord, we can’t read the above texts and conclude the text is speaking about the same person.
the son spoke with the father:
(John 17:5) And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
(Romans 8:26) Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
(Hebrews 1:8) But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
the son prayed to the father which is a very odd thing to do if the father the same person as the son. the Spirit intercedes to those who prayed, now one obvious question if he is the only person in the being of God who is the Spirit interceding to?, Thirdly the father in Hebrews chapter one is talking about and to the Son. all these things are interactions which can only be made by multiple persons.
(John 3:35)The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
(John 14:31) but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
In John chapter three Jesus said the father loves him and in chapter 14 he tells us that he also loves the father and in chapter 17 they honored each other.
conclusion: The father is a person who, loved, sent, and honored the Son who also is another person who loves, honors, and prayed to the father, likewise the Spirit is another person who interceded to the father and sent by him alongside the son.
just to summarize every biblical idea we’ve been through I’ll say the following
There is only one God That one God is the father That one God is the son That one God is the Spirit The Father, The son and The Spirit has their own personality So there is one God with three distinct personalities
So to believe in the bible we must believe in one God who has three distinct persons “THE TRINITY” the name trinity is just a mere representation of the biblical idea of God. it’s not pagan, it’s not unbiblical, it’s not illogical but yeah it’s a mystery, I’ll be the first to admit that but still, I know enough to believe in it which leaves me with no excuse to deny it. | https://medium.com/@geneneyonatan/is-the-trinity-biblical-f36dc33b66f | ['Yonatan Genene'] | 2020-12-27 19:43:21.359000+00:00 | ['Trinity', 'Bible', 'Diety Of Christ', 'Christianity'] |
Announcing a Hyperledger-Sawtooth Blockchain platform for Letters of Credit | TRADE-Chain is a permissioned “global trade finance” blockchain for the world’s banks and financial institutions.
1. Introduction
A letter of credit is like a promissory note that represents an obligation taken on by a bank to make a payment once certain criteria are met — once the terms are completed and confirmed, the bank will transfer the funds. Simply put, a letter of credit ensures that the payment will be made as long as the services are performed.
Example: An Indian exporter receives an order from an American importer. The exporter is not sure about the importer’s ability and willingness to pay once the order is delivered. The exporter requests for a letter of credit from the importer. The importer then applies for a letter of credit from its bank (where it has adequate funds or credit line). Once the goods are shipped, the bank pays the exporter subject to fulfillment of relevant terms and conditions.
Letters of credit are especially important in international trade due to the distance involved and potentially differing laws in the countries of the businesses involved. In these transactions, it is not always possible for the parties to meet in person. The bank issuing the letter of credit holds payment on behalf of the buyer until it receives confirmation that the goods in the transaction have been shipped. (Source: Investopedia)
2. Benefits of using blockchain for letters of credit
A conventional Letter of Credit transaction involves time-consuming manual processes such as the transfer of physical copies by post, courier, fax or scans. The use of blockchain offers significant potential to reduce the timelines involved in the exchange of export documentation from the current 7 to 10 days to less than a day. (Source: shippingandfreightresource.com) Use of blockchain in trade finance enhances transparency, security, and synergy across all the parties and stakeholders involved. Blockchain brings efficiency to trade finance and ensures cost effectiveness, quicker turnaround and unlocks liquidity for businesses. Blockchain technology usage for trade finance “enables automation of LC creation, payment against documents…” (Source: Reserve Bank of India’s 2017 Report of the Working Group on FinTech and Digital Banking). Blockchain will have a transformative impact on trade finance transactions, enable greater transparency, and offer simpler and faster transactions. (Source: morethanshipping.com)
3. TRADE-Chain
TRADE-Chain is a permissioned “global trade finance” blockchain for the world’s banks and financial institutions. TRADE-Chain is operated by Primechain Technologies Private Limited. TRADE-Chain is built on Hyperledger Sawtooth and enables the issuance and sharing of letters of credit in a secure and confidential manner.
3.1 Core features of TRADE-Chain
A complete API driven system that can easily be integrated with legacy systems. Enables real-time supervision by the authorities. All data is automatically encrypted and the decryption credentials are only available to the issuing entity. By storing data across its network, TRADE-Chain eliminates the security risks that come with data being held centrally. The use of Public key cryptography, symmetric cryptography, and cryptographic hash functions makes TRADE-Chain cryptographically secure and provably immutable. TRADE-Chain maximizes efficiency, security & transparency and minimizes fraud. TRADE-Chain greatly improves auditability and streamlines documentation.
3.2 Hyperledger Sawtooth
TRADE-Chain is built on Hyperledger Sawtooth.
Hyperledger Sawtooth is an enterprise blockchain platform for building distributed ledger applications and networks. The design philosophy targets keeping ledgers distributed and making smart contracts safe, particularly for enterprise use.
Sawtooth simplifies blockchain application development by separating the core system from the application domain. Application developers can specify the business rules appropriate for their application, using the language of their choice, without needing to know the underlying design of the core system.
Sawtooth is also highly modular. This modularity enables enterprises and consortia to make policy decisions that they are best equipped to make. Sawtooth’s core design allows applications to choose the transaction rules, permissioning, and consensus algorithms that support their unique business needs.
Sawtooth is an open source project under the Hyperledger umbrella. For more information see: https://sawtooth.hyperledger.org/
3.3 On-boarding an issuer of Letters of Credit
To on-board an issuer of Letters of Credit, use get /api/v1/create_user_key_sawtooth
The output will be the
The private key of the newly created issuer The public key of the newly created issuer
Sample output
{
"status": 200,
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "962504a3061c59754ca5640411c15a6556bd0d37d39a6bfb8ebc97ded798e82b",
"primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "03f0e3bb1d51b7fd5a85bd5937598e72835005fadfe08058fc702b86425d458035",
"response": "User keys generated"
}
3.4 Publishing a letter of credit to TRADE-Chain
To create, encrypt, sign and publish a Letter of Credit to the blockchain, use post /api/v1/encrypt_sign_store_data_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
the primechain sawtooth private key the data
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "962504a3061c59754ca5640411c15a6556bd0d37d39a6bfb8ebc97ded798e82b",
"data":
{
"LOC_FORM": "IRREVOCABLE",
"LOC_NUMBER": "32453675864534",
"LOC_DATE_OF_ISSUE": "17-DECEMBER-2018",
"LOC_DATE_OF_EXPIRY": "16-MARCH-2019",
"LOC_PLACE_OF_EXPIRY": "MUMBAI, INDIA",
"LOC_APPLICANT_BANK": "GLOBAL BANK, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND",
"LOC_APPLICANT": "NICOLE CORPORATION",
"LOC_BENEFICIARY": "KIDMAN INC, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA",
"LOC_CURRENCY": "USD",
"LOC_AMOUNT_WORDS": "TWO MILLION",
"LOC_AMOUNT_FIGURES": "2,000,000.00",
"LOC_MAX_CREDIT_AMOUNT": "NOT EXCEEDING",
"LOC_AVAILABLE_WITH": "ANY BANK",
"LOC_AVAILABLE_BY": "BY NEGOTIATION",
"LOC_DRAFTS_AT": "SIGHT",
"LOC_DRAWEE": "INTERNATIONAL BANK, NEW YORK, USA",
"LOC_PARTIAL_SHIPMENTS": "ALLOWED",
"LOC_TRANSHIPMENT": "NOT ALLOWED",
"LOC_FOR_TRANSPORTATION_TO": "MUMBAI, INDIA",
"LOC_LATEST_DATE_OF_SHIPMENT": "17-JANUARY-2018",
"LOC_DESCRIPTION_GOODS_SERVICES": "PLATINUM RODS",
"LOC_QUANTITY_GOODS_SERVICES": "2000",
"LOC_UNIT_PRICE_GOODS_SERVICES": "1000",
"LOC_TRADE_TERMS": "CIF MUMBAI",
"LOC_ORDER_NUMBER": "435346453",
"LOC_DOCUMENTS_REQUIRED": "1.BENEFICIARY'S DRAFT AT SIGHT DRAWN ON BUYER'S BANK NAME, ADDRESS, MARKED 'DRAWN UNDER BUYER'S BANK NAME IRREVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT NO.XXX DATED XXX'. 2. SIGNED COMMERCIAL INVOICE IN TRIPLICATE. 3. PACKING LIST IN TRIPLICATE, INDICATING WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT. 4. FULL SET (3 ORIGINALS AND 3 COPIES) OF CLEAN ON BOARD BILLS OF LADING MADE OUT TO ORDER OF SHIPPER AND BLANK ENDORSED MARKED 'FREIGHT PREPAID' AND NOTIFY APPLICANT. 5. INSURANCE POLICY IN DUPLICATE ENDORSED IN BLANK FOR 110 PERCENT OF THE INVOICE VALUE INCLUDING ALL RISKS, WAR CLAUSES AND S.R.C.C. 6. CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN IN 3 ORIGINALS AND 2 COPIES ISSUED BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.",
"LOC_ADDITIONAL_CONDITIONS": "THE COMPLETE SET OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS TO BE SENT IN ONE LOT BY THE COURIER SERVICE TO APPLIANT BANK.",
"LOC_CHARGES": "ALL BANKING CHARGES ARE FOR BENEFICIARY'S ACCOUNT.",
"LOC_PERIOD_FOR_PRESENTATION": "DOCUMENTS MUST BE PRESENTED WITHIN THE VALIDITY OF THIS CREDIT.",
"LOC_CONFIRMATION_INSTRUCTIONS": "CONFIRM",
"LOC_ADVISING_THROUGH_BANK": "STATE BANK OF ZIMBLIA, WOODFORD, ZIMBLIA",
"LOC_SENDER_TO_RECEIVER_INFORMATION": "THIS CREDIT IS SUBJECT TO UNIFORM CUSTOMS AND PRACTICE FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDIT, 2007 REVISION, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PUBLICATIONS NO.600."
}
}
This is what happens:
Step 1: Hash computation
The SHA-512 hash of the Letter of Credit is computed.
Step 2: Signing the Letter of Credit
The hash is signed using the private key of the signer, using the secp256k1 algorithm.
Step 3: Encrypting the Letter of Credit
The Letter of Credit is encrypted using the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) algorithm and the following are generated:
the encrypted version of the Letter of Credit the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV). Initialization Vector is a nonce that is associated with an invocation of authenticated encryption on a particular plaintext and Additional Authenticated Data (AAD). the Authentication Tag (tag), which is a cryptographic checksum on data that is designed to reveal both accidental errors and the intentional modification of the data.
Step 4: Storing the encrypted Letter of Credit
The encrypted Letter of Credit and the tag are published to the blockchain.
Step 5: Output
The following is the output:
the relevant Sawtooth transaction id the digital signature the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV)
Sample output
{
"status": 200,
"response":
{
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "fcbccc4279acb8bda5b8f4dbce68a74d5c7b393949c0cbc77c92f5c9217cf968650b537afb7f8b19c20c4033511a9415a229d8df1f676ea7796bfd5901df8c33",
"signature": "588e8f5116244ad4166faeb7975b207006e78552cc30e547c81dfbef4000cd83268edb073c0fac5162e698eb930482ed41e793a1b85eb55ac4d01b617a58a12b",
"aes_password": "jipfAoqwJflAZLjzIYYwQiwqWcAPkqmr",
"aes_iv": "R6UrPh8Hsosl"
}
}
3.5 Retrieving a letter of credit from TRADE-Chain
To retrieve a Letter of Credit from the blockchain, use post /api/v1/decrypt_download_data_sawtooth and pass these values:
the relevant Sawtooth transaction id the sawtooth public key of the issuer the digital signature the AES password the Initialization Vector (IV)
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "fcbccc4279acb8bda5b8f4dbce68a74d5c7b393949c0cbc77c92f5c9217cf968650b537afb7f8b19c20c4033511a9415a229d8df1f676ea7796bfd5901df8c33",
"primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "03f0e3bb1d51b7fd5a85bd5937598e72835005fadfe08058fc702b86425d458035",
"signature": "588e8f5116244ad4166faeb7975b207006e78552cc30e547c81dfbef4000cd83268edb073c0fac5162e698eb930482ed41e793a1b85eb55ac4d01b617a58a12b",
"aes_password": "jipfAoqwJflAZLjzIYYwQiwqWcAPkqmr",
"aes_iv": "R6UrPh8Hsosl"
}
This is what happens:
Step 1: Retrieval of the encrypted Letter of Credit
The encrypted Letter of Credit and tag are retrieved from the blockchain.
Step 2: Decryption
The encrypted Letter of Credit is decrypted.
Step 3: Verification
The digital signature is verified.
Step 4: Output
The output will be the Letter of Credit if the signature is verified and valid.
Sample output
{
"status": 200,
"response": {
"LOC_FORM": "IRREVOCABLE",
"LOC_NUMBER": "32453675864534",
"LOC_DATE_OF_ISSUE": "17-DECEMBER-2018",
"LOC_DATE_OF_EXPIRY": "16-MARCH-2019",
"LOC_PLACE_OF_EXPIRY": "MUMBAI, INDIA",
"LOC_APPLICANT_BANK": "GLOBAL BANK, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND",
"LOC_APPLICANT": "NICOLE CORPORATION",
"LOC_BENEFICIARY": "KIDMAN INC, ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA",
"LOC_CURRENCY": "USD",
"LOC_AMOUNT_WORDS": "TWO MILLION",
"LOC_AMOUNT_FIGURES": "2,000,000.00",
"LOC_MAX_CREDIT_AMOUNT": "NOT EXCEEDING",
"LOC_AVAILABLE_WITH": "ANY BANK",
"LOC_AVAILABLE_BY": "BY NEGOTIATION",
"LOC_DRAFTS_AT": "SIGHT",
"LOC_DRAWEE": "INTERNATIONAL BANK, NEW YORK, USA",
"LOC_PARTIAL_SHIPMENTS": "ALLOWED",
"LOC_TRANSHIPMENT": "NOT ALLOWED",
"LOC_FOR_TRANSPORTATION_TO": "MUMBAI, INDIA",
"LOC_LATEST_DATE_OF_SHIPMENT": "17-JANUARY-2018",
"LOC_DESCRIPTION_GOODS_SERVICES": "PLATINUM RODS",
"LOC_QUANTITY_GOODS_SERVICES": "2000",
"LOC_UNIT_PRICE_GOODS_SERVICES": "1000",
"LOC_TRADE_TERMS": "CIF MUMBAI",
"LOC_ORDER_NUMBER": "435346453",
"LOC_DOCUMENTS_REQUIRED": "1.BENEFICIARY'S DRAFT AT SIGHT DRAWN ON BUYER'S BANK NAME, ADDRESS, MARKED 'DRAWN UNDER BUYER'S BANK NAME IRREVOCABLE LETTER OF CREDIT NO.XXX DATED XXX'. 2. SIGNED COMMERCIAL INVOICE IN TRIPLICATE. 3. PACKING LIST IN TRIPLICATE, INDICATING WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENT. 4. FULL SET (3 ORIGINALS AND 3 COPIES) OF CLEAN ON BOARD BILLS OF LADING MADE OUT TO ORDER OF SHIPPER AND BLANK ENDORSED MARKED 'FREIGHT PREPAID' AND NOTIFY APPLICANT. 5. INSURANCE POLICY IN DUPLICATE ENDORSED IN BLANK FOR 110 PERCENT OF THE INVOICE VALUE INCLUDING ALL RISKS, WAR CLAUSES AND S.R.C.C. 6. CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN IN 3 ORIGINALS AND 2 COPIES ISSUED BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.",
"LOC_ADDITIONAL_CONDITIONS": "THE COMPLETE SET OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS TO BE SENT IN ONE LOT BY THE COURIER SERVICE TO APPLIANT BANK.",
"LOC_CHARGES": "ALL BANKING CHARGES ARE FOR BENEFICIARY'S ACCOUNT.",
"LOC_PERIOD_FOR_PRESENTATION": "DOCUMENTS MUST BE PRESENTED WITHIN THE VALIDITY OF THIS CREDIT.",
"LOC_CONFIRMATION_INSTRUCTIONS": "CONFIRM",
"LOC_ADVISING_THROUGH_BANK": "STATE BANK OF ZIMBLIA, WOODFORD, ZIMBLIA",
"LOC_SENDER_TO_RECEIVER_INFORMATION": "THIS CREDIT IS SUBJECT TO UNIFORM CUSTOMS AND PRACTICE FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDIT, 2007 REVISION, INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PUBLICATIONS NO.600."
}
}
3.6 Publishing unencrypted data to TRADE-Chain
To publish unencrypted data to TRADE-Chain, use post /api/v1/upload_data_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
The private key of the uploading entity The data
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "962504a3061c59754ca5640411c15a6556bd0d37d39a6bfb8ebc97ded798e82b",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
Output will be the Sawtooth transaction id for the transaction.
{
"status": 200,
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "d8e102ef081f9b368adad997db4875c2b67ac5482b0d68969ac8162fb039abd67bfc46112c667fe84e0210416fa9829fba121b898f3c15671ec88815ae18a101"
}
3.7 Retrieving unencrypted data from TRADE-Chain
To retrieve unencrypted data from TRADE-Chain, use post /api/v1/get_data_sawtooth and pass the Sawtooth transaction id of the transaction.
{
"primechain_sawtooth_tx_id": "d8e102ef081f9b368adad997db4875c2b67ac5482b0d68969ac8162fb039abd67bfc46112c667fe84e0210416fa9829fba121b898f3c15671ec88815ae18a101"
}
Output will be the data.
{
"status": 200,
"response": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
3.8 Creating a digital signature using TRADE-Chain
To create a digital signature using TRADE-Chain, use post /api/v1/create_signature_sawtooth and pass 2 parameters:
The private key of the signer the data
Sample input
{
"primechain_sawtooth_private_key": "962504a3061c59754ca5640411c15a6556bd0d37d39a6bfb8ebc97ded798e82b",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
}
The output will be the digital signature:
{
"status": 200,
"signature": "5def215805aa708bba99e0bcb9351be0a7f99295e16dd81259aee39c1972efc145b84200f712658c86509bcb88ea2c25d6922fa7c7a6a80e941f050dd275d077"
}
3.9 Verify a digital signature using TRADE-Chain
To verify a digital signature using TRADE-Chain, use post /api/v1/verify_signature_sawtooth and pass 3 parameters:
the public key of the signer the data the digital signature
{
"primechain_sawtooth_public_key": "03f0e3bb1d51b7fd5a85bd5937598e72835005fadfe08058fc702b86425d458035",
"data": "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.",
"signature": "5def215805aa708bba99e0bcb9351be0a7f99295e16dd81259aee39c1972efc145b84200f712658c86509bcb88ea2c25d6922fa7c7a6a80e941f050dd275d077"
}
The output will be:
{
"status": 200,
"response": true
}
or
{
"status": 200,
"response": false
}
Have a query? Email us on [email protected] | https://medium.com/blockchain-blog/announcing-a-hyperledger-sawtooth-blockchain-platform-for-letters-of-credit-8738e90633d3 | ['Rohas Nagpal'] | 2018-12-26 12:15:34.284000+00:00 | ['Primechain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Sawtooth', 'Blockchain Development', 'Blockchain'] |
The Scars This Time | I once struck up a conversation with a man seated next to me at a bar. (Remember bars?)
He told me he refused to be a part of long-term relationships as a matter of self-defense. That he emotionally and physically could not handle the stress, the pain, the difficulty, the eventual heartbreak.
I remember disagreeing with him, that, despite the costs, love was worth the fight.
The deepest scar I carry from my latest break-up is the one that has me believing that man was right.
Love leaves scars. They are proof of having loved. This one just feels more visible, central, and significant.
And I don’t want any more of them.
We Get Do-Overs
When a relationship ends, it’s common to experience stages of grief and loss: pain, depression, anger, denial, shell-shock, and loneliness.
And finally acceptance.
But one of the differences of grief from a breakup or divorce than of mourning a death is reconciling with the concept of replacement, of returning again to love, of hope of recovering what was lost but with someone new.
Part of healing from a break-up is knowing that while this particular love is gone, it remains possible to love again. Not the same person and not the same way, but a different love.
It’s important to examine your feelings and reactions to that possibility — because they can tell you where you are, and more importantly, where you want to be, in terms of future love and relationships.
In Place of Hope, There is Doubt
After my divorce, the notion of falling in love again felt distant but possible.
I was able to see, even while I was getting over the hurt, the demise of that relationship didn’t portend anything about the potential of what might be possible in the future.
And over time, after the healing, it happened.
It was a bond built over years through friendship that on its own, unexpectedly, evolved into a deep love.
But just as that love felt different, so too does is this break-up.
There is again the depression and pain, as one would expect.
But there is also an all-encompassing doubt.
Doubt about myself, and the place I occupy as the common denominator in the relationships that ended.
Doubt about my ability to successfully navigate a long-term relationship, and doubt the enterprise at all. It’s not that I no longer believe in love or find it something worth fighting for.
It’s just in the game of love, I feel defeated. And I’m not sure I have the stomach for another round.
And you know what? That’s OK, and in some respects, it’s natural and good.
What For?
Break-ups force you to ask hard questions about love and relationships. And really, you should be dealing with these questions even while in a relationship, too.
We choose to be in a relationship. They are wholly voluntary. For many, not being in a relationship is involuntary.
But what do we expect and want to get out of a relationship? What do we bring to our partners, and what do we want, need, and expect in return?
How will or does a relationship make life better, make you (and your partner) more content, fulfilled, and satisfied?
What will make the sacrifice and hard work involved in a relationship worth it?
In the throes of a break-up, we ask these questions from a place of solitude and loneliness — and heartbreak.
We shouldn’t let the pain we feel in the present influence our perception of the future
Heartbreak will skew your perception of love and relationships. This is very much the phase I’m currently in.
Over time, though, as healing occurs, you can ask these questions from a more balanced perspective, from a place of emotional equilibrium.
That balance isn’t a sign of being ready to love again. It’s a sign of emotional neutrality — of no longer experiencing hurt and pain from your last relationship, allowing you to envision the future more than reliving the past.
Maybe you’ll want to fall in love again — and perhaps you won’t. But you’ll make that choice from a place of clarity rather than one of hurt.
The Flood This Time
The regrets I have from my past relationship stem from my inability to be the kind of partner she wanted and needed. I don’t regret, for a minute, trying, repeatedly, to make it work.
But it’s not just the fear of going through heartache again that makes me doubt my romantic future, nor is it the challenges imposed by the pandemic.
It’s my pattern. It’s what I saw of myself in my last relationship that I also saw in my marriage. It’s in my failings in both relationships, both in how I related to my partners, and what I did or didn’t on behalf of myself.
My most recent partner communicated the things she wanted from me, in so many different kinds of situations. But I couldn’t do those things. I just wasn’t wired for them, no matter how much I wanted to be the kind of partner she was hoping for.
And I know it’s not just on me. There were things I wanted, too, that I didn’t get as much of or as often as I needed or wanted — and that was a sacrifice. So too was receiving unwanted behavior, that surfaced, repeatedly. It was the frequent build-up of these mutual failures that lead to the break-up.
So, the argument will go, I just need to find someone who is a better match, with whom I’m better aligned.
Perhaps.
I struggle envisioning becoming emotionally available again, despite my knowledge of the power of time and distance.
While I exit my last relationship without any regret over trying, repeatedly, to get it to work, and try, try and try again to salvage the love we had, I honestly don’t know if I have the emotional fortitude to try again.
The goal of healing from a break-up is not about loving again, but feeling whole enough to love again if you choose to.
That’s not the concern now anyway. Right now it’s about healing, feeling better, recovering, rediscovering myself, becoming stronger.
But at this moment, I am torn between what my therapist refers to as the time of the flood — and the time after the flood, when the waters recede. I have to believe, he tries to persuade me (or rather, encourages me to think) that things will get better.
Yet each day I am sad, each day I miss her. As much as I intuitively know that time will heal this wound, even through the added adversity of social isolation because of the pandemic, that does not soothe the pain.
Instead, it makes the road to that hypothetical future seem so much longer.
When I look into the future, I don’t think I can stomach being on this road again. And I know for certain, that for right now at least, for the first time, I’m too afraid to try.
Part of My Anger is At Love Itself
Losing love, especially this love, to me is a tragedy. It was a love I lost and regained many times — but now must let go of for good.
It will not pain me that our best option was to part, to let go of that love. It’s only natural, of course, to want to feel that kind of love again. The fact we had so much difficulty replicating it ourselves was a big part of our own frustration.
But looking forward, I am unable to see that kind of love again. One built over years of friendship and bonding, through supporting each other through good times and bad. Sure, I might be able to fall in love again. Even with all the difficulties I’m going through right now I can still recognize that.
Yet, even thinking hypothetically about finding love again, especially during these trying days, I feel tapped out. I feel knocked down from my relationship failures. I fail to see not eventually winding up here again.
The worst thing I will take from this relationship, besides, of course, all the memories I have of falling short, is the sense that all relationships end.
I hate that cynicism, I hate that pessimism, and I hate even more that now after all this, I’m closer than ever to believing in it.
Running On Empty
“It’s just a break-up.” “It sucks, but you’ll get over it.” “It happens to everyone.” “Don’t worry about it so much.”
These are the things people tell you after a break-up. Those statements aren’t wrong.
Because the truth is, even if we come away with scars from break-ups, we do get better.
I have to remind myself, with my brain, of what I’ve experienced before, and how I recovered. Of all the advice I read and hear — it applies to me as much as anyone else.
In the lonely hours, I go through the social media feeds, I look at pictures, I open browser tabs in private mode.
The urges are still there, proving, if nothing else, that I’m still alive. Buried deep under the emotional weight I now carry is a sliver of curiosity.
But for now those urges and curiosities will remain buried — and not just because of the pandemic.
Because I have nothing in my tank. I’ve given all I’ve got and while I’m grateful for the love I’ve received, given, and shared, and would much rather have had and tried and fought for that love than not having had it all, I’m wiped out.
I feel emotionally bankrupt, which I suppose is why I remain unavailable.
I am still tending to my broken heart. It, and I, are fragile. I don’t yet feel safe giving any of it, much less all of it, to someone else.
That’s the way I felt yesterday, and it’s the way I feel today.
What’s important to remember — and part of the reason I wrote this piece was a way to remind myself of it — is that doesn’t have anything to do with how I might feel tomorrow.
There is nothing better than love. This is why losing it hurts so bad. That loss carries a cost — and I’m still paying that off.
One day, and I don’t know when, and nor do I really care since I can’t control that, the ledger will even out.
And that’s when I’ll start wondering if I want to put myself on the market again.
Have any feedback? I can be reached at scottmgilman @ gmail.com. | https://medium.com/heart-affairs/the-scars-this-time-2aead5b48f85 | ['Scott Gilman'] | 2020-12-07 15:26:31.723000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Love', 'Personal Development', 'Life Lessons', 'Breakups'] |
Review — ‘august’ by Taylor Swift | On august, Taylor Swift sparkles in the coastal sun like broken glass. The space between the lines is just wide enough for you to feel the salinity of the air. Having been in the business for over a decade, Swift had perfected the art of recollecting a relationship. This time, however, she was neither the love-consumed poet nor the grief-strucken songwriter. Instead, she dissolves effortlessly into the role of the other woman.
Taking place right after a certain illicit affair falls apart, august serves as a scrapbook by which to recollect a summer that burnt as quickly as it blossomed. A fever dream soaked in fatalism. Swift documents the fateful interaction between a boy and girl seeking to fill a void in themselves. Yet, for events that seem so personal, we never hear this woman’s name. Coupled with the resignation in Swift’s airy vocal performance, august tells the story of a faceless woman.
A woman who, at the end of the day, knew that her legacy in the big picture was destined to be a silhouette of her body in the background, stripped of her identity. Because that’s what it means to be the other woman. To be the stained toy that’s only every played with under the cover of nightfall. To know that, despite wanting to write her name on this man’s back, despite wanting to change for the better, the writing was on the wall. He was never hers, and you can’t lose something that was never yours to begin with. | https://medium.com/the-music-cove/review-august-by-taylor-swift-dc59dd6e6830 | ['Raunaq Nambiar'] | 2020-08-27 16:09:36.954000+00:00 | ['Taylor Swift', 'Culture', 'Pop Music', 'Music Review', 'Music'] |
Durians Daily #159: Gig workers and SMEs to improve wellbeing and hone skills through Grab; Carsome predicts more car buyers will consider secondhand options in 2021; This company saw a 34% increase i | Missed out the last Durians Daily? Go here to check it out.
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This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed. | https://medium.com/500-durians/durians-daily-159-gig-workers-and-smes-to-improve-wellbeing-and-hone-skills-through-grab-96e6c932891c | [] | 2020-12-24 06:16:53.326000+00:00 | ['Gig Economy', 'Ecommerce', 'Recruitment', 'Automotive', 'Automation'] |
Do Something: 2018 Philadelphia Flower Show, early St. Patrick’s Day celebration | Do Something: 2018 Philadelphia Flower Show, early St. Patrick’s Day celebration
This weekend is the last chance to check out the 2018 Progressive Atlantic City Boat Show.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early this weekend at a parade in Mt. Holly or be one of the first to check out the 2018 Philadelphia Flower Show. Check out what other activities are taking place this weekend.
Around South Jersey
Enjoy some tunes at the Croft Farm Arts Center in Cherry Hill on Sunday as members of Boheme Opera Company perform a concert from 3 to 5 p.m. The show will feature arias and duets from the classic Italian and French opera repertoire. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors with a gold card and $5 for students. To purchase tickets, visit https://register.capturepoint.com/cherryhill.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a couple weeks early in Mt. Holly this weekend. This year’s Burlington County St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. in downtown Mount Holly. Pipe bands, Irish bands, step dancers and more will be a part of the show. Miss St. Patrick will also join the parade’s Grand Marshall in leading the procession. For more information, visit http://mounthollyparade.com.
Residents can raise money for a local nature center at the third annual Beef and Beer for Birds and Blooms at the Mt. Holly Moose Lodge №737, located at 853 Woodlane Road in Mt. Holly. The event will include a buffet dinner, beer and wine, a 50/50, raffles, dancing, music and more. Proceeds will support Friends of Rancocas Nature Center. Tickets are $30 per person. To purchase tickets by credit card, call (609) 261–2495 or email [email protected].
At the Jersey Shore
This weekend is the last chance to check out the 2018 Progressive Atlantic City Boat Show. The show will be open at the Atlantic City Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Hundreds of boats will be on hand from luxury yachts to personal watercraft. About 440 booths will be selling all kinds of accessories inside the show’s Marine Marketplace. Tickets are $16 for adults. Children 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.acboatshow.com.
Also in Atlantic City this weekend, the top high school wrestlers from around New Jersey will compete in the 2018 NJSIAA High School Wrestling Championships. Matches will take place beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and the finals will begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday at Boardwalk Hall. Tickets are on sale for $10 per person. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit www.boardwalkhall.com/events/detail/njsiaa-state-wrestling.
In Philadelphia
The 12th annual Philly Craft Beer Festival will take place on Saturday at The Navy Yard, 4747 South Broad Street in Philadelphia, from 1:30 to 5 p.m. Guests can sample more than 200 brands of beer, enjoy the taste of food trucks from around the area and more. There is also a VIP session from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $46 for general admission and $75 for VIP tickets. Guests can also get a designated driver for $12. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.phillycraftbeerfest.com.
Flowers will take over the Pennsylvania Convention Center this weekend as the Philadelphia Flower Show returns for 2018. The show will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. This year’s theme is “Wonders of Water” and will celebrate the beauty and life-sustaining interplay of horticulture and water. Tickets are $35 for adults, $24 for students ages 17 to 24, and $17 for children ages 2 to 16. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit https://theflowershow.com.
To see more events taking place in Philadelphia this weekend, visitwww.philadelphiaweekly.com. | https://medium.com/the-voorhees-sun/do-something-2018-philadelphia-flower-show-early-st-patricks-day-celebration-c5de62158255 | ['Grace Maiorano'] | 2018-03-02 16:49:37.917000+00:00 | ['Flowers', 'Philadelphia', 'Music', 'Weekend', 'New Jersey'] |
Pro-life groups in call to MPs to reject DIY abortion | Pro-life groups are calling on MPs not to support moves to make DIY abortions permanent.Christian Concern, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) and other pro-life groups are teaming up this week for Care for Women, a parliamentary briefing for MPs laying out the findings from research into DIY abortions and why they should not be supported.
The briefing will cover the legality of the ‘pills by post’ service introduced in the first lockdown to allow women to take both abortion pills at home. MPs will also hear the results of a mystery client investigation which found that women were able to receive pills despite providing false personal details, and the testimony of a woman who suffered devastating side effects after taking the pills.
The briefing is taking place this Thursday in the wake of the launch of government consultations in England, Wales and Scotland into whether to make the changes permanent.
Christian Concern said the policy was “dangerous and offers no care for women”. The group is encouraging people to contact their MPs and ask them to take part in the briefing.
“Brandished as ‘women’s healthcare’, abortions that take place entirely at home are dangerous,” it said.
“They provide no opportunity to safeguard women against coercive partners or family members, nor to go through proper safety checks such as ultrasound scans and blood tests.
“Tragically, we know that many illegal and dangerous abortions have taken place since the government introd | https://medium.com/@thekingdomguard/pro-life-groups-in-call-to-mps-to-reject-diy-abortion-1123acf5249e | ['The Kingdom Guard'] | 2020-12-07 21:49:24.770000+00:00 | ['Abortions', 'Calling', 'Concern'] |
Are Vegetarian Fast-Food Meals Healthier? | Protein Intake
I think it’s pretty obvious why chicken wings would have more protein than the cauliflower wings (75 grams versus 10 grams). According to Health.com, most people should try to obtain at least 45 grams of protein a day (depending on gender and level of activity).
So Matthew has surpassed his daily quota (especially since I’m sure he had meat for lunch). I drank a high-calorie juice from breakfast on the other hand and probably did not receive 45 grams of protein today.
Now I could have opted to include a plant-based protein on my salad which would have increased my levels to about 30 grams. But then I would have run into an entirely different problem: increased sodium intake.
Sodium Intake
I love salt. Matthew loves salt. Many people love salt. The problem is, salt doesn’t love us. According to the chart, we both consumed more than our daily intake of sodium. My vegan meal contained almost 2800 mg of sodium. If I had added a plant-based protein, it would have increased the sodium on the Caesar salad by as much as 880 mg. This is something I didn’t know or had never thought of before my little investigation.
And this is probably one of the reasons why, as a vegetarian, I have hypertension (I could probably exercise a little more but let’s not deviate from the original point). For years, I spent too little time researching important things like sodium intake.
I’d walk into vegan restaurants thinking that since the menu does not contain meat products, everything must be healthy. As someone with hypertension, both of these dishes were poor choices for me. But they tasted fantastic which is the problem. Moving on.
Calorie Count
Although the wings at Wingstop (710 kcal) have more calories than the cauliflower (610 kcal), the calories from fat are higher at Veggie Grill. When we add in the fries at Wingstop (390 kcal) and the Caesar salad at Veggie Grill (490 kcal), I am consuming a few more calories than my meat-eating friend (and I’m eating a salad).
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, women should eat between 1600 and 2400 calories a day. Men should eat between 2,000 and 3,000 calories per day. Based on my age and gender, I should be eating about 1900 calories a day while he should consume around 2500 per day. The two of us are consuming about the same amount of calories at this meal (roughly 1100 kcal), which is over half my suggested daily caloric intake.
Keep in mind that I ate cauliflower and a salad. He ate chicken and fries.
Cholesterol
The meal at Wingstop has way more cholesterol than my meal at Veggie Grill (385mg vs 0mg). But keep in mind that the french fries smelled fantastic so I may have eaten one or five in the car on the way home (yes, I understand they are probably cooked in the same oil as the chicken but I did it and I’m not sorry).
Cholesterol is normally found in animal products and my crispy cauliflower dish was vegan. According to healthline.com, we should consume no more than 300mg of cholesterol per day which means that he is well over the limit. I however am under the limit, which is probably why I don’t have cholesterol issues (even though members of my family do).
Photo by Raphael Nogueira on Unsplash
Caesar Salad Dressing and the Buffalo Sauce
Even though it’s vegan, the Caesar salad dressing increased the calorie count by 370 calories and sodium by 520 mg. The buffalo sauce is also one of the reasons why the sodium and calorie count is so high. Without the sauce, both meals would have less sodium and calories.
And they probably would have tasted disgusting and we both would have complained about how we wasted our money on tasteless food. But the sauce and the salad dressing were by far the contributing factor to all the cholesterol, sodium, and calorie issues I mentioned before.
So what did I learn?
I learned that left to my own devices, without proper research, I can order a completely vegan meal that isn’t that much healthier for me than a meat-based one. Yes, I understand there are other factors to consider. For example, salads tend to have more vitamins and minerals. I am sure that the Caeser salad was rich in calcium, Vitamin A, potassium, and B6. But if I drench everything in a high-calorie salad dressing, do the benefits outweigh the ramifications?
I learned that vegetarians and meat-eaters can eat unhealthy meals that can lead to diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes. I’ve made several poor choices that are starting to catch up to me. But just because you eat a plant-based diet, doesn’t mean you are eating the best foods.
But the problem isn’t necessarily with the restaurants. Both restaurants are just catering to their consumer base and both give you the option to curb or eliminate unhealthy sauces and dressings. I will continue to frequent Veggie Grill on lazy telecommuting days and I’m sure Michael will crave chicken from Wingstop from time to time.
Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, or meat-eater, everyone should make sure to investigate what they are truly eating. Because you may find that after some research, your assumptions are inaccurate. But I believe it’s okay to splurge from time to time. Just don’t make it a daily habit. | https://medium.com/illumination/are-vegetarian-or-vegan-fast-food-meals-always-healthier-773bf5980752 | ['Lindsey Moore'] | 2020-12-16 13:12:24.433000+00:00 | ['Healthy Eating', 'Vegetarian', 'Meat', 'Vegan', 'Fast Food'] |
In riot aftermath, it’s scorched health care too | A zone of poor health
North-east Delhi is the most underdeveloped region of Delhi and is marked by all the socio-demographic determinants of poor health outcomes: a significant proportion of the population is from the migrant and minority communities; there are high rates of illiteracy, rampant unemployment and poverty; overcrowding; unsanitary conditions, and a non-existent health-care infrastructure.
Yet, despite the fear, a medical camp in Chand Bagh, set up for a few hours using a mobile van, immediately draws the attention of more than 600 people. While the most common complaints are fever, a runny nose, and body aches, a disconcertingly high proportion of young adults complain of ‘ghabrahat’ (anxiety). On further questioning, they report poor sleep and appetite, inability to concentrate, and experiencing constant worry, all signs of underlying mental health problems. Further, due to adverse social circumstances, many patients with chronic medical conditions have not been able to visit their doctors. We saw several of these patients who now have a worsening of chronic diseases such as elevated blood pressure and asthma.
Naeem, 25, was in agonising pain. He had a deep cut above his left eyebrow, and was bruised all over after having been beaten up by a mob. Yet, he did not see a doctor. Alarmed by the large number of incarcerations, he had stayed at home. His fears were not unfounded. In the follow-up after the riots, the Delhi Police are estimated to have rounded up over a 1,000 individuals, most of them young Muslim men. Interference of the police in health systems and a lack of patient privacy protection laws have changed the health-seeking behaviour of certain sections of the populace.
Zeeshan, 36, had been admitted to hospital with fractures in both legs and a stab wound in his left arm. After two days of hospitalisation, they wanted to discharge him. His pleas to stay on as his house had been vandalised and his health was poor had to be turned down. The resident doctor had to tell him that despite their understanding of his concerns, he had received all the care needed and that as the hospital was overflowing with patients, beds were needed. Zeeshan had to be told that the hospital could not do anything to help him even if he did not have a safe place to go back to.
During our visits to the riot-affected localities, we noted many burned and looted houses. Even more malicious was that goons had damaged water pipes and looted water purifiers. With open drains and an unplanned sewerage system, there is a real threat of Salmonella bacteria seeding these pipes. Salmonella, the bacteria responsible for typhoid fever, will be hard to eliminate. If not managed properly, people will suffer from recurrent typhoid fevers and diarrhoeal infections, leading to downstream consequences such as child malnutrition and antimicrobial resistance.
Way forward is collaborations
These examples demonstrate how the riots have exposed and deepened chasms in the health systems. A broken health system and a population that has lost trust in health-care providers will amplify the challenges of managing the COVID-19 epidemic in Delhi and worsen all other health-care indicators. Rectifying these shall necessitate a deliberate and comprehensive strategy by the State not only at the infrastructure and policy levels but also at the moral and philosophical levels.
The government must collaborate with local municipal bodies, partners in civil society and members of the local community to devise sustainable solutions. They must build a maternity ward with labour room services so that women do not have to travel to faraway, unfamiliar and hostile hospitals to deliver. A mohalla clinic for primary care is a must in the area as demonstrated by large queues outside the medical camps, which are often organised in an ad hoc manner depending on available resources. Psychologists are needed to provide therapy to the riot-affected children, adults and citizens confined to their houses out of fear. Similarly, physiotherapists should be recruited to prevent long-term physical disability. The sewerage systems should be fixed, water pipes restored and measures such as chlorination for water hygiene instituted at a house-to-house basis.
People should be at the core of health systems and policy design. Systems and policies that drive citizens away from hospitals have to go. An initiative by the Delhi government, in the form of the “Farishte Dille Ke” (The Angels of Delhi), offers hope. Similarly, it ought to set an example for other States by changing health-care privacy laws to protect patients from police interference and also empower them to get medical care.
What is most shocking is the loss of trust in health-care providers on account of the communal underpinnings of the situation. In the short run, the medical community and the government should conduct peace marches in north-east Delhi to assuage fears. In the longer run, just like the “happiness curriculum” in schools, it should start a “humanities curriculum” for medical professionals so that they provide more empathetic and compassionate care. | https://medium.com/voices-from-the-frontline/in-riot-aftermath-its-scorched-health-care-too-7cbd32600c30 | ['Heal Initiative'] | 2020-04-02 05:55:28.186000+00:00 | ['India', 'Public Health', 'Covid 19', 'Healthcare', 'Coronavirus'] |
Is It Really “Weekend Worthy?” How to Set Boundaries in the Age of Burn-out | Actor Gary Cole as Bill Lumbergh in Office Space
It is Friday evening, and I just received 30 emails from my boss. Thirty. Three-zero. He spent the past six hours on a flight with no WIFI, drafting email after email. I am in a booth at Burger Lounge with my husband and children sharing a basket of fries. My ten-year old is telling us something about Arnold, the classroom bunny, but I have stopped listening. I am mentally drafting responses to work emails. And I am wincing about having to disrupt the weekends of several others, causing a domino effect of missed soccer games, birthday parties and weekend getaways.
Long hours are the tribal birth-rite of start-ups, high- tech and corporate finance. I still recall the one-upmanship culture of my first Silicon Valley job, where working until 1:00 am was flaunted like a marathon win. With the proliferation of mobile devices, and the push for more productivity, the average 40-hour workweek has increased to 47 hours, with 50% of full-time workers reporting that they work more than 50 hours per week. Intense hours that were once confined to urgent, big value projects — new product launches, big sales deals, IPOs, acquisitions — are now applied to projects as routine as a monthly report. Remember Bill Lumbergh from Office Space asking Peter Gibbons if he can work another Saturday? He has become every boss.
But is all this effort really “weekend worthy?” Is that TSP report truly urgent? Is it so urgent that it is worth sacrificing an employee’s health? Their relationships? How about their productivity and the quality of their work?
Image courtesy of Unsplash
Arguably, there is no project that is worth someone’s weekend time. I could cite dozens of studies that show that working long hours leads to a decline in quality, productivity and morale. It also results in more average sick days, more turnover, and more people opting out of the workforce entirely.
So how do we find balance and set better boundaries in the age of burn-out?
1. Recognize that you — and only YOU — are in control of the hours that you are working.
Responding to email at 11 pm is a choice. Over time, you will condition those around you to expect it and they will consider it status quo. Take it from someone who found herself turning on the automated “out-of-office” response on her anniversary weekend.
Understand the demands of the job before you start. Certain jobs have crunch periods, where long hours may be the norm. Know your own boundaries, and make good choices.
Consider working in places that offer flexibility over where and when you work. If you are going to work long hours, see if you can trade off by getting out of your long commute.
If your boss is unreasonable when you attempt to set boundaries, it may be time to leave.
2. Learn to say “no” in the form of a “yes”
When you receive a request that is unreasonable in terms of time, consider framing your response by saying what you can do in the time allotted.
Practice the “80/20” rule, and offer to focus on a representative sample that provides similar results.
Another option is to put the onus on the requester to help you prioritize — you can say “I can absolutely get that done, provided I delay this other project. Which one is a priority?”
If you manage a team, consider solving by requesting more people or a smaller scope when time is not negotiable.
3. Seek Support
Make sure your boss knows that you are under water and ask for help.
Reach out to your colleagues for their support (and be willing to offer help if you see your colleagues struggling).
Ease your burden at home by outsourcing certain tasks — hire a handy man, bring in a house-cleaner (even if it is just occasionally), ask your teenage neighbor to help take out your trash, rake your leaves or mow your lawn.
4. Deal with the root cause of long hours
Consistent periods of overtime work suggest that there may be a deficiency on your team: (i) processes are manual or inefficient, (ii) people are not capable and/or (iii) the team is not properly staffed.
It is incumbent on you to determine the root cause of the long hours, and work toward diminishing them to drive better productivity, higher morale, and improved quality.
5. Establish clear boundaries
When you accommodate someone else’s inefficiency, you are allowing their failure to persist over time. Confront the problem when it begins and be sure to hold people accountable when they take advantage of your time.
If you are a pleaser, and cannot stand the thought of saying “no,” consider acknowledging that the request requires you to work overtime to deliver. Note that you’d be happy to accommodate this urgent request in exchange for an agreement that the requester will make their best effort to give you more lead time going forward.
Consider formalizing a “service level agreement” with people who consistently take advantage of your time. For example, agree to respond within 72 hours.
6. Turn it off
Consider carrying two phones so that you won’t be tempted to read email during off hours.
Proactively let your boss and colleagues know that you have declared certain times to be “tech free.”
Turn off your computer in the evening. If someone really needs to reach you, they will.
7. Be willing to walk
The ability to set good boundaries requires leverage. Either you need to believe that you are indispensable (unlikely) or you need to be willing to quit if your boss consistently disrespects your time.
Start saving money so that you can quit without a job. The conventional wisdom suggests 3–6 months of salary.
Keep your resume up-to-date, and a few recruiters on file.
Spin up your network and discretely let them know may be looking.
Start interviewing.
8. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should
If you are good at what you do, odds are that you will come across tasks that you can fix, or do better than the person who should be doing them. Recognize that doing someone else’s work because they are failing at it, enables the company to keep that person in the role. You are contributing to the problem.
Stay focused on your own deliverables. If you are dependent on a process that is broken, do what you can to draw attention to the fact that it is broken. Offer solutions for fixing it, but not your time.
9. Make time for Me-time
Be sure to put yourself first. No one else will.
Schedule time for yourself on your calendar. Whether it is time to exercise, take a quick break, meditate or simply to make time to get tasks accomplished, your calendar can be an effective tool to block people from booking time with you when you need time for yourself.
10. Create an environment to enable healthy sleep
Part of saying “no” is also learning to let it go. Do your best to leave work at work.
Again, turn off that screen and silence your phone.
Consider meditation, exercise and yoga to help you sleep.
My story is not unique. In fact, the act of feeling pressured to obsessively respond to emails after hours is so prevalent, it has its own medical name: Workplace Telepressure. After countless weekends lost to projects that were not “weekend worthy,” I finally hit a wall and quit my job. It took me six months to recharge, and regain the passion and energy that typically propels me professionally. Instead of signing up for another 80-hour a week corporate finance job, I started my own business. If I was going to work long hours, I was going to do it on my own terms.
I am still learning to break the cycle of work for the sake of work. I am starting to say “no” in the form of a “yes.”
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on May 25, 2017. | https://medium.com/thrive-global/is-it-really-weekend-worthy-how-to-find-balance-and-set-boundaries-in-the-age-of-burn-out-bc91d6178a2 | ['Beth Crocker'] | 2017-09-26 17:14:13.544000+00:00 | ['Wellbeing', 'Weekly Prompts', 'Balance', 'Boundaries', 'Time Management'] |
Taking a Bet on Travel Companies | Data Driven Investor | It is no secret vacations have been put on hold.
Airline and travel companies have been virtually at a standstill.
Those who have read my previous articles about passive investing know that I am all in support of investing for the long term.
I write about how you should be investing in an S & P 500 Index fund. I cite how since its inception, it has given investors a return of 10%. This is while being extremely diversified with 500 of the largest American companies.
Now I am going to do something odd and suggest individual stock trading and day trading.
Day trading is generally a bad idea.
The majority of studies conclude that most day traders lose money. One study, for example, cites studies of the tax returns of all 40 day-trading clients of one financial planner. They all lost money. Another study concluded that nine out of 10 day traders lose money (Chron).
If this is the case, then why am I telling you that it may be a good idea now?
People are emotional and short-sighted
It’s because as most times, the market is dictated by human emotion. Some people tend to believe that all technical and scientific information is included in the market.
They use convenient and matter-of-fact stories to explain things that happened in the past.
Look at the 2008 Recession for example — people were explaining it by saying it was a housing and credit bubble. They tend to have a ready-made general explanation. But at the time no one knew. If you somehow knew, I would question your sanity for not being super-rich right now.
In real life, people lose their cool and are reactive.
I monitor all my stocks from my TD-Ameritrade app, MSN Money News, and Yahoo Finance. Every time there is a dip in the market I see all the articles from sources like CNN, the Motley Fool, or MarketWatch suggesting we are entering a recession.
Oddly enough, the next few days see a gain and everything is back to normal. During the height of the pandemic, I wrote an article asking if we were approaching a recession as a rebuff to these other articles.
I wrote a few more articles telling people to trust in passive trading and not pull out of the market. I was met with a lot of negativity and backlash from people saying “see, you were wrong, the market will not always continue to rise and you made a mistake suggesting people invest in an index fund”.
On January 13th, 2020, the S & P 500 ETF I suggest, VOO, was at 302.06. On March 16th, it dropped to 209.65.
This is when people started criticizing me. People are too short-sighted and couldn’t realize this was a perfect buying opportunity. They thought this was the end and believed contrary to all reason that this would be the only time in history the markets would not recover.
On August 3rd, the market reached a new record and VOO was at 307.36.
Taking advantage of emotions in the market
Not only would I suggest getting a few index and sector (I prefer tech) ETFs — but I would also take advantage of individual stocks.
Coming from a person who is extremely averse to individual stocks, I am buying Boeing, most major airlines, and Carnival Cruise Lines.
All of these are well below their 52 week high and in my opinion, are very cheap.
Like all cruise lines, Carnival (NYSE:CCL) will not be sailing prior to November 1. And realistically, it may very well be 2021 before cruise lines set sail (investorplace.com)
Despite the delay in travel, most, if not all travel will return. I can see all these travel companies making a rebound. Even if they do not reach their previous highs, they will still make a lot of money.
Just as soon as January 17, 2020, Carnival Cruise Lines was trading at 51 dollars. Now it is at 15.19.
There is no doubt in my mind that it can still get lower.
investment banks Stifel Nicolaus and then J.P. Morgan warned that cruise lines’ return to operation may be more “gradual” than speedy this year (or next), and reduced their estimated value of Royal Caribbean stock accordingly (The Motley Fool).
As regulations keep pushing Carnival, Royal, and other cruise lines back, their stocks keep dropping. But the key is that their bounce back will be gradual.
If you are an investor set for the long term, an investment in these companies can pay off in the next year to two years.
This goes for all travel and airline companies — but it is magnified for cruise industries.
In my humble opinion, it is common sense that all these industries will come back. Even if they come back at half their highest values, there is a lot of money to make. This is one opportunity where I would invest in individual stocks.
Just be very careful and remember, I, like no one else can tell the future. I am not giving anyone advice and this is merely to be treated as speculation. Do your research before you decide anything. | https://medium.com/the-personal-finance-guide/taking-a-bet-on-travel-companies-data-driven-investor-24d9f624883a | ['Alex Lago'] | 2020-08-19 16:12:13.322000+00:00 | ['Stock Market', 'Investing', 'Travel', 'Money', 'Finance'] |
Want to build a business? Start thinking in systems. | How I became an ‘entrepreneur’
Hi 👋, nice to meet you! My name is Christiaan. And I’m a 23 years old entrepreneur. I grew up in a very driven household. Both my parents tended to work 60/80-hour work weeks. And my dad, like his dad before him, always had a business he was running.
And before I knew it, I spent my entire childhood working alongside him.
My typical day didn’t look like most others my age.
08:00–15:00 School
15:30–18:00 Relaxing / Homework / Whatever
18:00–20:00 Discussing and coming up with strategies
20:00–00:00 Developing whatever I worked on (website/marketing/etc)
00:00–03:00 Brainstorming new ideas / Getting more work done
07:00 Waking up, with a lot of effort, to go to school
As you might’ve guessed, my family didn’t sleep a lot.
My own business
Because of the skillset and experiences I gained building and growing my dads company I grew the desire to build a business of my own.
So I did. Or at least I thought…
What does it even mean to build a business?
The past couple of years I did a LOT of projects. So does that mean I’m building a business? I did a bit of thinking and came to the following conclusion: No. | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/want-to-build-a-business-start-thinking-in-systems-40d2bb3fe87d | ['Christiaan Van Eijk'] | 2020-12-26 12:59:36.334000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Business Development', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Personal Development', 'Business'] |
Social Media: An 18-Year Old’s Perspective | The expectation to use social media
I believe that the use of social media in school has become an unwritten rule for students. Out of the 180 people that were in my year-group at the end of Year 11 (Grade 10), there were only a few that didn’t have an Instagram account. While there are plenty of people in the year-group that have an Instagram account, but don’t post; the trend seems to be that the number of posts on a profile is proportional to the popularity of the person in the year-group — though there is bound to be some anomalies.
‘Popularity’ is a social hierarchy that is subconsciously taught to us at a young age. The fact that school students are often more worried about how they will be judged by people above them in the hierarchy is why I truly dislike the concept. I found myself wondering — is the popularity of an individual based on social media follower count; or is their social media follower count based on their popularity?
I lean more towards the latter point; which explains why younger teenagers are so keen to increase the number of followers they have on an app. The more popular a person is within a year-group, the more followers they have due to their bigger circle of friends. This furthermore increases the amount of posts that this person will publish, in order to receive validation on their popularity. This is backed up by the fact that the majority of the posts I see from students in my year-group are by those higher up the ladder in terms of popularity.
This is the evil game that social media plays with the minds of young people — though, it mainly applies to people earlier in the teenage years. As we get older and spend more time on these platforms, people tend to stop obsessing over the numbers like they used to. People post for the fun of it, but you can still see the journey of popularity reflected in their posts.
Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash
18-year olds are no longer the best at social media
Instagram was released to the world in 2010; six years after the initial release of Facebook, and four years after Twitter. When Instagram was launched, it was clear that it was designed to appeal to young adults — as illustrated by the following research by Statista.
According to their research; 6.6% of Instagram’s one billion total users are between the ages 13 and 17; while 29% of users fit into the 18–24 age range. 35% of users fit into the 25–34 range; making it the largest group of users on the entire platform.
While the vast majority of Instagram users are between ages 18 and 34, the ability to use the platforms effectively (gaining regular followers and having a lot of engagement) seems to be adopted quicker by the younger users.
A great example of this would be the younger brother of a friend of mine. My friend’s brother has only just completed the first year of secondary school, but has over three-and-a-half times as many followers as his 18-year old sibling and myself.
My friend’s younger brother posts photos that don’t look any different to what we posted when we were his age, yet the follower-count is much higher than myself and a lot of my friends.
It fascinates me that somebody can start a new school, meet new people and find themselves in a totally different environment; but somehow have accumulated a follower count almost half the size of our school’s population in just a few months! This seems to be the effect of growing up with social media being a part of your childhood; rather than coming home from school and playing Mario Kart like I did… | https://medium.com/digital-diplomacy/social-media-an-18-year-olds-perspective-aaccc34bd339 | ['Joe Mccormick'] | 2020-07-24 11:17:05.317000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Twitter', 'Instagram', 'Social Media', 'Tech'] |
The journey from Behavior to Habit: Digital Psychology & Persuasion Review | We have seen some fascinating products in the last two decades and they have taken over the world by storm. I am talking about the products that have taken the world by storm, look at the gadgets we have in our hands all the time. When phones were introduced who would’ve thought that this will become the giant industry that it is today. Facebook, When introduced a small chunk of a university was using it. Today 1 out of every 7 people on the face of the planet is using Facebook. This is insane. There have been far cooler apps, but those couldn’t get the same success as these apps, Why? That’s the question that I will try to answer in this article with the help of knowledge I acquired from CXL’s Digital Psychology and Persuasion mini degree.
Nir Eyal wrote an amazing book on this topic, although I can not explain all the material from the book. I will try to add as many details here as much possible. Nir Eyal introduced a model known as Hook Model that explains the psychology behind an app becoming a habit.
This model answers our questions and explains the journey of behavior to habit. We can drive behavior easily(compared to habits) but turning the behavior into Habit is the most difficult thing because it takes an average of 66 days for a behavior to become a habit. This also means that if you want to make a habit of waking up at five in the morning, you’ll have to force yourself to wake up at five in the morning for the first two months before that behavior becomes a habit. Anywhere let’s get to the hoops of the hook model and how you can apply them to your product.
Trigger:
We discussed the psychology of trigger in our previous articles too. A trigger is a notification or an email or a CTA, or a Tweet or anything that tells the user what to do. The journey of any behavior starts here before it becomes a habit and this step is working o autopilot.
External Trigger: These are the triggers that usually businesses show to a customer and the necessary information is also provided in this trigger e-g Click here, Signup here, Check out the article, etc.
Internal Triggers: Internal triggers are the most overlooked kind and the most effective triggers because these triggers take place inside the brain of your customer. These triggers are mostly derived from emotions in fact from negative emotions. You are getting bored “Let’s check Instagram” is an internal trigger and it will directly take you to Instagram. We don’t like getting bored that’s why this is a negative emotion and we want to get out to this and you know that Instagram will get you out of this emotion that’s why internal trigger has taken you to Instagram. Internal triggers are one of the most vital parts of transforming behavior into a habit.
Action:
Action is the reward that a user gets when he acts upon the trigger. “Signup here” user signed up and now he is rewarded by the thing he was promised. “Buy Now” and now he gets to enjoy that new phone from amazon in just one day as promised. Moving towards the internal triggers; feeling bored “Let’s check Instagram” now he is scrolling through new stories by Jessica.
If we want a user to take any action on our site, this cannot be taken care of by simply using a trigger. As explained by BJ Fogg, a behavior occurs by three things Motivation, Ability, and Trigger. If you ask a person to click “Buy Now” for an Apple iPhone and the person doesn’t have the financials to afford one, He will not click that button no matter how much motivation you provide him via your content. Similarly, If you ask a person to buy a Mavic 2 Pro and he doesn’t even know what it is he will not buy one even if he has a million dollars spare in his account because now the motivation was missing. That’s why Motivation, Ability, and Trigger always go hand-in-hand.
Reward:
This is the stage where the itch of the user has been taken care of. This is the most important step in the Hook model because it impacts directly the nucleus accumbens of the customer who is using your product. A person feeling bored, Internal Trigger, Starts to use your product. Now if his feeling of boredness has been eradicated his nucleus accumbens will light up which means that he has comfort at a psychological level and overtime whenever he will feel bored, his brain will more often use the trigger of Instagram because it has eradicated his boredom before and it will do so this time too.
All of the habit-forming products that you see will have this step and they will be affecting the nucleus accumbent of the user in one way or the other. Following are the three different time of rewards that these apps use.
Rewards can be divided into three variable rewards
Tribe Rewards: These rewards come from other people’s e-g Empathetic joy; you feel good when you see the success of other people. partnership; humans are always looking for a mate and this reward fulfills their that desire, cooperation, competition, etc.
Hunt rewards: Search for resources, search for information, etc. The whole gambling industry is running on this rewards system and that’s what makes it the most addicting type of variable reward. People are hunting for money when they know that they can win and even lose large amounts of money.
Self rewards:
These are the things that feel good in themselves. The human search for more knowledge, consistency, competency, and control. When you are playing angry birds you are getting more and better at it and are mastering new skills and are unlocking more rewards and are getting more and more control of it.
Investment:
When a user put his time or money into a product and it generates a future reward for it e-g when a person has 100,000 followers on Twitter, he will not be giving up Twitter for an even better app because he has spent a lot of time in the app and now we have an estate of huge followers on Twitter. When a person has a lot of his contacts inside the WhatsApp app, he is most likely to keep using WhatsApp even if it asks for a lot back. This is the principle that Facebook kept in mind when they changed the privacy settings of Whatsapp. They knew that even though people will be mad but most of their contacts and chats are on WhatsApp and they have invested a lot of their time on WhatsApp which’s why they are not likely to move away from WhatsApp. | https://medium.com/@digitalehsan/the-journey-from-behavior-to-habit-digital-psychology-persuasion-review-f0d008b18ffc | ['M Ehsan'] | 2021-04-13 20:07:11.487000+00:00 | ['Persuasion', 'Habit Building', 'Habits For Success'] |
Constant nostalgia: celebrating the physical in the digital age | The roots of nostalgia
The Portuguese have the word ‘saudade’ to describe a deep emotional state of nostalgia, or a profound melancholic longing for something now absence in our life. A something that most likely will never return. A lost lover, or family member, someone who has moved away, or died.
Saudade has been described as “the love that remains” after someone is gone. The 17th century Portuguese writer Manuel de Melo once described saudade as “a pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy”. It brings sad and happy feelings simultaneously: sadness for the something missing, and happiness for re-experiencing this past.
I’m sure, at particular points in time, we all can admit to sharing this feeling of saudade. A wish to return to another particular when.
The Greek word ‘nostos’ forms the root of the word nostalgia and means a longing to return home.
One of the earliest nostalgists was also Greek. We can read Homer and discover how Odysseus used the power of memories to bestow him strength on his hazardous journey, in order to return home to his family.
Photo by Tbel Abuseridze on Unsplash
Similarly to Odysseus, who left home to fight the war in Troy, we’re often drawn to nostalgia during periods of transition. For Odysseus, and for many others who served in times of war, feelings of nostalgia have the ability to grow to such an overwhelming level, that by the 17th century many doctors considered it a psychological disorder. Whereby the visualising of the past can become such a constant daydream, it leaves the subconscious mind, and therefore the present, confused. This led to the Swiss doctor, Johannes Hofer, calling nostalgia a “neurological disease of essentially demonic cause”.
Some theorists have viewed nostalgia as a negative mechanism – a way to retreat into safe and secure internal walls built on foundations of happier times, when faced with particular moments of upheaval, stress, or sadness.
The feelings of dislocation, or alienation, resulting from military conflict, is one major transition which can trigger nostalgia. But we don’t all have had to sail past the Sirens or take on the Cyclops as Odysseus did – or experience the intense fear and isolation of lying low in the trenches. We all experience potential triggers daily.
Maturing into adulthood, or ageing into retirement, are other very common triggers. All of us will, at some point, experience the feelings of moving house, schools, jobs, possibly even countries, either to live, or to temporarily long for home while on holiday.
Photo by iSAW Company on Unsplash
Whatever the trigger may be, when our subconscious mind discovers our present is not as happy as a thread in our past used to be, it may make us feel nostalgic in order to help us feel better.
This might storm a wave of euphoria up from our heart to our mind, which motivates us to take a stand, to fix things, to bring the happy moments back into our lives.
Nostalgia can become a psychological resource; a well of evidence to draw up in times when comfort is needed. A useful tool to harness the past, to endure change and create hope for the future.
If, for whatever reason, we’re unable to push forward, we may get carried under by the weight of the waves of nostalgia and achieve nothing.
There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery — Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy (1320)
The Danish writer, Kierkegaard, wrote that our need to escape the present by keeping ourselves busy is our greatest source of unhappiness: “The unhappy man is always absent from himself, never present to himself.” | https://ryhooper.medium.com/constant-nostalgia-celebrating-the-physical-in-the-digital-age-fc38415df5ab | ['Ryan Hooper'] | 2019-12-10 16:12:49.613000+00:00 | ['Music', 'Nostalgia', 'Memories', 'Digital', 'Digital Health'] |
Teaching ‘Literature and Social Change’ in a Time of Global Disruption | ENGL 400, Senior Seminar, offers a capstone experience to English majors’ primary work in literature, theory, writing and cultural studies at our campus, the State University of New York at Fredonia. For Spring 2020, I organized the seminar around the theme “literature and social change.” Readings centered on a handful of landmark texts across genres (George Orwell’s 1984, essays by Virginia Woolf, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the New York Times 1619 Project), in addition to a pair of contemporary novels (There, There by Tommy Orange and Exit West by Mohsin Hamid). Through these readings, we considered the role that literature and the humanities play in advancing social change, and by extension, how the English major serves as a foundation for students as they enter professions and become global citizens.
As part of the course, students engage in a high-impact practice in which they collaborate and design a group community engagement project. The project learning goals are several:
Work together as a team to brainstorm, find consensus and design a project that communicates the importance/relevance of your collective work as English majors for a community audience, broadly defined
Share all aspects of planning, implementing and presenting the project equitably, and with the learning outcomes of the campus, the English major, Fredonia Foundations (general education) and our class in mind, and engage in a collective assessment of the project
Utilize our course theme of ‘literature and social change’ in a meaningful project that demonstrates your understanding of how the humanities contribute positively to social change
None of us could have anticipated the direction the semester went just three days before our much needed spring break, when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced — via tweet — on Wednesday, March 11, that all SUNY campuses would continue the remainder of the semester in a distance learning format due to the coronavirus pandemic. No one saw this coming, least of all college seniors, whose lives suddenly took a terrifying plunge into the unknown. For several students in the class ‘home’ was in what was already becoming a ‘hot spot’: New York City as well as Buffalo, adding an existential fear to the overall disruption. The chaos, sadness and devastation students experienced that week — economically, psychologically and emotionally — continues, which is why this project matters so much, for me as their instructor and hopefully for them––if not now, then at some future moment when they look back at their shattered final semester.
To be graduating into such a world and time will take all their courage and resourcefulness. My hope is that the seminar discussions, and the collaborative effort they put into this capstone project during the most dire of circumstances, also gives them confidence that their work in the humanities, and English in particular, matters. They possess the strong research, writing and reading skills necessary for any profession. But even more, they have developed greater empathy regarding the human and planetary condition, and considered the genuine impact literature and the arts can have in moments of crisis by reading deeply into the work of the generations who came before them, forced to deal with war, violence, racism, sexism, toxic environments and genocide.
As their generation graduates into a post-pandemic world, the humanities will offer some of the necessary critical tools to help them reimagine global society and renew our devastated planet in a more sustainable, equitable manner: one that values all life, human and non-human, and seeks to enrich connections we have with each other, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion or national origin. I’m immensely proud of their perseverance, their humor, and their resilience in the face of the most severe crisis the planet and humanity have experienced in a generation, and I thank them for their work this semester and particularly on this project.
Works Cited:
Woolf, Virginia. “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid.” The Death of the Moth and Other Essays (New York: Harvest/HBJ, 1970; orig. 1940): 243–248. [main page citation] | https://medium.com/literature-and-social-change/teaching-literature-and-social-change-in-a-time-of-global-disruption-37d4611791bd | ['Jeanette Mcvicker'] | 2020-05-07 01:17:18.245000+00:00 | ['Introduction'] |
Mysql Database Replication | mysql replication ဆိုတာ ကိုယ့်ရဲ ဒေတာဘေစ်ကို copy ပြုလုပ်ချင်းပါပဲ။
အကြောင်းအမျိုးမျိုးကြောင့် ကိုယ့်ရဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ် ပျက်စီးခဲ့မယ်ဆိုရင် copy လုပ်ထားတဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ်တွေ
ရှိတဲ့အတွက် ဒေတာဆုံးရှုံးမူတွေလည်း သက်သာနိုင်ပါတယ်။ Performance ဘက်ကကြည့်မယ်ဆိုရင်လည်း
Read Query တွေကို replicate လုပ်ထားတဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ်တွေကို ရွှေ့နိုင်ပြီး Master ဒေတာဘေစ်မှာ
loading ကိုသက်သာစေနိုင်ပါတယ်။ Replication လုပ်ခြင်းက read performance ကိုပဲ သက်သာစေနိုင်ပြီး
Write performance ကိုတော့ လျှော့ချစေနိုင်မှာမဟုတ်ပါဘူး။
Master Database crashed ဖြစ်သွားခဲ့တယ်ဆိုရင်လည်း slave database ကို master အဖြစ်အသုံးပြုလို့ရတဲ့အတွက်
ကိုယ့်ရဲ့ system ကို အမြန်ဆုံး ပုံမှန်အခြေအနေရောက်အောင် ပြုလုပ်ပေးနိုင်ပါတယ်။
Mysql Replication မှာ type နှစ်မျိုးရှိပါတယ်
Bin Log Replication
GTID based replication
GTID replication ကို mysql 5.6 ကျမှsupport ပေးထားတာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ GTID ရဲ့ပုံစံက
transaction တိုင်းမှာ global unique id ရှိပြီးတော့ slave server တွေက အဲ့ဒီ ID နဲ့ပဲ slave server မှာ ဒေတာတွေ update လုပ်တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
Bin Log replication ကတော့ master မှာရှိတဲ့ binary log တွေကို မူတည်ပြီး salve ဆာဗာတွေမှာ ဒေတာတွေကို replicate လုပ်တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
ဒါကြောင့် Slave ဆာဗာတွေက master ရဲ့ bin log position ကိုအမြဲသိရဖို့ လိုတာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
နောက်ပြီး
Mysql Replication မှာ Mode သုံးမျိုးရှိပါရှိပါသေးတယ်။
Statement Base Replication
Row Base
Mix
State Base Replication ကတော့ sql statement အလိုက် replication လုပ်တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
row base replication ကတော့ row တစ် row ဆီအပေါ်မှာ အခြေခံပြီးတော့
replication လုပ်တာဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ အကုန်လုံးမှာ အားသာချက်အားနည်းချက်တွေရှိပါတယ်။
Bin Log Replication ပြုလုပ်ပုံလေးကို ပြောပြပေးပါမယ်။
ပထမဆုံး Replication လုပ်ဖို့ server နှစ်ခု မှာ ဒေတာဘေစ် နှစ်ခုလိုပါတယ်။ တစ်ခုက master database ဖြစ်ပြီး
နောက်တစ်ခုကတော့ slave database ပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ ကျွန်တော်တို့တကယ်အသုံးပြုနေတဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ်က
master database ပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။ Slave Database ကတော့ ကျွန်တော်တို့ Copy လုပ်ထားတဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ်ပဲဖြစ်ပါတယ်။
Master Database မှာ slave database တစ်ခုထက်မက ထားလို့ရပါတယ်။ slave database ကိုတော့ master database
အများကြီး သုံးလို့မရပါဘူး။
အောက်က ip address တွေနဲ့ Server နှစ်ခုရှိတယ်ဆိုပါဆို့
12.34.56.789- Master Database
98.76.65.432- Slave Database
ပထမဆုံး server နှစ်ခုစလုံးမှာ mysql database server သွင်းရပါမယ်
sudo apt-get install mysql-server mysql-client
ပြီးရင် master server က mysql config မှာ ပြင်ပေးရပါမယ်
sudo nano /etc/mysql/mysql.conf.d/mysqld.cnf
bind-address = 127.0.0.1
bind address နေရာမှာ ကျွန်တော် local address ဖြစ်နေပါတယ် အဲ့နေရာမှာ ip address ဖြစ်ရပါမယ်။
bind-address = 12.34.56.789
service -id နဲ့ log_bin ကို uncomment လုပ်ပေးပါ။
log_bin = /var/log/mysql/mysql-gin.log
server-id=1
ပြီးရင် ကျွန်တော်တို့ replication လုပ်မဲ့ ဒေတာဘေစ်ကို သတ်မှတ်ပေးရပါမယ်။
binlog_do_db = testdb
ပြီးရင် mysql restart ချဖို့လိုပါမယ်
sudo service mysql restart
mysql database ကို ဝင်ပါ
mysql -u root -p
user ဆောက်ပြီး permission ပေးပါမယ်။
CREATE USER ‘slaveUser’@’98.76.65.432' IDENTIFIED BY ‘YOUR_PASSWORD’;GRANT REPLICATION SLAVE ON *.* TO ‘slaveUser ‘@’98.76.65.432'; | https://medium.com/@myo7hu/mysql-database-replication-126dbbecd930 | ['Myoo Thu'] | 2020-11-27 08:32:03.086000+00:00 | ['MySQL', 'Replication', 'Devnote'] |
Snippy | Written by
Daily comic by Lisa Burdige and John Hazard about balancing life, love and kids in the gig economy. | https://backgroundnoisecomic.medium.com/snippy-d29799ab3e8d | ['Background Noise Comics'] | 2020-07-14 14:58:59.329000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Comics', 'Quarantine', 'Hair', 'Quarantinelife'] |
Introducing Link in SwiftUI | Introducing Link in SwiftUI
An easy way to present links to your users
Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash
Recently introduced in WWDC 2020, Link is text with a link within it. When you press it, you will be redirected to the link you have attached within.
Bear in mind that this is only supported in iOS 14 and above and can only be used in Xcode 12+. | https://medium.com/better-programming/introducing-link-in-swiftui-383076e335b8 | ['Kelvin Tan'] | 2020-07-02 20:35:54.910000+00:00 | ['Swif', 'Xcode', 'iOS', 'Swiftui', 'Programming'] |
A Comprehensive Guide to Naming Your Brand Wisely | A Comprehensive Guide to Naming Your Brand Wisely
Photo by Jayson Hinrichsen on Unsplash
Naming a Brand is easy and crucial at the same time. If you select a random name that somehow crossed your mind, selecting a brand name will be easy peasy. But if you think of things such as how the name can impact your business, then it’s a tough job. As a new brand, you need to focus on the name first because it’s a permanent thing that will represent your business for a lifetime. So, let’s crosscheck the facts and select a super cool name for your brand that can generate real impact.
We will ask and answer 5 questions about your brand name and modify the name accordingly. Let’s get started!
1. Is It Personal?
Your brand can be personal or not personal. Personal brands are for celebrities. If you’re one of them, you should name your brand after your name. That’ll boost your brand and you’ll easily get huge customers who are your fan!
But if you're not a celebrity, naming after your own name is misleading and bad for business. Such as everybody wants a CR7 perfume, they don’t care how it smells. But none is ready to buy a perfume after someone’s name whom they don't know.
So, don’t choose your name as your brand name or anyone’s name as your brand name. There are thousands of names you can choose, choose from them. And most importantly, try to connect with the market. Such as the name “Programming Hero”. It is not personal but it can connect well. | https://medium.com/@akm-intisar/brand-naming-guide-4-questions-you-should-ask-before-naming-a-brand-440492be0b68 | ['Akm Intisar Islam'] | 2020-12-28 16:13:38.993000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Marketing Strategies', 'Branding', 'Branding Strategy', 'Names'] |
Walking on a Grid | In this essay, we’re going to obsess about paths on a two-dimensional grid. Here is what such a path might look like:
Fig 1: The kinds of grid paths we’ll be counting.
We’ll think about counting paths that satisfy certain properties.Even though the simple joy of counting things should be motivation enough, I’ll provide some additional practical reasons you should care. How many times have you seen a graph with an x and y-axis? For example, the graph of the price of a stock, with the x-axis being time and y being the stock price. In other words, time series. Many successful mathematical models think of these paths as grids which the stock price or whatever quantity is being plotted traverse. At each step, the price can go up or down. Motion that follows these rules is called “Brownian motion”, first used to describe the random motion of dust particles. Another analogy is a gambler who tosses a coin, winning $1 on heads and losing $1 on tails. The paths on the grid drawn above represent his total profit for some sequence of heads and tails. Hence, the paths are called “gambler paths”.
These kinds of models then helps with pricing investment tools built on these stocks (like options, etc.).
We’ll first consider the simplest case of square grids. The total number of paths where you can only move towards your target, never away from it (so only up or right steps in figure 1 above) is high school Math. Then there is a famous sequence called the Catalan numbers which define the paths which do this without crossing the main diagonal (red line in figure 1). Notice the path shown in figure 1 actually does cross it twice and hence is “invalid” under these constraints.
Taking Theodore Sturgeon's advice and “asking the next question”, we’ll consider paths on rectangular grids (generalizing square ones). This is related closely to “Bertrand’s ballot problem” (candidate A gets p votes, candidate B gets q votes, what is the probability candidate A was always in the lead after every vote). And finally, we’ll go back to square grids, but consider paths that cross the main diagonal k times instead of not crossing it at all. When k=0, we should recover the original sequence, of course. The final question is doing both generalizations together — paths that move on a rectangular grid, crossing some horizontal line k times. But with the tools we’d have developed by then, the solution to this one will just pop out very naturally.
1. Total Paths
Let’s start really easy and consider the total paths from the bottom left of the grid to the top right that only move right or up in the square grid of figure 1. When the grid is n×n, we know we have to take a total of 2n steps, n of them towards the right and n upwards. It just becomes a matter of choosing which n of those 2n steps will be a move upwards and which will be a move to the right. Hence, the total such paths becomes {2n \choose n}.
2. Dyck Paths
We alluded in the beginning to paths on the grid being useful for modeling time-series (like stock prices). This was furnished by considering dividing time into a discrete grid with the stock price going either up one unit or down one unit at each time point on the grid. It’s not immediately clear how the path in figure 1 might be related to this. But, it becomes obvious once we rotate it like figure 2 does below.
Fig 2: Rotating the grid to see it as paths of a time-series.
The kinds of paths we’ll first think about are ones that start and end at y=0 (two yellow points in figure 3 below) and avoid crossing the central red line of figure 2. These are called “Dyck paths”. They either stay above or below the x-axis. For every path that stays above, there is a symmetric path that stays below and vice versa as we can see by reflecting them as in figure 3 below.
Fig 3: Dyck paths on a two dimensional grid — they avoid crossing the red diagonal, though touching it is okay.
Notice that since we start and end at y=0, we must take as many up steps as down steps. So, the total number of steps must be even, say 2n. Here, n is the side of the square grid.
Let’s say the number of such paths that stay below y=0 (like the orange path in figure 3) in a grid with side n is c_n. In our analogy of the gambler tossing a coin, this represents starting and ending at 0$ without ever having a positive balance (or equivalently, ever having a negative balance).
We’ll calculate c_n in two ways.
2.1 Andre’s Reflection Method
We know there are {2n \choose n} total paths but we want to exclude the ones that cross the main diagonal (purple line in figure 4 below). Now, note that any path that crosses the purple line from below it to above necessarily touches the orange line right above the purple line. This makes identifying the undesirable paths easier since the purple line is touched at least when we’re at the start and end of any of our paths (desirable or otherwise) and might be touched without crossing more times in some of them. The orange line on the other hand, is touched only for the undesirable paths, making for a cleaner identifying criterion.
Now comes the key insight. Consider any path that touches the orange line, at some point, and then goes on to the point where all paths end (in figure 4, this is the red point). Such a path is by definition an undesirable path we want to exclude. Now, split this path into two segments. The first segment goes from the blue point, where all paths start to the orange line. The second segment then goes from there to the red end-point. Now, reflect the first segment about the orange line. The reflection is unique for each sub-path leading up to the orange line. Also, the reflected paths happen to form another rectangular grid. As can be seen in figure 4, this new grid shown in bright-yellow has one less column and one more row than the original (so, n+1 down steps and n up steps.
Fig 4: The reflection method where paths that cross the purple line and touch the orange line are mapped to paths on the yellow grid.
Now, since each undesirable path on the original grid maps to a path on the bright yellow grid, we can count the undesirable paths. Since we still have to take a total of 2n steps for paths on the bright yellow grid, but n-1 up-steps, the total paths is the number of ways of choosing which of the 2n steps will go upwards (with the rest going downwards). Hence, the undesirable paths become {2n choose n-1}. And with this, we can find the desirable paths (ones that don’t touch the main diagonal) as the total paths ({2n choose n}) subtracted by the undesirable paths. We hence get the total paths that go from (0,0) to (n,n) on the grid with n up-steps and n down-steps without crossing the main diagonal, c_n:
Eq (1): Counting the paths on an n-by-n grid that never cross the main diagonal and stay on one side of it.
Note that the total paths on the grid was {2n \choose n} and the number of paths that stay at or below the main diagonal are 1/(n+1) of them.
2.2 Using a Recurrence
Now, we’ll take a path involving less pictures, but one that will ultimately lead to a powerful tool that can help solve a whole family of these “paths on a grid” problems. This tool is the “generating function” of a sequence. First, let’s form a recurrence. Think of the number of paths that first touch the main diagonal (or x-axis) at a certain number of steps after the starting point.
If they are not to touch it before this, we must first take a step upwards and reach the orange line in figure 5 below. After that, we take 2k steps in a way that we don’t go below the orange line again, beginning and ending at it. The number of ways of taking these 2k steps is c_k by definition. Finally, we take a step downwards and get back to the main diagonal (or x-axis). So far, we have taken one step up, 2k steps on the orange path and one step down, so 2k+2 steps. This means we’re left with 2n-2k-2 steps. We now take these steps without violating the original condition, hence staying above the x-axis. The number of ways of doing this is c_{n-k-1} by definition.
Fig 5: Paths on the grid where we take 2n steps (n-up and n-down), staying at or above the x-axis are given by c_n. Suppose we touch the x-axis after 2k+2 steps. First, we take a step upwards. Then, we take 2k steps in a way we stay at or above the orange line. Finally, we take a step downwards. This is the first time we’ve hit the x-axis since the start. Finally, we take another 2n-2k-2 steps to get to our ultimate destination. The number of ways of doing this is c_{n-k-1}.
So, if the orange path is of length 2k, we first touch the main diagonal (or x-axis) at step 2k+2. The total paths that touch the main diagonal after 2k+2 steps and satisfy the original condition of staying above the main diagonal becomes: c_k ×c_{n-k-1}. Now, the orange segment in figure 5 can take any length from 0 to 2(n-1), corresponding to k going from 0 to n-1. Here, the paths that correspond to k=0 and k=n-1 never touch the x-axis (or main diagonal) except at the beginning and end of their journeys. Hence, we get the recurrence:
Eq (2): The recurrence expressing the number of paths we’re interested in in terms of itself.
This is the same recurrence as in exercise 12–4 of the book “Introduction to Algorithms” by Cormen et.al. which is considered the bible of Computer Science (if a recruiter from Google reaches out to you, they will recommend this book). That chapter however, deals with binary trees (an important data structure in CS that allows for many operations like look-up, insertion, deletion, etc. all in O(log(n)) steps). Why would they include a recurrence about paths on a grid in a chapter on binary trees? Well actually, it is meant to describe the number of binary trees with one node reserved for the root and all nodes having zero or two children. It is easy to see that it’ll be satisfied in that context since we reserve one node for the root, assign k of the nodes to the left sub-tree and the remaining n-k-1 nodes to the right sub-tree.
And since the fact that they satisfy the same recurrence with the same starting conditions must mean that the sequences themselves are the same, we see that the number of paths on a grid where we take n steps up and n down without crossing the main diagonal is equivalent to the number of binary trees with n nodes (both sequences denoted by the Catalan numbers). If you read the Wikipedia article on Catalan numbers, you’ll see that there are many other seemingly unrelated counting problems that are all governed by this sequence.
Mapping to other sequences is all well and good, but can we use the recurrence above to actually get the closed-form solution in equation (1)? To do this, we first define the generating function of the sequence, c_n by taking the terms and incorporating them into an infinitely large polynomial:
Eq (3): Definition of the generating function.
If we can find C(z) in closed form, it might help us get the expression for c_n by asking what the coefficient of z^n would have been if we expressed it as a polynomial. Let’s plug the recurrence from equation (2) into the generating function we defined above.
Now, we can simplify the double summation over n and k in the equation above by flipping the roles of n and k. In the figure below, we basically want to sum the value of the summand over all the purple points. The summation in the equation above goes to each n and sums over possible values of k that are less than or equal to the corresponding n. This is equivalent to going in the direction of the orange arrows in figure 6 below.
Equivalently, we can sum first over k and then consider the values of n for each k. This corresponds to summing over the blue arrows in figure 6 below. Both strategies capture all the purple points we want to capture. Hence, flipping the summations is possible as shown at the bottom of figure 6.
Fig 6: Flipping the summation roles for n and k.
Now, when we flip the summations so that we sum over k first, the two variables separate out nicely as shown in the blurb below. In the end, we’re able to separate the summations out and get a quadratic equation in terms of C(z) and z.
Eq (4): Expression for the generating function of the Catalan sequence.
This equation can be solved for C(z) by using the quadratic formula to get:
Eq (5): Solution of C(z) in closed-form.
We know that C(0)=1 but this is only possible when we consider the negative sign in the two solutions expressed in equation (5) above.
And finally, we can expand the right hand side using either the generalized binomial theorem or Taylor series to get the same expression for c_n as we got in equation (1).
3. Raising the Glass Ceiling
3.1 Generalizing the Sequence of Paths
The Dyck paths we considered in section 2 always started and ended at the same level (taken to be level 0). Real life paths on a grid won’t necessarily satisfy this constraint. A real gambler could choose to stop tossing the coin at a certain level of profit or loss. Let’s take the grid we’ve been working with and lift the target from ending back at 0 to ending at a (for example) 4$ profit for the gambler (orange line).
Fig 6: Now we consider general paths that don’t necessarily stop at the same vertical level as their starting point. They can end up anywhere. They start at the blue point which is at the level described by the purple line and end at the red point which is at the level described by the orange line.
We still start at the blue point and end up at the red point, but now the red point can be at a different vertical level than the blue one. How many paths go from the blue point to the red point without crossing the orange line? In other words, how many ways can the gambler reach 4$ after 8 heads and 4 tails without ever crossing 4$? Note first that this is equivalent to the number of paths where his balance never goes negative (paths where he never crosses the purple line representing 0$ balance in figure 6 from above). This can be seen by starting with a path that crosses the orange line and then rotating the entire grid, hence reversing the path. This then becomes a path where the balance goes negative.
Fig 7: Demonstration that the number of paths that cross the purple line from above is equivalent to the number of paths that cross the orange line from the below. This is seen by rotating the grid with a path that crosses the orange line. After the rotation, that path becomes one that crosses the purple line. Hence, there is a 1:1 mapping (or bijection) between the two types of paths.
Now, let’s find the number of paths.
Definition-1: Let c_{l,t} be the number of paths where a gambler gets t tails and t+l heads, reaching a profit of l$ without ever crossing l$.
3.2 The Reflection Method Again
We can use Andre’s reflection method like before, employing the same technique as we did in figure 4. Figure 8 below is another GIF demonstrating what the process looks like when we want to go from the blue point to the red point without crossing the orange line. If you’re not sure what’s going on, just re-visit section 2.1.
Fig 8: Andre’s reflection method as demonstrated in fig 4 applied to a rectangular grid now.
Figure 8.1 below provides a static view of the reflection method. It involves:
Reflect the origin (blue point) about the purple line (y=l+1). The purple line is the level we can never touch. Draw the yellow grid from the reflected blue point to the red point. This grid represents the “bad paths” we want to exclude. Notice that the height of the yellow grid is (t-1).
Fig 8.1: Static view of the reflection method with labels explaining what’s going on.
Now, we know that the gambler needs (t+l) heads and t tails, making the total paths {2t+l \choose t}. Since the total steps required in the yellow grid formed after reflection doesn’t change, we can get the paths of interest:
Eq 5.5: The closed-form expression for c_{l,t} using Andre’s reflection method.
4.3 Generating Functions
Now, we’ll get the actual closed-form expression for c_{l,t} using generating functions. If we were only worries about finding c_{l,t}, the reflection method approach is frankly, much simpler. But, the generating function will give us a framework for solving a more generalized version of the problem.
An alternate definition will make our job a lot simpler:
Definition-2: c_{l,t} is also the number of ways of reaching (l+1)$ with t heads and t+l+1 tails for the first time.
Notice in the second definition, we aren’t allowed to touch the target (l+1)$ level before finally reaching it while in the first, we are allowed to touch l$, just not cross it. The two are equivalent since once we reach l$ in t tails and t+l heads, there is only one way to get to (l+1)$ in one more toss, which is to get another heads and earn another dollar.
Now, define the generating function for the sequence that defines the ways in which the gambler reaches l$:
Eq (6): Generating function for the sequence c_{l,t}.
4.3.1 Consolidating the Generating Functions
Note that if we plug l=0 in equation (6) above, we get the C_0(z)=C(z) defined in defined in equation (3) and solved for in equation (5). Can we express the other C_l(z)’s in terms of C(z) as well?
We use a nifty probability trick to do this. Here, definition 2 of c_{l,t} comes in handy. Consider the gambler tossing a coin non-stop until he reaches 1$. What is the probability that he will ever reach his target 1$? Define that as event E. Now, define E_t as the event that he reaches 1$ for the first time with exactly t tails (so he must have (t+1) heads by then). So, E happens if he either reaches 1$ for the first time with 0 tails (just gets a heads in the first toss) OR reaches 1$ with 1 tail OR with 2 tails and so on:
Hanging Eqn
Now, each of E_0, E_1,.. are mutually exclusive events (only one of them can be true at a time). So, the probability of event E becomes:
Now, what is (for example) P(E_2)? It’s the number of ways of getting to 1$ with 2 tails and 3 heads for the first time on toss 5, multiplied by the probability of 2 tails multiplied by the probability of 3 heads. We insist on counting paths where he reaches 1$ for the first time with 2 tails because if he reached 1$ sooner, (say with just one tail), he would have stopped there and not really reached 1$ with 2 tails, which is what E_2 is describing. We can repeat this argument for reaching l$ (instead of 1$) and get the following relationship of these probabilities in terms of the generating functions defined in equation (6) (here, p is the probability of the coin he’s tossing coming up heads).
Eq (6.5): The probabilities of reaching 1$ and l$ expressed in terms of the generating functions, C_l(z)
Now, think of a gambler who is targeting l$. At some point, he has to increase his fortune by 1$. And once he does that, we can imagine he puts this 1$ in his bank so his earnings are back to 0$ and now he’s targeting (l-1)$. But now, he simply has to get to 1$ again as if he were starting from scratch because the coin he’s tossing doesn’t care about his history. So, he has to repeat the feat of reaching 1$ and putting it in his bank l times. But each time he wants to reach 1$, its as if the game resets and so, the probability of this happening remains the same. Hence, the probability:
P(gambler will reach l $)=P(gambler will reach 1$)×P(gambler will reach 1$)… (l times).
Using this and equation (6.5), we get a relationship between the generating functions:
Eq (7): For a gambler to ever reach l$, he has to reach 1$ and then repeat the feat l times. This insight gives us a relationship between the generating functions, C_l(z).
4.3.2 Defining a Recurrence
Now, we can define a recurrence for the c_{l,t} terms by thinking of the first coin toss the gambler makes. Refer to figure 9 below. Initially, the gambler is at the blue point and seeks to reach the red point, which is at level l with t tails. If his first toss is a heads, he reaches the purple level. Here, he has to climb (l-1) levels to get to the red point, but still with t tails. If he tosses a tails on the first toss, he reaches the green level where now he has to climb (l+1) levels to reach the red point. And, he now has to toss one less tails in order to reach the red point.
Fig (9): Recurrence for c_{l,t}.
Hence, we get the recurrence:
Eq (8): Recurrence for c_{l,t} based on first toss.
4.3.3 Solving the Recurrence
Now, we can use equation (8) to translate the recurrence for the paths, c_{l,t} into a recurrence for the generating function: C_{l}(z).
Eq (9): An expression for the generating function.
And now, the relationship devised from the probability trick of equation (7) comes in handy:
Eq (10): Obtaining an expression for the recurrence.
We see that this has led us to the same expression as equation (4). And the solution to this (from simply solving the quadratic equation in C_0(z)=C(z)) is the one given in equation (5).
We already knew the expression for C_0(z) and hence, c_{0,t}. What we need is an expression for c_{l,t}. Let’s start with
Now, c_{-1,t}=0 since by definition-2, it represents the number of ways for the gambler to hit 0$ for the first time with t tails. But since he starts with 0$, the end of his path won’t be the first time he hits 0$. Hence, the number of ways to do this is 0. So, c_{1,t-1}=c_{0,t}. Substituting t=t+1, c_{1,t}=c_{0,t+1}. Now that we have c_{1,t} and c_{0,t}, we can use them to find c_{2,t} from equation (8). And continue this process to finally get to c_{l,t}.
But, we have a closed-form from equation 5.5, so why bother with this iterative approach. What we do get is a very beautiful identity when we plug in the generating functions. From equation (1) and the definition of the generating function we get:
Eq (11): Generating function of Catalan numbers.
And using equation (7) we derived with our probability trick:
Eq (12): Generating function for the generalized gambler paths.
Using the result of equation (5) we have:
Eq (13): Generating function for generalized Catalan paths in closed-form.
Equating the right hand sides of equations (12) and (13), we get this incredible identity also covered in example 5 of section 7.5 of the book “Concrete Mathematics” by Graham, Knuth and Patashnik. Notice how the l on the left hand side simply marches in and replaces the 0’s. This identity has more than an aesthetic appeal we’ll use it in the next section to solve yet another generalization. See here for a discussion on this identity.
Eq (14): Binomial identity involving taking the power of an infinite summation. Note how the l simply marches into the summation.
5. Multiple Crossings
In section 2, we considered paths that begin and end at level 0, crossing it exactly 0 times. In section 3, we generalized to paths that start at level 0, but end at level l. Now, let’s generalize them in a different direction. Consider paths that start and end at level 0; and cross the main diagonal exactly k times. When k=0, we obviously get back the Dyck paths from section 2. Figure 10 below shows a yellow path on a grid with t=5 that crosses the main diagonal at the two black points. The orange path is a reflection of the yellow path and also crosses the main diagonal the same number of times, from the opposite sides.
Fig 10: Paths that cross the main diagonal k times. Here, the yellow and symmetric orange paths cross the main red-diagonal two times. Note that touching it doesn’t count, just like with the Catalan numbers.
To make things concrete, consider a gambler who starts and ends at a fortune of 0$, getting t heads and t tails. We saw that the total number of paths is {2t \choose t} and the number of paths that don’t cross 0$ are 2 c_t = 2{2t\choose t}/(t+1) — the same as equation (1) apart from the factor of 2 which accounts for paths that stay at or above or at or below the 0$ mark (two such symmetric paths are shown in figure 3).
We now want to find paths that start and end at the 0$ mark, but cross the 0$ line exactly k times. Let’s call the number of such paths r_{k,t}. Obviously, we have r_{0,t}=2 c_t (for c_t defined in equation (1)).
4 .1 A Recurrence
First, we can get a recurrence for the r_{k,t} terms by considering the first place in the path where it crosses the x-axis. This is section 1 of his journey and let’s say it happens on 2m tosses (it has to be even since the gambler has to get an equal number of heads and tails). The number of ways to do this is just c_m.
From here, section 2 of the gamblers journey starts and he has (2t-2m) tosses left and needs to cross the main diagonal another (k-1) times to satisfy the condition. The number of ways to do this is by definition, r_{k-1,t-m}.
The total ways of completing his journey is the number of ways of completing section 1 times the number of ways of completing section 2. But that would imply paths that cross the x-axis after m tails. For the total paths, m can be anything from 1 to n-1. So, we sum over all these possibilities to get:
Eq (14): The recurrence involving r_{k,t}
4.2 The Generating Function
Like before, let’s define the generating function, R_{k}(z):
Eq (12): Generating function for the r_{k,t} sequence.
Notice that we start now at t=1 unlike for the generating function, C_l(z). This is because r_{k,0}=0 (0 tails means 0 heads as well and if we have no tosses, how can we cross the main diagonal k times).
The case where we cross the main diagonal k=0 times is just the paths we’ve seen before and the generating function for that case should be simple:
Eq (13): Generating function for the simple case. We get the -1 in the end because the sequence starts from t=1, not t=0 like before.
Now, let’s extend this to k=1. We get (using our observation the recurrence in equation (14)):
Now, we can use the fact that r_{0,t}=2c_t as discussed earlier along with the summation index-switching trick we used in equation (4) and figure 6 to get:
Now, re-index t-m=s and use the result of equation (13) to separate the summations and express in terms of generating functions seen before:
Eq (14): Generating function for R_1(z) in terms of the familiar generating function seen before.
We can repeat this whole process k-1 times to get:
Eq (15): Obtaining the overall generating function for r_{k,t}
From equation (10) where we got a relationship for C_0(z) we have:
Substituting into equation (15) gives us:
And from equation (14):
But we want the coefficient of z^t. So, we let n=t+k, meaning t=n-k. This gives us the expression for the generating function:
Implying:
Eq (16): Closed form expression for the r_{k,n} series; the number of paths that cross the main diagonal exactly k times.
Note that r_{k,n}=0 if n<k which makes sense; how can you cross the diagonal k times if your path length isn’t long enough? The Math presented is taken from here.
6 Next Questions
We should never cease to stop asking the next question. Here are some further generalizations, all of which have nice expressions: | https://medium.com/cantors-paradise/walking-on-a-grid-4316d46712f | ['Rohit Pandey'] | 2020-07-20 18:18:35.989000+00:00 | ['Mathematics', 'Math', 'Science'] |
How Canada fumbled COVID | A story about how to spoil a lead
(Disclosure: I’m not an MD, virologist, epidemiologist, public health expert, etc. I’m just someone who can read news and understands that time is linear.)
I thought Canada would do well in this pandemic. Canada already had SARS 1.0 in 2003, what could go wrong? Canada already had this muscle! Well, I was wrong.
Fumble #1: “It’s not happening here” rural snobbery
Canada is a very urban country, however people like to believe they’re spread out because a raccoon sometimes makes an appearance in their ex-burb. Canadians themselves love to feel distant from craziness that is happening, especially if the craziness is happening primarily in the United States. One supposes it’s mentally comforting to believe one is very far away from extreme episodes of gun violence and extremely partisan struggles occurring in the United States.
Of course, COVID doesn’t work this way, and I believed the wake-up call for people in definitely “rural” areas should have been British Columbia’s first presumptive case of COVID — https://www.summerlandreview.com/news/first-presumptive-case-of-coronavirus-identified-in-the-interior-health-region/
“She landed at the Vancouver International Airport before travelling in a private vehicle to her home in the Interior Health region, which includes Kamloops, the Okanagan, the Kootenays and Cariboo. She has self isolated herself in her home.”
It would seem that this person drove along many sparsely populated roads — no big deal, right? However the other side of the coin is that services offered along these roads are quite densely populated. British Columbians knew in February that a COVID case had more than likely visited the Tim Horton’s in their community and decided to go on pretending that what was important was their local numbers. Cases in British Columbia and Alberta were counted locally and acted upon locally, as if each town was a magical hermit kingdom. This did not work.
Not only did this not work, the attitudes of Canadians did not change even after a small community in Alberta managed to acquire one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world.
Fumble #2: The Mask Snub
The question of what do to with PPE was a screwup from the start. But few jurisdictions outside of Canada has screwed it up as much as Canada has.
First, Canadian companies fortunately acted — April 22, Tim Hortons required employees to wear masks. On May 21, Costco Canada started asking customers to wear masks.
Then provinces started to do something — Quebec mandated masks in July and started arresting people for noncompliance.
And Washington State similarly moved — King County Mask Mandate was in effect on May 18, and Washington State passed July 7.
What did British Columbia do? Nothing at all until November. Bonnie Henry actually wrote an op-ed about how enforcement would be problematic from a social justice perspective — https://bc.ctvnews.ca/dr-bonnie-henry-op-ed-why-b-c-doesn-t-have-a-universal-mask-mandate-1.5191721 Ten days later, enforcement was introduced anyways.
Alberta was even more pathetic, passing mask enforcement measures only in December. Recall that during all this time, travelers were arriving in Alberta and BC from COVID hotspots in Canada *without any quarantine restrictions*. Municipalities knew this and became amateur epidemiologists — in late July, the Town of Cochrane, Alberta passed what might be the most complicated mask mandate in the world, with masks being required if more than 10 active cases were within their city limits (or was it new cases per day? I cannot recall). The mandate was to be automatically removed if there was 0 cases for 14 days.
The algorithmic complexity of bylaws was astounding as the Town of Cochrane, and presumably all municipalities across Canada, did not actually employ an epidemiologist. This job should have been on the provinces to manage, and provinces should have realized that a city-by-city approach to masking does not work.
Furthermore, mask requirements without the support of police put small businesses (and more tragically, young low wage employees) in the awful situation of needing to police a rule without the manpower necessary to actually make a patron comply.
Unfortunately, John Horgan did not want to piss off the part of the BC electorate that believes that 5G caused the rona and that masking interferes with their life energy. Similarly, Jason Kenney did not want to piss off conservative wexiteers that think the rona was made in a lab in order to elect Biden and love to ramble on about how one dewormer or another might be a cure-all for the virus.
Overall, pathetic slow footed leadership at the provincial level (that often imagined provinces to be entirely different than the state to its south) is responsible for screwing up mask mandates in Canada. Cowardly premiers relied on expendable mayors and city councils to make the unpopular tough decisions early on and all this did was let the infection fester.
Fumble #3: Tracing and school preparation failures
By many accounts, British Columbia and other provinces did a fine job of contact tracing at the individual level. The problem is that this effort did not adequately roll up into policy or public awareness. Many Canadians are under the impression that there are magical places — schools, massage therapy clinics, hockey rinks — that are not at all responsible for “the spread”.
Early in the pandemic, we knew that schools in Israel had outbreaks. We knew one of the worst superspreader events in the United States was a choir practice only an hour’s drive from Vancouver.
Given this information, it is quite shocking that a music teacher in Surrey, BC got covid in *NOVEMBER*.
As a music teacher, Lourenco was not assigned to a learning cohort. Instead, she taught nine classes per day — and estimates about 500 kids came through her class every week.
This result was entirely predictable. What is not clear is how anyone could have thought this activity was an acceptable risk to take.
Fumble #4: App failures
As with everything now, there’s an app for that!
Restating the boundaries of my knowledge, I am not an epidemiologist, but I do know a think or two about software, and how to build a good app.
If there was a list of rules on how to build a good app, these 3 rules would be on the list:
Provide value Don’t build two apps Put telemetry in the application and closely watch adoption rates
On every measure, Canada’s contact tracing apps have failed. The federal app, COVID Alert, is not used in BC and Alberta. BC insists it is a waste of time, while Alberta simply loves its own app, ABTraceTogether, for reasons I don’t even want to bother thinking about.
The United States is no better in this respect, as apps go by a state-by-state model that is also ineffective.
Ultimately Canada had a chance to get the federal app to be understandable and widely adopted, but this failed to materialize. Yet this failure is not completely on BC and Alberta’s inability to be team players — it’s not clear if any contact tracing apps in Canada would have the adoption necessary to be extremely useful. Diligent restrictions like Australia and New Zealand and Atlantic Canada have executed on would seemingly be started and completed long before any contact tracing app would have the population penetration necessary to matter very much. Instead of following Australia’s proven trajectory, Canada is content to just make contact tracing apps into a useful political football.
Fumble #5: Border failures
Very early in the pandemic, Canada closed the southern border. Only ‘essential’ travel was allowed. Despite qualifying as ‘essential’ for reasons of family reunification and repatriation, I decided to sit and swelter in Seattle all summer instead of chilling in Canada. After all, a mandatory 14 day quarantine takes weekend trips off the table.
As I masked-up and wore a hairshirt for the sin of existing in Seattle, people from Alberta and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia were seemingly invading the interior of British Columbia mask-free. The province of British Columbia sat idly by while the masked-up Washington community of Point Roberts was economically destroyed by a border control measure that most Canadians supported while not bothering to restrict travel from COVID hotspots within Canada. Living in Point Roberts and doing basic shopping in Canada was completely forbidden while those coming from Toronto (pronounced “Torona”) were able to immediately land, take off their Torona masks and start gobbling up margaritas in BC bars.
It is absurd that throughout this pandemic the 49th parallel has been a legal nightmare while health districts did not bother to build any internal restrictions. If paying the economic cost of closing the border with the United States, Canada should have taken the next logical step and instituted zone control like the Atlantic provinces have managed. If Canada provided equal weight to equal risks, Canada could have had hit zero cases nationwide. Instead, Canada took a figurative shit on US citizens and expatriates for no good reason. All USA-sourced travel was bad, while all Canada-sourced travel was good. This does not make sense from a public health perspective, but it makes sense if you understand Canada’s politics.
Now back to the personal story of the failure of this insane border policy — eventually the summer ended and lead to many more months of planning for post-border crossing quarantine. After being allowed to cross into Canada from the apparently disease-ravaged United States, anxiety about quarantine restrictions quickly became anxiety about the incompetence of the public health response. It was another Canadian application failure — the ArriveCAN app was accepted, but seemingly not promoted by border officials. The app itself asked the traveler to “voluntarily” report symptoms (the sentences in the app became a bit less relaxed as the situation rapidly deteriorated in November). In 2 weeks, the authorities called 3 times and only spoke to 1 member of a 2 person party. The ArriveCAN app makes no attempt to determine where a user is or whether they are compliant with location restrictions and does not even bother to ask for Location privileges in Android. While these measures may be a success for user privacy and citizen freedom, it is a complete failure of an actual public health measure. By many accounts, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have deployed measures on incoming travelers that might actually work — Canada’s approach is a half-assed in comparison and relies on individual compliance. Individual compliance is sadly lacking given the amount of misinformation that people like Trump/Kenney acolytes have been spewing all year.
Canada has what it takes to follow Australia/New Zealand’s success — the Atlantic ‘bubble’ proves this. Unfortunately, lazy self-satisfied incompetence squandered the great luck Canada had early in 2020. Hopefully it’s not too late to get back on track. | https://medium.com/@sheldon_/how-canada-fumbled-covid-fe119e5fbf5f | [] | 2020-12-27 22:08:51.045000+00:00 | ['Covid 19'] |
Writers Be Wary, We Love Misery and Happiness Doesn’t Sell | Writers Be Wary, We Love Misery and Happiness Doesn’t Sell
Why your happy ending or character might not sell your book
Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash
As writers, we need to be aware of this fact when we are creating fiction. I was reminded of it recently when submitting the third chapter of a novel to a genre-specific literary group for commentary. It came back with a resounding no. Here are the reasons they provided, pretty much verbatim, that my bruised ego had to contend with.
The chapter is not in keeping with the style of the first two you submitted (Yes, I knew this and it had been intentional, I was introducing a new character)
Your character and his environment are too happy and do not appear realistic to the reader.
The content is in keeping with the initial chapters (score one for the home team)
So there it was. My efforts to inject a little joy into the world were all for nought. I had lost sight of the real world and started writing fairy stories. I was annoyed with myself. I knew this and should have known better.
It set me to thinking about this unspoken rule of realistic fiction writing and storytelling. I mention realistic because the rule doesn’t apply to stories aimed at children or family- novels. Fairy stories and books aimed at a younger reader are allowed to dip into the ‘happy world’. In fact, it’s encouraged.
The exact opposite is true of children. Their carefree, optimistic, happy outlook colors their view of the world and they still see fluffy blue clouds and furry pink bunnies everywhere. As parents, we encourage this and choose books that reflect this made- world. Happy stories, happy characters, and happy endings.
Adults don’t share this view. They see the world differently, as a place of heartache, misery and unhappiness, where the characters are engaged in a constant battle to survive. Feed your audience a plot and characters that lack these components and they will reject the fairy tale. It’s not reflective of the world they know and believe to be true.
So what is the psychology that drives this morbid outlook and how as writers can we exploit it to create believable fiction? More importantly, where is the happy line and when do you know you’ve crossed it?
“what’s left for writers is to depict the negative, the darkness, the bleakest possibilities”.
This quote is from author Ben Marcus, and he bases it on Kafka’s dictum — The positive is given. We are born into misery. The expectation of happiness is not a given and needs to be achieved, if only temporarily, for fleeting moments, by acts of suffering and sacrifice.
This dismal view of the world is a common theme espoused by many psychologists, Jordan Peterson a noticeable example. The link will take you to his. video lecture on the subject if you’re not already too depressed. It is an oversimplification of a complex issue because we’re dealing with the human psyche. It is a generalization that you need to pay attention to as a writer though, because that’s what generalizations are. They exist because they are reflective of the larger part of a group.
Sure, there are outliers. People who don’t ascribe to this philosophy and look for positives and happiness everywhere they go, but they don’t matter to you. Not if you’re in the business of making money from your writing. It’s the masses you need buying your books. If money is not a motivating factor then by all means pen novels for the outliers.
Believable stories are driven by plot and character and it’s your characters, above all else that need to conform to this view of the world. Your readers want to see themselves reflected in your flawed creations. Creations that endure suffering and heartache. Real pain. Only then, once the reality has been established can you allow your character glimpses of happiness and success.
Create a happy character with a great life and you evoke jealousy and dislike along with disbelief in the reader. You highlight their own misery in the most painful way possible and loose any hope of the essential bonding process with your character.
So how much happiness and how much success? Where do you draw the line. I think that is largely determined by your plot and characters. There is no hard and fast rule for this, no 80/20 coefficient that you can apply. It’s different for each situation. You could argue it’s just like life. You never know what’s going to happen next and that’s where your magic comes in.
Misery wasn’t always the flavor of the day. Charles Dickens and Jane Austin’s novels attest to this. How they would fair on today’s best seller lists is open to debate. Our modern reader is the product of a far more complex world than the one encountered by Dickens and Austin’s public. Stephen King is a master at the art of exploiting the modern day readers desire for this darker side of life. Take the last chapter in his final book of the Dark Tower fantasy series. The hero, Rowland, finally reaches his goal, the room at the top of the tower.
His discovery brings home with painful clarity the futility of all his many sacrifices. All the suffering, all in vain. It’s is a heart wrenching end to a long and arduous journey and the moment is bereft of any happiness. Fate it would seem, has screwed Rowland of Gilead. There’s a feeling we can all identify with. A feeling we should strive to replicate in our writing.
Now you might not like King or be a fan of the genre. That’s not really the point. It’s his book sales that are at issue and all across the world millions have endorsed him, millions have bought into the reality he has created. Why? Simply because they found it believable, they identified with it and the misery and suffering reminded them of someone they know. Intimately.
Happy writing, just not too happy. | https://medium.com/lighterside/writers-be-wary-we-love-misery-and-happiness-doesnt-sell-b3d6659a42f7 | ['Robert Turner'] | 2019-12-15 09:33:28.976000+00:00 | ['Character', 'Writing Tips', 'Plot', 'Lighterside', 'Writing'] |
Lead representative Steve Sisolak: Job Growth in Nevada Remains Strong | Lead representative Steve Sisolak: Job Growth in Nevada Remains Strong
Without a doubt, the most recent two years have been hard for the betting and accommodation industry around the world. Nevada was no exemption, yet deciding by the club’s gaming win for the last months, the betting capital of the world is in good shape. Truth be told, October was the eighth continuous month with club making billion-dollar rewards.
Work Growth in Nevada Continues
In an assertion delivered recently, Governor Steve Sisolak recognized that the state is doing great. He clarified that the work development in the state stays solid considering the forthcoming 2022. Also, Governor Sisolak said that in November alone, the state added in excess of 2,600 positions. As per the Governor, Nevada was among the best three expresses that have been recruiting workers since May this year. He focused on that while there is still work to be done to reach pre-COVID-levels, the state has done “gigantic work up until this point.”
“We actually have work to do to get our economy back to pre-COVID level however we’ve accomplished colossal work up to this point.”
Lead representative Steve Sisolak
In light of joblessness information, Nevada is on the correct way. The state’s joblessness rate was 7.8 in June this year, while in November, it diminished to 6.8. Interestingly, the joblessness rate in California was 7.6 this June, and it diminished to 6.9 in November, which is marginally underneath what Nevada accomplished.
In another assertion, Governor Sisolak reminded Nevadans that immunizations “give strong insurance against extreme instances of COVID-19, hospitalization, and demise.” He encouraged inhabitants to get inoculated or to get a sponsor antibody as soon as could really be expected.
Positive COVID-19 Cases Increase
While diminishing joblessness sounds great, Nevada 레이스벳 might be confronting more troubles this colder time of year. As indicated by Nevada Health Response, the 14-day moving normal of affirmed cases is at present 704. Throughout the late spring, the quantity of normal cases had diminished altogether however over the most recent couple of months, it has begun developing bit by bit. In addition, in the midst of the colder time of year flood of positive cases, there’s likewise the danger of the new COVID-variation Omicron.
Considering the serious effect of the pandemic on Nevada and the continuous wellbeing circumstance, not every person concurs with Governor Sisolak. Reacting on Twitter, one client nicknamed Katherine D asked the Governor to end the veil command.
One more client completely couldn’t help contradicting Governor Sisolak saying that “Individuals landing their positions back isn’t adding occupations.” The client nicknamed Buddy in Vegas added: “We have the second-most noticeably terrible joblessness in the country. That is the thing that happens when you lock down a state for political purposes.”
Santa Fe Casino December Shooting Suspect Caught by Police
It takes a particular sort of individual to need to attempt to carry out a wrongdoing at a club. Dislike there aren’t cameras and different sorts of observation gear all over. Pulling off the wrongdoing isn’t logical, yet maybe those people very much like the bet. One ongoing criminal brains is currently in a correctional facility in the wake of shooting a safety officer at the Santa Fe Station Casino in Las Vegas recently. With his set of experiences, he isn’t probably going to see opportunity for quite a while.
St Nick Fe Shooting Has a Happy Ending
A Henderson man was associated with shooting a Santa Fe Casino safety officer on December 16. He was attempting to cash a bogus City of Las Vegas finance check at a gambling club confine at that point. As per the capture report, Michael Kasper, strolled into the property and went straightforwardly to a clerk’s enclosure. There, he endeavored to cash a $1,981 check.
Inconsistencies in the check prompted the gambling club calling the city’s finance office. They affirmed that no check had been shipped off Kasper. Kasper’s check had hazy prints and had a produced signature.
The representative at the gambling club called her administrator, who then, at that point, advised security. Kasper attempted to escape, however was halted by the safety officer. A battle followed and a gathering of safety officers, including Winston Bouman, then, at that point, took Kasper to the floor and attempted to nail him down. As indicated by the capture report, Kasper ventured into his pocket and took out a weapon. Kasper shot Bouman in his left thigh two times while he was on the ground.
As per the capture report, security took Kasper to a safe region. He remained there until he was arrested by police. Meanwhile, the watchman was taken to UMC Trauma, where he was in stable condition following the extraction of the two projectiles.
Savage Past Catches Up With Him
Police captured the 33-year-old after the shooting. He is as of now being held at Clark County Detention Center, where he deals with indictments of endeavored murder, having phonies or charges and endeavored robbery. Those are only a couple of the charges forthcoming, and others could be attached. The last rundown relies upon how far investigators need to go.
In 2009, Kasper was sentenced for furnished theft, connivance to submit theft and outfitted robbery. As indicated by police, it was a solitary event that didn’t represent a threat to people in general. While the examination was progressing, police shut down one part of the gambling club, however the remainder of the tasks proceeded.
As indicated by court records, Kasper has effectively shown up. A criminal grievance will be recorded on March 17 of the following year.
Government backing for Catawba Indian Nation land into-trust choice
In the United States and President Joe Biden (imagined) apparently marked regulation into law recently that formally makes room for the Catawba Indian Nation to bring a $273 million club resort toward the southern province of North Carolina.
As indicated by a report from The Herald paper, the Catawba Indian Nations Act was predominantly endorsed by the United States House of Representatives in November prior to being passed by the United States Senate by means of a 89-to-ten edge. The source nitty gritty that this action was accordingly remembered for the National Defense Authorization Act endorsed into law by President Biden on Monday to carry government security to the United States Department of Interior’s prior positive land-into-trust choice with respect to a 16.5-section of land plot of Cleveland County land for the Catawba Indian Nation.
Looming weakness:
The paper detailed that the Catawba Indian Nation inked an income offering gaming reduced to the territory of North Carolina in January in order to have the option to open its imagined Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort on this package close to the little local area of Kings Mountain before the finish of 2023. Be that as it may, the entire plan was purportedly imperiled by various claims including those documented by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which is answerable for the main existing pair of ‘The Tar Heel State’ gambling clubs in the Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel and surprisingly bigger Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort 벳무브.
Extreme underwriting:
Charge Harris fills in as the Chief for the Catawba Indian Nation and he purportedly portrayed the endorsement of the Catawba Indian Nations Act as ‘the last advance in a decades-in length battle’ to get government support for the clan’s arrangement to bring a club resort to North Carolina. The figure purportedly besides clarified that the entry of this regulation implies that any future resistance to the prior land-into-trust choice will address a test to government law.
Harris apparently expressed…
“The establishment into law of our properties act will probably altogether affect the allure from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Depend on it, this regulation method more individuals will have great paying positions, more children will have superior training and more individuals will have better lodging and medical services. That is the thing that this bill truly implies.”
Correcting wrongs:
The Catawba Indian Nations Act was allegedly presented by South Carolina delegate Jim Clyburn with help from North Carolina partners Alma Adams, David Price and George Butterfield trying to take off the crossing out of the imagined ancestral gambling club project. The 81-year-old Democrat from ‘The Palmetto State’ purportedly declared that his regulation will moreover guarantee that the Catawba Indian Nation stays the plan’s essential recipient and bring the coming Catawba Two Kings Casino Resort under the oversight of the government Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
Supposedly read an assertion from Clyburn… | https://medium.com/@irvingjrich/lead-representative-steve-sisolak-job-growth-in-nevada-remains-strong-1afa09f42319 | ['Irving Rich'] | 2021-12-30 04:01:12.915000+00:00 | ['Betting', 'Casino Games', 'Gambling', 'Casino', 'Casino Gaming'] |
👉🏻 Configure Hadoop Using Ansible Playbook | Hadoop ❤️ Ansible
Hello folks 🙋🏻♂️,
I hope you all are doing well…I am back with one another interesting article. In this article i am going to write a playbook to automate our hadoop cluster, sounds cool huh , let get our hands dirty ✍️
🔰 Prerequisites :
Three Virtual Machines (Controller node, master node, slave node)
hadoop software & jdk in the controller nodes local system
Good network connectivity
🔰 What is ansible ?
Ansible is an open-source software provisioning, configuration management, and application-deployment tool enabling infrastructure as code. It runs on many Unix-like systems, and can configure both Unix-like systems as well as Microsoft Windows. It includes its own declarative language to describe system configuration. Ansible was written by Michael DeHaan and acquired by Red Hat in 2015. Ansible is agentless, temporarily connecting remotely via SSH or Windows Remote Management (allowing remote PowerShell execution) to do its tasks.
So basically, ansible is one of the automation tool, which makes configuration management very easy and time efficient too.
🔰 What is ansible playbook ?
Playbooks are the files where Ansible code is written. Playbooks are written in YAML format. YAML stands for Yet Another Markup Language. Playbooks are one of the core features of Ansible and tell Ansible what to execute. They are like a to-do list for Ansible that contains a list of tasks.
Playbooks contain the steps which the user wants to execute on a particular machine. Playbooks are run sequentially. Playbooks are the building blocks for all the use cases of Ansible.
🔰 Steps to configure ansible playbook for hadoop
#1 — SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ON TARGET NODES
STEP I : UPDATE INVENTORY WITH MASTER IP & SLAVE IP
inventory.txt
STEP II : COPY & INSTALL SOFTWARE IN BOTH THE MASTER & SLAVE
PLAYBBOK CODE
!- COMMANDS
# ansible-playbook hadoop.yml : to run ansible playbook
# java -version : to check installed java version
# hadoop version: to check installed hadoop version
MASTER & SLAVE NODE -HADOOP & JDK INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY
As you can after running the playbook , hadoop & jdk software’s are successfully installed on the target nodes. | https://medium.com/@thealchemist627/configure-hadoop-using-ansible-playbook-bd47ec55e3e1 | [] | 2020-12-17 13:52:08.911000+00:00 | ['Ansible', 'Hadoop', 'Ansible Playbook', 'Followers', 'Learning And Development'] |
Don’t Overthink It: To Live Better and Feel Happy, Have More Fun | How much I like or don’t like something tends to be influenced heavily by my expectations leading into it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to not hype things up in my head so much, and have discovered many more pleasant surprises along the way as a result. I like pleasant surprises.
But something else has also happened as I’ve gotten older — I’ve had less fun.
I don’t think people want to admit that.
I think we feel guilty and ashamed when we take an honest, no-bullshit assessment of our lives and conclude: I don’t enjoy life as much as I used to.
Maybe we think it sounds shitty to admit that since we’re married or in committed relationships and we don’t understand why the most important relationship in our adult lives doesn’t deliver more personal happiness. Maybe we’re afraid to admit to ourselves or anyone else how much of our lives we sacrificed to promise forever to someone else, only to feel much more disappointed than we ever acknowledge.
Shouldn’t my relationship deliver more joy and satisfaction than it does?
Maybe we think it sounds shitty to admit that since we have kids and we love them so intensely. Shouldn’t I feel happier and have more fun as a parent than I do?
Maybe we’re embarrassed that no matter how much wealth, real estate, or career advancements we earn, we still sometimes feel a yearning when we’re laying still in the dark with nothing to drown out our most honest inner thoughts.
I’ve achieved and acquired so many things I believed would make me happy, but the truth is, back when I was just a poor kid playing backyard football in a small town no one’s ever heard of, I felt HAPPIER and had MORE FUN than I do now.
And once again, our unmet expectations take a poke at our insides, making the corners of our mouths just a little bit heavier. It’s harder to find our smiles when we find ourselves once again asking: WTF happened to my life? Why do I feel so unfulfilled?
Maybe it’s Just Me
I don’t mean to sound as if I assume your life sucks and that you feel depressed all the time.
I don’t feel depressed all the time.
My life doesn’t suck.
BUT. There’s no question that I don’t have as much fun as I used to.
And that dear friends — I believe — is the answer to the riddle.
Everyone’s Fun Looks Different, So Trust Yourself, Not What Others Say
I can sit for five or six hours in a poker tournament folding 90 percent of my hands and have fun.
My ex-wife thought that sounded dreadful. Even some of my fellow poker enthusiasts can’t stand the idea of folding so many hands. (Bonus Life Tip: That’s how you win poker tournaments — folding the vast majority of the time.)
Some people love crocheting. Or bowling. Or gardening. Or painting tin soldiers. Or reading biographies. Or watercolor painting.
No one can tell you what feels fun. It’s our job to try things and then evaluate as fairly and honestly as possible how pleasurable of an experience each thing was.
In a life where more and more demands are being placed on us from family and career responsibilities, and an increasingly more-connected world also means more distractions, the FIRST things most of us sacrifice to make room for these demands are the things that bring us pleasure.
We are continually being forced to cut out more and more of the things we do simply because we like them. And normally, productivity and accomplishment provides a sense of satisfaction. But almost inevitably, mandatory tasks always start to feel burdensome.
Nothing but divorce has ever depressed me more than the day I realized that I wake up every weekday, drive to work, and do something I wouldn’t necessarily be doing if I didn’t need the income, before going home only to wake up and do the same thing again the following day.
It’s still true right now.
I exchange the vast majority of my (non-sleeping) life for a paycheck.
Why?
(This is the depressing part.)
So I can have enough money to stay alive (food, water, clothing, health care), have shelter (mortgage), and afford transportation (car payment).
In a life with a finite amount of time, I question the wisdom in exchanging the majority of my life experiences simply to have a house to sleep in, stuff to store there, and a vehicle to drive me back and forth to the job.
To deal with this, I pursue several other things (including the writing I do here, and the speaking I hope to do in the future) in my limited spare time to have hope that I can wake up every day feeling more fulfilled and as if how I’m spending my time has more purpose and value. | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/dont-overthink-it-to-live-better-and-feel-happy-have-more-fun-189f602ef11 | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-07-15 12:26:00.911000+00:00 | ['Overthinking', 'Change Your Life', 'Fun', 'Advice', 'Happiness'] |
Nathan Nunn on the Paths to Development (Ep. 101) | Nathan Nunn on the Paths to Development (Ep. 101)
Nathan Nunn’s work history includes automotive stores, a freight company, a paint factory, a ski hill, photography, book publishing, private tutoring, and more. Having grown up in a lower-income Canadian family, he recognizes the importance of having multiple pathways to climb the socioeconomic ladder. Now, as a development economist at Harvard, his research investigates how things like history, culture and contract enforcement shape the development paths of nations.
Nathan joined Tyler for a conversation about which African countries a theory of persistence would lead him to bet on, why so many Africans live in harder to settle areas, his predictions for the effects of Chinese development on East Africa, why genetic distance is a strong predictor of bilateral income differences and trade, the pleasant surprises of visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo, the role of the Catholic Church in the development of the West, why Canadian football is underrated, the unique commutes of Ottawans, the lack of Canadian brands, what’s missing from most economic graduate programs, the benefits of studying economics outside of the United States, how the plow shaped gender roles in the societies that used it, the cultural values behind South Korea’s success, and more.
Listen to the full conversation
You can also watch a video of the conversation here.
Read the full transcript
TYLER COWEN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Conversations with Tyler. Today I am chatting with Nathan Nunn, who is a famous economist, professor at Harvard. His work is wide ranging. I think of his main areas as economic development, history, and contract enforcement, but he’s worked on many additional issues. Nathan, welcome.
NATHAN NUNN: Great. Thanks for having me here, Tyler. It’s great to be here.
On Africa
COWEN: Let’s start with some Africa questions. Why does it seem that Ethiopia is suddenly so successful in nation building?
NUNN: That’s a good question. I haven’t studied Ethiopia, but the standard answer would be a history of state formation. There was Axum and great kingdoms; it was the one country or area that wasn’t colonized, so that would be a standard answer. I think that’s a pretty superficial answer.
I don’t think that we know intimately, or in great detail, why is it that a history of state formation or having successful states or empires is correlated with economic success in state formation today. But I think that would be the standard answer that your average Africanist or growth economist would give. I think there is some validity to that.
COWEN: But does this get at a broader question about persistence and the importance of persistence? If you look at Ethiopia in the 1970s, it’s a poster child for extreme poverty. If we look at Ethiopia in the time of the slave trade, Eastern Africa — as you point out in your work, a very large number of slaves were taken from Ethiopia, which is supposed to predict low trust and bad long-term outcomes.
And now, they’re good at nation building because of events millennia ago. Over what time horizon does persistence operate? Or is it always supposed to be moving in the same direction? Or is there also some kind of mean reversion?
NUNN: That’s a great point. When you think about persistence, one thing that’s important is how much of the total variation does this factor in the past explain? That is going to be relevant for the type of question that you ask. If we see, in the periods of decades or even centuries, a lot of movement and correlations that are in opposite direction, that’s fine, and that’s completely consistent with persistence, as long as persistence isn’t explaining 99 percent of everything, or 97 percent.
The way I think about it — and hopefully this is answering your question — we’re all pretty confident that smoking, in general, causes lung cancer, so that’s kind of a long-term factor. But you can definitely find counterexamples of that, and that’s individuals who maybe smoked but are healthy and lived a lot longer. Or throughout your lifetime, you might have differences in levels of health. At one point you could be healthier or less healthy.
Exactly similar argument with education. We think, on average, more educated people have higher levels of income, but throughout a person’s life, there could be ups and downs, and the correlation could be different amongst subsamples.
I think that analogy, if you apply it to any country and any country’s experience, goes a long way to understanding why countries are moving often in opposite directions than what we would think. But if you look at a broad cross-section of countries, there is this nonzero correlation that we call persistence.
COWEN: Let’s say you’re in a tournament with a hedge fund manager, and you’re both having to invest in emerging economies, and you understand persistence — you and Melissa Dell probably better than anyone in the world — and the hedge fund manager hasn’t mastered your work.
So even if persistence is explaining, say, only 5 percent of the variation, which would be a modest claim, you should be able to beat that person, right? Because you and Melissa understand persistence, and you will pick the winners, on average, somewhat better than the hedge fund manager. Or no?
NUNN: Well, it depends if there’s a market for . . . if there’s others in the world who are also as knowledgeable as us. But if we were the only two in the world, I would think, yeah, that’s right. The one thing I would also point out, though, is it’s important to think about, is the persistence based on location or based on societies?
There’s been a lot of movement of individuals. Persistence based on societies basically is very strong, based on locations is not strong. That’s the one caveat — if Melissa and I were picking versus this other person — that one would want to take into account, is trace the people, not the places.
COWEN: If you try to think, say, within Africa, what would be some places that you would be modestly more optimistic about than, say, a hedge fund manager who didn’t understand persistence? What would a few of those countries be? Again, recognizing enormous noise, variance, and so on, as with smoking and lung cancer.
NUNN: If I’m true to exactly what I was just saying, then southern Africa or places where you have a larger population of societies that historically were more developed. South Africa, you have the Afrikaans, and they have a different descent than others. That’s if I’m true to what I was saying. But that’s ignoring that, also within Africa, you had a very large number of successful, well-developed states, and that was prior to European colonialism and the slave trade. So one could look at those cases.
One area that I worked at, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where you had the great Congo Kingdom, the Kuba Kingdom, a large number of other kingdoms, the Luba for example — that would probably be one country. That country today is pretty much as low as — in terms of per capita income — as you can be, right at subsistence. But if we’re predicting just based purely on persistence and historical state formation, that would be one to pick.
COWEN: What do you find to be the most convincing account of Botswana’s relative economic success?
NUNN: A few things. One is, Botswana is pretty small in terms of population. Anytime you have smaller countries, you can have more extreme outcomes. That’s one, that it’s small. But then related to that, it’s, in general, ethnically homogenous, particularly compared to other countries within Africa. The Tswana are the predominant ethnicity. They also have a historical social structure, and I think that was pretty well maintained and left intact. That’s a big part of the explanation.
On the lingering effects of the slave trade in Africa
COWEN: You’ve argued that in the context of a cross-country growth regression, the countries that had many slaves taken from them have done worse in the longer term than regions left more intact. You think that same regularity holds true within individual countries rather than across countries, say within different parts of Nigeria?
NUNN: Yeah, I think it does. It’s not something that we ever published, but with Leonard Wantchekon, who’s a political scientist originally from Benin — basically, we looked at subnational measures of the number of individuals of each ethnicity that were taken from different parts of Africa. What we focused on there was actually not income, although you do have measures of income, and you could do that very easily.
But once I had established that, across countries, there is this relationship between income and slave exports, it’s less surprising, or maybe less publishable, that within countries you’d find the same thing. What we did look at, though, was distrust, and you find a strong relationship there. And obviously distrust — it’s not surprising that that’s going to be correlated with income as well.
COWEN: If I think about West Africa for a minute, putting aside Eastern African slave trade, it seems to me the wealthiest areas, the places people actually want to live, are on the coast. And the places that had the most slaves taken were on the coast, for more or less obvious reasons.
Doesn’t that mean that the raw correlation is a positive one between how well a region has done within a country? I’d rather live in Lagos than in Kano within Nigeria, yet presumably more slaves were taken from the coast.
NUNN: Yeah, it could be. This is a study someone should do, actually. Jeffrey Sachs has been famous, or at least when I was in grad school had famously said things like, “Africans live in strange places. They live away from rivers. They tend to live away from the coast. They live in more mountainous regions which are less fertile. Why would that be?”
That’s true, exactly what you said. Although secretly you want to live next to rivers, you want to live in a fertile plain, you want to live next to the coast except for the slave trade. And so in the data I’ve looked at, your logic is exactly there. But then there’s the slave trade, so in places where there was a lot of slave trade, people are less likely to live close to the coast.
And in particular, what I also looked at was, people are more likely to live in mountainous areas as well. I think everything you said is exactly right, and that’s the omitted factor, is that, ironically, places which otherwise would have been the best places to live were also the places for which you were most exposed to the slave trade.
My guess, and from the data I’ve looked at, is you will see persistent patterns in where people live within Africa that is explained by those geographic features and the slave trade. They moved away from the coast where there was a slave trade. They moved away from rivers. They moved to mountains for protection.
COWEN: Some remarkably high percentage of individuals in sub-Saharan Africa live in Nigeria, which is not that large a country. How did it work out that way? Why did that happen? That’s long puzzled me.
NUNN: I think 25 percent of sub-Saharan Africa lives in Nigeria. That’s a good question. I’d have to look at the geography, but it must be the fertility of the soils, the ability to produce. And that’s exactly the stat that we just said, despite the fact that Nigeria, the Bight of Biafra, was one of the areas that had exported the most slaves. So the counterfactual of what the population would be must be even higher.
I haven’t looked into the geography, but it must be fertility. You have to be able to support that large number of individuals in terms of subsistence and eating. This is even despite the fact that the northern part of Nigeria, we know, is much less fertile.
COWEN: If you think about the effects of the slave trade on, say, West Africa, one measure is per capita income, but if you’re at something close to a Malthusian equilibrium, isn’t another measure of how well the places are doing just population? So to speak, the regions consume doing better in terms of higher population rather than higher per capita income.
It’s what you would expect in a Malthusian model, and you shouldn’t just look at income but look at where the people live. And then you have Nigeria, which was a center for taking the enslaved from Africa and having this very large population, and that seems counterintuitive.
NUNN: Yeah. One would have to look at the data, definitely. One question is, are there other factors like geography? And we just mentioned that. And the one thing with the slave trades — I have to think about how this all works out — but in the research I’ve done, it’s very clear that there was endogenous selection into the slave trade, and you could even think of that as being strategic by Europeans or the slave merchants. It was those societies, those locations that had the most densely populated regions or that had well-functioning states already and well-developed states.
The intuition is, if you’re a slave raider or a slave merchant, it’s going to be much easier to accumulate slaves for export if there’s a lot of people around — slaves are people — than maybe where there’s low population density. The way I think of it is, those densely populated places — those areas were the ones that were targeted by the slave trade. That’s kind of an omitted factor that you’ll want to take into account.
What’s going on with Nigeria, I would guess, is it has geographic factors, geographic conditions that made it very densely populated initially, so it was a target of slave exports. And that had negative effects on income and also population density because we’re in a Malthusian world. But that omitted factor is enough to drive Nigeria’s current large levels of population.
In other words, there’s geography, which causes larger population initially, causes more slaves to be taken, and that means, also, larger population today. You would just have to take all those things into account.
COWEN: How do you think about Cape Verde in your framework? Originally, those islands were not settled. They were a center for the slave trade. It wasn’t the case that slaves, per se, were taken from them. Today Cape Verde has a vibrant multiparty democracy, free speech. Hardly a wealthy place, but institutionally, it seems to be doing pretty well in terms of social and political capital. What’s your hypothesis about Cape Verde?
NUNN: This is one thing in the analysis I did that was hard to think about. There were places that were initially uninhabited or that didn’t supply slave exports. Mauritius, Réunion would be another. I think Cape Verde fits into this bucket. They imported slaves and didn’t export them, so they didn’t experience the detrimental effects to indigenous institutions, the breakdown of traditional social structures. They had established property rights. They had a lot greater inequality.
I think of them as more similar to plantation islands in the Americas, for example. One interesting fact is, there’s another set of islands, Comoros, where they were initially inhabited, and that looks more like the rest of East Africa. Madagascar would be another example. That’s how I think of it: they escaped all of the detrimental effects of the slave trade.
COWEN: So are you a Zanzibar optimist?
[laughter]
NUNN: Zanzibar had an indigenous population as well. That’s a great point. Zanzibar would look like other small African countries that had slaves taken. And because they had indigenous populations and there was slave raiding, that was kind of an entrepôt, but I’d have to think about it. There was a lot of wealth, historically, because it was this trading entrepôt. If Zanzibar was its own country, maybe it would have much better functioning institutions than Tanzania.
COWEN: In the last 10 years, it’s become a fashionable view that East Africa, or parts of it, will lap West Africa because of their location; that there’s geopolitical competition; that China, India are all vying for influence in East Africa. China will invest more in the infrastructure of, say, Ethiopia than it might in Nigeria, and because of strategic location, we should be relatively bullish on East Africa. What’s your view?
NUNN: Hmm, I don’t have a strong view. I haven’t thought about that. But if we’re thinking about historical persistence, and going back to your suggestion, then it is true that Eastern Africa, for example, as part of the Omani Empire — there was more trade for long periods of time with the Middle East, for example, across the Indian Ocean. From that perspective, maybe Eastern Africa does have a leg up. But I really haven’t thought about this at all.
I think part of this is — and I think there’s research being done on this — is what are the effects on development of Chinese aid, of Chinese joint ventures, of greater integration with the East? I think part of your story, or that narrative, rests on the assumption that greater integration with China is going to be relatively beneficial, which is very plausible.
COWEN: When it comes to your relative optimism for the southern parts of Africa, how much do you worry about what we call the gravity equation in trade theory? They’re just too far from most other places. Most other countries don’t care strategically very much about them. Perhaps apart from a few minerals, they won’t have nearly as much trade. South Africa in particular has been deindustrializing. What’s their engine of growth, given their trade possibilities seem to be more limited? Is the gravity equation pretty powerful predictively, yes?
NUNN: Yeah, the gravity equation is very, very powerful. One thing to keep in mind is, with the gravity equation, there are traditional variables that are in there, which are distance. But then there’s been a lot of work actually extending this and putting other bilateral variables in there as well — for example, common language, common religion.
If we think of South Africa, obviously, having common language with European countries is going to be important. English, for example, and then common religion. The most controversial is the work by Spolaore and Wacziarg where genetic distance is a super strong predictor of basically bilateral income differences and trade. And so again, these former settler colonies — South Africa, for example — are going to have a leg up in the gravity equation for exactly that reason if one buys the genetic distance story. And so it is —
COWEN: What’s your view of that story?
NUNN: It’s a strong empirical regularity, for sure, that absolute distance genetically between societies explains the absolute difference in income. You see that very, very strongly. I think this doesn’t tell us anything about the importance of genes for per capita, GDP, or for economic success.
If two societies are very similar genetically — what it means is, they’ve had a very similar history. The time since their last common ancestors split is not going to be very distant, so they would have experienced a lot of common shocks, would have lived in common geographies, would have had similar forces that affected cultural evolution, societal evolution.
I think that’s what that’s picking up, basically, is the importance of history and how that affects culture institutions. They really don’t know in that paper what is this vertically transmitted trait. It could be genetics, but they don’t push that. I think it’s all these bundles of things that are affected by history.
COWEN: Why does distance from the equator seem to predict GDP per capita so well? It’s not obvious it should matter at all, right?
NUNN: Yep, that’s right. There’s a time, I think when I was in grad school, this was one of the great questions that the profession was trying to deal with. There’s a lot of explanations. One is pure geography. Malaria is bad, for example. Sleeping sickness is bad. And those are more prevalent closer to the equator — that would be the Jeffrey Sachs view.
The other one is, while history is important and those places — for the Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson view — those places had less settlement of Europeans. An extractive strategy was employed rather than a strategy where you build local institutions and try to improve the society.
Personally, I think there seems to be more evidence for the historical view, although I don’t know that that one story explains everything. I think there’s a lot of other reasons why historical geography would have been important.
COWEN: What can Africa do to overcome the limitations of having so many landlocked countries?
NUNN: That’s a good question. The obvious thing would be a transportation network that’s improved beyond what they currently have, particularly railways, so that landlocked countries can transport their goods to the sea. And we know that sea transport is much, much cheaper, much more effective. So that would be —
COWEN: Even then, the final country seems to capture a lot of the rents. India takes rents from Nepal through transportation networks. Djibouti captures a lot of rents from Ethiopia because the actual relevant port to Ethiopia is in Djibouti.
NUNN: That’s interesting. It depends on the number of your outside options, actually. You can think of a country like Niger, Burkina Faso — there are a few different countries which they could go through to get to the coast. If you had multiple lines or dense railway network, then there are going to be outside options, and they can capture more of the rents. But that point is valid. That might not be enough.
And related to this is, if you also developed a network infrastructure or transportation infrastructure that connected different countries within Africa better. If you look at the network right now, what you see is the railway network which exists, which was primarily established during the colonial period, is basically meant to get resources from wherever in Africa to the coast and then shipped to Europe.
It’s not well established to allow African societies to trade with one another, so that would arguably also be beneficial. And this is related to who gets the rents because then you would have more outside options, more choices for each country, particularly these landlocked countries.
COWEN: What should, say, West Africa do to overcome the harmful historical effects of the slave trade, say on trust?
NUNN: That’s a good question. That’s the big development question. What should any developing country do to try and develop? I think one thing —
COWEN: But that problem in particular — you must have some implicit theory. That’s how trust levels are transmitted across generations, right?
NUNN: Yeah.
COWEN: And then from the micro elements of that theory, you’ll have at least potential remedies at the margin, but what are they for you?
NUNN: I think one is — although I don’t have a strong understanding of the psychology of this — if you look at the data, trust tends to be increasing the levels of education of an individual. That would be one policy recommendation: we can increase education levels.
For low levels of income, trust is increasing in income. It’s kind of hump shaped. But then that’s this chicken-and-egg problem: Well, how do we generate economic development that then results in greater levels of trust? When you have economic development, you’re going to have more interactions between individuals. You’re going to have more successful interactions, positive-sum interactions. People will learn that they can trust one another, and I think that that’s going to be part of the benefit.
But I think it’s really related to, how do you spur economic growth so that lots of activities are positive sum rather than just zero sum, so that we have growth and an increasing share of the pie? And then we can cooperate and realize there are benefits to cooperation and that lead to higher levels of trust.
COWEN: Why do you think many parts of the New World — and I have in mind Latin America — have relatively high levels of crime for their per capita income? Latin America also, as you know, has pretty high levels of education for its per capita income. There may be trust at some micro levels, but crime rates in the New World are much higher than anywhere else. Crime rates in Latin America very often are higher than in most parts of Africa.
What has gone wrong there in terms of the intergenerational transmission of trust? And of course, it’s multi-ethnic, but so is much of Africa.
NUNN: That’s a good question. I haven’t thought about that. And also, I obviously know less about Latin America. One is, I’m not sure that it’s related to trust. I think it’s related to whatever tools and mechanisms a society can employ to constrain activities which we call crime.
I can tell you more about what happens in sub-Saharan Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I spend much of my time. There, you wouldn’t think that the formal institutions are better than in Brazil, for example. The police force is less well functioning, but the crime rates — we were very surprised when we first went to the areas where we stay — are extremely, extremely low.
So what is it? It’s not through formal mechanisms, but it’s through informal mechanisms such that you could almost think of it as mob justice, that if one person commits a crime, there’s going to be informal actions taken to punish that individual. That relies on the strength of indigenous, informal institutions or social structures that prevent that.
In Latin America, it seems like the reliance are on these more modern, formal institutions which aren’t as good as other countries. The other thing about Latin America — I would say there’s extreme inequality. We see this in national Gini coefficients. That’s different than countries where you’re very close to subsistence, and the scope for inequality is much less. I would just guess that that has a big part to do with it as well. But those are all just conjectures.
COWEN: Is it fun to visit Democratic Republic of Congo?
NUNN: Yeah, it’s great. Yeah.
COWEN: Tell us what’s fun. I need to go once I can.
NUNN: Yeah, it’s really, really great. The first time we went as a team — this is James Robinson, Sara Lowes, Jonathan Weigel in 2013 — we were pretty apprehensive. You hear a lot of stories about the DRC. It sounds like a very unsafe place, et cetera. But one thing we didn’t realize or weren’t expecting was just how lovely and wonderful the people are.
And it turns out it’s not unsafe in general. It depends on different locations. In the east, definitely near Goma, it’s obviously much, much less safe. But I think what, for me, is wonderful is the sense of community. Because the places we go are places that haven’t been touched, to a large extent, by foreign aid or NGOs or tourism, I think we are treated just like any other individual within the community.
Because the places we go are places that haven’t been touched, to a large extent, by foreign aid or NGOs or tourism, I think we are treated just like any other individual within the community.
In the psychology literature, it’s often referred to as collectivist versus individualist culture. I think it’s just a culture where the individual is less important. You’re more embedded in the community, their social relations, and I think that’s nice. It’s nice to experience that — coming from a Western society — for a month every year.
COWEN: What’s another favorite place of yours to visit in Africa?
NUNN: That’s a good question. You mentioned Zanzibar. I’ve done archival research in Zanzibar. They’ve great archives there, which are funded by UNESCO. And you can do great things like swim with dolphins and turtles, and there’s the old Stone Town there as well. So that’s another great place. South Africa is also great. Cape Town and Stellenbosch — that’s a very posh part of Africa that’s very, very pleasant.
Actually, what I really enjoy is just going back to the different parts of the DRC, kind of on a regular basis. Given that you develop bonds with different people, that’s really nice to see them, see how they’re doing over time, and that sort of thing.
COWEN: There’s a recent online piece by Morgan Kelly. I’m sure you know it. It’s called “The Standard Errors of Persistence,” and it’s pretty technical. Feel free to give us an answer that no one will understand, but he says, “Many persistence regressions can strongly predict spatial noise.” What do you think of this piece?
NUNN: I think it has an important lesson, which is, we have to really be careful when we’re thinking about societies, or people, or anything really — institutions, policies. Because in the cross-section especially . . . well, actually, not only cross-section but in the time series, there’s a lot of correlation across observations.
If you looked at, for example, the eastern DRC, those groups, those individuals there are going to have a lot of similar experiences as just across the border in Rwanda, and they’re going to be culturally somewhat similar. The further you move away, the more independent they are, but the closer spatially you are, the more correlated they are. So if we’re looking at any correlations and there are these omitted factors, then if you’re close to one another, your error terms are going to be more similar.
That’s basically an important point of that paper. If you don’t take that into account — and it’s hard because there’s a lot we don’t know — if you don’t take that into account, you can get a lot of false positives. And part of that comes from overestimating the effective number of observations that you have.
On the importance of the Catholic Church
COWEN: Your colleague, Joe Henrich, has a new book coming out about WEIRD, based on his earlier articles — the notion that there is a quite unique Western cultural perspective based on the particular notion of rationality and instrumental reasoning, also belief in democracy, particular religious views, even if they’re held in a secular manner. And as I read him, he views that as, really, the driving force behind Western development. Do you agree?
NUNN: Yeah. I think we don’t know the exact details for exactly why, but I think there is something about WEIRD societies that led to the rise of Western Europe, definitely. I think that’s the original — or not the original because you can always go further back in time — but that was an important impetus, was why did Europe diverge from the rest of the world?
He talks about the breakdown of clans, which I think is important, and the breakdown of the extended family unit, the Church disallowing polygamy, the Church disallowing cousin marriage. All these things helped to maintain these lineage structures. That led to individuals being important. And that really is the definition of individualistic culture versus collectivist culture.
I think the one other thing that’s important is, Joel Mokyr talks about, in his recent book, is that we learned that it was — and this is probably related to individualism and the program of the Catholic Church — we learned it was okay to break from tradition and to question the previous generation.
Once you do that, you can deviate from the traditional structures. You can have the Scientific Revolution. You can have a lot of innovation, and I think that was also important. That’s important for the Industrial Revolution, for example, and that’s something he makes a big point about. I think that’s very complementary to Joe Henrich’s view that the policies of the Church created the society of individualistic psychology.
COWEN: How important a role do you assign to Christianity in the economic and scientific rise of the West?
NUNN: I would say I’m similar to Joe. It’s not so much Christianity . . . Actually, maybe I’m not so similar to Joe Henrich. I think the biggest effects were on these medieval policies of the Catholic Church that broke down lineages and extended family units and created the individual. I think that’s important.
Joe also talks about moralizing gods and an afterlife being important. I’m still undecided about how important that is compared to these policies of the Catholic Church that created an individualistic psychology.
I would also say, if we think of just purely economic development today in the contemporary period, I definitely don’t think it’s the case that one needs to convert to Christianity to be successful. I think that would be confusing causality or confusing correlations we observe historically with causality today.
COWEN: But wouldn’t converting to Christianity, at least predictively, be important today in the sense that it would predict ties to the West? You could dispute which is cause and which is effect. But if you just saw a particular African country or region have a lot of conversions to Christianity, as happened, say, in Ghana, wouldn’t you become more optimistic about that region?
NUNN: That’s one theory, except I think one way to think of it is there’s been massive conversion within Africa. Now, if you’re asked in many countries the fraction of people that are Christian, it’s going to be like 97 percent, right? If they’re not Muslim, which would be the other main religion. And that’s without any really deep ties to the West.
Think of Massachusetts, where I live. Conversion rate is much lower, but we think that Massachusetts is more integrated with Europe, for example. So, I think the logic of that is right, but what we’ve seen is mass conversions of Christianity, and even the development of more indigenous Christian religion or Christian hybrid religions, which have also taken off. So you don’t need actually a lot of connection with the Western world to have the spread of Christianity.
On things under- and overrated
COWEN: In the middle of these dialogues, we tend to have a section, overrated versus underrated. Are you game for a few?
NUNN: Sure.
COWEN: Feel free to pass. First one: Canadian football — overrated or underrated?
NUNN: Oh, definitely underrated. [laughs]
COWEN: Why is it better than the NFL?
NUNN: I’m trying to remember. The field is wider, the end zone is deeper, and you only have three downs instead of four downs. So you have much, much more passing. If you like the running game, then you’ll like the NFL. But I think these long bombs are much, much more common within the CFL.
They also had — I don’t think this is a reason — but I remember they had a media campaign arguing that people should watch the CFL. And their logo at one point was “Our balls are bigger,” which is true. So yeah.
COWEN: The city of Ottawa in Canada — overrated or underrated?
NUNN: It’s probably underrated as well. The big thing — it’s cold, but you have the canal which you can skate up and down. Many people actually commute to their government jobs on skates, traveling five, six, seven, eight miles. That would be pretty cool. I’ve never done that.
COWEN: Randomized control trials in economics, as a way of doing development economics — overrated or underrated?
NUNN: That’s a good question. I guess it depends by who. [laughs] Amongst those that the perceptions or how they’re rated by those that developed it, I think accurately rated. Amongst individuals that like to jump onto the next big thing, like machine learning or RCTs, I think those individuals are overrated. It’s a tool that’s helpful, but it’s not the only tool that one would ever want to use for the rest of their life.
COWEN: Do you worry that RCTs are being done in too few locales? That there tend to be economies of scale. You get teams set up and people who know how to recruit locals into the experiments, and you keep on writing trials in just a few places, in say, India, English-speaking parts of Africa, and so on. Is that a problem?
NUNN: Yeah, I think that’s definitely a problem. We see this even more in other fields, say, psychology, where you only run experiments, or behavioral econ, where you only really run experiments amongst Western university students. So development — you can say, “Oh, we’re doing better.” But then, like you say, it’s Nairobi, a few places in India, Uganda. But there’s a lot of Africa where experiments aren’t done.
And the reason is, like you say, it’s huge, huge fixed costs to get things set up. If you’re a graduate student and you want to run an experiment, you could go without any connections, try and figure things out, and set up a site. Or you could code up a survey, send it to IPA or another organization that’s already somewhere, and just run it there. But I think the big problem is that we are learning about developing countries, but a tiny, tiny slice.
And the other thing is, those are the countries that are — or societies that are most accessible. When we started our work — I guess I could be preachy and say, “Oh, well, we went to the DRC and that was remote. No one had been really working in central DRC.” But now we’ve been there for seven years, and we’re not going anywhere else. So we’re falling into the exact same trap.
COWEN: The use of standardized test scores to help shape or determine graduate admissions in economics — overrated or underrated? It’s very hard to get into Harvard if you don’t have an absolute top math GRE score.
NUNN: Yeah, I think that’s overrated. It does measure some things, like your ability to jump through this hoop and learn this information which is pretty much useless, which is how to solve these tricky logic or math problems. And so that’s useful, but the problem is, in order to do that, you have to basically take a summer off and study for the GRE. And if you’re financially strapped or come from a disadvantaged background, that has a huge, huge cost. So I think there’s a bias, a socioeconomic bias that is much worse than the benefit.
COWEN: What should graduate economics stress that it doesn’t now? What should it do more of at the margin?
NUNN: For me, I think what would be — and you can see this in my recent research — know how to do research that’s more descriptive and that’s softer, or where the data collection is softer. In other words, we never learn — and I don’t know of any courses that teach development economists, when you go to a society, how do you interact with people and ask questions face to face? How do you run focus groups? How do you learn in ways other than surveys?
We haven’t done that. How do you ask questions about the social structure, about their beliefs, their values and norms? These things that are kind of invisible, unless you ask about them. How do we do that? What should one think about? How are these societies structured? These sorts of things.
We’ve taken a very scientific approach: What’s the treatment? What are the outcomes? But there’s all this contextual stuff, which traditional anthropology looked at, where we’re just ignoring. And that’s data, and that’s super important, and we’re not taught how to do that.
COWEN: What’s your favorite movie and why?
NUNN: Oh, favorite movie. [laughs] That’s a good question. Favorite movie — in the past it was Dazed and Confused. I must have watched that in university about a hundred times.
COWEN: A wonderful film.
NUNN: I won’t talk about why that was the case. More recently Black Panther, or there was a show, I believe it was called the Queen of Katwe. And one reason I like those is they portray African society in a more positive light, which is more realistic. And I think that’s super important. I think there’s a lot of implicit bias towards Africans, African Americans, which comes out in media and movies or television shows. So I like those because those were empowering and showed African cultures in a positive light.
COWEN: What do you like best in African music?
NUNN: I’m not super familiar with African music, except for the local Congolese music, which is —
COWEN: Well, that’s one of the peaks, right?
NUNN: Yeah, exactly. I like it. It’s fun. There’s memories that bring me back to the first road trip we did, when we went to visit the Kuba Kingdom. It was in this SUV that we rented, and we had these tapes playing with Congolese music, and that was great. We even had the air conditioning for about 10 minutes. Then the tape machine caught on fire, and then the air conditioning broke down.
But that music still reminds me of that trip, which was a two- or three-day trip, or actually four- or five-day round trip into the interior, which was my first trip to the Congo. What I don’t like is it’s usually associated with dancing, and I’m a very stiff, rigid person [laughs] that’s not skilled at dancing.
On the lack of Canadian brands
COWEN: The Canadian economy has been very successful, right? Everyone would recognize that. People love Canada. Canada has amazing soft-power global brand. Yet there are very few international brands from Canada. Maybe there’s Molson beer, but hardly any others. Why is that?
NUNN: That’s a good question. I guess it depends on what you mean. I think international brands — there might be some brands that we don’t know about — the BlackBerry, for example. Maybe people do know Bombardier, so that’s one thing.
The other one is whether you include individuals. Maybe Canadians know this, but others don’t. There’s a large number of singers — Celine Dion, for example, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, which are Canadian. And so that’s one of our primary exports. But also comedians, like Mike Myers, for example, Jim Carrey.
COWEN: They’re often not known as such, right? No one . . . Well, not no one, but very few people think of these as being Canadian artists.
NUNN: Yep, that’s exactly right. That’s the point I’m trying to make. There are Canadian products — so let’s call them products — around. We actually often don’t know they’re Canadians just because we fit in pretty well. Even within economics: Ariél Pakes, David Card. They are individuals that don’t have a label of Canadian on their forehead, and they just kind of merge in.
So, I haven’t looked at products, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more products than the average American could name that are Canadian.
COWEN: Do you think having a Canadian background has, in any way, shaped how you approach economic development?
NUNN: A little bit. I think it does affect how I approach economics. One thing about having the Canadian background, in particular, going through all of my schooling, including grad school, within Canada, is that you’re very removed from the centers of knowledge within US economics, namely Cambridge, where I’m at now. In some ways, that forces you, for better or for worse, to think differently, or think independently relative to what’s going on within the US. I think that helped me during grad school, actually.
The other thing is, when you’re in this pressure cooker of grad school within Cambridge, let’s say, there’s a lot of pressure, so you can’t help but to think about your career, and you can’t help but to think strategically. And I think that often goes against research. You’re less likely to take risks or to do things that are completely different than what’s being done currently. But ideally, we want scientists to do that.
COWEN: Now, your PhD is from the University of Toronto, correct?
NUNN: Yep, that’s right.
COWEN: As you know, it’s actually fairly rare for someone tenured at a top-five school not to have a PhD from another top-five school. Did you feel there were things you needed to extra learn or catch up on because your degree was from Toronto, that you have to compensate for? Or you felt this was an advantage, or it was just fine?
NUNN: There were things I needed to catch up on. The advantage was exactly less pressure. I would have been happy just having a job at any school. That really frees one up to just do what they love in terms of research, rather than do what they think has the higher probability.
In the particular cohorts I was in, I think this has changed for Toronto, so I don’t want to say anything negative about Toronto now. At the time, I think we were a bit behind in terms of applied empirical analysis and, in particular, all the tools that were developed — this was in early 2000s — that were developed recently to deal with causality. To really be strategic and sharp about, and creative about, instruments and RD and all these tricks we use to identify a causal relationship — I felt I was a bit behind in that, actually.
COWEN: But why aren’t there more people like you in equilibrium? You managed to do it. Not to doubt that you are exceptionally talented, but other exceptionally talented people don’t seem to take the path you took. What happened to make your history different?
NUNN: Yeah, so why aren’t there people more like me? I think the reason is, right now, we’re in an equilibrium — although there’s policies which are undergoing, right now, that threaten to change this — where the best talent from all over the world comes to US schools and top-five schools, I’d say, or these certain US schools.
There are lots of other Canadians. There’s great Canadian graduate students, but they tend to not stay in Canada. So they would come for their PhD to the United States — to Harvard, MIT, and other schools.
COWEN: But even within the US, you won’t find many people at top-five schools with PhDs from UCLA, for instance, or Brown, which are very good schools with some fantastic researchers. But the top students just don’t want to go there. Was there some breakdown in the mechanism for spotting your talent, and we ended up lucky that you were slotted somewhere different, got a different perspective? Why is there so much concentration?
NUNN: Yeah, that’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer to that, actually. If there’s more concentration than in other fields — I think there is, actually. Talking to people in other fields, economics is extremely hierarchical. The difference between the first and the fifth is huge. In other fields, it’s more horizontal, and you would just go to different schools based on maybe focuses.
One could think about expectations being important, that perceptions about the students that would go to a school that’s outside of the top 10, for example, and maybe advisers being less likely to write really strong letters or to get behind an individual just because of perceptions about how vertically structured the discipline is.
One other thing possibly, too, which is related to that — I think, really, in grad school you overestimate, as a student, the differences between schools with different rankings. Once you are at the stage I am at, you realize there’s amazing research at all different types of schools, so this vertical difference that we have in our minds as graduate students isn’t really there and so clean and so strong.
I haven’t answered your question. [laughs] I don’t know why there’s more mobility, but maybe it is related to your GRE question or the fact that tuitions are so high in the US, but I don’t have a strong sense.
COWEN: Gender roles — what is the mechanism tying the use of the former traditional plough in earlier societies to low female labor-force participation today?
NUNN: That mechanism is basically — if we look at agriculture historically, some societies used an implement called a plough, and others used a hoe or a digging stick or other implements. The plough is great. You can turn over a lot of soil, and that kills weeds, aerates the soil, prepares it for planting. You can do that very quickly, but it requires a lot of upper body strength to control the plough or to pull an animal that uses the plough.
So what you see, because there are biological differences between men and women, that that difference — even though it doesn’t mean that women can’t use the plough — caused men to specialize in agriculture and women to specialize in home production. Where you have hoe agriculture, there was more mixing.
And so, what the data that we’ve looked at seemed to indicate is that generated norms, that it’s just natural for men to work outside the home and women to work inside the home. This is over hundreds or thousands of years. Then you have industrialization, and those same norms are applied to factories or to service jobs. That’s the link, basically, to female labor-force participation today and using the plough thousands of years ago.
COWEN: But if I look, say, at Russia or the Nordic countries, they’ve had a long history of the plough and now very high levels of female labor-force participation, right? Doesn’t that mean it’s not very persistent? Or even the United States.
NUNN: Yep, that’s exactly right. So it’s coming back to, well, how much of this is this going to explain? And are there other factors? If you go far enough north, there’s going to be less plough use. That’s one thing to keep in mind, but I think the other one is, well, there’s something else that’s been changing, which is we’ve had increased gender equality, which is, in my view, due to economic development and then women being pulled out of the home, right?
In over the last 50 years, there’s been this dramatic increase in female labor-force participation within the United States, within Europe. But if you actually look at the data, even now, the level of female labor-force participation rates, which is 60 percent, 70 percent — that’s actually much lower than African countries, which are much more poor, for example.
So part of the answer to that question is, we really overestimate the amount of gender equality in Western societies. We think, of course, “We’re developed, we’re great. We must be great on all these dimensions. We’ve made so much progress since World War II.” But I think that’s overestimating just how great we are. Once you account for these things like income, then why we’re not better than we should be, I think, is explained by the plough.
COWEN: Being a former communist country in Eastern Europe seems to explain female labor-force participation very well in those countries. They tie almost uniformly.
NUNN: Yep.
COWEN: In your worldview, is that something we should expect to persist, or is that a temporary aberration, and now they’re going to return to their older, plough-based histories?
NUNN: No, I would expect it to persist, and there is some work. Pamela Campa has a paper in the Review of Economics and Statistics that shows persistence at least up until the contemporary period, so I would expect it to persist, actually.
One thing about that — in this form of persistence, which is — one would have to look at — but a plausible story is, once you have women participating in manufacturing, low-end manufacturing, for example, or light manufacturing, then you develop a comparative advantage in that. Then the norms affect your comparative advantage, and so the supply of women working affects the demand because that’s what you’re good at; that’s what you export. And then that affects the supply.
So there’s an equilibrium where women work and you specialize in female-friendly products, and another equilibrium where women don’t work and you specialize in other products which are less female friendly. And so, one would be, for example, Eastern Europe, and the other one could be Saudi Arabia, for example.
COWEN: You’ve written a very famous paper showing that a society or a country skill at contract enforcement helps explain a good deal of the patterns of its trade. Within your framework, how would you explain the last 30 years of China? Do you see it as fitting your hypothesis? An exception? How good is China at contract enforcement, and indeed, how good are they at trade?
NUNN: They’re very good at trade. I could look at China — that would be super interesting to go back and look at China. There’s two things. One is, if you thought that the contracting environment in China was not good, which is not a given — just because you have an autocratic regime doesn’t mean that you have mechanisms for dispute resolution, and you’re able to enforce contracts, and that things are dependable and reliable.
But let’s say that China isn’t as good as other countries, Western countries, at contract enforcement. It’s not as dependable. What you would expect, then, is for China to specialize in goods that are not contract intensive. There’re still specializing in manufacturing, so that analysis was only looking at manufacturing, but they’re going to be producing lower-end products.
That’s actually not inconsistent with what they’ve specialized in historically. which is manufacturers, but lower-end manufacturers. That would be my best guess, at this point, at that issue.
COWEN: If I think of Singapore as a paradigmatic example of what your theory would explain, should we expect skill at contract enforcement to actually explain FDI [foreign direct investment] patterns more strongly than trade? Because trade — at some point you can just take the goods, right? And you have the stuff, and you can forget about the contract.
Whereas when you do foreign direct investment, you’re always at the mercy of the other country. Singapore has amazing contract enforcement. They even export it as a service widely, and FDI in Singapore is remarkably high. So should contract enforcement explain FDI better than trade?
NUNN: Yeah, it might. Yeah, I think FDI — we have less data. The data is less precise. Trade countries around the world — they’re charging tariffs on these products, so you have imports very precisely documented. FDI — I think that’s not the case.
COWEN: So we broadly know where it goes.
NUNN: Definitely.
COWEN: They’re not huge mysteries, even if we don’t have exact numbers.
NUNN: Yeah. And then, the one thing that one needs to know or keep in mind — the research I was doing was about the composition of trade or the composition of FDI. So we’d want to know FDI that produces which types of products. But otherwise, I agree completely that the pattern of FDI or where a foreign investment is and in which industries, in which countries, should also be predicted by the ability of a country to enforce contracts.
COWEN: What did you learn about development that was unusual, living for six months in South Korea?
NUNN: That’s a good question.
COWEN: Obvious lessons, but above and beyond those, what really struck you?
NUNN: I think the importance of culture, actually, living in South Korea. The culture in South Korea is very different. Obviously, South Korea is a dramatic success story, and I think a lot of that has to do with what South Koreans viewed as important: education, working hard, allegiance to the company. Those things are all hugely important.
I have a lot of very close friends in South Korea. Until recently, they would never take vacations. You would get vacation, but it would be very shameful or against the norms if you actually took them. Same with Saturdays — you would always work on Saturdays.
And then the drive for education was amazing. There’s a saying in Korea — I might not get it exactly right, but “If a high school student sleeps five hours a night, they’ll fail.” They need to work so hard, they’re only sleeping four hours a night. And I think these are all just motivations. They’ve internally motivated their norms, their values.
So South Korea has these values of individual achievement, but then overlaid with values of collectivism, like wanting to have individual success go towards the greater good, which was the success of the country. And so that, I think, again, coming from an individualistic background, was eye-opening to me.
COWEN: But why was South Korea then so poor for so long? Maybe it was somewhat well off under Joseon Dynasty, but if you look at 1960, 1900, 1800, as far as I know — we don’t have good data, but it had a reputation for being a place of extreme poverty, right?
NUNN: Yeah, but it did have all of these kingdoms, historically, which makes it similar to — in terms of its history of state formation — to Japan or to China and more similar to that. It was geographically a terrible place, sandwiched between China and Japan, but it was able to survive, actually. So that’s actually a testament to the Korean society.
And if you look at things like architecture, food, academics, I think Korea has always been extremely sophisticated. There were periods of colonization, and I have to go back and look at the data of Korea from the early 20th century or 19th century, but that explains a lot of it, I would guess. I would say there are these latent characteristics that aren’t reflected in per capita income, which are important for subsequent development.
COWEN: But doesn’t this get us back to some problems with the persistence idea? Korea, like most places, has multiple pasts. It has a past of extreme poverty, a past of extreme sophistication. You can always pick out one or the other path and explain, through persistence, a present. You could pick out the past of extreme poverty and explain North Korea as a persistence of that. But ideally, you want to know if there’s persistence on net in the whole dataset, and then you’ve got to line up all the pasts.
But the Jeff Sachs point that we’re just not very good at predicting which countries will do well next — shouldn’t that just make us outright skeptical about persistence? If you go back to 1960, who predicted then which countries would do well? Even knowing ex post which ones did well, it’s very hard to find measures that will predict that, even knowing the winners.
NUNN: I think one important thing here is thinking about levels or growth rates. Jeffrey Sachs’s statement, it sounds like, is about growth rates. We can’t predict which is going to be the next country that’s going to grow successfully over the next 10 years, though I don’t know if that’s true, but let’s say that that’s true.
If you had money, I’m sure you would bet on certain countries having a higher level of income over 10 years from now than others. I think we have a pretty good sense of which countries will have higher levels of income.
So the persistence isn’t about growth rates. I don’t know of any actual studies that look at growth rates in the past and growth rates today because you’re going to have convergence and all these sorts of things. But it’s about levels. The way you think of it in the Solow model, it’s underlying characteristics which are going to change the steady-state level of per capita income in different societies.
Hopefully that makes sense. I think we can predict which society is going to have higher levels of per capita income 20 years from now.
COWEN: Last question. This is a quotation from you. I’ll read it off. “I’ve done a lot of different jobs, working at a range of places, including automotive stores (stock boy), newspaper (editor/photographer), freight company (laborer), paint factory (filled paint and made paint), ski hill (worked in the office), book publisher (laborer), and private tutoring.” How has that shaped your worldview? Not everyone who teaches at Harvard has that background, right?
NUNN: [laughs] Yeah, yeah. I think I shaped my worldview in terms of opportunity, thinking about opportunity, thinking about policies that affect mobility, thinking about policies that affect inequality. And the reason is, I have experience growing up in a family that was definitely lower income or very low income and having some insight into what that does to you psychologically, how difficult it is to get out of that environment.
And I was extremely lucky growing up in a country like Canada, where, actually, there were many pathways for a family that’s very low income.
After moving to the US, it’s very clear, there are many fewer pathways. And if you grew up in upper-middle-class, upper-class family, that’s something that you just don’t realize, just how hard it is for an individual that’s at the lowest rung of the ladder within the US to move up. You basically can’t make any mistakes. So I think that’s one thing that my history has taught me.
COWEN: Nathan Nunn, thank you very much. It’s been a pleasure chatting.
NUNN: Great. Thank you. Great to talk with you. | https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/nathan-nunn-tyler-cowen-economics-africa-a82378ac41ff | ['Mercatus Center'] | 2020-09-01 14:24:19.806000+00:00 | ['Canada', 'Africa', 'Liberalism', 'Geography', 'Podcast'] |
DOJ v Google: Don’t Expect Action for Years | It’s going to be a very long time before the government gets a day in court against the big tech firms, at least if you look at the Department of Justice complaint against Google as an indication.
The tentative trial date for court action is September of 2023. “If anybody thought we would be getting to trial quickly,” US District Judge Amit Mehta said during a telephone hearing on the matter (as reported in the Wall Street Journal), “this certainly will dispel that notion.”
The judge also said he wants to get other cases on the same coordinated schedule as legal teams prepare for litigation. This could mean the case brought by Attorneys General in 35 states might ultimately be wrapped into the same prosecution — or at least be handled on the same timetable.
The proposed schedule begins with 450 days for discovery, then several months for review and counter-arguments before any trial would be begin.
You can download and read the DOJ complaint against Google below.
Related | https://medium.com/digital-vault/doj-v-google-dont-expect-action-for-years-257fcd32c88f | ['Paul Dughi'] | 2020-12-20 21:31:09.210000+00:00 | ['Google', 'Government', 'Antitrust', 'Digital', 'Law'] |
Fangas Nayaw | Fangas Nayaw / Amis people / Taiwan b.1987
Co-Artistic Director of Fist & Cake Production. Indigenous creative performing artist. His recent performance, choreography, and creations stretch across film, drama, and dance; thus, he gained the name, “Creative Monster.” His creative styles vary and probe into the nature of human taxes and dynamics, which led him to submerge himself in nature and search within it. His directing piece, “Mailulay: Traces on the Wall,” won the 14th Taishin Arts Award annual top five artworks prize. Another, “A Song Within Us,” was shortlisted in South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festivals and Kaohsiung Film Festival VR competing films. He was the choreographer for the opening program of the Taipei 2017 29th Summer Universiade and resident artist in Xitee International Art Village in Paris in 2018. His curatorial and directing work, “Three Hundred Masingkiay Songs,” was invited to Cosmopoli Biennale at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He was the performance curator and coordinator of 2020, 2021 Nuit Blanche Taipei, and 2021 Taiwan Cultural Expo theme house. He was invited to participate in the 2021 Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art Taiwan Indigenous Exhibition in Australia. As a director, choreographer, performer, and lecturer, Fangas Nayaw has participated in numerous artworks and activities in various venues, including National Theatre & Concert, National Taichung Theater, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying), and Taipei Art Festival. | https://medium.com/indigenous-contemporary-art-from-taiwan/fangas-nayaw-5abdd271e3ac | ['Indigenous Contemporary Art Taiwan'] | 2021-11-23 11:14:09.396000+00:00 | ['Contemporary Art', 'Performing Arts', 'Taiwan', 'Indigenous', 'Theatre'] |
[READ]-Insider’s Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology: 2008/2009 Edition (INSIDER’S GUIDE TO GRADUATE… | DOWNLOAD>>>>>> http://co.readingbooks.host??book=1593856377
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Books are a valuable source of knowledge that affects society in different ways. Whether you are reading a masterpiece by an award-winning author or narrating a bedtime story to children, the significance of books cannot be overemphasized.
Human beings need to learn and stay informed, which are crucial needs that books can fulfill. They are also essential for entertainment and enable individuals to develop wholesome mindsets throughout their lives.
“Millions of books have been published over the years and they continue to be an integral aspect of people’s lives around the globe.
From making it easier to understand different aspects of life to serve as worthwhile companions that take you through challenging times, books have proven to be precious commodities.
Books are essential in a variety of ways that go beyond enriching your mind or entertaining you. They have stood the test of time as reliable references for centuries. They stimulate your senses and promote good mental health. Other benefits include enhancing your vocabulary, allowing you to travel through words, and inspiring positivity through motivational literature.
While the internet and television are useful in their own ways, nothing can compare to a great book. Books ignite your imagination, give you new ideas, challenge your perspectives, provide solutions, and share wisdom. At every stage of your existence, you can find a relevant book that will add value to your personal and professional life.
Books are filled with knowledge and they teach you valuable lessons about life. They give you insight into how to navigate aspects of fear, love, challenges, and virtually every part of life. Books have been in existence since time immemorial and they hold secrets of the past while providing a glimpse of the cultures of previous civilizations.
A book has the power to change or reinforce how you feel about your surroundings. It is a therapeutic resource that can equip you with the tools you need to stay on track and maintain a good attitude. Whether you want to learn a new language or delve into the intrigues of nature, there is a book for every situation.
There are numerous reasons why books are important. Reading books is a popular hobby as people around the world rely on them for relief and entertainment. Books contain records of history and are used to spread vital information. Reading books helps to improve your communication skills and learn new things. It can be useful for easing anxiety among students and professionals.
Other reasons that highlight how important books are in their positive impact on intelligence, writing abilities, and analytical skills. Books give people a great way to escape into another dimension. They are packed with endless possibilities for adventure and experiences that would be difficult to access in reality.
It is essential for people to strive to include books in their daily lives aside from using them for academic or professional purposes. They aid emotional and mental growth, boost confidence, and sharpen your memory. It is natural for people to be curious and want to learn more, which is why books are still significant today.
Books are a valuable source of knowledge that affects society in different ways. Whether you are reading a masterpiece by an award-winning author or narrating a bedtime story to children, the significance of books cannot be overemphasized.
Human beings need to learn and stay informed, which are crucial needs that books can fulfill. They are also essential for entertainment and enable individuals to develop wholesome mindsets throughout their lives.
“ | https://medium.com/@andreawagner_95191/download-http-co-readingbooks-host-book-1593856377-7819f30c6a15 | [] | 2021-12-13 05:25:28.541000+00:00 | ['Download', 'Reading', 'Book', 'Read', 'eBook'] |
Top 10 Traditional Romanian Dishes | Romanian gastronomy, as well as Romanian culture, is a mirror of the fascinating history of the country. Romanians have always been involved in hunting, agriculture and animal husbandry. Despite this, at the beginning, the Romanian cuisine was quite poor in ingredients. In addition to meat, the Romanians used to eat dishes based on wheat, barley, rye, millet and stevia or any other edible green plants. After the discovery of America and the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes and corn in the European space, there was an auspicious change in the Romanian diet. Moreover, the domination of other peoples and migration brought flavor to the Romanian cuisine that was gradually completed. Even the Orthodox Christian Church, through the feasts of the great holidays it has ordained, has contributed to the gastronomic diversity of this territory.
However, it is not a novelty that Romanians like food. They like meat that should be as fat as possible, they like bread baked in wooden ovens, they like pies and jams, they like smoked cheese and a lot of other goodies that you must taste when you get here. So, don’t be shy to ask for Romanian food when in Bucharest or in Romania — you’ll be generously served. Restaurants from all over the country have included traditional Romanian dishes in their menu. So, during your trip to Bucharest, you have the opportunity to eat something absolutely traditional.
Here are 10 traditional Romanian dishes we recommend during your stay in Bucharest:
SARMALE CU MĂMĂLIGĂ (Mince Rolled In Pickle Cabbage With Polenta)
You will find SARMALE in every traditional restaurant you enter. They are a culinary preparation of minced meat (usually pork, but also beef, sheep, poultry or even fish), mixed with rice and other ingredients, wrapped in rolled cabbage leaves. They are usually served with polenta and cream. To be really tasty, the SARMALES are boiled in a cast iron cauldron or a clay pot over low heat. It is considered that if consumed after „staying” 2–3 days, they will have a special flavor.
Probably in your travels you have found sarmale in other countries, too. No wonder. They are also cooked in Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Greece and the Republic of Moldova, but only in Romania you will eat SARMALES cooked this way. We guarantee they are the best, but don’t take our word for granted, just order and you’ll taste for yourself!
MĂMĂLIGĂ CU BRÂNZĂ ȘI CU SMÂNTÂNĂ ( Polenta With Cheese And Cream)
Yes, the same polenta that you will receive with sarmale, can become an absolutely delicious dish with cheese and sour cream. Depending on the area from which it comes, it is cooked in many variants: with cheddar, bellows cheese, fresh or even sweet cheese. Sometimes it even has a fried egg on top. As simple as this dish seems, it’s as tasty as it gets!
CIORBĂ DE FASOLE CU CIOLAN (Bean Soup With Smoked Ham Hock)
Ciorba de fasole cu ciolan (Bean Soup With Smoked Ham Hock) is an integral part of the Romanian cuisine. There are noticeable differences from area to area. In the south of the country it is cooked with several vegetables. In Moldova it is flavored with a lot of dill. In Transylvania it is seasoned with cream, heavier with a spoonful of vinegar or borscht. Regardless of the area, bean soup with smoked ham hock remains a national good. We leave it to you to tell us what you think, but we are absolutely delighted with the Ciorba de fasole cu ciolan!
CIORBĂ DE BURTĂ (Tripe Soup)
There are several types of CIORBĂ DE BURTĂ (tripe or belly soup) in Romania, but we think you already know this. The most common options, however, are those based on cream and those served with garlic sauce and vinegar.
What exactly is Ciorba de Burtă? Belly soup is a beef soup based on vegetables: carrots, guillemots, celery with beef stew to which is added the main ingredient: beef belly cut into strips. What does Ciorba de Burtă taste like? Divine!
SARAMURĂ DE CRAP (Carp Brine)
As we said above, the Church has played an important role in the culinary culture of Romanians. During fasting periods over the year, there are days when believers are allowed to eat fish. So the Romanians competed in the preparation of fish.
SARAMURA DE CRAP (Carp brine) is a delight. A delicious sauce made from hot peppers, tomatoes, dill, pepper and bay leaves. Carp completes the taste, and the polenta is the final note. Good appetite!
MICI (Skinless Sausages/Little Ones)
Romanian MICI are normally made from a mix of beef, pork and lamb as well as spices that may include garlic, black pepper, thyme, and coriander. Even if you think you’ve eaten MICI in other places, well, you’re wrong. These are a Romanian invention from the 19th century.
Legend has it that the first MIC (Skinless Sausage) was eaten in the Old Center of Bucharest, being invented by chance. A skilled chef from the Capital, Iordache Ionescu, prepared several grilled dishes for his customers. The innkeeper Ionescu, as he was known among the local customers, had an exceptional sausage recipe, famous throughout the city. One day, the innkeeper was working hard on the grilled sausages, but the mats that wrapped the minced meat were gone. Seeing that the demands for sausages are more and more, Iordache Ionescu took a piece of the „sausage dough” and put it on the grill without any mat. The first to taste the innkeeper’s invention was impressed by the taste of the „little one”, and the new product became the star of the place in the city center.
If before the Second World War, on almost every street corner there was a bodega where MICI were served, today there is no restaurant with traditional food where the MICI are missing from the menu. Order them with French fries and mustard and quench your afternoon thirst with a cold beer!
POMANA PORCULUI (Pork Feast)
POMANA PORCULUI (Pork Feast) is an ancient custom. This is the thanksgiving table for the help received in slaughtering the pig from relatives, neighbors or friends and is offered after the work is completed by the host. Pork Feast is obtained by frying pieces of meat (muscle, liver, bacon, ribs, jaw, representing all parts of the slaughtered animal) in fat. Serve with polenta and a glass of wine. An honorable meal!
PAPANAȘI (Romanian Donuts)
PAPANAȘI are a kind of dessert made from sweet cottage cheese, eggs, flour, semolina, breadcrumbs and sugar. They are normally served with cream and jam, but they are also served after being sprinkled with sugar.
A legend of donuts with a hole in the middle comes from Denmark. It is said that a ship’s captain, trying to turn the rudder while eating a donut, was caught in huge waves. Then he stuck his donut in one of the rudder spokes so he could use both his arms. Thus, the housewives took these donuts with the hole in the middle and adapted them to the culture of each country.
We are not saying that Romanian PAPANAȘI are among the best donuts with a hole in the middle that you have ever eaten. We say that Romanian PAPANAȘI are really the best donuts you will ever eat! Try them with cream and blueberry or cherry jam. You will feel that you have reached heaven!
PLĂCINTA (Romanian Pie)
The pies are a pastry product with an old tradition in Romania. Romanians eat cheese and raisin pie, apple pie, cabbage pie, meat pie and the list can continue. Although they differ from country to country, pies are dessert made of dough, which hides a sweet or salty filling. And their forms are diverse. The Americans make them round, in tart trays, and with a dough pattern on top. In Romania they fold them, while in Greece they roll them.
Regardless of the filling you choose, PLĂCINTA (Romanian pie) is a delight. You can find them in any traditional restaurant or at pastry shops that you will meet almost everywhere. Eaten hot, Romanian pies will brighten your day!
COZONAC (Romanian Easter & Christmas Sweet Bread)
The favorite dessert of the Romanians, the COZONAC, has a long history. At the origin of the Cozonac is bread, and leavening and baking techniques have evolved over time.
Romanian tradition says that if you have a COZONAC on the table, it means that you are celebrating. This is how, during the holidays, Romanian housewives start kneading the Cozonac dough. Whether it will be filled with walnuts and cocoa or Turkish delights, the Romanian COZONAC is a must-have dessert for Christmas or Easter.
However, you will find it all year round at cake shops. We recommend that you do not miss it. A slice of COZONAC and a glass of milk will give you energy and will fill you with good will!
Bon Apetit! | https://medium.com/@madriana-gheorghe/top-10-traditional-romanian-dishes-7f318eb35e96 | ['Adriana Gheorghe'] | 2021-04-25 11:33:39.198000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Food', 'Tradition'] |
Addressing an Affordable Housing Crisis | Last week the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies released their annual State of the Nation’s Housing report. There were many striking findings, perhaps none as concerning as the growing need and shrinking supply of affordable housing (particularly for our aging public).
In 2013, 11.2 million extremely low-income households (earning up to 30 percent of the median income in the area) competed for just 7.3 million units they could afford.
Excluding units that were structurally inadequate or occupied by higher-income households, there were only 34 affordable units for every 100 extremely low-income renters in 2013.
To make matters worse, nearly 2.2 million assisted housing units could be lost from the affordable stock over the next decade. To address this crisis, new affordable housing projects are needed, and each project must be optimally located to maximize its impact. Fortunately, the data to support smart site selection is more easily available than ever before.
This post will show you how to identify the areas of greatest need in a few minutes.
Let’s use Chicago as an example.
First, we are going to look at a map that highlights concentrations of people living below the poverty level ($11,770 annual income for individuals — $15,930 for a family of two) and overlays that with the number of vacant houses in the area. In the map below the darker green tones indicate high concentrations of poverty and the darker pink tones indicate high vacancy rates. | https://medium.com/community-pulse/addressing-an-affordable-housing-crisis-dc11f847966d | [] | 2016-12-29 15:39:39.714000+00:00 | ['Economic Development', 'Affordable Housing', 'Housing'] |
Launching the Second Cohort of the Primary NYC Founders Fellowship | Launching the Second Cohort of the Primary NYC Founders Fellowship
Today we’re opening applications for the second cohort of the Primary NYC Founders Fellowship, a six-month, part-time immersion in business creation for aspiring entrepreneurs to supercharge the next wave of local startups. If you have an idea and a desire to start a business, we want to help you get on track to pursue a billion-dollar opportunity.
The challenges of starting a company from scratch can be overwhelming. Aspiring founders face a complex set of choices and decisions. But as a leading seed-stage VC firm in NYC, we’ve guided the journey several times over, identifying key skills that need to develop along the way:
Identifying white space. This starts with a vision for how the world should be, tied to a customer pain point that is specific to a market. Rigorously researching and validating your sense of white space is the first step to unlocking a massive business.
This starts with a vision for how the world should be, tied to a customer pain point that is specific to a market. Rigorously researching and validating your sense of white space is the first step to unlocking a massive business. Establishing an early team. Who you start the journey with (and it could be just yourself) will inform every step of the way.
Who you start the journey with (and it could be just yourself) will inform every step of the way. Developing a go-to-market strategy. This strategy must be informed by research, expert advice specific to your category, and early tests.
This strategy must be informed by research, expert advice specific to your category, and early tests. Raising money. If you have done the first two steps correctly, this part becomes easier. But it still takes work: developing a phenomenal pitch deck, building a support network, and completing a seed round.
If you have done the first two steps correctly, this part becomes easier. But it still takes work: developing a phenomenal pitch deck, building a support network, and completing a seed round. Mastering the inner game. Starting a company is a demanding, complex, and psychologically challenging endeavor. Peer support, honest feedback, and coaching is all needed.
The NYC Founders Fellowship is designed to coach you on all of these skills to become an exceptional founder, making room for lots of analysis, experimentation, and peer support. If this is of interest to you, you have come to the right place. This program is completely tailored with aspiring founders’ interests in mind:
Part-time. We think it’s important to enable aspiring founders to explore their business ideas without the risk of quitting a full-time job. Aspiring founders deserve the chance to mitigate risk and explore new opportunities in a collaborative setting with no strings attached.
We think it’s important to enable aspiring founders to explore their business ideas without the risk of quitting a full-time job. Aspiring founders deserve the chance to mitigate risk and explore new opportunities in a collaborative setting with no strings attached. No equity. Primary takes no equity for being a part of this program. This is a platform for participants to learn, explore, and potentially start a business on their terms.
Primary takes no equity for being a part of this program. This is a platform for participants to learn, explore, and potentially start a business on their terms. Peer-based. This program centers around the cohorts. Fellows will learn from each other and get consistent feedback from other aspiring founders. If nothing else, participants will come away with an incredible network.
Who should apply?
If you’re an aspiring founder with the beginnings of an idea and a desire to explore it further, we’d love to talk. We are interested in people who meet the following criteria:
Stage: You haven’t yet raised a seed round, but you have honed in on a target market or focus area. We welcome founders who have raised small pre-seed or angel rounds.
You haven’t yet raised a seed round, but you have honed in on a target market or focus area. We welcome founders who have raised small pre-seed or angel rounds. Location: You’re seeking to start a company in New York City, although you may be remote during the program.
You’re seeking to start a company in New York City, although you may be remote during the program. Experience: You have “earned insights” and a competitive advantage in a market or domain from prior work experience.
What are the nuts and bolts of the program?
The program will last six months, with peer groups of four to five fellows each. The program consists of weekly peer group meetings, pitch sessions, and office hours with the Primary team. We are also thrilled to partner with some amazing New York tech startup experts, leading investors, and entrepreneurs, who will sit down for fireside chats and panels. Examples of events we held for the first cohort include:
CEOing with Shan-Lyn Ma and Rob LoCascio
Storytelling in the Early Days of Startup Formation with Ryan Denehy, Katie Reed, Anthony DiMare, and Andres Klaric
Women Fundraising Panel with Carolyn Childers, Nadia Boujarwah, and Krystal Mobayeni, moderated by Alexa von Tobel
All of this programming will be overlaid with our Startup 101 curriculum, a series of readings and content covering the most important basics of starting a company, including product-market fit, knowing your customer, business model, and fundraising. We are also thrilled to partner with SVB and Gunderson Dettmer, who will make presentations on the financial and legal elements of starting your business and sit down for one-on-one office hours.
We started this program because we want to reduce the frictions that prevent talented New Yorkers from building impactful businesses. We hope this opportunity enables some of you to make that leap and begin exploring.
To apply, please fill out the application HERE by Tuesday, June 29. The second cohort will begin on July 19.
Questions? Reach out to tobias [at] primary [dot] vc. We look forward to meeting you soon! | https://medium.com/thoughts-from-primary-venture-partners/launching-the-second-cohort-of-the-primary-nyc-founders-fellowship-a2de26d0842f | ['Primary Venture Partners'] | 2021-06-25 13:36:37.632000+00:00 | ['Startup Lessons', 'Startup', 'Venture Capital', 'Entrepreneur', 'NYC'] |
Getting To Know Anna Szabo | To put my mom’s life in context, today, I look around at very simple conveniences and appreciate how much women don’t have to do just because they have disposable pads for their menstrual periods, diapers for their kids, dishwashers to do the dishes, washers and steam-based dryers to do the washing and ironing of clothes, and cars to take them anywhere they need to go. My mother had none of the above.
We had self-made fabric-diapers and menstrual pads. They weren’t disposable — we washed them by hand and reused them. Our own hands and a bathtub served all our laundry needs: we had to wash laundry in a bathtub by bending for hours. Outdoor laundry clothesline made of thick rope served as our dryer. We stretched the ropes and hand the clothes. Then, we had to iron every piece of laundry with an iron on an ironing board for hours. I did it. She did it, too. It was our life. We didn’t have much, so we did harsh physical labor.
We had scarce everything: soap, shampoo, toothpaste, clothes, underwear, shoes, towels, food, furniture… The same soap was used for bathing and for washing the laundry: one bar of soap for the entire ten-people family. Sometimes, that soap was also our shampoo. My hair was all tangled and very dry but we used what we had.
As I imagine having to live like that today, without a car, having to walk for miles or wait for public transportation in -30C in the snow for hours, doing all those chores by hand, having hardly anything to eat, and having to work a job while also having to farm… anyone could lose their mind and forget their kid. The life my mom had was very hard. That’s the very reason why I always had an excuse for her abuse. I chose to believe that my mom was innocent and I was very bad to cause her to treat me the way she did. I internalized everything and felt responsible, as well as guilty, for my mom’s feelings, emotions, and behavior.
In the last few years, I slowly began detangling the truth and reorganizing my mind. This work has helped me draw boundaries: I realized where I end and my mom begins. I examined my beliefs and stopped accepting responsibility for my mom’s faults. I was able to admit to my mom-protective consciousness that my mom wasn’t a saint and that I must stop making an excuse for her abuse.
That deep and healing work enabled me to investigate what happened to me — truthfully — and face my story.
To do that, I had to become my own friend.
Facing my real life as it is — no longer avoiding calling things what they actually are, not minimizing the impact of my trauma on my psyche, not excusing my mom’s hatred and violence toward me, not pretending to be maniacally happy all the time, not forcing myself into the mindset of toxic positivity only to suffocate my humanity and vulnerability — this hard work allowed me to become fully human, accept my situation and feelings, own my truth, voice my pain, and genuinely heal, one small step at a time, over a long period of time. Learning to be my own friend required me to feel sad about my own problems, which is defined by our culture as self-pity, and that is a huge taboo.
To be my own friend, I had to learn how to be genuine instead of being happy all the time and toxically-positive in my thinking. So, I had to learn how to be sad. It was very hard because intellectually I rejected the very idea of being sad, vulnerable, or sorrowed. I didn’t understand why I would do this. But that was how I used for so many years to hide from myself. Sadness is as valuable as joy.
In fact, there can’t be genuine joy without genuine sadness. Learning to feel my sadness allowed me to fully experience my true zeal for life because I unnumbed my psyche. Here’s a very good video explaining the importance of self-pity. To heal, I had to stop making the same excuses for my mom’s behavior as her friends made: “Your mom works hard, she raises you alone without a husband, she is lonely, she is doing her best with you…” I had to look at the situation, putting myself in the shoes of my mom’s child: my little defenseless self whom no one loved, no one protected, no one affirmed, no one comforted, and who was cruelly abused and tortured. I am now responsible for that child.
My hard internal work allowed me to intellectually get to know my story without hiding and actually recall the real events of my life into my memory. Then, I was able to get to know myself emotionally, not just intellectually. Here’s a great video explaining how to get to know yourself emotionally and not just intellectually. I was able to feel what that little girl in my memories felt and acknowledge how hard she had it. Even today, I can feel the terror that child experienced and even taste the salt on that little girl’s chicks from crying in a dark corner while being forced to kneel on the dry roasted triangular grain of buckwheat spread over bare hardwood floors for hours.
At first, doing this work made me feel lonely and odd. Then, I realized that everyone is struggling in life which I didn’t know, just because people don’t typically share their real selves with either themselves or their friends or the outer world. So, I compared my vulnerable and fragile inner self with other people’s carefully-staged, photoshopped, and edited outer selves, which resulted in me feeling lonely, odd, and misunderstood. Of course, now I know that no one is normal!
Today, I have real friends who share their real authentic selves with me in our real and truthful relationships. I feel as “normal” as everyone around me. That’s why in October of 2020 I permanently deleted my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, and LinkedIn to focus on being real with myself and my real friends instead of trying to fit into a fake, staged, and photoshopped “normal” of our mentally-unstable culture’s make-believe toxically-pretentious unrealistic “reality.”
It’s been difficult but essential effort.
Believing that my mom’s hard life was a great excuse for her brutal abuse and constant neglect was the very wall I had to break to even begin examining what I had actually endured as a child and how I genuinely felt about it. Before, I was out of touch with myself, as if I were completely separate from my body and my actual real life. Now, I am in touch with my authentic self and my true feelings, so I feel integrated and attached to my body and my psyche. I am real with myself, I feel real to myself, and my life no longer feels surreal.
I have befriended myself.
Becoming real, vulnerable, and authentic allowed me to understand why I have always been so easily triggered and what those triggers have been. Instead of hating and rejecting my hypervigilance, I empathically explored its origins and was able to compassionately understand my hypervigilance. That, in turn, allowed me to cope with daily life more effectively and feeel more joy, peace, and pleasure.
Chasing culturally-accepted abnormal fake “normality” caused me to suffer from addictions in order to hide from my true self. Facing, acknowledging, investigating, and accepting my trauma enabled me to become fully human, wholly integrated, and genuinely healthy. Today, I am able to understand my mom’s hard life and still claim my truth about what she did to me during our 25 years together.
So, back to my mom’s neglect.
When I was five and asked my mother to protect me in one of the neighborhood’s conflicts, during which all kids’ parents came out, except for my mother, she said: “Protect yourself!” I remember standing there in the kitchen on that warm Summer day, little and defenseless, looking up at my big mom in hopes that she would have my back, that I mattered to her, that she cared about me…
Yet, all she showed me was neglect.
That Summer, grandma tried to chock me. She held me to the wall next to my bedroom, lifted me by my neck, and pressed continuously. I was suffocating, and she was smiling. I felt terrified and looked her straight in the eye. Even today, at 37, I remember that moment. Seeing her evil look, I realized that she actually intended to kill me. That was the last moment of my childhood innocence.
My self-preservation instinct kicked in and I was ready to fight my own grandma. I used my little legs to kick grandma in her stomach as hard as I could, so she dropped me. I ran into the bathroom, locked the door, filled a bucket with cold water, unlocked the door, saw grandma waiting to get me, and I had a surprise for her… I poured that bucket of cold water on her and ran outside to seek safety.
Of course, I had nowhere to go, so I came back home when I saw my mother coming back from work. When I told my mother about the incident, hoping she’d stand up for me, she assured me that the incident never happened and called me a liar. She said her mother was a saint and would never do such a terrible thing. Gaslighting reigned in our household. I had to pretend that the incident never happened. There was no one to talk to about it. I was completely alone in my suffering.
When I was six years old, my mother took me to a river. She had never taught me how to swim. Yet, she let me into the water while she herself was playing cards with friends on the beach, with her back turned toward the river. I drowned.
I remember the current picking me up as I was fighting back and screaming for help, but the water covered me completely. I remember giving in and surrendering in peace, floating underwater, and blacking out. A stranger man saved my life.
When that man rescued me and brought me back to conciseness via CPR on the beach, my mother immediately screamed at me, telling everyone what a terrible child I was and that I did this intentionally, to hurt her. Yes, I drowned due to my mother’s neglect and she projected her own fault on me, as always. It was her typical behavior.
Years later, I was married to the same kind of manipulative narcissist. My third husband Michel eloquently projected all his faults on me, and I even bought into his mental manipulation, believing that I was guilty for his faults.
I was perfectly conditioned for it by my mother.
Just like her, Michel loved tormenting and threatening me. He always carried a gun and told me: “Something really bad would happen to you just like to my sister.” Michel had 31 sisters, so I never found out, during our few months of marriage, what he had done to hurt his sister or which sister he actually hurt, but I did realize that he was cruel, angry, neglectful, and mentally unstable, and, just like my mother, very abusive. Living with Michel felt like living with my mother.
My mother’s neglect left me feeling worthless, lonely, and unloved. I felt like I was an object and not a human being, like I did not matter at all to anyone, like there was no reason for me to even be… Those were some of my emotional and mental injuries. My mother’s neglect caused many physical injuries to me as a little girl, as well. The impact of those injuries worsened over time, making me very sick, and even requiring surgery to allow me to breathe again.
It happened when I was seven. That Summer, I had multiple accidents, which, due to my mother’s total neglect, resulted in lasting health issues for me. When at seven, I fell into a 36 feet deep underground hole, I hit the brick wall and the iron ladder several times with my body. My grandpa was with me, and he was terrified. I still remember his huge eyes as he was staring down at me in despair.
My mother blamed me for that fall.
I was bruised and injured.
I felt scared.
She screamed at me for being bad and for scaring her. She never took me to a doctor to get checked, though my grandpa was shocked when he saw my little body so bruised. My mother asked me angrily: are you hurting? Scared that telling the truth would upset her, I said I wasn’t hurting. She told grandpa not to worry about me.
When I broke my nose while ice skating later that same year in the Winter, my mother also did absolutely nothing. In 2007, as an adult, I had to have a corrective sinus surgery done due to the fact that my nasal bones grew together after that neglected injury. The underground fall also had serious consequences for my physical wellbeing. Seven years after that fall, at 14, during an annual medical exam at school, I was diagnosed with severe S-shaped scoliosis and advised to go to an orthopedic specialist.
My narcissistic mother refused to take me. I took myself to the spine doctor who examined both me and my x-rays and said it was seven years too late because help needed to be provided to me after I fell 36 feet underground and got injured. Today, my spine looks like the letter S and my neck has been permanently altered. One side of my body is longer than the other, and one of my shoulders is lower than the other one.
The emotional neglect I endured was even more painful than the physical pain from the neglect of my bodily injuries. In any family-, school-, or neighborhood conflicts, my mother blamed me. She never stood up for me. She never wanted to protect or defend me. She neglected me.
All my family members, except for grandma, were alcoholics. Grandma didn’t drink because she wanted to outlive the entire family. She would say to us as kids: “I am going to outlive all of you!” This year, in 2020, grandma was still alive in her 90s, walking, talking, lying, and torturing my mother, as always, for 65 years now. That’s my mom’s age. I saw them both on Skype. My mom chose to stay exactly where she was born, all her life. And it was hard to watch or accept but I did accept this reality.
When I was little, my mom would drink all night with friends and have me worried. Dealing with this requiring me to go look for my mother everywhere since we had no phones and she’d never tell me in advance where she was going. Many times, I carried her home in the unconscious kind of drunk condition at night: by foot, on my own, as a child, alone, for many miles, scared and very confused as to what my role was in my mother’s life.
My mother, too, was an extremely confused being. That is why she was neglecting my basic needs as her daughter. My father wasn’t in our lives. He was an imprisoned criminal who spent most of his life behind bars.
My neglectful mother let my father into my bedroom when I was 12, at night, without any warning, in the dark. The man just got out of prison. She had him waiting for me chilling in a chair next to my bed in my bedroom, with all lights completely off, as I was coming out of a shower. I didn’t know about him being out of jail and being in my bedroom. I didn’t see him. I lay down to sleep and felt terrified as a man’s hand appeared on my naked back under covers… Even now, as I’m writing this, I cringe.
At that moment, lying in a vulnerable position on my stomach, realizing that my nacked back was being touched by my father, whom I didn’t know, who was a criminal, who didn’t know me, who had no character or good intentions, who was a stranger… I felt so scared, betrayed, endangered, and angry at my mom and at him. I couldn’t understand why they would do something like this! This was a setup… but to accomplish what? I was scared of thinking about what they were trying to do with me…
I screamed, cussed, and told him to f..k off, so he left for many more years and got arrested again. My mother told me that I was evil and persuaded everyone to believe that I kicked her loved one out of our home because I was egotistical, selfish, and controlling. After that, I realized that my mother was a total psycho and that I was completely alone in this pointless life. I tried to kill myself that year.
My mother’s neglect continued as I got older.
When I was a teen, I had an ingrown toenail. I asked my mom for help. She told me to cut it out myself and pour my urine over the wound, which I did. Red bloody flesh, aka fresh human meat, began growing out of my toe from underneath my toenail. I was in so much pain, yet, my mother refused to take me to a hospital. I had to take myself, by bus, and walk to and from the foot surgery for miles in the winter snow alone. My mother neglected me always, intentionally, driven by anger and hatred.
As far as urine… My mom believed that it had healing properties. When I got sick, as a kid, there were two options: my mother gave me either strong alcohol to drink or my own urine. This isn’t a typo. Yes, she’d make me pee into a jar and then force me to drink it. I became an alcoholic and I was physically very weak and sick.
In my late teen years, I was raped twice. I told my mother about it in our face-to-face conversation in the kitchen that summer right after it all happened. her response? She said I was lucky because now I had more sexual experience than my peers and could use it to my advantage when seducing men while looking for a husband. My mother always taught me that the purpose of my life was to be a mother and a wife, as well as that without a man, I had no inherent human value.
Deriding
Derision is an act of ridiculing or laughing at someone with a feeling of deep hatred in order to intentionally dehumanize or wound the person. I was being derided by my mother regularly. One-on-one behind closed doors and in front of others, my mother expressed deep hatred, contempt, and ridicule with indignation.
My mother’s deriding of me included mockery and taunting. Her deep desire was to provoke me in an insulting or contemptuous manner and to show me that I was worthless and helpless. What did my mother ultimately want? She just loved tormenting and torturing me because she was an evil monster. But there was something she wanted in addition to the pure pleasure of abusing me. She didn’t keep her intentions a secret. She told me that she wanted me dead. So, by deriding me with indignation on a regular basis, my mother wanted to feed off of my energy, demonstrate her power, and manipulate me into suicide.
She taunted me to reproach me in a sarcastic, insulting, and jeering manner to show her disappointment and disapproval. In fact, I can’t remember my narcissistic mother ever looking at me with approval, except when she was interrogating me about my sexual experiences and multiple orgasms. It was the only time our interaction looked like “bonding.” It became the very foundation of my sexual addiction, and detangling this later in life became the foundation of my addiction recovery and healing. I had to recognize, accept, and process the fact that I never had an actual mother, that I was raised by a monster, and that I was never loved or nurtured. Running away from facing this truth for many years did spare me from a painful heartbreak but it also prevented me from dealing with trauma and healing. Today, I own my truth, keep no dark secrets, and I am healing. By the grace of God, I am alive, alert, aware, and able.
My narcissistic mother tended to scorn me just for the sake of sucking the life out of me. I had to always be on guard, always ready to protect myself, always feeling scared and prepared to be interrogated and terrorized by my mother.
Over the years, she repeatedly, over and over, told me that she hated me and wanted me dead. Every day, my mother called me “duffer, nothing, loser, crackbrained, nature’s mistake, nonhuman, twerp, nonentity, ogre, nobody, worthless, despicable, monster, devil, brute, schizophrenic, idiot,” and many other names. My mother told me again and again that I “didn’t deserve to live.” I’m sad now when remembering her words. Yet, I see that mine is a story for God’s glory.
Scolding
My mother loved scolding me: angrily rebuking and reprimanding me. I categorized her typical brutal scolding into several categories as I was working to recall, face, and accept that these things were said to me by my very own mother. I wrote them out in Russian as these were said in Russian of course. Then, for my blog, I translated them to help other women. The term “things narcissistic mothers say” is one of the most popular searched in Google that brings readers to my website. It’s a very common issue, and often women like me can’t find any support because talking about being abused by your mother is a cultural taboo. It’s essential that we shift our thinking, accept the truth, and support the victims. That’s why I’m sharing below some examples of scolding.
Identity Attacks
I wish I got rid of you when I went to abort you
I wish you were never born
I never wanted you, you shouldn’t be here
You’re worthless and a waste of my life
You are not of this world and you don’t belong here
You are a curse to our family
You are not a part of our family, you’re a miscarriage
You are not like us, you must have been switched
You are an embarrassment, you are shame
No one loves you, there’s nothing to love about you
You’re too complicated, everyone hates you for that
No one will ever love you, you’re unlovable
Who do you think you are? You’re a daughter of a janitor
You will never amount to anything
I curse the day you were born, I want you to suffer forever
Body Shaming
You’re so ugly, look at me, I’m beautiful
I wish you were beautiful like your cousin Vika
Learn how to be beautiful by 35, otherwise, you’re stupid
You’re so ugly, have you noticed that you have no eyebrows?
You have no boobs, I wish you had boobs like your cousin Vika
Your laughter is ugly, I wish you could laugh like your cousin Yulya
You shouldn’t smile, too much gum is exposed, it’s ugly
Your teeth are so ugly, you look like a horse
Your legs are ugly, I wish you had beautiful legs like your cousin Vika
Your butt is so flat, I wish you had a nicely shaped butt like Vika
You’re sweating like your father’s sister, you’re the same kind of pig
Your arms are fat, you’re gonna have fat arms like your father’s side
Your ears are popping, you look like a monkey
You embarrass me with your ugliness, at least draw some eyebrows
You were beautiful when you slept with your teeth facing the wall
Ability Diminishing
Your hands are growing out of your ass, you can’t do anything right
You’re too deep and too intellectual, it’s annoying, be simpler
Don’t think too much of yourself, you’re not going to go far
If you want to make anything of your life, get a man
A smart woman will pick a bum and make him Prince Charming
A woman who has no Prince Charming is stupid and useless
A good woman is skilled at drinking, smoking, sex, and seduction
You have goals and ambitions? You’re delusional!
Be simple, don’t think too much, be like normal people
Have a drink, you’ll feel better about yourself!
Suicide Manipulation
The world will be a better place when you’re dead
You won’t live long, someone’s gonna kill you soon
When you’re dead, everyone will celebrate instead of mourning
You’re dead to me, you died a long time ago
Why don’t you try to kill yourself, you’ll feel better
Didn’t even succeed at suicide? Failure! Try again
You will die alone and no one will even care
I hate you and I just want you dead
Hearing those things from my mother and not having anyone there to comfort, nurture, and love me, no one at all to contradict what she was saying, I grew up heavily brainwashed, believing deeply that those things were true. I searched for love, security, acceptance, and identity for many years, especially from older men. I was looking for protection and safety. But I found even more abuse.
In the last few years, I dedicated my time, energy, and effort to healing trauma, and first I needed to acknowledge and understand what happened to me. In short, I understand and accept that I had a crazy and cruel mother-monster who hated me and did everything she could to harm me, but God had His own plan.
This is a story for God’s glory!
Tormenting
My narcissistic mother deprived me of love and affection. At the same time, she would take a kitten, bring it into my room, sit on the side of my bed in front of me, and start petting the kitten gently and affectionately for hours. She did that while refusing to even hug me. It was pure torment to watch her give affection for hours to the kittens while rejecting her own daughter. The emotional pain she intentionally inflicted on me was indescribable. She would look at me, smile sadistically, and tell me that she didn’t want to hug or hold me.
Her cruel smiles gave away the very fact that she was intentionally tormenting me, without any remorse. It happened many times. I felt rejected, unwanted, unloved, and deeply hurt. I didn’t understand why she would do that kind of thing. When I’d cry and ask, she’d tell me she gave the kittens affection and love because they were good and I was bad and didn’t deserve her affection.
Since I was a small child, my mother tormented me with threats of abandoning me, sending me to a stranger to live somewhere else forever, or giving me away, killing me, and killing herself. She also told me how she went to abort me. Several times, she told me that, actually, I wasn’t her daughter at all. She’d tell me an elaborate story of how her good daughter was switched at birth for someone else’s bad daughter — me. I never knew who I was, whose I was, or why I was here. I ended up searching for my identity for decades, lost in meaningless sexual relationships, various addictions, endless parties, and overall confusion. All I ever wanted was to have safety, stability, and security.
When I was a child, my mother’s tormenting involved creative methods aimed to cause the most intense and lasting pain to her little girl. One rainy afternoon, my bedroom window was open and my favorite toys were on the floor while I was quietly playing alone with my favorite stuffed animals. My mother walked in and began scolding and berating me for something. A few minutes later, she said she was going to hurt me, and nothing I could do to stop her. One by one, my cruel mother threw away all my favorite animal-toys into the rain and dirt out the window to torment me, and she laughed as I began to cry. I still remember the shock I experienced seeing my mother laughing and throwing my favorite stuffed friends out the window to intentionally inflict pain and suffering on me.
It seems that from the very beginning of my life, my uncertain mother was extremely confused. For years, she called my cousin Vika her daughter and she called me unspeakable names. Vika, when she was already an adult female, came to visit, while I still lived with my mother, and they both slept in one bed in my mother’s room. It was bizarre. Yet, it was a pattern: my mother loved tormenting me by spending a significant amount of time with girls my age and even sleeping in the same bed with them, as well as calling them “my favorite daughter.”
My mother only had one child: me.
When I was a teen, she brought home two girls to live with us. She told me they were complete strangers whom she found on the streets and declared that from then forward they were her daughters and that I needed to treat them as such. The three of them (my mother and the two girls) slept in one small bedroom with one bed for many months, right next to my bedroom. I felt confused, scared, betrayed, angry, and shocked.
They also carried out a smear campaign against me. The three of them would treat me as if I didn’t actually exist. They’d occupy our small kitchen for hours so that I had nowhere to eat. They would create a web of lies to gaslight me. Their compounded abuse escalated over time until one day, the girls just vanished.
It was such an incomprehensible experience to watch my mother do these tormenting things to torment me for many years… I internalized it all because I had neither the words to describe what I was going through nor anyone to talk to about my pain. I simply put on a big smile and pushed through because life went on every day, and I had to move forward with it. I detached and dissociated.
My narcissistic mother would tell me that I was forever indebted to her for having a chance at life. She demanded that I recognize my debt and acknowledge that I owed her, which I refused to do, so she’d hate me viciously. One of the worst tormenting tools used by my mother and all her family member was gaslighting. They would collectively deny reality and the things that happened. They would do it to make me doubt my sanity and force me to believe that I was crazy. It went on for decades.
I remember, as a little girl, walking into our home after playing outside and seeing my mother on the floor being held down by several ambulance workers while salivating excessively and banging her head against the floor. Her body was stretched in a hallway between the kitchen and the bathroom on the bare floor. She was screaming, but I couldn’t distinguish what exactly she was saying. It was all accompanied by tearful weeping as she was trying to get people off of her.
It was a frightening scene to witness.
I felt terrified and was devastated by what I saw and heard. I was a little but smart girl, so I had a suspicion that my mother tried to kill herself and that this was a suicide rescue. I started asking what happened. I was immediately taken away by grownups and told that what I thought I saw actually never happened.
Then, I remember everyone acted as nothing ever happened. Yet, one of my aunts, when drunk, would tell me that my mother had a breakdown episode and was crazy. Sober, the aunt would deny anything related to that situation, and all family members would tell me that I was making it all up and that “things like that never happen in our family.” Our family was regarded by our family members as a very stable, reputable, and respected family. Actually, it was regarded at school and with the local police as a “dysfunctional family.”
When I asked my mom about that episode, she got angry and defensive. She told me nothing like this ever happened to her. After that, my mother would threaten me with suicide regularly. She’d say “I’m going to hang myself on a kitchen chandelier for revenge because I hate you. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, you’ll walk into the kitchen and see me dead hanging there on the chandelier. I’ll be sure to write a suicide note, telling everyone that my death is your fault, so that everyone can hate you forever as much as I do. My death will be a burden on your soul forever, and I will always be haunting you and never let you live in peace. I want you to suffer and die from torture.”
I was very afraid of my mother.
Danger was everywhere all the time. I felt terrified, couldn’t go to sleep, and wetted my bed even at seven years old because I was so stressed and scared. I saw nightmares, gritted my teeth at night from fear, and was dissociating from reality in order to be able to cope with my horrifying life at home. I was there, but my psyche almost wasn’t. It was as if I were watching someone else’s vicious and cruel narcissist-mother do and say those mind-torturing things.
My mother told me for years only bad things about my father. Of course, that made me feel angry and resentful toward him, though I myself had never even known the guy. I was five when he showed up at our doorstep for the first time in my life. He knocked. I opened the door. He told me he was my father. I told him to f…k off.
I was groomed for that moment and taught since birth to hate my father. He left, and my narcissistic mother, for 21 years, blamed me every day with hatred and cruelty, screaming at me that I ruined her love life. She told everyone that I didn’t have a father because I kicked him out of our home. The truth was very different, of course. He was never in our lives. She never had a relationship with him.
I had never had a father and had never seen him before that summer afternoon when I was five. My father spent most of his life in prison for various crimes. He and my mother had never had a relationship even before I was born, and certainly not after my birth. She did show me their marriage certificate. I think they were married for one day. Still, my mother blamed me for ruining her personal life and being responsible for her singleness.
Ever since that Summer afternoon when I was five, my mother gaslighted me and projected her faults on me to make me feel guilty for my father’s absence in her life. She wanted me to feel worthless and suicidal, which eventually did happen: I tried to kill myself twice, at 11 and 12. After I was saved by the ambulance EMT at home, my narcissistic mother bullied me and blamed me for still being alive and encouraged me to try to kill myself for good. I never did, actually.
At 12, after my second suicide attempt, I saw a glimpse of God and hope. I decided to live, set big goals, achieve them, and leave my home forever, never speaking to my mother again. It did happen, in exactly 13 years, when I turned 25.
I moved to America…
Objectification
My mother saw me as an extension of her — an object and not a subject with my own valid and complex identity, character, feelings, needs, preferences, and boundaries. She saw me as a tradable commodity. Some days, she’d say I was her daughter, while other times, she’d denounce me and say publicly that she didn’t know me.
Many times, my narcissistic mother abandoned me on the street or public transportation saying she didn’t know who I was. I felt very scared and extremely confused. There was never any kind of stability in my life. Any day anything could happen to me, and all my relatives and neighbors would always be on my mother’s side.
My mother treated me as an object by…
Sizing me up visually and verbally every day
Comparing my appearance and abilities to that of herself, siblings, neighbors, and her friends’ kids
Calling me names: bitch, stupid, schizophrenic, duffer, nothing, loser, nonentity, nobody, twerp, worthless, traitor, the enemy of the people, miscarriage, mentally incompetent, liar, ugly, trash, etc
Fat-shaming me since I started my period and began having cellulite
Shaming me for my skin color, which was too dark for her, since my father was on a gypsies side and dark
Cutting and styling my hair unattractively and age-inappropriately; when I see my pictures from childhood, I chock from tears
Discussing my looks, boobs, butt, number of holes between my legs, my teet, ears, lazy eye, hair, and weight with others in front of me
Criticizing my eating habits when I became an adult
Blaming me for my health problems, caused by her neglect
Pushing me to dye my hair, which she began ding when I was nine years old; I actually thought all mothers did that but when I became an adult and would tell people this, their jaw would drop and eyes pop, that’s how I started having a suspicion that my mother’s behavior was odd
Neglecting to buy me clothes, shoes, and underwear; I literally had to beg for it with tears… but there was always plenty of money to buy alcohol
Neglecting my personal hygiene needs; for example, I often had such severe vaginal discharge from the only soap option she gave me that I had to be hospitalized, yet, she’d tell me to spray beer into my vagina “to kill bacteria” and not get a new soap bar… she also made me drink my urine when I was sick wit cold
Shaming me for my personal hygiene; specifically for shaving my hair off where I saw appropriate, and she actually would show me exactly where she grew her hair and how much men loved it… I’m about to vomit remembering this but I’m sharing because at this point I know this odd behavior is customary to a narcissistic mother
Teaching me that I was for me and for sex and that it was my duty to give myself to anyone who wanted me and please them; even when I was raped, she said I was lucky to have more experience
Shaming my sexuality and femininity, criticizing everything about me: how I dressed, how I laughed, how I walked, how I talked, how I smiled, how I did my makeup, how I ate, and even how I held my spoon or swallowed soup… everything was wrong with me
Sometimes, my function was to be a source of pride, especially before I turned six and people would compliment my beauty. She’d later, as I grew up, say: “You were beautiful at six when you slept with your teeth facing the wall.” Other times, my function was to be an embarrassment so that she could brag about her hard life and heroic attitude toward motherhood. I also served as a source of competition, and she demanded that I allow her to help me with my homework so she could take all the credit but I cut that short quickly and would scream and kick her out of my room to allow me to do my own studies. She always told me: “Your hands are growing out of your ass! I can do this so much better! Look at me!” In later years, she saw me as “another woman” and it was so painful to watch her try to compete with me for men’s attention when I actually needed a mother, a friend, a mentor, and a wise counsel. It’s very painful to remember how obsessed she was with multiple orgasms, always talking to me about my sex life, how many orgasms I had, and comparing herself to me, bragging how she’s better at this and that in sexual ways. It was gross. I literally cringe now while writing this, and I’m 37, I haven’t seen er for 12.5 years. Finally, on the topic of objectification, my body was not my own, from her perspective, rather it was hers to manipulate, control, violate, judge, display, reject, exploit, neglect, and abuse.
Berating
My narcissistic mother criticized every aspect of my being: privately and publicly. She told me not to smile because my teeth made me look like a horse. She mocked my laugh saying it was reminding her of “horse neigh.” She made fun of my legs (too skinny) and arms (too fat). She called me fat because at 12, with puberty, I began having cellulite on my thighs. My ears, she said, made me look like a monkey. I didn’t have enough holes between my legs, she said, so my legs were ugly. My boobs were too small, she said, and I would never find a husband. She taught me to wear a bigger bra and stuff it with cotton. I did that.
When I had various injuries throughout my childhood and would ask for help, my mother would never take me to the hospital but would berate me, telling me to stop whining because my injuries weren’t even serious. She’d blame me for all my health problems. I felt hurt, abandoned, confused, and very lonely. I didn’t understand why she’d treat me so cruelly. I just wanted to be cared for and loved unconditionally. I was a kid. I saw how other kids’ moms treat them. I felt so sad.
After one of the injuries endured, when I broke my nose at seven, ice skating with my cousin Yulya, my mother did nothing as I kept bleeding for hours. Years later, I had a nasal surgery done to separate my nasal bones, which grew together over the years, preventing me from breathing properly. I had that surgery in 2007 and was hospitalized for weeks. The doctor was drunk while operating, so he messed up my nose permanently, which I was shown by an ENT here in America through a special video camera placed in my nasals.
Back in 2007, after I was released from the hospital, I had severe yellow and green nasal congestion. I was told by the doctor to flash my sinuses regularly and push mucous out with great effort, so I did that. Every time I would go to the bathroom to flush my sinuses, my bully-mother would be waiting at the door, berating me for having the surgery, laughing, mocking me, bringing in relatives or even her friends to hear me blowing my nose and calling me names.
My monster-mother berated me for messing up my sinuses. She claimed that there was nothing wrong with my nose, to begin with, and that I never actually had any injuries and just made it all up. She blamed my health situation on me and made fun of me. She was angrily demanding that I’d stop flushing my sinuses and admit that noting was ever wrong wit my nose and that I simply made it all up.
Humiliating
My mother enjoyed humiliating me to make herself feel powerful and very important. She often demanded that I crawl on my knees following her around our home and kiss her feet. She told me I was obligated to wash her feet and drink that water. My mother explained to me that I was worthless and she was God-like for giving me life and not killing me. She believed that my life was in her hands. She regularly told me: “I gave you life and I can take it away from you!”
Dehumanizing me through the kneeling humiliation was my family’s preferred tool to boost their egos. My aunt, my mother’s youngest sister, also asked me once to kneel publicly, in the middle of my neighborhood, in front of all my friends, for an extended period of time, on hard bare asphalt, for disobeying her. She enjoyed it tremendously. The family I grew up in was sadistic and very cruel.
Many times, my mother publicly humiliated me at school, when the teacher would say that I wasn’t perfect. My mother would smack me, push me, pull me, and yell at me right in front of my teacher, who apparently also enjoyed watching the cruel humiliation of a young child. Assaulting me was my mother’s favorite thing to do.
I was humiliated many times by my mother’s drunkenness. Searching for my mother, going to her friends’ houses and having them tell me she wasn’t there while I was hearing her very voice or laughter, getting her out of parties, carrying her home, drunk, vulgar, angry, and abusive, those unfortunate experiences were extremely humiliating. Yet, I loved my mother and I wanted to be there for her. When I was young, my middle-aunt was raped and beaten. We went to the hospital when she was picked up, so I literally saw my just raped and beaten aunt, when I was a little girl. Then, we waited for her in the hospital as I was weeping. I was so scared. After that, I feared that my mother could be raped, so I was always looking for her when she wasn’t home at night, and I’d find her drunk partying carelessly, so I’d carry her home. Some of those experiences still make me cringe and cry. I feel sad that the little Russian girl had to go through all of that, endure pain, abuse, violence, humiliation, ridicule, insults, rejection, taunting, mocking, and assaults. Still, that little girl loved and adored her mother. Yes, I loved my mom.
It was humiliating to see my mother bring home a married man and sleep with him regularly right next to my bedroom, have him talk to me, flirt with me, and just be there, in our home, when everyone knew he had a wife and kids. But at least that man did have a home… One time, my mother brought home an old homeless man who didn’t even have even clothes. She told me that he was from that point on her husband and that I needed to treat him with respect accordingly.
I remember the shock I experienced hearing her say that and seeing the homeless man actually staying in our home, sleeping in her bed with her, having sex with my mother, showering in our one and only household bathroom, using our kitchen and toilet, and demanding respect from me. I felt disgusted, repulsed, scared, confused, and very angry. I was a teen. Of course, I grew up into a total rebel.
It was humiliating to be hooked up by my mother with her coworker for sex. It was humiliating when I’d share my secrets with her and hear from various strangers later on that they knew all my personal business. It was humiliating to be my mother’s daughter. But the most humiliating experience was her grooming me for sex with her. I had a hard time dealing with those memories because the very idea of mother-daughter incest is incomprehensible and humiliating to me. Yet, it’s my life. This is my truth. I own it. I accepted it. I can speak about it and don’t need to hide from it anymore. I am finally separated from my trauma. I am not my trauma. These things happened to me but they do not define me. I am no longer in bondage with my trauma.
Blaming
My mother always told me to my face that I was an unwanted accident. She blamed me for her pregnancy, for being born, for being a girl and not a boy, for her singleness, for my father having nothing to do with her, and so many other things, with which I had nothing to do. She blamed me for being a human with thoughts and feelings instead of an object for her pleasure and service. She blamed me for communicating my limits, for not submitting to her like a slave unquestionably, for setting boundaries with her, and also for having my father’s visual characteristics and his smile. My mother also blamed me for his continued absence in her life. Everything was my fault, even where she lived and worked. She blamed me for her lack of education and career as a janitor. She blamed me for the violence in our family and the conflicts between her and her narcissistic mother. She blamed me for everything under the sun. I had no perspective, mentors, church help, therapists, so my mother was the primary influence on my mind, and it was very negative.
Those beliefs were deeply embedded in my subconscious mind, and I believed all those things that she groomed me to accept as true. I was always blaming myself for my mother’s mood and that of others. I became a rescuer of people and developed the Wendy Syndrome. I later found a Peter Pan to marry. He was my mother’s age. At the time, I didn’t see as clearly as I see today, so I felt confused and trapped. But after I left Peter Pan doctor and divorced him, I began unpacking my beliefs and see the impact of my childhood on my adulthood.
My mother blamed me for wanting to pursue education and achieve big goals and for graduating from multiple universities with high honors. She was jealous of me and constantly compared herself to me. She never viewed me as her daughter but rather as a competitor, as another woman… It felt so awkward and so bizarre.
I always longed for a wise and loving mom.
My mother blamed me for having friends and social life. She wanted me to be her prisoner and serve only her needs 24/7/365. She unquestionably served grandma for decades, always there like a puppy, living with her mother for 65 years, never launching on her own, enslaved by her mother, despite grandma’s abuse and genuine hatred toward my mother. Even today, my mom calls grandma “mommy.” My mother is 65 and grandma is in her 90s. They live together.
My narcissistic mother blamed me for refusing to please her sexually and also for separating myself from her and moving to another country to be my own person, to own my own mind, to live my own life, to build my own future, and to heal from the deep wounds she inflicted on me by torturing and tormenting me for 25 years.
I wanted to find a video that would demonstrate my mother’s blaming tactic and how she also brutally abused me at the same time as she blamed me. Here’s a hard-to-watch violent phone-recorded video of a Russian mother torturing and cruelly beating her newborn baby. As she’s heating, choking, and torturing this 3-month-old baby, this mother is blaming the baby for being born and “stealing” her personal life and youth, which are my mother’s exact words. What she says is word-for-word what my mother said to me during her violent assaults.
My mother also blamed me for ruining her body.
There was a purple couch in her bedroom. The couch was in front of a three-leaved mirror. I’d be sitting on the couch. She’d get naked and get in front of the three-leaved mirror. She would get in front of me often and start examining her naked body in the mirror. She’d tell me that I was guilty of making her fat, that I was responsible for her cellulite and varicose veins, and that, had it not been for me, she would have “beautiful boobs and no belly pooch whatsoever.” She’d declare that, if it wasn’t for me, she’d have a “skinny body and beautiful legs.” Those are quotes. She demanded that I admit that I owed her. I never bought into this propaganda because I knew she had me as an accidental result of unprotected one-time sexual intercourse with a bed-ridden prison inmate. I wasn’t there to entice her to practically rape that man.
Shaming
My mother regularly compared me to others and shamed me for not being able to draw beautiful cartoons like my aunt Nadya who was nearly my age, or weave colorful funeral wreaths like my mother’s friend’s daughter Lena, or do a split like my cousin Vika, or laugh as pleasantly as my cousin Yuliya, or have anal sex like her girlfriend Tanya. Yes, my mother loved talking to me about the sex life of her girlfriends. She not only demanded that I sleep around but also that I practice the perverted sexual ideas she taught me and report to her in great detail how it all went. I did that. It was the only time she “bonded” with me.
“Shame on you!” and “You should be ashamed of yourself!” as well as “You are a shame on our family!” were all my mother’s favorite phrases. Early on, she also made sure I knew that my grandma was ashamed of me, too, because I was an “illegitimate child” since mom had me out of wedlock. She told me that grandma didn’t want me to call her “grandma” because she didn’t want to be associated with me. Indeed, many times, grandma acted like she didn’t even know me.
My narcissistic mother also shamed me for being too intelligent. This is probably the most painful part of er entire shaming habit with me. A working family, my grandparents and mother were the backbone of the communistic USSR where the intellectuals were prosecuted and executed. The Russian intellectuals were called by my family “the enemy of the people.” Physical labor was work. Intellectual labor was a myth. That was my mother’s position on things that mattered to me. Schoolwork was not work. She didn’t want me to pursue education. Sex was what she wanted me to pursue: sex and babies, not multiple university degrees and ambitious goals. And of course, I had to farm. That was unquestionable. I worked on our family’s multiple farms.
I was expected to get married to a Russian drunk and pop Russian babies left and right as a patriotic gesture and a payback to my family. However, I was instead pursuing education, writing research papers, speaking at conferences, and winning awards for my intellectual accomplishments. As I’m typing these last words I’m going to say next, tears are rolling down my cheeks because this part of my story I am still working through. They called me “the enemy of the people.” Yes… All of the members of my large family mocked, shamed, insulted, ridiculed, scorned, and reproached me just because of my educational aspirations and intellectual accomplishments. I loved school. School was my life.
In October of 2020, for the first time in my 37 years of life, I received an email from my cousin-sister Yulya. No one from that family ever emailed me, except my mother, and no family member had even stayed in touch with me (not that I’d want or allow it). To say the least, I was caught off guard when I saw my cousin’s name in Russian in my email inbox. The subject line was even more intriguing: it was a graduate-degree research paper. The email was addressed to a university professor and, I assume by accident, it was also sent to me.
Attached was Yulya’s thesis.
I started crying… My cousin, who mocked and shamed me for my intellectual pursuits and educational accomplishments, at the age of 38 now was finally pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in business herself. Just like me… And her thesis, attached to that email, was focused on marketing, which has been my career here in America.
I felt genuine grief for how many years it took her to break free from the brainwashing of my family. Also, I was rejoicing that she did actually break free, though decades later. It was a shock to me to receive that email. It was a blessing, too, because, at the same time as I was feeling sad regarding Yulya’s bullying of my intelligence, I also felt very proud of Yulya’s intelligence and her new ambition.
I decided to respond to her email with words of genuine encouragement. I congratulated my sister-cousin on her intellectual accomplishments and said I was proud of her.
Our moms didn’t go to college.
I’m glad we did.
Endangerment
My mother served me a beer when I was five. At ten, she gave me wine, vodka, and moonshine regularly, as well as allowed other adults in the household to give me cigarettes and to smoke with me, which she herself witnessed and to which she never objected. The moonshine was made at home by my mother and her relatives. There was always the smell of alcohol being made and drunks consuming it stinking up the house. I hated our ugly, stinky, dirty, mice- and bugs-infested home, with peeling ceilings and holes in the floor. My mother would see a mouse, hear me scream, and she’d laugh, bring food, and feed the mouse. She loved doing the kinds of things that terrified and upset me. She was also a hoarder and told me the mice were our family.
My mom sometimes gave me to strangers. She sent me with women-strangers to bathe for hours, naked, with dozens of naked women surrounding me as a little girl. She gave me to a stranger man who took me to his home far away for an entire day. She gave me to her girlfriend to go to the gym and be naked together with other women. I didn’t like the whole naked-women ordeal so I asserted my boundaries and said I won’t go to anything like this anymore. From that point on, I had to know where I was asked to go, with whom, who else was going to be there, what exactly we were going to be doing there and for how long, as well as what the agenda was and why.
Some people say I’m too intense and too controlling. Well… If you’ve never walked in my shoes, you don’t understand. Yes, I am intense, and there’s a reason for it. For someone to be laidback, they’d need to feel safe since childhood and have security. I didn’t. My mother endangered me many times, so, as a kid, I had to look after myself, and yes, that prevented m from becoming laidback and chill, so yes, I am very intense. Even as I’m writing about my experiences now, my heart hurts and I feel a little bit of free-floating terror present in my chest and neck. My neck is burning right now from stress. My experiences are why I’m intense. There’s been no safe place for me as I was growing up.
There was danger everywhere all the time.
Some people today call me “high-maintenance” but there’s a reason for my approach to life, and whoever never lived through dangerous situations as a kid, as I did, simply can’t ever understand my boundaries. I’ve been through a lot, and it was completely up to me always to ensure my own safety. No one ever had my best interest in mind when I was growing up. Endangering me was my mother’s intention and desire. She loved seeing me hurt, injured, and defeated.
When I was a teen and already had boobs, my mother began inviting me to sleep on her job site with dozens of grownup out-of-town men who slept inside that same building on the same floor. My mother would leave me there in the dark, in the bedroom, completely alone, without any supervision, while she herself was working around the building at night as a janitor. I felt very awkward and scared. It felt like a setup for trouble. I didn’t have a good feeling about it. I was very guarded because I knew how dangerous the environment where my mom placed me actually was. The old creeps who stayed in that building flirted with me, made inappropriate comments about my body, and suggestively harassed me. My mom would laugh. When I’d express my boundaries and tell the men that their comments were inappropriate, my mother would scold and scorn me for being “rude” and taking myself “too seriously.” I quote. Being around my mother was dangerous.
Eventually, she hooked me up with one of her coworkers, insisting that I have sex with him, which I did. I was 16. He was 24. My mom was excited about her “success” setting up our hookup. It was fun for her. Somehow, since my childhood, I involuntarily was a part of my mom’s sexual fantasies and an object of her lustful perverted obsessions. She ended up flirting with that guy while also insisting that I date him, which I did. When I was already in America, he reached out to me on social media telling me about his feeling for my mom… I can’t even imagine what happened behind my back but I thank God that I regularly checked for STDs. For the last many years, I’ve lived a single and celibate life and finally can separate myself mentally from all those bondages.
Complaining
I was always the subject of my mother’s cruelty. Never have I heard my mother say anything positive of affirming about me to either me or anybody else. In fact, whenever someone would say something encouraging to me or about me, she would immediately combat it and discredit their words by putting me down.
In 2015, after being in America for seven straight years already, I was talking to my mother on the phone, listening to her complaining to me about me. I asked her: “Mom, do you have any good memories about your daughter at all?” She replied: ‘There’s nothing good to remember about you.” It hurt so much!
I left my mother in 2008, emigrated from Russia to America, and never returned or even visited for a day or two. In the last 12.5 years of detoxing my psyche from my mother’s poison, I slowly began to heal. I still talked to her sometimes and sent her money up until mid-2020 when she cruelly scolded and scorned me over Skype, after which I permanently blocked her on Skype, phone, YouTube, and email.
My mother always told my relatives, neighbors, teachers, and even friends what a terrible person I was, how unfortunate she was for having me, and what a difficult life I created for her. I felt scared of her negativity, aggressively harassed by her, terrified of her violence, angry with her abuse, and rebellious against any and all of her rules. In my early twenties, drunk and rebellious, I ended up locked up in jail for a night. Those memories give me a great perspective on what my life could have turned out to be, so I feel deep gratitude for the beautiful, healthy, peaceful, authentic, God-led life I live here in America in my 30s, praising Jesus for my salvation and redemption.
I often think of myself as a pickle preserved by God in an invisible bullet-proof jar to carry me into my mid-30s where I could finally live peacefully and joyfully, standing on God’s promises, resting in His sacred peace, and giving Him all the glory for my story.
My narcissistic mother told me that she wanted people to hate me the way she hated me. Sometimes, when I was very little, my mother would show me affection and care for me when I was very sick. In fact, she loved it when I was sick. She’d tell everyone about her unfortunate fate of having a sick child, making sure she played a superhero to elicit praise and admiration in response to her complaining.
My mother ensured that I was sick very often so that she could have more opportunities to complain, especially when I was hospitalized. That was heaven for her because, in a hospital room, I was placed with 12–17 other women, all of whom could hear my mother’s complaining and give her the narcissistic supply of praise, admiration, and compliments, which she craved every day non-stop and demanded it from me, for years sucking the life out of me.
People in the hospitals where I stayed would admire and compliment my mother in exchange for the devastating stories of what a hard life she had as a single mom on welfare doing her best to raise an unmanageable and ungrateful daughter (me).
My narcissistic mother played a humble woman who dearly loved her sick daughter. Needless to say, I had a host of illnesses when I was little and many people hated me, indeed, thanks to my mom’s heart-wrenching stories of what a terrible child I was.
Her eloquent smear campaign against me was a huge success. But when I went to college, though I still lived at home, I had my own life, more so independent from her because I worked three jobs, making and keeping my own money.
Still, well into my twenties, thanks to my mother’s complaining, I continued being extremely sick and was hospitalized for up to three weeks at a time, several times a year, year after year. Today, I’m 37, healthy, safe, live at peace, and feel gratitude and joy.
Misleading
My mother was supposed to be my solid rock and wise counsel. But she wasn’t. Not only did she mislead people to believe lies about me, but also she taught me to lie to people, to manipulate relatives, to be rude to the neighbors, and to abandon friendships instead of trying to work through relational conflicts.
When I was in the first grade, I remember coming home from school, walking into the kitchen distressed, and asking my mom for guidance in regards to a conflict that happened between me and my classmate that day. It was a sunny afternoon. I remember waiting for my mom to lead and guide my thinking.
But my narcissistic mother’s “wise counsel” never developed or evolved. She said to me: “F..k that friend! She won’t be in your life forever. She is temporary and not that valuable anyway. Go find a new friend!” Initially, I was shocked but eventually, this became exactly what I did. Why? Because my mother’s “wise counsel” was the only one I had. There were no therapists, churches, mentors, wise older sisters or aunts or Godmothers or grandmothers in my life. My mother was the authority. Her misleading guidance was all that was available to me.
When I launched on my own and left Russia at 25, I had to figure out life, relationships, money, career, health, self-care, identity, habits, and myself on my own. I had to learn everything good I know today but, before I did, I had to identify and remove everything bad, poisoning, negative, destructive, toxic… all the things my mother planted in my headspace during our 25 years together.
Neediness to say, I grew up to get married and divorced three times. It’s taken many years to recognize, acknowledge, confront, and heal my vicious mother’s misleading and harmful unwise counsel, which has been embedded deeply in my subconscious mind, with strong roots, blossoming with poison, spoiling my life.
I am 37 years old now.
Regularly, I receive letters from women around the world sharing the horrors they’ve lived through, misguided, brainwashed, manipulated, abused, and violated by their mothers. These kinds of things are extremely hard to communicate because the shock and the terror we as daughters of narcissistic mothers experience cannot be put into mere words in any language. But even when we do find some words to describe some of our experiences, feelings, and trauma, people have a hard time believing our unbearable horror stories.
Why?
Because it’s inconvenient and bothersome to face the truth about our life stories and hear how our mothers hate us viscously and cruelly, genuinely wishing us pain, suffering, and death. Most people prefer to believe wholeheartedly in the utopian ideal that every mother is nurturing, kind, and loves her daughter, genuinely wishing her well. It’s a very naive idea and is completely disconnected from the actual reality of human existence on earth.
To raise awareness of the truth, I write on this blog about my experiences with my own birth-mother who raised me in an environment of anger, violence, hatred, adultery, disrespect, addictions, rejection, and abuse. It’s scary but we do need to face the truth. I write about my experiences so that every woman who is going through the same kind of horrors knows that she is not alone, that there is someone in the world who knows how she feels, that there’s hope in Christ, healing, and God’s amazing grace, love, and redemption.
Smothering
My narcissistic mother smothered me in every way possible. She tortured my body, she tormented my mind, she hijacked my emotions, she stripped me of my human dignity, and she violated every imaginable aspect of my boundaries, including my sexuality and femininity. After 25 years of misery, living with my mother and her mother in our real-life “house of horrors,” I left Russia forever, a severely traumatized woman who coped with everyday existence by being maniacally-happy all the time, trapped in toxic positivity, avoiding herself by the means of various addictions, especially alcohol and sex, and focusing primarily on being a high achiever. I didn’t allow myself to feel anything but intense jolliness.
I had to heal from smothering by becoming fully human, allowing myself to feel my emotions, and accepting my sorrow, grief, fears, regrets, longings, and, of course, anger.
My mother searched for, found, accessed, and read my journals, showing them to me in my face, reading to me from my journals, telling me that I can’t have privacy or safety or security and that she can violate any boundaries I try to establish.
As she would do those cruel things, she would look me in the eye with a smirk, and she would laugh. When I showed my shock and fear, she indulged with pleasure in shuttering my psyche. My mother was a conscience-lacking monster. Here’s an article that describes the exact relationship my mother had with me, only this mother was jailed, and my mother was never held accountable. Read “Mother from hell who abused daughter from day she was born jailed for three years.” There are two things my heart is longing for: a good mm for me and for my actual mother to be held accountable. Neither will ever happen, and on my healing journey, I had to accept this truth.
In 2016, I married the same kind of sadistic conscience-lacking monster who became my third and last husband. Michel knew that I had Complex PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and needed reassurance of the safety and security of our home. Indulging in his cruel mental games, Michel would show me how he was able to open any door lock easily, demonstrating to me in practice that I couldn’t have safety and security in our marital residence, from which he tried to exile me a few months after our wedding, explaining that he changed his mind and “didn’t want to be married anymore.”
One night, I saw that Michel placed a ladder outside my bathroom window to watch me naked in the shower. I discovered the ladder after it had already been there for a while. We had split and already lived in two separate bedrooms. When I asked Michel why he put the ladder outside my bathroom window, he laughed. I insisted that he’d remove it. Michel laughed. With cruel sadistic pleasure, he loved manipulating my psyche and witnessing my terror. Realizing after I married Michel Szabo that I was practically married to the same monster as my mother, I felt completely devastated and suicidally depressed.
Michel loved smothering me to fuel his ego.
Mother enjoyed smothering me to feel powerful.
This pattern was scary to realize.
I felt confused and trapped.
That’s why I spent years unveiling my trauma.
Now, I can see clearly. I’m not confused.
No longer do I feel trapped either.
But marriage to Michel was certainly hell.
One night, during our divorce, when we already lived in separate bedrooms, without a knock, he opened the door in my bedroom, got into my bed where I was sleeping at 3 am, and took advantage of me sexually. After that, Michel proceeded to give me the silent treatment, ignore me, and discard me for the pleasure of manipulating my mind with his clear and loud message of gradual dehumanization and invalidation. Unlike my mother, Michel also had access to my paycheck, so he smothered me financially as well, just like my mother during my early years when she took and spent all my money.
Being smothered by my mother and then by Michel was unbearable. I write a lot about freedom and independence through my poetry today. It’s because I know what it’s like to not have freedom, to be robbed of human dignity, to be trapped in abuse, to be violated and feel voiceless, to also feel hopeless, and to want to die because of complete and total despair from unbearable pain. I have lived through all those experiences and I wanted to die many times. Today, I love life.
Jealousy
My mother told me openly that she did not love me, did not like me, did not want me, hated me, and wished to see me dead. I explained what it was like to grow up hearing these things and provided many helpful insights in my essay called “Being the Child of a Narcissistic Mother.” She compared herself to me, competed with me, and was openly jealous of me. It started when I was five years old and for the first time began establishing boundaries with her.
It happened after she molested me.
She couldn’t take it and resented my boundaries because she never set boundaries with her mother and expected the same kind of enmeshed relationship and total submission from me. In fact, she didn’t even see me as a human with feelings or an independent mind. Yet I was always my own person, thinking on my own two feet.
My narcissistic mother compared herself to me all the time in every imaginable (makeup and the shape of the thighs) and unimaginable way (sexuality and the shape of pubic hair). Her comparison escalated from art and sewing skills to sexual performance and the ability to have multiple orgasms. At first, she told me she was able to knit and sew better than me, then, that her pubic hairstyle was better than mine, and then that men liked her better than me. I felt very awkward.
She regularly told me that my ambition, intelligence, and confidence irritated her. She’d say “I was never like this, I’m simple, so you need to be simple, too!” She ridiculed me and mocked the way I talked about the books I read or the new things I learned. She berated me for everything and didn’t want to hear about anything I was interested in, except for my sex life. My mother was obsessed with sex.
She criticized me in every imaginable and unimaginable way. When I had boyfriends, she’d tell me they liked her more than me because she’s better than me. I could never understand why she wanted to be adored by my boyfriends since she was so old and regularly condemned men. In fact, almost on a daily basis, she told me “all men are as…oles”. I guess I still believed back then in my mother’s goodness or even innocence. I excused her behavior by her hard work and tiredness. In reality, she was a hateful cruel sick pervert. I didn’t see it though.
My mother would demand that I sleep with men and then tell her about my sexual experiences in great detail. When she saw me going on a date, she’d say: “Go have orgasms for both me and you because I never got to have one!” Her demands would make me feel obligated to sleep around for the sake of her approval and at least an illusion of bonding with my mother. I always longed for a meaningful relationship with her. Yet, it never happened for me and it never will. This year, in 2020, at 37, I was able to accept this harsh truth for the first time… and grieve. In my recent essay called “Honest Answers to 20 Frequently Asked Questions About Narcissistic Mothers” I elaborate on everything I have slowly realized about my mom and our relationship.
My mother was jealous of my friends and even try to build coalitions with them against me. She was jealous of my educational accomplishments and did everything she could to create obstacles to my success.
She tried to talk me out of going to college, telling me that I needed to be a janitor like her and find a man to make babies with and provide for me. She would tell me a man who’d become my ATM machine. While today I’m an almost 40 years old adult woman and have a comprehensive perspective on life, myself, other people, and relationships, at that time, I was very young, and my mother was the main influence in my life, showering me with mental poison daily non-stop.
She was jealous of my beauty and had a habit of criticizing me in the morning right before school to reassure me that I was ugly and nothing special. She called me names, bullied me, shamed me, and demanded that I become beautiful. She told me repeatedly “If you don’t learn how to be beautiful by 35, you’re stupid.”
She used to chase me to the front door, smash my makeup, and demand that I redo it instead of going to school. To get out in the morning and go to school often was a war-like ordeal for me. I loved school, and my narcissistic mother was jealous of that, too. In fact, she told me that smart women end up going insane. She told me how there was a girl in her class on an honor roll, like me, who after the high school lost her mind and was admitted to a crazy house. My mother dreamed that I ditch school and make babies for her to abuse them.
At 17, I was discovered by a photographer, invited to beauty pageants, and even won my first-ever international trip, which was fully paid and absolutely incredible. During my life season of beauty pageants, I learned that I was beautiful. I didn’t believe it for a long time, so it took many people to repeatedly say this to me, and then I began believing in my beauty, slowly, one step at a time.
While in another country on that fully-paid exotic trip all by myself at 18 years old, I experienced brief healing while separated enough from my narcissistic mother.
That was how I realized that I wanted to move as far away from my mother as possible as soon as possible. Seven years later, I left Russia and my mother. Glory to God!
Dehumanization
My mother’s goal was to persuade me that I wasn’t even a legitimate human being. She wanted to use me as a thing, an object, a tradable commodity. She wanted me to disregard my own feelings, goals, values, believes, and interests for the sake of hers. She always told me that I did not belong here on earth and had no right to live.
I remember being in my first year of law school in 2005 and for the first time hearing about an inherent human dignity and the inseparable human right to life and physical integrity. I still can feel my mental shock: everything slowly coming together in my mind. Enduring decades of my mother’s sexual, emotional, spiritual, mental, financial, and physical abuse, I could hardly comprehend the idea of me having a right to live or having any inherent dignity…
I still cry when I remember that moment in the classroom realizing viscerally that I was a human being and had rights, assigned to me by the constitution and not requiring my mother’s approval. It was nothing short of a revolution for my psyche.
My mother repeatedly told me since I was very little that I wasn’t a human, and she treated me accordingly. The dehumanization did not stop after I grew up. My mother’s attempts to dehumanize me continued even in 2020 during our last Skype call when she berated me for not being willing to stay in daily contact with her and refusing to be continuously reporting on everything happening in my life as soon as I wake up. This was her exact word-for-word demand. I rejected my mother’s insane manipulation, stating that I have my own life and would never do something like what she was demanding but that I was doing my best to communicate with her regularly, send her money, and share pictures with her. At that point, my mother began screaming at me that I was “not a human.” I clearly and calmly asserted my boundaries once again. She hung up on me. That night, at 11 pm, I finally realized that I have had enough of my mother. I blocked her Skype, phone number, and email permanently in a way that her messages don’t even reach my junk mail or trash box. After that, I began doing the excruciatingly-painful internal work of facing my past in such great detail that would allow me to put together the puzzle of my life and look at it with a sober mind.
The result is this article.
I was seeking to understand why, after all the abuse and all the pain I had already endured due to my mother’s hatred, cruelty, and violence against me, I still was hoping that she would change. I wanted to know why I still was longing for her acknowledgment, acceptance, affirmation, and approval.
I desired to know why she still had my heart.
My narcissistic mother dehumanized me by showing me and telling me that I was nothing. When I was a teen, my mother attacked me with a knife, she chaises me with an axe, she spilled hot boiling cooking oil right out of a frying pan onto my legs one morning, while I was making breakfast… She brought home strangers to drink alcohol for hours at a time when I was little, drinking to the point of unconsciousness. She would abuse me in front of relatives, friends, and her drinking buddies as if I were her feelingless punching bag.
She brought her random strangers, even married men, and had sex with them right next to my bedroom, being inappropriately loud, not caring about the mental health of her child, acting as if I not only didn’t matter as a human being growing up in her custody but also as if I didn’t even actually exist at all. I could never comprehend… I was a thing that provided my mother with child support from the government, and she told people she gave me birth just so when she becomes old and disabled, there would be someone to take care of her.
Well… Unfortunately, her plan failed terribly.
I moved 5,521 miles away.
She’s permanently blocked from contacting me.
Debauchery
My mother sexualized me since I was five years old. Back then, she would tell me about sex and how I would need to be sexually-prepared to hunt for a husband using my body as bait so that I could become a mother and a wife. Yes, my mother taught me that my body was bait for men. Until just a few years ago, I genuinely didn’t know that I had any inherent value as a human being.
I was always treated as a tradable commodity so I thought of myself as such. My narcissistic mother persuaded me that I was nothing without men. Men of course saw in my behavior how I felt about myself. I had to learn about my humanity and dignity, accept it, change my identity, and completely transform all my beliefs.
My transformation took six years.
The way to get a man, according to my mother’s sophisticated daily brainwashing, was through sex. I was for men and for sex. That was what she taught me. At five, she left me in a small bathtub with my two cousins Yulya and Vika who molested me and taught me cunnilingus. Today, at 37 years old, I can only imagine what my cousins endured in their childhood as a part of that evil family in order to do that to me as their little sister-cousin. All of us were pregnant as teens.
The girls had abortions.
I suffered a miscarriage at 17.
My mother watched hard-core porn films in my presence when I was not even in elementary school yet. She also encouraged me to read a pornography book called “Emmanuel” about sodomy, in which women, men, and entire groups of adults had sex with children. My narcissistic mother also took me to the movie theaters with her whenever she went to watch porn. I was very little.
I explain the details of my mother’s obsession with sex in an essay called “Raised by a Narcissistic Mother to Be a Sex Addict.” In elementary school, I was already masturbating in front of other kids and my teacher by fidgeting in a chair with my butt positioned on top of a little orange jacket during a study session.
I did what I was taught to do, what I witnessed at home, what was shown to me, and what I was told I had to learn how to do. My elementary school teacher was frightened when she witnessed my public masturbation. She called me bad… but I wasn’t bad. This kind of sexual behavior is extremely common among sexually-abused children but it was taboo to discuss. Here’s an article about childhood masturbation.
In my neighborhood, there were many kids. We would all work together to organize concerts for the elderly neighbors. Our microphones were hair spray cans. We’d dress up for performance wearing parents’ clothing and shoes. We all played together. I remember that, by my family members, we kids were encouraged to French-kiss…
My mother encouraged me to explore sexuality and indulge in bodily pleasure. She was obsessed with the idea of multiple orgasms, which eventually became the vehicle for the rapid escalation of my sex addiction. Combined with my alcoholism, which was born and developed in the four walls of my childhood home, my addictions cocktail led me to hit the rock bottom in 2014, when I already lived in America on my own. That was when I became a Christian.
I invited Jesus into my heart and asked God to change me. He did. This Christian ministry was born in 2017 as God called me to help other women who’ve experienced the same abuse and are suffering today. I wrote two insightful essays called “Living with a Narcissistic Mother Resulted in C-PTSD” and “Being the Child of a Narcissistic Mother Led to OCD” where I elaborated on just some of the damage to the mental health of daughters of narcissistic mothers.
If you’d like to support the work I’m doing in God’s kingdom, donate now. Your donations are the only way to continue raising awareness of trauma and offering God’s healing, ultimately helping alleviate suicide among women globally by sharing hope in Christ.
When I was sixteen, my narcissistic mother couldn’t wait for me to have sex. I held on to my virginity but gave it away one night in the Summer of 1999 while drinking heavily with my cousin-sister Yulya, her boyfriend Valik, and his friend Roma.
I remember bottles of vodka, heavy rain, hearing my cousin Yulya having sex with Valik, being seduced by her boyfriend’s friend, and feeling shocked. I couldn’t believe what happened. It was the first and the last time I ever saw the guy. I was 16.
After that night, my mother encouraged me to have a lot of sex with many different men to gain a “valuable experience.” She persuaded me to hook up with my former classmate Andrey, with whom I was watching my girlfriend’s dog for a few days, so I can the key to her home. Andrey and I began skipping college classes together to indulge in sex. We continued doing the same at his place later on while his parents were at work. My mom was finally happy: I prioritized sex over school, which was what she wanted all those years.
We were sixteen but Andrey already had a daughter. It was the child of his neighbor who was an older lady. She was married to a local police officer. While her husband was at work, that female-pedophile regularly molested Andrey at only 12 years old. When he was 13, she got pregnant and had a baby girl, right next door to where Andrey lived with his picture-perfect family who always bragged about their life. My mother encouraged us to have sex because she wanted to be liked by Andrey’s parents and she hoped I would make babies for her.
Yet, my mother’s obsession with Andrey only lasted until she decided to hook me up with her coworker Vova who was from a nearby town of Zheleznogorsk. She introduced us, and the brainwashing began. Her obsession with Vova escalated. She insisted that I have sex with him. The next thing I knew, I was sleeping with my mom’s coworker. I was only 16. He was 24. My mother was ecstatic.
One snowy winter night, I was out with Andrey, who lived less than a mile away. I come home with him very late, and my mother is there waiting to whisper secrets to me. When I heard what she said, cold blood started running through my veins…
I could hardly wrap my head around the situation in my home, intentionally created by my perverted mother. What happened? I will try my best to describe the horror.
Right there and then, my mother already had my other boyfriend Vova sleeping in my bedroom without my knowledge or approval. He came from out of town and she just let him into my bed. When I came home with Andrey, my mother told me to bring Andrey to her bedroom and have sex with him there while Vova was asleep in my bedroom, and then, she suggested, I would go have sex with Vova. All this took place in our home, with my grandmother and other adults present, and I did exactly what my mother suggested.
It was all normal for our family.
Those learned mindsets and behaviors impacted my personal life for many years. At 17, I got pregnant from a 28-year-old man, with whom my mother loved hanging out and whom I barely knew. That pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. I have never been pregnant again for the last 20 years. I know I will never have children. I live a single and celibate life now, fully dedicated to Jesus Christ and His calling.
Stalking
My narcissistic mother was always a master manipulator and a stalker. She would stage any drama to get attention in order to fuel her narcissistic ego. Nothing was off-limits with my mother. Manipulating my friends, creating fake online personas, finding people in my circle overseas, emailing to those close to me and blackmailing me, asking strangers to forward her messages to me… She’s done it all, and, at one point, I felt completely overwhelmed by the unbearable stalking and its incomprehensible extent. On October 21st of 2020, I even permanently deleted my Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Yelp accounts.
After I moved to America, my narcissistic mother stalked me in more ways than I could have imagined she’d come up with. Don’t ever underestimate your narcissistic mother! She found people in Atlanta and reached out to them online directly through both American and Russian social networks. She figured out people in my circle from my social media tags on posts, and she started following them and commenting on their content. Through social media, my mother even began manipulating people, who were close to me here in America, into a friendship with her, requesting that they brainwash me into a relationship with her. Once that happened, I always disconnected from my former friends. I’ve had to block people over the years due to my mother’s relentless stalking.
I have received many messages through the Russian social media site Odnoklassniki from people asking me to call my mother, or even forwarding me her long and very hateful messages addressed to me. Years ago, I permanently deleted my profile from that platform. It was then that I began receiving multiple Facebook requests from various Facebook profiles with my mother’s name. The scenario was always the same: to lure me into a conversation through manipulation and then attack me, harass me, blame and shame me, and suck the life out of me. During our last interaction in early 2020, began seeing my own funeral and grave in my nightmares about my narcissistic mother.
I’ve blocked dozens of Facebook profiles with my mother’s name. The same was with Instagram, only there, in addition to me, my mother was stalking and befriending the people she saw in my pictures. Multiple messages were sent to me by my spooked friends. In 2020, I permanently deleted Facebook and Instagram. It was a good decision.
My narcissistic mother created a Google account with my Russian name and a picture of me. She was contacting people pretending to be me. When I personally saw this, I was speechless. I felt so violated and completely overwhelmed by the conscious realization of what a crazy psycho my mother is, which was almost incomprehensible for me personally because I did love my mother, hoping that someday she’d become peaceful, nurturing, and loving. This phenomenon is described in detail and the reasons are explained in the article “Narcissistic Abuse Victim Syndrome” where I provide insights into the psyche of a person surviving abuse for any length of time, especially decades.
My narcissistic mother’s stalking is painful to recall and hard to describe. Writing this, I feel sad, angry, overwhelmed, scared, agitated, and resentful. What helps me is recognizing and labeling my feelings so that I can remain separated from them and they don’t take my headspace over. I created a helpful resource called “a List of Feelings” to enable this emotional work and promote mental health.
I began receiving emails from my mother a few years ago: long, hate-filled word-vomits, which I was deleting without reading. In 2016, while at Piedmont Park taking my engagement pictures with my then soon-to-be and now ex-husband Michel, I began receiving text messages about my mother being in a hospital, telling me that she fell and broke her spine. This was the script she used to get attention.
How repulsive!
I knew it was a setup to disrupt my wedding as my narcissistic mother stayed in contact with my former friend from Atlanta. It was disturbing. Her stalking and harassment sent me into a panic immediately because at the time I didn’t fully understand my story or its impact on my psyche. Today, I’m more protective of myself but also I have a much greater understanding of my mother’s abuse. Also, today, I have a visceral knowledge that I am not my trauma, my trauma is not here, it’s in the past, and I’m in the present, safe and secure.
Harassment
Growing up in my childhood home in Russia, which was also my mother’s childhood home, I felt confused and terrified at all times because of my mother’s unstoppable harassment. I remember coming home from school and taking a nap. Mother opened my bedroom door, walked in, and began physically harassing my body while screaming what an irresponsible and ungrateful person I was for not doing all the household labor there was to do every day.
We had no dishwasher, no washer and dryer, everything had to be done by hand. It was my responsibility to clean, do laundry, do dishes, cook, labor on the farm, iron clothes, bedding, curtains, etc. Mother was harassing me for years, demanding heavy labor from me, even as a child, which I did provide, only it was never good enough for my narcissistic mother’s unrealistic expectations.
Yelling at and slapping a sleeping person was something that took place in my mother’s home regularly for many decades: grandma did that to grandpa. We all witnessed it.
My mother yelled at me regularly when I was asleep. She’d pull me, drag me, or scream for me to immediately wake up and serve her needs. I’d get up terrified and immediately face her drama unfolding in my bedroom. My mother was always disappointed with when and how I slept. It was always imperfect. She’d scold me for sleeping too long or not enough, demand that I stay up all night jarring pickles with her and demand that I had to be in bed by 10 pm…
Life, sleep, eating, and reading could only be on my mother’s schedule and only for short periods. Sleeping was always a huge problem. As a result of my narcissistic mother’s continuous harassment, I’d wake up in terror and often with rapid heartbeat, intense short breathing patterns, chest pain, and uncontrollable tears running down my cheeks. Even here in America, in my late 20s, I still experienced this.
Years later, I married the same kind of sadistic maniac who sleep-deprived me for months, driving me to insanity by preventing me from sleep. Michel would come home at 12 am, then leave home at 4 am, slamming doors, shaking the house by opening and closing the garage door multiple times, playing loud music and singing, spraying the entire house with men’s cologne, all to prevent me from sleeping. Sleep abuse is a common narcissistic abuse tactic ought to exhaust the victim, making her more receptive to the abuse.
My mother sleep-deprived me by forcing all-night labor on me: cooking, jarring produce for the winter, peeling huge amounts of potatoes, entertaining her, and being her punchbag. Of course, I had to go to school every morning…
I remember my friend Olya came over while I was napping in my bed one late afternoon. My mother simply let Olya into my bedroom. She didn’t see me as a human who needed privacy. She didn’t recognize that I had boundaries. She let anyone into my bedroom any time, without consulting me. Olya woke me up as she sat on the side of my bed and stared at me. I opened my eyes and began weeping intensely while hyperventilating. It was not because of Olya but because of my mother’s abuse, especially sleep abuse, and chronic harassment.
My mother always let people into my bedroom without any warning: relatives, strangers, friends… I remember waking up at night and seeing my grandmother’s evil sister standing there, looking at me, doing something with her hands, and whispering spells and curses at me. I felt terrified and had to become angry quickly to kick her out. I was just a little girl who was completely alone in life with no one standing up for her ever. To protect and defend myself, I had to always get angry, scream, and become very defensive. Calm conversations in normal human language didn’t happen in our household. It was a war-like environment where I was a soldier to defend my dignity at all costs.
Eventually, I demanded a lock on my door and spent a lot of time locked in my room alone to feel at least a brief illusion of privacy and safety while doing my school work, reading, journaling, or changing my clothes. I had to typically plug my ears with earplugs to escape the typical screaming and fighting, which happened 24/7 in our home among all relatives. It is so hard to imagine how a little girl survived there. Yet, I did, thanks to God’s good plan, protection, provision, and purpose for my life. God preserved me like a pickle in the invisible heavy-duty jar of His amazing endless grace. When I think about it, my heart melts.
In recent years, since I moved to America, to harass me, my mother created multiple online profiles on Facebook, Google, and Instagram, reaching out to both me and my friends. She also created a Google profile with my Russian name and a portrait picture of me, pretending to be me. In 2020, my mother was emailing me up to 30 times a day, and eventually, I completely blocked her.
The free-floating fear I felt every day at home was always present, and the residue of it is still here with me in America today at 37. Only I can now recognize it for what it is and acknowledge it without letting it hijack my psyche. That is the case most of the time, though just a couple of weeks ago, there was a panic attack I experienced when my neighbor Flame showed me a YouTube clip from the movie “Precious.” Seeing how the cruel mother hatefully called her innocent daughter “bitch” while explaining why and how she molested her daughter, I cried and shook uncontrollably, my body collapsed on the floor.
It took a lot of mental and physical effort to conquer my flashback that evening and to come back into my current safe and secure reality, to America, to Atlanta, to 2020, to my peaceful and beautiful home on the River where I have security and peace. This for me is an everyday work of battling C-PTSD as the result of decades of chronic abuse and trauma. Being able to do the work in order to heal allows me to gradually get better. Finding the words to describe those traumatic events and explaining how they impacted me propels me to the next level of healing because it allows me to separate me from trauma.
Brainwashing
Perhaps the hardest thing to understand, from my perspective of being a liberated 37-year-old free-thinking woman in America, is the concept of obligatory patriotic procreation. It’s the idea my mother imposed on me since I was a little girl. She told me that we, as Russian women, owed it to our country to mate with the Russian men to procreate for the sake of our country’s wellbeing and strength. Yes, I was asked to have sex in the name of “mother Russia.” I explained this cultural phenomenon in my article about sexualized Russian poetry.
My mother explained that after World War II, the ratio of men to women in our country was 1 to 5, so four women out of five simply did not have an opportunity to have their own man and needed to sleep with other women’s men. I did that.
Today, as I think back about those confusing experiences, I understand how powerful brainwashing can be, resulting in people getting trapped permanently in dangerous cults or political propagandas, which manipulate and exploit innocent minds of unsuspecting victims. It is especially powerful when the one doing the brainwashing is the victim’s primary caregiver who is supposed to offer guidance on how to live life productively and provide wise counsel. My narcissistic mother was unfit for the job and so she wasn’t able to counsel me effectively or at least sufficiently. I was very confused.
Silencing
My narcissistic mother didn’t want me to speak up. She was afraid of me revealing to people her sexual misconduct with me as my mother. Also, she hated my intellectual debates with her because she wanted me to “be simple.” So, she silenced me.
These are the ways, in which my mother silenced me.
Calling me crazy in my face. My narcissistic mother regularly told me “You’re saying too many words, be simpler, no need to talk so much, your words do not matter, keep your opinions to yourself, stop thinking you’re special! You’re delusional! You’re schizophrenic.” My mother’s words mattered a great deal to me and actually programmed me to get anxious and hyperventilate whenever I’d share my honest opinion. Still to this day, it’s very hard to share my opinion or disclose how I feel, though I’m 37 and have been on my healing journey for 6.5 years. I’m working now on identifying my authentic voice.
My narcissistic mother regularly told me “You’re saying too many words, be simpler, no need to talk so much, your words do not matter, keep your opinions to yourself, stop thinking you’re special! You’re delusional! You’re schizophrenic.” My mother’s words mattered a great deal to me and actually programmed me to get anxious and hyperventilate whenever I’d share my honest opinion. Still to this day, it’s very hard to share my opinion or disclose how I feel, though I’m 37 and have been on my healing journey for 6.5 years. I’m working now on identifying my authentic voice. Telling people I was crazy. My narcissistic mother told people that I was crazy so that they should disregard whatever I said against her. This began when I was five after she molested me but I refused to submit to her sexual demands. When I would share what I was going through, not only did people didn’t believe me but also they’d doubt my character, questioning why I’d say things that weren’t true about my mother who “worked so hard” and was “a single mom doing her best.” That was how people invalidated me due to my mother’s smear campaign against me. I got quiet and lost respect for adults around my family. I became rebellious and angry, but my authentic voice was buried.
My narcissistic mother told people that I was crazy so that they should disregard whatever I said against her. This began when I was five after she molested me but I refused to submit to her sexual demands. When I would share what I was going through, not only did people didn’t believe me but also they’d doubt my character, questioning why I’d say things that weren’t true about my mother who “worked so hard” and was “a single mom doing her best.” That was how people invalidated me due to my mother’s smear campaign against me. I got quiet and lost respect for adults around my family. I became rebellious and angry, but my authentic voice was buried. Leveraging triangulation . My narcissistic mother argued and held screaming matches with me daily for decades. She would bring another person into the mix in an attempt to “stack the deck” in her favor. To make herself seem more credible and to invalidate my opinions, experiences, and feelings, she’d say” “I’m gonna call grandma now, and she will confirm that I’m right!” or “If you don’t agree with me right now, I’m gonna go get your friend and bring her here to tell you that I’m right!” or “If you don’t do what I say, I’m going to your school principal to tell her everything you do wrong at home, and she will never respect you again.” Many times, she would use someone I personall | https://medium.com/@annaszabojdmba/getting-to-know-anna-szabo-83c66563eced | ['Anna Szabo'] | 2020-12-27 15:16:38.531000+00:00 | ['Self Help', 'Narcissistic Abuse', 'Abuse', 'Self Improvement', 'Healing From Trauma'] |
Just Be There | Just Be There
When your very presence is the greatest gift of all.
Enjoy the Little Things in Life…Be Present…Just Be There
When I was young
either my mother or father were there
every morning,
there every afternoon I returned from school,
without much words or aplomb.
Just there.
Every day.
I knew I was loved,
I felt I was loved,
I still feel that love.
Now with my own children
I or my husband are there every morning,
There every afternoon they return from school.
Just there.
Every day.
Just be there.
Not just be there
Not just be there
Not just be there
Simply just…
Be there.
Such presence is the greatest gift,
holds the greatest knowing.
They know they are loved.
They feel they are loved.
They just know.
It’s the greatest gift.
Simply just…
Be there.
Be present.
© Bernie McCullough 23 Dec 2020
I know it’s not possible for every family’s mother or father to be there fully each morning, or each day after school…perhaps there is a childminder involved, or a caring Nana or Grandad, but whatever the situation, ‘being there’ as much as you possibly can be for your children is just such a gift.
In my own childhood, every day I came home from school, either my mother or father was there... there was always someone in the house to give a warm welcome. I am now in the lucky position where I work for myself, from my home…and to be able to give that same gift back to my own children now means so much to me. I see their happy faces, feel their warm hugs, catch their eye as they look around to see where I am….often times, no words are necessary at all.
This Christmas, whether near or far, the gift of our presence is by far the most important thing we can give, and enjoy. A gift to be cherished throughout our lifetime and passed on to the generations coming after us.
Happy Holidays to everyone!
Image: Eugene Zhyvchik on Unsplash | https://medium.com/share-the-love/just-be-there-7567b459b338 | ['Bernie S Poetry'] | 2020-12-24 13:02:37.190000+00:00 | ['Family', 'Poetry', 'Sharethelove', 'Be Present', 'Parenting'] |
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In 1889, on November 1 in Gotha, Germany Anna Therese Johanne Hoch, who later would be known as Hannah Hoch was born. Being the eldest of five children, the girl was brought up in a comfortable and quiet environment of the small town. Her parents, a supervisor in an insurance company and an amateur painter sent her to Girl’s High school. However, at the age of 15 Hannah had to quit studying for the long six years to take care of her newborn sister. Only in 1912 she continued her education with Harold Bengen in School of Applied Arts, mastering glass design. As the World War I broke up Hannah returned to the native town to work in the Red Cross.
The first years after war the young woman recommenced her studying, getting to know graphic arts. 1915 was highlighted by an acquaintance with an Austrian artist Raoul Hausmann, which grew into the long-lasting romantic relationship and involvement in Berlin Dada movement. For ten years till 1926 Hoch worked in Berlin’s major publisher of newspapers and magazines. Her task was to design embroidering, knitting and crocheting patterns for the booklets.
Being on vacation with her beloved in 1918, Hannah discovered ‘the principle of photomontage in cut-and-paste images that soldiers sent to their families’ (National gallery of Art). This find affected greatly on her artistic production, and she created mass-media photographs comprising the elements of photomontage and handwork patterns, thus combining traditional and modern culture. Her prior preoccupation was to represent the ‘new woman’ of the Weimar Republic with new social role and given freedoms.
Hoch was the only woman in Berlin Dada, who took part in all kinds of events and exhibitions showcasing her socially critical works of art. Till 1931 she participated in exhibitions but with the rise of National Social regime was forbidden to present her creative work. Till her last breath in 1978 Hannah Hoch lived and worked in the outskirts of Berlin-Heiligensee.
The piece of art which is going to be analyzed in this research is ‘The beautiful girl’ designed in 1919–1920. It combines the elements of technology and females. In the middle of the picture one can clearly see a woman dressed in a modern bathing suit with a light bulb on her head which probably serves as a sun umbrella. In the background a large advertisement with a woman’s hair-do on top is presented. Maud Lavin describes strange human as ‘she is part human, part machine, part commodity’ (Lavin). The woman is surrounded by the images of industrialization as tires, gears, signals and BMW logos. A woman’s profile with the cat eyes, untrusting and skeptical, in the upper right corner is eye-catching as well. This unusually large eye symbolizes DADA movement — a monocle, which is present in almost every Hoch’s work. The colour scheme does not offer rich palette of tints, including mostly black, white, orange and red pieces. The photo is surrounded by the BMW circles which add the spots of blue.
An apt description of the piece is given in the book ‘Cut with the Kitchen Knife’ and states that it is ‘a portrait of a modern woman defined by signs of femininity, technology, media and advertising’ (Lavin). In other words Hannah Hoch focused on the woman of the new age, free and keeping up with the fast-moving world. The artist promoted feministic ideas and from her point of view urbanization and modern technologies were meant to give hope to woman to gain equality of genders. With this photomontage she commented on how the woman was expected to combine the role of a wife and mother with the role of a worker in the industrialized world. The light bulb instead of a face shows that women were perceived as unthinking machines which do not question their position and can be turned on or off at any time at man’s will. But at the same time they were to remain attractive to satisfy men’s needs. The watch is viewed as the representation of how quickly women are to adapt to the changes.
In a nutshell, Hoch concentrated on two opposite visions of the modern woman: the one from the television screens — smoking, working, wearing sexy clothes, voting and the real one who remained being a housewife.
The beautiful girl’ is an example of the art within the DADA movement. An artistic and literal current began in 1916 as the reaction to World War I and spread throughout Northern America and Europe. Every single convention was challenged and bourgeois society was scandalized. The Dadaists stated that over-valuing conformity, classism and nationalism among modern cultures led to horrors of the World War I. In other words, they rejected logic and reason and turned to irrationality, chaos and nonsense. The first DADA international Fair was organized in Berlin in 1920 exposing a shocking discontentment with military and German nationalism (Dada. A five minute history).
Hannah Hoch was introduced to the world of DADA by Raoul Hausman who together with Kurt Schwitters, Piet Mondrian and Hans Richter was one of the influential artists in the movement. Hoch became the only German woman who referred to DADA. She managed to follow the general Dadaist aesthetic, but at the same time she surely and steadily incorporated a feminist philosophy. Her aim was to submit female equality within the canvass of other DADA’s conceptions.
Though Hannah Hoch officially was a member of the movement, she never became the true one, because men saw her only as ‘a charming and gifted amateur artist’ (Lavin). Hans Richter, an unofficial spokesperson shared his opinion about the only woman in their community in the following words: ‘the girl who produced sandwiches, beer and coffee on a limited budget’ forgetting that she was among the few members with stable income.
In spite of the gender oppressions, Hannah’s desire to convey her idea was never weakened. Difficulties only strengthened her and made her an outstanding artist. A note with these return words was found among her possessions: ‘None of these men were satisfied with just an ordinary woman. But neither were they included to abandon the (conventional) male/masculine morality toward the woman. Enlightened by Freud, in protest against the older generation. . . they all desired this ‘New Woman’ and her groundbreaking will to freedom. But — they more or less brutally rejected the notion that they, too, had to adopt new attitudes. . . This led to these truly Strinbergian dramas that typified the private lives of these men’ (Maloney).
Hoch’s technique was characterized by fusing male and female parts of the body or bodies of females from different epochs — a ‘traditional’ woman and ‘modern’, liberated and free of sexual stereotypes one. What’s more, combining male and female parts, the female ones were always more distinctive and vibrant, while the male ones took their place in the background. Hannah created unique works of art experimenting with paintings, collages, graphic and photography. Her women were made from bits and pieces from dolls, mannequins of brides or children as these members of the society were not considered as valuable.
Today Hannah Hoch is most associated with her famous photomontage ‘Cut with the kitchen knife DADA through the last Weimer Beer-Belly Cultural epoch of Germany’ (1919–1920). This piece of art highlights social confusion during the era of Weimar Republic, oppositionists and government radicals (Grabner). In spite of never being truly accepted by the rest of her society, this woman with a quiet voice managed to speak out loud her feministic message.
Looking at Hannah Hoch’s art for the first time I found it confusing, because couldn’t comprehend the meaning. It was quite obvious that every single piece and structure is a symbol of the era, its ideas and beliefs. However, after having learned about her life and constant endeavors to declare about female’s right, little by little I started to realize what’s what. As an object for research I chose ‘The beautiful girl’ as, to my mind, its theme and message intersects with the modern tendency: a successful, clever, beautiful and free woman has to become one in no time, cause the world is moving faster and faster. I enjoyed working with this artist as her example is inspiring and is worth following
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Its somewhat ironic that a movie about time travel can’t be reviewed properly until your future self rewatches the movie.
It’s bold of Nolan to make such a thoroughly dense blockbuster. He assumes people will actually want to see ~Tenet more than once so they can understand it properly, which some may not. This movie makes the chronology of Inception look as simplistic as tic-tac-toe.
Ergo, it’s hard for me to give an accurate rating, without having seen it twice, as I’m still trying to figure out whether everything does indeed make sense. If it does, this movie is easily a 9 or 10. If it doesn’t, it’s a 6.
It’s further not helped by the fact that the dialogue in the first 15 minutes of the movie is painfully hard to understand / hear. Either they were behind masks; they were practically mumbling; the sound effects were too loud; or all of the above. The exposition scenes are also waayyy too brief for something this complex — a problem also shared with Interstellar actually.
(Interstellar had this minimalist exposition problem explaining Blight, where if you weren’t careful, you’d miss this one sentence / scene in the entire movie explaining that Blight was a viral bacteria:
“Earth’s atmosphere is 80% nitrogen, we don’t even breathe nitrogen. Blight does, and as it thrives, our air gets less and less oxygen”).
I guess it’s a Nolan quirk. Hopefully, a revision of the film audio sorts the sound mixing out. I do like the soundtrack, but it’s too loud initially.
I liked all the actors. You think John Washington can’t act at first, but he can, and he grows on you as the film progresses. And Pattinson is his usual charming self. Elizabeth is a surprise treat. And so on.
Its worth a watch either way. See it with subtitles if you can. And definitely don’t expect to fully understand whats going on the first time around.
Its one hell of a complicated film. It will be very hard for an average viewer to gather all the information provided by this movie at the first watch. But the more you watch it, more hidden elements will come to light. And when you are able to put these hidden elements together. You will realize that this movie is just a “masterpiece” which takes the legacy of Christopher Nolan Forward
If I talk about acting, Then I have to say that Robert Pattinson has really proved himself as a very good actor in these recent years. And I am sure his acting skills will increase with time. His performance is charming and very smooth. Whenever he is on the camera, he steals the focus John David Washington is also fantastic in this movie. His performance is electrifying, I hope to see more from him in the future. Other characters such as Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy have also done quite well. And I dont think there is a need to talk about Michael Caine
Talking about Music, its awesome. I dont think you will miss Hans Zimmer’s score. Ludwig has done a sufficient job. There is no lack of good score in the movie
Gotta love the editing and post production which has been put into this movie. I think its fair to say this Nolan film has focused more in its post production. The main problem in the movie is the sound mixing. Plot is already complex and some dialogues are very soft due to the high music score. It makes it harder to realize what is going on in the movie. Other Nolan movies had loud BGM too. But Audio and dialogues weren’t a problem
My humble request to everyone is to please let the movie sink in your thoughts. Let your mind grasp all the elements of this movie. I am sure more people will find it better. Even those who think they got the plot. I can bet they are wrong.
~Tenet is the long awaited new movie from Christopher Nolan. The movie that’s set to reboot the multiplexes post-Covid. It’s a manic, extremely loud, extremely baffling sci-fi cum spy rollercoaster that will please a lot of Nolan fan-boys but which left me with very mixed views.
John David Washington (Denzel’s lad) plays “The Protagonist” — a crack-CIA field operative who is an unstoppable one-man army in the style of Hobbs or Shaw. Recruited into an even more shadowy organisation, he’s on the trail of an international arms dealer, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh in full villain mode). Sator is bullying his estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) over custody of their son (and the film unusually has a BBFC warning about “Domestic Abuse”). Our hero jets the world to try to prevent a very particular kind of Armageddon while also keeping the vulnerable and attractive Kat alive.
This is cinema at its biggest and boldest. Nolan has taken a cinema ‘splurge’ gun, filled it with money, set it on rapid fire, removed the safety and let rip at the screen. Given that Nolan is famous for doing all of his ‘effects’ for real and ‘in camera’, some of what you see performed is almost unbelievable. You thought crashing a train through rush-hour traffic in “Inception” was crazy? You ain’t seen nothing yet with the airport scene! And for lovers of Chinooks (I must admit I am one and rush out of the house to see one if I hear it coming!) there is positively Chinook-p*rn on offer in the film’s ridiculously huge finale.
The ‘inversion’ aspects of the story also lends itself to some fight scenes — one in particular in an airport ‘freeport’ — which are both bizarre to watch and, I imagine, technically extremely challenging to pull off. In this regard John David Washington is an acrobatic and talented stunt performer in his own right, and must have trained for months for this role.
Nolan’s crew also certainly racked up their air miles pre-lockdown, since the locations range far and wide across the world. The locations encompassed Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is lush in introducing these, especially the beautiful Italian coast scenes. Although I did miss the David Arnold strings that would typically introduce these in a Bond movie: it felt like that was missing.
The ‘timey-wimey’ aspects of the plot are also intriguing and very cleverly done. There are numerous points at which you think “Oh, that’s a sloppy continuity error” or “Shame the production design team missed that cracked wing mirror”. Then later in the movie, you get at least a dozen “Aha!” moments. Some of them (no spoilers) are jaw-droppingly spectacular.
Perhaps the best twist is hidden in the final line of the movie. I only processed it on the way home.
And so to the first of my significant gripes with ~Tenet. The sound mix in the movie is all over the place. I’d go stronger than that… it’s truly awful (expletive deleted)! Nolan often implements Shakespeare’s trick of having characters in the play provide exposition of the plot to aid comprehension. But unfortunately, all of this exposition dialogue was largely incomprehensible. This was due to:
the ear-splitting volume of the sound: 2020 movie audiences are going to be suffering from ‘~Tenetis’! (LOL);
the dialogue is poorly mixed with the thumping music by Ludwig Göransson (Wot? No Hans Zimmer?);
a large proportion of the dialogue was through masks of varying description (#covid-appropriate). Aaron Taylor-Johnson was particularly unintelligible to my ears.
Overall, watching this with subtitles at a special showing might be advisable!
OK, so I only have a PhD in Physics… but at times I was completely lost as to the intricacies of the plot. It made “Inception” look like “The Tiger Who Came to Tea”. There was an obvious ‘McGuffin’ in “Inception” — — (“These ‘dream levels’… how exactly are they architected??”…. “Don’t worry… they’ll never notice”. And we didn’t!) In “~Tenet” there are McGuffins nested in McGuffins. So much of this is casually waved away as “future stuff… you’re not qualified” that it feels vaguely condescending to the audience. At one point Sator says to Kat “You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” and she shakes her head blankly. We’re right with you there luv!
There are also gaps in the storyline that jar. The word “~Tenet”? What does it mean. Is it just a password? I’m none the wiser.
The manic pace of ~Tenet and the constant din means that the movie gallops along like a series of disconnected (albeit brilliant) action set pieces. For me, it has none of the emotional heart of the Cobb’s marriage problems from “Inception” or the father/daughter separation of “Interstellar”. In fact, you barely care for anyone in the movie, perhaps with the exception of Kat.
It’s a talented cast. As mentioned above, John David Washington is muscular and athletic in the role. It’s a big load for the actor to carry in such a tent-pole movie, given his only significant starring role before was in the excellent BlacKkKlansman. But he carries it off well. A worthy successor to Gerard Butler and Jason Statham for action roles in the next 10 years.
This is also a great performance by Robert Pattinson, in his most high-profile film in a long time, playing the vaguely alcoholic and Carré-esque support guy. Pattinson’s Potter co-star Clemence Poésy also pops up — rather more un-glam that usual — as the scientist plot-expositor early in the movie.
Nolan’s regular Michael Caine also pops up. although the 87-year old legend is starting to show his age: His speech was obviously affected at the time of filming (though nice try Mr Nolan in trying to disguise that with a mouth full of food!). But in my book, any amount of Caine in a movie is a plus. He also gets to deliver the best killer line in the film about snobbery!
However, it’s Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki that really stand out. They were both fabulous, especially when they were bouncing off each other in their marital battle royale.
So, given this was my most anticipated movie of the year, it’s a bit of a curate’s egg for me. A mixture of being awe-struck at times and slightly disappointed at others. It’s a movie which needs a second watch, so I’m heading back today to give my ear drums another bashing! And this is one where I reserve the right to revisit my rating after that second watch… it’s not likely to go down… but it might go up.
(For the full graphical review, check out One Mann’s Movies on t’interweb and Facebook. Thanks.)
As this will be non-spoiler, I can’t say too much about the story. However, what I can is this: ~Tenet’s story is quite dynamic in the sense that you won’t understand it till it wants you to. So, for the first half, your brain is fighting for hints and pieces to puzzle together the story. It isn’t until halfway through the movie that ~Tenet invites you to the fantastic storytelling by Christopher Nolan.
Acting is beyond phenomenal, and I’d be genuinely surprised if neither Robert Pattinson nor John David Washington doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for best actor. It’s also hard not to mention how good Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Johnson both are. All around, great acting, and the dialogue amps up the quality of the movie.
The idea of this movie is damn fascinating, and while there are films that explore time-travelling, there’s never been anything quite like this. It has such a beautiful charm and for the most part, explains everything thoroughly. It feels so much more complex than any form of time-travelling we’ve seen, and no less could’ve been expected from Nolan.
Oh my lord, the score for this film fits so perfectly. Every scene that’s meant to feel intense was amped by a hundred because of how good the score was. Let me just say though, none of them will be found iconic, but they fit the story and scenes so well.
In the end, I walked out, feeling very satisfied. Nevertheless, I do have issues with the film that I cannot really express without spoiling bits of the story. There are definitely little inconsistencies that I found myself uncovering as the story progressed. However, I only had one issue that I found impacted my enjoyment. That issue was understanding some of the dialogue. No, not in the sense that the movie is too complicated, but more that it was hard to make out was being said at times. It felt like the movie required subtitles, but that probably was because, at a time in the film, there was far too much exposition.
Nevertheless, I loved this film, I’ll be watching it at least two more times, and I think most of you in this group will enjoy it. I definitely suggest watching it in theatres if possible, just so you can get that excitement.
(4/5) & (8.5/10) for those that care about number scores.
At first, I want to ask Christopher Nolan one question, HOW THE HELL YOU DID THIS? Seriously I want to have an answer, How did he write such as this masterpiece! How did he get this complicated, fabulous and creative idea? What is going on in his mind? The story is written and directed perfectly, the narration style was absolutely unique. I have no idea how can anyone direct such as this story, that was a huge challenge, and as usual Nolan gave us a masterpiece that we’ll put beside (Memento), (Inception) and (Interstellar) The movie is so fast-paced in a good way, there was no boring moment. The chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was great and funny and both of their performance was really good. Elizabeth Debicki performance was the best in the movie because she had the chance to show her acting abilities and she cached up that chance and showed us an A level acting.
The music wasn’t unique and distinct as the music of Interstellar for example and I think this movie needed the touch of Hans Zimmer, I’m not saying that Ludwig Göransson failed but Hans Zimmer in another level.
If there was something I’d say that I didn’t like it in the movie would it be that Nolan discarded any set up or characters backgrounds except Elizabeth Debicki dramatic story but it wasn’t that bad for me, I didn’t care about that, the exciting story didn’t give me the chance to focus on it. But the actual problem was the third act, it was really complicated and I got lost and I convinced myself to discard the questions that were in my head and enjoy the well-made action sequences and Elizabeth Debicki performance.
I think this kind of movie that gets better with a second and third watch.
I honestly don’t quite know where to begin with ~Tenet. I love Christopher Nolan’s work but I have never seen a more complicated film (and I understood Memento). ~After nearly three hours, I came away from ~Tenet not knowing myself, my mind reduced to nothing more than piles of ash.
Was there time travel involved? Hmm, there was definitely something about time inversion. I mean, does Nolan even understand what he wrote? Look, I give credit to the director because he’s one of the few directors left who knows how to create a compelling and intelligent blockbuster. ~Tenet is full of Nolan trademarks — the gratuitous Michael Caine cameo, a loud, really loud score, complete with stunning cinematography and slickly inventive action set-pieces.
This time around however, Nolan has finally managed to ‘out-Nolan’ himself: the palindromic plot, whilst creatively ambitious, is simply far too complicated for its own good. ~Tenet is overlong, overstuffed, pretentious and too exhausting to comprehend in its entirety — it makes Inception and Interstellar look like Peppa Pig by comparison.
I’m aware of the technical wizardry and creative mastery in this film and lord knows I’ll have to watch this again. For those who want a puzzle, ~Tenet at least provides a unique cinematic experience. But to actually enjoy solving it Nolan wants you to work very very hard | https://medium.com/@raffi4584/hd-ja-%E5%A4%A9%E5%A4%96%E8%80%85-tengaramon-%E3%83%95%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BC%E3%83%93%E3%83%BC-2020-%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%81%A7%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9F%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0-hd-720p-9a9e7f4aa767 | ['Raffi Ahmad'] | 2020-12-23 14:36:27.262000+00:00 | ['Drama', 'Japan', 'Movies', '2020', 'History'] |
Evolving with climate change: decarbonizing Commercial Aircraft | Could this be the future of aviation?
Decarbonization is becoming one of those buzzwords in the same way “organic,” “non-GMO” and “sustainability” have worked their way into everyday conversation. Regardless of how you feel about the science, we are running out of time to reverse the human impact on climate change. Something drastic needs to happen and it begins with rethinking the youngest of our major transportation technologies.
The interplay of aviation and climate change
Consider two of some of the most popular airline models in service today: Boeing’s 737–800 and the Airbus A320. On a hypothetical flight from New York to Los Angeles, the Boeing burns through nearly 12,523 kg per hour (3308 gallons/hr) and the Airbus is a slightly more efficient 12,028 kg per hour (3177 gallons/hr).
That’s one flight among the many hundreds that occur in a day across one country. Keep that in the back of your mind for later.
These numbers are a ballpark estimate since so many factors can alter how much fuel an individual aircraft including weather, takeoff weight, and other performance characteristics. It all contributes to heating the atmosphere. In fact, according to the BBC, as of 2019, aviation is responsible for 2.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. This is expected to grow in the coming years, but the pandemic resulted in a sharp decrease in the demand and use of fossil fuels. Experts at the International Energy Agency found that the “…decline in CO2 emissions from oil use in the transport sector accounted for well over 50% of the total global drop in CO2 emissions in 2020.” In particular, the IEA observed international aviation took a huge hit in 2020, with global flight activity reaching a low in April 2020 of 70% below the level in 2019.
In short — the air was “cleaner” during the height of the pandemic.
What makes air travel such a big contributor to climate change involves what is spewed out in those contrails crisscrossing the skies. In addition to the ever-famous carbon dioxide, jet engines also produce nitrogen oxide (NO), water vapor, soot, and sulfate aerosols as by-products. Together they work to trap heat and increase the net warming of the atmosphere.
Source: NOAA.gov
Commercial aviation should have evolved a decade ago — period
This may come as a shock to many people, but the airline industry is chock full of old airplanes that have been in service for more than 20 years. It is becoming more obvious that across the multitude of industries, we should have transitioned and evolved away from fossil fuels more than a decade ago. We have known for years aggressive action needs to take place to offset some of the damage to the environment. However, for the aviation industry, it isn’t as simple as slapping new energy-efficient engines onto old airplanes.
You can get away with doing that to cars by making them hybrid, but that option does not exist so easily the larger the aircraft. Remember the two plane crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX? In a nutshell, Boeing wanted to catch up to their rival Airbus by replacing the MAX’s older engines with a more fuel-efficient design. This required an immense amount of engineering and new software to compensate for the engine’s effect on the airplane’s flight characteristics. Twin demons of wanting to beat the competition and airlines wanting to save money resulted in serious design flaws, poor pilot training, and two preventable tragedies.
You would think with companies having a strong desire to save money they would have invested in technology that does so. Unfortunately, time is proving some people misappropriated the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” adage.
Decarbonizing small aircraft can be achieved by going electric or even hybrid. Right now, there are numerous companies experimenting and refining smaller electric airplanes. The newest type is called “eVOLT,” which stands for “electric vertical take-off and landing.” These peculiar aircraft look like a cross between a regular airplane with several propellers that enable them to take off like a helicopter. Boeing, Airbus, and most recently Tesla all have been creating these new vehicles for flight in the hopes of ushering in a new era of air taxi service.
Of course, lithium batteries have their limitations. The aircraft mentioned above would only satisfy short-haul flights with extremely limited passengers. To date the largest airplane created that doesn’t run on fossil fuels is the eCaravan crafted from a Cessna Caravan and can carry nine passengers.
Batteries: the most unrealistic solution for commercial aviation
Putting aside the environmental issues obtaining lithium causes, battery-powered aircraft are impractical. Take the eCarvan, it can only travel within a 100-mile radius of its home base — that is approximately 1,400 miles less than its turboprop gas-guzzling sister. It all comes down to weight, something that in aviation can quite literally make or break an aircraft.
How heavy your aircraft is can determine a myriad of things. Weight determines everything from how much runway you need to take off and land to how stable the aircraft is in flight (i.e. where the center of gravity is located). The primary problem with batteries is they are heavy!
For context on how this affects large aircraft, Oscar Serpell from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy writes,
“…the cutting-edge battery pack of the Tesla Model 3 electric car has a gravimetric density of 168 Wh/kg. If we apply this energy density to the requirement for a passenger aircraft such as a Boeing 747 flying from JFK to Heathrow, a single flight would need approximately 3881 metric tons of battery packs. A 747’s maximum take-off weight is 333 metric tons, one-tenth the weight of the batteries needed to power it.”
It is more pragmatic to look beyond batteries and consider synthetic fuel. Currently, the European Union is funding SOLAR-JET, a program that is producing renewable kerosene that comes directly from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide. Concentrated sunlight converts carbon dioxide and water to a synthesis gas (syngas) for use in jet engines.
This is not the only option for decarbonization. There is of course an aircraft already in existence that we all straight up forgot about.
A zeppelin by any other name is still an airship
It is amazing how often looking to the past can help you blaze a new trail to the future. Usually when one hears the term “airship,” they often immediately think of the Hindenburg disaster, but airships have come a long way since that mishap. These giant football-like lighter-than-air aircraft are seeing a new resurgence as a potential alternative to the jets dominating the skies.
An Austrian study from scientists at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) say, “hydrogen-filled airships or balloons could carry hydrogen with a lower fuel requirement and shorter travel time compared to conventional shipping” (Popular Mechanics). They propose using jet streams (high-velocity wind current covering the Earth’s upper atmosphere) for scheduled routes.
Lockheed Martin is redeveloping old airship technology for future use in hauling cargo internationally. Engineers on the project are implementing what they call their “air cushion landing system” or ACLS to improve the maneuverability of their airships. The ACLS uses hovercraft technology to allow the aircraft to taxi on unpaved surfaces such as water or gravel.
Clearly, there is more than one solid answer to reducing our carbon footprint over the next decade. The wise choice would be to dive in full steam ahead and start using a combination of all the technologies mentioned here. The author personally is looking forward to a future where blimps and eVOLTs dot the skies like so many science fiction movies once promised.
For more information about the topics presented visit:
How airships work https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/blimp2.htm
eVOLT Companies emerging in 2021 https://www.greenbiz.com/article/7-urban-air-mobility-companies-watch
Sources for this post:
Atmospheric Environment Volume 244, 1 January 2021, 117834 D.S.LeeaD.W.FaheybA.Skowron et al.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210525-how-aviation-is-reducing-its-climate-emissions FUTURE PLANET | CLIMATE CHANGE
The largest electric plane yet completed its first flight — but it’s the batteries that matter https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/largest-electric-plane-yet-completed-its-first-flight-it-s-n1221401
https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/news-insights/decarbonizing-aviation-is-not-as-hard-as-we-think/ OSCAR SERPELL | AUGUST 2, 2019 EMERGING TECH, TRANSPORTATION
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a31918108/airship-landing-technology/
https://alliknowaviation.com/2019/12/14/fuel-consumption-aircraft/ AIRCRAFT FUEL CONSUMPTION
IEA on Emissions from transportation https://www.iea.org/articles/global-energy-review-co2-emissions-in-2020
Boeing MAX crashes: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/what-led-to-boeings-737-max-crisis-a-qa/
Solar Jet Program https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140503184918.htm | https://medium.com/@elisabeth.tate/evolving-with-climate-change-decarbonizing-commercial-aircraft-dd7840f44c92 | ['Elisabeth Tate'] | 2021-12-16 18:54:46.194000+00:00 | ['Airlines', 'Decarbonization', 'Climate Change', 'Aviation', 'Evolt'] |
Remembrance | Prison was not as unpleasant as I’d have thought. Some there didn’t like me. Some did. Fortunately, those who did were greater in number and body mass. I was left pretty much alone with my writing. The guards loved me. They gave me a notebook three days a week to write on, returning it and the pen at each hour’s end. I invented intricately plotted scenarios concerning the torturing of a man I named Herman. Each session was more graphic than the previous. I never revealed that Herman was the one I was doing time for.
I didn’t dare write about Jamie. Had there been a more divine distancing, I might’ve carved with words the meaning behind her engraving eyes — how those eyes, in their helpless vacancy, possessed my solitary nights .… Why I strangely embraced them.
Without the focus on paper of thought-wedded-to-word, my imagination tethered itself to a flotilla of vagabond images: the image of her firm, white thighs, the torn panties, hanging from her bare foot like the flag of a vanquished country. Those same eyes that possessed me now justifiably convicted me. No, not me, but the maleness of me! At the trial, her mother called me an animal and spat. Animals, we, yes! The image of the bewildered attacker floated by. “There, but for the grace of God go I ….”
In my heart, I was as guilty of the crime as he. Jesus affirmed it! A strange peace blanketed me. I smiled. I had the advantage he denied himself. I was able to physically atone for it. Oh, sweet penance!
But something was happening in the other’s life I wouldn’t learn about until later. Seven years into my sojourn (and oddly traceable to the day of my epiphany) … on the dirt floor of an enormous tent in a small town, Roger Reynard lay on his face, in the presence of 900 believers, and he bawled. Crucified by memories, he wailed, “Jesus, I’ve sinned and am not worthy of your love. A man’s in prison for the rape I committed.” Then, falling into a profound silence, it was there, he later confessed that Jesus told him what he must do.
Still, no one believed him. Painfully, he discovered when the judicial system speaks, it resists mightily any retraction. Roger was not a poor man, but it exhausted all his considerable assets to enlist the best legal minds to work with the only focus being to bring the scales of justice to right the balance. | https://medium.com/literally-literary/remembrance-1bce78e9892a | ['Jay Squires'] | 2020-02-24 12:31:01.281000+00:00 | ['Flash Fiction', 'Fiction', 'Dark', 'Rape'] |
A Secret To Get Interests Read On Your Resume. | A Secret To Get Interests Read On Your Resume.
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash
Yes, I meant to poke you a bit.
I know you probably have many interests like gardening, cooking, reading, hiking, weight lifting, wine tasting and skiing.
Sure, they’re all fun, but…
They look like the last 22 resumes I’ve read this morning.
Use the interest section on your resume to tell me something FUN (and yes, interesting) about you!
One of my recruiters wrote on his resume that he was into competitive dodge-ball.
Well, that made me laugh.
I’d never met a candidate who put dodgeball on their resume! I was still chuckling as I was dialing him for a phone screen telephone chat.
And, yes, he got the job!
When working with candidates in my resume and interview coaching practice, most candidates freeze when I ask,
“Tell me about your interests outside of work?”
Poof, the deer-in-the headlights appears.
Copyright 2019 Sheila Musgrove
(Sidebar: I used this image many times throughout my book, “Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter.” The deer pops up many, many times throughout the interview. Follow my articles and you’ll learn how to ditch the deer-in- the- headlights. GRIN)
And, usually the job seeker replies with, “well, I’m kind of boring…OR, I’m not that interesting.
Come on. Dig deep. Everyone has something fun to share about their life outside of work.
Maybe you’ve cycled across various countries, self-taught languages or jumped out of airplanes!
Don’t be afraid to add some personality to this section. Yes, you read that right. Your resume can showcase your personality!
Here’s some ideas..
Think about:
Places you’ve travelled.
Have you attended every football or hockey game in the last 10 years with your favourite team? (Yes, I’m from Canada — we put U’s into words.)
Worn a Grey Cup and a Superbowl ring? I met a candidate last month that had a checkmark to both of these! How fun is that?
Have you self-taught to forage mushrooms (and not die by eating the wrong ones!)
Visited every province in Canada or state in the USA.
Travelled to XX number of countries.
Ran 5 half marathons.
Cycled across France.
Read 3000 books.
Met the Queen of England. (Yes, it could happen!)
Had a random chat with a celebrity. (Mine was doing a bold ask to a very high profile author….and he called me! That’s another article on making bold asks!)
How many days per winter do you ski?
Have you developed a fitness routine during COVID? One of my clients did. And, he lost 40 pounds! Now, that’s interesting!
Did you take to You Tube and figure out how to remodel your kitchen? (All while keeping all fingers and toes in-tact…I hope!)
Have fun with this section on your resume. It’s not a deal breaker if you don’t include this section….but it can certainly make you stand-out. It sure did for my competitive dodge-ball playing recruiter!
If you’d like to enroll in my client or candidate (job seeker) newsletter, please visit: www.sheilamusgrove.com I write about job searching, resume writing, interviewing and how to be a stand out candidate. I sprinkle in tips for Hiring Managers and a bit about creative marketing too! | https://medium.com/illumination/a-secret-to-get-interests-read-on-your-resume-1893e6951761 | ['Sheila Musgrove'] | 2020-12-18 07:27:16.213000+00:00 | ['Resume Writing', 'Job Hunting', 'Job Search', 'Career Advice', 'Cv Writing'] |
Are Your Easy Runs Too Fast? | Are Your Easy Runs Too Fast?
Many people run too hard on their easy days. Perhaps they are just unsure of the purpose easy runs serve, or, maybe, they worry about looking “slow” for all their followers on Strava.
Unfortunately, while you may look good for your followers on Strava, you are doing yourself a disservice if you are doing your recovery runs too fast.
Just run by Heath Moffatt
Without a doubt, using Strava has made some runners more self-conscious of their pace (I definitely used to be, and I’ll be honest about that). At the same time, Strava, or any other similar kind of running app, is a great way to keep track of your running. It’s not a place to compare yourself to others because it is just a tool for tracking your own progress to become the best runner you can be.
When a training plan calls for an easy run, that is exactly what you should do in order to get the best results.
Sometimes, we need to run slow in order to get faster.
How do you know that your easy runs are, in fact, not so easy? | https://medium.com/runners-life/are-your-easy-runs-too-fast-9b4c5b25c0be | ['Yana Hempler'] | 2020-12-23 04:08:55.341000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Running', 'Fitness Tips', 'Health', 'Running Tips'] |
Do Something Nobody Will Hear About | Do Something Nobody Will Hear About
You may find out how much of a badass you truly are
When was the last time you did something no one knew about? When was the last time you wrote a piece no one would ever read? Or finished a book worth of articles and your Facebook feed had no clue?
Sometimes, and a lot more so now, I hide my personal victories because my sense of confidence and worth grows when I know what I am capable of, and I know that no one else knows this.
It’s a refreshing exercise I have started getting into; holding on to projects I’m working on until I’m ready to ship; working, for weeks, months even, and not telling a soul.
Only my wife sees how early I wake and how late I lay, but even she has no idea what exactly I’m working on.
Yes, she has the big picture, but the small things I am most proud of, go unnoticed by her.
And that’s intentional.
I noticed that when I didn’t get the feedback I thought I deserved, I’d start doubting myself. I hated that need for validation I had developed: it sent me watching stats and refreshing my feed to see if anyone had commented. I knew it wasn’t healthy. I knew I had to find a way out.
But How?
When I came across a video positing this idea of doing something and not telling anyone, a lot that I had been thinking about clicked: I started small.
I’ll write today, but I won’t publish. I’ll make a collage of pictures but I won’t share. I’ll make a playlist for myself.
Little by little, I noticed I spent more time doing, than waiting.
Now, I feel the tug between sharing what I have done — or what I am doing — and keeping it until it’s ready. I love how it makes me feel: more patient, more grateful. And mostly, more proud of myself.
I’m learning all these things I actually care about and planning to use them when I want to use them. I’m empowered with each step I take because I feel a lot more in control of my actions. No amount of external validation can beat that.
Not yet anyway…
So, how can you do this?
Start small. Pick something you want to do, simply because you want to, and do it. It could be making up your bed or watching a movie you like. It could be binge-watching a show. Yeaup. All that matters is that you do it and don’t tell anyone.
The more exciting it is, the stronger the urge to tell someone would be. So, it’s important to start with something you know is only exciting for you.
I picked an anime — Baki. That was months ago. The only other person I know who watched this show was my friend C. Befoune and I found out just two weeks ago.
You’ve picked your thing. Now what?
Pay attention to your impulse to share. Do you want to post a picture of you watching it? Do you want to make a story or write a review? Whatever it is, pay attention and ask yourself why.
Are you sharing to add value? Or so that you’ll look cool? Do you want a specific person to see this, or for the world to know?
This exercise is to help you notice your personal validation triggers: the things that prompt you to seek someone else’s take on your life.
There’s a difference between getting feedback for an article and wanting someone to approve of your idea (unless your work for a magazine and you do need approval for your idea if it has to go to print!)
There’s a difference between sharing things with the world to make the world more beautiful and casting junk that no one needs.
With practice, you’ll learn how to stop this need for approval. You’ll get to a new kind of excitement: one that keeps you up and night and wakes you early because you’re doing something you want to share with the world and you know you have to wait for it to be done.
It’s that excitement that you’ll carry with your first 10 podcast episodes before you announce your launch date. It’s the one you’ll use to work on a 30-second intro only one person will notice and comment ( this happened to me). It’s the same excitement that will carry you through your book outline and first draft or your first failed digital product.
It’s not everything you do that the world needs to hear. No. It’s what you know the world needs to hear and you’re willing to do everything for it to be ready to be heard. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/do-something-nobody-will-hear-about-477b7c9b926f | ['Kamga Tchassa'] | 2019-07-06 11:20:01.558000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Startup', 'Personal Development', 'Work', 'Validation'] |
Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter | Alarm sounds. 5am. My eyes open. I grab my phone and instantly start scrolling…
There is no doubt in my mind that social media has changed the way individuals communicate with one another. We are constantly liking, commenting on, and creeping on everyone else’s shit. And it seems like we can’t get enough. The question is, how do we take advantage of this?
Facebook currently has over 1.23 billion monthly active users and Snapchat reels in a respectable 200 million monthly active users. With numbers like this, it’s hard to disagree that social media is where the people are. And if you know anything about business, you know that you should be focusing on where the people are and will be, not where you think they are or where they used to be.
Big corporations are just starting to realize the importance that social media has. Brands like Amazon, Mountain Dew, and Coca-Cola are just now hopping on the Snapchat and Instagram bandwagon, and they’re pleasantly surprised with the response.
Now you may ask yourself, “Instagram…Okay I guesssssss, but why would Coke want to go on Snapchat?” A year ago… hell, maybe even 6 months ago I would have agreed with you 100%. But the numbers speak for themselves, 45% of 200 million (90,000,000) Snapchat users are aged between 18–24 years old, and I’d estimate that roughly 85% of the 90,000,000 millennials like to drink Coca-Cola are on Snapchat. So it would be a huge mistake to not advertise on a platform with over 76 million users in their target market.
I also know that unless you’re a freshman in college, students save hundreds of dollars by buying books off Amazon, rather than getting ripped off by their school bookstore. And 90% of those students are also on Snapchat and Instagram. Companies that are willing to stick their necks out on the line and take a step back from a traditional marketing approach are currently REAPING in the benefits.
These social media platforms are becoming more and more powerful. Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for our generation are like CBS, NBC, CNN, and FOX for baby boomers. Young adults are spending more and more time in front of their phones and less time in front of their TVs (excluding Netflix). So how do you manage this transition correctly and leverage it to your advantage?
1. Concentrate on your users, audience, customers, and fans.
Figure out what they want. Develop a deep connection with them. Build Trust.
2. Improve your skill, expertise, competence, and product.
How can you get better? How can you make your product better for the people who use it?
3. Engage with your users
Reach out to your users. Interact through comments. Reply to them. Make sure they know you’re message is genuine.
By using these three steps, I was able to grow my Twitter following from 300 to over 1000 and my Instagram following from roughly 1000 users to over 4600 in just a 6 month period. | https://medium.com/n2-media/snapchat-instagram-facebook-and-twitter-8cbba882e65b | ['Brandon Poplstein'] | 2016-10-24 17:04:36.332000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing Tips', 'Social Media', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Marketing', 'Digital Marketing'] |
8 Quick Tips To Master A Video Job Interview. | 8 Quick Tips To Master A Video Job Interview.
Selfie by the author.
I snapped this picture a few minutes before going live on a local television noon show.
There’s a lot to consider in getting ready for live television from your home office.
The lighting. Microphone sound. Wifi strength. House alarm off. And, my favourite….where is my giant cat Phoebe.
I was fairly certain she was about to make her television debut that day!
Well, a fresh can of cat food and a few treats…she was zonked out in her favorite spot in the sun, and I was clear to do my television interview.
The interview went well, but a few lessons learned that you can use before your next video job interview.
Sound quality is key. Test your computer mic ahead of time. You can do an online test, or a dry run with a friend to ensure sound quality is good.
2. It’s absolutely critical that you test your camera an audio ahead of time. Google “test my webcam” and do a test. What’s in the background? Is it something an employer should see? Smile. We don’t want your backdrop to be your unmade bed or a counter covered in dishes.
We’re not expecting a glamourous background — just make sure it’s neat.
Also look at the angle of your camera.
My integrated webcam is at an extremely unfortunate spot. It’s at the bottom of my screen. So, if my laptop is sitting on my desk, let’s just say the angle is well, “under the boob angle”. HA. It’s not a good look at any time.
If you have a bad angle like I do — you can purchase external webcams at a very reasonable cost.
3. Camera & eye contact. This is a tough one as it’s a bit unnatural. Here’s what I’d recommend. When you’re answering a question, look directly at your camera. To the hiring manager it will feel like you’re making eye contact. When you’re listening to the question, it’s ok to look at your screen as you’re then making virtual eye contact with the person asking the question.
4. Dress as you would for any interview. And yes, unless you have to get up mid interview, the hiring manager will have no idea if you’re wearing pants, shorts or your PJ bottoms with slippers. But, I’d air on the side of caution and maybe wear something appropriate on the bottom half as well!
5. Try to minimize distractions. Pets, kids, doorbells, spouses. The goal is for your time to be uninterrupted. However, life happens, particularly when we’re trying to do the interview from home. And, something happens — just run with it! It’s ok. I had my giant cat Phoebe break into my office when I was doing a keynote for a big university in the USA. She was a hit. She sat on my lap for the last 20 minutes of my session!
6. Print copies of your resume and end of interview questions and set on your desk. You can easily reference them during the interview.
7. Bring a glass of water. When nerves hit, we tend to get a bit parched. Be ready and have a glass close-by.
8. And, one last tip. Have everyone in your house off Wifi. All phones and iPads need to be off, so that you’re the only person using Wifi during your interview. Even better, do a computer re-start, so you’re fresh and ready to go!
You don’t want to end up with freeze-face mid interview! | https://medium.com/@sheilamusgrove/8-quick-tips-to-master-a-video-job-interview-a49530e8d490 | ['Sheila Musgrove'] | 2020-12-10 17:37:20.822000+00:00 | ['Interview Tips', 'Job Search', 'Interview', 'Job Hunting', 'Careers'] |
Getting Started with Plot.ly | Getting Started with Plot.ly
A Guided Walkthrough for Powerful Visualizations in Python
Authors: Elyse Lee and Ishaan Dey
Matplotlib is alright, Seaborn is great, but Plot.ly? That’s on an entirely new level. Plot.ly offers more than your average graph by providing options for full interactivity and many editing tools. Differentiated from the others by having options to have graphs in offline and online mode, it is also equipped with a robust API that when set up will work seamlessly to have the graphs displayed in a web browser as well as the ability for saving a local copy. One of the only frustration you’ll come across is dealing with many options to figure out the tools you want to use for your plots.
Overview
We’ll start with the basics of setting up plot.ly in Python. After that, we’ll get started with some basic visualizations ranging from typical box & whisker plots to choropleth maps, with code breakdowns along the way. We’ve made all visualizations in this guide using the Zillow Economics Dataset, which contains time-series data from 1996 to 2017 on various housing metrics aggregated by location. If you’re interested in the full code for this post, check out the GitHub link below; otherwise, all the code used to create the visualizations will be included for each visualization.
Our hope is that by the end, you’ll have developed a basic intuition for how the plotly API works, as well as a feel for the generalizable framework you can apply towards your own projects. You can find a link to a plotly cheatsheet here, and if you’re interested in fine tuning any of the parameters used for the visualization, you can access the documentation using the help() function. For more details on all types of plots and parameters, here is a link to more information on Plotly’s Python open source graphing library.
Setting Up
Plotly is a platform that runs on JSON, a format in which parameters are passed to the plotly API in dictionary formats. We can access this API in python using the plot.ly package. To install the package, open up terminal and type $ pip install plotly or $ sudo pip install plotly .
Plotly’s graphs are hosted using an online web service, so you’ll first have to setup a free account online to store your plots. To retrieve your personal API key, follow the link here: https://plot.ly/settings/api#/. Once you’ve done so, you can begin setting up plotly with the set_credential_files() function, as shown below.
import plotly plotly.tools.set_credentials_file(username=’YourAccountName’, api_key=’YourAPIKey’)``
Plotting Online & Offline
When displaying visualizations on plotly, both the plot and data are saved to your plotly account. Without paying for more space in cloud, you’ll have a maximum of 25 plots that can be stored on the cloud, but these images can easily be stored locally and deleted when making space for more.
There are two main ways to display plotly plots. If you’re using Jupyter Notebook or another interactive python environment (files with the .ipynb extension), the py.iplot() function displays the plots in the output below the cell. py.plot() , on the other hand, returns a url that can be saved, and also opens using the default web browser.
The Plotly offline mode also enables you to save graphs locally. To plot offline, you can use plotly.offline.plot() or plotly.offline.iplot() . Again, the iplot() function is used for Jupyter notebook, and will display the plots within the notebook. plot() creates an HTML page that is saved locally to be opened in a web browser.
Basic Structure
As we mentioned before, all plot.ly visualizations are created using Json structure which are list of parameters to be modified using API, so essentially you’ll see the parameters and general structure to make each plot which if you learn one, you can make the rest.
import plotly.plotly as py
import plotly.graph_objs as go
import plotly.plotly as py : This has the functions for communicating with the plotly servers
import plotly.graph_objs as go : This has the functions for generating graph objects. This is a useful module for calling help on to see all the attributes taken as parameters of an object. There are also different useful methods of the object available such as the update method that can be used to update the plot object to add more information onto it.
Generalized Structure
The graph_objs class contains several structures that are consistent across visualizations made in plot.ly, regardless of type.
We begin with trace , which can be thought of as an individual layer that contains the data and specifications for how the data should be plotted (i.e. lines, markers, chart type). Here’s an example of the structure of trace:
trace1 = {
"x": ["2017-09-30", "2017-10-31", "2017-11-30", ...],
"y": [327900.0, 329100.0, 331300.0, ...],
"line": {
"color": "#385965",
"width": 1.5
},
"mode": "lines",
"name": "Hawaii",
"type": "scatter",
}
As you can see, trace is a dictionary of parameters of the data to be plotted, as well as information about the color and line types.
We can compile several traces by appending them to a list, which we’ll call data . The order of traces in the list determine the order in which they’re laid onto the final plot. Typically, data should look something like this:
data = [trace1, trace2, trace3, trace4]
layout = go.Layout() : This object is used for the layout of the data including how it looks and changeable features such as title, axis titles, font, and spacing. Just like trace , it is a dictionary of dictionaries.
layout = {
"showlegend": True,
"title": {"text": "Zillow Home Value Index for Top 5 States"},
"xaxis": {
"rangeslider": {"visible": True},
"title": {"text": "Year from 1996 to 2017"},
"zeroline": False
},
"yaxis": {
"title": {"text": "ZHVI BottomTier"},
"zeroline": False
}
}
We can finally compile the data and the layout using the go.Figure() function, which eventually gets passed to the plotting function that we choose.
fig = go.Figure(data = data, layout = layout)
Bar Chart
go.Bar() creates a bar chart type figure. Within the go.Layout() function, we can specify important information such as barmode = “group” , which groups the different bars for each year together, labels for the x and y axes, and a title for the full graph.
Line Plot
go.Scatter() instantiates a trace of scatter type, as opposed to a bar chart or other form.
We can change the mode of the marker using the mode parameter. Even though we are using a scatter plot, we can generate a scatter plot which creates lines and markers (points) on the lines.
mode = “lines+markers”
Time Series Line Plot
Here, we’ve added a range slider that adjusts the domain of data that can be included in the main plot using the rangeslider parameter.
We’ve also passed a colors dictionary containing a unique color for each state. To do so, we used the seaborn color_palette() function, specified the color range, as well as the number of discrete values we need from the distribution. Because plot.ly will not accept RGB tuples, we can convert the output to HEX codes using the as_hex() function.
Multiple Scatter Plots
To create this layout, instead of appending the traces to a single dictionary, we create subplots using the make_subplots() function, and add the trace to a specific location on the grid using the append_trace() function.
Choropleth Map
With the choropleth, we can take a shortcut using the figure factory class, which contains a set of functions to easily plot more complex figures such geographical maps.
import plotly.figure_factory as ff
From the ff.create_choropleth() function, we pass a set of FIPS values, or geographical identification codes specific to each county, city, or state, where the values (ZHVI_BottomTier) correspond to the data to be assigned to that region.
Final Thoughts
As depicted from the examples of different types of graphs above, Plot.ly is a powerful tool for developing both visually pleasing and comprehensible plots for a wide range of audiences. It has many benefits including being widely accessible with having both offline and online modes, and containing functions that can display generated graphs in the notebook and in a web browser. With extra advantages in interactivity, Plotly is a great alternative to Matplotlib and Seaborn, and can boost impact for presentation.
Let us know if you have any questions! | https://towardsdatascience.com/getting-started-with-plot-ly-3c73706a837c | ['Ishaan Dey'] | 2019-06-14 19:04:29.685000+00:00 | ['Data Visualization', 'Plotly', 'Data Science', 'Python'] |
Queer Sources of Adult Creativity | Adolescent Taboo
Queer Sources of Adult Creativity
How teenage sexual frustration might lead to ultimate vocation
Harrow schoolboys, copyright Mark Draisey Photography, used with permission
Does anyone else love the striped socks, the bared legs, and the bear hugs of an all-boy boarding school? Or is it only me? Part of the appeal is that these boys are in a place famous for queer sexuality, though fairly few of them will identify as queer later in life. They’re in a place famous for privilege, but they’re undergoing something universal too. Their awkward and uncomfortable sexuality-in-the-making is pointing toward a future where something else is being made. What’s often overlooked about this period in everyone’s life is the growth of potential vocation and adult creativity that emerges from the increase of erotic feelings in our teenaged emotional lives.
My hypothesis is that everyone’s adult ingenuity and imagination lives in a direct relationship with the birth of their sexual selves. I’d like to explore that hypothesis in relation to two stories. One is the boarding school life of one of Britain’s greatest poets, Lord Byron. The other, pretty ridiculous by contrast, is my own experience at a suburban high school in central Ohio.
These are both experiences that now would be described as queer. What may’ve been experienced initially as a disability turns out in both cases to have been something of an advantage. The early taboo on same-sex sexual attraction also led early to adult vocation, both in Byron’s life and in mine.
1 Lord Byron at Harrow School, 1801–1805
Byron arrived at his boarding school with a bad foot and no father. He was thirteen and a spoiled brat. He hated it and prolonged his stays away from Harrow as much as he could.
By the time he was sixteen things had changed dramatically. As an older boy he was able to attract a small group of younger boys who looked up to him. There were intense relationships with these younger boys that he described in verse. He disguised the gender and the names of the people involved.
He had romantic friendships with two boys who, like him, had come early to their titles, the earl of Clare and Lord Delawarr. Byron struck his new school friends as absurdly proud of being a lord. They called him “the old English baron” to tease him out of it. Inevitably there were misunderstandings between them, and these too made their way into Byron’s first poems.
Many of his early verses are those of a kid who liked lying on gravestones. They dwell on death and dying as the only ways of preserving schoolboy love. Recall that in the early nineteenth century love between men was forbidden. If it didn’t always lead to death, if discovered it almost always led to disgrace. As a result the teenaged Byron concluded that the dead are better off than we are. Away with the tears which we fruitlessly shed — Let us mourn for the living, not weep for the dead.
He also imagined a mutual death with one of his closest friends. He rested his head on this boy’s chest. I’ll make my last, cold, pillow on thy breast; that breast, where oft in life, I’ve laid my head. Death is a way of his being able to sleep with this boy forever, without interference from a judgmental society. Together in one bed of earth we’ll lie!
Sex between schoolboys was both against the rules and customary at British boarding schools. It had to be kept secret because boys caught doing it were punished. Their parents were told. There were expulsions. They were branded with public shame it was hard to live down, no matter how ancient their titles.
Byron always claimed that his schoolboy romances were pure and Platonic. They were matters of the heart not the body. Whatever happened they were times of intense erotic imagination. He also discovered examples of legitimate same-sex desire in the ancient languages and history Harrow boys had to study. The god Apollo loved young Hyacinth. The Roman emperor Hadrian loved handsome Antinous. Byron compared one magnificent boy he knew to the Roman king of the gods. Equal to Jove that youth must be, greater than Jove he seems to me.
As an adult writer Byron considered his adolescent passions so key to his adult creativity that he penned two memoirs of his early love life. His later friend, Hobhouse, ensured that one of these, and perhaps the more important, was destroyed soon after Byron’s death. Why destroy an account of a Platonic schoolboy friendship?
It’s certainly more likely and more fun to conclude that Byron had both Clare and Delawarr backwards and forwards, in their striped socks and out of them, on gravestones and elsewhere, before they all left Harrow. Neither of them was ashamed either then, or later. Byron himself always remembered his last year at Harrow as among the happiest times of his life.
Decades later when Byron met Clare by chance on an Italian highway, he described the few minutes they spent together as one of the most memorable scenes of his life.
The risks Byron and these boys took if they did have sex with one another, nevertheless, would have been considerable. Those chances taken were good training, for Byron certainly, and maybe for the other two as well. They helped to make for happiness and bravery both in their later love lives and in their later careers. Byron’s love life always depended on risk taking, even when he was far beyond his schooldays.
Coping with the taboo surrounding schoolboy love drove Byron into poetry. It was the origin of his adult persona of injured, misunderstood soul who longed only for wild romantic fulfillment. The hypocrisy of forbidding at a British boarding school what most boys did anyway was the first of multiple British dishonesties about sex that drove him ultimately into exile. He found his later identity as a man and a poet by outraging conventional British opinion on sexuality and marriage. This also underwrote his fame and success as a writer. Was he always happy doing it? No. But he’s not one of the four principal romantic poets for nothing. His whole achievement rests on breaking the rules of poetry as he found them. That rule breaking began at his boarding school.
2 Bill Kuhn at Whetstone High School, Columbus, Ohio, 1972–75
In my own high school days, there were no boy-lords. There were no nearby graveyards for writing poetry. I chose to stand out, instead, by wearing a plaid jacket with a polka-dotted shirt for my senior picture.
Bill Kuhn, long suppressed photo, used by permission of the sitter
Many of my friends were having their first sex in high school, but I wasn’t. I was going through the motions of dating girls occasionally and refusing to come to terms with my homosexuality on a full-time basis.
Columbus, Ohio was scarcely a desert when I was growing up. My father was a professor and Columbus is a university town, but I knew no gay people and there were no role models in the media. I wasn’t brought up in any church, but every teenaged boy I knew made it clear that to be gay was an abomination, even if he couldn’t spell it, or use the word properly in a sentence. I was blind to the other, and contradictory messages these boys were sending me.
Like Byron I developed language as the most important of my maturing sexual organs. I did well in English, French, and Latin. I knew that good grades were my ticket to more urban and sophisticated places where people like me probably existed. I got a writing award and this captured the attention of a big university that was far away. I was invited to apply.
I found the first elements of my vocation in understanding that both sexually and creatively I had to get out of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve always been sexually most at home hundreds of miles and ideally an ocean away from where I grew up. Byron too ultimately found the kind of love life he wanted to lead only in exile from England.
I was reluctantly attracted to boys when I was in high school. One played the trumpet. Another was good at every sport he tried. A third was a classic student government type. I didn’t dare to try being friends with them then, but I developed the language that allows me to reveal that one of these boys repeatedly slugged me in the shoulder to try and get my attention. Another, from under his thick mane of dark hair, shyly asked for my help in chemistry. A third, whom I used to watch undressing in the locker room, made a surprising concession when pressed by a girl we both knew. He admitted that he and I looked alike. Maybe we were alike in other ways? I collected those images in my mind when I was a kid and stored them away like erotic baseball cards in a secret shoe box.
I kept them with me when I quit my first real job to go abroad and write short stories. They soothed me and put me to sleep at night in the midst of what I knew was a risky maneuver. They were at the heart of an intellectual project I began in grad school where I tried to explain the appeal and endurance of the British monarchy. It’s only years of writing about royalty that has made me see how much I imagined that rank and distinction would repair the self-loathing I developed in high school.
Sweet, foiled, teenaged desire. You made me what I am today. You gave me books and the ambition to write them. You gave me writing and the will to explore things so taboo that the teenaged me couldn’t even have put them into words. But now as an adult I can.
What did adolescent desire give you? And how does that relate to the adult you’ve become? If you look at your most creative self, are there some links to the sexual teen you once were?
Byron once wrote to a friend to amuse him. He described all the debauched nightlife of his London season and concluded I am buried in an abyss of sensuality. Buried he might’ve been, but in that abyss he was also born. His adult creativity was uniquely linked to what he went through as a schoolboy.
Just as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has tips that may be applied beyond the queer world for dressing, cooking, and decorating, I’d like to think that these two stories of queer, hyper-sensitivity to the sexually forbidden may have more universal appeal. Consider whether you too don’t employ the sexually taboo of your adolescence as the raw material in your adult creative genius. It’s possible that queer people, who often have to meet and bear their burden early in life, may also have the advantage of being early introduced to the source of their creativity. | https://medium.com/prismnpen/queer-sources-of-adult-creativity-3c924f665623 | ['William Kuhn'] | 2020-07-12 16:45:40.827000+00:00 | ['Creative Non Fiction', 'LGBTQ', 'History', 'Creativity', 'Sexuality'] |
CalCPA Daily Clips | Nov. 30, 2021
BUSINESS
How companies are managing higher costs
Companies are increasing prices, conserving cash, searching for efficiencies and taking other steps to better manage tight supplies and higher commodity and wage costs.
CFO
https://www.cfo.com/supply-chain/2021/11/cfos-battle-margin-pressures-and-production-delays/
— — -
How to create a more fulfilling role at your current job
It is not necessary to quit a job if you feel unsatisfied and wish to have new opportunities. Instead, you can position yourself for a more fulfilling role at your current company by discussing the situation honestly with your manager and offering suggestions about what you’d like to change.
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211124-why-not-quitting-might-be-great-for-your-career
— — -
41% Professional Staff Managers Allowing Employees To Set Their Own Hours
Professional services firms are embracing new ways of working, but are they ready to ditch the traditional 8-hour workday?
CPA Practice Advisor
https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/payroll/news/21248290/41-professional-staff-managers-allowing-employees-to-set-their-own-hours
PERSONAL FINANCE
3 solid reasons why Congress should continue stimulus payments for remainder of pandemic
While the dream of additional stimulus checks has been declared dead by many, there are legitimate reasons some lawmakers continue to call for more federal aid.
USAToday
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2021/11/30/stimulus-payments-3-reasons-why-congress-should-keep-them-coming/49455279/
— — -
Money managers turning to ‘econophysics’ to help them avoid the next crash
The work of a Nobel Prize-winning physicist is helping investing pros understand the science behind market manias like GameStop and Bitcoin.
Fortune
https://fortune.com/longform/meme-stocks-stonks-gamestop-econophysics-market-manias-giorgio-parisi/
POLITICS & POLICY
Congress works to fund the government
Congress faces a short-term deadline to fund the government to avoid a partial shutdown. Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., is reportedly negotiating with Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and a stopgap spending measure could emerge by Wednesday.
The Hill
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/583501-congresss-goal-in-december-avoid-shutdown-and-default
PROFESSION
Are you ready for Episodic Wealth Management?
The core of Episodic Wealth Management is that stuff doesn’t just happen to your clients between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Stuff happens 24/7, and a solid planning team must be ready to spring into action as the need arises.
AccountingToday
https://www.accountingtoday.com/opinion/are-you-ready-for-episodic-wealth-management
— — -
How New Firms Can Attract and Retain Clients
New firms have a lot to consider when taking on new clients. Here are some strategies and key steps to attract and retain your ideal clients and overcome the challenges of growing a firm.
AccountingWeb
https://www.accountingweb.com/practice/how-new-firms-can-attract-and-retain-clients
— — -
4 Tips for Remote Business Development
With the COVID-19 pandemic came changes to how businesses interact with clients, and CPA firms are no exception. Here are tips for maintaining chemistry and engagement remotely to build trust and rapport with current and potential clients.
AccountingWeb
https://www.accountingweb.com/practice/4-tips-for-remote-business-development
REGULATORY
Spring-loaded awards merit accounting scrutiny, SEC staff says
“Spring-loaded” awards are share-based compensation that companies award to executives shortly before announcing market-moving information. The SEC staff says that when measuring compensation, companies must consider the impact that the information will have upon release.
Journal of Accountancy
https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2021/nov/spring-loaded-executive-awards-merit-accounting-scrutiny-sec-says.html
TAX
IRS warns of tax-related identity theft during holiday season
The IRS and its partners in state tax authorities and the tax preparation industry are teaming up this week on a special campaign to highlight the dangers of tax scams and identity theft at this time of year.
AccountingToday
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-warns-of-tax-related-identity-theft-during-holiday-season
— — -
The top tax developments of 2021
The year 2021 has been a tumultuous one for tax professionals, with continuing pandemic-related developments as well as new legislation, regulations, court decisions and IRS pronouncements. While the major developments are familiar to most, there are some that might have been missed due to the busy nature of the profession during the past year.
AccountingToday
https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/the-top-tax-developments-of-2021
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Consolidated Tax Reporting’s Increasing Importance
Tax planners need to periodically review with clients whether to incorporate and when to consider multiple corporations.
AccountingWeb
https://www.accountingweb.com/tax/business-tax/consolidated-tax-reportings-increasing-importance
TECH
How to leverage automation for agility at your services-based company
Professional services must embrace automation to tackle the complexity that comes with business growth. Discover which performance indicators they should be paying the most attention.
TechMonitor
https://techmonitor.ai/technology/leverage-automation-for-agility-services-based-company
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Microsoft Windows 10 and 11 users warned to urgently update software
Microsoft is scrambling to fix a software vulnerability, and users are facing another round of security warnings as hackers race to exploit the weakness with malware.
The US Sun
https://www.the-sun.com/tech/4170934/microsoft-windows-hack-malware-update-operating-system/ | https://medium.com/calcpa-daily-clips/calcpa-daily-clips-5787485ffe4c | [] | 2021-11-30 15:32:43.822000+00:00 | ['Accounting', 'California', 'Business', 'Taxes', 'Finance'] |
Trucks | pic by nearly drowned Erik
Trucks
fragments of Life on the Road #V
Wet. Soaking wet. It rained. ‘Cats and dogs’ they say. It got worse. ..Ah well- I had my scuba gear on standby… | https://medium.com/snap-shots/trucks-1295fbd48135 | ['Erik Smith'] | 2020-09-15 20:06:50.885000+00:00 | ['Blackandwhitephotography', 'Trucks', 'Photography', 'Dutch', 'Black And White'] |
How Traipse Wants to Tokenise America’s Historic Main Streets | Staunton is just one of the many cities one can explore with Traipse, for the team of six, based in Washington D.C., is on a mission to put America’s downtowns back on the map:
Traipse lets people discover historic business districts in a playful manner. We work together with local tourism departments and downtown business associations to create fun walking tours that highlight a city’s one-of-a-kind stores, historic sites, art installations and other points of interest. — Darren Smith, Founder and CEO of Traipse
Not your typical city exploration app
Inspired by a local radio station in his childhood that would send its listeners on a treasure hunt and the Washington Post’s annual puzzle hunt, Traipse Founder and CEO Darren Smith believes their app can help revive the thousands of charming but often overlooked downtowns across the United States.
Traipse hopes to draw new visitors to historic business districts in small towns like Staunton, but also to those within bigger cities such as Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Darren explains:
We fully intend to incorporate big cities, partly because that’s where the users are, and if someone uses Traipse in Washington D.C. and likes the experience, they may be more inclined to travel an hour or two to discover smaller towns they normally wouldn’t visit.
Whether you select one of the predefined walking tours or you want to plan your own trip based on your interests, Traipse makes sure every tour highlights the locally owned businesses, historic buildings, colourful murals, monuments, and parks while adding a little element of fun.
Here’s a clue: The answer rhymes with ‘money’!
Every Traipse tour has at least one “location dependent challenge”, activated by a user’s current GPS location. So if you just passed this oil and vinegar shop in Staunton, you’ll be encouraged to enter the store in order to find the answer.
Now, you may ask for a hint, but that’ll cost you two Traipse Points! And believe me, you’ll want to earn as many points as you can. More on that below.
Darren believes these challenges make you more aware of your surroundings and it puts the spotlight on the locally owned stores without blatantly advertising them.
Gamification at it’s finest, if you ask me.
So, why would one want to earn Traipse Points in the first place? Well, because they can be exchanged for redeemable tokens, and those tokens are instrumental to Traipse’s grand vision of tokenising America’s downtowns.
Says Darren:
We expect to be the go-to travel experience app for travellers who enjoy visiting historic business districts and believe in supporting locally owned shops.
Boosting local economies through tokenisation
Traipse wants to create local currencies for every downtown, something which many business associations have tried in the past: Paper coupons, wooden nickels, plastic city cards. These initiatives came from a good place, but were often hampered by transaction fees, limited exchange venues and a low adoption rate by businesses and consumers alike.
OST CCO and Co-Founder Chris Dark wrote an excellent thought piece on why blockchain tokens should and will replace old-school loyalty programs:
With the dawn of blockchain, Darren believes Traipse can create a web of tokenised downtowns that spans across the entire United States, allowing local businesses to attract new costumers in a playful way while cutting down on transaction fees.
Traipse seems to be onto a “win-win for all” type of business model: Its users get to explore and appreciate historical commercial districts while the locally owned businesses can tap into a new niche of potential customers by joining Traipse’s mini-challenges free of charge.
For every riddle solved, the user gets rewarded with Traipse Tokens which can immediately be redeemed at the store, at any other participating business in town or even in a different downtown hundreds of miles away! | https://medium.com/ostdotcom/how-traipse-wants-to-tokenise-americas-historic-main-streets-f4ef645ec7c9 | ['Wouter Verhoog'] | 2018-10-29 11:32:43.652000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Tech'] |
It’s Easier To 10x Your Income Than It Is To Double It. | “The eager-beaver employee expends extra effort to make a mark but soon learns that it doesn’t scale.” — Seth Godin
My palms were sweaty. I hoped my coworkers wouldn’t see my sweaty armpits.
I stared at the door down the hall, for the 40th time that morning. My boss’ door.
The door of the person who was about to give me a raise!
…I hoped.
I’d been preparing for weeks. No, months — I knew I had to have undeniable evidence months in advance for why I deserved a raise. I’d been carefully, meticulously grooming all my metrics and numbers for this fateful day.
The top of the hour came. Outwardly cool but inwardly swallowing my heart that was attempting to leap into my throat, I knocked on my boss’ door.
20 minutes later, I came out.
Defeated.
She hadn’t given me a raise. I wasn’t asking for much — I had asked for a 5% raise, realistically expecting 3%. But I wasn’t given anything, not even a measly 1%.
Maybe next fiscal quarter, she’d said. Your annual raise is coming up, let’s wait for that.
I was angry. I’d spent months preparing for this. I knew I deserved it.
Dammit.
That was about five years ago. Since then, I’ve created a six-figure online business where I work 100 percent from home for myself. The other day, I made $3,000 in one afternoon.
I’ve learned a lot about money. But one of the most surprising lessons was this:
It’s easier to 10x your income than it is to double it.
How to Start Earning 10x More Money in the Next 30 Days
If you want a 1% raise at your job, you might be able to get it.
But if you want a 100%, or even a 1000% raise, you’re going to have to retool your entire mindset altogether.
I’ve seen my money increase by literally 1000%, and it wasn’t at my old corporate job. It was with my personal business where I helped real people with real problems, which is one of the best ways there is to make money.
See, I’d been writing for 7 years. The first 4.5 years, I only made $40 total.
But in year 5, everything changed. After some key mindset shifts, my entire business (and life) changed. My readers and opportunities spiked; I made $4,500 dollars in one month. Better yet, it was consistent, from month to month. I was seeing 10x, 100x, even 1000x increases across the board.
It’s possible to make this kind of money. But if you want to make 10x more by next month…
You need to start charging 10x more for your services.
And if you’re charging 10x more for your services, you better be able to back that up. Which forces an important ultimatum on yourself — get better, or go broke.
And that changes everything.
It can change your life. It can change your family’s life. I’m not being cute about that — I’m dead serious. It changed my family’s life.
See, making a few extra hundred bucks probably won’t change that much in your life.
…But making a few extra thousand dollars? That’s real money. For many of us, that’s total life-changing money.
Again, this is almost certainly not going to happen at your day job. Even if you work for months, there’s no guarantee you’ll even get a 1% increase in pay. No, you need to charge money for your personal services, and learn how to sell your knowledge and expertise.
Trying to get a small raise, even a bigger raise, is a loser’s game in the traditional model. Your boss probably won’t give it to you, nor will your boss’ boss. If they do, it’ll be for 5% at most, and you better keep your mouth shut and fall in line for a long time before even thinking about asking for more money.
In his book Choose Yourself, James Altucher joked that deep down, your boss hates you and wants to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of you while paying you the least amount.
It’s cynical, and not every boss hates their employees. But the truth is, the traditional business model simply doesn’t allow you to make huge increases in wealth. You can try for years, and the best you can hope for is maybe getting a huge promotion (rare) with a huge pay raise (not guaranteed).
Instead, choose yourself. Charge 10x more for your services, then find customers willing to buy.
It’s not easy. Many people fail every day.
But I wake up every day with the electric thrill that today, maybe I might earn $5,000. It’s totally possible. It’s happened before.
There is absolutely no chance than a regular employee can make that money in a traditional income model. You need to go beyond that model, and choose yourself.
The Old-School Model of Patient Waiting Doesn’t Work Anymore — You Can Go As Fast As You Want.
In his book The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin described the different speeches he’d give high school graduates across the 20th century.
If he were giving the commencement speech in 1920:
“Congratulations, men! You have made it through school, and now it’s time to go to work. Stick with it; keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone. You will make more money than your parents ever did eking out a living growing corn.”
If it were 15–20 years later, his speech would be different:
“Boys and girls, the future is here, and it’s called college…go to college and broaden your mind, learn to manage, to organize, to become a middle manager.”
Godin keeps giving slightly different commencement speeches, because each era allows more and more possibility for society.
In today’s era, everything is possible. If you have WiFi and a decent laptop, you can do whatever you want, and make money in countless ways. You don’t need permission from gatekeepers, fancy certifications, or even a college degree. If you can help people get from point A to point B, they’ll pay you.
The old-school model your parents lived in doesn’t work anymore. It’s constraints are outdated and broken; they don’t apply more.
You don’t have to wait to be chosen — choose yourself, then go as fast as you want. Effort doesn’t scale in day jobs; you can work 10x harder and you’ll get the same as the guy who barely worked at all.
But if you work 10x harder for yourself, you can get 10x the income. Maybe even 100x.
Years ago, I told some older family members from my parents’ generation that I was thinking of quitting my job to be a life coach. Their response? Doubt and discouragement. Are you sure? That’s pretty risky. Why don’t you stay at your job with benefits?
Probably the same advice they heard for decades.
A little while later, I cobbled together a little sales page offering $100/hour coaching calls.
In three months, I had nearly 40 clients.
In his book The Pocket Guide to Action, Kyle Eschenroeder stated simply: “With the lowered cost of trying things, it means the value of listening to doubters is at an historic low. They don’t know what’s possible.”
In Conclusion
The old-school restraints don’t work anymore. These fences broke long ago. You don’t have to follow the old rules, rules that dominated your parents’ generation. Things like:
You can’t make more than $60,000/year until you’re 50
You can’t retire early.
You can’t start a company unless you have millions of dollars in funding.
You can’t work from home as your own boss.
Anything is possible. With enough hard work, you can literally make thousands of dollars before breakfast.
Stop playing by the old rules. It’s easier to 10x your income than it is to double it. Choose yourself, and go as fast as you want.
Ready to Level-Up?
If you want to become extraordinary and become 10x more effective than you were before, check out my checklist.
Click here to get the checklist now! | https://medium.com/the-ascent/its-easier-to-10x-your-income-than-it-is-to-double-it-530cb3d0444a | ['Anthony Moore'] | 2020-11-30 14:02:09.293000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', '10x', 'Personal Development', 'Money', 'Business'] |
Making the Most of Being a Host | Hey, thank you for taking the time to check out this post and for your interest in NXTSTOR. What follows is a brief guide to ensure that you maximize being a host, feel free to spice it up in your own special way!
To start off with, we suggest scoping out your home’s space. Find ways to brighten up the space and tidy up. Make the room or garage looks as pristine as possible. Avoid clutter in the images and avoiding making the area look high traffic. Try to ensure there aren’t other individuals in the picture or pets. Most people love a good boy, but they don’t want that good boy getting into their stuff.
Next, we recommend taking the best pictures you can. Try to take some that show off the features of the space. You don’t need to be a world class photographer to take good pictures for NXTSTOR, but making sure they aren’t blurry, are well-lit, and show the entire space you plan to rent out will be more attractive to prospective renters. This is the biggest factor in getting your space booked. If you’re afraid your pictures won’t meet expectations you can check out www.thumbtack.com or www.fiverr.com for a freelance photographer.
After taking your photos, take some time to think about what makes up the space. We’ll need an idea of where in your home the space is first. Then a brief bio of the space, 2–3 sentences should suffice. Talk about your neighborhood, and how calm and quiet it is, or maybe the location in relation to other things. Go into detail about how you would be a great host.
Finally, select the space attributes: are there additional safety features like a camera or a keypad? Will the space be available 24//7 with key card access? Is it heated and air-conditioned? Is it pet free? All of these will allow you to get better rates for your space.
As far as price goes, we generally believe you should price your space in the $0.75-$1.25 per square foot per month price range. While this sounds small, on a monthly scale this could have you earning $100+ for your space — without people trekking through your house or having to do any extra work. This also means recurring payments month after month without having to find new renters or tidying up. The renter just drops off the items and picks them up when they need them back.
Finally, make sure all your account info is correct and you have set up a credit card or bank account that will accept the funds you earn. After all, we want you to get your money! Make sure your renter takes time to fill out reviews of your space, it will help you in the future! Thank you so much for being a part of the greatest community network out there. As always, if you have any questions or are having trouble with anything, shoot us an email and we’ll make sure to lend a hand however we can. | https://medium.com/nxtstor-inc/making-the-most-of-being-a-host-98dbb66d5979 | ['Brandon Gotlieb'] | 2019-10-29 18:25:58.226000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Peer To Peer', 'Storage', 'Side Hustle'] |
I Don’t Know How to Accept Myself as a Lady Yet | Trans people know better than anyone that gender is a construct and sex isn’t determined solely by chromosomes. We know these things, but logic can only do little to mitigate the emotional reaction of dysphoria sparked by all the lies and distortions we’ve been burdened with.
There’s no shortage of reminders. Right now, there’s a proposed Housing and Urban Development Rule that encourages homeless shelters to ignore people’s self-identified gender and instead group those in need by height, facial hair, and other features long held by transphobes to be “tells.” If I were in a situation where I needed help from such a shelter, I might be grouped in with the men if the operator felt I wasn’t woman enough.
When we’re confronted by these efforts, every day reminded that the cultures we’re in see us as confused at best, how can we not be affected? How can we avoid the pressure to conform to the binary in the hopes that this or that change might finally be enough?
We want to break the gender binary and stand strong in the knowledge of who we are, but lifetimes of toxic messages still nip at us. I can look at most any feature of myself that might be considered masculine and know that there are other women — cis and trans and genderqueer alike — who share those traits, but that does little to stave off the pernicious thoughts of “You’re not fooling anyone.”
On good days, I wholly feel like myself. I’m not a used to be, or a will be, but I’m me, today. But then there are the bad days, when I speak and think “Is that my voice?” When I look down at my body and something slithers out of all that gunk stored in the recesses of my brain and says “You look like a man with breasts.” The kind of thoughts that can flip my identity as a trans person on its head, not as a point of pride but almost as an excuse for being unfinished, for sticking out like a sore thumb.
The people I held closest to me were the ones who taught me to hide and deny my identity. It’d be unfair to call them transphobes. I know that’s not how they’d consider themselves, either. But it’s possible for a partner, a friend, a self-styled ally to still say or do transphobic things.
I was with someone for a very long time who did not see — or did not want to see — my shifting gender, even as I talked about it outright. It was a joke that I coded queer to their eyes, but wasn’t really, even as I time and again said I didn’t like being confined to the “man box” of who they thought I was. Another partner supported my desire to play with gender, but cautioned me against medically transitioning for fear of how it might affect our intimate relationship. Couldn’t I just be happy in the body I was in? And that’s to say nothing of friends who asked if I was transitioning to get an old partner back, or that I was making myself a professional victim.
Over and over, what I wanted for myself was questioned and required justification. It wasn’t just doctors or therapists asking. Suddenly friends and acquaintances felt like they had a right to critique and edit my identity, my body, the life I wanted to live. I didn’t feel strong enough at the start to correct them. At the very start, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to transition, or that it wouldn’t make me feel better, and I’d end up feeling adrift in the wrong body. And every time I fielded those questions and comments, my mind stored away those doubts to trot out again at its leisure.
Working as a writer didn’t help. I came out as trans just months before my last book — my deadname emblazoned on the cover. Using my old name until I felt settled in my new self felt untenable, but I also exposed myself to misunderstanding and misapprehension. Every public talk I gave, I had to reintroduce myself as transgender, and it always felt like an apology. A moment to say “Just bear with me” instead of something to be excited about. Just before my first public talk about my new book, and my first as Riley, someone who was expecting Brian to speak told me they liked my costume — makeup and a dress I felt more confident in than my old attire of jeans and button-downs. When I met new people at social events and shared my pronouns, I got more than a few responses of “Oh, I can never keep that straight with you people.” I was only just becoming myself and already I was a social burden.
I couldn’t just be. I felt like I always had to be ready to justify and explain myself, as if someone was asking me why my ID photo didn’t match my appearance. | https://medium.com/an-injustice/i-dont-know-how-to-accept-myself-as-a-lady-yet-3be1740e2dfb | ['Riley Black'] | 2020-07-21 23:15:44.922000+00:00 | ['Gender', 'LGBTQ', 'Nonbinary', 'Queer', 'Transgender'] |
MoneYearn.Finance (KYFI) Stake, Farm, Borrow, Vote, Vault. | MoneYearn.Finance Management offers the following products and solutions, which include:
MoneYearn.Finance (KYFI) Token:
The MoneYearn.Finance (KYFI) token is the proprietary token of the MoneYearn.Finance Management ecosystem, thanks to which it allows processing transactions as an exchange token, and also allows peer-to-peer exchange and value transfer.
The MoneYearn.Finance (KYFI) token will listing on Uniswap, HotBit, Binance.
MoneYearn.Finance — Farm:
MoneYearn.Finance— Farm offers cryptocurrency holders to pool their assets together to provide a large pool of liquidity for everyone who wants to exchange this asset, as a return, he receives a lucrative reward straight into the wallet.
MoneYearn.Finance — Stake:
It is a modern platform that allows MoneYearn.Finance and KYFI token holders to store their assets in a specially designed contract. The storage percentage is set automatically depending on the price of the underlying assets and the number of assets in the pool
MoneYearn.Finance— Borrow :
MoneYearn.Finance ecosystem is borrowing — Borrowers can borrow assets in an overcollateralized (perpetual) way, selecting Ethereum (ETH), and earn KYFI as a reward for using the protocol.
MoneYearn.Finance — Vote :
MoneYearn.Finance — Vote offers decentralized platform that allows community to perform on-chain voting. All this voting data is record on blockchain which acts as a decentralized, immutable ledger, leaving no place of bureaucratic manipulation or rigging.
MoneYearn.Finance — Vault :
MoneYearn.Finance — Vault is a protocol that automates yield farming. It uses AI and BigData to look for innovative farming strategies, with the objective of bringing maximum yield to the community. | https://medium.com/@moneyearnfinance/moneyearn-finance-kyfi-stake-farm-borrow-vote-vault-ed33c6b70f77 | ['Moneyearn Finance', 'Kyfi'] | 2020-12-26 17:05:50.623000+00:00 | ['Defi', 'Staking', 'Btc', 'Yield Farming', 'Ethereum'] |
Binance Labs Fellow: Ironbelly, an Open-Source Grin/MimbleWimble Mobile Wallet | To learn more about the Ironbelly author i1skn and the project, here’s a Q&A that I did with Ivan recently:
Flora: Can you talk about the genesis of Ironbelly? What made you interested in Grin and why did you want to build a wallet for it?
i1skn: I got my eye on Grin at the beginning of 2018. Its unique features and cypherpunk community attracted me and I’ve started to learn Rust as well as learn how Grin itself actually works. Soon I’ve noticed the one thing, where Grin does not shine — it is hard to use for non-advance computer users. There was no mobile wallet and even the official desktop wallet has a command line interface only. That’s how the idea to create a mobile wallet for Grin was born.
Flora: Why do you call it Ironbelly?
i1skn: The name comes from a species of dragon — Ukrainian Ironbelly. One of them guarded some of the oldest and deepest vaults in Gringotts. Also, I’m Ukrainian myself.
Flora: Can you explain what Ironbelly is to people who are not familiar with Grin?
i1skn: It’s a mobile wallet for Grin. Everybody who simply has a phone can use it. No additional servers needed. You can hold, send and receive Grins as you would currently do on a desktop.
Flora: How is Ironbelly different from other Grin wallets out there?
i1skn: It’s unique in a way, that it is the only mobile wallet, which uses official Rust Grin code on a mobile. So, it runs exact the same code from official CLI wallet.
Flora: For our readers who are familiar with Grin, can you talk about how Grin wallet is different from Bitcoin wallets?
i1skn: So, first — you can not have Bitcoins in it :) Second, by nature Grin transactions are interactive and Grin does not have addresses. So, to make a transaction you need some sort of interaction with a recipient and one cannot simply send it to an address.
Flora: Can you talk about the technical architecture of Ironbelly?
i1skn: It uses the Rust code from official CLI wallet. So, there is no need to reimplement the blockchain logic. Rust code can be compiled on iOS as well as on Android. The UI is written in React-Native. This makes the project even more platform-agnostic. The goal is to have as little Swift/Java platform specific code as possible.
Flora: What were some design trade-offs you’ve made for Ironbelly?
i1skn: Rust and React-Native are not first-class citizens on iOS and Android. Because of that, there are some UI/UX trade-offs needs to be done. But at the current stage It’s hard to name a few.
Flora: What are some features that took a lot of longer than you planned and why?
i1skn: Going to mainnet took more than I thought because I want to ensure, that users would not lose their assets because of critical bugs. All the rest so far went as planned.
Flora: What are some features that you made available initially and why?
i1skn: Well, I released the app with very little functionality and with a lot of UI/UX trade-offs. So, in the beginning, you would only transfer Grins using files and would not even have an ability to see your paper key after you have created a wallet. The goal was to give a way for people to “play” with Grin as soon as possible and initially only basic functionality was implemented: hold, send and receive floonet (Grin test network) Grins.
Flora: What are some features that you plan to work on and why?
i1skn: Here are somethings that I plan to work on:
Improve key recovery process by making it interactive and interruptible
Improve authentication experience (add change password, TouchID/FaceID)
Integrations with exchanges, pools and payment processors
Android support
Flora: What kind of help would you need from the developer community?
i1skn: Any bug-fix or improvements are more than welcome! Also I do not have a lot of experience with Android, so any help there would be appreciated.
Flora: What kind of help would you need from the non-developer community?
i1skn: I’m an engineer, so any UI/UX help is really appreciated! Also documentation and texts in the app need some love.
Flora: What do you hope to get out of the Binance Fellowship?
i1skn: Ability to spend significantly more time on the project and attract some amazing contributors!
Flora: What do you plan to work on during the Fellowship?
i1skn: Here are my plans during the Binance Fellowship: | https://medium.com/binance-labs/binance-labs-fellow-ironbelly-an-open-source-grin-mimblewimble-mobile-wallet-5aeef11fc099 | ['Flora Sun'] | 2019-04-15 11:18:44.179000+00:00 | ['Grin', 'Wallet', 'Mimblewimble', 'Binance', 'Crypto'] |
Baby Steps to Your First Full-Stack App | Plan
Planning is essential for large projects and can also be a great tool to help keep you motivated. There are a few parts of planning that you may want to consider depending on the scale and complexity of your project.
Before you even start coding, create a high-level doc explaining what your goals are for this project and what the end system might look like, including what tools you plan to use, where everything will be hosted, etc. Here is the doc that I worked from for my project.
Consider using different tools at different stages of the project. For example, when I first wrote my scraper, I found it easier to store the collected data in Google Sheets rather than having to set up a proper database, but I knew I couldn’t use that as a long-term solution because it would quickly hit row limits.
Almost as important as outlining what you will do is documenting what you won’t do in v1. Unless it’s essential to your app, leave off things that add a lot more complexity. For my app, I thought it would be really cool to use the data I’m collecting to offer predictions rather than just describing historical data. Having never made a predictive model before, I know it could take me months just to learn enough to implement that one feature.
By documenting what is outside the scope of what you’re working on for v1, you can keep yourself from going down a rabbit hole and cut down the time it takes you to have a minimum viable product. And since it’s written down, you won’t have to worry about forgetting it if you want to come back to it in a future iteration of the app.
I also find it helpful to outline user stories. Rather than thinking in detail about the technical needs for the project, think about what the user will want to do. For example “user can sign up for email alerts” or “user can filter a dashboard to see high-level stats about a specific comedian.” If you’ve worked on any assignments for coding classes, you’ve probably noticed that they phrase the requirements like this, and it’s also a common practice in Agile companies. Of course, you’ll need to break out each user story into more detailed technical goals later, but it’s a good way to start segmenting your work (and depending on how eager you are to share your app with the world, you could potentially ship it with only a couple of user stories completed and add the others later).
When you’re ready to start coding, pick a user story and break it out into even more granular steps (e.g. for filtering a dashboard — I needed to populate a dropdown menu, make the selection trigger a GET request to the database, and update the charts based on the response from the request). I used a white board to diagram what the relevant features would look like and keep track of my to-do list for the features, but you could use an app or a notepad.
Diagram of homepage and design options for a signup form
Diagram of dashboard and detailed to-do list
Know when to fold ‘em
I learned this one the hard way — don’t throw too much time at something that you’re not making any progress on. After I had a working scraper, I wanted to host it in Heroku so that I could schedule it to run every night. I spent most of my second week of vacation trying to get this to work, and every time I thought I had found the solution, it was another dead end. Eventually, I just gave up and figured out how to schedule the program locally in a couple of hours, and I leave my laptop open every night so it can run. If I ever have a ton of users relying on this, I’ll go back to researching this issue, but for now, I don’t think my mom will be upset if she misses an update one day a month.
Talk to people!
If you’re working on a solo project, get input from other people at the outset and intermittently throughout your work. Maybe they’ve seen a similar project that could be a useful blueprint, have suggestions for what functionality they would want to see as an end user, or can recommend some technology that you didn’t even know existed.
I was initially planning to use MongoDB and Node just because those were the tools FreeCodeCamp promoted when I first started learning web development (even though I had never used them). A former coworker suggested Flask instead of Node, and I was able to reference an old project he had worked on to see what the Flask routes should look like. Another friend took a look at an early iteration of my landing page and suggested some revisions to make it easier to interpret.
Note: you should specifically be talking to people to get ideas/feedback, not just a pat on the back.
Be kind to yourself
Ok, this advice sounds like the kind of empty nonsense that you use to justify eating a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts in a weekend (not that I’ve ever done that). But it’s important to keep in mind that you’re a human who has a life outside of whatever app you’re working on.
I genuinely thought that within that two weeks (give or take a couple extra days) I could write a scraping tool, schedule it, and build a full-stack website to show cool D3 charts with dynamic filtering, despite the fact that I had never worked with schedulers or back-end technologies and had limited experience with D3. Once I missed that self-imposed deadline and was back to work, it was hard to make very much progress each week, and I quickly became disheartened.
If you’re setting your own deadlines, be exceedingly generous. Or consider not setting any deadline at all (if it’s a side project). Work on it when you have the energy, and acknowledge that you need time to decompress from work/school, hang out with friends and family, and enjoy your other hobbies. | https://medium.com/swlh/baby-steps-to-your-first-full-stack-app-8a72f0ccf4f | ['Meghan Maloy'] | 2020-07-13 18:39:19.079000+00:00 | ['Planning', 'Coding', 'Web Development', 'Full Stack'] |
The Wisdom of Children | When it came to neighbors, Darling didn’t like them as a rule. They asked too many questions, were quite loud during the day, and died all too quickly once you got to know them. Really, the rule could apply to all mortals, but Darling didn’t deal with a lot of other people aside from neighbors and victims, and he didn’t get much of a chance to dislike victims. But these new neighbors weren’t too bad. The Leeves didn’t ask questions, weren’t too loud during the day, and so far they hadn’t died. But Darling still kept to his rule of not liking neighbors and therefore not socializing with them. It was easier that way, in the end. Lonely, but easy.
The loneliest hours were in the early evenings just after the sun had set and the sky was a dark purple peppered with stars. It was in these hours that he felt his loneliness. There were people all around him, chatting in their apartment, walking on the street, laughing, dancing, all together. And there he was, standing above it all on his crumbling balcony, alone. He tried to keep busy, clean or play the piano, but some nights he just watched the stars; they were the only constants in his life, never changing, ever sparkling.
It was one of those nights, a star watching night. Darling stood on his balcony in a simple t-shirt and jeans, face upturned to the night sky, alone until he suddenly wasn’t.
“Hello.” The voice cut into Darling’s thoughts, startling him as he became all too aware of the fact that the Leeves’ daughter was standing on the balcony next to his, face pressed against the wrought iron bars, pudgy cheeks squeezing around them. The sound of blood pumping through her veins and the breath moving through her lungs assaulted his ears and he shook his head, willing the sounds of the street to come back to him.
“Hello,” he responded eventually. The girl stared at him, wide-eyed, making no move to say anything else. For several moments, the two were locked in a staring match of sorts until Darling spoke again: “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Yes.” There was an expectant pause.
“Well, why aren’t you?” he prompted after no elaboration followed.
“I don’t want to be. Why are you out here?” the girl asked.
“I want to look at the stars.”
“Why?”
Darling opened his mouth once, seemingly confident of his answer, before closing it with uncertainty. He repeated the process a couple of times. “Because…they’re my friends,” he eventually stuttered out. He cringed as soon as the words left his mouth.
“I have a friend. Her name is Lisa,” the girl said as if it were exceedingly normal to call the stars your friends. “Do you have a name?”
“Darling.”
“That’s a weird name,” she said. “I have a normal name. It’s Mary.”
Darling nodded, unsure how to respond.
“Do you know Mommy and Daddy?” Mary asked.
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
Darling shrugged haphazardly, but Mary stared up at him. Words jumbled through his head as he searched for an answer. An answer came to his lips but it seemed unsatisfactory as well.
“I don’t know,” he sighed when no other answer became present.
“They’re really friendly.”
“I’m sure they are. I just-” The words caught in his mouth, tasting of fear, bitterness, and sickening familiarity. “I’m afraid of losing them,” he muttered, so quietly he was afraid Mary wouldn’t hear.
“Do people leave you a lot?” she asked, voice nearly as soft as his.
“In a way,” he sighed.
“Mommy and Daddy won’t. I promise.”
“Everyone leaves eventually.”
Mary seemed to contemplate that for a moment before nodding.
“Yea, everyone does,” Mary sighed. “But what about before they leave? Could you be friends with them then?”
“I don’t know, Mary,” he whispered. “I’m afraid.” The words sounded so alien outside of his own head. They’d often lingered there, in the shadow of his thoughts, waiting to be said, but he’d never said them until now. They felt good to say, like they’d been a heavy weight that was now lifted from him.
“Mommy always says you have to face your fears,” Mary said. “And that love makes everything easier, even if you only have it a little while.”
The words were like stones dropped in a still pond. Darling felt them hit his soul and ripple it. It wasn’t as if it had never occurred to him. It had just never been put in such perspective. Thoughts swarmed through Darling’s head. Existential crisis-y sort of thoughts. What had he been doing all his life? He’d never considered that the pain of losing someone might be less than the pain of loneliness and that loving someone, knowing someone, might make it all easier. How could this child, a mere toddler, put his thoughts into perspective like this? She knew nothing of the world, had hardly been in it long enough to know anything more than this meager stretch of street. How were children so infinitely wise and so terribly young?
Darling’s thoughts were interrupted as a fresh wave of blood lust hit him. His throat burned like a desert stranded man’s would and he felt himself lurching to his feet, stumbling back across the balcony in a desperate attempt to escape the tantalizing smell before primal instinct took over. His back hit the opposite railing and he looked up to find Mrs. Leeves standing there, watching him carefully. Swallowing thickly, Darling managed a quick: “Hello,Mrs. Leeves.”
“I hope Mary wasn’t bothering you?” she asked.
“Not at all.”
Mrs. Leeves smiled before a sharp tug on her shirt front drew her attention to Mary. “Can we have Mr. Darling over for dinner?” she asked. A hesitant look was thrown Darling’s way.
“I don’t know, Mary. Mr. Darling is very busy-”
“No, he’s not!” Mary cried indignantly. “He just said he was lonely!” Another look was thrown Darling’s way, this one more concerned than the first. “Please! He needs friends!”
“Maybe I should just turn in,” the vampire muttered before turning to disappear into his apartment, into his safe, peaceful loneliness.
“Mr. Darling,” The voice stopped him on the threshold of his apartment. He peered back to see Mrs. Leeves watching him. “We would be more than happy to have you to dinner, if you would like.” Darling’s immediate response was no, thank you, but a small voice, one that sounded a lot like Mary, told him to say yes.
“I’d love to.”
Rules be damned. It was time he wasn’t alone anymore. | https://medium.com/1-1000/the-wisdom-of-children-9da49600c179 | ['One For One Thousand'] | 2017-03-01 14:02:00.658000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Archive', 'Fiction', 'Vampires', 'Children'] |
How to Fall Asleep in 120 Seconds | When you’re on military exercise, sleep is a luxury. Maybe you can only snatch a few hours each day. So there’s nothing so frustrating as lying in your sleeping bag with your eyes closed, waiting for something to happen.
You’re totally exhausted. You have to be up in three hours for picket. You’re distracted by the noises around you. There’s a rock jutting into your hip bone. Or you’re replaying the day’s events on repeat in your head.
If you don’t sleep, you’ll burn out pretty quickly. You’ll make bad decisions. You’ll let people down and become a liability.
That’s what happened with U.S. fighter pilots in World War II. The U.S. military realized many of its pilots were making terrible, avoidable decisions due to stress and the resulting sleeplessness. Shooting down friendlies. Being shot down themselves. Even when pilots clocked off, they couldn’t relax and they couldn’t sleep. So their stress and fatigue built up, till they made a fatal error.
No one wants to be that guy.
Luckily, you never have to be. The U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School developed a scientific method to fall asleep day or night, in any conditions, in under two minutes. After six weeks of practice, 96 percent of pilots could fall asleep in two minutes or less. Even after drinking coffee, with machine gunfire being played in the background.
Which means if you follow these steps, falling asleep will be a piece of cake.
Work with the real estate you have
Check out the available terrain. It might seem uninspiring, but that’s no problem. In fact, if you can stretch out at all, you’re already way ahead.
In the training, the pilots were taught to fall asleep while sitting upright in a chair. Which is a tough position to sleep in when you’re feeling restless. It’s why the airlines invented business class. But it was all the pilots needed. Sitting back in the chairs, they put their feet flat, and let their hands go limp against their laps. So remember a sleeping mat or room to lay down is a bonus. Work with the real estate you’ve got, knowing a humble seat will do.
Your face is the key to slowing down everything
Now that you’ve got your position, it’s all about the face. Think of it as the epicenter of your emotions. Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply. Then relax all 43 of your face muscles — no squinting or frowning. Your forehead should be smooth. Let everything go loose. Breathe out as you feel your cheeks, mouth, tongue, and jaw relax.
Your eyes are shut, but you want to make sure they are totally limp. Do this by letting them fall deep into your socket. There are six muscles that control your socket; feel them relax and go lifeless.
When you relax your face and let your eye sockets go limp, you signal to the rest of your body it’s time to unwind.
Send your upper body south
Now it’s all about the shoulders. Let them drop as low as they can, as if they were floating down your body. You should feel the back of your neck go lifeless. Let all the muscles there go even looser.
Breathe in deeply. Then exhale slowly, blowing out all of the tension.
Next are your arms. Start with your dominant side. If you’re right-handed, focus on your right bicep. Feel it relax and drop down your body. If it’s not relaxing, tense it first, then let it go loose.
Then move to your right forearm. Focus on sending it limp. Finally, comes your hand and fingers. Let them fall like a dead weight against your leg. When you’ve finished with your dominant side, work through the process with your other arm.
Your upper body should be nice and limp, like it’s sinking into you. You’re more than halfway there.
What to say to your legs
Next stop is your legs. Tell your right thigh muscle to sink, like a dead weight. Then tell the same thing to your right calf muscles. Then do the same thing for your ankle and foot. Feel the muscles go limp, as your leg sinks into the ground.
Repeat the process with the left leg, talking to your thigh, then your calf, then your ankle and foot.
Now you have unwound, relaxing every muscle in your body from your face to your feet. There’s just one more thing you need to do to turn your relaxed state into deep sleep.
How to not think about anything
The last step is to clear your mind for 10 seconds. That’s it. No thinking about what went wrong that day, or what time you need to get up, or when you’ll get to call your partner. Doing these things all involve movement. Which means just thinking about them is enough to make your muscles involuntarily contract.
Instead, you need to keep your mind still. You can do this by holding a static image in your head. Imagine you are lying on a comfy couch, in a pitch black room. Hold this image in your mind for 10 seconds.
If that doesn’t work, say the words “don’t think … don’t think … don’t think” over and over for at least 10 seconds. This will clear out any thoughts and stop your brain from wandering.
When you’re physically relaxed and your mind is still for at least 10 seconds, you’ll be asleep. | https://medium.com/s/story/combat-tested-training-unwind-and-sleep-anywhere-in-120-seconds-27d5307b7606 | ['Sharon Ackman'] | 2018-07-27 23:32:01.281000+00:00 | ['Veterans', 'Health', 'Military', 'Sleep', 'War'] |
How to Explain the Protests to Young Children | A white grandma fostering advocacy as early as possible
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Bravery.
Advocacy.
Courage.
Love.
These are traits that protestors embody when they stand for a cause at any cost.
These are traits I taught my children to have as they were growing up through instructing them to fight for anyone that society treats as the “underdog” and especially through the example of my own advocacy for the many, many forgotten members of society that were my patients in my nursing career.
I want my grandchildren to understand these traits are also decisions and are crucial to living as loving human beings who serve their fellow man.
My four year old grandson watches the protests with me as they come on my facebook/utube pages. He wants to know why policemen are killing black people and hurting mothers and children and “other peoples” who are trying to help black people “who are getting killed and hurt in the world.” (his sweet words)
In my disgust and furiousness of the behaviour and overt racism exhibited by this nation’s police forces and the common everyday bigotry and racism of many white Americans, it is difficult for me to hold my tongue in answering him…and I decided I shouldn’t…to a point.
A small child’s view of the world and the security and foundation of that world are imperative perceptions that a child needs to formulate positive, but correct, concrete ideas about their being, their lives, and their purpose.
The truth must be given with a dose of hopefulness and with realistic, tangible examples for a child to independently understand and act accordingly within their own environments — i.e., social situations such as in childcare, the playground, and everywhere else as they encounter the differences of race, culture, gender and the like.
Therefore, any answers to the questions my grandson poses must be formulated carefully, but most importantly, truthfully, in a way that he can understand that the wrongs of this world must be changed through the actions of people — people who care.
Below is what I said. If you would like to discuss this pragmatically with young children, I invite you to consider my approach.
I continue to build on this foundation:
We do not hate other people and never based on their color, on where they come from. All humans are created differently and God says each person is fully loved and valuable. We are responsible for treating every person with love and respect.
There are many people who have been taught wrong and so they act wrong.
Killing people is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Lying to cover up what you do that is wrong, is wrong. Hurting people is wrong.
The policeman we are watching on the computer and on the phone have decided to do wrong because they believe wrong.
There are some policemen who do believe right. There are many people who believe right.
People who do bad things must be stopped and many times that means other people have to make a loud noise and get attention from the government who make many important decisions so they can stop bad things from happening to people.
Being mean, cruel, or hateful to people whose skin is a different color from yours is called racism. We are not racists.
Being mean to anyone who is different from you is called prejudice. We have a goal to erase prejudice…to get rid of it completely…because we do not want to be prejudiced and hurt other people in any way. | https://medium.com/writer-mom/how-to-explain-the-protests-to-young-children-138b87ee7a39 | ['Christina Vaughn', 'Nurse', 'Freelance Writer'] | 2020-07-30 00:09:37.037000+00:00 | ['Protest', 'Racism', 'Grandparenting', 'Values', 'Parenting'] |
California University WhatsApp Group Link | California University WhatsApp Group Link
The USA United States of America is one of the strongest and beautiful countries in the world, American peoples are very nice and free-minded. you will love to make friends with these American people.
Like Indian people love to make friends, Everyone in the USA is using Whatsapp Regularly and loved to make friends and chat with them. So if you are seeking for USA Whatsapp Group link then you are landed in the perfect place,
WhatsApp Messenger, or simply WhatsApp, is an American freeware, cross-platform centralized instant messaging and voice-over-IP service owned by Meta Platforms. Billions upon billions of people are using WhatsApp to stay connected with their family and friends from anywhere, anytime, anywhere. Free from WhatsApp to any phone around the world, It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other conten
How to Join WhatsApp Group?
1. Click on the links below2. Check if there is a place in the group
3. Then press join and enjoy
More WhatsApp Group Link:
People searching for jobs in the USA from India or Asian countries can also try to become part of these groups.
Be kind and responsible while joining these groups. Show your most professional nature and respect the ambiance of groups. | https://medium.com/@durhammaria24/california-university-whatsapp-group-link-723e9bc0432b | ['Mukta Rani'] | 2021-12-19 12:50:45.105000+00:00 | ['Whatsapp Status', 'University', 'Whatsapp Tips And Tricks', 'California', 'WhatsApp'] |
Webix vs Angular. 5 Reasons Why Prefer Webix | Webix vs Angular
There is a wide choice of frameworks nowadays that are created to facilitate the process of application development. All of them claim to make the job of a programmer faster, easier, and cheaper. Some of the frameworks are already extremely popular, others are just gaining their target audience. Each of them has strong and weak sides. Each can come in handy for the specific requirements of a particular project.
Every developer from inexperienced juniors to mature seniors has heard of Angular. It is a JS open-source front-end web framework by Google. It is hard to compete with the solution created by such a giant in the world of IT. At the same time, smaller frameworks may sometimes cope with the issues of a project better.
We will consider a less popular, still effective Webix JS library and focus on the sides where it can make a strong alternative to the well-known brand name.
What are the strengths of the Webix library?
Speed
Webix JavaScript is based on the principles of object-oriented programming and it contains a vast JavaScript library. Webix design system allows getting quality material design right out of the box without any customization or setting efforts. More than 100 web widgets are available for the developers, as well as the template library and 5 conceptual design skins. Maksim Kozhukh, the head of Webix, has mentioned in his interview the high-performance and feature-rich components of the library. For example, DataGrid has more than 20 features (clipboard support, shortcuts, context menu, drag-n-drop, filters, data validation, pagination, rowspan, colspan, grid grouping).
Currently, Webix shows one of the best rendering speed for the DataGrid widget (according to the study of Bryntum specialists).
Supportability
Numerous clients of the library emphasize the great support of the technical team. For example, Tore Hvidegaard, the CEO of the digital construction company in Denmark mentioned the usefulness of the snippets in the forum. If there is a specific problem occurring in the project, you can ask the community forum and get the answer with a snippet of how it works. This approach can save much time for the developers.
Besides, there is an opportunity to work with the programmers from XB Software team. They can perform their duties remotely and assist you at any stage of the project.
The learning curve of the library is quite short. Detailed documentation and tutorials help to study fast and efficiently.
License
Most popular JS UI libraries are distributed under the MIT license, which imposes some restrictions. For example, it does not ensure the completeness of intellectual property rights. Also, open-source licenses may require developers to release the final product under an opensource license and publish the source code in the public domain, which may be unacceptable for many reasons. You may consider the reasons for switching from open-source to a commercial license:
Purchase/sale of intellectual property rights. Only a commercial license guarantees the transfer of all intellectual property rights to a new buyer. Certification of IT solutions. If you are developing solutions for the financial and banking sectors that require mandatory certification, you should not use opensource components. Gambling solutions and healthcare systems are also subject to special audits. Each country has its own rules of control and regulation. Technical support. Full technical support is usually provided only to commercial license holders. Advanced features. Commercial versions of libraries offer advanced functionality and additional opportunities. Examples can be found in this article.
Design
Another feature of Webix is its verified design. The product is promoted as a carrier of material design expertise for any project. All widgets are perfectly compatible. Webix users get a correct and beautiful material design right out of the box without the need for configuration and customization. Elaborate default design can be used straight away.
Ecosystem
The “magic of Webix” is in its 12 lines of code. To get more familiar with the idea you can read the article Creating a Webix-based Business Web Application for Data Storage with Only 12 Lines of Code. These “12 lines of code” hide a rich functionality with numerous features that are supported “out of the box”. and you are unlikely to encounter performance issues or high CPU load. Webix puts performance and optimization at the forefront.
The Webix ecosystem includes 100+ UI widgets to create any modern interface. The library of examples and templates shows all the available UI controls. All the widgets have a sufficient number of features, such as:
Clipboard support
Keyboard shortcuts
Context menu
Drag-n-drop
Filters
Data validation
Pagination
etc.
Besides, there is a list of complex widgets. Those are full-fledged SPA applications with the ready-made front-end and back-end layers that can be built into any solution. All of them run on any platform and are compatible with Angular or React environment.
Conclusion
It is worth saying that Webix is not trying to compete with global platforms such as Angular. But Webix can complement them organically. Webix is easily integrated into any architecture. Such frameworks as Angular have their component libraries, but they are not as functional and versatile as Webix. An experienced developer is aware of how much time and resources are required for customizing or implementing the necessary features. While Webix already offers a ready-made solution.
Webix solves three important business cases: | https://medium.com/@webix-ui/webix-vs-angular-5-reasons-why-prefer-webix-d66cfa761b85 | [] | 2020-12-21 08:59:53.615000+00:00 | ['Javascript Frameworks', 'Javascript Development', 'Javascript Tips', 'Angularjs', 'Web Development'] |
This New Gym Online Store have moved from Afghanistan to US — With Fast Delivery | Products mostly sold out in just 24 hours.
Farsales is arguably one of the best gym online stores when it comes to find niche products for exercise, but one online store startup thinks it has cleared its way to be one of the finest online store in the US.
San Francisco-based Farsales has unveiled a new series of gym equipments which works very well during Covid-19 situation to exercise at home. It has very few essential products which is needed for every house.
Pulley Machine system kit which is a small portable equipment can be hanged every where in the house and it can hold weights to do Tricep/Bicep exercise. This equipment can help a lot during the covid situation where most of the gyms are closed.
The Abs Roller is another series where also comes with Knee mat for abdominal exercise. Mostly people suffer from losing their abs which this can help a lot to have as an essential tool at home.
“With Farsales never be that much worried about closing gyms during covid19,” founder Hamed Rohani said in a statement on the website.
“Our goal is to give people the tools they need at home to stay fit, and also gave some sellers the opportunity to sell their products”
So where does the products come from?
The website is powered by individual sellers who have the product in their area of sales. Tye put their products for sale in the website after completing the process. The company analyze the products and list them in the website.
Farsales efficiently list the products based on the location of the buyers.
The story about Afghanistan
Farsales initially stared working back in 2016 with harshest / hardest country conditions in the world.
It was mostly selling gym equipments and local traditional products.
The delivery usually took 1–2 days for the customers. The delivery drivers were sometimes threatened by some fake customers and asked to turn their mobile or wallet. But Farsales’s drivers never gave up, so they willingly and bravely continued their work. But Farsales team always prioritized safety over work, and analyze the risk of each delivery and the drivers were accompanied by another gaurd to be safe.
Farsales operation stopped in Afghanistan in 2018, and started its operation in San Francisco Bay Area in 2018, due to the founder moving to USA.
Please raise your hands to support the dreamer to achieve their goals.
More stories will come soon.
Farsales.com | https://medium.com/@hammed.roh/this-new-gym-online-store-have-moved-from-afghanistan-to-us-with-fast-delivery-6605bef7fad9 | ['Hamed Rohani'] | 2020-12-09 00:11:25.575000+00:00 | ['Online Shopping', 'San Francisco', 'Delivery', 'Software Engineering', 'Afghanistan'] |
TabNet — Deep Neural Network for Structured, Tabular Data | Framingham Heart Study
Today, I’m going to go through an example of how to use TabNet for a classification task. The dataset contains results from the Framingham Heart Study, which is a study that began in 1948 and has provided (and is still providing) significant insights into risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For those interested in learning more about this study, please checkout this link.
I you’re interested in learning more about TabNet’s architecture, I encourage you to look over the original paper I linked above. Additional resources include this repo where you can see the original TabNet code.
Finally, before we dive in, you can follow along using my notebook found at this repo.
The Data
The data used for this analysis consisted of 16 variables, including the target variable ANYCHD. The descriptions of each can be found below.
Table 1 — Description of the variables found in the data set.
Here’s what our dataframe looks like.
Table 2 — A view of the data in tabular format
Investigating missing values
Next, I wanted to see how much of the data was missing. This is easy to do using df.isnull().sum(), which will tell us how much data is missing per variable. Another way is to use a package missingno which allows us to visualize the relationship between the missing data very quickly.
In figure 1, a matrix representation of the missing values (white) by variable. This is organized vertically by row, which allows us to see if there are any relationships between the missing values. For example, missing values for HDLC and LDLC are identical, suggesting that these values weren’t collected for a portion of the patients in this dataset.
Figure 1 — A matrix of the missing data by variable. Image by author
We can also get a heatmap for a different way of looking at the relationship between missing values as in figure 2. Here we have an easier time seeing the relationship between both HDLC and LDLC with TOTCHOL. The value <1 means that it is slightly less than 1. Since al 3 of these variables are measure of cholesterol, it suggests that cholesterol data was not collected for certain patients in the dataset.
Figure 2 — A heatmap demonstrating the relationship between missing values. Image by author
Imputing missing values
Now that we have gathered information about our missing values, we need to decide what to do about them. There are many options depending on your data, and you can read more about the various imputation algorithms available on sklearn’s webpage.
I opted for the KNN imputer, which you can implement using the following code. To summarize, in the first block I simply divided the data into features and target.
The second block transforms the features using the KNN imputer. As you can see from the print statements, there were originally 1812 missing values which were imputed.
Figure 3 — Using the KNN Imputer to deal with missing values in the dataset.
The final step is to split our data. Using the code below, I initially split the data into 70% for the training set and 30% for the validations set. Then I split the validation set in two equal parts for the validation and test sets. The print statements provide us with information about the shape of the splits.
Figure 4 — Splitting the data into train, validation and test sets
TabNet
You can be ready to run TabNet in a few simple lines, as shown below. This is a pytorch implementation of TabNet, so you’ll have to import (or install if you haven’t yet) torch, pythorch_tabnet, and the model you wish to use (binary classifier, multi-classifier, regressor).
You will also need some kind of metric to evaluate your model. Here’s a list of those available from sklearn. I also included a label enconder in the event that your data is slightly different to mine. My categorical variables are all binary integers, but if you had categories stored as strings you would use this (or an alternative such as one-hot encoding) first.
Figure 5 — Importing the necessary libraries
Next, we have to define our model, which you can see in the first block of code below. On the first line we define our optimizer, Adam. The next few lines are scheduling a stepwise decay in our learning rate. Let’s unpack what it says:
The learning rate is initially set to, lr = 0.020
After 10 epochs, we will apply a decay rate of 0.9
The result is simply the product of our learning rate and decay rate 0.02*0.9, meaning at epoch 10 it will reduce to 0.018
In the next block of code, we fit the model to our data. Basically it says the train and validation sets will be evaluated with auc (area under the curve) and accuracy as metrics for a total of 1,000 iterations (epochs).
The patience parameter states that if an improvement in metrics is not observed after 50 consecutive epochs, the model will stop running and the best weights from the best epoch will be loaded.
The batch size of 256 was selected based on recommendations from TabNet’s paper, where they suggest a batch size of up to 10% of the total data. They also recommend that the virtual batch size is smaller than the batch size and can be evenly divided into the batch size.
The number of workers was left at zero, which means that batch sizes will be loaded as needed. From what I read, increasing this number is a very memory-hungry process.
Weights can be 0 (no sampling) or 1 (automated sampling). Lastly, drop_last refers to to dropping the last batch if not complete during training.
It’s important to note that many of these are default parameters. You can check out the full list of parameters here.
Figure 6 — Defining and fitting our TabNet classifier
The results of this analysis can be seen in figure 8, and they can be reproduced using the code below. The first three blocks of code plot the loss score, accuracy (for the train and validation sets), and feature importance (for the test set).
The final blocks simply compute the best accuracy achieved for the validation and test sets, which were 68% and 63%, respectively.
Figure 7 — Plotting the loss score, accuracy, and feature importance
Figure 8 — (left) loss score; (middle) accuracy for training (blue) and validation (orange) sets; (right) relative feature importance
Unsupervised pretraining
TabNet can also be pretrained as an unsupervised model. Pretraining involves deliberately masking certain cells and learning relationships between these cells and adjacent columns by predicting the masked values. The weights learned can then be saved and used for a supervised task.
Let’s see how using unsupervised pretraining can influence our models accuracy!
Although similar, the code has some differences, so I have included it below. Specifically, you have to import the TabNetPretrainer. You can see in the first block of code, the TabNetClassifier is replaced by the TabNetPretrainer.
When you fit the model, note the last line pretraining_ratio, which is the percentage of features that are masked during pretraining. A value of 0.8 indicates 80% of features are masked.
The next block of code refers to the reconstructed features generated from TabNet’s encoded representations. These are saved and can then used in a separate supervised task.
Figure 9 — Unsupervised representation learning with TabNet
When pretraining was used for this dataset, the results were 76% and 71% accuracy for the validation and test sets, respectively. This is a significant improvement! Below, you can see the loss scores, accuracy for training (blue) and validation (orange) sets, and the feature importance determined for the test set.
Figure 10 — (left) loss score; (middle) accuracy for training (blue) and validation (orange) sets; (right) relative feature importance. Image by author.
Summary
In this post, we walked through an example of how to implement TabNet for a classification task. We found that unsupervised pretraining with TabNet significantly improved the model’s accuracy.
In figure 11 below, I plotted the feature importance for the supervised (left) and unsupervised (right) models. It’s interesting that unsupervised pretraining was able to improve the model’s accuracy while reducing the number of features.
This makes sense when we think about the relationship of the features to one another. Pretraining with TabNet learns, for example, that blood pressure meds (BPMEDS), systolic blood pressure (SYSBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DIABP) are related. Thus, unsupervised representation learning acts as a superior encoder model for a supervised learning task, with cleaner and more interpretable results.
Figure 11 — Feature importance values for the supervised (left) and unsupervised (right) TabNet models. Image by author.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Give it a try and let me know how it worked for you. | https://towardsdatascience.com/tabnet-deep-neural-network-for-structured-tabular-data-39eb4b27a9e4 | ['Ryan Burke'] | 2021-07-12 12:16:59.974000+00:00 | ['Deep Learning', 'Classification', 'Structured Data', 'Neural Networks', 'Unsupervised Learning'] |
A Very Brief History of Seasonal Climate Forecasting for Agriculture | By Christopher Lund.
Photo by Henry Be on Unsplash.
Farmers have searched for ways to predict weather and climate since the dawn of agriculture 10,000 years ago. Weather is the short-term fluctuation (i.e. from seconds to weeks) in variables like temperature, precipitation, humidity, cloudiness, etc., and climate is the long-term average (i.e. typically thirty years) of these variables at a given location. To see the probability of having rain or a frost tomorrow, farmers, today typically referred to as growers, rely on a weather forecast. To estimate how conditions favorable for agriculture may change over the 21st century, they must rely on projections from global climate models. Between these two timescales lies the realm of seasonal climate variability and forecasting. To determine what seed to plant, when to plant it, or when harvest will occur, growers can consult a seasonal climate forecast.
While modern weather forecasting dates to the 1950s, modern seasonal climate forecasting has only been available to growers since the late 1990s. Before this, and even today, seasonal climate forecasting has been based on everything from the Old Farmer’s Almanac and Punxsutawney Phil, to the coloration of wooly bear caterpillars and the thickness of onion skins. Despite claims to the contrary, these methods are less than reliable.
Today, most growers use historical “climatology” to forecast what the upcoming growing season will look like. They predict that the upcoming season’s temperature and precipitation will be the same as the average of the last 5, 10, or 30 years. While this approach does capture the seasonal climate cycle driven by the Earth’s orbit, it fails to capture long term trends associated with global warming and the months-to-decade scale fluctuations driven by oceanic and atmospheric oscillations that impact the land surface (i.e. teleconnections) such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the Indian Ocean Dipole, among many others. These fluctuations can have significant impacts on agriculture; the heavy spring rains in California and the US Midwest in 2019 are a salient recent example.
Fortunately, over the last three decades seasonal climate forecasting using dynamical models has moved beyond the research realm and into operational settings (e.g. NOAA’s CPC CFS and ECMWF’s SEAS systems). Dynamical models are gridded, fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-land models that use mathematical representations of the laws of physics to simulate the movement of heat, momentum, and water fluxes between grid boxes (see Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Schematic of a dynamical model used for seasonal climate prediction courtesy of UCAR COMET Program.1
Multiple surveys have shown the value of seasonal climate forecasting for the agricultural sector (e.g. CIE’s 2014 report on Australian agriculture and WMO’s 2007 CAgM Report №102), and some growers do consult NOAA’s CPC forecast (see Fig. 2), but many remain skeptical of dynamical model forecast accuracy. This is due, in part, to past forecast misses such as the failure to forecast the 2012 Central US drought.
Figure 2. Tercile temperature and precipitation forecast maps courtesy of NOAA CPC.2
Since 1996, when ECMWF’s seasonal climate forecasting model SEAS1 was operationalized, each successive generation of models has shown steady improvement in forecast accuracy due to better data coverage and better models (see Fig. 3).
Figure 3. Evolution of ECMWF SEAS NINO 3.4 forecasting accuracy. Redrawn with data courtesy of ECMWF.3
Despite these improvements, the forecast accuracy of dynamical models still varies greatly by both season and geography as well as the variable being forecast. ECMWF’s latest seasonal forecasting model, SEAS5, has high skill for near-surface temperature over the tropics, particularly over the oceans, but in extra-tropical regions, its accuracy is more variable (see Fig. 4; darker red indicates greater accuracy).
Figure 4. Anomaly correlation map of the SEAS5 ensemble mean 2 m temperature forecast with one month lead time for June-July-August (ERA-Interim 1981–2016). Figure courtesy of Johnson et al. (2019) ECMWF.4
The accuracy of seasonal precipitation forecasts, of great importance for rainfed agriculture, is much more variable and significantly lower than the accuracy of near-surface temperature forecasts (see Fig. 5; darker red indicates greater accuracy). Unfortunately, the accuracy of the current generation of dynamical models is still particularly low over mid-latitude continental regions such as the US Midwest where significant agricultural activity occurs.
Figure 5. Anomaly correlation map of the SEAS5 ensemble mean precipitation forecast with one month lead time for June-July-August (GPCP v2.2 1981–2014). Figure courtesy of Johnson et al. (2019) ECMWF.5
Data-driven approaches using machine learning offer a potential pathway for improving seasonal climate forecast accuracy. Dynamical models are based on fundamental physics, but they also incorporate hundreds of semi-empirical relationships to approximate processes such as cloud formation that are too fine for the models to resolve. These relationships are ill-constrained and represent a major source of uncertainty and model error. Machine learning may be able to circumvent this long-standing problem in several ways. First, machine learning algorithms may be able to better represent the fundamentals of these sub-grid climate processes and thus used to supplement and improve the dynamical models. A second, more radical possibility, is that machine learning techniques might improve the accuracy of predictions while abandoning the scaffolding of traditional dynamical models altogether. For example, convolutional neural networks learn spatial patterns in global climate, and recurrent neural networks learn how these patterns evolve through time; neither requires information on the underlying governing physics. There is hope that both strategies, as well as many others, will improve seasonal climate prediction and ultimately help growers make the decisions that feed the world.
References
1 http://www.comet.ucar.edu/
2 https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/90day/
3 https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/elibrary/2013/7718-development-seasonal-prediction.pdf; https://www.ecmwf.int/sites/default/files/elibrary/2011/11209-new-ecmwf-seasonal-forecast-system-system-4.pdf; https://www.ecmwf.int/en/elibrary/18750-seas5-and-future-evolution-long-range-forecast-system
4 https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/12/1087/2019/gmd-12-1087-2019-discussion.html
5 https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/12/1087/2019/gmd-12-1087-2019-discussion.html
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode | https://medium.com/@climateai/a-very-brief-history-of-seasonal-climate-forecasting-for-agriculture-8948736748ac | [] | 2020-05-14 08:31:27.469000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Agriculture', 'Weather', 'Forecasting'] |
How to receive crypto payments in a secure way with Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) keys? | When we want to receive payments from customers we face a problem how to provide a secure and simple payment gateway? In this article I will analyze popular approaches to solving the problem.
There are two main approaches: to set up your own service or to use an external one.
Using an external payment service
Such services are easy to integrate because they have a good documentation, they are usually affordable, but you don’t know anything about what is inside. Most of crypto payment gateways have a closed proprietary code. So using these services is at your own risk.
Deploying your own payment service
The major benefit of this approach is that you know how it works. Usually, you own a source code of your service and could audit it as many times as you want.
There are two types of services: with a full node and without one. When you are using a full node (Bitcoin Core, Go Ethereum, Parity, etc) you can use their API for tasks like new customer’s address generation, checking transaction status, checking balance, forwarding funds to a cold wallet. Also full nodes have a good API documentation that simplifies development. But this option has at least 2 problems.
First, full nodes requires a lot of resources. For example, on March 18, 2018, Bitcoin Core was about 200 GB, Go Ethereum (geth) was about 700 GB. Also Ethereum full node requires about 32 GB of RAM.
Second, you need to keep your private keys on these nodes. Because when a full node generates a new address, it saves a private key to wallet file. Any person who has an access to the server can steal the keys. We will not talk about wallet passphrases, because anyway this type of service is not secure enough.
To sum it up, the full node service is easy to develop but resource-intensive and not very secure.
Second type is a service without a full node. To check transactions or forward funds to a cold wallet (broadcast transactions) you can use already failovered block explorers and you do not need huge resources for making nodes available 24/7/365. To generate a new customer’s address it’s better to use Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) keys.
Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) keys in a simple words
What is HD keys? This is an algorithm which allows you to split public and private keys storage.
Classically, when you generate a new address, first you generate a private key, store it, then you generate a public key and address from the public key, and store it, too. So, to create a new address you need to store its private key.
Let’s go back to HD keys. Imagine that we have an algorithm which allows us to generate separately some private seeds and some public seeds. Then we can generate a new private key from a private seed in one place and a new one public key from a public seed in another place. And this algorithm works such a way, that if we generate 5th private key from private seed, it will be the private key of 5th public key from public seed.
You can read a detailed article about how HD keys work here. But the main conclusion is that we can separate public and private keys generation. So we can generate only public keys on your server and generate private keys for them in a safe place.
Let’s return to an own service without a full node. Now we know that HD keys is a secure way to collect funds, but we need an implementation to use it in our service. There are not so many libraries for different languages, but all of them have many dependencies. To make it clear, you need to audit a huge amount of code before using these libraries.
We at HashEx solved this problem by self-implementation of HD library in Java. The main features of our library are:
HD keys support (BIP32); Mnemonic seed support (BIP39). You can use our keys in any HD-compatible wallet if you want; REST API interface; Java application without untrusted dependencies. You can audit the code; New addresses generation in any currency (BIP44); Balance and transaction checking with block explorer; Funds collection mechanism to send collected funds to a cold wallet with fees optimisation. Sending funds with our library is cheap as never before.
Let’s summarize, an own service without a full node with HD keys is resource-effective and secure. But it is more complex in implementation than the first one.
If you want to use our library, drop me a message. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/how-to-receive-crypto-payments-in-a-secure-way-with-hierarchical-deterministic-hd-keys-89a8028f3d9 | ['Dmitry Mishunin'] | 2018-03-22 19:56:28.994000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Payments', 'Hd Keys', 'Ethereum', 'Bitcoin'] |
How do I know if it’s bad weed?How to distinguish bad weed from good weed | Goowonderland.com | Another easy way to determine good cannabis versus bad is smell . Marijuana should have a fresh smell that you can detect easily. Bad cannabis will smell like hay or grass.
What is top-shelf weed?
First, let’s cover our bases and go over the common terms used when shopping for good weed. “Flower” refers to the dried and cured female cannabis plant’s blooms, often called “nugs” or “buds.” Flower is typically intoxicating — THC content is the primary indicator of euphoric potency — but some flower has high CBD content and will produce less intoxicating effects.
The best smoking experiences, edibles, tinctures — even CBD oil — often come from the best source material, or “top-shelf bud.” In terms of slang, premium weed is also commonly referred to as the “loud,” “fire,” “dank,” and “Private Reserve.” Low-grade weed is often referred to as “schwag,” “brick,” “ditch,” and “bunk” weed.
Identifying high-quality flower can throw even the most experienced cannabis connoisseurs for a loop, but the key traits that separate good weed from bad weed are smell, appearance, feel, and flower structure. In this article, we’ll break down all four and offer tips for spotting the good stuff and avoiding the bad.
What to look for in good weed
1. Smell: Cannabis cultivated and cured to the highest standards typically exhibits a pungent and pleasant aroma. Flowers emitting a strong fragrance are commonly referred to as having a “dank” or “loud” odor, indicating the overall quality of the flower. There are a variety of terms for the types of aromas high-quality cannabis emits, including skunk, diesel, and pine. The common denominator is that a good-smelling flower is distinct, pungent, and unmistakable. The stronger the fragrance is, the more nuanced the experience is likely to be.
2. Look: High-end flower, like fresh, healthy produce, provides a few visual hints to help you determine its quality. While all good cannabis should be visually appealing, a top-shelf strain can easily display a vibrant array of colors. Good-quality flowers are often a deep green with flaming orange or red hairs. They can also express colors from deep purple to bright blue.
Another important visual indicator of good weed is the amount and viability of trichomes. Trichomes are the tiny, glimmering crystal-like appendages on the plant’s surface that create and hold the compounds responsible for the flower’s smell, flavor, and effects. The more frosty trichomes you can see with the naked eye, the better indicator of the flower’s intoxicating and therapeutic potency. If your eyesight has seen better days or you want to get up close, use a magnifying glass to get an even better sense of a nug’s trichomes.
3. Feel: Top-shelf flower should be sticky and slightly spongy when you touch or gently squeeze it between your fingers. Stems should snap and the bud should be relatively easy to break apart, but shouldn’t be completely dry or crumble when you touch it. Alternatively, buds shouldn’t be too wet or soft, since these have a higher chance of developing or containing mold or mildew.
4. Flower structure: Skillfully cultivated and cured sativa-leaning flowers tend to be light and fluffy in shape and composition, while indicas tend to be tighter and denser in flower structure. Though the structure and the experience you end up having usually have little to do with each other. Rock-hard flowers are a sign that cultivators may have used plant growth regulators, which can lead to an unpleasant taste. Extremely fluffy flowers could be a signal that the plant was not grown under sufficient light intensity and was not cultivated to its potential.
While top-shelf flower is the hallmark of a great dispensary, good flower comes in many shapes and sizes and has more than a few nicknames.
Other qualities to look for in good weed
There are a few other quality benchmarks to consider when tracking down the best weed. Dr. Adie Rae, a neuroscientist at the Legacy Research Institute in Portland, Oregon, and scientific adviser to Weedmaps, pinpointed three more key indicators of weed quality: ethical cultivation, ethical companies, and diverse chemistry.
1. Ethical cultivation: Rae emphasized that ethical cultivation avoids synthetic fertilizers, uses living soil, and practices sustainable agriculture. “Look for Clean Green Certified, Sun+Earth, or other organic products and producers who use regenerative agricultural practices. Sungrown cannabis often ticks all of these boxes,” Rae advised.
2. Ethical companies: Small, craft producers and family-owned businesses are often the most ethical, according to Rae. “Look for women-, Black-, and minority-owned producers… large corporations are paying more attention to yield and profits than plants,” she stated.
3. Diverse cannabinoids: A diverse cannabinoid and terpene profile is desirable in CBD products. Rae recommended that consumers ask to see the Certificate of Analysis before making a purchase. The certificate provides a comprehensive list of cannabinoids contained in the product in addition to therapeutic terpenes and any potential contaminants such as pesticides or heavy metals.
How do I know if it’s bad weed?
1. Smell: Low-quality flower can take on a variety of quirky fragrances, which typically means a batch of bad weed. Often referred to as “schwag” or “bottom shelf,” these low-end buds can reek of a musty or mildewy aroma. A musty or straw-like aroma is a clear indication of aged or compromised cannabis. Typically, when stored away from light and heat, cannabis has around a one-year shelf life before starting to really degrade. Unpleasant aromas are generally a sign of mishandling, poorly cured cannabis, or advanced age.
Unpleasant aromas are generally a sign of mishandling, poorly cured cannabis, or advanced age.Photo by: Gina Coleman/Weedmaps
2. Look: The appearance of low-quality flower is distinct. It can come in the form of discolored flower or an abundance of stems and seeds. There are many reasons flower can become discolored ranging from mold and age to pesticides and chemicals. The bottom line is that you don’t want to buy it, let alone smoke it. One very important indicator of bad weed is the appearance of amber-colored trichomes. With time, light, and heat, trichomes turn from clear to an amber hue. This is a dead giveaway that you’ve been swindled into last year’s harvest.
A sad sight, low-quality cannabis is seen in many shades of degradation. From dirt brown to an immature lime green flower, nature provides several visual clues when you’re looking at a good plant gone bad.
3. Feel: When flower is of a lower quality, it will often be dry or brittle to the touch. Dry bud will feel light and airy with no weight behind it, unlike dense, sticky flower. Additionally, bad weed will easily crumble when handled, or might even be falling apart. Loose, undone flower is called “shake” and should be avoided.
Overly “wet” buds have stems that don’t snap and tend to stay put when squeezed. The extra moisture content makes for the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew. Wet nugs that tear apart rather than break apart are a sign that a cultivator didn’t properly dry and cure their cannabis.
4. Flower structure: Poor flower structure can be easily detected with a discerning eye. While a properly cultivated flower will often be aesthetically pleasing, a carelessly grown plant can produce inferior-looking flowers. Though a plant’s structure really says nothing about its chemical composition, it can still tell a story. Improper lighting or growing conditions can lead to “fluffy” or “airy” nugs, and while they may contain high levels of cannabinoids and terpenes, their density is still widely and harshly dismissed by the cannabis community.
Other indicators of bad weed
You may think you’re getting better quality bud with a sky-high THC concentration, but Dr. Rae dispels this myth. She cited THC levels above 20% as a red flag and told Weedmaps, “Lab tests are not as accurate as they may seem, and there are financial incentives for labs to produce increasingly higher THC values. Especially with flowers labeled around 30%, be very wary of fraudulent lab results.”
Rae also pointed out that there is not necessarily a relationship between enjoyment and THC potency. Distinguishing between enjoyment and intoxication, Rae asserted, “You can still have a very nice experience with 5–10% THC.”
Is expensive weed always good?
And is cheap weed always bad? Rae suggested that a low price point could indicate an older product past its shelf life but said that sometimes, “You can often get a nice-smelling, fresh flower for a good value. Beware if a pricey flower has a high THC level, but often a high price reflects the extra care and attention required to make a truly craft product.”
Check the harvest date and test the aroma before buying weed that appears unreasonably cheap. Marijuana that doesn’t pass the smell test just might be dirt weed. The bottom line, however, is that finding good weed depends on your personal taste.
Bottom line
The search for high-quality flower doesn’t have to be complicated. With a discerning eye (and nose), even novice cannabis smokers will be able to easily separate the high-quality buds from the bad.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about what you like when you smoke weed. What you prefer might be different from what the local budtender, delivery driver, or your friend likes. There are hundreds of strains grown by thousands of cultivators. The goal is to find the right strain for you. It’s simply about finding the right product that works with your personal chemistry by a brand or cultivator that you like and can thus enjoy over and over again.
So get out there, look for the four main indicators to understand what you’re getting — smell, look, feel, and flower structure. Then you’ll find a quality weed strain that best suits your personal taste.
Goowonderland.com | https://medium.com/@goowonderland-dispensary/how-do-i-know-if-its-bad-weed-how-to-distinguish-bad-weed-from-good-weed-goowonderland-com-bd8cf313a00c | [] | 2020-12-14 04:47:07.811000+00:00 | ['Medical Marijuana', 'Marijuana', 'Weed', 'Cannabis', 'Cannabis Medical'] |
React Native with Expo Client. On this short tutorial I’ll go ahead… | On this short tutorial I’ll go ahead and show you how to get you React Native application displayed on your phone with Expo Client in a couple easy steps. Let’s begin!
First you’re going to need to install expo client on your terminal and you can do this by typing this. This might take a few minutes so don’t panic if it takes a long time.
npm i -g expo-cli
2. Now that you have installed Expo Client you can install it on your phone as-well. You’ll need to do this so you can see your application on your device.
3. You’re doing great and we’re almost there! Now that we have installed all the necessary items will start by creating a new expo project. You can do this by writing this on your terminal.
expo init name-app
You can name your app anything you like so please feel free to change name-app to anything you like.
You’ll see a couple options for the sake of this tutorial we are going to do a Managed workflow blank app so please click on the first one. If you would like to know more about managed or bare workflow I’ll post a link below with more details.
This might take a while so don’t worry.
4. Now that you created your new app you need to cd in to that file and start your project. You can do this by typing this in your terminal.
cd name-app expo start
5. After you run expo start you should see a new tab open up on your browser which will look like this.
You can then grab your phone and scan the QR code and then your expo client on your phone should display your new app.
If you see this screen you have completed this tutorial, great job!
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and I’ll leave you with some links if you wish to continue to learn more about React Native and Expo Client. Happy coding Hackers. | https://medium.com/@reynaldo-ayala/see-your-react-native-app-on-your-phone-with-expo-client-2d706b981fbe | ['Reynaldo Ayala'] | 2021-01-06 17:19:59.725000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'React Native', 'Mobile App Development', 'Expo Cli', 'React'] |
Volunteer Diaries — Xiang Wei. “Volunteering is a very simple action… | “Volunteering is a very simple action but it can create such a big impact on someone. You may not get to see the impact on the person forever, but at least you can tell that the person is really enjoying the moment and this kind of moment is being captured in their mind.”
Everyone, at one point, would think about what he or she wants to achieve in life. For some, it might be a sudden thought that popped up one day, and for 24-year old Xiang Wei, a final-year Business student at Nanyang Technological University, it was during his army stint. While serving National Service, Xiang Wei started thinking about what he wanted to do in life. Not wanting to spend his life merely studying, he decided to be more active in volunteering after entering university.
Like many other Singaporean students, Xiang Wei started volunteering through compulsory community involvement programmes held in school. Back then, volunteering was simply a process of instructions and actions. However, as time passed, Xiang Wei discovered the significance of volunteering. “The kind of feeling that you get from volunteering is very hard to describe in words. You just feel happy when you see that people are smiling and enjoying the activities you planned!” he explained. Xiang Wei mentioned that his volunteering experiences better solidified the passion that he carried towards volunteering, which he claims is something that is very amazing. He then went on to do various volunteering activities, including a skills-based volunteering project with Skills For Good.
Xiang Wei’s project with Lakeside Family Services saw him unleashing his creativity skills and experience gained from his professional attachment to create orientation slides for e-volunteers. In addition, Xiang Wei also helped redesign some orientation activities which the volunteers took part in. Although the organisation staff members were. busy with their own coordination plans, he was grateful that the coordinators were supportive and receptive to his ideas. “It’s nice to know that I can further value-add to their service.” Xiang Wei explained as he, too, discovered his interest in designing while executing the project.
The volunteering landscape has changed over time. One discovery that Xiang Wei made is the difference in availability of volunteering opportunities that grew over time. In the past, finding a volunteering avenue was not easy as volunteering was not common. However, as time passed, Xiang Wei noticed that volunteering opportunities became more readily available for all. This includes the establishment of volunteering Telegram groups which have opportunities listings and organisations such as Skills For Good that matches volunteers’ skills to the different projects from various social organisations in need of help.
Having gained such a positive experience with Skills For Good, Xiang Wei went on to join the volunteering management team in the hope of inspiring more volunteers to take the leap in volunteering more often. “There is a very big supply of volunteering opportunities out there to choose from. The first thing you should do – identify one that resonates well with yourself.”
About Skills for Good
Skills for Good, a local volunteer-matching organisation, with a base of eclectic volunteers with skills ranging from marketing and communications to information technology to fundraising. We seek to empower volunteers through convenient and meaningful skills-based volunteering opportunities that help social organisations to achieve their mission. Volunteer with us today and wake up tomorrow with the warm and fuzzy sensation of ‘volunesia’.
Read our previous post to learn more about our volunteer stories!
Some exciting news
For our upcoming stories, we will be featuring first-hand accounts of volunteers. If you have been positively shaped by Skills-Based Volunteering, drop us an email to share about it with us!
Author: Kok Nee Tsu & Nur Laili | https://medium.com/@skillsforgd/volunteer-diaries-xiang-wei-eacf2605ea63 | ['The Skills For Good Team'] | 2020-12-05 08:36:17.513000+00:00 | ['Volunteering', 'Youth', 'Skills', 'Singapore', 'Virtual Volunteering'] |
Is The Office Junior Looking After Your Social Media? | Is The Office Junior Looking After Your Social Media?
More often than not those that are running a business know that they need to be on social media but the chances are and I am speaking broadly here that many 50+ year olds do not understand how social media works effectively enough to bring in leads. Without knowing all that much about social media […] | https://medium.com/@aenlagency/is-the-office-junior-looking-after-your-social-media-341c718e53c4 | ['Aénl Agency'] | 2020-12-22 18:15:20.781000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Facebook Marketing', 'Google Marketing', 'Spotify Marketing', 'Hip Hop'] |
Head of Integrations at commercetools Talks Composable Commerce & Tech Tools for the CX of the Future | commercetools, the world’s leading next-generation commerce software company that helps retailers create unique and engaging digital commerce experiences everywhere, offers its customers a wide selection of supported third-party integrations. Cappasity has recently joined this list of technology providers to allow clients of the platform to demonstrate their products in 3D and enhance the customer experience.
Today, Ivo Bronsveld, Head of Integrations at commercetools, will share his vision for the customer experience of the future and talk about the tech tools that will help retailers get there. Without further ado, let’s get started.
commercetools has shot up the ranks from Visionary to Leader in Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce. Congratulations! To what do you attribute this success?
I would say the success of commercetools is a combination of a couple of things. First of all, the market matured. commercetools has always been an API first, completely headless solution and, at first, headless was mostly seen as a developer thing. It was not always clear what the direct benefits of headless were. But if you compare that to today, the benefits of such a composable architecture are way more apparent and the adoption of that is skyrocketing.
In addition, we obviously have worked really hard to make sure our platform is the best one out there. Our product teams have done incredible work to make our vision a reality and I really believe this is a crucial part of our success. I think that our dedication to performance, security, and the developer experience are what make commercetools unique.
Composable Commerce is something that you mention a lot in your blog. Could you give a brief rundown of what it is and why it is important?
I think Composable Commerce is basically a much better name for the Best of Breed solutions of the past. What many companies have noticed over time is that the traditional commerce platforms do not really provide the flexibility that is required nowadays.
Customer expectations change all the time and, generally speaking, companies that can adapt to these changes tend to do better than the ones who can’t.
Composable Commerce provides a model to introduce agility to your commerce environment. By building your architecture using more modular solutions, it becomes easier to add or replace certain components over time.
commercetools has an impressive list of technology partners. Could you give us an example of how your clients leverage the tech solutions offered by your partners?
Sure thing! Our technology partnerships are quite important to us, as commercetools is typically just one piece of the puzzle. This is why we invested heavily in our third-party ecosystem and launched our Integration Marketplace.
At the start of a project, there are always challenges that every customer has to figure out. For example, because the commercetools platform is fully headless and does not provide a front-end, our customers will have to figure out how they want to approach this. Luckily, we have strategic partnerships with almost all of the key CMS vendors, so customers can find their solution of choice quite easily.
There is also a category of third party solutions that I would consider a bit more “optional”. For example, I would put third party search solutions that provide all sorts of fancy AI/Machine Learning in that category. While it provides a lot of benefits, it is certainly not required when you are just starting your project. But, then again, at a later stage, it might become crucial.
I might be biased, but I really believe our technology partnerships are crucial to all our customers because they help create that Composable Commerce architecture.
Why is it necessary for retailers to embrace the importance of customer experience and the tools that enhance it?
Honestly, I don’t think there is anyone out there who would disagree with the fact that customer experience is important. However, I do believe that people don’t always realize that they need the right tools to provide that great customer experience.
Like I mentioned before, the customer expectation is always changing. So even if you implemented the perfect experience at one point in time, the way customers interact and shop will change. Whether that is due to technological improvements or a global pandemic, change is the one constant.
So that means you will need technology that enables you to change. A two-year-old commerce platform that is 3 major updates behind is not going to be of much use if you first need to do a bunch of expensive upgrades to the system.
Retailers are realizing that their ability to adapt is one of the crucial factors that determine whether or not they can keep the customer happy.
Thank you!
You can find more information about commercetools at commercetools.com.
commercetools’ software has been implemented by Fortune 500 companies across many industries. Retail clients of the platform can now draw on the capabilities of the Cappasity solution for fast production, easy embedding, and powerful analysis of 3D content. The Cappasity integration allows merchants to automatically embed 3D images into their online store. Those who choose to take advantage of the Cappasity integration will benefit from increased engagement that comes with interactive 3D imagery.
Cappasity integration demo
Cappasity at commercetools’ Integration Marketplace
How to integrate Cappasity with commercetools | https://medium.com/cappasity-blog/head-of-integrations-at-commercetools-talks-composable-commerce-tech-tools-for-the-cx-of-the-38f0bac4eb51 | [] | 2020-11-27 09:00:19.541000+00:00 | ['Cappasity', 'AR', 'Luxury Tech', 'Ecommerce', 'Product Photography'] |
Couples Are Rethinking the Idea of Having Kids Because of Climate Change | Couples Are Rethinking the Idea of Having Kids Because of Climate Change
The future of our children is extremely uncertain.
Photo by Robo Wunderkind on Unsplash
In 2020, we’ve experienced a pandemic, wildfires, and the busiest hurricane season in recorded history. Horrific natural disasters are becoming increasingly common.
So with all of that in mind, it’s understandable why some parents are reconsidering having children. A lot of people are nervous about what their kid’s future may look like in a world that’s been continually devastated by the effects of climate change.
I’m one of those people. Since I was a little boy, my dream was to have kids of my own. Someday, I want to meet an amazing woman & raise a family in a beautiful city. But part of me is worried that dream will never come to fruition, as the long-term future of humanity is extremely uncertain.
Many other people feel the same way. A 2019 poll by Business Insider reported that almost 38% of Americans aged 18 to 29 believe that couples should consider climate change when deciding to have kids.
And with the United Nations predicting a predicted global temperature increase of 3–5 degrees by the year 2100, one can only ask, “what kind of world are we leaving for our children?” | https://medium.com/curious/couples-are-rethinking-the-idea-of-having-kids-because-of-climate-change-523da9e5c47d | ['Matt Lillywhite'] | 2020-11-12 03:32:44.409000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Life', 'Climate Change', 'Parenting', 'Children'] |
Correlation Is Simple With Seaborn And Pandas | Correlation Is Simple With Seaborn And Pandas
How to quickly find strong correlations in data using Python, Pandas, and Seaborn’s heatmap function
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Datasets can tell many stories. A great place to start, to see these stories unfold, is checking for correlations between the variables. One of the first tasks I perform when exploring a dataset to see which variables have correlations. This gives me a better understanding of the data I’m working with. It’s also a great way to develop an interest in the data and establish some initial questions to try to answer. Simply put, correlations are awesome.
Luckily Python has some amazing libraries which give us the tools we need to quickly and efficiently look at correlations. Let’s take a brief look at what correlation is and how to find strong correlations in a dataset using a heat map.
What is Correlation?
Correlation is a way to determine if two variables in a dataset are related in any way. Correlations have many real-world applications. We can see if using certain search terms are correlated to views on youtube. Or, we can see if ads are correlated to sales. When building machine learning models correlations are an important factor in determining features. Not only can this help us to see which features are linear related, but if features are strongly correlated we can remove them to prevent duplicating information.
How Do You Measure Correlation?
In data science we can use the r value, also called Pearson’s correlation coefficient. This measures how closely two sequences of numbers( i.e., columns, lists, series, etc.) are correlated.
The r value is a number between -1 and 1. It tells us whether two columns are positively correlated, not correlated, or negatively correlated. The closer to 1, the stronger the positive correlation. The closer to -1, the stronger the negative correlation (i.e., the more “opposite” the columns are). The closer to 0, the weaker the correlation.
The rvalue formula is:
Pearson Correlation Coefficient
We aren’t going to explain the math behind the r value, but if you are curious, this youtube video does a great job. Instead, let’s visualize correlations with a simple dataset
The dataset below shows data on seven children. It has the following columns, weight, age(in months), amount of baby teeth, and eye color. The eye color column has been categorized where 1 = blue, 2 = green, and 3 = brown.
Sample dataset
Let’s make 3 scatter plots using the above data. We’ll look at the following 3 relationships: age and weight, age and baby teeth, and age and eye color.
Age and Weight
When we look at the correlation between age and weight the plot points start to form a positive slope. When we calculate the r value we get 0.954491. With the r value so close to 1, we can come to the conclusion that age and weight have a strong positive correlation. Intuitively, this should check out. In a growing child, as they get older and grow they start to weigh more.
Age and Baby Teeth
Conversely, the plot points on the age and baby teeth scatter plot start to form a negative slope. The r value of this correlation is -0.958188. This signifies a strong negative correlation. Intuitively, this also makes sense. As a child gets older they lose their baby teeth.
Age and Eye Color
On our last scatterplot, we see some plot points with no clear slope. This correlation has an r value of -0.126163. There is no significant correlation between age and eye color. This should also make sense as eye color shouldn’t change as a child gets older. If this relationship showed a strong correlation we would want to examine the data to find out why.
Using Python to Find Correlation
Let’s look at a larger dataset and see how easy it is to find correlations using Python.
The data we’ll look at comes from a Kaggle dataset about movies on streaming platforms. This dataset contains data on which movies are what streaming platforms. It also includes a few various qualifiers about each movie such as name, runtime, IMDB score, etc.
Importing and a little cleaning
We’ll first import the dataset and turn it into a DataFrame using pandas.
import pandas as pd
movies = pd.read_csv("MoviesOnStreamingPlatforms_updated.csv")
The Rotten Tomatoes column is a string, let’s change the data type to a float.
movies['Rotten Tomatoes'] =
movies['Rotten Tomatoes'].str.replace("%" , "").astype(float)
The Type column doesn’t seem to be entered properly, let’s drop it.
movies.drop("Type", inplace=True, axis=1)
Alright now for the fun stuff!
Using the corr() method
Using the Pandas correlation method we can see correlations for all numerical columns in the DataFrame. Since this is a method, all we have to do is call it on the DataFrame. The return value will be a new DataFrame showing each correlation.
*the corr() method has a parameter that allows you to choose which method to find the correlation coefficient. The Pearson method is the default, but you can also choose the Kendall or Spearman method.
correlations = movies.corr()
print(correlations) \\ ID Year IMDb Rotten Tomatoes Netflix \
ID 1.000000 -0.254391 -0.399953 -0.201452 -0.708680
Year -0.254391 1.000000 -0.021181 -0.057137 0.258533
IMDb -0.399953 -0.021181 1.000000 0.616320 0.135105
Rotten Tomatoes -0.201452 -0.057137 0.616320 1.000000 0.017842
Netflix -0.708680 0.258533 0.135105 0.017842 1.000000
Hulu -0.219737 0.098009 0.042191 0.020373 -0.107911
Prime Video 0.554120 -0.253377 -0.163447 -0.049916 -0.757215
Disney+ 0.287011 -0.046819 0.075895 -0.011805 -0.088927
Runtime -0.206003 0.081984 0.088987 0.003791 0.099526 Hulu Prime Video Disney+ Runtime
ID -0.219737 0.554120 0.287011 -0.206003
Year 0.098009 -0.253377 -0.046819 0.081984
IMDb 0.042191 -0.163447 0.075895 0.088987
Rotten Tomatoes 0.020373 -0.049916 -0.011805 0.003791
Netflix -0.107911 -0.757215 -0.088927 0.099526
Hulu 1.000000 -0.255641 -0.034317 0.033985
Prime Video -0.255641 1.000000 -0.298900 -0.067378
Disney+ -0.034317 -0.298900 1.000000 -0.019976
Runtime 0.033985 -0.067378 -0.019976 1.000000
Yikes! That is a lot of numbers. The output has too many columns making it hard to read. This is only the correlations for 9 variables which results in a 9x9 grid. Can you imagine looking at 20 or 30? It would be very difficult.
Output with Jupyter Notebook
Things get a little better if we don’t call print and just let Jupyter notebook format the return.
movies.corr()
Jupyter notebook return
Examining one variable
We could also check each variable individually by slicing using the column name.
print(correlations["Year"])
//
ID -0.254391
Year 1.000000
IMDb -0.021181
Rotten Tomatoes -0.057137
Netflix 0.258533
Hulu 0.098009
Prime Video -0.253377
Disney+ -0.046819
Runtime 0.081984
This is a little easier to read and sufficient if only looking at the correlations for 1 variable. But, there must be an easier way to look at a whole dataset.
Seaborn to the Rescue
Lucky for us, seaborn gives us the ability to quickly generate a heat map.
We simply import seaborn and matplotlib and use seaborn’s heatmap() function.
#always remember your magic function if using Jupyter
% matplotlib inline import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt sns.heatmap(correlations)
plt.show()
Wow! How cool is that?
Correlations we found
Now we can quickly see a few correlations;
A strong positive correlation between IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes. As well as a strong positive correlation between Prime Video and ID. A slight positive correlation between Netflix and Year. Strong negative correlations between Netflix and ID, Netflix and Prime Video Slight negative correlations between Year and Prime Video, Disney Plus and Prime Video, Hulu and Prime Video, and Netflix and ID. No correlation between runtime and any of the streaming platforms. No correlation between Netflix and year
Some observations
With that information, we can make a few observations.
With strong positive and negative correlations between ID and two of the platforms it appears, the data was added sequentially with Netflix first and Prime Video last. If we are going to use this data to build a model it would be best to shuffle it before splitting into test and training data. It looks like Netflix has newer movies. This could be a hypothesis to explore. Netflix and Amazon appear to have the highest amount of unique movies when compared to the other streaming platforms. Another hypothesis to explore. The different platforms don’t appear to choose movies based on scores by critics or runtime. Yet another cool hypothesis we can explore.
In a matter of seconds, we were able to see how the data was entered and get at least 3 ideas to explore.
Conclusion
Correlations are useful to help explore a new dataset. By using seaborn’s heatmap we easily saw where the strongest correlations are. Now you can go to Kaggle and check out a few more datasets to see what other correlations might spark your interest! | https://towardsdatascience.com/correlation-is-simple-with-seaborn-and-pandas-28c28e92701e | ['Jeremiah Lutes'] | 2020-12-03 16:28:00.363000+00:00 | ['Pandas', 'Python', 'Correlation', 'Data Visualization', 'Data Science'] |
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