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Graphene Airdrop Information | What is Graphene
•Graphene is the most advanced & scalable Blockchain in the world
•Graphene can process over 100,000 transactions per second
•Graphene makes use of sharding technology
•Graphene can support complex decentralized applications
How to get Graphene
To be eligible for the Graphene (GFN) airdrop you must have $PHR in any personal or supporting wallet. Graphene (GFN) tokens will be issued at a rate of 10:1 vs Phore (PHR) tokens.
This means, for every 1PHR a user holds at the time of each airdrop, they will receive 10GFN.
How many airdrops will take place?
There will be 6 airdrops taken of Phore Blockchain balances. These airdrops will be taken at different times in the months ahead.
More details about the Airdrop dates coming soon
Read more:
https://twitter.com/PhoreCrypto/status/1335360920210579456?s=19
https://getgraphene.medium.com/graphene-airdrop-information-7214f101cb36 | https://medium.com/@baiyalaya/graphene-airdrop-information-c3e952c7e6a2 | [] | 2020-12-20 20:40:29.562000+00:00 | ['Phore', 'Phorecrypto', 'Airdrop', 'Graphene'] |
Prototypes and their importance, The best tools for amazing interactions 📲 | Don't make your client and developer think!
The prototypes are increasingly present, they are no longer a question of aesthetics and today are extremely important for the understanding of your work and how each interaction will work!
Have you ever thought how complicated it was to explain to a programmer or even to your client how each animation or transition would work?
Designers (the vast majority) often make the mistake of thinking that everyone thinks exactly as he or she thinks, but most of the time this does not happen, what we imagine may not be as easy as another person’s understanding, or even this animation might not as good as we thought.
A few years ago, showing an interaction could be very difficult, and it was often necessary to involve other professionals (developers or motion designers), but fortunately with the advancement of technology every day new prototyping tools come up, from the simplest ones where you simply connect screens to the more complex ones where you can actually animate an object or make more fun transitions.
I will list below tools I have already used is my honest opinion about them!
InVision
Easy, fast and straight to the point.
In my opinion, the best tool to do rapid prototyping without many animations, but nevertheless with a very easy to use interface, you can create Hotspot in a fast way and connect screens.
Currently with a great plugin for Sketch you can automatically upload the screens that you have been using, thus facilitating the workflow. Its main functionalities are:
Hotspot Creation Fixed Header and footer Hotspot template Easy way to share (link, Dribble, Slack) Inspect mode | https://blog.prototypr.io/prototypes-and-their-importance-the-best-tools-for-amazing-interactions-bfc544da58b6 | ['Álvaro Souza'] | 2019-02-06 13:37:53.160000+00:00 | ['Design', 'UI Design', 'Prototyping', 'Sketch', 'Animation'] |
What Killed the Dyatlov Pass Hikers? | Until the May discoveries, the official cause of death announced by authorities was hypothermia. But the chest fractures and tissue damage found in the four hikers who died in the ravine made the investigation much more complicated.
And yet, it was quickly closed — as early as May 1959 — with the official cause listed as a “compelling natural force.” All files were sent to a secret archive.
Theories
Six decades and a massive regime change later, Russians still don’t think there has been any closure in the Dyatlov case. Journalists and hobbyist investigators continue to dig deeper. Articles and books continue to be published.
What are the main theories about what befell the Dyatlov hikers?
The Mansi people
Initially, the investigators first suspected the Mansi: a local indigenous tribe of hunters and reindeer herders.
Multiple members of the tribe were rounded up and interrogated for weeks. The belief was that the hikers had encroached on sacred land and were, therefore, chased and attacked by the Mansi people.
This theory was soon ruled out. Just like the short-lived theory of a wild animal attack, it couldn’t hold up against the fact that there were no outsider footprints in the area — other than the footprints that belonged to the nine hikers.
An avalanche
A more probable theory was that of severe weather conditions: an avalanche or strong hurricane winds.
The group had set up camp on the open slope of a mountain, without any natural barriers that could shield them from winds, snow, or a storm.
The entrance of the tent was facing the top of the mountain. Investigators suggest that hikers had been sealed shut by snow in the tent and had to cut it open with a knife on the opposite end and run for their lives.
The tent as it was discovered by Shavarin | Wikimedia Commons
According to this theory, they ran in a panic towards the wooded area and split up in two or three groups.
Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, and Slobodin tried to climb back up to the tent in order to obtain clothes and provisions. The rest remained behind trying to stay warm by kindling a fire.
The 4 people who were snowed under in the ravine could not escape the avalanche and were killed by it. The damage to their faces was caused after their death by scavenging animals.
Russia reopened the investigation of the Dyatlov Pass incident several times, most recently in 2015 and 2019. Every time, an avalanche is confirmed as the official cause.
Secret weapons
In 1990, after the Soviet Union had crumbled to pieces, the lead investigator of the Dyatlov Incident — Lev Ivanov — gave an interview. He admitted that a lot of the findings that came up in the investigation had not been made public at the time. He was allegedly under a lot of pressure to close the case quickly and seal all the files.
After that, he was sent away in a small, isolated town in Kazakhstan.
But in the 1990s, with the old regime gone, he spoke up. And he revealed details that had already been shared between Russian citizens in hushed rumors for the past three decades.
He had received several witness reports of bright balls of fire in the sky on the night of February 1. This confirmed suspicions that the students might have fallen victim to some secret weapons testing. People who attended the funerals all reported that the bodies were a dark brick-red color and appeared abnormal. Officially, this was dismissed as a natural consequence of having been exposed to the elements. But suspicions lingered.
After Ivanov died, more information was discovered in his files. Some of the clothing of the students had traces of radiation.
And the temporary morgue that was set up to examine the bodies that were found first — and that had obvious signs of hypothermia — was guarded by officers of the KGB. At this early stage of the investigation, before the discovery of the last four hikers with more visible injuries, this was a very strange decision.
Ivanov’s files also showed that nobody was allowed in during the autopsies and a big barrel of alcohol was delivered, with the forensic team being instructed to wipe their bodies with it: something that used to be done as a primitive form of protection against radiation.
The mountain area where the nine hikers died was gigantic and very isolated. It was a perfect location for testing of weapons.
According to this theory, the hikers were woken up by huge explosions or started getting suffocated by toxic fumes.
What happened?
Both the avalanche and the secret weapons theory have some weak spots.
The area of the Dyatlov pass — named after Igor Dyatlov to commemorate the tragic expedition — is not steep enough for an avalanche to take place. All hikers were experienced enough to recognize adverse conditions so it is highly unlikely that they would set up a tent in a place where they knew they could be snowed under.
Also, no signs and traces of an actual avalanche were found at the Dyatlov pass.
But it’s difficult to be certain in a government conspiracy either. The two main clues supporting are the radiation and the secrecy around the case. However, in the case of an explosion, radiation would have been detected in all clothes, belongings, and bodies. And also, ironically, the level of secrecy displayed in the Dyatlov Pass investigation was in the Soviet Union at the time. The fact that the investigation was rushed and sealed was nothing out of the ordinary.
In the end, after repeated and tireless investigations, there is no conclusive answer to what forced the nine hikers out of their tent and led to their horrific death. The Dyatlov Pass incident remains one of the biggest mysteries in the world. | https://medium.com/the-mystery-box/what-killed-the-dyatlov-pass-hikers-8d0d32e21b25 | ['Martina Petkova'] | 2020-09-29 16:03:23.136000+00:00 | ['Mystery', 'Bizarre', 'Nonfiction', 'True Story', 'Unsolved Mysteries'] |
Red, white, orange, and purple | Ayamin had a novel, a bunch of poppies, and a jar of water in her arms when I met her beside the hospital.
She glanced both ways then pulled me into a hug.
‘Hi,’ she said, then her hand found mine and we pushed through the white plastic doors into the hospital.
The chemical smell of disinfectant hit me so hard I nearly staggered back out.
Ayamin winced, ‘I suppose you’re not used to it yet.’
I took another breath and tried to stop myself from retching, ‘Do you ever get used to it?’
‘Depends how much time you spend here… besides the disinfectant is only there to hide its true smell.’
She started walking down the rows, and I followed her, glancing at the people who rested under slightly stained white hospital sheets. Needles and drug lines dripped into veins, and moans and coughs escaped their lips.
Our feet had only been tapping on the plywood floors for a minute when Ayamin stopped in front of a shrunken old lady with wispy black hair and an almost toothless smile.
‘Aya!’ The woman chirped. Ayamin put the book on her bedside table and the red and yellow poppies in the jar of water. She kissed her grandma on the cheek, and as Ayamin stood back up the old woman tugged on her jacket with a shaky hand, and whispered to her in Arabic. The old woman’s eyes went from Ayamin to me, and back again.
Ayamin laughed, and her face went red. She turned to me, ‘Danny, would you like to meet Grandma Teete?’
Teete’s hand touched my cheek as I knelt in front of her, she raised her eyebrows to Ayamin and nodded her head.
‘Good.’ she murmured, and then another sentence in Arabic that made Ayamin screech with laughter. Ayamin shook a finger at her grandma and the two of them exchanged super-fast sentences in Arabic that set them both laughing.
Ayamin’s laugh was light and warm, and her grandma’s was the same, only rougher. The old woman put a hand to her chest and started to cough. Gradually Ayamin’s laugh faded as Grandma Teete’s cough grew louder and louder. We sat in silence as her grandma wiped the flecks of spit and red splotches of blood from her elbow.
There was silence.
‘Your book there on the table, it looks interesting’ I said, more to get the sound of coughing out of our minds than anything else.
Ayamin picked it up, it had a yellow mountain daisy on its cover. Its pages were worn and dog eared from use. She flicked through it and a small smile ventured back onto her face.
‘It’s called Two Hearts in The French Night. It’s our favourite book.’ she laughed, ‘Teete says it helps her to believe she can still find love.’
She rubbed her grandma’s shoulder and the old woman nodded.
‘Usually I’d read to her. You don’t have to but… if you want to stick around and hear…’
I picked up a white plastic hospital chair, put it down beside her, and took a seat.
‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’
A faint smile crept onto her lips as she began to read. The book was in English but she spoke in Arabic for Grandma Teete. I enjoyed her voice — it was almost musical. I enjoyed the way she folded her hair behind her ear and the slight lift in her voice when she came to one of her favourite parts. At one point she put the book aside and read two chapters with her eyes closed — straight from her memory. I guess that’s how important the book must have been to her. Or at least how many times she’d read it.
Samantha sat on the steps of the church waiting. The lights of Briancon were dark to save electricity — she had only the moon to find Rudy.
She wondered why he’d come to the small mountain town in the first place. She wondered why he’d stayed. She wondered where he was tonight. The moon was far above the church’s tiled roof.
As she read, I began to feel something in my heart, it was like waking up from a deep sleep, it happened slowly at first and then bam. I was awake. Maybe it was love. Maybe it was the smell of disinfectant.
I heard a cough and looked up, Ayamin was not the only one being watched. Grandma Teete’s eyes flicked to me and she had this not-so-subtle grin on her face.
The sound of Ayamin replacing the bookmark was like the closing of a dream. She smiled at her grandma, and turned to me, ‘You enjoy that?’
‘When’s the next session?’
She raised her eyebrows to Grandma Teete who winked.
Ayamin rolled her eyes, ‘We read again on Thursday.’
‘Count me in.’
****
That week I volunteered to carry messages around the camp. It meant I got to explore — and spend more time with Aya. As the long hot days wore on, I began to realise how different our lives were.
I realised by Friday that Ayamin wore the same three pairs of clothes in rotation — a mix of mostly reds, greens, and yellows. It took me a little longer to understand that she only had those three pairs of clothes.
I realised just about everybody in the camp was scared of loud noises. Aeroplanes sent most Syrians to the edge of a table or doorframe. Not quite crawling under, but ready to. The same thing happened when a jackhammer was brought in to break hard ground where the showers were being constructed.
But the biggest difference between us was shown to me one hot Thursday afternoon.
We walked through the camp, her in a Union Jack shirt and me in a singlet that showed my slowly tanning shoulders. Our feet crunched in the sand and dry dirt beneath us.
In some ways, I’d got used to the rows and rows of tents, and the faces that peeked out from them.
‘When Grandma Teete got sick,’ she said, ‘I moved so I wouldn’t be far from the hospital. It’s much easier to move a tent than to move house.’
She stopped in front of a row of five tents — three nylon ones, a tiny Winnie the Pooh kid’s tent and something that looked like a yurt.
‘Which one’s yours?’
She was biting the edge of her lip, ‘This one,’ and pointed towards the to the little Winnie the Pooh tent.
The tent barely looked tall enough to kneel in. My eyes wandered over to the duct tape stretched like stitches over the tent’s rips. Parts of it were faded from the sun. I swallowed and looked at Aya.
She didn’t meet my eyes.
‘You… stay here by yourself?’ I asked.
‘Me and grandma, but she doesn’t need the tent at the moment so there’s a little more space.’
I nodded, ‘It’s… nice Aya.’
‘I wish you hadn’t come.’
‘Why?’
‘Because look at it,’ she turned to me, her voice was soft, ‘It’s a kid’s tent, and we’ve been living in it two years. Teete got pneumonia because it leaks in winter.’ She was breathing heavily. ‘It sucks, but I’m used to it, I just hate you seeing it.’
I shook my head, ‘I’m impressed. You know how to look after yourself.’
She stood watching me, arms by her sides. I reached out. I wanted to hug her. Instead, I just touched her shoulder. Her skin was warm.
‘I haven’t met anyone our age that’s as strong as you are. You’ve done so well Aya.’
She gave a hearty sniff and wrapped her arms around me, I could feel her quick breaths through her chest, ‘You’re a great liar.’
She wiped her nose and laughed, stepping back from me, ‘Do you want to see inside?’
‘Yes!’
She unzipped the flaps and folded them back, then untangled her mosquito netting and spread out her hands… ‘My humble castle.’
Inside, a large inflatable mattress took up most of the floor. A collection of sleeping bags and blankets sat on top of it. Beside the entrance a gas cooker stood along with a small pan, pot, and two plates, two cups, and two bowls.
In the left corner was an iron-framed pack with a small sack of dried rice sitting on top.
‘You need to see it at night sometime,’ she touched a black battery box hanging from the tent roof. ‘I found an old set of fairy lights in the trash and managed to twist the wires together to get them working again.’
She smiled as she flicked a small black switch, it looked like Winnie the Pooh was flying amongst the stars, ‘Grandma was proud — they’re like something you’d see on Pinterest.’
I turned to her, ‘Wait… you know what Pinterest is?’
‘Yeah,’ she rolled her eyes, ‘Although grandma used it more than I did. I also know Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook and all the other hundred million social medias. We lived in Syria, not the 1920s.’
‘So, you have a phone?’
She climbed into the tent and ruffled around in the iron-framed backpack until she pulled out a solid looking touchscreen from a brand I didn’t recognise.
‘Only problem is I can’t afford data or texts or anything and there’s no wifi here. I just keep it charged for the day I start to travel again.’
‘Then how do you keep in contact with your family?’
She froze halfway through putting her phone back in the bag, then slowly shook her head. ‘I’ve depressed you enough already.’
I climbed into the tent behind her, and sat down on the air mattress, ‘Yeah I get that. My family situation isn’t the best either. Perhaps we can trade stories some time — some night?’
She nodded, ‘Under the stars and the fairy lights.’
As Ayamin talked, I slowly became aware of how close we were, how we were together alone. I looked into her eyes and she smiled as she talked. I wondered if she was leaning closer to me. I was leaning closer to her. We were just an arm’s length apart. Within kissing distance. Everything around her was blurring. Her lips were pink and red. They moved slowly as she spoke…
‘Hello, Danny? What are you doing?’
Ayamin’s voice pulled me back into the real world. She had an odd expression on her face. I blinked, then tried to grin. It felt forced.
‘What was that?’ I said, coughing to cover the fact that my face was turning red.
‘I said tonight? You could be a thief, sneak out, and bring me ice cream. We can watch the stars and eat ice cream from the tub.’
I felt my grin returning, ‘I’ll find you your ice cream.’
She laughed, ‘Great…’ then she touched the side of my head, ‘You okay?’
I tried to think of some way to make myself sound moody or mysterious, but in the end, I just had to shrug, ‘It happens when I talk to beautiful girls.’
She laughed, ‘Alright Augustus Waters. Go find me some ice cream — anything with berries in it is my favourite.’
****
It was midnight before I was sure everyone was asleep. At dinner we’d been warned again about the dangers of sneaking out. These included; death, being held hostage, broken bones, getting a cold, and no dessert for a month.
But at the same time, I didn’t care. There was a beautiful girl waiting for her ice cream and I intended to deliver.
I veered off from the bathroom and made my way into the kitchen where I’d stored a spare ice cream carton in the top freezer. Ice cream was strictly for celebrations, but I figured any time I got to spend with Ayamin was a celebration.
I slid back the door and slipped outside, then crouched down beside the wall and waited for our guard to move off.
There was a slight chill in the air, almost enough to make me want something more than a t-shirt. I could hear a baby crying and vehicles on a faraway road.
The soldier moved to the other side of the containers. The hollow thud of his boots disappeared. I ran.
The night air cooled me. All the tents were various shades of grey. It was only the starry sky that had any colour to it.
I made it to the hospital and retraced the route Ayamin had shown me. I reached the Winnie the Pooh tent and stopped, listening to see if she was awake.
A zip sounded and Ayamin’s head popped out, ‘About time. I could hardly sleep.’
She grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, boots and all. Ayamin zipped up the tent and turned to me, a flashlight was in one hand, and her face deadly serious.
‘Please tell me you brought ice cream.’
I almost joked that we had none left, but I realised she’d tear me apart before I could say I was kidding. I handed the carton over.
Her voice cracked as she spoke, ‘I didn’t actually… expect you to have it.’ She held the ice cream like a child as she gazed at it, ‘Boysenberry, oh man.’
She threw her arms around me, tackling me onto the airbed.
‘Ayamin,’ I laughed, ‘Are you crying?’
‘I really miss ice cream,’ she held me a moment longer, her head was warm against my chest. ‘Now let’s get some teaspoons and we can watch these stars.’
While I ruffled through her kitchen box Ayamin went outside and there was a zipping sound. She tugged at the tent until I could see a square patch of the stars above us. She crawled into the tent beside me. I handed her the ice cream and a spoon and we lay back on the inflatable mattress, looking up at the sky.
My eyes adjusted until the stars glowed bright. I could see red, white, orange, and purple.
‘If we were more practical grandma and I could have found a slightly better tent. But if we weren’t able to see the sky whenever we wanted, I don’t think we’d have made it this far.’
She pulled out a spoonful of vanilla ice cream with boysenberries dripping from it, put the spoon in her mouth and closed her eyes.
A moan came from her throat. Ayamin shook her head, ‘Six months of care packages and a sack of rice. You have no idea how good this taste.’
I tried to imagine that I was in her position, nothing but bland food for months… probably some of them spent on the brink of starvation. I touched the spoon to my lips and closed my eyes.
It was okay, probably on par with the cheapest stuff you could buy in supermarkets, but Ayamin didn’t seem to care. She treated the ice cream like it was made of gold.
‘When I move to Britain,’ she said, ‘I’m going to eat ice cream after dinner every night. I’m going to become an ice cream collector; I’ll make world records for the amount of ice cream I eat.’
She took another spoonful and handed the tub back to me, ‘When I’m sad I’ll have special ice cream for that. When I’m happy I’ll have ice cream to celebrate.’
Her words made my next mouthful sweeter — I could taste the boysenberries, the cream.
‘Where in Britain would you go?’
She shifted slightly on the mattress. Her arm came to rest against mine.
‘Well, I’d live in London to start with. I want to feel what it’s like to live there, see the snow on the streets in winter, get a hot chocolate, and listen to people complain about the weather. I want to ride the underground and the London Eye and find a hidden bookshop in the backstreets.’
‘Then maybe the Scottish Highlands, a little cottage to make all cosy, all the beautiful lochs and old stone buildings you could ask for. After that who knows? Maybe Ireland, Wales…’
She was silent for a moment, ‘That’s the dream anyway. I’m still a long way from England, but when there’s no boysenberry ice cream on standby a dream can be the only thing to get you through.’
We stared up at the stars. Her arm against me was warm. I coughed and shifted a little closer.
‘You can come visit me, wherever the hell I’m living when I get back.’
Ayamin smiled up at me, ‘I’d like that. Maybe you can show me around. Take me to your parents.’
‘Umm…I could show you around… definitely.’
When I looked at Ayamin her eyes had this softness to them and her voice was low, ‘I forgot — tough family situation — I’m sorry.’
There was a moment of silence. When I spoke my voice was low and cracked, ‘I’m a foster care freak. Biologically speaking the people who created me are still walking around going about their lives. I just never met them.’
Her hand brushed my hand, then her fingers found the gaps between my fingers, ‘That’s rough Danny.’
I could see this epic swirl from the milky way, ‘How about you?’
‘I think I was kinda lucky, loving mum and dad, annoying little brother, and my grandma lived with us so I almost had two mums. It was a perfect little setup until about two years ago when an artillery shell or… something, blew up our house.’
She gave a little gasp, ‘Grandma and I were out buying bread. The house was basically dust, and we never even saw their bodies. After that we walked across the border, found a tent and shared it until her pneumonia got too bad.’
Her hand squeezed mine, ‘I feel like your story is worse in some ways, you never even got to know them.’
I rubbed her thumb, ‘I don’t feel the pain you do, it’s sort of a distant longing.’
We stopped talking for a while and I listened to the sound of Ayamin breathing. The air was starting to get a little chilly, but the places where our arms touched were just fine.
‘I’ve never had a conversation like this in English,’ Ayamin turned to look at me.
I laughed, ‘I’m available any time.’
She pulled a large woollen blanket from the front of the tent and draped it over the two of us, then leaned back, resting her head on my chest. She yawned as I put an arm around her.
If this was any other girl in any other place, I would’ve made my next move right then. Maybe a kiss on the forehead, or a not-so-subtle caress. But this felt different.
Maybe it was because we’d opened up to each other, or because I wasn’t even sure whether she liked me that way. Either way, I figured it wasn’t worth losing the beautiful Syrian girl.
I stared up at the sky and felt the slow rising and falling of her breath against my side. She was warm and it made me sleepy and comfortable just having her there.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER ON MY WEBSITE
CLICK HERE TO READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER | https://medium.com/@elihillcast/red-white-orange-and-purple-21273868353a | ['Elijah Hill'] | 2021-05-08 22:51:56.994000+00:00 | ['Syria', 'Adventure', 'Refugee', 'Romance', 'Books'] |
Wikipedia’s Random Articles — DiCaprio to Calypso | What I find most fascinating with browsing Wiki, is how quickly I look at one article but swiftly find myself reading about something completely unrelated — or is it?
Wikipedia is fantastic, a collection of information about almost anything you can imagine all with hyperlinks, related articles, photos and the ability to amend the content within (pending approvals of course).
If you use your original article as means of getting to another — that’s a link, right? Well, perhaps it’s the faintest of links but we’ll go with it.
Using the Wikipedia’s Random Article button it gives you literally just that — a random page from anywhere in the depths of Wiki. From Wolfgang Weichardt to the 2016 Ottowa Redblacks season, Mazama Falls to Cross Country Skiiing results from 2010.
The question from me is — using that random starting point, can I navigate through to find some truly wonderful/funny/scary/interesting things that I would’ve never known had I not started where I did?
Let’s find out shall we!
KXRY
So we start with radio, KXRY — A non-commercial radio station from Oregon, USA. Turns out, KXRY was a startup company which used popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter in December 2013 to raise $40,000 to help turn on the engines — it worked! After over $100,000 in funding, KXRY began broadcasting in March 2014. Notable hosts included Carl Wolfson, Adam Klugman and Thom Hartmann.
Thom Hartmann
Tom seems to have done many things…He’s an American radio personality, author, former psychotherapist, businessman, and progressive political commentator. As an author Tom has released many noteworthy ones — however one that jumps out is The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. This book inspired the hit Leonardo DiCaprio documentary The 11th Hour and subsequently Leo has announced that he is making a major motion picture on another one of Tom’s pieces called Legacy of Secrecy.
Leonardo DiCaprio
We all know Leo, so I wanted to see what interesting things I could find from his Wiki page in particular. Some interesting nuggets are:
He founded Appian Way Productions in 2004 which has produced many well known hits such as The Aviator, The Wolf of Wall Street & The Revenant — which — tells me just how much money Leo must be making if he produces AND stars in these things! Appian Way interestingly is named after an Italian road of the same name — known for being one of the oldest and most strategically placed roads in all of Rome connecting it to Brindisi.
Named Leonardo because he first kicked as an unborn whilst his mother was looking at a DaVinci paining in the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy.
Leo refused an offer to star in 1997 film Boogie Nights as the producer’s #1 choice, Joaquin Phoenix also rejected and Mark Wahlberg got the lead role (recommended by Leo himself). Leo rejected due to the filming of Titanic which launched his international career into another orbit. Similarly Leo rejected the star role in American Psycho to star in The Beach and Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode II due to filming Catch Me If You Can.
Most interesting however was the fact that Leo owns his own island, Blackadore Caye, which is just off the coast of Belize near the Belize Barrier Reef on which he is planning to build an eco-resort.
Belize Barrier Reef
The Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize and is the second largest coral reef system in the world. It is famously home to the Great Blue Hole.
The Great Blue Hole
The Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole which has fascinated divers and explorers for centuries. It is considered one of the top 5 diving locations in the world and has a depth of 124m (407ft). In 2012 the Discovery Channel ranked the Great Blue Hole as number one on its list of “The 10 Most Amazing Places on Earth”. Famous explorer Jacques Cousteau made the hole famous as one of the worlds most loved underwater explorers in the 60s-90s.
Jacques Cousteau
Jacques was a bit of a busy man — A French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. Much of Jacques’ research was done in his beloved vessel The Calypso which he leased from a British millionaire named Thomas Loel Guinness who had restored the ex-WWII British minesweeper. In 1950 he leased it to Jacques for 1 Franc per year as a token gesture on two conditions — 1) That Jacques never asked him for money and 2) Jacques never speaks on Tom’s involvement.
The Calypso
The ship is named after the Greek mythological figure Calypso, who was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where, according to the Odyssey, she detained Odysseus for seven years. The Calypso survived all of WWII and laid in Malta until she was refurbished to become a mail ship between Marfa and Gozo. After only a few as a ferry ship, Tom Loel Guinness purchased her and immediately leased her to Jacques for research. In 1996 a barge accidentally sunk the Calypso in the port of Singapore — She was later recovered and towed to France. Her ownership is still under lots of scrutiny but she remains, currently (as of May 2020) in Turkey.
John Denver wrote a song about the Calypso in 1975 called “Calypso”.
The Captains Yacht of the USS Enterprise-D on Star Trek is named Calypso, named by star Patrick Stewart.
Bill Murray starred in a film in homage to Jacque’s life called The Life Aquatic.
— —
To wrap up this article, and bring it home — one last fact about The Calypso was that it was made entirely of Oregon pine, Oregon being the home to the very same KXRY Radio Station.
We’ll go again in #2 and see what random, interesting things we learn then!
Jack A. Goodwin | https://medium.com/@jackagoodwin/wikipedias-random-articles-dicaprio-to-calypso-c2ac603f03bc | ['Jack A. Goodwin'] | 2020-05-20 15:53:09.003000+00:00 | ['History', 'Fun', 'Facts', 'Wikipedia', 'Discovery'] |
Senate experience wins debates | From the department of So What? comes evidence that legislators might talk a good game when running for president, but over the years, voters’ clear preference is for proven executives.
Two mayors and a senator. Why is this important?
In my last piece about executive experience, I noted that it seemed like candidates with experience running things, like cities, have a leg up on politicians that come to the game as legislators. Guys like Mike Bloomberg and Pete Buttigieg were mayors, and importantly Bloomberg ran New York, a city bigger by population that 40 of the 50 US states. Even Donald Trump, who ran what has to be called a mom and pop real estate company — on steroids, admittedly — had the executive experience and bearing to win the presidency. And say what you want about Bernie Sanders, he cut his political teeth running the thriving metropolis of Burlington, VT. And we all know about Mayor Pete.
Being chief executive gives you a certain perspective. Unlike all the other jobs in politics, the executive has to get things done, not by committee and sometimes by brute force. The Executive branch of government is full of executives called department secretaries. They have massive responsibilities for specialized parts of government. They are approved by the Senate and report to the President who has the ability to terminate them without cause. So the president is really the executive of executives. It’s a rarefied position.
But now there’s a corollary that we should look at. The people running for high office who took the legislative route to get to the primaries also have advantages. The legislators, by definition have jobs that require more collaboration. For them the worst outcome of any discussion seems to be no, followed by yes and always trumped by maybe.
A strange order? Perhaps, but yes and no are terminal; they end discussions. Sure, if your interlocutor says yes then you have a deal, but that pretty much ends the discussion and no needs little explanation here. With maybe, on the other hand, you get to keep talking and talking with the objective of please, let’s not get to no.
This gives your average senator or representative an automatic advantage in debate and it was crystal clear in the Charleston Democratic debate. When Elizabeth Warren went after Mike Bloomberg over the non-disclosure agreements that his former employees signed over alleged sexual harassment incidents, it was a telling moment. Warren had done the same thing in another debate but since that time Bloomberg had released some of his former employees from their NDAs and spun up a TV ad full of women saying what a great boss Bloomberg had been.
It’s worth pointing out that NDAs can be used for lots of different reasons when a person or corporation wants to keep things under wraps. For example, I agree to NDAs as a normal part of business in order to get advance notice of vendor announcements. Because of this, I’m able to write ahead of the news so that my analysis and commentary can break soon after the announcement clears — and the NDA becomes moot.
Generally, an NDA has stipulations such as a 3-year time limit on the information, and an automatic release if the information becomes public through no fault of mine. Also, I’ve never agreed to any penalties for improper release, often because the time limit is very short, typically a week or two, and because I’d be harming my own reputation if I spill the beans. These NDAs and my reputation mean that often there is no document to sign, just an email that says sure, I’ll keep your secret. Nonetheless, I always check to ensure what the terms are.
Okay, back to Bloomberg and Warren.
Bloomberg released some people from their NDAs and, we have to give the benefit of the doubt to the others whose NDAs might have covered other information — we have to make that assumption else there’s no real NDA, right? Imagine the situation where Bloomberg or his organization said all of their NDAs are over sexual harassment. What would be the point of NDAs at all?
Okay, really, let’s get back to Bloomberg and Warren.
After Bloomberg had done all that he’d done between debates to answer Warren’s criticisms, she still decided to go back to the well one more time to score some political points. Bloomberg was not defenseless, but you could tell he didn’t understand Warren’s persistence (something she’s famous for and that I respect). But you could tell by his response. “The trouble is with this senator is enough is never enough,” he said. And the look on his face seemed to ask don’t I have a meeting or something important to be doing instead of this? Importantly, Warren might have won that exchange but it doesn’t really add up to something that could propel her campaign. It could help her win the nomination but against Trump? Meh… On the other hand, Bloomberg looked like an executive pressed for time. Not a good look.
That, in a nutshell, is the difference between an executive and a legislator. Perhaps one is not better than the other and it sometimes leads me to despair that our choices seem to be between people who do things and those who talk a lot.
Who was the last legislator to become president? In the last 60 years John Kennedy was elected when he faced Richard Nixon, both of whom had been senators, Nixon also had the ceremonial title of Vice President. Lyndon Johnson succeeded Kennedy and only after that won an election. Nixon came back in 1968 to beat Hubert Humphrey a senator and former mayor. Gerald Ford had been a representative and was appointed to the presidency through the machinations of Watergate.
On the flipside, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush had all been governors and W’s father GHW Bush had been CEO of his own company and held several executive jobs in and out of government in addition to being Reagan’s VP. That leaves us with Barak Obama who beat John McCain in 2008. Both had been senators and the election was, in some ways, a reprise of 1960’s Kennedy-Nixon election.
My conclusion?
Executives win a lot of presidential elections when the choice is between one executive and one legislator. When a senator challenges a sitting president, the result is almost always re-election of the president. Think about Johnson-Goldwater, Nixon-Humphrey, Reagan-Mondale, W. vs. Kerry. It’s even a heavy lift for a governor to beat a sitting president which is borne out with FDR-Dewey, Truman-Dewey, Eisenhower-Stephenson (twice), Obama- Romney. Such matchups only happen occasionally over decades so we’re doomed to repeat our mistakes if we don’t study history, but the evidence is clear and remarkably consistent.
What does this say about the 2020 contest? If you want to beat Trump, get behind someone with clear executive experience and send the legislators back to Congress to support the executive’s programs. | https://denispombriant.medium.com/senate-experience-wins-debates-3ebe5612b757 | ['Denis Pombriant'] | 2020-02-28 16:19:38.563000+00:00 | ['Primaries', '2020 Presidential Race', 'Elizabeth Warren', 'Bloomberg'] |
There’s Nothing Wrong With Being “Self-Partnered” | There’s Nothing Wrong With Being “Self-Partnered”
There is something wrong with shaming people for being single.
Photo by bruce mars from Pexels
The Internet might have skewered Emma Watson for her “self-partnered” comment, but I say good for her. As the actor approaches her thirtieth birthday, she admits:
“I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel. I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy (being single). I call it being self-partnered.”
So she’s having a relationship with herself, and no one can deal. She’s being called out for everything from narcissism to talking nonsense.
Rachelle Hampton in her article on Slate, “Embrace Being Single, Emma Watson! Enough With This ‘Self-Partnered’ Nonsense,” warns:
“Self-partnering turns us even more into islands, suggesting that with the right mindset we can all be self-sufficient.”
Hampton goes on:
“The problem with declaring yourself self-partnered is that you’re ceding the argument, agreeing with the precept that some kind of monogamous partnership is a necessary component to a fulfilling life.”
I don’t agree. I think that Watson is simply talking about the importance of having a relationship with herself. Because when you’re in your biological prime, and especially when you’re female, people are very uncomfortable when you’re not partnered.
People very much need you to be in a relationship. I remember all too well how terrible it was to be a single female at Watson’s age. It was pure hell actually. My biological clock was ticking, and everyone was very concerned about that.
People were constantly asking me whether I was in a relationship or not, and shaming me when I said no.
My mom: “Anyone special in your life?”
Me: “No.”
My mom: “Maybe you’re just not cut out for a relationship.”
My other family members: “Don’t you have a special boy in your life?”
Me: “No.”
My other family members: looks of distress and murmured comments between each other about what could possibly be wrong with me because I didn’t have a “special boy” in my life.
My female friends: “So who are you fucking?”
Me: “No one.”
My female friends: “Why not? What’s wrong?”
There always had to be something wrong with me as the reason I was single or wasn’t going to bed with a new guy every other weekend.
My male friends: “How come you’re not dating anyone?”
Read: “How come you’re not fucking me?”
Dudes I met at bars and clubs: “You dating anyone?”
Me: “No.”
Dudes I met at bars and clubs: “You want to date me?”
Me: “No.”
Dudes I met at bars and club: “Fucking bitch.”
Or: “Why doesn’t a pretty girl like you have a million boyfriends?”
Tweet from Nov. 7, 2019, The Daily Show
I don’t know. Because the men I met sucked. Because I was immature for my age. Because I had a stormy relationship with my father growing up, which made it difficult for me to relate to men in a healthy way.
Because I was too sensitive for my own good. Because I was introverted, and I just didn’t like many people. Because I was also extroverted and so I liked everyone, but everyone didn’t like me.
Because I was weird. Because the men I met just didn’t click with me. Because I’d rather be alone than in a relationship with someone who wasn’t right for me.
Or because there was other stuff I wanted to do, experiences I wanted to have, far-off places I wanted to travel to, and I didn’t want to have to check in with a man to ask permission if I could do those things or not.
Why is it anybody’s business anyway who’s coupled up and who’s not? People only asked this question of me when I was younger because they were nosy.
Or because I was also figuring myself out at that moment, so I just couldn’t be in a relationship with anyone but myself.
The stress I used to experience because of my single status. The shit people used to say to me. The shame I used to feel for not having “special someone” in my life.
Sorry, world, but it took me a little longer than most to find him, and even when I did, it didn’t work out. I’m divorced now. So maybe I should have actually spent a little more time “self-partnered.”
Why is it anybody’s business anyway who’s coupled up and who’s not? People only asked this question of me when I was younger because they were nosy.
That or they wanted to know if I was available to fuck. Sometimes it was because they wanted to exert some sort of moral control over me. Or they just wanted to feel better about themselves, because they were in a relationship and I wasn’t.
Some people are messed up like that. It took me a long time to figure that out. It also took me a long time to figure out that I needed to have a relationship with myself before I could have one with someone else.
I wish I’d had the balls that Emma Watson has at her age to say I was self-partnered. Me? I just wanted people to approve of me. Sometimes I’d even lie, just to get people off my back.
Me: “Yup, I have a boyfriend.”
Them: “Oh, really? How long have you two been dating?”
Me: “A year.”
Them: “How come you never told me about him?”
Because he doesn’t actually exist!
I remember some of the worst shaming came from my male friends, because I always had a lot of them. These were often guys who were in long-term relationships with women whom I found to be incredibly boring. These men would bemoan the loss of passion in their own relationships, and yet they’d have the audacity to shame me for not being in one.
“We need to find you a man, Lara.”
Why? So you’ll no longer masturbate thinking about me? So my being single will no longer make you uncomfortable? So you won’t be jealous I actually have sex with different people while you’re stuck with the same person? So every time you see me I won’t remind you that you’re only staying with your girlfriend because you’re too scared to leave? Because being single terrifies you? It should. It’s incredibly difficult to stand up to society’s need for you to be coupled and not single.
The ironic thing is that as much as I felt ashamed about being single most of my twenties, when I did have relationships, I was always patently miserable. Because I just wasn’t ready to settle down. I still had to figure myself out.
And any guy I got together with was evidence of that. He was never right for me.
Because having a boyfriend wasn’t going to help me do the inner work I needed to do. I needed to have a relationship with myself first, period.
It wasn’t until I actually started “self-partnering” in my early thirties that I began to figure myself out. I began to fix the problems that had been holding me back from having relationships and from getting ahead in my life in general.
Because having a boyfriend wasn’t going to help me do the inner work I needed to do. I needed to have a relationship with myself first, period.
So let’s stop asking people about their relationship status, and shaming them not having a significant other.
And for crissakes, when a young person actually has the wherewithal to admit that they’re happily “self-partnered” then — jeez — leave them alone.
Let them be “self-partnered” if they want to be. I think it’s awesome that Emma Watson not only has the strength to admit there have been times when she hasn’t been happy single, but that she’s finally now doing what so many people never take the time to do: she’s having a relationship with herself. | https://medium.com/eros-is-everywhere/theres-nothing-wrong-with-being-self-partnered-1f9471e73d41 | ['Elle Silver'] | 2019-11-12 16:38:41.671000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Relationships', 'Feminism', 'Women', 'Dating'] |
How the Climate in Melbourne Changed Over a Century | A record long heat wave has been torturing the southern states of Australia. We thought to look into the weather data for Melbourne, it’s second most populous city, to see if there are noteworthy signs of climate change. For the analysis we used over a 100 years of data provided by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
To make it easier to access and work with the large BOM datasets, we first added them to the Planet OS Datahub:
We focused on two main parameters — maximum temperature and precipitation data, and we used the third dataset from the list above.
From the graph below and the more in-depth analysis in the notebook, you can see the changes in the mean annual maximum temperature in Melbourne. The overall average, 20.03°C for the period of 1911–2017 is marked with a red dotted line and the green line marks a trend.
We checked if the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has had any impact on the area, and discovered that during a vast majority of the El Niño years, the temperatures were higher than the overall average. Meaning that it has indeed been affecting Melbourne. | https://medium.com/planet-os/how-the-climate-in-melbourne-has-changed-over-a-century-70150ccdbe6c | ['Eneli Toodu'] | 2018-01-31 10:21:23.483000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Weather', 'Data Science', 'Australia', 'Climate Change'] |
Beware of Business Arrogance | Spending almost three decades in commercial radio, I can attest to the fact that media is very arrogant. Having absorbed some of that throughout the years, it is a trait I have to continually check because it is not beneficial to my brand nor, most importantly, to my service to my consumer. If your company or business suffers from industry arrogance, you may want to check yourself also and correct the message you are sending to your customers. Let me explain.
I worked in music formatted radio. For years, across multiple genres, I learned how to use science and data to manipulate listenership and how to make demands of those utilizing our product. I heard, “WE make the hits.” The belief was that our product was so necessary to the success of the other cogs spinning within the entertainment industry, that “they” needed us more than we needed them. Every record label needed us to play their music. Every promoter needed us to help them sell tickets to their concerts. And yes, every listener needed us to tell them what information was important, what was happening in their community, and what was good music for them to listen to and purchase.
I am not at all suggesting that radio is not an important tool of communication, information, or in influencing public perception because it is. However, I am also saying its importance and role in communicating should not be viewed as greater than the ones radio communicates with. Neither should you view your business as greater than the customers it was created to serve.
With technology and social marketing changing the landscape of how consumers engage with business and how they make their product choices, arrogance of any kind can be detrimental to business success. The cancel culture is real, and when a consumer gets a whiff of a business or business owner caring more about themselves or a counter-consumer ideal, they will shout it from the social media rooftops, take their money, and move to your competitor. In the case of my industry, where anyone can purchase a microphone on Amazon and become an radio or podcast sensation, there was no need to turn to a competitor for the product consumers could now create themselves.
It is important to honor your customers. Work the word “serve” into your company culture and business language. Communicate to your customers (and potential customers) that you hold that great service in high regard. Remember the value your product brings to the lives of its consumers and keep that message first. Ask patrons how they feel about your product in an attempt to always provide greater value. Don’t tell them how to feel. Your customers need to receive the message, loud and clear, that you care and do not take their support for granted. This form of communication fosters consumer loyalty and will be reflected in your impact and revenue. | https://medium.com/@thedenisehill/beware-of-business-arrogance-46b74767b28b | ['The Denise Hill'] | 2020-12-21 13:52:10.186000+00:00 | ['Communication', 'Business Communication', 'Communication Skills', 'Marketing', 'Customer Service'] |
How to: use your walls to share your work inside your organisation and to the wider world | For example : using colour, shape and numbers to help others flow through the work, and add their feedback.
So here’s some lessons I’ve learned.
1. Use the same labels for each of your sections.
Whether it’s a single colour of card or post-it note, with the same size writing, or a print out (like the ones Paul Smith put together as templates in this Google slide deck, alongside this helpful blog post of how to use them.) In fact, many of Paul’s template labels could be useful to you. Use them!
Having a constant visual clue will help people new to your work a. scan how many sections there are, b. see the work flow and progress across the wall.
2. Make those labels easy to understand.
Use language that’s clear, and explain what you are/were trying to do at each stage of the work.
3. Lay out your work chronologically, and put the ‘best bits’ on the wall.
I work (mostly) in the UK, so my walls flow left to right. I select the parts of the project that help to string the process together, so a newcomer can see the highlights and get up to speed, without having to invest themselves in the detail.
4. Tell them what problem you are working on.
In a sentence, where possible. You should know this sentence!
5. Tell them what you’d like to see as outcomes.
If it’s a bit of internet, a prototype or tool, some training, a change in language in an organisation, a better way to exchange and use data … let people know the general area that this work might head in.
6. Tell them how you’ll be working.
A brief project plan is a nice way to share this. No gantt charts please! Just a run down of the steps you’d like to take (e.g time researching with users, time to make sense of the research and share, time developing ideas with users, rounds of feedback, show and tell frequency)
7. Show your highlights
Whether it’s important quotes from research, photos you’ve gathered of people’s homes, journey maps that help to point out the bits that are difficult and the places people want to thrive. Put these on your wall and label them. People want to know what a section of work is, and more importantly, why you did it, what did you learn from it.
8. Ask for feedback
If there’s a bit of the work that you’d like input in, ask for it. Make your questions clear, tell people why you are asking and make it easy for them to respond to you.
These are the walls I aim to create for my projects. I like making it part of my role to share the work with wider teams and interested parties, it challenges me to be succinct and approachable. | https://blog.wearefuturegov.com/how-to-use-your-walls-to-share-your-work-inside-your-organisation-and-to-the-wider-world-e32c05f9ac52 | ['Kirsty Joan Sinclair'] | 2019-04-04 09:24:38.259000+00:00 | ['Service Design', 'Process', 'Working In The Open', 'Design'] |
The Gray Area of Rape and Consent | The Gray Area Of Rape: Michaela Coel, Sam Jay & Jada’s Red Table Talk Explore Consent
Trigger warning: It’s explicit and necessary
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash
I just watched Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk (RTT) and they had an in-depth discussion about rape and consent. This is a conversation that is long overdue! It is especially important to see three generations of Black women talking about this because historically Black women have been silenced, dismissed or ignored. Black women are reclaiming our voices and agency over our bodies with regard to sex, rape, consent and our humanity as victims.
Thank God for shows like Red Table Talk, but I would be remised if I didn’t talk about the Black women who’ve talked about rape and consent in their work — like Ntozake Shange in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf and Sonia Sanchez in Wounded In The House of A Friend. These two books helped me heal when I was brutally raped and stalked in college. These two authors helped me understand that I wasn’t alone and my pain and my shame was valid and confusion was real.
But I still blamed myself because I knew my rapist and I had let him in my house. We had sex before and the first time wasn’t with my consent. As a matter of fact, I said no — but then I just froze, gave up and cried. On RTT, Rumer Willis discussed “freezing” during a sexual encounter even though she considered herself “a strong woman”.
I, too considered myself “a strong woman”. Yet, I too froze the first time, and although I fought like hell, screamed “NO” the last time (so there’d be no confusion), I still feel shame for allowing that person in home, again. I struggle with the idea and reality of being violated twice by the same man. How does that happen?
Michaela’s Gray Areas
Michaela Coel’s show I May Destroy You asks questions and took a deep dive in the gray and controversial areas in rape, sexual assault and consent with men and women. Her HBO series brought up the following questions and issues:
What is rape versus sexual assault for a male or female?
Would you say yes if you had all the information?
False rape allegations against Black boys from white women/girls
Problematic or complicated victims
The lack of sympathy for Black victims from every one from other Black people, society, police, etc.
Victim fatigue
Casual sex and consent
What is consent and can you withdraw it before, during or even after?
Michaela Coel literally goes so dark, deep and dissects the ugly, gray areas between consensual sex and sexual assault that I can’t begin to explore all the nuanced, highly sensitive and controversial issues in this piece. However, I will say that her work expressed what many people think, but dare not say.
But Sam said it…
The comedian Sam Jay bravely went where few women are brave enough to go when talked about rape, victimhood and privilege in her comedy special where she discussed Aziz Asari. While I don’t agree with her assumption that any woman could fight him off, I do agree that his accuser’s story was not worthy of the #MeToo movement. If you’re unfamiliar with the story, click the link on his name. In short, Babe.net published a story by woman named Grace who alleges that she went to his place after dinner, they kissed, he performed oral sex on her and then he kept asking her to reciprocate. She said she was “uncomfortable”, left and called it “the worst night of her life”.
Many people were outraged, including myself that this woman compared a bad date, to sexual assault. It was insulting and infuriating to women who’ve actually been raped and sexually assaulted. Not to lessen her experience, but this wreaked of whiny, white privilege. How dare this tiny brown man expect anything from me after I graced him with my presence. I let him buy me dinner, go back to his place, let him lick dare I say — eat my precious hot pocket. How dare he even ask me for anything more!
Wow — if only other “victims” could be so lucky. He asked —
When I was 13, I was lured in a house and had a knife to my throat. If it wasn’t for a perfectly timed knock at the door, I would have been gang raped… I got lucky that time, but years, later I woke up to being raped in my sleep. I was stalked for weeks with no assistance from the police. Meanwhile, this woman gets national news attention and a sea of feminist outrage because she was crying in an Uber over him allegedly pointing to his pants and “asking” her return the favor in his whiny Urkel-like voice. He asked, not attacked or took. Maybe he begged, but how is she a victim worthy of national news coverage?
I’ve been raped and I still can’t see how this remotely constitutes as a sexual assault or misconduct of any kind. So no boo hoo or #MeToo for her! He may have been a jerk or way too presumptuous, but if the details are true — this wasn’t remotely on the spectrum of sexual assault. This was a very bad (and highly predictable) date. She knew some begging was on the menu.
No offense, but ANY woman who’s seen Aziz Asari knows he doesn’t exude a high level of sexual confidence. As a matter of fact, his humor kinda revolves around it… So, if you’re going out with him and you’re remotely “hot”, one has to wonder why you would be shocked that he might beg you for sex and it might not be that good… Begging and bad sex aren’t sexual assault and disappointment isn’t a revelation — it’s buyer’s remorse and that shouldn’t change consent after the fact or ruin a man’s life with allegations.
One can argue begging is a form of coercion, but this is where it gets gray with the power dynamic and safety factors. Being uncomfortable isn’t the same as being unsafe and although he’s a celebrity, he’s still a person of color in America. White women still reign supreme and their innocence and honor is defended at all cost. Therefore, anything she says is considered unrefutable truth, even if she lied. She cried, so that was enough for media outlets and America to deem him guilty — it’s the American way.
Before people get mad and comment please understand that I know ALL the horrible and disgusting types of sexual abuse and assault.
Unfortunately, I’ve been:
Molested
Raped
Sexually Assaulted
Coerced and begged into having sex
And I’ve also just let it happen because I thought the guy was going to rape me anyway. That has happened more than once and it’s the most prevalent of the gray area scenarios. I never said, “no” and most women don’t:
Scenario #1: He’s begging, he performs oral sex with questionable consent (you don’t say yes or no) but you’re not engaged, and don’t like it. He asks “can I put the tip in”, you don’t say no. You give in and don’t protest verbally or physically to full intercourse out of of pity or fear, but you’re was totally unresponsive, laying there — and intentionally not engaging to showed how uncomfortable you are. He acts like he doesn’t notice or care and finishes…
Scenario #2: He’s begging, he performs oral sex with questionable consent (you don’t say yes or no), but because you climaxed, he quickly penetrates without asking and at first you’re shocked, but it gets good, so you change your mind and participate.
Most men probably wouldn’t think either scenario was rape if they were the man. Yet, if their daughter, a female friend or loved one told them either scenario happened to them- they’d fully understand that it was rape or at the very least — the guy took advantage of the woman.
In both scenarios — the woman didn’t say no, but she didn’t say yes. This is really tricky. As a woman, I’ve been frozen by fear, but as a mother of a son — I’m very afraid of him being falsely accused of rape — when he thought he had consent.
Personally, I think the first scenario is a violation — if not full sexual assault or rape, but the 2nd Scenario is definitely a gray area. I’ve had the rape/consent talk with my son and taught him BOTH could be considered rape and to get verbal consent and check in with his partner every step of the way during a sexual encounter. It doesn’t have to feel scripted or awkward if you’re making sure that the other person is engaged and enjoying themselves, too. The moment they don’t seem to be engaged or enjoying themselves — I’ve taught him to check in — because the yes — may have switched to a no and it if it did: Stop, disengage and patiently try to understand why and accept if the person may not be comfortable to talk about it at the time…I’ve made it clear that continuing or ignoring the other person’s discomfort is rape…
Race, consent and rape culture
Rape is hard to prove — even if the woman said no and tried to fight. Sadly, when race is factored in — it just gets worse. Based on an article by The American Bar Association, statistics show that white perpetrators get lesser sentences regardless of the race of the victim.
In speaking with friends, I think a lot of Black women and women of color would say — “I don’t know what the 2nd scenario is” — because sadly these are common scenarios. On Red Table Talk, Mrs. Adrienne Banfield Norris aka Gam, Jada’s Mother and Willow Smith, Jada’s daughter helped confirm my theory when they talked about women “getting in” or “avoiding” situations. Jada and her other guest, Amber Rose talked about how these “situations” often happen in relationships. Yet, most women have experienced this regardless of their relationship with the man, his race or class. This is how men are socialized in America and around the world.
The idea that men are just too “caught up” in their primal needs to be able to communicate or ask consent is dangerous. This also perpetuates and enforces patriarchy, toxic masculinity and rape culture. The “boys will be boys” attitude is what delusional, privileged people use to excuse and protect predatory and abusive behavior. This video is perfect example:
CNN Video of republican woman defending allegations
Rape and sexual assaults aren’t always behind closed doors — a lot of them are done in the open. Remember, Brock Turner raped an unconscious girl behind a dumpster and no one at this fraternity party stopped him. A tourist actually pulled him off her. He only served 3 months for raping a woman who couldn’t give consent.
This isn’t uncommon and things can get messy and gray in groups when drugs and alcohol are involved. We’ve seen the disturbing headlines about taping or gluing boy’s body parts together, forced sexual acts with ambiguous names like tea-bagging, donkey punches, gang bangs aka “trains” etc. These violent, sadistic and deviant “games” and have been normalized on college campuses and in gangs as hyper-masculine initiations. Yet, most are done either without consent or within the gray area of sexual assault and rape.
I know a girl that was raped at a frat party by a boy who allegedly bragged about “taking what he wanted”. He was in a fraternity and was a campus sports star. She filed an on-campus complaint, but didn’t contact local police. To avoid possible expulsion and criminal charges, he pressed charges against her for sexual assault. He said she took advantage of him because he was intoxicated. He is over 6 feet tall, over 200 pounds. She is 5'0, 130 pounds. She admitted she had been drinking, but insisted she wasn’t drunk and she tried fight back, but over powered her. The bruising on her thighs, stomach, neck and arms substantiate how she was violently raped, but she faced expulsion and sexual assault charges because he made a criminal complaint first. The party and alcohol made this gray.
The lack of empathy and protection for rape victims and the level of intimidation and manipulation that’s allowed from perpetrators makes this an uphill battle for sexual assault victims. In the meantime, we have to change the culture, behavior and mindset.
Conclusion
If a man or woman can’t control themselves, that’s not the victim’s problem. They need help and should be prosecuted. Parents need to talk with their children about how to properly engage in intimate and sexual relationships and the gray areas. It’s everyone’s responsibility to make sure they aren’t hurting someone and if they see something, they should say something.
Sex and intimacy is another form of communication. If we approach it from the perspective - everyone should be respected, have a clear expectations, and understanding and be comfortable before, during and after “the physical conversation”. Women, speak up and push back if you’re uncomfortable! Men, hold up and understand no can be verbal and nonverbal. If she’s not acting like she’s ready, responsive or enjoying herself — stop! Your “yes” may have turned to — no for many reasons like pain, discomfort or she’s no longer in the mood. Either way, it’s her body and her choice and right to change her mind. Check in, it’s not just about you. I think having this understanding would minimize rape culture and post sex guilt, shame and confusion — if we all learned to communicate about sex.
I mentioned the ladies on Red Table Talk, but a special thank you needs to go to Deandre Levy for speaking out and teaching men and boys about consent. Finally, Sexologist, educator, and activist Michelle Hope shared a special tool called the “Want, Will, Won’t” list that will help women better understand, express and articulate what they are and aren’t consenting to during a sexual encounter.
We cannot address what we won’t acknowledge. Consent may be a new term, but it’s always been a healthy part of a relationship. I think consent should be part of sex education and “the talk” for every tween and teen. More people need to share their stories and conversations need to be had inside and outside the bedroom to make the “gray area” of sex and consent a distinctive line that should NEVER be crossed, again.
Sources
Red Table Talk: October 20, 2020: Consent Episode
Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Sonia Sanchez, Wounded In the House Of A Friend
Red Table Talk Facebook Live Series
Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You
https://www.vulture.com/article/michaela-coel-i-may-destroy-you.html
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/litigation/committees/diversity-inclusion/articles/2019/summer2019-intersection-of-race-and-rape/ | https://medium.com/an-injustice/rape-and-consent-8b681fef294f | ['Gfc', 'Grown Folk Conversations'] | 2020-12-07 18:59:58.457000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Consent', 'Red Table Talk', 'Michaela Coel', 'Rape'] |
The NHS at 70 | Each summer, a cohort of students leave the University of Leeds to begin work as newly-qualified junior doctors.
With a great sense of pride, they take the first steps on a professional ladder that will one day will see them working as doctors in the community, in hospitals or in research.
St James’ University Hospital
For each of them, the transition from medical student to doctor is a tremendous personal achievement. But it is also symbolic of the deep synergy that exists between the university sector and the NHS. According to the latest workforce statistics, the NHS employs in excess of 1.2 million people, many of them will have graduated with degrees that allow them to practice in their specific field.
NHS principles such as care, compassion and professionalism underpin the way staff are expected to treat patients. Those ideals are instilled early on in degree programmes and they sit alongside the University of Leeds’ values of integrity, inclusiveness and academic excellence. Universities help define the public persona of the NHS.
The Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds teaches around 4,500 students each year, the equivalent to a small university in itself. And it does not stop with the training of the next generation of healthcare professionals, the University is involved in research that improves NHS practices.
Professor Mark Kearney, Deputy Dean of the School of Medicine and Health, said: “The NHS and university researchers up and down the country have played a crucial role in improving the health of the nation. Diseases that were once certain killers can now be prevented or managed outside of hospital. The survival rates for many cancers have improved significantly.
“The progress seen in healthcare over the last 70 years has resulted from the hard work and dedication of NHS staff. But underpinning that is the close collaboration that has existed with the university sector.
“Not only do we play an important role in developing the academic and professional skills needed by people at all levels in the NHS, we are close partners in undertaking the research and innovation that has fuelled the revolution in healthcare.”
University researchers collaborate closely with clinical colleagues in the NHS. At Leeds, many staff hold dual appointments, working at the Leeds General Infirmary, St James’ Hospital, or Chapel Allerton Hospital, and at the University. The aim is to have a seamless connection between research and practice, so patients see the benefits more quickly.
A shared history
The idea of a healthcare professional being both a clinician and someone involved in research and innovation is not new. In fact, it predates the existence of the NHS and the University.
In 1824, Thomas Pridgin Teale was elected surgeon to the Leeds Public Dispensary. He was something of a celebrity scientist. Aged just 22, he acquired fame as the first provincial surgeon to tie the subclavian artery, one of the major blood vessels going into the arm.
Leeds General Infirmary
In an era when surgeons started their careers as apprentices, he campaigned for a more formalised approach to training and was one of the founders of a medical school in Leeds. That happened in 1831, with the school laying the foundations for what would become the University of Leeds.
Giving the Leeds Medical School’s inaugural lecture, he argued that doctors must be prepared to continually update their knowledge, a principle that is as true today as it was almost 150 years ago.
From the outset, Teale saw the link between research, and the application of research to patient care. The creation of the NHS in 1948, accelerated that process, and extended it to other healthcare professionals.
Research pioneers
From the early days of the NHS, Leeds began to establish itself as a research centre.
Surgeon Leslie Pyrah grew up in Leeds and was a medical student at the University. After graduating, he went on to work at St James’ Hospital, focussing on renal disease.
In 1956 he was appointed Professor of Urological Surgery at the University and became the director of the Medical Research Council unit in Leeds.
That same year, with the help of fellow surgeon Frank Parsons, he set up the first renal haemodialysis unit in a UK hospital, at the Leeds General Infirmary. Frank Parsons had been to the US and had seen a dialysis unit at work there and brought the idea back to the UK.
Kidney Dialysis at Leeds General Infirmary in the early days of the NHS. Reproduced with the permission of Special Collections, University of Leeds Library. Copyright: Yorkshire Post Newspapers
The University library’s Special Collections holds the scientific reports, papers and letters written by Professor Pyrah and Frank Parsons. The library also holds photographs that were taken in the Department of Urology in the earl years of the NHS and show the kidney dialysis machine used at the LGI.
Four years after establishing the dialysis unit, Professor Pyrah successfully convinced the Wellcome Foundation and other benefactors that they should fund a four-storey research building at Leeds General Infirmary.
In more recent years, the drive to answer the tricky and seemingly intractable questions at the heart of some disease has attracted ‘cross-cutting’ research, where experts from different backgrounds come together to bear down on a problem. There has been progress in dealing with some of the bigger health challenges:
Myeloma — research in collaboration with Myeloma UK which has refined the treatment of a bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma. The treatment involves high-dose chemotherapy and a transplant using the patient’s own bone marrow or blood. The treatment is now widely used across the world and the latest statistics show patients alive one year after diagnosis has increased from 35 percent to 70 percent.
Bowel cancer — The University led a trial into the use of minimally-invasive surgery to treat bowel cancer. It showed that cancerous tissue could be removed effectively without the patient having to undergo open surgery which is more painful and results in a longer stay in hospital.
Musculoskeletal disease — research has pioneered the early diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that affects 600,000 people in the UK. Studies at the University show that early identification of the disease and aggressive treatment can reduce pain and reduce disability. The research has changed management of the disease.
Cardiovascular disease — 30 years ago, patients who had a heart attack faced a bleak future when it came to long-term survival. Research at the University showed that the early use of drugs known as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors improved survival and quality of life for patients. The results have influenced treatment of heart attacks worldwide.
Professor Kearney said: “The University of Leeds and the NHS have not only worked on the fundamental questions at the heart of biomedical research but we have evaluated new drugs, developed medical technology and pioneered clinical techniques.
“The journey continues as we work on tackling the big issues facing the modern NHS: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and wound care. Our partnership places us at the vanguard of research: for example, we are using the power of computers to find patterns that exists in large health datasets: statistics that might provide clues as to groups who are susceptible to certain disease and why some groups may experience less disease.
“We’re looking at personalised medicine, where research comes together to allow healthcare professionals to tailor a highly specific course of treatment to tackle illness — or perhaps to halt it before it starts.
“As an educational institution, we make sure all our students are equipped to take forward the philosophy that Thomas Teale expounded almost 150 years ago that medicine and healthcare research does not standstill, and as health professionals they must embrace new knowledge to improve the lives and wellbeing of patients.”
When the new cohort of junior doctors start their ward rounds, they will do so safe in the knowledge that thanks to the partnership between the University of Leeds and the NHS, the treatments and advice given to patients is based on years of careful research and a continual desire to provide the best treatment based on strong evidence-based foundations. | https://medium.com/university-of-leeds/the-nhs-at-70-243923b00730 | ['University Of Leeds'] | 2020-01-06 12:56:36.405000+00:00 | ['Medicine', 'Health', 'Community', 'Nhs', 'Education'] |
Employee Engagement in the Remote Work Era | The COVID-19 pandemic has brought enormous disruptions to the workforce. Many employees continue working from home, where they’ve been forced to adapt to new workflows and daily routines. On top of that, bad news about the pandemic, the economy, and the state of our politics has made it increasingly difficult to focus on everyday work matters.
The upshot of all of this is that far too many employees say they are either somewhat or completely disengaged from their work. (A Gallup poll, taken over the summer, puts the number at around 68 percent.) This is unwelcome news for many reasons, but foremost among them is this: It suggests that most employees are doing something less than their best work.
Employee Engagement: A Review
Before we go much further, it may be worth a brief review of what employee engagement is, and why it matters.
When we talk about whether or not employees are engaged, we’re not necessarily talking about whether they’re satisfied, or whether they’re happy. Those are very different metrics, and may be worth measuring. But when it comes to employee engagement, we’re referring to the employee’s level of commitment to the company and to the work they’ve been tasked with completing. A fully engaged employee works not just to get their paycheck, but to help the company flourish and the team achieve its goals.
Engaged employees put forth more effort and make more significant contributions in each aspect of their work; thus, companies with higher levels of engagement tend to deliver higher-quality products and services; they tend to be more efficient, and; they tend to be more profitable.
The Makings of Employee Engagement
As we think about the state of employee engagement in 2020, it’s important to consider each of the elements involved.
The most significant element is belonging. The most engaged employees usually feel as though they are an important part of the team, and that their individual role contributes something to the big picture.
Some additional aspects of employee engagement include:
● Open lines of communication and transparency from leadership
● Regular opportunities to give and receive feedback
● Autonomy (e.g., no micromanaging)
● Clearly-defined goals
● Opportunities to learn, grow, and advance
Any endeavor to increase employee engagement needs to carefully weigh each of these factors.
Engaging Remote Employees
Given the importance of employee engagement, and remote work as the “new normal,” it’s crucial for all leaders to rethink their employee engagement strategy. A few general tips and considerations:
Schedule regular meetings. If team members don’t have regular opportunities to meet and to connect with one another, preferably in a group setting, they’re more likely to lose that sense of belonging. Make sure you’re either holding small team meetings or company-wide meetings via Zoom, Google Hangouts, or some similar platform. Encourage collaboration. Employees who are more reserved or introverted may be less likely to participate in big, boisterous meetings. Make sure you also develop smaller teams or partnerships, tasking each with working together on a project or a brainstorming session. Provide office hours. Leaders need to be accessible to their employees. Let team members know a chunk of each day (maybe an hour or two) when you are available to chat with them via phone, Skype, or Zoom, as needed. Just make sure you’re providing everyone an opportunity to ask questions or voice concerns. Recognize success. Be private in your criticisms, but public in your praise. When employees go above and beyond, or complete a significant project, make sure you recognize them before the group. This could be as simple as sending out a company-wide email. Check in. Finally, make sure you’re making the effort to reach out and check in with employees one-on-one. Showing that you care about them and their success within the company can go a long way toward fostering greater engagement.
As you consider your options for building an engaged team in the remote work era, these tips should be helpful. If you would like additional information on ways to assess and enhance employee engagement or if you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out to WhiteWater Consulting directly. We look forward to hearing from you! | https://medium.com/@whitewater2019/employee-engagement-in-the-remote-work-era-45abaebcb672 | ['Chuck Cooper', 'Whitewater Consulting'] | 2020-12-10 16:00:37.061000+00:00 | ['Remote Working', 'Employee Engagement', 'Business', 'Remote Work', 'Business Strategy'] |
4 Lessons I Have Learned From Writing For Over A Year. | I think it is important to reflect and take notice of the steps that have brought us to where we are. Today has been a hard day; I am not where I wanted to be, but I am somewhere.
Lesson 1: Improving The Craft
I have written on this recently on my website; however, I see now more than ever the importance of walking blind. Not focusing on what is in front but just trying to take another step forward. I understand how hard this is; I was in the same position not so long ago. In the age of instant gratification, it is hard to learn patience and focus on the process that is making you want to pursue this career in the first place.
Lesson 2: Control Your Time
This year was organising my working time, and my free time has been significant for me to progress. I feel my fitness significantly has improved; I have tried rigid structures and loose structures. Yet, allocating days on the go for resting and recovery, allowed me to come back to work fully recovered and refreshed. Consequently, it made me ready to maintain the same effort of that previous day.
Lesson 3: Planning
Even though I touched on this briefly, I believe planning articles and drafting them out, helped me become more precise. I cut those unnecessary words, refining my sentences and taking my time to read through, naturally improved my work. Yet, you would think this is obvious, but people tend not to believe they do not have time when it saves it.
Lesson 4: Inspiration
Inspiration can be hard to find; however, writers should not need it. I believe, in talent but I further believe without practice, you have no control over it. Real talent is when you focus on your craft, conjure your inspiration and own task to help motivate that creative spark into a flame. My article again covers this and is worth a read if you are serious about improving.
Thank you for reading, if you want me to write about my structure guide or want to know how I plan, please comment down below.
For exclusive content go to
www.b-less.me | https://medium.com/@jamiestyles/4-lessons-i-have-learned-from-writing-for-over-a-year-6940cdd2e00c | ['Jamie Styles'] | 2020-12-26 23:47:33.082000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Writing Tips', 'Self Help', 'Development', 'Writing Prompts'] |
How to Secure Your GraphQL API From Malicious Queries | Query Cost Analysis
In depth limit, we’re limiting the execution of queries to n th level but it might not be suitable for all cases. Sometimes the depth can be a lot less but the cost to compute that query can be high. This might happen when we’re fetching a lot of data in a single query and it’s putting a lot of load on our back end server or database server. These queries might look something like this:
Even though this query is only two levels deep, you can understand the level of complexity — the amount of data it will be requesting from the database server and computation happening on the backend server.
This issue will not be resolved by either depth limiting or size limiting, so we need something robust that can handle this kind of query. Often in these cases, we need to perform a query cost analysis, where our server computes the cost of each query and decides whether to allow this query or reject it.
To do this, we need to analyze each query before running them on our server. If they’re too complex or too expensive, we need to block them. There are numerous open-source libraries which have been built by some really smart people — one of those libraries is graphql-validation-complexity . You can separately define complexity for each field, like different complexity for scalar types and objects. There is also graphql-query-complexity which calculates the complexity based on each field, unlike graphql-validation-complexity which calculates it based on the types. Adding query cost analysis using either of these libraries is pretty straightforward:
Before you start implementing query cost analysis on your server, just make sure your server really needs it. Otherwise, it will just be another overhead for your server and you’ll just end up wasting resources and time. If your server doesn’t any complex relations fetching you might be better off without query cost analysis — just add size limiting and depth limiting. | https://medium.com/better-programming/how-to-secure-your-graphql-api-from-malicious-queries-d5f71f74795e | ['Sachin Thakur'] | 2020-05-20 14:30:34.288000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Nodejs', 'JavaScript', 'Database', 'GraphQL'] |
Pro-Choice Activists Tell Women to Lie About Their Abortions | Women who are considering abortion are at a very vulnerable time in their lives. Many of these women are ambivalent and uncertain, struggling to make the right decisions. It can be a scary and difficult time.
It’s also a time when support from those around them can be very important. It is tragic for a woman to face the terrible decision of having an abortion alone.
Therefore, it is disturbing that some pro-choice activists and clinic workers encourage women to keep their abortion dilemmas is to themselves, and, particularly, not speak to people who might give them life-affirming alternatives.
In discussing how low-income women can raise funds for an abortion, The National Network of Abortion Funds site encourages them to lie to people in their lives in order to get the money they need:
Are there people who might not help me cover the cost of an abortion, but would help me cover other costs? Am I comfortable lying to a friend or family member, telling them that I had an unexpectedly high electric bill or gas bill due to heating or A/C costs?
This is not only very unfair towards the people the woman is tricking into paying for something they may be completely against, but it isolates the woman from those who can help her.
Isolating a pregnant woman from her support system and urging her to be dishonest leaves her vulnerable to manipulation by abortion clinic workers and robs her of the support that loving family members and friends can give.
Friends and loved ones can help a woman talk through her doubts, worries, and fears. They can provide a much-needed perspective. They can tell her about resources in the community that can help her.
While it is true that some people in the woman’s life may urge abortion, keeping her dilemma to herself will only deny her any chance that someone could show her a way to have her baby. And if she does suffer grief and guilt after an abortion, whom does she go to for support? She can’t go to those she has deceived unless she admits lying to them.
Another website geared towards women considering abortion says the following:
First, don’t tell anyone. If you told someone you were going to have an abortion, lie! Yes, lie! Tell them you started bleeding and it was suddenly all gone. Cry a little, if you can, and say you feel better and don’t want to talk about it… Remember, you can’t trust anyone with this. If you really don’t want anyone else to know, you have to keep it from your closest friends and family. You might be able to trust them now, but over time, things will change. Your relationship with them might change… Don’t tell and no one will know!
This dishonesty can create a lifetime of denial and shame as the woman feels forced to hide her terrible secret from everyone in her life.
It leads to women repressing their feelings while being forced to cope with their abortions alone, without any support or help. Such secrets can become toxic, generating guilt and regret that cannot be easily assuaged.
Many women find abortion to be an extremely painful experience emotionally, and a great many women suffer regret afterward. Keeping an abortion a secret can be a terrible burden.
Abortion providers have also been known to urge women to keep their abortions to themselves and to lie if necessary.
One abortionist discusses how many women do not tell their partners, parents, or friends about their abortions, and come in for them alone:
…While lots of women involve loved ones in their decision and some even bring partners, parents or friends to the clinic, lots of women don’t. For most of these women, I think its [sic] about self-preservation. They don’t tell because they expect their parents or partner to be unsupportive, perhaps even try to prevent them from having an abortion. I think the majority probably tell them later, when the fear that the unsupportive loved one can block their choice is gone. These women sometimes express guilt for not telling, but it strikes me as smart. It makes sense to call only on people one can expect support from. It only makes me mad that some women can’t rely on their closest family and friends to support them, no matter what.
Actually, many of these women can rely on their family and friends to support them — to support them to find alternatives that are life-affirming and positive.
No one can legally stop a woman from having an abortion, but this abortion provider seems to feel that any effort on the part of a woman’s loved ones to offer resources, encouragement, and support is a violation of her rights — unless, of course, they are urging her to have an abortion. Only those who are pro-abortion should be asked for their opinion.
Another abortion clinic worker discusses how many women who come in for abortions have kept their abortions secret. Clinic worker “Sally” calls abortion “a woman’s biggest secret.” She describes how many women, when they get after-care instructions, will “just tip it in the garbage” so that there is no paper trail connecting them to the abortion clinic.
None of the clinic workers comment on how seriously this jeopardizes a woman’s health, nor do they seem inclined to encourage women not to do it. The author of the article says that clinic workers help women lie:
If she needs to pretend she had a miscarriage, they tell her what to say.
This article was called “A Woman’s Biggest Secret” in Globe and Mail, July 15, 2000.
There is no need, according to these clinic workers, for a woman to tell the truth to anyone in her life — not her friends, not her family, not even the baby’s father.
Women who are encouraged to lie to their friends and family, both before and after their abortions, are being set up for a lifetime of secrets and shame. They are being denied alternatives and the healing which can come from opening up and getting help. | https://medium.com/the-secular-seamless-garment/pro-choice-activists-tell-women-to-lie-about-their-abortions-b30550bd1eb9 | ['Sarah Terzo'] | 2020-12-19 16:22:58.890000+00:00 | ['Abortion', 'Pro Life', 'Pro Choice', 'Feminism', 'Abortion Clinic'] |
Driving to a Waterfall | Photo by Corwin Thiessen on Unsplash
We think the birds are singing,
but they laugh while we lie
in our beds, the world thumping
around us like four wheels
crossing a covered bridge built
to keep us safe from above and below.
Deep within the boarded up belly,
radios cut with a static hiss,
and the rain stops for two seconds
of sudden silence. | https://trappermarkelz.medium.com/driving-to-a-waterfall-b26d4c6e55a9 | ['Trapper Markelz'] | 2020-09-02 19:44:06.276000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Free Verse'] |
Configure Prometheus scraping from relational database in Kubernetes | This article will be helpful for those who have Prometheus installed in their Kubernetes cluster, and willing to use custom business metrics that can be extracted from SQL database.
Pre-requisites
Kubernetes cluster
Prometheus running as a pod in your cluster
SQL Database
A short business case description
Components
Let’s describe a use case that we are going to implement. Say we have a source of data and we call it Publisher.
Another component is a Data ingestion service processing an important business logic and finally storing the result in any kind of Storage. Once the processing is finished it can have either Success or Failure result.
We also have a special Processing tracker (Tracker) service that is responsible for receiving the result from Data ingestion via HTTP channel. Tracker service is also connected to SQL database where the result will be persisted in.
The last but not least element is Prometheus that is currently only gathering Kubernetes cluster state.
Initial configuration
Task description
That’s great so far! Now a new requirement came to us. We have to be aware of those cases when data processing failed in Data ingestion. If that happened we must immediately notify our support team and the third new Subscription service that will perform a new subscription to the source of data.
Solution
At first glance, it looks simple. You need to add something to the infrastructure that can reach the database, execute a query and store the result somewhere. This result should be analysed and notification is performed.
Fortunately, there is a database scanner that is supported by a community that can scan your business information via SQL calls and store the result in Prometheus understandable format. Then, Prometheus itself is pinging this scanner and importing data.
Implementation phase
Prometheus exporters
The additional software (scanner) that provides us with Prometheus metrics format is called Prometheus exporter. In official documentation you can find a large list of available exporters. For our case, we are interested in postgresql exporter. Let’s first install it.
PostgreSQL exporter installation
We get back to our Kubernetes cluster and use helm in order to install PostgreSQL exporter. To speed up the things, you can use an existing helm chart. Your execution command will look like this:
helm upgrade --install --wait postgres-exporter \
-f ./helm/postgres-exporter/values.yaml \
stable/prometheus-postgres-exporter
The exporter will be trying to connect your database so we must fill the database configuration properties.
PostgreSQL exporter query definition
Once our exporter is able to connect to database we must define those queries that will be being executed each scraping time. You can mark each selected value in a query with one of three types of Prometheus metrics.
In our case, we would like to store the number of errors happened during the last 5 minutes in errors variable. So we mark errors as GAUGE metric (14–16). Since this point you can start searching for <query_name>_<GAUGE metric name> metric in your Prometheus database. The metric’s name will be pg_failing_event_processing_errors.
Moreover, you can include a couple of additional labels to your metric as LABELs type of the query as it is done with event name (17–19).
Connect Prometheus and PostgreSQL exporter
We assume you have already installed a Prometheus to the cluster. If not, you can find a perfect Helm chart and provision the cluster with it. Moreover, we will intensively be extending an input configuration file so you can wait until the end of the article.
Okay, now we need to add a new scraper that will be running on Prometheus side and extracting exported values from PostgreSQL exporter.
It looks pretty straightforward, right? Here is only a job name, frequency and targets of where to scrape the metrics. We just took a PostgreSQL exporter service that is installed automatically to the cluster with its helm chart and has 80 port by default (line 5).
Prometheus + PostgreSQL exporter
Alertmanager
Our system has to be provisioned with Alertmanager that will be responsible for sending notifications to Subscription service in case an alert has been triggered.
Alertmanager is delivered along with Prometheus chart. All you need is to provide an appropriate alertmanager.yml property:
Alertmanager configuration
You can find a comprehensive documentation about alerts and apply the configuration that fits to your purpose.
Alerts are Prometheus entities that contain PromQL expression. The expression is being evaluated from time to time and once expression became valid an appropriate alert is sent to Alertmanager.
Prometheus alert
Subscription service
You also need to develop a receiver for the alerts. In will be a Subscription service. We are going to introduce a /notifications endpoint for POST requests and message data model defined in documentation.
Validation
If you deploy the Prometheus now, put an alert with status ERROR to the database and wait for 5 minutes (you can reduce the time for testing purpose) then you will see that the alert has been detected an sent to Alertmanager that in turn will forward the message further to Subscription service.
Final Architecture
You are free to manage the incoming alerts in any way you wish. In our case we wanted Subscription service finding out a source of the event and notifying it about the error that occurred meaning we would like to receive that lost message once again.
Don’t forget, that Alertmanager is already able to sent messages to predefined systems. The approach that we are describing is a webhook based and intended to provide the most flexible way of alert message processing.
Conclusion
In this article, we have learned how to identify issues happening in the incoming messages processing and as a perform actions in order to not loose data.
We observed the existing implementations of the Prometheus exporters.
Next, we installed PostgreSQL exporter and defined a query that is being executed periodically. The result is grabbed by Prometheus and persisted internally.
We described how to configure an Alertmanager. After that, if special Prometheus entity Alert is triggered an approproate message will be generated and sent to the Alertmanager that will act as a proxy and forward the message to a webhook. | https://itnext.io/configure-prometheus-scraping-from-relational-database-in-kubernetes-9b4466d16f85 | ['Stepan Tsybulski'] | 2019-12-18 13:38:51.677000+00:00 | ['Prometheus', 'Postgres', 'Alertmanager', 'Docker', 'Kubernetes'] |
2020，那些我在 SimplyBook.me 的一點記錄！ | Scheduling software for labs vaccination appointment scheduling.
SimplyBook.me is helping many UK NHS Trusts become the world's first to deliver widespread COVID-19 Vaccinations in an… | https://medium.com/@hyfan/%E9%82%A3%E4%BA%9B%E6%88%91%E5%9C%A8-simplybook-me-%E7%9A%84-2020-%E4%B8%80%E9%BB%9E%E8%A8%98%E9%8C%84-b72e1ae63ad8 | [] | 2020-12-27 14:40:35.805000+00:00 | ['Simplybook', '2020', '2021', 'Life', 'Work'] |
Keen to be Green with 3 kids? | Clothes:
While children’s clothes represent only 12% of the overall clothing market, they constitute a considerable portion of the 26 billion pounds of textiles entering landfills every year[2]. With children going through 10 clothes sizes in the first 2 years, changing our habits to a more sustainable approach will make a huge difference.
o Excellent eco-friendly options
Rent, return, repeat! 9plus1 was created with convenience and sustainability in mind. We only rent clothes that are already in stock at our suppliers, so we do not create more waste. We are the only rental company to do this.
With 9plus1, parents subscribe and each month choose a bundle of clothes from over 600 product lines and over 30 eco-friendly, premium brands. Each month, they send clothes back and choose a new bundle, with new designs and in the right size (or appropriate to the right season). If a certain item gains sentimental value (we all know we have a couple of those tiny baby grows stashed away in our keepsake box), they can buy it at a price below retail value, instead of returning it.
In selecting our brands, we have done all the hard work for you — we vetted and picked each company for a reason and with sustainability and quality in mind.
To us, this is a win-win business model — an eco-friendly way to have a wide choice of clothes, no clutter in the house and it works out much cheaper for the parents.
o Good alternative
Buying second-hand clothes or repairing what you already have in your closet are also excellent options. If you need to buy new items, try choosing sustainably made clothes, with recycled or organic materials, made in small quantities and following ethical standards for their factory.
Laundry:
Having babies means laundry, pretty much every day. I still remember the daily pile of clothes, sheets and such, on my kitchen floor.
Plastic fibers and toxic dyes are only a few of the toxins that get washed into our sewage system when you do a load of laundry. Not only do these chemicals get into our groundwater and affect plant life, but they can also cause chemical reactions in your body, like skin irritation and asthma.
o Excellent eco-friendly option:
Use colder water, hang dry clothes and only start a wash once the machine has a full load. This will help cut your energy consumption too! If you are able to switch to a green energy tariff, that will also be a huge help.
Avoid individual pods and sachets that are developed as a way of extracting more money for the same product. There are excellent eco-detergent that are phosphate-free, fragrance-free, not tested on animals, and which are sold in recycled packages such as Bio-D or Ecover.
o Good alternative:
If all of the above is too much, try any combination. Maybe start by washing your clothes using a lower temperature setting or by using the dryer less often. Every little helps.
Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
Nappies:
o Excellent eco-friendly option:
In England and Wales alone, we waste around 3 billion nappies per year[3]. Reusable nappies are an excellent option to reduce plastic going into landfills, however, they add to the pressure of parenthood as you need to find time and space to wash these nappies and be mindful of any potential health hazards with cross-contamination.
Some examples of brands: Bambinomio, Littlelambnappies, CharlieBanana
o Good alternative
If dealing with a soiled nappy and adding extra loads to your already busy washing machine is not something you can bear, there are some good alternatives to the traditional single-use nappies.
For example, Beaming Baby has single-use nappies that biodegrade in 4 years instead of 400 years that standard nappies can take. Mama Bamboo is also a good alternative. They offer nappies free from harsh chemicals and that have an inner lining, pulp core, and packaging 100% biodegradable.
Photo by Picsea on Unsplash
Feminine hygiene:
Until I had my first baby, I had no idea just how important organic cotton underwear and pads are to new mothers. Having a baby significantly increases your risk of thrush and other issues, mainly due to changes in hormones that we go through. Organic cotton pads and underwear can make a huge difference in resolving or avoiding some of these issues.
o Excellent eco-friendly option:
Switching to a reusable pad or period underwear can save over 2,000 plastic disposables and 11,000 items of period products during your lifetime! They last for 2 years and can be washed over and over at 40degC. Make sure you buy the ones that are manufactured with no harmful chemicals or finishes and use as many natural ingredients as possible.
I have used both the pads and the underwear. Personally, I prefer using period underwear as I find pads tend to move too much. But try both as everyone has their preferences!
Some examples of brands: Dame, Wuka
o Good alternative:
If you prefer to have a single-use pad, there are now many options using no plastic which make the pad or the tampon fully biodegradable. Have a look at Dame, Callaly, and Myfreda which are all very popular options.
Photo by Natracare on Unsplash
Baby bottles:
I breastfed my twins for as long as I could but very quickly I had to express and then, within a few weeks, I completely switched to formula. It was not what I had planned, but I felt this was the best solution for me and for my babies. Although I was using baby bottles and formula, I still wanted the best for my babies.
I was surprised that I could not easily find baby bottles made of glass in the UK. When living in France, almost everyone I knew had been using them: they are very solid and easy to clean. Even when the twins were moving around and walking, they never broke their bottle! Here are a few brands that offer a glass alternative: Avent and Tommee tippee. | https://medium.com/9plus1/keen-to-be-green-with-3-kids-e40988aeb9be | ['Isla Grant'] | 2021-05-27 22:22:48.456000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Slow Fashion', 'Baby', 'Sustainability', 'Baby Products'] |
Declarative internet shopping with Payment Request API and Angular | AngularInDepth is moving away from Medium. This article, its updates and more recent articles are hosted on the new platform inDepth.dev
Remember last time you pay on a website in one touch with Google Pay, Apple Pay or a card?
For me, it is not a frequent case.
On the contrary, each new internet store offers me a new payment form. I must search for my card and write down all the information from it. Next time when I want to pay in another store, I repeat the process.
It is not convenient. But there is an alternative. A browser standard Payment Request API solves this problem in modern browsers in the last two years with ease.
Let’s see how we can implement it in Angular
What is it?
Almost all modern browsers implement Payment Request API standard. It allows calling a modal in a browser where a user can pay in a few seconds. For example, it looks like this in Chrome:
Sorry for my Russian, dudes
And the second screenshot is from Safari when paying with a fingerprint using Apple Pay:
It is as fast, as featureful. A modal shows information about the whole order and about each item inside. It can ask a user for some details about him or her. For example, email, phone number or shipping address. It is well customizable although the API ease of use is questionable.
How can we implement it in Angular?
Angular does not have any abstractions over the Payment Request API. We can inject a Document token from DI scope, get Window object from Document and work with window.PaymentRequest. It is the safest way to use it.
If you use Payment Request without abstractions, you can get into trouble. Testing the code is harder, it does not work in SSR, because there is no Payment Request and it depends on a global object.
We can use WINDOW injection token from @ng-web-apis/common to get a global object from DI safely. Now we can make a new token PAYMENT_REQUEST_SUPPORT. It will check Payment Request API support in a browser before using it. Then the situation when you try to call unsupported API will never happen.
An example of using in a service
Let’s do it the Angular way
Using the token that I described above, we can work with Payment Request safely enough. But it is still the “pure” browser API — we have to call a method with three parameters collecting much data together and mapping it to the right format.
But in the Angular world, we use many conveniences. Dependency Injection, services, directives, and streams allow us to do our work better. Let’s look at a declarative solution that makes using Payment Request API fast and easy.
The shopping cart in the example above is implemented with the following code:
It works due to the three Angular directives:
waPayment directive defines a scope for a new payment. It needs PaymentItem object with information about a label and a total sum of the payment
Each item of the shopping cart is a waPaymentItem directive. It is a declarative PaymentItem for your Payment
Click on the button starts a PaymentRequest modal in your browser that returns PaymentResponse or an error. waPaymentSubmit directive emits both these events.
This way we have a simple and convenient interface for making a payment and handling its final result. And it works in a true Angular way!
The directives are connected together:
The payment directive collects all payment items inside itself using ContentChildren. It also implements PaymentDetailsInit — one of the required arguments to call a Payment Request.
The output-directive is listening clicks on the button and emits the final payment result. It gets a payment directive from DI and also payment methods and additional payment options that we provide in DI
The whole solution
We collected all these ideas and implement it in a library @ng-web-apis/payment-request.
Here you can find a Github repository with all code
And here is a demo sample that I used to make screenshots and GIF’s for this article
It is ready to use solution that allows you to work with Payment Request API safely and fast using a service or directives.
The library is published and supported by @ng-web-apis. It is an opensource group that specializes in idiomatic lightweight implementations of native Web API’s in Angular. On our website you can find other APIs that Angular does not support out-of-the-box such as Web Audio, Web MIDI and Geolocation. | https://medium.com/angular-in-depth/declarative-internet-shopping-with-payment-request-api-and-angular-91b349c5ed0c | ['Roman Sedov'] | 2020-03-07 09:55:34.781000+00:00 | ['Angular', 'JavaScript', 'Open Source', 'API', 'Payments'] |
Share All My Sorrows | Share All My Sorrows
Marsha Stevens-Pino’s “For Those Tears I Died” means more than you know
June 23, 1969. Five days before the Stonewall riots were to begin.
A sixteen-year-old hippie girl sits down and writes a song to express her love of Jesus, and to share that love with her baby sister and with her friends at school.
She never thought anyone outside of her own family and friends would hear the song, let alone people all over the world. She never dreamed we would still be singing it today.
Marsha Carter grew up in a household troubled by alcoholism. When she found Jesus, she found a freedom and a love that she had to share. A lover of music, she searched for songs of Jesus but found nothing that spoke to her heart. So she decided to write her own. And she made history.
You said You’d come and share all my sorrows,
You said You’d be there for all my tomorrows.
I came so close to sending You away,
But just like You promised You came there to stay;
I just had to pray!
Marsha’s song “For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)” would be recorded by history as the beginning of a new music genre, the birth of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). Marsha’s band “Children of the Day” were pioneers in the “Jesus People” movement, a group of hippies who loved Jesus. When I was growing up in the church, we looked back at the Jesus People movement with a kind of blurry reverence that faded them all together into a monolith. We saw them as heroes of the faith, but we knew nothing about them as individuals.
When Marsha divorced her husband Russ Stevens and came out as a lesbian, much of the church and the music industry she had helped to birth and build turned against her. People tore the pages containing her songs out of their hymnals and her record company tried to withhold royalties from her. But some people continued to enjoy her music while never talking about her. I had not heard of her until a few years ago, despite “For Those Tears I Died” having been one of my favourite songs when I was a teenager in the 90s. As with Ray Boltz, we just didn’t talk about gay Christians. We pretended they didn’t exist.
And Jesus said, “Come to the water, stand by My side,
I know you are thirsty, you won’t be denied;
I felt ev’ry teardrop when in darkness you cried,
And I’m here to remind you that for those tears I died.”
Marsha says she has met people who sang her song in countries where it was against the law to be a Christian, where they were literally risking their lives to sing it. But the stories that really touch her heart are those from queer young people, those who learn that their mom or grandma’s favourite hymn was written by a lesbian. If the woman who wrote that beautiful worship song is gay, maybe they are okay too. Maybe Jesus does love them.
The poetry of Marsha’s lyrics has always meant so much to my soul, and the simple beauty of her melody catches in my ear and stays with me. After listening to it once, I find myself singing it for days. And I don’t mind.
There is something countercultural in the song. It was not like anything that came before it. And, while songs that followed have copied from it, Marsha’s music is and will always be the first, the original. It stood out in its time; it was queer.
Today, Marsha runs Balm Ministries with her wife Cindy. They are affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) and Marsha has written theme songs for every MCC General conference since 1985. She is still sharing the love of Jesus with those the organized evangelical church mostly ignores.
The love of Jesus shines from Marsha’s face. Despite everything her church family did to her, she remains a light of love. She forgives them as Jesus forgives. She is truly a hero of the faith. She is a Jesus person in every way. | https://medium.com/prismnpen/share-all-my-sorrows-60812aec6253 | ['Esther Spurrill-Jones'] | 2020-12-30 08:03:24.024000+00:00 | ['Music', 'LGBTQ', 'Christianity', 'History', 'Creative Non Fiction'] |
How to take advantage of global digitalization and use it to motivate and initiate change in our societies. | How to take advantage of global digitalization and use it to motivate and initiate change in our societies. tooodooo Aug 10, 2020·4 min read
The year 2020 has been a historic year for society and the global economy. The health crisis continues, and will continue to do so for some years to come, disrupting the daily lives of businesses and individuals. Sometimes imperceptibly, other times much more brutally. Operating methods and consumption patterns are changing profoundly throughout the world. This societal change sees a preponderance of ecology, the responsibility of individuals through their behavior and an increasingly important place for digital. E-learning, E-education, E-medicine, Telework… Our societies are entering a new era in which companies and individuals have no choice but to jump on the bandwagon and risk being overwhelmed by these changes.
With this in mind, the important thing is not whether or not to adopt this paradigm shift with the ongoing digitalization of society. Rather, what is important here is how to take advantage of this global digitalization and use it to motivate and initiate change within our societies.
Continued global digitisation
“Nothing is lost, nothing is gained, everything is transformed”
This sentence pronounced in 1789 by Antoine Lavoisier, a French chemist and economist, demonstrates the essence of change. Without losing or gaining anything, the essence of change lies more in the will to accompany it than to impose it.
Over time change has occurred continuously, first individually and then politically. Then finally in an entrepreneurial way. Our recent history has generally seen these changes imposed on us. By obligation rather than by choice.
The stock market crash of 1929, the first major economic crisis of the 20th century, which put Western banks and companies out of business, has, despite itself, forced a change in the modern vision of the world’s financial markets and stock exchanges. This change was an opportunity to see the emergence of regulatory bodies that restored people’s confidence in the markets and thus a new step in the economic evolution of society.
Similarly, the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979 brought economic crises that initiated the policy change ending the Bretton Woods agreements and the convertibility of the dollar against gold. Another paradigm shift!
Each of these crises has had a profound impact on societies to initiate change in them. The current crisis is not exempt from this. The global digitalization of societies reinforces this sense of evolution, even revolution. Eric Schmidt, former head of Google and current president of the Defence Innovation Council in the USA, intends to initiate this change through digital, making New York State the forerunner in digital technology, but this change can be initiated at all levels and it is not necessary to be called Google, Amazon or Apple to be an actor in its own movement.
A necessary agility for companies
Today, companies must continue to promote and adopt this digitalisation even more rapidly. Yesterday it was the digitalization of customer service, today it is the digitalization of working methods, and tomorrow it will be the digitalization of behavioral management.
Like the previous crises listed above, we are personally convinced that tomorrow’s change will be digital and behavioural. This is why every company today must seize this opportunity to build the economic and entrepreneurial world of tomorrow and ensure its sustainability in an unstable context.
It is no longer just a question of meeting consumer expectations or safeguarding jobs by reducing production costs. We are convinced that today we must put a human relationship at the heart of our operations, one that brings value and respects new consumption and motivation patterns. This is why we place this digital approach at the heart of the design of our tools and the values of our company, always focusing our attention on the perception of this approach.
The break with the actors in today’s world of work is really in the management of motivations and behaviours. Companies that do not know how to be agile and adapt to new codes risk finding themselves sidelined.
Putting behavioural balance back at the centre of management
The issue is no longer “how to take advantage of digital tools for my clients” but “how to seize the opportunity of digital to engage my teams and develop the dynamics of my projects”.
This new issue is new in our society and taking into account the statutory elements, while not forgetting to encourage the autonomy of teams, must be accompanied by adequate means so as not to be misunderstood…
In order to avoid this negative perception of the use of digital tools in companies aimed at motivating and stimulating internal actors, it seems important to us today to be respectful of its resources and to succeed in developing a benevolent “pathos”. The idea is therefore not only to propose digital tools for motivation and commitment, but to adopt a natural transfer between intention — initiated by pedagogy and internal communication — and action — created by the behavioural balance.
It is by implementing a logic of nudge management that tooodooo promotes the creation of tomorrow’s management. By digitizing team leadership and motivation with a tool that is totally new in its design and ergonomics, we hope to become the new major player in incentive and managerial leadership for companies. The digitalisation of companies is certainly in constant evolution, (and as we have seen, very often forced and compulsory) but it is by associating it with a human and responsible management that they will be able to face the uncertainty of the markets and bring back a little serenity in an environment that sometimes seems out of control. | https://medium.com/@tooodooo/how-to-take-advantage-of-global-digitalization-and-use-it-to-motivate-and-initiate-change-in-our-9d5de2d8b401 | [] | 2020-08-10 09:01:01.722000+00:00 | ['Behavior Change', 'Company', 'Incentives', 'Digitalization'] |
The PTSD-like Affliction That’s Traumatizing Health Care Workers | The PTSD-like Affliction That’s Traumatizing Health Care Workers
The invisible wounds of moral injury run deep for those on the front lines
Photo: San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers/Getty Images
“Some experiences imprint themselves beyond where language can speak.” These are the words of psychiatrist and trauma expert Bessel van der Kolk. This is also the experience of many health care workers ensnared in the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I just can’t… can’t find the words… there simply are none,” whispered a doctor friend working in a hospital in New York City’s viral epicenter. We were Zooming — both of our backgrounds dark. Through the screen’s dim glow, I watched her head fall into her hands and rock back and forth. Her shoulders slumped forward, and she started to shake.
Marie, I’ll call her, and I had worked together in California’s Bay Area when I was doing palliative care chaplaincy and clinical ethics work. She was never at a loss for words. In fact, to call her highly verbal would be an understatement. And yet what she has recently witnessed, been forced to do, and could not prevent on the Covid-19 front line has brought about some kind of internal preternatural silence. “It’s as if part of my soul had been shredded with a knife,” she told me when she finally could speak; “the part that holds me in relation to my Hippocratic oath and personal values.”
Marie, like many health care workers, entered the field of medicine because, as she would say, she cares about doing good and not doing bad. From the day she started medical school, she had a clear vision of who she was and how she could serve humanity. But after “death by a thousand cuts” from a pandemic that has made her betray her vow to “do no harm,” she’s now questioning who she is, who other people are, and what life is all about — generally speaking. Some might call this experience a loss of innocence — a recognition that the world is more of a babel of bad than Marie originally believed. What I also know is that this suffering is a moral injury.
Moral injury is a transgression of conscience. It is what happens when a person’s deeply held values, beliefs, or ways of being in the world are violated. That violation could result from things the person did themselves, things they experienced, things they were made to do against their will or better judgment, or things they couldn’t stop from happening. And it’s more prevalent than many would think. Of the 2.7 million service people who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, reports show that roughly the same number who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (11% to 20%) were also coping with moral injury.
But moral injury is not unique to veterans. Moral injury is a pall that has blanketed individuals, families, and communities throughout time and across cultures. It can be found on the battlefield; at the front line of disaster; behind closed doors of churches and temples; in hospitals, bars, brothels, prisons, refugee tents, abortion clinics, soup kitchens, unemployment lines; at borders and in detention centers; on school playgrounds and social media; and even in the unsuspecting house or office next door. This is because wherever human beings are, so too dwells moral injury.
Moral injury is a transgression of conscience. It is what happens when a person’s deeply held values, beliefs, or ways of being in the world are violated.
We are, as a species, hardwired to embody goodness, love, compassion, empathy, and a sense of right and wrong. Moral expectations are at the heart of who we are as people and societies. But human beings are also imperfect and limited. We can’t always meet our own moral expectations nor can others always meet them. Sometimes life throws us into situations where the stakes are high and no outcome is good, and we or others act, doing what we or they otherwise know to be bad, aware that harm will come in one way or another to ourselves or to another. Sometimes that is simply life.
Some have likened PTSD and moral injury. And while intrusive images of the past are similar in each experience, with moral injury, memories don’t trigger fear. Instead, they beget shame, guilt, rage, disgust, emptiness, and despair. With PTSD, the primary concern is physical safety. With moral injury, it is existential safety — or trust. Moral injury makes a person question themselves, others, life, or their God. It makes them question their or others’ ability to do right or be good. Moral injury deteriorates one’s character, ideals, ambitions, and attachments. It leaves people feeling contaminated in their being or that something they once held dear has been sullied. “Unworthy,” “beyond redemption,” “gone forever,” and “emotionally dead” are how many people have described the experience. “A soul divided against itself” is how Rita Brock, an author and the director of the Shay Moral Injury Center, defines it.
“How can I be a saver of life and a monster in scrubs at the same time?” Marie asked, her eyes distant and dark. “We’re all killing ourselves to save everyone we can, and yet we have to play God and decide who lives and dies. Who am I — or any one of us, for that matter — to make such a call?”
Anyone who has listened to the news in the last few months knows well the issue of limited personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators in this country: There simply weren’t enough. While politicians and talking heads debated the veracity of need, people like Marie were wading through jam-packed ER wards as if they were minefields, donning soiled or homemade masks. For the first time in their careers, many health care workers had to determine not if a patient needed a ventilator but rather who would get the high-value, vital air.
“How can you look anyone in the eye … gasping patients, pleading family members, knowing that your decisions will send many to their graves … or more like the make-shift morgue in the U-Haul van outside? I struggle to look at myself in the mirror, let alone at any of the people I’m trying to help.”
Marie mentioned that the sound of a cough is beginning to be what fireworks were to her Vietnam veteran father — a PTSD response. But the nausea in her belly — the sickness that comes from disgust at the situation — is the making of moral injury. Shortages of equipment, overloaded hospitals, overburdened staff, and insufficient testing made the U.S. Covid-19 response an ill-fated mission from the start. Having to be surrogate mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters for dying patients — holding up cellphones for family members to say their final goodbyes — was a task beyond medical training. Not being able to hold or breastfeed an infant child or tuck a scared youngster into bed at night because their essential work took precedence over essential familial love was felt by many to be a dereliction of duty.
The “invisible wounds” that are injuring Covid-19 front line workers bear the markings of a system equally scarred. “A betrayal of what is right, by a person who holds legitimate authority, in a high stakes situation,” is how psychiatrist and author Jonathan Shay first defined moral injury when he coined the phrase in the 1990s.
In the months since Covid-19 first reared its ugly head in the U.S., we have witnessed repeated stall tactics by leaders in the upper echelons of the government despite dire warnings from around the globe. We’ve heard the virus called a “hoax” and minimized in severity and threat. We’ve seen safety guidelines for the general public developed by respected public health officials and then flouted by the very leaders who employ said officials. We’ve heard the virus was contained when it wasn’t. We’ve discovered the organizations that ought to have been prepared for such a pandemic actually weren’t. We’ve endured a lack of testing and faulty testing. We’ve been exposed to inefficiencies and inequities in our health system. We’ve witnessed hospital administrations put finances above safety.
We are, as a species, hardwired to embody goodness, love, compassion, empathy, and a sense of right and wrong.
While no one person is to blame for the “injuries” that many are now suffering and while much is finally being done to stem the Covid-19 tide and get our society back on track, the above “betrayals” can also be summed up as widespread asystemic thinking and disorganization.
Whatever the labyrinthine conditions and events that created the current morally injurious climate for Covid-19 health care workers, we, as a society, must do better to help them heal — because, as research shows, once the acute phase of a situation like this subsides, it is the following period that is often the hardest for people to come to terms with. While the rest of society hastens to return to normal life, shifting their attention from stories of the front line to the economy and getting kids reintegrated in school, there will be swaths of people like Marie feeling the weight of all their decisions, questioning how this all could have happened, overwhelmed by guilt, shame, anger, disgust, emptiness, and despair.
Brock pointed out in a recent BBC article that the fight against the coronavirus is similar to battlefield medicine: “desperate and unrelenting encounters with patients, an environment of high personal risk, an unseen lethal enemy, extreme physical and mental fatigue, inadequate resources and unending accumulations of the dead.”
I wouldn’t pretend to know the demons that Dr. Lorna Breen, the medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in Manhattan, was wrestling with when she took her own life after fighting Covid-19 herself and fighting against it on behalf of her patients. But I do know — and research with veterans shows — that moral injury is associated with increased suicide risk.
Covid-19 health care workers are putting their lives on the line, and in some cases sacrificing their lives, so that others can live. We cannot allow the lives lost to be for naught nor the future of those who survived to be put at further risk or sacrificed because we, as a society, got distracted by our desire for normalcy and exhaustion with discomfort. Healing from moral injury requires a person to reconcile many difficult truths and to transform in difficult yet often unexpected ways. But it also requires communities and systems of shared values to support them. We all must do that now.
To the women and men who were courageous enough to serve on the Covid-19 front, we thank you and honor your experience. To those struggling to heal from the wounds of moral injury, either now or in the future, please know you’re not alone.
If you or someone you know is suffering from moral injury, here is a wealth of resources. If you are in crisis and in need urgent of help, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255. | https://elemental.medium.com/the-ptsd-like-affliction-thats-traumatizing-health-care-workers-1864be616086 | ['Michele Demarco'] | 2020-07-10 05:31:01.407000+00:00 | ['PTSD', 'Mental Health', 'Morality', 'Trauma', 'Ethics'] |
Hero Parrot Saves Owner | Parrot Saves Owner from Fire.
Photo by I.am_nah on Unsplash
Recently, one man from Queensland, Australia, was awoken to the scary realization that his home was on fire. After waking up to the sound of a bang, followed by his pet parrot Eric yelling out his name, the man gathered what few possessions he could, grabbed Eric, then ran out of the house.
Once the firefighters soon arrived at the scene around 2 a.m. and the blaze was subsequently contained, Eric was commended for alerting his owner to the danger before the home’s smoke alarm.
Despite the loss, Eric’s owner maintains a positive outlook: | https://nicolehenley.medium.com/parrot-saves-owner-from-fire-b8fb109799ae | ['Nicole Henley'] | 2020-12-12 09:08:48.245000+00:00 | ['Pets', 'Animals', 'Human Interest', 'Australia', 'Parrot'] |
K-Means tricks for fun and profit | K-Means tricks for fun and profit
Prologue
This will be a pretty small post, but an interesting one nevertheless.
K-Means is an elegant algorithm. It’s easy to understand (make random points, move them iteratively to become centers of some existing clusters) and works well in practice. When I first learned about it, I recall being fascinated. It was elegant. But then, in time, the interest faded away, I was noticing numerous limitations, among which is the spherical cluster prior, its linear nature, and what I found especially annoying in EDA scenarios, the fact that it doesn’t find the optimal number of clusters by itself, so you need to tinker with this parameter too. And then, a couple of years ago, I found out about a few neat tricks on how to use K-Means. So here it goes.
The first trick
First, we need to establish a baseline. I’ll use mostly the breast cancer dataset, but you can play around with any other dataset.
from sklearn.cluster import KMeans
from sklearn.svm import LinearSVC
from sklearn.datasets import load_breast_cancer
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split import numpy as np
X, y = load_breast_cancer(return_X_y=True) X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, random_state=17) svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17)
svm.fit(X_train, y_train)
svm.score(X_test, y_test) # should be ~0.93
So, what’s this neat trick that reignited my interest in K-Means?
K-Means can be used as a source of new features.
How, you might ask? Well, K-Means is a clustering algorithm, right? You can add the inferred cluster as a new categorical feature.
Now, let’s try this.
# imports from the example above svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17)
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=3, random_state=17) X_clusters = kmeans.fit_predict(X_train).reshape(-1, 1) svm.fit(np.hstack([X_train, X_clusters]), y_train)
svm.score(np.hstack([X_test, kmeans.predict(X_test) \
.reshape(-1, 1)]), y_test) # should be ~0.937
Source: knowyourmeme.com
These features are categorical, but we can ask the model to output distances to all the centroids, thus obtaining (hopefully) more informative features.
# imports from the example above svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17)
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=3, random_state=17) X_clusters = kmeans.fit_transform(X_train)
# ^^^^^^^^^
# Notice the `transform` instead of `predict`
# Scikit-learn supports this method as early as version 0.15 svm.fit(np.hstack([X_train, X_clusters]), y_train)
svm.score(np.hstack([X_test, kmeans.transform(X_test)]), y_test)
# should be ~0.727
Wait, what’s wrong? Could it be that there’s a correlation between existing features and the distances to the centroids?
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import seaborn as sns
import pandas as pd columns = ['mean radius', 'mean texture', 'mean perimeter', 'mean area', 'mean smoothness', 'mean compactness', 'mean concavity', 'mean concave points', 'mean symmetry', 'mean fractal dimension', 'radius error', 'texture error', 'perimeter error', 'area error', 'smoothness error', 'compactness error', 'concavity error', 'concave points error', 'symmetry error', 'fractal dimension error', 'worst radius', 'worst texture', 'worst perimeter', 'worst area', 'worst smoothness', 'worst compactness', 'worst concavity', 'worst concave points', 'worst symmetry', 'worst fractal dimension', 'distance to cluster 1', 'distance to cluster 2', 'distance to cluster 3'] data = pd.DataFrame.from_records(np.hstack([X_train, X_clusters]), columns=columns) sns.heatmap(data.corr())
plt.xticks(rotation=-45)
plt.show()
Notice the last 3 columns, especially the last one, and their color on every row. Source: the author of the post, see the code snippet above to generate it.
You probably heard that we want the features in the dataset to be as independent as possible. The reason is that a lot of machine learning models assume this independence to have a simpler algorithm. Some more info on this topic can be found here and here, but the gist of it is that having redundant information in linear models destabilizes the model, and in turn, it is more likely to mess up. On numerous occasions, I noticed this problem, sometimes even with non-linear models, and purging the dataset from correlated features usually gives a slight increase in the model’s performance characteristic.
Back to our main topic. Given that our new features are indeed correlated with some of the existing ones, what if we use only the distances to the cluster means as features, will it work then?
# imports from the example above svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17)
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=3, random_state=17)
X_clusters = kmeans.fit_transform(X_train) svm.fit(X_clusters, y_train)
svm.score(kmeans.transform(X_test), y_test) # should be ~0.951
Much better. With this example, you can see that we can use K-Means as a way to do dimensionality reduction. Neat.
So far so good. But the piece de resistance is yet to be shown.
The second trick
K-Means can be used as a substitute for the kernel trick
You heard me right. You can, for example, define more centroids for the K-Means algorithm to fit than there are features, much more.
# imports from the example above svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17)
kmeans = KMeans(n_clusters=250, random_state=17)
X_clusters = kmeans.fit_transform(X_train) svm.fit(X_clusters, y_train)
svm.score(kmeans.transform(X_test), y_test) # should be ~0.944
Well, not as good, but pretty decent. In practice, the greatest benefit of this approach is when you have a lot of data. Also, predictive performance-wise your mileage may vary, I, for one, had run this method with n_clusters=1000 and it worked better than only with a few clusters.
SVMs are known to be slow to train on big datasets. Impossibly slow. Been there, done that. That’s why, for example, there are numerous techniques to approximate the kernel trick with much less computational resources.
By the way, let’s compare how this K-Means trick will do against classic SVM and some alternative kernel approximation methods.
The code below is inspired by these two scikit-learn examples.
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np from time import time from sklearn.datasets import load_breast_cancer from sklearn.svm import LinearSVC, SVC
from sklearn import pipeline
from sklearn.kernel_approximation import RBFSampler, Nystroem, PolynomialCountSketch
from sklearn.preprocessing import MinMaxScaler, Normalizer
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.cluster import MiniBatchKMeans
mm = pipeline.make_pipeline(MinMaxScaler(), Normalizer()) X, y = load_breast_cancer(return_X_y=True)
X = mm.fit_transform(X) data_train, data_test, targets_train, targets_test = train_test_split(X, y, random_state=17)
We will test 3 methods for kernel approximation available in the scikit-learn package, against the K-Means trick, and as baselines, we will have a linear SVM and an SVM that uses the kernel trick.
# Create a classifier: a support vector classifier
kernel_svm = SVC(gamma=.2, random_state=17)
linear_svm = LinearSVC(random_state=17) # create pipeline from kernel approximation and linear svm
feature_map_fourier = RBFSampler(gamma=.2, random_state=17)
feature_map_nystroem = Nystroem(gamma=.2, random_state=17)
feature_map_poly_cm = PolynomialCountSketch(degree=4, random_state=17)
feature_map_kmeans = MiniBatchKMeans(random_state=17) fourier_approx_svm = pipeline.Pipeline([("feature_map", feature_map_fourier), ("svm", LinearSVC(random_state=17))]) nystroem_approx_svm = pipeline.Pipeline([("feature_map", feature_map_nystroem), ("svm", LinearSVC(random_state=17))]) poly_cm_approx_svm = pipeline.Pipeline([("feature_map", feature_map_poly_cm), ("svm", LinearSVC(random_state=17))]) kmeans_approx_svm = pipeline.Pipeline([("feature_map", feature_map_kmeans), ("svm", LinearSVC(random_state=17))])
Let’s collect the timing and score results for each of our configurations.
# fit and predict using linear and kernel svm:
kernel_svm_time = time()
kernel_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train)
kernel_svm_score = kernel_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
kernel_svm_time = time() - kernel_svm_time linear_svm_time = time()
linear_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train)
linear_svm_score = linear_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
linear_svm_time = time() - linear_svm_time sample_sizes = 30 * np.arange(1, 10)
fourier_scores = []
nystroem_scores = []
poly_cm_scores = []
kmeans_scores = [] fourier_times = []
nystroem_times = []
poly_cm_times = []
kmeans_times = [] for D in sample_sizes:
fourier_approx_svm.set_params(feature_map__n_components=D)
nystroem_approx_svm.set_params(feature_map__n_components=D)
poly_cm_approx_svm.set_params(feature_map__n_components=D)
kmeans_approx_svm.set_params(feature_map__n_clusters=D) start = time()
nystroem_approx_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train)
nystroem_times.append(time() - start) start = time()
fourier_approx_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train)
fourier_times.append(time() - start) start = time()
poly_cm_approx_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train)
poly_cm_times.append(time() - start) start = time()
kmeans_approx_svm.fit(data_train, targets_train
kmeans_times.append(time() - start) fourier_score = fourier_approx_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
fourier_scores.append(fourier_score) nystroem_score = nystroem_approx_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
nystroem_scores.append(nystroem_score) poly_cm_score = poly_cm_approx_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
poly_cm_scores.append(poly_cm_score) kmeans_score = kmeans_approx_svm.score(data_test, targets_test)
kmeans_scores.append(kmeans_score)
Now let’s plot all the collected results.
plt.figure(figsize=(16, 4))
accuracy = plt.subplot(211)
timescale = plt.subplot(212) accuracy.plot(sample_sizes, nystroem_scores, label="Nystroem approx. kernel")
timescale.plot(sample_sizes, nystroem_times, '--', label='Nystroem approx. kernel')
accuracy.plot(sample_sizes, fourier_scores, label="Fourier approx. kernel")
timescale.plot(sample_sizes, fourier_times, '--', label='Fourier approx. kernel')
accuracy.plot(sample_sizes, poly_cm_scores, label="Polynomial Count-Min approx. kernel")
timescale.plot(sample_sizes, poly_cm_times, '--', label='Polynomial Count-Min approx. kernel')
accuracy.plot(sample_sizes, kmeans_scores, label="K-Means approx. kernel")
timescale.plot(sample_sizes, kmeans_times, '--', label='K-Means approx. kernel') # horizontal lines for exact rbf and linear kernels:
accuracy.plot([sample_sizes[0], sample_sizes[-1]],
[linear_svm_score, linear_svm_score], label="linear svm")
timescale.plot([sample_sizes[0], sample_sizes[-1]], [linear_svm_time, linear_svm_time], '--', label='linear svm') accuracy.plot([sample_sizes[0], sample_sizes[-1]],
[kernel_svm_score, kernel_svm_score], label="rbf svm")
timescale.plot([sample_sizes[0], sample_sizes[-1]], [kernel_svm_time, kernel_svm_time], '--', label='rbf svm')
And some more plot adjustments, to make it pretty.
# legends and labels
accuracy.set_title("Classification accuracy")
timescale.set_title("Training times")
accuracy.set_xlim(sample_sizes[0], sample_sizes[-1])
accuracy.set_xticks(())
accuracy.set_ylim(np.min(fourier_scores), 1)
timescale.set_xlabel("Sampling steps = transformed feature dimension")
accuracy.set_ylabel("Classification accuracy")
timescale.set_ylabel("Training time in seconds")
accuracy.legend(loc='best')
timescale.legend(loc='best')
plt.tight_layout()
plt.show()
Meh. So was it all for nothing? Source: the author of the post, see the code snippet above to generate it.
You know what? Not in the slightest. Even if it’s the slowest, K-Means as an approximation of the RBF Kernel is still a good option. I’m not kidding. You can use this special kind of K-Means in scikit-learn called MiniBatchKMeans which is one of the few algorithms that support the .partial_fit method. Combining this with a machine learning model that has .partial_fit too, like a PassiveAggressiveClassifier one can create a pretty interesting solution.
Note that the beauty of .partial_fit is twofold. First, it makes it possible to train algorithms in an out-of-core fashion, which is to say, with more data than fits in the RAM. Second, depending on your type of problem, if you could in principle (very-very in principle) never need to switch the model, it could be additionally trained right where it is deployed. That's called online learning, and it's super interesting. Something like this is what some Chinese companies are doing and in general can be pretty useful for AdTech, because you can receive the info whenever your ad recommendation was right or wrong within seconds.
You know what, here’s a little example of this approach for out-of-core learning.
from sklearn.cluster import MiniBatchKMeans
from sklearn.linear_model import PassiveAggressiveClassifier
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.datasets import load_breast_cancer import numpy as np
def batch(iterable, n=1):
# source:
l = len(iterable)
for ndx in range(0, l, n):
yield iterable[ndx:min(ndx + n, l)] def batch(iterable, n=1):# source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/8290508/5428334 l = len(iterable)for ndx in range(0, l, n):yield iterable[ndx:min(ndx + n, l)] X, y = load_breast_cancer(return_X_y=True)
X_train, X_test, y_train, y_test = train_test_split(X, y, random_state=17) kmeans = MiniBatchKMeans(n_clusters=100, random_state=17)
# K-Means has a constraint, n_clusters <= n_samples to fit
pac = PassiveAggressiveClassifier(random_state=17) for x, y in zip(batch(X_train, n=100), batch(y_train, n=100)):
kmeans.partial_fit(x, y) # fit K-Means a bit
x_dist = kmeans.transform(x) # obtain distances
pac.partial_fit(x_dist, y, classes=[0, 1])
# learn a bit the classifier, we need to indicate the classes print(pac.score(kmeans.transform(X_test), y_test))
# 0.909 after 100 samples
# 0.951 after 200 samples
# 0.951 after 300 samples
# 0.944 after 400 samples
# 0.902 after 426 samples # VS kmeans = MiniBatchKMeans(n_clusters=100, random_state=17)
pac = PassiveAggressiveClassifier(random_state=17) pac.fit(kmeans.fit_transform(X_train), y_train)
pac.score(kmeans.transform(X_test), y_test) # should be ~0.951
Epilogue
So you’ve made it till the end. Hope now your ML toolset is richer. Maybe you’ve heard about the so-called “no free lunch” theorem; basically, there’s no silver bullet, in this case for ML problems. Maybe for the next project, the methods outlined in this post won’t work, but for the one that will come after that, they will. So just experiment, and see for yourself. And if you need an online learning algorithm/method, well, there’s a bigger chance that K-Means as a kernel approximation is the right tool for you.
By the way, there’s another blog post, also on ML, in the works now. What’s even nicer, among many other nice things in it, it describes a rather interesting way to use K-Means. But no spoilers for now. Stay tuned.
Finally, if you’re reading this, thank you! If you want to leave some feedback or just have a question, HMU on Twitter, or just leave a comment.
Some links you might find interesting
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to @dgaponcic for style checks and content review, and thank you @anisoara_ionela for grammar checking this article more thoroughly than any AI ever could. You’re the best ❤ | https://towardsdatascience.com/k-means-tricks-for-fun-and-profit-724996864274 | ['Alex Burlacu'] | 2021-06-20 17:22:46.370000+00:00 | ['Feature Engineering', 'Clustering', 'Data Science', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning'] |
Relationships are Fragile | Relationships are fragile
The reason why we often hurt more the ones we love the most is because we do not realize this.
We take for granted the people who are always there for us and we are not as careful with their feelings as we are with people we hardly know.
A careless word. A negligent act. We often think we can get away with anything when we are with the people who love us.
While it is true that they will extend to us their utmost understanding, it is also true that they are but human beings after all.
They get hurt. And they get hurt the most by the people they love the most.
Relationships are fragile. It is far easier to protect it and to take care of it rather than to mend it when it is already broken into a million shattered parts.
Must we spend our precious time trying to gather the broken pieces?
Or should we rather spend our moments checking our tongues, saying words of encouragement and holding the hands of those we love the most? | https://medium.com/the-inspirer/relationships-are-fragile-9f32f4e25944 | ['Jocelyn Soriano'] | 2020-04-14 04:42:03.736000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Love', 'Advice', 'Inspiration', 'Relationship Advice'] |
A Conversation with Jesper Lindell. | Jesper, for those who might not know much about you or your musical career, please introduce yourself.
Well, I guess I’m a singer/songwriter, though I really don’t like that term. It sounds like the guy who plays “Wonderwall” at parties though no-one asked him to. I’m from the province of Dalecarlia in the middle of Sweden, a place that has gifted the world with music acts such as Mando Diao and The Tallest Man on Earth. When I was 13 years old, I started playing bass and singing in a rock’n’roll band, and since then I’ve basically continued to make and play music. I started this solo thing in 2017 when I released my debut EP “Little Less Blue”. I got lucky enough to have the sister-duo First Aid Kit to do the harmonies on my songs, and their father and former producer Benkt Söderberg to produce the songs. I’ve been playing all over Sweden since then, opening for American acts like Andrew Combs and Justin Townes Earle — which has just been a fantastic experience.
I initially came across your work through Zach Anderson’s account. From my understanding, you recorded your newest single with him, correct? Talk about how your relationship with him? How did you two meet and how describe the recording process?
Zack Anderson and I met about eight years ago, when we lived in the same city, Örebro. We shared a rehearsal space for a little while, and then the drummer from my band also started playing with Zack’s band, Blues Pills. While the recording of my debut EP was a relatively quick affair, I wanted to do something different for my first album. So Zack and I got together and kind of just locked ourselves in the studio for what felt like forever. We recorded and experimented and brought in the musicians that we needed, although I try to play as many instruments as possible myself. The recording process was completely analog, which I like because gives you boundaries — only a certain amount of tracks, for example — that challenge you creatively. And, also, I just like the analog sound a bit more than the digital.
What would you say is your favorite part of the recording process? The writing, recording, or post? Why?
That’s really hard to answer because I’m not sure I like any part of the process. I’m my own worst critic and I don’t like the stuff I do much. It’s just this thing that I feel like I have to do, or I’ll burst. But then again doing it is the best thing I know. Conclusion? I’m a hypocrite.
“Stormy Waters” was the first song I listened to out of your body of work and to be completely honest… I fell for your voice. It’s so soulful! Talk about “Stormy Waters” — Do you recall where you were in life when you wrote it?
Thank you! I remember all to clearly where I was when I wrote “Stormy Waters”. Back then I was signed to one of the larger record labels in Sweden, and I had just been to a meeting with the head of the company. I had played him some demos from my upcoming album, and he didn’t like any of them. And I remember feeling like a shipwreck when I got home, and that’s when I wrote “Stormy Waters”. It took me about five minutes. It all turned out for the best, though: I feel that much of the corporate music industry today are saying one thing, while doing another. They promise their artists creative freedom, to let them develop their own unique sounds and allow them to be bold, but really, they’re just chasing some new hit single that they can commercialize the hell out of. Now, I’m flying solo and I have my creative freedom, and I’ve never been happier.
Do you recall the moment in which you realized that being a musician was the career path for you?
No, but music has been all I’ve been thinking about since I was 13 and first started playing.
Aside from your new music that’s to come, what else can we expect from you in the near future? Any tour dates in the states?
I don’t have anything planned for the States, but I really hope I’ll be able to come over in the foreseeable future. I’m gonna have to play the shit out of Sweden and Europe, first though, I guess.
If you could recommend three albums to readers that have inspired you which ones would they be?
1. The Novelist by Richard Swift
2. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
3. Break Mirrors by Blake Mills
Also: check out the band Holy Hive. Just do it!
Last words?
The song I’m releasing today, “Whatever Happens”, is about long distance relationships–and everything that comes with them. About how hard it can be for us humans to stay together when we’re at completely different places in the world, but that– in the end –we’ll do it for the right people. When my team and I started brainstorming about creating the music video for the song, we wanted to do something really simple. Almost hypnotic, you know. One camera, one take. We created a movie that follows a lonely man who’s eating dinner, while he’s dreaming about other places in the world. Every bite he takes transports him somewhere else. Somehow, I think that connects to the theme of “Whatever Happens”. We all long for something else, to get away from our dull everyday lives– to the people and places we love. We dream that things are gonna work out for the better, and we don’t give up. Whatever happens.”
Socials?
Would be super happy if you followed me @jesperlindellmusic on Instagram and Facebook. | https://corduroysoul.com/a-conversation-with-jesper-lindell-bc9060b4a821 | ['Corduroy Soul'] | 2019-04-12 15:19:46.871000+00:00 | ['Interview Questions', 'Music', 'Sweden', 'Conversations'] |
Straggling Workers in Distributed Computing | The effects and approaches to consider when dealing with straggling workers
Distributed systems can be utilized in order to improve the computational power of a system. By horizontally scaling the number of compute nodes, the amount of computational power increases. This allows systems to process an immense amount of data/tasks as compared to a single machine. Vertically scaling is typically more expensive, thus the focus on horizontal scaling. With the increase of nodes and compute power, there is also an increase in the issues surrounding distributed systems.
Clusters
A cluster, in this realm, is a collection of dedicated computational hardware that can communicate; usually over a dedicated private network (but keep in mind distributed systems exist over public networks). Single end-point nodes of this cluster are what we call “workers “— typically governed by a centralized “primary node”, though in decentralized systems this distinction is obscured as the entire network can be a conglomeration of primary/workers. A primary node directs the workers to perform operations on tasks that unify toward a common goal (this holds true regardless of the network being centralized or decentralized) of the system through a scheduling protocol.
Careful consideration towards task allocation can have immediate effects on the efficiency of a system. The type of system is what dictates the best scheduling approach. In a synchronous scheduling of tasks, the network is only as fast as its slowest worker. The same applies to asynchronous architectures, but with a faster rate of overall system completion. The rate of completion also depends on the nature of the task itself. If tasks are not dependent on each other, then the system may progress concurrently. However, is tasks do depend on each other, then the system may experience a varied progress rate where at times it may be zero.
Straggling Workers
Not all hardware (and software) are equal and as a network or systems developer, assuming this will surely disappoint you in the future. Workers may sometimes be composed of a multitude of different hardware/software combinations — with cloud computing in Azure or AWS; it’s easier to dictate the hardware to compute with but this still does not always account for hardware age or traffic levels. A shared compute node may see increased irregularities in worker efficiency as opposed to a dedicated compute node. In the general case, we assume a worker to be an entity with its own OS which is susceptible to network, process, and memory irregularities that sometimes occur.
When provided with tasks, workers sometimes either become corrupt (maybe by a broken process) or another process has started (out of the control of the user and primary node) that demands more computational power that causes the computation of the task to take longer. Perhaps it is the task itself that is computationally demanding that causes a worker to take longer. In other (probably most) cases, it is the network that bottlenecks task completion communication between the worker and primary.
When one (or more) workers begin to experience these disruptions, they fall behind the other workers in terms of progress over assigned tasks — these are considered straggling workers. The product these straggling workers output may become stale if the application requires operations on current data and therefore useless. If stale data is used there is the possibility that it will hinder the progress made by other workers.
Persistent Stragglers
It’s fairly intuitive to reason about workers that are persistently straggling — they fell behind and are in a constant state of catch up and are persistently falling behind due to lack of computational power/network bottlenecking compared to other workers. For example, a worker is consistently slower at processing an image than the other workers. Due to their persistent behavior, solutions to overcoming this deficit can be more easily analyzed.
Non-Persistent Stragglers
These types of straggling workers are harder to predict and analyze solutions for. Non-persistent straggling workers are intermittently straggling but may not always be in as much of a deficit as compared to other workers as they may complete a significant portion of the assigned tasks by the time other workers have completed theirs. For example, an intermittent process keeps locking up resources that the worker is trying to use for the assigned task.
Overcoming Stragglers
For the moment we will focus on a centralized system as that is the typical architecture when deploying a compute cluster.
The age-old saying every developer has uttered lands true when dealing with straggling workers: “It depends…”. Dealing with stragglers is not as cut and dry as a single solution but dependent on the environment and application they work in.
If the tasks are dependent on one another and a straggling worker is holding up the next step, there’s not much to do without restarting the system with a different set of workers (if that’s possible). Another option is refactoring the tasks such that they are as simple as possible to process. Otherwise any other optimization improvements may help the straggler keep up. Task dependency situations are when the slowest worker will dictate the clock time of your system the most.
If the tasks are independent and can run concurrently without issue, then things are a little easier. When the output data are becoming stale, the worker may be discarded or restarted (depending on the architecture). This would involve replacing any pending tasks back into the pool to be reassigned to available workers.
With non-persistent stragglers, one such method is detailing a specified scheduling scheme to focus on leveraging straggling workers. With tasks that are replaceable, the Cyclic Shift (CS) scheduling scheme could benefit by shifting task ordering by an integer for each worker. Another is the Staircase scheduling scheme that performs inverse computation orders at the workers on the task ordering.
The previous possible solutions are relevant to tasks that are assigned at start and in bulk — typically as a vector of task order. However, there is the option of integrating a request-push task assignment to workers. This would involve the worker requesting a task and the primary pushing one to the worker. This option imposes a heavier tax on network traffic.
Network bottlenecks are a tricky situation to deal with, especially when communicating large amounts of data (say a models parameters through a parameter-sever architecture). Quantification and encoding data offer a promising avenue for compressing data into smaller transferable amounts (quanta).
The possible solutions do not stop here, of course, I will update this page as I research more options.
Decentralized Architecture
Given the previous information focused mostly on a centralized system, we shift focus to a decentralized architecture. It is possible to have centralized architectures embedded inside a decentralized network where each primary node has a subset of compute nodes. However, it’s the primary nodes we will focus on. Since there is no global or centralized “primary”, task allocation is done a little differently through the use of policies, bidding, and/or reputation. We will gloss over the specifics of task allocation and realize that a decentralized system communicating tasks and requests with one another will also be subject to the same bounding issues as a centralized architecture if one (or more) becomes a straggler.
Conclusion
Straggling workers are a hindrance to system efficiency. With all the scenarios that could cause a straggler to occur, there are ways to mitigate and handle such situations. It may not solve the problem entirely when things are out of our control, but we can make the best out of it with proper approaches and tools. | https://medium.com/swlh/straggling-workers-in-distributed-computing-ec60776c7a73 | [] | 2020-06-19 19:40:47.944000+00:00 | ['Cluster', 'Programming', 'Computer Science', 'Workers', 'Distributed Systems'] |
How working weird hours can give you more freedom | The always-iconic Sydney Opera House at night
I spent five months in Australia earlier this year and continued to work remotely for Bolster, a U.S. based company, the entire time. During this time, I was committed to staying as plugged in as possible and continuing to overlap for key meetings with my colleagues.
To make this work, I had to adjust my schedule in a pretty serious way. Here’s a look at a typical day from my time in Sydney.
3:45 a.m. — Alarm goes off
— Alarm goes off 3:50 a.m. — Grab work “uniform” (aka my Bolster hoodie)
— Grab work “uniform” (aka my Bolster hoodie) 3:55 a.m. — French press poured
— French press poured 4 a.m. — First Zoom call starts (2 p.m. ET the day before for my New York counterparts)
— First Zoom call starts (2 p.m. ET the day before for my New York counterparts) 9 a.m. — Zoom calls end (5 p.m. MT for my Boulder counterparts)
— Zoom calls end (5 p.m. MT for my Boulder counterparts) 9:15 a.m. — Get second coffee and breakfast
— Get second coffee and breakfast 9:30 a.m. — noon — Get all of the things done I promised I’d do on all of my Zoom calls
— noon — Get all of the things done I promised I’d do on all of my Zoom calls 12 p.m. — Nap / lunch
When I told people about this schedule, I typically got a mixed back reaction of horror and downright confusion. Understandably so. Getting up before 4 a.m. daily. requires a special breed of…um, something.
But here’s the thing: In a weird way, I kind of loved it. Here’s why:
Every day felt like a weekend… or a redeye flight… or both
Back in the days when I used to travel for work, my favorite flight in the world was the 7 a.m. direct flight from JFK to SFO. I’d get up at around 4:30, be out the door by 5 and at the airport by 6. I’d get first breakfast at the airport, a big coffee, and work for five hours straight through on the flight. Then, I’d land around 11 a.m. PT, with still enough time to make it to a lunch meeting, an afternoon coffee, and even a dinner with a friend or colleague. That kind of “double day” is like getting to the extra bonus level on a video game. It almost feels like you’re cheating. And I felt like that every single day in Sydney. I was working so hard and in such a concentrated way. And I was living just as hard.
Yes, I was up at 4, but I was so damn motivated to get my shit done because I knew, come noon, I was not only free to explore a new city, but free from any possible obligation of getting a text, an email, or pulled into another meeting. Because every colleague in the world was already fast asleep. I have a lot of fond memories about my “double days” in Sydney. I’d grab a beer at 2 p.m. or go to an art gallery. I’d catch up on personal projects or take my baby out of daycare for the afternoon and take her to the Taronga Zoo. One one particularly ambitious day, after a fun series of IRL meetings with Australian VCs, I impulse bought a cheap ticket to see a ballet at the Sydney Opera House. Was it worth staying up past 10 p.m. for that experience even though I was up at 4 a.m. the next day? Absolutely. Would do it again.
Every day was chunked by nature
One of the hardest parts of working with a lot of stakeholders and also being in an external facing role is knowing how to block your calendar to find time to get work done. (I’m currently in pretty deep email debt here due to a week or two of back-to-back calls that have set me back.) And while it really requires a special kind of focus to be able to sit through 4–5 hours of Zoom meetings back to back without a break every day, it also meant I didn’t have any of those weird blocks of time wondering, “Well, what can I get done in this 30 minute window?” Every day, after 9 a.m. I knew I had as much time as I needed of real, deep work, to hunker down, grab that second cup of coffee, maybe change locations to a coworking space in the city, and just get stuff done.
In a remote era across multiple timezones, I find this chunking particularly hard to find from my U.S. vantage point. Noon on the East Coast is 10 a.m. in Colorado and more days than not, I’m in meetings clear through lunch. If I’m not careful, I can be working and responding to emails from the minute my first NYC colleague is online around 8 a.m. to then minute my last Colorado colleague is online at 9 p.m. I’m not saying this is impossible to manage, but it does require management, vs. what I had in Australia, which was as sort of “forced shutdown.” When I first got back from Australia, I briefly advocating for a period of “synchronous meeting hours” and still wonder about whether any businesses set blocks of time, regardless of timezone, during which all team meetings take place as one way around this. But there may be no easy replica for just being 10,000 miles away.
Every Monday was a catch-up day
This was a real treat — Mondays in Sydney were Sundays in New York City. So on those days, I could start my workday a little later (typically I “slept in” until around 5 or 6 a.m.) and then worked a relatively normal-ish day of 6 a.m. — 2 p.m. I’d get everything done from all of the Friday email traffic (that came in on Saturday my time) and got mentally prepped with schedules and projects for the week ahead. Just as having forced blocks of “deep work” time uninterrupted every afternoon was a dream, the Monday-without-meetings day really gave life back to my workweek and took me out of the grind I fall into far too often when I’m working the 9–5.
I had rare “me time” while the sun was still out
As a new mom who had a baby right at the start of the pandemic, this one really hit home for me. In a good way. Obviously the pandemic threw everyone for a loop. For me, it basically meant that I didn’t get the maternity leave I’d pictured in my fantasy-land imagination. Couldn’t go in stores, couldn’t go in museums, couldn’t have fancy brunch out with my baby in between naptimes, couldn’t meet up with friends in the middle of the day, couldn’t bring her to the office to show her off to my colleagues. Being in Sydney felt like a second chance at maternity leave to some extent. While we were there, the city was relatively COVID-free and operated as close to normal as possible.
But there’s another important reason why this mattered so much. When my workday ended around noon or 1 p.m., yes I’d take a nap and grab a bit to eat. But my baby was still in daycare until 5 p.m. which meant I rare coveted 3–4 hours each day of daytime hours without the baby. I could do things like, go grocery shopping, get new diapers, get her new clothes. Even things for me, like take a yoga class or get a haircut. And then pick her up from daycare and launch into the frenzied dinnertime-bathtime-bedtime routine. I maintain — having that pause during the day in between work and baby o’clock was a real gift as a mom. And unfortunately, that’s another thing that’s hard to replicate in the U.S. When your workday starts and ends at the exact same time as your daycare hours, it’s a lot trickier to carve out that special (but essential) “me time.” | https://medium.com/@bethanymarz/how-working-weird-hours-can-give-you-more-freedom-54ac74ae9e0d | ['Bethany Crystal'] | 2021-09-09 10:57:42.944000+00:00 | ['Personal Development', 'Travel', 'Life Hacks', 'Career', 'Business'] |
Darth Vader, the best manager ever | Yesterday evening, I had a nostalgic trip to a good ol’classic. A slowly gathering dust DVD on a shelf in my library. Star Wars, episode IV : A new hope.
credits from Star wars films
I’ve always been fascinated by my hero. The one who changed the world. The one with an aura for which no one can remain indifferent. Darth Vader.
Darth Vader fascinates me. Remember, the little Anakin Skywalker has started his life as a slave. Hardly 20 years later, he is almost at the head of a powerful and limitless empire.
That’s for sure a lightning ascension, backed by the best management strategy ever. Nobody can’t say the opposite, Darth Vader techniques are terribly efficient. Let’s have a look on how he performed so well.
Darth Vader’s management techniques
Fear
What does Darth Vader do when a goal assigned to one of his subordinates (some may say “collaborators”. Meh) is not reached? Let’s have a last thought for that poor Kendal Ozzel.
credits from Star wars films
This brave admiral has committed only two errors. The first one isn’t really one, apart in the eyes of Darth Vader. When a probe sent on Hoth system reveals a thin clue of a rebel presence, Kendal Ozzel refuses to take it into account. Chances that the rebels could hide there are really thin. Darth Vader is sure of the contrary, and considers the admiral order as his first error.
The not-so-discrete arrival of the imperial fleet in Hoth system is his second error. The rebel base has detected it soon enough and deployed a protection shield, forcing the Empire to drop a ground force to fight the enemy. Darth Vader can’t tolerate this new error, and takes necessary measures.
credits from Star wars films
Darth Vader punishes systematically the error and the divergence of opinions. The underlying idea is simple: spread the fear, that plays the role of the best catalyst to avoid failure among anyone under his orders.
Problems don’t matter
When Darth Vader visit the Death Start worksite, the project manager tells him the deadlines are impossible to meet and the engaged manpower is insufficient to finish the project within given time.
Darth Vader solution is preventing the project manager to have the choice. He prefers ignoring the alert, and imposes his will as a reality. He doesn’t care about complains or problems. That’s not his problem.
Darth Vader let all the responsibility fall on him men, so as the pressure. He won’t search for a solution or any additional help. His orders must be realized, whatever their feasibility. The technique is simple here too: order, and consider anything will be executed, may it be impossible or the source of problems.
Keep heading straight forward
Darth Vader has objectives, and a strong will. He won’t let any major obstacle to them. His strategy is well defined since the very beginning, and nothing could change it.
Given that everything is determined a long time in advance, it’s useless to go away from the drawn path. There’s just to stay on the plan, and never diverge from it, whatever may happen.
Darth Vader won’t consider the obstacles. He thinks they would be crushed by a firm strategy and a well defined plan. This approach is the origin of the weaknesses that allowed the rebels to destroy the Death Star
credit from Star Wars films
When the rebel fleet starts the assault against the Death Star, Darth Vader decides to keep stuck to the plan. The Death Star follows its planned trajectory towards the rebel base to destroy it as soon as possible, without trying to keep the distance until the rebel fleet has been eliminated by imperial one. Darth Vader prefers keeping heading to his goal.
Darth Vader prefers forgetting about adaptation and about questioning his choices and strategy.
Darth Vader management techniques consequences
Darth Vader creed focuses on three points. Inspire the fear on his teams, never ever listen to their advice/suggestions/problems, and keep heading whatever may happen. As a consequence, the atmosphere in his teams are nothing but terror and inaction.
Dialog is stuck. If anyone is facing a problem, she/he’ll prefer keeping it unsaid or even hide it. Everything else would make fall on him/her the responsibility of the failure, and so the punishment. This leads to a situation of innovation locking, blocking any improvement process. Teams can only stagnate.
No one will try to take risks and lead improvement initiatives. That’s how hierarchy climbing works, though. No one will take responsibilities, and everybody will stay at his/her place silently, leaving any new idea aside. Even worst, the best elements, lifeblood of a team, will remain silent and leave their teammates get bogged down. That’s the best way to inaction.
As a conclusion, Darth Vader techniques are catastrophic, and are more counterproductive he could have initially thought.
Ok, but that’s just a film. Darth Vader has never been meant to represent the idea we have about a team manager.
Yes, you’re right. However, don’t you recognize some of these traits in some people you’ve met in your professional life ?
Let’s ask us this question: what could have done to improve his teams and get better results? How could he achieve the Death Start worksite more efficiently?
Alternative
Accept the mistake
Death Star construction is by nature based on the notion of project. Wikipedia definition is the following one:
A project consists of a concrete and organized effort motivated by a perceived opportunity when facing a problem, a need, a desire or a source of discomfort (e.g., lack of proper ventilation in a building). It seeks the realization of a unique and innovative deliverable, such as a product, a service, a process, or in some cases, a scientific research. Each project has a beginning and an end, and as such is considered a closed dynamic system. It is developed along the 4 Ps of project management: Plan, Processes, People, and Power (e.g., line of authority). It is bound by the triple constraints that are calendar, costs and norms of quality, each of which can be determined and measured objectively along the project lifecycle. Each project produces some level of formal documentation, the deliverable(s), and some impacts, which can be positive and/or negative.
The definition states “realization of a unique and innovative deliverable”. How to guarantee a unique deliverable is successfully done at the first try in the predefined calendar with a reliability of 100%? Even with the most detailed analyses, cost estimations, specifications, etc, a certain form of unknown remains, due to the creative nature of the work. The creative worker in a project must, by nature, experiment and try ideas before she/he could reach a satisfying result. And any try could lead to a failure, by essence.
Let’s take a non technical example: Scrum. This method philosophy could be resumed to these few words: “Try, make mistakes and adapt”. Scrum won’t give miracle recipes, but a good approach of how to tend to the best reachable situation, using an approach by the mistake.
We could all stay on an old-fashioned methodology, with a good ol’ V-Model for which everybody knows the strengths and weaknesses. Darth Vader uses it for the Death Star, by the way. Try and make mistakes is the best way to determine a better way to reduce one’s weaknesses and increase strengths.
Scrum is just an example here. A lot of other ones could be mentioned on subjects more technical, functional, methodological…
Do not follow Darth Vader example. Don’t blame the mistake. On the contrary, encourage initiatives that aim to fix them.
Listen
Darth Vader is dumb. Anyone who dares stand against him will hit the wall. Discussion is forbidden. Discussing his decisions, even with the best arguments ever, will be refused or even punished.
Let’s think about Kendal Ozzel who dared oppose to Darth Vader about the probes sent to seek the rebel base, or to the project manager of the Death Star building that just asked for a delay. The answer never changes. No new element, may it be pertinent, would affect the plan.
Just imagine a development team manager who would use the same methods. He’s the head of developers, engineers or more generally executives. These team members should have at least two or three neurons in the skull. The information they will mention will have most of the time at least a real value that is worth to analyze.
The manager should stay analytical with requests in general. However, it would be wise to give a chance to ideas, and think about for benefits before refusing them.
Improvement proposals are not the only ones that are worth being listened. If a developer launches an alert on a task that proves to be far more expensive than expected, or a weakness she/he discovered in an application design, the worst decision is ignoring it. Every single piece of information is an indicator to be used in a project management to take decisions. Raise the alert to the customer, decide to rework something, etc.
Just listen to your team. They have a lot to bring.
Question Yourself
This is a consequence of two previous points. Accept the mistake and listen leads to being able to accept suggestions from the team.
A team has the nose in the business all day along. The teammates know it very well. They know what slows them down or, to the contrary, what boosts them. The team has ideas on what could help them get faster, being more productive or raise their well-being. At their level, they are the best voice to hear about suggestions.
That said, we should not forget a team can’t always be conscious about the challenges outside their perimeter. A developers team can’t always know the marketing challenges or the customers, whereas its manager is transverse in the company. It means he will be conscious about a larger perimeter, but not so deep.
When you combine the large vision of a manager with the deep one of a developer, it’s possible to combine the best of both worlds to combine each one’s ideas together.
When a developer submits his/her smartest idea to the manager, this one is able to criticize it and understand if it is a totally unrealistic idea, or to the contrary the best one ever.
Darth Vader could have spared his Death Star if he had been able to just listen to suggestions.
Don’t do the same!
Consequences
When applying these principles, you’ll just get the following advantages.
Enthusiasm
A team that feels listened, with less constraints, will have its own movement with great initiatives. With more obstacles, it will get stuck in the mud, with bad habits it won’t be able to leave. It will be locked in a boring routine, continuing in its wrong way and losing the least piece of enthusiasm in its every day tasks.
That team, listened by its manager, will have the desire to fight against the problems it encounters, and even generally to propose pertinent solutions. Free to express itself, it will blossom and improve itself, instead of ranting against imposed constraints that spoil its everyday life without valid reason.
A team led by a manager able to say no at the right moment will feel free to improve itself without being deprived from safeguards, and so never fear to get into an uncontrollable drift.
Elevation
A team that get used to question itself and to change will gain intelligence. It will have tested several ways, and some characters will emerge. The leaders of these teams, the ones who drive most of the improvements, will be the best candidates to get elevation in the hierarchy.
As they would have experimented their own ideas by themselves, these leaders will be able to take the commands of a team in the future, with a soft transition and real legitimacy. This natural progression will fight against the scheme of managers that get catapulted at that post without valid experience in the past.
Loyal teams
Listening, in a company, plays a great role in the well-being of an employee. If he/she feels flourishing, he/she will have far less reasons to search to another contract in another company, may it be the direct concurrent.
Teams will get more stable, with a better cohesiveness and great dynamics. The arrival of a new member in the team will be smoother and more efficient. Its productivity will reach its maximum far earlier
The team stabilization remains a good way to have a reliable and stable quantity of work done each day.
Conclusion
As Darth Vader, it’s possible to have a team, a service, or even a whole company driven by a constrained and severe management. Some companies have built their business model on this principle, and remains alive until now thanks to a promising market, nice products or any third-party asset.
However, if the managers can be talented and resourceful, I can only regret that living force doesn’t matter much. With just a little more freedom, flexibility and comfort, they could bring so much additional value for a hardly perceptible cost. | https://medium.com/work-in-peace/darth-vader-the-best-manager-ever-6a68141cfb86 | ['Rémi Doolaeghe'] | 2019-03-22 07:31:52.909000+00:00 | ['Work Life Balance', 'Management', 'Leadership'] |
The Ketogenic Diet | The ketogenic diet is a relatively new weight-loss strategy though its roots date back to the 1920s. Though it initially was created as a potential treatment for epilepsy, it has recently joined the ranks of popular diets, showing some promising results. In this series, we’ll discuss the keto diet, what the research says about its effectiveness, and who this strategy might work for.
What is the Keto Diet?
At its core, the keto diet is basically an extremely low-carbohydrate diet. People using this strategy limit their intake of carbs to 5–10% of their overall consumption. On a 2,000 calorie diet, this equates to a carb goal of fewer than 50 grams per day. As a reference, one medium apple contains about 25 grams of carbs¹.
In a typical diet, carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy. When carbs are severely restricted, as in the keto diet, two processes begin to ensure an adequate energy supply from sources other than carbs: gluconeogenesis and ketogenesis¹.
Gluconeogenesis is the production of glucose (a type of sugar) in the liver. When carb consumption is severely restricted, gluconeogenesis cannot produce enough glucose to meet the body’s needs. This is when ketogenesis kicks in and provides the body with an alternate form of energy: ketone bodies¹.
When the body begins to use ketone bodies as an energy source, we’ve entered a process called ketosis. Several changes happen during ketosis that together decrease fat storage and increase the breakdown of stored fats¹.
During ketosis, fats are metabolized into ketone bodies which are used for energy in the heart, muscle, kidneys, and brain¹.
Summary: When carbohydrates are severely restricted, the body enters ketosis. Fat is converted into ketone bodies that can be used as energy.
The Ketogenic Diet Series
In this series, we’ll discuss the potential benefits of the keto diet, who might benefit from it, and its possible health implications.
Check back here for updates!
References | https://medium.com/@straighthealth/the-ketogenic-diet-280e3366ce0f | ['Straight Health'] | 2021-01-03 02:05:52.200000+00:00 | ['Ketogenic Diet', 'Keto', 'New Years Resolutions', 'Weight Loss', 'Diet'] |
The way we vote in America makes no sense | Let’s pretend for a minute that, starting from scratch, you were given the power to create a new U.S. election system. The goal? To get the most people to vote, and to end up with a candidate who most of the country preferred.
I’m willing to bet that what you’d come up with is better than what we have now. That’s because our current voting systems are irrational, illogical and — at worst — prevent a lot of people from participating.
The evidence of how imperfect our system is all around us — from people waiting several hours in line to vote to eligible voters being turned away at the last minute. That led to the New York Times editorial board recently publishing an article with the blunt headline: “The Primaries Are Just Dumb.” The editorial decried our current primary system and makes a compelling case for ranked-choice voting (more on that later).
To make matters worse, we’re also seeing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) throw wrenches in the democratic process around the country, with several states deciding to delay their primary elections. Clearly there are pressing COVID-19-related public health issues to take care of immediately, but the pandemic also offers a springboard for thinking about how we can adjust the way we vote.
Of course, we shouldn’t need the COVID-19 outbreak to recognize change is necessary. In fact, the most frustrating part of this issue is that there have been several immediate solutions at our disposal for quite some time, yet we haven’t been using them.
As a Colorado resident, I’m pretty lucky. My state makes it pretty darn easy to vote. Thirty days before any election, my ballot gets mailed directly to my address. That gives me more than enough time, if I haven’t done the research already, to look at the candidates and issues I’m voting on to make an informed decision.
Not only that, but once I’ve filled out the ballot, I also have the option of mailing it in or dropping it off at any time at any one of the drop boxes scattered conveniently around the city. Typically, since I work close to the drop box at Denver’s Union Station, I’ll deliver my ballot during my lunch break.
If for some reason I mess up my ballot or lose it, I also have the option of voting early at my polling location. If I procrastinate and wait until Election Day, I can vote then instead.
Voting by mail. Photo: Chris Phan via Flickr CC BY 2.0.
Overall, I’ve found Colorado’s process to be effortless, and it’s so obvious to me that voting should be this easy everywhere. Unfortunately, we know that’s not the case. A recent study by the nonpartisan Brennan Center for Justice found that since 2010, half of the states in the country have passed voting restrictions, whether it be stricter voter ID laws, shorter early voting periods or rules that make it harder to register to vote and then stay registered.
While proponents of these stricter voting laws argue that they are preventing voter fraud, there is no evidence to support those claims. The net result is those laws limit participation in the democratic process — which is absurd. Shouldn’t we want more eligible people to participate, not less? Especially when, as a country, we have some of the worst voter turnout numbers in the developed world.
So, what do we do about it? As I mentioned earlier, we have several tried-and-true solutions to improve voter turnout. For example, we should have automatic voter registration, meaning that when you interact with a government agency, your voter registration is also updated. That would instantly ensure that a greater number of people can more easily participate in democracy and have their voices heard.
Additionally, we could make Election Day a national holiday, which would allow people who can’t get off work the opportunity to vote. We could have early voting in every state — whether it’s by mail or in person. We could increase the number of polling locations, rather than cut them. The list goes on and on.
Apart from taking steps to increase voter turnout, we should also rethink the manner in which we choose candidates. Currently, our system seems to reward divisiveness, and — especially in really crowded fields — candidates can win elections with a small plurality of the overall vote.
Again, as the New York Times editorial argued, there’s a better way to do it: ranked-choice voting. In this system, voters rank candidates running for office in order of preference. If after the first tally, nobody gets a majority of the vote, the candidate who finished last is eliminated, and the second choices of people who chose the eliminated candidate get those votes. This process repeats until one candidate gets a majority.
There are many advantages to ranked-choice voting. Knowing that voters’ second, third or fourth choices might determine who wins the election, candidates are less likely to attack one another, and more likely to work at broadening their appeal to more constituencies.
My home state of Maine recently passed ranked-choice voting, and this led to a “friendlier” type of campaign in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. In an interesting twist that you otherwise wouldn’t see, two candidates who shared similar views formed a quasi-alliance, each telling their supporters to vote second for the other.
Ranked-choice voting would also help to solve the “spoiler candidate” or “strategic voting” problem. The latter was a huge story through the early part of this year’s Democratic presidential primary process. Many people, because they could only voice their preference for one person, based their decision on who they thought could win or would win in the general election, rather than on who they thought would make the best president. With ranked-choice voting, picking your preferred candidate would no longer feel like a wasted vote.
Additionally, many people in states like Colorado and California voted early and chose candidates who dropped out of the race before their Election Day. Ranked-choice voting would ensure that those folks’ second and third preferences were taken into account. Again, this avoids that feeling by many that they casted a wasted vote.
The New York Times editorial summed up the appeal of ranked-choice voting perfectly: “Already in use all over the world and in cities and towns across the United States, [ranked-choice voting is] a popular and proven way of electing leaders who are — what a radical notion! — actually supported by most voters.”
Admittedly, none of us will be able to wave a magic wand and implement all these ideas right away. Yes, the fact that there are so many obvious solutions to our voter participation woes make it all the more frustrating that they aren’t getting done at a large scale. But to solve the biggest problems of the day, we have to keep pushing for commonsense, widely popular voting reforms. It’s the only way forward. | https://medium.com/the-public-interest-network/the-way-we-vote-in-america-makes-no-sense-837db7839bc | ['Ross Sherman'] | 2020-03-23 20:31:35.362000+00:00 | ['Elections', 'Democracy', 'Politics', 'Election 2020', 'Voting'] |
GZIP WordPress Enabling Tutorial | Speed is at the top of every website owner’s wishlist. The faster the site, the better is the experience, which leads to more conversions. Also, Google ranks pages that load more quickly higher in search results. So you have an excellent reason to eke out every last millisecond you can from your website. One particular way to do speed optimization WordPress sites is by GZIP. The absolute best way to make things load faster is to make them smaller.
That’s just what GZIP does. We’re going to show you how to enable it and make sure your page is blazing fast, even if you already have image compression and other settings set up and optimized.
GZIP WordPress Compression
GZIP is an optimized file format and a software aa for file compression and decompression. Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler created GZIP compression. Its free software for the reduction in old systems.
As with the WordPress core software in general, GZIP was used for GNU (free open source software). The ‘G’ is from “GNU.” WordPress GZIP compression is the process of reducing the size of your website files, including codes like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The GZIP technique does not work on images. However, it is a bag when it comes to media files. For example, some images files, such as MPEG and WAV files, compress well with GZIP, while other file types, such as audio folders, may increase in size if you try to squeeze them.
GZIP compression must be enabled on your webserver to work you to enable file and folder compression (web servers with GZIP enabled will return the content-encoding: GZIP header in its response).
From the client-side, all modern web browsers support GZIP compression and automatically ask for it when making HTTP requests — this means that you can expect all users to reap the benefits of GZIP compression once you’ve enabled it.
Enabling GZIP Compression
There are two methods of enabling GZIP compression: modifying the .htaccess File or using a WordPress plugin, like WP Rocket. Using a WordPress Plugin, The easiest way to enable GZIP compression in your WordPress site is to install a plugin. It will be a lot easier and safer than modifying the .htaccess File. There are a lot of plugin choices available, but we have singled out these 3 WP plugins because of their features and ease of use:
WP-Optimize
An all-in-one solution to boost your website performance. The plugin will enable GZIP compression and web caching. In addition to that, it will clean unnecessary files on your website. This tool can even optimize images to free up more space!
Hummingbird
You have more freedom to choose what aspects you want to optimize. GZIP compression, minification, and lazy load offscreen images are some of its main features.
WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache combines its caching prowess with GZIP compression to make your page fast and lightweight. This tool can also automatically disable emojis and optimize every single post.
Since these plugins can do so much more than enabling GZIP compression, I suggest that you try all of them to see which one fits you best. After all, they are free and frequently updated, what’s not to love?
This method is quite technical, so it’s more suitable for advanced users. However, anyone can do it as long as they are careful. Before we continue, remember that you should always back up your .htaccess File first if something goes incorrect.
.htaccess
You will need to download an FTP client, like Filezilla, to locate the .htaccess File. It is usually present in the public_html index of your website. Download the File and save a copy on your computer as a backup. Then, paste these following Codes before # END WordPress line of .htaccess. Follow this code.
Upload the edited File to the same location. If FileZilla asks permission to overwrite it, click OK. | https://medium.com/visualmodo/gzip-wordpress-enabling-tutorial-d758075a0039 | [] | 2020-12-23 03:56:03.861000+00:00 | ['Performance', 'Gzip', 'Guide', 'WordPress', 'Tutorial'] |
The Restaurants That Have Continued To Flourish Through Lockdown — And How They Did It | The Restaurants That Have Continued To Flourish Through Lockdown — And How They Did It Menumise Mar 8·4 min read
On-off coronavirus restrictions have affected all industries and businesses. In particular, the hospitality industry has suffered especially tricky trading conditions as a result of changing rules and guidelines as well as the public’s inclination to leave their houses and eat and drink elsewhere. Restaurants, cafes and bars the world over have had to adapt to new working practices but those who have been unable (or unwilling) to have experienced difficulty.
However, where some fail, others flourish — and a number of hospitality companies have found success with a variety of different approaches. So, who’s done well and how have they done it? Let’s investigate…
Changing Business Practices: Pret A Manger
Sandwich and coffee high street chain Pret A Manger lost 74% of their trade overnight when the UK went into lockdown at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Relying heavily on walk-in sales from those on lunch breaks in town and city centres, the chain admits it has faced severe financial difficulties and may have to close some of its sites. However, a pivot toward home deliveries using services Deliveroo and Uber Eats has allowed over 300 of its stores to re-open; operating as hubs for delivery orders alongside takeaway service for key workers.
Drive-Thru Services: McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, Starbucks
Whilst originally pandemic restrictions saw drive-thru facilities close, they have for the most part managed to remain open throughout. In particular, this has seen fast food chains laud success with staff redeployed onto drive-thru services. Some chains, such as coffee specialists Starbucks and Costa, who had recently expanded their drive-thru arsenal throughout the country, are enjoying a welcome boost as a result of timely business development.
Delivery Extensions: Domino’s, Papa Johns
Pizza giants Domino’s and Papa Johns have actually increased their marketing spend to fend off an increase in competition through 2020 and on into 2021! Open for both delivery and contact-free collections, both chains have flourished through the pandemic and worked with experimental limited edition menus (including for Christmas and Veganuary) as well as different delivery platforms (including Just Eat and Deliveroo).
Investing in Tech and Marketing: Brewdog
Scottish craft beer firm Brewdog lost a considerable amount of revenue when their bars worldwide were forced to close, but instead the brand pivoted to invest elsewhere. First, they rebuilt their e-commerce store to increase capacity alongside an app for delivery to those local to the bar’s kitchens. Next, they launched marketing campaigns for free packs of beer and a treasure hunt for real gold-plated cans to encourage multi-pack purchases. Online business soared as a result and most bars were able to remain open without having to furlough staff.
Adapting Menus: Fine Dining Restaurants
As lockdowns have continued and the public have been forced to stay at home through occasions they’d otherwise usually have gone out for, a market has emerged in haute and themed cuisine delivered. Renowned restaurants including Nobu, Dishoom and The Cinnamon Club offer heat-at-home options and big-name chefs such as Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, Lello Favuzzi, Simon Rogan and Nathan Eades offer bespoke menus. All help deliver a special occasion fine dining experience at home. Add a nice bottle of wine, some balloons, and voila! Birthdays, anniversaries, parties, sorted,
Launching New Brands: Restaurants With Virtual Kitchens
Widely considered the saving grace of high street restaurant chains, virtual kitchens (also known dark kitchens or shadow kitchens) see existing restaurant kitchens white-label new brands of food for delivery on the likes of Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat. This allows for brands to extend their delivery offerings, to cater for otherwise unmet market needs and to diversify their practices — without the need to invest in new storefronts, marketing campaigns or fresh food hygiene certification. In most cases, the consumer of the food is none the wiser that it hasn’t come from a specific, dedicated restaurant. Examples of virtual kitchens include American-Italian franchises of Frankie & Benny’s running takeaways ‘Kick Ass Burritos’, ‘Bird Box’ and ‘Devonly Pies’; vegan connoisseurs Erpingham House starting the ‘Vegan Dough Co’ and ‘Chuck Chick’; and Pizza Express launching ‘Mac and Wings’.
There is undoubtedly still a long way to go until the hospitality sector is able to fully recover and return to normal, but for now, it’s promising to see businesses doing well. Adapting existing practices and adopting new ways of working can truly help restaurants flourish — and long may their good business continue! | https://medium.com/@menumise/the-restaurants-that-have-continued-to-flourish-through-lockdown-and-how-they-did-it-a6e58072b237 | [] | 2021-03-08 11:29:14.317000+00:00 | ['Small Businesses', 'Business', 'Restaurant', 'Lockdown'] |
All I Want For Christmas | Dear Santa,
My name is Jennifer Hopewell and I am ten years old. The last time I wrote to you I was seven and a half. I was the one that wanted tickets to Hamilton. Everybody said no kid wants tickets to a play but I did and they were in my stocking. Thank you very much.
You don’t need to bring me anything this year. I am at Children’s Hospital. I have been here a month and Mom and Dad never answer me when I ask if I’ll be home for Christmas.
I heard Mom crying in the hallway this morning when she was talking to the doctor. I couldn’t hear him all the way but he said something was getting bigger.
I am getting medicine through all these tubes in my arm. Just like last April. I guess this medicine isn’t working but it hurts the same. I got all kinds of purple marks around the tubes.
Hearing Mom cry wasn’t as bad as seeing Dad cry though. I never knew that dads can cry. All I asked him was does it hurt to die?
I have a nice room here. The tv has cable on it and everything. I saw a movie on hallmark channel last week and the kid in it was sick like me. His mommy and daddy told him to go to the light when he started dying. He looked happy while he was walking to it.
So that’s what I will do. I’ll just go to the light and look for Jesus. And Grandma too.
I’m getting tired now. I hope you don’t mind an email but my handwriting is real bad.
There is just one more thing.
I never told my little brother Timmy that I dropped his toothbrush in the toilet the morning I left to come here. It was an accident and I tried to rinse it off real good.
So far he hasn’t gotten sick from it and I don’t want Timmy to ever get sick from anything. That’s why I just had to write to you and tell you that — -
All I want for Christmas, Santa, is for you to stick a brand new toothbrush for Timmy in your bag. | https://medium.com/the-purple-pen/all-i-want-for-christmas-cb632d945f32 | ['E Barnes'] | 2020-12-24 14:11:12.593000+00:00 | ['Very Short Fiction', 'Flash Fiction', 'Epistolary Fiction'] |
Pre-Conception Environmental Exposures and Preterm Births — Review of the Evidence | By Manijeh “Mani” Berenji
Every year, an estimated 15 million babies are born preterm (which is defined as before 37 completed weeks of gestation) (1). Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born and this number is rising every year (1). Preterm birth is the factor most strongly associated with neonatal mortality and long-term morbidity globally. (2–4). Preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for approximately 1 million deaths in 2015 (1,5).
Preterm birth is complex and occurs for a variety of reasons. Most preterm births happen spontaneously, but some are due to early induction of labor or caesarean birth, whether for medical or non-medical reasons. Although some risk factors for preterm birth have been identified, including maternal age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, smoking during pregnancy, infection, and multiple gestations, these factors account for less than half of all cases, and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown (2,4,6). The World Health Organization estimates that environmental factors account for 6% of the causes of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth and has advised that there is a need for further research on the effect of the environment and chemicals on preterm birth (6,7).
The pre-conception period remains an important but largely unexplored critical window of exposure for perinatal and infant outcomes (6,8). Nutrition, stress, and environmental toxins (both from ambient environment as well as chemicals used to treat common medical ailments) can induce genetic changes which control long-term gene expression patterns from both maternal and paternal contributors (9). During early development, environmental stimuli determine not only short-term but also lifelong and trans-generationally heritable effects due to epigenetic imprinting (9,10). Such environmental-epigenetic mechanisms in the preconception period are likely associated with preterm birth (6,11–13).
Recently, studies have been conducted to explore the relationship between maternal/paternal pre-conception exposures and preterm birth. Zhang and colleagues conducted a preconception cohort study of subfertile couples comprising 419 mothers and 229 fathers and their 420 live-born singleton preterm babies (6). Pre-conception: urinary concentrations of metabolites of phthalates (a family of chemicals widely used in many consumer products and known reproductive toxicants in experimental animals) and phthalate substitutes were obtained from these mothers and fathers. The researchers measured maternal and paternal preconception urinary concentrations of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and di(isononyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (a nonphthalate plasticizer substitute). Male and female participants provided 1 spot urine sample at study entry. Men provided an additional spot urine sample per cycle on the day when their female partner underwent the fertility procedure. Women provided up to 2 additional spot urine samples per fertility treatment cycle: one obtained during the follicular phase of the cycle (days 3–9) and the other on the day of the fertility procedure. Moreover, women provided 1 spot urine sample per trimester at a median of 6, 21, and 35 weeks’ gestation. After adjusting for covariates, maternal preconception urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were associated with increased risk of preterm birth especially among male infants than female infants. However, there was little evidence of associations between paternal preconception phthalate metabolites or biomarkers of plasticizer substitutes and preterm birth.
As more preconception cohort studies are conducted, we will be able to gain a better understanding of prematurity and which babies are more at-risk of developing complications as a result. With such information, better interventions can be implemented to reduce infant morbidity and mortality (including essential care during child birth and in the postnatal period for every mother and baby; provision of antenatal steroid injections given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labor; antibiotics to treat newborn infections; and mother-to-baby with skin-to-skin contact and frequent breastfeeding) (1). | https://medium.com/lazarus-ai/pre-conception-environmental-exposures-and-preterm-births-review-of-the-evidence-1be4a6eea81d | ['Manijeh', 'Mani'] | 2020-05-11 21:06:07.240000+00:00 | ['Preterm Birth', 'Pregnancy', 'Birth', 'Preconception Health', 'Premature Birth'] |
Event Failures (and Retries) with AWS Serverless Messaging Services | This is the 3rd post in the Serverless messaging series.
[POST #1] Select the right Event-Routing service from Amazon EventBridge, Amazon SNS, and Amazon SQS
[POST #2 ] PAY per USE can derail your Serverless (dream) budget
[POST #3] Event Failures (and Retries) with AWS Serverless Messaging Services
Everything fails, all the time — Dr. Werner Vogels, CTO, Amazon.com
Loose-coupling comes with a price
The serverless architecture has the flexibility to have independently isolated micro-services that can run, scale, and sustain on their own. Although this can make the overall environment hard to manage (observe) where thousands of events are flowing through.
Let’s take this example flow from previous post.
A single event will pass through 4 communication services, processed by 4 Lambda functions, and saved into 2 database services.
Because each endpoint is connected to a messaging service and any failures will basically break the event flow, drop the events from the service, and may possibly lose the event.
Logs, Traces, and Insights — Monitoring & Observing
The first place where you look for failures is Logs. Logs, Traces, and Insights summarise what exactly the system is doing, and if it’s working or not.
AWS provides different services to check logs, traces, and insights (stats). Although if you check these at the detail level, you will find that they are structured differently.
CloudWatch Logs maintain a log stream for each running Lambda function. If a function is re-used for an event, the log stream will capture those logs, and if a new Lambda container is created, then a new log stream will be created.
This makes the logs distributed at the lower level between multiple log streams for an event flow.
Similarly for X-Ray and Lambda Insights, each function has to be enabled explicitly. For Lambda Insights, you will have to enable and configure a Lambda Layer.
Function needs to enable the Tracing and Lambda Insights separately.
Idempotent Functions
Serverless promotes the stateless programming principle, where the functions (ideally) should not keep any state of previous executions. So the function itself wouldn't know how many times it is called for the same event.
As a best practice, we should write the Lambda functions that are repeatable (idempotent) in nature.
Idempotency means that the operation will not result in different results no matter how many times you operate the same operation.
To make it simple, every event received, the Lambda function will have an exact output effect.
As easy this is to WRITE, it’s equally difficult to CODE.
SQS Standard, SNS, and EventBridge all by default provide “at-least-once-delivery” for messages.
That means the receiver MAY get the messages more than once.
The function should be written to ensure that multiple deliveries of the same message do not change the overall state of the application.
For example, if the Order Process function receives an order placed event multiple times, it should still treat it as one order, instead of processing the order multiple times.
Dead-letter Queue and Retry Policy
As failures are inevitable, we need to make sure that we fail gracefully and also protect important information to recover from the failures.
Dead letter mail or undeliverable mail is mail that cannot be delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender. A dead letter office (DLO) is a facility within a postal system where undeliverable mail is processed. — Wikipedia
Messages may fail due to a variety of issues like, erroneous conditions in the code, bad message data (poison message), unexpected state change that causes an issue with the code, function timeouts, or simply downstream service failure.
Each of the messaging services has an option to configure the Retries with redrive policy.
The redrive policy specifies the source, the dead-letter queue, and the conditions under which the service moves messages from the source to the DLQ if the consumer of the source fails to process a message a specified number of times.
It’s likely that a persistent error will never allow a message to fully process, keeping it stuck inside the queue until the message reaches the maximum retention period. But we don’t want to process the same message infinitely, expecting failures all the time. This is the place where Retries and Dead-letter queues (Amazon SQS Queue) help. After exhausting all the retries, the service will move the message to a DLQ.
Dead-letter queues are useful for debugging your application or messaging system because they let you isolate problematic messages to determine why their processing doesn’t succeed.
The retry policy works a bit differently for different services, so let’s check how Amazon SQS, SNS, and EventBridge manages that.
Failures in SQS Queue receiver
Amazon SQS persists all the messages and relies on the receiver to pull, process, and remove messages from the queue.
In the case of SQS and Lambda integration, the Lambda service internally polls the queue and invokes your Lambda function synchronously with an event that contains queue messages.
Failures in the receiver function will block the SQS queue from processing newer messages as the SQS queue only removes the messages after successful execution.
Once the message will exceed the configured receive count, it will be moved to the associated Dead-letter queue.
SQS Message Failure Redrive Policy with DLQ
Amazon SQS can deliver the messages in batch, this increases the efficiency and performance but also makes the failures complicated to manage.
If one of the messages from the batch fails, the failure will still be treated for the entire batch of messages and they will become visible again in the SQS queue after the visibility timeout expires.
Use the SQS FIFO Queues if you want “exactly-once” delivery of critical events.
With the “exactly-once” delivery method, it’s still the application’s responsibility to ensure the message is not getting re-processed by using the Message Group ID and Message Deduplication ID provided as additional attributes for each message.
For Reference: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/FIFO-queues.html
To summarise,
Lambda polls the queue and invokes your Lambda function synchronously with an event that contains queue messages.
Lambda service can poll with a batch of messages and a Lambda function may receive a batch of messages.
In the case of throttling, the Lambda poller will internally retry the execution until the messages hit the Visibility Timeout limit, at which point the message will reappear in the SQS queue again.
In case of function failures, the Lambda poller will drop the messages and wait for the Visibility Timeout limit, at which point the message will reappear in the SQS queue again.
While processing a batch of messages, Lambda function failure will by default put all the messages back in the queue. Use the (bulk) delete message API to confirm the successful execution for messages in a batch.
Failures in SNS Topic subscriber
Amazon SNS by default does not persist the messages, so if the receiver fails for any reason the message is practically lost (after retries).
Amazon SNS message delivery policy defines how it retries the delivery of messages when error occurs on the receiver side. If the delivery policy is exhausted of retries, Amazon SNS stops retrying the delivery and either discards the message or transfer it to a Dead-letter queue if one is configured.
Lambda service buffers the messages received from SNS and then call the Lambda functions for each message.
SNS Lambda Subscription Redrive configuration
On failure, Lambda service can do up to 2 retries with total 3 attempts for a single function.
SNS Lambda Trigger with Retries configuration
The difference between the Maximum age of event and Retry attempts is how the error is generated.
For example, if the Lambda service throttles because of not enough functions are available to process the new messages, it will retry up to the Maximum age of the event. This is the service level issue. In case of a Lambda function throws an error, the message will be retried based on the configured Retry attempts. This is the execution level issue.
Lambda functions also have an option to configure Destinations. This is a great feature to orchestrate the event-flow based on the Lambda function’s success or failure result.
Lambda Destination with On Failure Target options
To summarise,
SNS to Lambda is an asynchronous invocation, it will send the message to the Lambda service and forget.
Lambda service internally manages a queue, and Lambda service poller pulls the messages from the internal queue and invokes Lambda function for each message
In the case of throttling, the Lambda service poller will retry the execution until the messages reach to Maximum Age Limit
In case of function failure, the Lambda service poller will retry the execution up to 2 more times.
Failures in the EventBridge Rule targets
Amazon EventBridge can configure event rules with up to 5 targets. The targets might not be available or throw errors due to some reasons.
When an event is not successfully delivered to a target, EventBridge retries sending the event. By default, EventBridge retries sending the event for 24 hours and up to 185 times with randomized delay. When retry attempts are exhausted, EventBridge will either drop the event or transfer the event to a Dead-letter queue, if one is configured.
Note: Not all event errors are handled in the same way. Some events are dropped or sent to a dead-letter queue without any retry attempts.
EventBridge Rule Retry policy configuration
To summarise,
EventBridge to Lambda invocation works the same way as the SNS to Lambda
EventBridge rule allows to configure the Maximum Age, Retry attempts, and DLQ for each of the Targets
Detect Failures with Lumigo
With many options to fail, retry, and manage failures. How would you detect failures!!
AWS provides preliminary services like CloudWatch and X-Ray to record and analyze the request failures.
However when many requests are being processed in parallel and multiple services are used to transmit events, it makes it really difficult to identify and put all the distributed logs together when one of the downstream services fails. | https://medium.com/appgambit/event-failures-and-retries-with-aws-serverless-messaging-services-a3990fce184d | ['Dhaval Nagar'] | 2020-12-26 16:20:03.940000+00:00 | ['Serverless Architecture', 'AWS', 'Amazon Web Services', 'Event Driven Architecture', 'Serverless'] |
7 Affirmations to Make this Week the Best Week Ever | 7 Affirmations to Make this Week the Best Week Ever
Change your Narrative, Change your Life
Photo Credit: Courtney Wright
Ugh, I screwed up again.
I am a failure. Nothing I do works out well.
My life is just one bad thing after another.
Why is it that we are all comfortable saying things like this to ourselves, but when it comes to positive self talk we call it dorky or forced.
Truthfully, I have rolled my eyes on more than one occasion when someone suggested that I start using affirmations.
But once I caved and started trying out affirmations in my own life, I was shocked at the power they had.
Your negative self talk is running your life. It’s guiding you to make decisions that fit your narrative.
Change the narrative, change the decisions, and change your life.
Try out a week’s worth of affirmations. Seriously, what do you have to lose?
Affirmation Basics
An affirmation is emotional support or encouragement. If you spend the time giving yourself the same kind of emotional support or encouragement you would give your best friend, it could be the most beneficial thing you do for yourself.
Setting an intention for the day and setting yourself up for success will be life changing.
There is an old Saturday Night Live skit where this guy Stuart Smalley stands in front of the mirror and says nice things to himself. People laugh and it seems silly partly because of the way it was done.
When I first shared with friends that I was using affirmations, their reaction was similar to the reaction I had when I first saw that skit.
I didn’t let their doubts or laughter dissuade me from pursuing this adventure in affirmations.
There is something life changing about telling yourself you can do something.
Spending a few minutes in self-talk can prepare you mentally for anything.
Please give them a try you might be surprised at how good you feel.
Monday Affirmation
I am productive and successful in all areas of my life.
This affirmation is a great way to kick off the week. Spend a few minutes Monday morning thinking about the week ahead.
Instead of focusing on the overwhelm of all the tasks that lay in front of you, focus instead on the brilliant way you will handle all of them.
You are productive and successful, so set yourself up to succeed this Monday morning.
I have been known to walk the halls at work wishing people a happy Monday. This may seem silly and odd, but since starting my daily affirmation practice, I know that I will have a great week and I want to share that positivity.
Others may not enjoy the positive vibe because they are so used to feeling blue on Monday and passing around Monday grumpiness. Ignore that sour attitude and crush your day.
If you start to feel a sense of dread kick in when your to-do list starts to grow, as it often does on a Monday, just remember you are productive and successful.
Try writing down this affirmation on a notecard and carrying it around with you. Remind yourself frequently that you are productive and successful to set yourself up for success.
Super Tunes Tuesday
I am stronger than yesterday, now it’s nothing but my way. Britney Spears
Yes, my Tuesday affirmation is from Miss Britney Spears. One thing I frequently struggle with is feeling like I am strong enough or smart enough to handle every situation.
Furthermore, I commonly find myself giving in to what other people want just to make them happy.
This affirmation reminds me that I am stronger than I think and getting stronger every single day. Additionally, it screams at me to do things my way and stick to my guns. It’s going to be done my way when I strongly believe that’s the right way.
Think about this. Have you ever been sad and put on your favorite sad song? Then you proceed to cry and feel the empathy of the music. That artist/band has been there, they know what you’re going through.
Music is a powerful tool that can be used to bring emotions to the surface. If Britney is not your jam, pick a song that is powerful and gives you that excited feeling and blast that on the way to work or at the gym.
Music has the power to evoke emotion and transport you to another time or place. Find your power song and keep it handy.
Winning Wednesday Affirmation
I am calm and happy.
Wednesday seems to be the turning point in the week for me. If I can find a positive way to start a Wednesday then the rest of the week seems easy.
Therefore, my selection for Wednesday’s affirmation is one that is simple and clear. It is an easy affirmation to remember and furthermore, one I repeat over and over throughout the day.
Calm is a state many of us are aiming for but missing the mark on. I can already hear many people argue that they have too much going on in life to remain calm.
However, we set our own reactions and responses to outside stimuli, so just try to remain calm.
Happiness is out there for us to achieve. In order to do so, we must move past grandiose expectations and find joy in small things.
Finally, happiness as a goal should be to feel a certain way not to achieve a set number of goals. Trying to set yourself up to feel happy after x, y, or z happens is setting yourself up to fail.
Being happy with what you have and finding joy in day to day life will yield overall happiness much faster.
Thursday Quote Affirmation
“Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it.” Mary Pickford
There is so much wisdom to be found in the quotes you can search on the internet. I often find that picking a quote and reflecting on it for the day is a great way to feel smart, powerful, and in touch with something larger than myself.
Today is a new day. Don’t wake up dragging the past of yesterday into today.
If you truly see each day as a new day without rolling over the crap from yesterday you may start to find some peace, joy, and inspiration.
At the end of each workday, I rewrite my to-do list for the next day and carry over the items I didn’t complete that day. Therefore, each day has a fresh list of things to accomplish. I don’t look at items as “yesterday’s” work.
You never know what the future holds, and we are never promised a tomorrow. That thought shouldn’t make you feel down, it should make you feel like making the most out of every single day.
Fun Friday Affirmation
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me”
Okay, so I referenced the SNL skit before, and we all know this affirmation is funny mostly because of the word doggone. However, if you take the silliness out of the words and the skit behind this quote it is a perfect affirmation.
I am good enough. Why should you tell yourself this? Because you are.
It is easy to get down on yourself and feel inadequate in many areas of life. I wish I was working out more consistently, better at my job, a better mother, wife, daughter, etc.
You need to throw those big generalizations out the window and feel like you are good enough every day. If there is something you want to work on then go for it, but know that you are good enough as you are.
The second sentiment, I am smart enough, is important to remember as well. We often compare ourselves to others and it’s fascinating to me that we can only compare the negative.
When I was a teacher it was a common occurrence to hear that I am not good at math (or another subject). People are quick to throw around what they are not good at. We compare our talents and abilities to others instead of loving the smarts we do have.
Everyone is smart in their own way and you are smart enough.
People like me, is the part of the affirmation that you need to be careful about. I try to focus on the right people liking you. Or having people respect you and trust you.
Focus on people thinking of you as a good person with good values. It’s not important that every person you meet likes you.
Additionally, you need to know right now not everyone will like you. If everyone likes you, you might be compromising yourself to be liked by others.
The goal shouldn’t be to get people to like you, but rather be the kind of person you would like.
Weekend Affirmation Vibes
I experience joy in everything I do.
My dreams are coming true every day.
I didn’t assign a day to these two for myself. I speak them both internally on both Saturday and Sunday because they are my most powerful affirmations.
Focusing on both of these puts a smile on my face and places me in a state to be productive, creative, and happy.
Looking at these 2 affirmations and using them to set your weekends off on the right foot is beautiful. You should be finding joy in everything you do.
Weekends often start off with all of the stuff we have to do. I spend most Saturday’s cleaning, cooking, food shopping, etc. These are not easy tasks to find joy in, but I find a lot of joy crossing them off of a list. I also like to finish those tasks so I can do the things I know I want to do.
Affirmation Directions
There are no actual directions to using affirmations. You can speak them aloud if that is what you think works best for you. If thinking them instead is what will motivate you to stick with it then stay in that lane.
Writing down my affirmations and carrying them with me is another great way for me to remember and remind myself to speak them.
Finally, just try it! What do you have to lose? There is truly no bad or wrong that can come of speaking kindly to yourself and reminding yourself that you are awesome.
Using affirmations has truly changed my way of thinking. Speaking those words to myself daily has created a space where I believe in myself and believe that I can accomplish the dreams I have.
Affirmations have blessed me and given me a sense of pride.
Do you have a favorite affirmation? | https://medium.com/swlh/7-affirmations-to-make-this-week-the-best-week-ever-3ac5963f188d | ['Courtney Wright'] | 2019-09-22 15:18:43.539000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Happiness', 'Affirmations', 'Productivity', 'Positive Thinking'] |
Fashion brands shifting to PPE production: the potential consequences for the fashion industry’s most vulnerable | As major fashion brands shift to PPE production, consumers should ask for more details.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
In the face of global pandemic, an ever-growing list of fashion brands have announced plans to shift production to face masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers. And while these efforts are commendable and morally imperative, is there a hidden cost for the fashion supply chain’s most vulnerable?
Whilst brands tout their mask masking, they’ve also announced sweeping order cancellations for garment factories in Asia. Isn’t shifting to face mask production a win-win? Factories can keep their doors open while brands leverage their supply chains to address an urgent health crisis.
As the former manager of a Cambodian garment factory, I can attest to the fact that it might not be that simple. In an industry where the financial risk is disproportionately shouldered by those further down the supply chain, swapping out garment orders for face masks has the potential to put the supply chain’s most vulnerable even more at risk — not less. There is the potential for a win-win, but the devil is in the details.
Order cancellations by brands have forced factories into precarious financial situations. Factories are the ones who front the bill for production. They buy the raw materials and pay the people making the products. Most garment factories have small profit margins, which coupled with the up-front financing of production costs and bad payment terms means tight cash flow.
We’re not talking about cancellation of future orders, for which raw materials have yet to be purchased and peoples’ time yet to be paid. We’re talking about canceled orders for which the goods have already been produced, and for which only a handful of brands have committed to paying. Factory managers have tough decisions ahead and I’m already hearing stories about reduced hours and pay cuts from friends back in Cambodia.
When brands announce they are shifting to mask production, are they asking the same factories they’ve left even more cash strapped than usual to finance the production of face masks? Are factory managers being forced to choose between spending the little cash they have left on purchasing materials for masks versus making payroll on time?
There is significant and urgent demand for face masks. Maybe the only way for a factory to make payroll on time is to choose between a handful of unappealing options: subcontract to facilities who likely don’t meet stringent compliance criteria, hire additional workers on a short-term contract, or excessive overtime. Or maybe the choice is between investing in PPE for workers versus selling it to be able to pay their salaries.
Consumers deserve more detail. Who is paying for the raw materials to make masks? Are brands supporting factories with financing? After how many days will factories be paid for face masks? What kind of PPE will factory workers receive, and will brands help factories to pay for it? Are brands following the Covid-19 purchasing guidelines released by Better Buying? At the very least, will brands pay factories for canceled orders so that factories can use this to finance face mask production and invest in protective equipment their staff deserve to have?
Demand to know the names of the factories doing the face mask production, so credit can be given where credit’s due. Because the harsh reality of the industry is that the heroes resolving our PPE shortage are also the industry’s least visible and worst protected.
To find out when I’ve written something new, keep in touch. | https://medium.com/just-fashion/as-major-fashion-brands-shift-to-ppe-production-consumers-should-ask-for-more-details-a163efc388d1 | ['Kim Van Der Weerd'] | 2021-01-31 21:16:37.667000+00:00 | ['Manufacturing', 'Sustainable Fashion', 'Fashion Revolution', 'Covid 19', 'Labor'] |
The Post-Development Debate | In the fields of Development Studies, there are currently two major schools.
The modernization scholars argue that the mechanisms of development, although imperfect, are contributing to improving the living conditions in the South countries (in Africa, Latin America and Asia). The key issue for them is to find the right models and policies at the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the regional banks (AfDP, ADP, CAF), …
Since international organizations have been invested the task of developing the world, economists conceived plenty of big development theories. To mention the most important ones, there were Rostow’s five stages of growth linear model in the 1960s, the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) from the 1980s, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, Jeffrey Sach’s Millenium Villages Project in 2005 and now the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2015.
So far, all of these policies have been relative failures, failing at least to achieve their goals, or complete failures in the case of the SAP, which actually weakened the nations in which they were implemented. The 1990 is often called the “lost decade” in development studies for that reason.
But economists learn from the mistakes of the past. They invent new models, create new theories and measure new indicators in order to supervise a more and more holistic development. Let’s remember that behind the SDGs 17 goals (the MDGs had 8) there are 169 targets, each evaluated with an indicator either already existing or being conceived for that purpose. The Sustainable Development Goals are mobilizing A LOT of economists, statisticians, demographers, global leaders and local actors from all around the world in order to see the implementation of its goals. | https://medium.com/a-e-d/the-post-development-debate-31499ce1608e | ['Amaël Cognacq'] | 2020-01-12 15:07:27.559000+00:00 | ['Development', 'Modernism', 'Post Development', 'Critical Thinking', 'Sustainable Development'] |
The Mentor | Sergey Petrovich Postnikov (1838–1880) PD-art-100 Wikimedia
One day, a young first year student comes up to me and says, “Yo, brotha Hector, why can’t you take me under your wing?”
He said it just like that at the end of one of our final classes of the semester. He reached over with his right hand and placed it in mine and swung his left arm over and embraced me.
“Yeah, brotha Hector. Mentor me,” he insisted softly. “Mentor me. Why don’t you mentor me? Yeah, I’m serious. Take me under your wing,” he said with a pleasant, endearing grin.
Mentor — having the form of an agent. Latin, monitor — to remember, think, counsel. The name of the Ithacan noble whose disguise the goddess Athena assumed in order to act as the guide and adviser of the young Telemachus; allusively, one who fulfills the office which the supposed Mentor fulfilled towards Telemachus — hence a common noun: An experienced and trusted counselor.
I’ve been grappling with this word, mentor, ever since I first heard it in conjunction with my name.
My grandfather’s name is Héctor, as is my father’s and mine. There is also the Hector of Greek mythology (without the Spanish accent), the Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War; first born son of King Priam and Queen Hebuca, descendant of Dardanus and Tros, the founder of Troy. During the European Middle Ages, Hector figures as one of the Nine Worthies noted by Jacques de Longuyon, known only by his courage but also for his noble and courtly nature. Homer places Hector as peace-loving, thoughtful as well as bold, a good son, husband and father. A difficult model to follow.
Was my father my mentor? How would he be me in this instance? What of him would I transmit to this innocent student? Did those that mentored my father also mentor me — and I don’t even know? Is this how it works: we are guided and advised by those that came before, the long line that can date back hundreds of years. I think this is true; it may be what we reflect — our long histories of having been taught by unseen hands.
What’s in your name?
Hector is slain in a brutal fight with Achilles, who slits his heels, and passes the girdle that Ajax had given Hector through the slits. Achilles fastens the girdle to his chariot and drives his fallen enemy through the dust of the Danaan camp.
Kids don’t know the weight of their questions, the weight of words. The most difficult challenge for me has been taking jurisdiction over myself and move my entire being — my sense of self — into feeling that I fit in, anywhere, any time and under any circumstance.
Why don’t you take me under your wing? clung to my conscience, a hallowed white wing, outstretched, soft, protective. And I’m looking down on it, spread out over the student’s head, carefully drawing him in, just a wing, an allusive one at that, referencing something implied, as in a life, your life, the student’s life. So we learn to adapt.
When we teach, students witness how we’ve adapted, how creative we’ve been in our identity-forming journey. How creative we’ve been with influences.
Why don’t you take me under your wing?
Is this the right question, my brother student?
For me to enter the I that is you, we need to be in each other’s hands, spreading our wings together. This is adaptation.
Was it a vision, or a waking dream? We ultimately ask ourselves along with Keats. Fled is that music: — Do I wake or sleep?
I’ve matured into a very different kind of teacher, mentor, empathizer — one who is willing to walk with students wherever they are.
We have to walk together. It’s the only learning I know. This is arduous; there is an art to all this: the very movement of incorporation, as Jacques Derrida says, is artful. | https://theuncanny.us/the-mentor-ce61f9f63019 | ['Héctor Vila'] | 2021-09-03 10:38:15.903000+00:00 | ['Mwc Work', 'Teaching And Learning', 'Mwc Space', 'Philosophy', 'Mentor'] |
Yıllardan 2020 idi… | 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/t%C3%BCrkiye/y%C4%B1llardan-2020-idi-29c364abf54a | ['Berat Bozkurt'] | 2020-12-20 13:05:31.314000+00:00 | ['Türkçe', 'Kişisel Gelişim'] |
Prostitution in the US: Ethnicity | Prostitution in the US: Ethnicity
A look at the ethnicity of US sex workers
Note: This is the second of several installments. Part 1 explored the dataset, Part 2 (this part) looks at the ethnicity of sex workers, part 3 looks at the services performed and how this correlates to ethnicity, part 4 looks at the economic side of things and how fees correlate to ethnicity, services and looks of sex workers.
Time has come to take a look at ethnicity. A cursory look reveals that the dataset has a long tail of inconsistent values. This makes sense. We can imagine that those reviewers did not use a ton of time to get ethnicity right. Did they simply mean “black race” when they picked African American? Or did they really mean a born and raised African American:
plt.figure(figsize=(10,9))
# limiting the "long tail" at top 30, it's very very long
frame['Ethnicity'].value_counts()[:30].plot(kind="barh");
Preliminary look at race of providers. Turns out this could use some grouping.
Figuring out ‘ethnicity’ across race and geography
Ethnicity poses several problems as it mixes races, geography and culture. Also, it is highly likely that many “reviewers” are not aware of geography (particular the one of continents on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, and this goes both ways).
The TER reviewer form did not offer “black” as an option, opting for the more politically correct ‘African American’, which reviewers obviously picked without much discussion also in those cases where the ‘provider’ was simply black, but not American.
Also some Americans may refer to an “Italian” type of woman, while a European reviewer would make no mistake and define a provider “Italian” only in those cases where she was effectively Italian-born and raised.
“Native American” is also an expression that has generated significant confusion among reviewers in my opinion. Some may certainly have used that in the original sense of the term (what people referred to as “Indians” before political correctness kicked in), but it is obvious that other still have used Native American as a way to identify providers that are “born and raised” American, as their English native proficiency would immediately give away.
Where do we go from here? I figured I would re-group the Ethnicity under EthnicityNormalized , a column that represents a somewhat subjective classification of ethnicity, yet one that should resonate with people on both sides of the Atlantic. Please note that I used geography and language as additional tools to “disambiguate” ethnicity and provide educated guesstimates for each case.
Here’s my categorization.
White (Americas) : white North American, includes some not so white, that still are American born and raised.
: white North American, includes some not so white, that still are American born and raised. Asian (Americas) : Korean (AKA K-girls), Chinese and Japanese.
: Korean (AKA K-girls), Chinese and Japanese. Latina (Americas) : Coming from South and Central America. May be white or black. Speaks Spanish or Portuguese as her primary language. May or may not speak some English. I further split this category to reflect whether the action took place in North America,
: Coming from South and Central America. May be white or black. Speaks Spanish or Portuguese as her primary language. May or may not speak some English. I further split this category to reflect whether the action took place in North America, Black (Americas) : African American born and raised, both race and culture. With everything that this implies.
: African American born and raised, both race and culture. With everything that this implies. Eastern Europe (Europe) : Eastern Europe has been a significant provider of generally good looking Caucasian sex workers.
: Eastern Europe has been a significant provider of generally good looking Caucasian sex workers. Western Europe (Europe) : More rare than their eastern cousins, but they do exist.
: More rare than their eastern cousins, but they do exist. Misc (North America): miscellaneous, as long as it happened in North America.
miscellaneous, as long as it happened in North America. Other: whatever didn’t fit in any of the categories above. Data shows an incredibly long combinations of incredible mixes. I could have gone deeper (Indian, Arabic,…), but I had to draw a line somewhere.
Here’s how EthnicityNormalized is coming about.
# Let’s make Ethnicity a little easier to manage and visualize
frame[‘EthnicityNormalized’] = frame.apply(lambda row: normalizedEthnicity(row[‘Ethnicity’],row[‘Country’],row[‘Languages’]), axis=1)
It was a lot of freaking work, but now we can do things like:
plt.figure(figsize=(10,9))
frame[frame.Country=="USA"]['EthnicityNormalized'].value_counts().plot(kind="pie", label="Ethnicity",autopct='%1.1f%%',
shadow=True, startangle=45);
Ethnicity (“re-classified” to fall in buckets that made more sense). US breakdown.
Let’s take a look at Europe. Caveat: this data was provided by Americans visiting Europe mostly, and it only represents a small fraction of the data points (90% refers to the US). In short, it shouldn’t be considered an accurate map of the ethnicity of providers in Europe.
plt.figure(figsize=(10,9))
frame[frame.Country.isin(europe)]['EthnicityNormalized'].value_counts().plot(kind="pie", label="Ethnicity",autopct='%1.1f%%',
shadow=True, startangle=45);
Ethnicity. European breakdown (rough approximation).
For sake of completeness, a quick look at LATAM won’t hurt, albeit it’s not super significant.
Lots of Latinas in LATAM. Why am I not surprised?
That’s it for Part 2. In the next installment we will look at the services provided by sex workers and correlate them to ethnicity for the hell of it.
Part 3: Providers’ services | https://fillmore50.medium.com/prostitution-in-the-us-ethnicity-514d573ed76b | [] | 2020-11-18 23:01:42.056000+00:00 | ['Prostitution', 'Sex Work', 'Escorts', 'Data Journalism'] |
How to Migrate Your CRM to HubSpot | Your CRM system is one of the essential tools in your digital toolbelt. When you’ve decided to migrate to HubSpot, you want to do it right. There’s a lot to consider, and we break it down in some general, helpful advice here.
Do Your Homework on HubSpot
Our team loves HubSpot. It’s easy to use and scalable — and we generally recommend it! That said, you must determine if it’s the right fit for your organization. You should start by gathering a group of stakeholders, sales executives, and other employees who might use the platform. Ask them questions like:
What are your business or sales goals, and how can HubSpot over your current CRM achieve them?
How do your current processes translate to HubSpot?
Who’s going to need access to HubSpot?
How will your other systems interact with HubSpot?
How should different departments work together within HubSpot?
Read the full article here.
Originally posted on lyntonweb.com | https://medium.com/@lyntonweb/how-to-migrate-your-crm-to-hubspot-e765ddfa1458 | [] | 2020-12-17 17:57:41.756000+00:00 | ['CRM', 'Dynamics', 'Salesforce', 'Migration', 'Hubspot'] |
Is online shopping is good in Pakistan? | Pakshopify is the leading e-commerce store in Pakistan, empowering thousands of retailers, sellers, and trusted local vendors to sell their products through our platform. Our aim is to ensure the quality of products for our customers. Currently, we are providing more than 1 million products in 50+ categories, delivering more than 1 thousand products every month all across the country.
The focus of our Pakshopify is the quality of the products. We will make sure that our customers receive the products as advertised on the website. In case you got a package that is not up to the mark, you can easily return it as soon as you get the product as our return policy is very flexible for our customers.
Our aim is to build trust between consumers and brands by delivering them exactly the same products as it has been advertised. It has been seen that in Pakistan, people avoid paying in advance and prefer CoD for the order products due to the lack of trust. Pakshopify will omit these trust issues and act as a trusted third party in case you need any help from our side.
Acting as a stand-alone platform, we are spreading our roots very quickly in Pakistan. Our website and customer care service are always available to ensure the best customer care experience.
We provide better and genuine quality with refund policy in 50+ categories. We make sure you only get genuine products and never deal with fake or knockoff products. Each product is thoroughly verified and authenticated for its originality. We never compromise on the quality of the product and strive to provide you with the best range of genuine and authentic products. | https://medium.com/@calin.dave308/is-online-shopping-is-good-in-pakistan-13aea4c70ae7 | ['Calin Dave'] | 2021-08-08 12:48:08.409000+00:00 | ['Shopifyinpakistan', 'Mobile Accessories', 'Onlineshoppinginpakistan', 'Wsjarspeaker'] |
Pengusaha Sawit Targetkan Produksi 49 Juta Ton CPO di 2021 | Beyond sustainability and traceability in palm oil plantations www.smartplantation.com | https://medium.com/@smartplantation/pengusaha-sawit-targetkan-produksi-49-juta-ton-cpo-di-2021-87de0669ee61 | [] | 2020-12-21 06:43:12.723000+00:00 | ['Minyak Kelapa Sawit', 'Indonesia', 'Cpo', 'Gapki', 'Palm Oil'] |
Toxic Masculinity: A Global Killer | For most of human history, the answer to this question has been relegated to a simplistic explanation that men are born differently than women, with different traits, one of which is a propensity for violence. In fact, one’s biological sex has little to do with this. Most of what we associate with masculinity or the gender identity of being male, is actually sociologically conditioned, learned from our family, schooling, and other social interactions.
Boys, therefore, are not born violent. Society conditions them that way.
From the moment boys are very young, they are instilled with messaging about what it means to be male. The definition of “being a man” differs across cultural, geographical, and political contexts. However, there is usually a dominant and normative form of masculinity that is upheld by a society as the standard by which all men and young boys are judged from the time they are very young. It encompasses a set of behaviors, actions, values, and practices that men are conditioned to adhere to in order to be seen as proper men in their community.
What this messaging entails and how it is imparted also differs across cultures. However, it often includes notions that men must be tough; they must not show emotion; they must dominate their surroundings, including their spouses, children, and other men; be sexually fertile; and be financially successful. The pursuit of capabilities related to masculinity — being able to secure work and provide for one’s family; the ability to be sexually active, marry, and have children; the ability to enjoy a sense of belonging and respect among one’s peers and community — dictates many men’s actions and the way they live their lives. Men who deviate away from these established norms often face ridicule and social exclusion by their peers and other members of their community.
At its most extreme, defined by practitioners as toxic or hegemonic masculinity, such behavior assumes that men are inherently superior and rightfully entitled to dominate all forms of society by virtue of their manhood. Such beliefs are often mixed in with other harmful traits such as misogyny and homophobia. Failure to fulfill one’s duties as a man renders that person as “female” or “gay.”
Not all men choose to subscribe to these definitions of masculinity. Many do not choose to live their lives according to such norms. However, men who hold more rigid views of manhood, tend to show more aggression, more risk-taking, and less of a willingness to seek emotional and medical support (particularly when it comes to mental health.) They are also more likely to be drawn to violence when they struggle to fulfill their perceived needs and identities as men.
“The Bad Guy With The Gun”
It is hard to know exactly what traits or circumstances will prompt someone to take a gun and shoot up a school, open fire in a drive-by, or blow oneself up in a crowded place. But given the aforementioned definition of toxic masculinity, it is easy to see how someone that has been brought up with such extreme views of what it means to be a man can be drawn to such violent acts.
This is especially true if such men are unable to fulfill their perceived duties as men, and particularly if they face socioeconomic barriers to doing so. One such barrier is a lack of economic opportunity. Men who face poverty or unemployment often see this as an emasculation in the form of an inability to provide for themselves and their families. Those who hold this view are more prone to lash out. Men may also join extremist groups or gangs if they think that being an operative on their front lines offers the financial opportunity their environment does not provide.
A similar barrier men may face that make them more prone to violence is social marginalization. This goes beyond the “loner/social outcast” profile common among many mass murderers. Sociocultural barriers on the basis of one’s race, age, religion, ethnicity, or any other social identity increase the likelihood of men to feel disengaged from the communities in which they live. This can happen even if opportunities to fulfill one’s roles as a man are present, as long as equal access to those opportunities is restricted along the aforementioned lines.
Examples of this include young men from immigrant backgrounds in the West joining gangs or terrorist groups. One would think that these men would be less likely to engage in violent activity given that they live in rich world societies with robust human rights and freedoms. However, the discrimination such men often face means they do not enjoy the same degree of these freedoms as native-born men. It is this very discrimination that makes men more vulnerable to be radicalized.
While social inequality may serve as a force “pushing” men towards violence, violent groups themselves can “pull” such men in as well. The most common way such groups do this is by offering a sense of belonging to a group. It is easy to picture ISIS or MS-13 as simply evil organizations with purely evil members. But for ostracized men vulnerable to radicalization, they can offer a social network that they are lacking. This is especially true if these violent groups offer a sense of belonging along a shared identity.
Gangs and terrorist groups have long exploited this notion. It is no coincidence that major criminal organizations boast names such as La Familia or Cosa Nostra. Similarly, the ultra-traditionalist and anti-Western ideology of Islamic State creates a Muslim identity that men who are ostracized by Western society for being Muslim could find appealing.
Another aspect that may pull men into violence is the search for respect. It has often been argued that fame and notoriety are a prime motive for mass murderers to commit the acts they do. This, however, is the most extreme example of an aspect of society that is more commonplace than we think.
Many societies hold warrior figures — be they soldiers, police officers, secret agents, or even Tony Montana — in high regard. These figures use violence to control their surroundings, even if it is for noble purposes. Joining a violent group can, therefore, be a way to gain an elevated position in society. For example, former fighters from al-Shabaab, a jihadist group in Eastern Africa, cited honor, respect, and attention from women as the biggest draws to joining the group.
Towards A Less Violent Masculinity, And A Less Violent World
This article does not seek to apologize for violent actions of any kind. Any man behind the trigger should be liable and responsible for the acts they commit. Nor does it seek to trivialize the importance of the gun control movement. That common sense gun control will reduce the number of deaths and injuries from guns is counter-intuitive only to the NRA, its most fervent supporters, and the politicians in their pockets. This article instead argues that if we are focusing solely on preventing the bad guy from getting the gun, we are only addressing a part of the issue.
Broader reductions in violent acts can be achieved if we begin to break down the constructs that make men so much more prone to violence. This entails having frank conversations about why society values violence as an acceptable expression of manhood. Messages like “if they hit you, hit them back,” “don’t be soft,” “stop crying,” or “you hit like a girl” may seem innocuous enough. But the underlying message this gives to boys is that they need to commit violent acts to be accepted. The violent acts discussed — mass shootings, gang violence, terrorism — are but the most extreme forms of behavior we as a society have deemed acceptable from generation to generation.
Breaking down these male gender constructs is not an easy task, not least because so few men are willing and/or able to talk about their experiences as men. But it is not impossible. For the better part of a generation, we have been telling girls that they do not need to be stick-thin, clad in pink, and stuck in the kitchen in order to be seen as true women. Is it too far-fetched an idea to tell our boys they do not need to be violent to be seen as true men?
Rantt is a media company, and we sell only one product — the truth. Our context-rich articles focus only on the most important stories of our time because who cares about clicks when democracy is at stake?
Thanks again for everything. We love and appreciate you!
Sincerely,
The Rantt Team | https://medium.com/rantt/toxic-masculinity-a-global-killer-f343587d72f6 | ['Jossif Ezekilov'] | 2018-03-26 15:19:50.268000+00:00 | ['Terrorism', 'Gun Violence', 'Politics', 'Masculinity', 'News'] |
Give Friday | Give Friday
Owen didn’t sleep much last night. I think the river was running through his dreams. He woke with the same thing on his mind as it was yesterday. The river. I sit here beyond exhausted but it’s quiet, except for the pulse running through my headache. I have to sit. From five o’clock this morning until nine o’clock tonight it was full-on waves of sounds and emotions. He fell asleep in my arms and I think I probably could have fallen asleep in his. He let me eat a banana today without screaming. He got under the covers when I was eating it, peeking out his head to say, “you done you not done” numerous times. Then he said, “throw it in the trash” and I told him sure, that he could throw away the skin for me and he did. This meltdown worthy food has been a rollercoaster ride for years. Today was a big step. I wouldn’t even think about pushing it if he didn’t love the taste of them so much. Yesterday he had a banana smoothie and drank the whole thing down. As long as he doesn’t see it he’s fine with them and as much as he loves the taste I keep trying different ways for him to be fine with the actual banana. “River” was his focus today but momma wasn’t gonna play today. I got my serious mom face on when he tried to push my buttons. It’s amazing actually how far that got us. I deleted YouTube from his tablet. He was able to spell YouTube in the App Store and get it back. Score one for Owen. Then I wouldn’t look up the river video for him so he spelled it all day long. And the date right along with it, not only on his tablet but on the tv too. The dude had a big appetite, I guess from having to type all that stuff out because he asked for shrimp three times and ate every single bit of what I made him. We both had our share of emotions today but he was much calmer and the more I stood my ground the more we both grew. Let’s see where the river lands us tomorrow. Follow your heart, make your dreams a reality, and never forget that tomorrow is a brand new day. Smiles to all and donut daze! | https://medium.com/@lynnbrowder/give-friday-2b91b4fa1b0f | ['Lynn Browder'] | 2020-12-12 04:14:16.400000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Parenting', 'Autism', 'Life Lessons', 'Inspiration'] |
COVID-19 won’t last forever. | COVID-19 won’t last forever. Take precautions, don’t panic, relax, this too shall pass, and we will get together again.
For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about this pandemic situation that we are all trapped in. It seems like this will never end, but this is not true — as anything in life, this will end at some point. We will be back to normal together, we will be able to smile again, we will be social again, we will continue to celebrate birthdays and parties again.
To begin with, it is indeed sad to see all the people that are dying due to this pandemic, but we should be putting things in perspective. The flu kills about 60K Americans every year and we never have gotten so sad about it because we just didn’t see it in the news.
Why is this happening? I don’t have the answer to this, I don’t believe God sent us this, but I think He is allowing this to happen to teach us an important lesson, “nothing should be taken for granted and we must take care and love each other more.” We have to live every day like it is the last of our days. A few months ago, we didn’t appreciate the value of our front-line workers (doctors, nurses, super-market cashiers, etc.) as much as we do today — they all deserve Oscars. On top of that, several weeks ago, we didn’t appreciate the importance of a hug as much as we do today. Many of us are starting to learn important lessons.
Why are people panicking? If you look at the news these days, you get very discouraged because they don’t seem to have a positive message, so I decided not to look at it anymore and trust me, I am happier than before. Is the news meant to make us panic? I think so.
We need to look at the positive side of all of this. Our planet is taking a break and getting cleaner for all the damage we have have been doing to it, our kids are happier to have their parents at home, we are enjoying more home-cooked and healthy meals than ever, and we are having enough time to retrospect and change the course of our lives by being more human and support each other more.
How can we be more relaxed and look ahead? I think that by reading positive books, exercising more, drinking more water, playing with our kids, and taking care of our elderly we can relax our minds. But most importantly, when all of this ends, I hope we do not forget to be better human beings every single day. | https://medium.com/@elvidania.echavarria/covid-19-wont-last-forever-8dafeee42e26 | ['Elvidania Caperonis'] | 2020-04-26 22:19:21.975000+00:00 | ['Helping Others', 'Gods Presence', 'Love', 'God', 'Covid-19'] |
5 — Beta and Work in Progress_3. Beta — 11/1/19 | WIP_3 — 3 Sunday meetings from Beta to Pre-Release
11/3/19 + 11/10/19 + 11/17/19 — meeting_7, meeting_8, and meeting_9
We had a little less than 3 weeks before Pre-Release, but as a producer and contributing team member, I felt that the real crunch has begun. All teams needed to have a MVP of their game by Pre-Release, and from an overall standpoint all Channel teams were relatively far from having a decent product. Compared to other GCS games, our team was arguably more behind, despite having a greater foothold on a finalized look. These 3 weeks mainly involved intense crunching, design/art implementation, and any final cuts/accommodations to complete the production schedule on time.
On the note of production schedule, we ended up not using the Trello board; everyone seemed to work out their own production schedule. To make up for this, every meeting I would go around to each team and check up on their progress, asking for their production plan for the next week up until each checkpoint. We mainly used the whiteboard to illustrate tasks and deadlines.
Team Bair continued to work on the last stretch of background art and implementing the layers into Unity. Levels still needed to be tweaked and smoothed out. The final level was originally going to involve wolves, but after some discussion about the complexity of programming certain logic with the wolves AI, the extra character animations, and lack of time, it was decided to scrap it for an extended pathing puzzle. Another issue that slowed progress was a team member’s gradual absence from the meetings, leaving extra work for others. Although they had indicated the walk cycle art to be completed at Beta, the other Team Bair members had immense difficulty formally retrieving the raw files. I ended up stepping in as well, but ultimately the characters weren’t able to be properly implemented till Release. Music and sounds were in progress for Pre-Release and the final Showcase.
Team Door mainly faced a mountain of work creating the final art assets and implementing them and the dialogue properly in the game. There were no sudden surprises or need for drastic cuts. The crunch lasted all the way till the day of Pre-Release. Music and sounds were communicated with Adrian Mester from Team Bair, and a production schedule was made for Pre-Release and the final Showcase. | https://medium.com/@gzliu777/5-beta-and-work-in-progress-3-5d0cd4b14017 | ['Grace Liu'] | 2019-12-17 03:15:38.872000+00:00 | ['Collaboration', 'Game Development', 'Game Design', 'Art', 'Parents'] |
Social Media 101: How To Consistently Put Out Great Content on the Big Three | Let’s Get Down to Business: Defeating the Huns and Posting Quality Content Consistently
Usernames
Now that you’ve determined which platforms are the right fit for your business, get on ’em. Unless you’re like my father who thought the Facebook elves created a page with his information just by virtue of his existence, you know creating an account is accomplished by your own effort and consent.
Your username should be as close as possible to the name of your business. If your name is already being used in some variation, add your city or state to the end for easier identification. Finally, upload a profile photo (ideally your logo or another clear brand identifier) and you’re ready for the world of social media management.
Content is king (or queen #genderequality)
There are a lot of so-called experts out there who will try to sell you a super-secret formula for engaging content — one that will bring you 10,000 new followers for a modest one-time payment of $300. Scam. Scam. Scam.
There’s no one-size-fits-all, fill-in-the-blank template. Content depends largely on your industry and goals, and there are micro-segments even within those fields. Restaurants are different than packaged goods, car manufacturers are different than auto repair shops. Like with traditional advertising, you need to know your audience.
Give the people what they want. Fast food companies are really good at this — they know their target consumers better than anyone. Brands like Wendy’s and Denny’s have earned their place in millennial and Gen Z feeds by playing into meme culture and meta Twitter without trying too hard. The following is an example of what happens when this goes wrong — or right, I guess, if you operate by the motto that all publicity is good publicity.
While the uber cringiness of pancake fetuses did result in loads of media mentions for the usually irrelevant IHOP, it’s still wiser to aim for consistent follower and engagement growth over trying to chase virality. There’s not always a rhyme or reason to why certain posts go viral. It’s a perfect storm of really random factors — timeliness, content, who reshares it and their reach. Focus on content and give people a lasting why over being a flash in the pan.
Even if you’ve got solid content, you still need to do a little outreach. Search keywords and hashtags to find people who might be interested in what you’re offering and then join the conversation. Don’t be overly promotional or creepy, just give them a nudge via like or response to let them know you’re there. Some people find content using hashtag searches, so figure out what hashtags are relevant to your industry and include them as needed in your posts. Don’t go crazy with this — if you’ve got more than 10, you’re doing it wrong.
While giveaways can give you a temporary engagement boost, you want followers who actually like your content — not just free stuff. If you’re going to run an occasional giveaway, vet eligible candidates before awarding a random winner. A lot of people have made a pathetic sport out of winning anything and everything online — these are the bottom feeders of the internet. You can spot them by all the retweet and reshare to win posts clogging their feed. They’ve never heard of your brand and they don’t care about what you’re giving away. They spend their days searching for “retweet to win” posts and yelling at their mom from the basement to do their laundry.
Choose someone who will be excited to win because they have a genuine interest in what you have to offer. It might take away the “randomness” of selection, but you’ll likely make a lifelong customer (and maybe even an online brand ambassador).
Consistency is…also king
When it comes to a posting schedule, figure out what you have time for and stick to it. Once an hour, once a day, once a week, once a month — whatever works for you. Consistent posting builds a mutual understanding between you and your audience, almost a sense of trust. Those who engage with your content will come to know generally when to expect updates.
Bit off more than you can chew? Gradually wean off. Don’t go cold turkey — ghosting is for douche bros in polos named Brad. If you need a break or want to abandon a platform altogether, let your followers know. Something as easy as, “Hey everyone. We’re not using Twitter anymore. Find us on Facebook/visit our website/send a carrier pigeon to…” People will appreciate that and they’ll stop trying to contact you via that platform. It’s just good customer service, really.
Thinking about using one of those snazzy plugins that share your content across all platforms at the click of a button? Don’t. They absolutely, unequivocally suck. They never format your content the right way and they hurt your search rankings because Google hates duplicate content. I don’t care what anyone else has told you, they’re wrong. No, ifs, ands, or buts — just don’t.
Developing a brand voice and engaging with the masses
Everyone knows there’s a person behind the account, so be a person. Develop a brand personality. Engage. Respond. Use gifs. You’re not a sociopath, so express a range of emotions. That said, go easy on the exclamation points. One per post, if that. Stop yelling at people, you’re not that excited. Same goes for caps lock.
If taking things personally is your MO, you’re going to have a bad time. People online suck and they will remind you of that often. Keyboard warriors are either trolling you or a genuinely shitty person. Laugh at them, roll your eyes and move on. If you’re going to engage, do it lightheartedly. They’re not fun at parties. You are.
Similarly, don’t be a serious stiff all the time (even if you’re in a serious stiff industry). For example, take local police departments — one of the most unexpected fields to absolutely kick butt at social media. In 2018, departments across the United States challenged each other to lip sync video battles, resulting in a 100+ chain of entertaining, impressive and highly shareable pieces of content. Talk about fantastic PR for a field most citizens don’t associate with being approachable and fun.
Is that Justin Timberlake at 2:13?
Obviously, don’t be tone-deaf — exercise common sense, but keep it light when appropriate. People use social media primarily for entertainment. If they’re having fun with it, so should you. Be relatable, be funny and raise some eyebrows every now and then.
As we learn more and more every day, a lot of people on the internet are stupid — don’t cater your content to the lowest common denominator. If they don’t get the joke, they don’t get the joke. It’ll be worth it to those who understand it and that’s who you want to reach anyway. Of course, don’t overdo it. Take risks with as much tact as possible. Don’t ever be racist or sexist. Don’t ever comment on politics and religion. Save the free speech for your personal accounts — but even then, don’t be a dick.
And, finally, because this isn’t middle school — grammar matters. Rules should only be broken with intention. Proofread everything before you post and immediately after. If you make a mistake, don’t panic — even the most diligent will occasionally allow errors to slip through the cracks. Facebook and Instagram posts can always be edited. If you catch it soon enough on Twitter, delete and post again — anyone who notices and makes a fuss should find something better to do. If your tweet already has some engagement, reply with the correction and a self-deprecating quip.
Capturing captivating visuals (a.k.a. snappin’ cool pics)
If you’re going to post photos (you should), make sure they don’t blow. With high megapixel cameras built into smartphones these days, taking halfway decent photos is not nearly as hard as the crooked shot yahoos of the internet would have you believe. Most people don’t expect National Geographic-level photography out of small businesses, so do your best with what you’ve got. There are plenty of websites out there with all sorts of great tips for cell phone photography.
If you have room in your budget, hire a photographer to take a handful of generic but high-quality photos you can use for years to come — think of it as an investment in stock photography for your business. If that’s out of your pay grade, don’t sweat it. All you need is a smartphone, focus and good lighting. Finally, when it’s time to post, make sure your photo is sized correctly for the platform. I shouldn’t have to squint to tell if your photo is of a dog or a tasty baked good.
“Should I use influencers?”
As a general rule, no — at least not without carefully vetting what they can provide you in return. A high follower count means virtually nothing in an era where you can buy bot accounts to make yourself look popular enough to swindle small businesses out of free ice cream. If their email signature says “influencer,” recommend they get a real job and slam dunk to the junk.
Those with real-life marketable skills (professional photographers and writers) and follower bases that align with your target audience are worth considering, but only if you’re confident in their ability to convert browsers into buyers without blowing your entire budget. No influencer is worth all your money (or even most of it). | https://medium.com/better-marketing/social-media-marketing-101-lessons-from-a-so-called-professional-b6c99215f989 | ['Caroline Ponessa'] | 2019-11-19 21:15:05.084000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Social Media', 'Digital Marketing'] |
sumerian stresses | Contrary to popular American belief, and the consciousness of children, whenever one leaves their home they enter a war zone. Nowhere as egregious as Iraq, 1990s Yugoslavia or present day South-Side Chicago but the reality lives in the minds of all. Advertisements that claim your two year old car is archaic with pronounced chrome grills and bigger, brighter Bluetooth-screens to prove your salary meager and insufficient. After defeating this materialistic farce, FM tunes enter your vehicle exclaiming promises of contentment if you simply buy this facial cream, gardening tool or entertainment package. Then we reach our jobs, saturated in politics and budget cuts and bosses who occasionally trip on power dynamics that trigger our sensitive performance anxiety. Thoughts of independent work schedules juxtaposed against a beach in some foreign land fills our heads and creates an emptiness in our reality.
12:39 PM
Time for lunch at some corporatized restaurant, with greasy and high-fat foods greeting our dissatisfied hearts with temporary comfort. Swipe left, tap twice, lower brightness and re-watch the 15 second clip. Repeat. And Repeat once more before returning to work.
5:47 PM
Home. The kids and pets escape into their own corners, while we fight the mental exhaustion. Something is wrong. Everything feels so bad and misplaced but we subscribed to the status quo, the plan that was supposed to bring joy and security. Put on the TV and become uncomfortable with the prisoners on MSNBC, noticing that our uniform is just as orange, the warden looks like our boss’ kid, the bars are made from the same company as our desk and the food is just as disgusting as whatever we shoved down our throat earlier. CNN proclaims mass incarceration is on the rise, articles display the statistics, while we try to find ourselves in between the pixelated images. The ugliness and condemnation of the common prisoner seems so familiar, so relatable but only if we had the strength to confront it, whatever that “it” maybe.
10:32 PM
Hands still in the cookie jar with lukewarm milk beside your arm chair, wondering “how did this happen?”. Years ago, thoughts of freedom, vanity and sexual liberation flooded your mind and today all you have are fears delivered from mainstream news. Cyclic images of destruction, wildfires, wailing women looking for safety and fathers shipped to fight corporatized wars — major anxiety attack. Terror envelopes your myopic vision and your kids are at the center. Another brown, black or just poor child left on the street killed in some financially polarized urban center. These little things you live for, are all you have, they are your connection to a better you, the life line to love that you’d lost in early adulthood.
And if there is no justice for that poor lifeless body on the cement, then what hope is there for your child? What makes that father different than you? What did he do in his years to deserve such cruelty and how can you avoid this sad reality?
don’t think, just consume.
Death will never find its way to you. You will be young forever. These cookies will have no effect on your health. Money will always be available. And you and your children don’t live on this obsolete spinning rock, you live in an utopia ruled by your illusions.
But deep down you know this isn’t the truth. Every night you awake to the reality of this pain. A feeling of pressure finds its way to your neck, determined to remove any feelings of comfort from this fragile reality.
Your kids sleep, not caring but sensing such things, just like their parents.
Where does this weakness stem? Who planted the seed for mediocrity, worrisome simplicity and the mendacious house of cards? The origin could be found in the Judeo-Christian story of Adam and Eve, it could be analyzed from the imperfect balance of energy and its counterparts, or maybe sourced in the sociological structure of government. Regardless, the effect on the average American is tragic and debates with who to blame and why. At what point does the lies that one lives in and worships become their own creation versus a simple inheritance?
Everybody, good or bad, wealthy or poor, smart or dumb, is susceptible to the pain of these questions. And if religion was so great, why hasn’t it figured it out. Or what about the most influential people of the day, why hasn’t Oprah or Joel Olsteen told me a way to live? But to be completely honest, why would I listen to any of them? They don’t understand what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck or to see your kids faces of disappointment when they realize that you can’t protect them. Their lives are pampered by the veil of celebrity, fame, and fortune; three things a regular obscure human will never have. There may be talk of greatness by these pillars of society, but many of them were fed their grandiosity as youth and protected from the demons that overtook the many more. These assholes were lucky at the expense of the mediocre prisoners of American exceptionalism and insatiable prosperity.
3:33 AM
A psychic warned us of the repeated threes. In youth, there is stamina to outpace the consequences of time and misfortune. It seems like the partying, escaping, and general delusion will pass the event horizon of the universe and leave you free from the pitfalls of the generations before. Then, there is a realization of the weight gain from a slowed metabolism, less hair upon the scalp, and a wish to reverse back to the time of freedom and eternal youth. Oh how we long for that blessed time, when worries centered on narcissistic desires and we were simply phantoms of existential concerns. Religion had no purpose, sex was purely physical, and money could only be minimal.
silence.
3:56 AM
In this life there are traps of unhappiness waiting to devour souls wandering along the landscape of life. Their screams of terror can be heard in the silence of college dorms, the teacher’s lounge of the impoverished school, and within each movement of the ill-advised champion athlete. There is a unity to the pain that attempts to muster the last of our will and hope to become better than we were yesterday. However, so much time is spent trying to run away from this unpleasant truth. There are movies with cloying narratives, claiming love will prevail over the most rudimentary of human emotions. Sex ridden spaces promising affection and attention that only a lonely, undesired man could really pay for. Pixelated screens mirroring the reality we wished to see in front of us, losing our sense of ourselves as we scroll through each topic, each celeb, and each ad. The cars we drive, the meaningless conversations we hold, the aimless sex we could wish to feel in order to feel anything, and the money we all hope to have is all stupid and means nothing. Did we not hear Solomons cry of meaninglessness? Why have we forgotten and discarded the wisest words from this man, in exchange for temporary folly and lifelong mistakes? The answers lies within, in our minds and our hearts! As cliched and hyperbolic this answer, the reality is such. Only we know the reality of our lives. Our parents, friends, ex-lovers, co-workers, shallow television hosts, try to tell us who and what we are but where has the agency escaped to? When did we let others begin to tell us who and what we were? And who are we to blame for so foolishly taking the advice of those so far removed from the pains that terrorize ourselves — even families — every night!
too much
*take another shot of oblivion and denial* | https://medium.com/@mayachilll/sumerian-stresses-9c0843a45619 | ['M A Ý A'] | 2020-12-23 21:13:52.684000+00:00 | ['Pain', 'Ancient History', 'Sumeria', 'Rat Race', 'Stress'] |
Palestine and Israel two-state solution | Arshad Sulahri
Pakistanis have a religious relationship with Palestine. But the same longing for a religious relationship is not visible to Chinese Muslims. Not so for Muslims in Bosnia, Chechnya and other regions. The blood of Kashmiris is being squeezed in the aorta of Pramodi, but we have not been able to hold a mock protest to awaken the international conscience.
The Palestinian people have been martyred for the last 72 years. Living in a state of war. In the last twenty years, Pakistan has not seen any major demonstrations in favor of Palestinian independence. What a relief for the Palestinian people with emotional statements and stories. How many Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons? Kashmir is our lifeline. What role has the government and people of Pakistan played in Kashmir? What has the government and people of Pakistan been able to do in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen?
The concept of ummah or ummah is merely imaginary. In practice, the concept of parama has no reality. If the Ummah had really existed, no one would have dared to turn a populous country like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen into ruins, nor would the scourge of poverty, inflation and terrorism have spread so much in Pakistan and we would have been begging for loans. ۔
Arshad Sulahri
The concept of Ummah is self-deception and phobia only in Pakistan. There is no sign of the centrality of the Ummah. The centers of Muslim devotion are owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Muslims around the world have to obtain a Saudi visa to visit the Kaaba and the Holy Shrine of the Prophet. For Muslims, centers of devotion are not open so that Muslims can visit without a visa. Hajj and Umrah cannot be done for free. Have to buy
Putting oil on a burning fire makes the fire worse. We just poured oil. Emotional slogans have been chanted to wipe out Israel. Never spoken seriously. Never tried to put water on the fire and put out the fire. Ever wondered what is happening to those who have been burning in this fire for years? How many human lives have been consumed by this fire. Will this fire continue to burn? This fire will not be extinguished. Will this be the fate of the Palestinian people? The Palestinian people also want freedom. Want to get out of the war Want to breathe in the open air.
The world is in turmoil. Everything has changed. The concept of Global Village has become a reality. But where do we stand? What is our position in the Global Village? Simply indebted, political, social, economic and moral degradation.
In Pakistan, unfortunately, the teaching of hatred, prejudice, curse and reproach is the statement of the state which has permeated the people. Contrary to the state’s statement, the ideas of peace, development and brotherhood are considered treason. Nobel laureate Pakistanis do not get peace in the country. Even their pictures are not tolerated. Images are painted in ink, but the funerals of hate-mongers are also held with great fanfare and pride.
Hatred or love for Israel cannot lead to the liberation of Palestine. The only problem is that for the last 72 years we have been running factories of hatred, curses, takfiriyyah and treason. not more. Quit the hate business for a year. Of course not. Just give one year of love, peace, brotherhood and see what the results are. Let’s name the year 2021 as Palestine. In the name of independent Palestine. In the name of love, peace, brotherhood and hatred. It is said that love is the conqueror of the world. | https://medium.com/@arshad-sulahri/palestine-and-israel-two-state-solution-60a703f77546 | ['Arshad Sulahri'] | 2021-03-22 22:28:55.549000+00:00 | ['Muslim', 'Israel', 'Palestine', 'Pakistan', 'Islam'] |
How to lose an AI challenge | Mistakes were made
Photo by Sarah Kilian on Unsplash
And as of last week, results have been announced, as you might have guessed by the title, I did not win, but since then my learning sky-rocketed, and I know I have made a lot of silly mistakes, for instance, my network was likely overfitting as I was arrogant enough to discard any advice of having a validation set, I was sure that having more data is more useful and I know better. My code had awful complexity, which might have been the reason my submission did not make it, and I was also not using any metric outside accuracy, like recall, precision or the F1 score. I also did not do any exploratory data analysis, I just went straight to cleaning and feeding it to the neural network. | https://medium.com/@aronszeles/how-to-lose-an-ai-challenge-5b7e0654cea9 | ['Aron Szeles'] | 2021-01-02 09:05:13.939000+00:00 | ['Mistakes', 'Failure', 'Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'AI'] |
Snow White and the Seven Unwanted Messages in Children’s Literature | Childhood is wonderful, like a flower on its way to full bloom, like a butterfly emerging gracefully out of a cocoon. A child’s mind is young, willing to take in all the information it can. It is curious and impressionable and more susceptible to the messages seemingly harmless story books convey than we realize.
Progress in children’s literature occurs at an almost glacial pace. For far too long, children are subjected to the same old fairy tales, the same old ‘classics’, and, consequently, the same old gender stereotypes incorporated in them. These distorted values are instilled into them through books, through movie adaptations, through cartoons inspired by these stories. When the world children are exposed to seems to persevere to maintain the flawed ideas of the role of young boys and girls, it is hardly surprising how the glaring differences between the two genders still persist.
One can identify 7 common themes across most of children’s stories. Here are 7 insidious messages children should not be hearing right before they go to sleep at night (or ever):
1. Damsel in distress
No one is unfamiliar with the poor damsel who always seems to find herself in an unpleasant situation that she herself does nothing to get out of. She is delicate and helpless like a deer caught in headlights, and someone somewhere is always out to get her. Her main contribution to a story is often simply looking beautiful and passively accepting her circumstance. Every now and then, she may shed a tear, but that’s about where it ends. Too often, she is not given any agency or opportunities to make decisions. The damsel is captured and then the damsel is rescued. Her role is responding to what is being done to her, even when she is the protagonist of the story. This teaches young girls with immense potential to never tap into their capabilities.
2. Knight in Shining Armour
Of course, one virtue the female lead of the story is permitted to have is that of patience. She is good at waiting, and waiting is all she does. With no attempt to escape a distressing situation, she awaits her knight in shining armor to get rid of her troubles for her. He always succeeds (there was never any doubt about that, he is a Man, after all!), and relieves her of her many woes. He is always the solution, always the light at the end of the tunnel. This only teaches young girls that dependency will be rewarded.
3. Older Vicious Women
The portrayal of older women and older men in children’s fairy tails is quite unfair, to say the least. Older women, in most cases, are described to be horrendous in appearance. They are malicious and always wish to inflict harm on the young female protagonist. They are witches, evil stepmothers, and sisters. Their sole purpose is to make the life of the young girl miserable because they envy her beauty.
Older male characters, on the other hand, are powerful kings and kind, elderly men with a pure heart. This contrast between the two contributes significantly to the way the perception of men and women is shaped in a child’s mind.
4. Vanity
Speaking of older women envying the beauty of a young girl, what is with their unrealistic preoccupation with good looks? Why are they obsessed only with the preservation and acquisition of a pretty face? Women are shown to be vain to such an extent that, not only do they spend excessive amounts of time pursuing beauty but are willing to cause harm to another woman in the process. This is a common stereotype that is constantly reinforced in children’s stories and fairy tales. The impact of this can be seen even today when girls are ridiculed for wanting to look ‘good’, for it is automatically assumed to be the only thing they exert any amount of effort into.
5. Rivalry
Another common theme recurring in these fairy tales is of women constantly being pitted against each other. They are almost never there to empower each other. They are in battle, always in opposing teams, and fighting over things like beauty and men. This not only reinforces the point about vanity but also establishes beauty and men as things worth quarreling over. It is no wonder so many young girls still feel like they are in competition with each other.
6. Body Type Being Associated with Traits
The media receives significant criticism for portraying only one type of body as the ‘ideal’, while the fairy tales kept away on the bookshelf of every house get away with doing the same. The female lead character is always seen to have a slender body and tiny waist. It is designed to be pretty and graceful and dainty and easy for a prince to lift when he inevitably rescues her. Not only is this body type always saved for the female protagonist, but any other type is also assigned to women who are evil and hold bad intentions. This leaves any body type that is not slender associated with villainous traits and the quality of being extremely wicked. Embossed into the minds of young girls at a very early age, this leads to problems relating to low self-esteem. While the media is accepted to be quite foul in its discrimination between body types, the reinforcement of the association of moral goodness with one’s appearance in a seemingly safe storybook is particularly harmful.
7. Virtues in men and women
Finally, the fairy tales and stories narrated to children have strong implications in the way they define what is expected of them in the future. The benchmark of excellence for both differs vastly and is infuriatingly low for girls. Girls are encouraged to aim to achieve perfection in appearance, in being well-groomed, in being still and delicate, and in stroking the ego of the male hero. Boys are encouraged to fight for what they want, to be brave. Why is she not taught to stand up for herself and others? She is to be kind to everyone but herself. She is celebrated for doing pretty much nothing other than be innocent and cower in the face of a challenge. Strength and courage are unimaginable traits for her to possess.
The tame and gentle way in which children’s literature inculcates certain unwanted values in children makes it all the more insidious. It is left unquestioned and considered innocent, which is perhaps why it is so difficult to see the need to change them. Significantly. When themes with the potential to trap young children in rigid gender stereotypes appear at an age when they are so gullible, one must acknowledge that it is only to go downhill from there. Room must be made for empowering young girls and balancing the roles of male and female characters in writing meant for younger readers. It is time to stop propagating these messages under the mask of bright colors and magical characters. | https://medium.com/thecontextmag/snow-white-and-the-seven-unwanted-messages-in-childrens-literature-c1a2ac572031 | ['Context Staff'] | 2019-03-01 06:06:35.637000+00:00 | ['Literature', 'Society', 'Culture', 'Women', 'Feminism'] |
Explaining Product Design to My Parents With Tupperwares | Getting my first job was a big thing for me. I finished my studies, and I had real work to do. I instantly became a grown-up! All the troubles of being a student were over, but soon I started facing others that I didn’t even know existed. Nothing prepared me for that one scary question: what do you do for a living?
I started working as a project manager at a consultant company. Sounds simple enough, right? My friends thought so, too. It wasn’t hard to explain my job to them. But it was a whole different story when it was my family asking the question.
When my parents first asked, my explanation was a literal word by word description. Their reaction was something like: “Our daughter is doing very important things.” They seemed happy, but still had no idea what I was doing at work. They just assumed it was important because I had to wear a suit every day.
Eventually, I gave up and ended up with the generic approach: “I work with computers.” Computers were a familiar artifact to them, so they could easily understand, and the problem was solved. Success!
From Project Manager to OutSystems Developer
A year after starting, I left my consultancy days and my suit behind and moved to OutSystems to embrace a new role. If you ask my parents where I work, they’ll say something like “autosystems”, “hotsystems”, “otosystem” or any other creative, but incorrect name. But we have to pick our battles wisely, and this one wasn’t for me.
However, I had to go through the trial of explaining what I was doing again. I was a developer, an OutSystems developer. This was surprisingly easy to get across.
My father likes cars and knows that they can be programmed. So, for him, I was a programmer that eventually would be able to deal with his car. As for my mother, programming was also a familiar word to her. She wouldn’t be able to say exactly what it was, but she could proudly tell people what I was doing.
Explaining it to my grandparents was a much harder task to accomplish, and after a few tries, I gave up. If you asked my grandma what I was doing, she would very proudly say: “She’s a doctor, she works with computers!” She doesn’t really know what a computer is, but she hears us talking about it and gets that they’re something modern.
Explain Hard Concepts With Simple Things
Some time ago, I moved from development to design and joined the Product Design team at OutSystems. The team’s vision is to deliver a product which users will fall in love at first sight, and keep loving forever, and I was very proud to be part of it. So, my next step was to share the good news and explain what I was doing to make this vision a reality.
When I told my parents, my mom’s first reaction was: “Why don’t you have a role with a Portuguese name? Why does every role have so many words in English?” After my previous experiences, I knew that I needed to use familiar concepts to be successful in my explanations.
So, to explain my product designer role to my mother, I used the kitchen as a metaphor. There were several elements to use as an example. Still, to guarantee success, I used that one thing that all mothers love and that we all one day receive in our trousseau: tupperwares!
Like many others, my mother has a huge drawer full of tupperwares. She loves them so much that when I need to use one, she registers it in a paper and methodologically strikes it through the list when I give it back. However, everyone in the house, even my mom, was at some point struggling to find the right tupperware and its respective lid. When I picked one up, I always ended up calling my mom.
With this unwanted responsibility, my mom decided to try something new. She started by putting the lid in each box and tidying up the drawer with all the covered boxes. However, there wasn’t enough space to organize the tupperwares this way, and she eventually dropped that solution. She needed a different approach to the problem.
She then decided to split the drawer into two sides: one with all the boxes, and another one with all the lids. This simple change turned the tupperware search much more comfortable and saved everyone a lot of time! At first, everyone complained about the change, but when we experienced how much easier it was to find a tupperware, we really appreciated the gesture. And my mom did too, as she stopped being called every time anyone needed a tupperware, which she enjoyed very much!
My mom’s achievement was a perfect example of another reality that she was now one step closer to understanding. My team tries every day to improve usability, ensuring that we deliver the right features to our customers. We deliver value that makes the product easier to use and accelerates users’ in their tasks. It’s very similar to what my mom did for the whole family with her tupperware method!
Providing the Best Tupperwares to Our Users
As we’ve seen, my work is very similar to organizing tupperwares for maximum usability profit. But while that analogy worked for my mother, it may not work for everyone out there. Let me give you a more accurate example.
Recently, I worked with my team on providing AI-powered suggestions in our development environment to accelerate users as they develop their apps with OutSystems. And, at first, our AI-Assisted Development feature was presenting a set of next step suggestions based on actions in nearby toolboxes.
Our most experienced users already knew by heart where those actions were and took minimal benefit from what our feature was presenting. The feature wasn’t delivering what was promised: valuable next step suggestions. We had to organize our tupperware drawer and understand how we could turn this around and really help our users.
We identified which actions were harder to perform manually and focused on presenting those first in our assistant, leaving the most basic suggestions to the end or removing them altogether. We ended up settling for the last solution you can see in the previous image. The feedback was great, and people really started taking the most of it, as intended initially. If you want to know the story of how we’ve crafted the assistant’s experience, be sure to check it here.
This is the whole tupperware drawer story all over again. At first, you put all the tupperwares in the drawer with no particular order. After a few times using it, you start noticing that you’re wasting a lot of time searching for the lids, so you decide to change the way they’re organized. One simple change, and everything becomes immediately easier!
That’s what we do with the OutSystems product. We talk and observe users to collect insights and figure out a few solutions. Then, we validate them with the users and make sure that we’re implementing the right ones for them.
Different Parents, Same Problem
I often hear similar stories from my colleagues and understand that this is a common problem between us. Not everyone is seen as a computer doctor. Still, some parents believe that all we do is play videogames all day, while others suspect that we do some kind of magic to come up with computer things.
Even after I came up with the perfect tupperwares analogy, my parents kept saying that I work with computers and never stopped asking me to fix the printer or update the computer. Because that’s what I do anyway, right?
Parents… What can we do? | https://medium.com/outsystems-engineering/explaining-product-design-to-my-parents-with-tupperwares-c59759de8c44 | ['Magda Pereira'] | 2020-04-08 13:28:27.907000+00:00 | ['User Experience', 'Programming', 'Parents', 'UX', 'Product Design'] |
How to Create a Successful Personal Budget in 3 Simple Steps | How to Create a Successful Personal Budget in 3 Simple Steps
Spending money is easy but budgeting your money and sticking to it is not the easiest thing to do. So, in this post, I will show you how to create a successful personal budget and also give you tips on how to follow the plan you make.
What is a budget
Why budgeting is important
How to set up a budget in 3 simple steps
Tips on how to follow a budget
What is a budget?
Simply put, a budget is a plan for every fund available to you for a specific period of time.
“An unplanned life is a chaotic one.”
Why budgeting is important
There are many advantages to budgeting. Here are some key ones:
1. Measure your finances
When you budget, you are able to plan and gain clarity on where you are financially compared to where you want to be.
2. Have a clear plan towards your financial freedom
Budgeting helps you to properly outline the steps you need to take to become financially independent.
3. Maintain financial discipline
If you budget and stick to it, you will attain a level of financial discipline that helps you manage your money better and build wealth consistently.
4. Track your financial goals
By creating a budget, you can easily set, plan towards, monitor and meet your financial goals.
5. Develop good financial habits
When you work with a budget, you are able to build good money habits that help you grow and protect your funds in the long run.
6. Make relevant spending changes
Creating and working with a budget helps you know where and when to make changes to your spending habits.
7. Prevent wastage
Budgeting enables you to detect areas of wastage so you can block them quickly and efficiently.
8. Help you stay in control of your finances
When you set up your budget, you are able to adequately manage your money, identify where it’s going and get it working for you.
A budget helps you to stay in control of your money
9. Monitor your financial records
With a budget, you can keep track of all your spending, observe your money habits, spot areas for improvement and make the needed adjustments.
10. Know where all your money is going
Budgeting enables you to plan what your money is being spent on so you never have to worry about where all your money is going again.
READ: Saving and Investing for Beginners
How to set up a budget in 3 simple steps
1. Figure out and calculate your monthly net income
The first thing you need to do is to find out how much you have to actually budget. This will help you put your actual income into perspective so you can plan accordingly.
So before creating your budget, you need to add up everything that makes up your income so you know how much you have to allocate. The total amount you get after adding everything up is your gross income.
Now, your income includes but is not limited to:
Your salary or allowance
Money you make from side hustles
Money gifts from friends and family
Interest on your savings
Returns on your investments
To make accurate projections, it is important to know exactly how much you have to budget
To calculate your net income, you will need to subtract taxes, pension and other recurring deductions on your account from your gross income. Here is an easy formula to use:
Net income = Gross income — (Tax + Pension + Other recurring deductions)
Meanwhile, please note that money you are expecting to receive does not count as income and thus should not be added to your income.
Always remember, it does not count until it is in the account.
2. Have a budgeting style
There are many budgeting formulas out there but before you start allocating your funds, your budget plan must cover the following:
Needs
Wants
Savings + (Investments and Debts)
A simple and generally accepted method for budgeting is the 50/30/20 rule. Where needs take 50%, wants take 30% and savings + (investments and debts) take 20%.
Needs — 50%
Needs are compulsory and must-do items majorly. They include things like:
Bills (Electricity, water, data, airtime etc.)
Needs take up a huge chunk of your budget
Transportation (Fuel for your car, money for public transportation or even an uber)
Feeding (Stocking your house with food items or eating out)
Toiletries (Tissue paper, toothpaste, bathing soap, washing soap etc.)
Insurance (Life, car, business, job, burglary or other forms of indemnity)
Childcare (For your child, children or wards)
Housing (Rent, maintenance, renovation, service charge etc.)
That’s a lot right?
Well, that’s why half of the income is dedicated to this aspect.
Wants — 30%
While we all want to be financially disciplined and plan for the future, we must not also forget to live in the present.
And this is where ‘wants’ come in.
Now, wants are the things you add to the budget to indulge yourself as the one who worked for the money.
Like the saying goes, all work and no play…you know the rest.
Your wants include things like:
A dinner outing with bae
Doing things for yourself and the people you love — no strings attached — is good for your mental health
Gifts for your loved ones
A well-deserved vacation
New hair or gadget
Entertainment 🍻🎶🍲
Savings + (Investments and Debts) — 20%
You can save and invest for:
Emergencies (Health, accident, theft etc.)
Life Goals (Wedding, education, real estate, business, etc.)
Short term goals (Car, Clothes, Shoes, Bags etc.)
For your future to be better than your present, you need to plan for it . Therefore, 20% of your income should be saved, invested and also put towards servicing any loans you may have. You can use Jetseed to save and invest securely and with ease.
3. Track your achievements
You need to evaluate your budget and your goals regularly to know how well you are doing and where changes need to be made.
You can do this by getting and looking through your bank and finance app statements or activity log. You can also try writing, using a task tracker or your notes app to log your spending.
You should assess your budget every month end and then use that information to plan your budget for the following month.
That way, you’ll know where all your money went per time, exactly how much you spent on what, places you overshot or disregarded your budget and ways to optimise your budgeting process.
READ: How to budget when you are in crisis mode
Tips on how to follow a budget
Now, you’ve done all the heavy lifting of calculating and budgeting your income. That’s out of the way now.
However, after creating a budget, many of us still struggle to follow through with it.
So here are some tips to help you stick to your set budget and make it a successful one.
Automate your savings with Jetseed Determine your investment options beforehand Track your daily spending Lock your savings plans Have enough cash in a flexible account
Happy budgeting and cheers to your financial freedom! | https://blog.jetseed.com/how-to-create-a-successful-personal-budget-in-3-simple-steps-d4f60695c3fd | ['Jetseed', 'Ex-Pettysave'] | 2021-07-17 13:48:47.825000+00:00 | ['Pettysave', 'Money Management', 'Fintech', 'Budget', 'Budgeting'] |
The Dog Days of Summer — Your Home Checklist | The ancient Romans called the hottest, most humid days of summer “diēs caniculārēs” or “dog days.” The name came about because the Romans associated the hottest (and most miserable) days of summer with the star Sirius. Sirius was known as the “Dog Star” because it was the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (large dog).
July certainly lives up to the Dog Days of summer. Hot, humid and often miserable. The last thing you want to think about are chores, but your house doesn’t take a break from needing maintenance. Thankfully, you can trust the service providers at Zaarly to cross off everything on your home to-do list, and with our accountability promise — you can sit back and relax by the pool, with nothing to worry about!
Decks
Is your deck ready for all of those summer BB Qs? If you haven’t done so already, have your deck pressure washed (it will look like a new deck!). It’s also a good time to consider having your deck re-stained. To make sure everyone is safe — have a handyman check the structural integrity of your deck, including stairs, railing posts, and spindles. Is it time to replace stairs or add something to your deck? Now is the time to do it!
Don’t have a deck yet? It’s not too late! You can have your dream deck sooner than you think!
Contact a deck-expert on Zaarly today.
Find a provider who can pressure wash your deck.
Curb Appeal
Lawns can suffer a lot during the summer. Make sure your grass stays green and healthy all summer by having regular maintenance. Now is also a good time to consider landscaping option through summer and fall. Is it time to put in a new walkway? Have you been dreaming of shade trees? From lawn mowing to major landscape design, our experts can help.
Have the best curb on the block! Book a lawn care or landscaping expert.
Summer Storms
Summer Storms are inevitable. Make sure your home is protected before they hit. Have your gutters been cleaned recently? Is your basement waterproofed? Is your landscaping sloped away from your foundation? Have your trees been trimmed? Keep your home safe and sound through everything Mother Nature throws at it this summer.
Housecleaning & Organizing
Summer vacations, camp, VBS, juggling work and life during the summer can seem impossible. Weekly or bi-weekly cleaning can bring your home from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over) to calm in no-time.
It’s also time to start thinking about fall! Hiring an organizer before school starts can help transition from summer into autumn seamlessly.
Find a housecleaner who can help calm the chaos.
Hire a home organizer who can help prepare for fall.
HVAC
Do we need to say more? Don’t get caught on the most miserable day of the year with a broken AC! Get your AC serviced!
Zaarly is the ONLY place you can find and hire service providers who are proud to be accountable for the job they say they will do. | https://medium.com/zaarly/the-dog-days-of-summer-your-home-checklist-f3099cdaf829 | [] | 2018-07-02 22:22:15.654000+00:00 | ['Home Improvement', 'Summer', 'Kansas City'] |
Perfect Timing of Our Long Awaited Times | 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 | https://medium.com/chalkboard/perfect-timing-of-our-long-awaited-times-8c76ce7f76ca | ['Francine Fallara'] | 2020-12-16 23:07:18.442000+00:00 | ['One Line', 'Relationships', 'Poetry', 'Love', 'Time'] |
Remembering Bella | by Susan G Holland
Bella was a pretty little pup from a mixed breed litter — mostly German Shepherd, but also something more shy — someone suggested it might be Austrian Shepherd, or maybe just “The Runt” of the litter.
Bella and her puppies looked like this.
Bella came to our Mennonite- country farmhouse as a half-grown rescue, but her puppies looked like this. It was long ago enough that I cannot find a photo — too deep in the storage, I‘m afraid.
She was shy and tentative. She grew into a fine looking creature, but held her ears down like this and would look me right in the eyes as if to absorb my mind through my eyes. We lived in that wonderful farmhouse for ten years.
Collegeville PA Farmhouse
Bella had the run of the place, and what a wonderful place for a dog with a creek and a big cow pasture (more about this anon) and cornfields and hardly any traffic!
Up the hill from the farm was another farmhouse, the home of the people who used the large barn behind our place for pigs and chickens and had his own cow barn up at the top of his hill.
Bella had some scrapes with the neighbors, but we probably did not hear about all of them, I reckon. But we did have one very troubling night when she went down the road the other way and got into the trash pile of some very nice Mennonite folks. They had put a left over leg of lamb in there, and Bella couldn’t resist.
Well, farmers have their ways, and Bella came back with a lot of buckshot sprinkled through her pelt — she was in shock and shivering and we took her right to the vet. The vet said it was better to just let her heal — leave the buckshot in — rather than traumatize her further by picking the little pieces out. Tranquilizers helped. We got to know the neighbors. They bought one of our cars when we got a newer one.
She did not do well in cars. She had amply demonstrated that on the way home when we first got her, and there was never a car ride without a very serious clean-up job afterward. She was always sick as a dog.
But she was beautiful, and dear, and she was our faithful dog. We kept her closer, not so free-ranging.
But alas — A cute young family (our landlord’s son and his wife and kids) lived down the road near the Mennonite family, and they had a turkey that had become a pet. Their turkey roamed free. And he liked to roam up to our house and get on our big front porch, stand on the rail, and take over the place. You could really tell he was there, not only from the turkey talking but from the leavings all over our porch and rail! Bella chased him, of course. And then she caught him. It was a tragedy. It was a pet. There were tears. But that’s the farm country, and we got over it. (Those folks moved in to the farmhouse when we left.)
What is a dog to do in a countryside like that? We were not going to tie up our dog or keep her inside all the time, and couldn’t afford to completely fence an area in. We just kept an eye out.
One day I had a call from the farmer up the road — the one who used the barn back of our house. The message was short and terse. “Your dog is chasing my dairy cows and we can’t have that — it ruins the milk! If you can’t keep your dog in, I will have to put out poison.” They were good people, but the dairy cows were their livelihood — not a hobby. And I was terrified with the concept of poison.
I was still emotional and recoiling from that threat the next morning, when I noticed that his cows were up behind our house eating up my vegetable garden! They had broken through their fence and were happily munching the tomatoes and lettuce and peppers up on our back yard! I called the farmer, and said (with a bit of tit-for-tat in my attitude) “I’m sorry to say that your cows are in my vegetable garden and I will need help herding them back into your field. Please come down right away.” (I always wondered if the cows had help in breaking through the split rail fence. Farmers have their ways.)
That herding episode was the first time I had ever had a longish conversation with that uphill neighbor in the nearly nine years of living there! We herded the cows and made our apologies and then chatted about other things — where we came from and how we got there…the history of the property…things like that. That farmer always dumped a sack of freshly picked corn on the cob on our porch on the way by during corn season.
Well, Bella and that neighbor’s beautiful German Shepherd got together too.
Bella was not spayed. Their dog was not neutered. One Sunday we had to go to church knowing that the two dogs were apparently stuck together up on the back yard. I had called the vet wondering what to do, and he said “She’ll let him go when she’s through.” She did, of course, we were relieved to see when we got home from church.
So, of course, we had puppies soon in a basket in the kitchen! Six of them. Just like baby Bella. Darling. Hungry! Messy!
They went from the kitchen down to the basement room where the washing machine was. And if it wasn’t food all over the floor at meal time, it was a lot of used-to-be-food that required unsavory cleanup, always. But they were not eating our table legs at least.
One day the son and daughter-in-law of the dairy farmer up the hill called up and asked if they could come see the puppies!
Well, they came, and we trudged down the narrow steps to the smelly basement room where all these little fuzzies were tearing around and looking very cute. We took them outside to a fenced in area and I watched while the couple looked over our brood. They were disappointed that the pups were all blond. They would have liked a better facsimile of their German Shepherd who had fathered the pups, with the handsome dark markings and all.
So we still had six pups. We also had rather immediate plans for a life-changing move from Pennsylvania to Washington State! A very long drive. Not an adventure we could take six pups and a carsick dog on. So one of the teariest days I ever had was taking those beautiful young pups to the SPCA. There were people with children in the SPCA looking to adopt. I left the pups, prayed for their adoptions, and hurriedly drove off before I knew the outcome. (Choked up just now writing about it.)
How did Bella get to Washington State? She got there in a red pickup truck that was hauling a U-Haul trailer in the blistering heat of August. The vet gave my husband dog-tranquilizers which made the dog pretty relaxed and very drowsy. She would recover overnight in a motel or campground, and get medicated in the morning each day. While she and my husband were driving, our three kids and I were visiting relatives on the east coast before taking off from Logan Airport for our new life out west. | https://medium.com/the-story-hall/remembering-bella-da1e0bda76ac | ['Susan G Holland'] | 2017-07-21 05:47:11.364000+00:00 | ['Puppies', 'Pets', 'The Farm', 'Dogs', 'Tribute'] |
Oprah promised it will get better | Oprah promised it will get better
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
I may never “land a job” again. About four years ago, I was fired from a job I had for a decade. The “powers that be” would call it “position elimination” or “unfortunate circumstances of the recession.” As I have said before, you can call it what you want, when it happens to you it feels the same regardless of the surrounding circumstances and it is personal.
Because I was the “Sugar Momma,” as Hubby called me, I immediately began applying for other positions. I sent out many cover letters, résumés, and references. I filled in so many of those online applications that my eyes crossed. Indeed.com became my best friend and they sent me email after email after email telling me what a perfect fit this one job or that other job would be for me.
There were a handful of those that never made it out of the inbox of the hiring agent. But, I look great on paper, so I had a lot of interviews too. For two years, I interviewed with committees or chairs or directors. And, I would do well in the interview. I study before going in. I learn the website and mission of the institution. I am charming and funny. I laugh at their jokes.
Most of the time, I only learned that I wasn’t chosen for the position when I would read the announcement about the person who was chosen. I was appalled at the lack of communication between the folks doing the hiring and the folks applying for the position. One place did send a letter — an actual letter through snail mail! That was old fashioned, but at least it was something. For another application, I had multiple email messages back and forth with the person hiring the position. It seemed like we had built rapport with each other. Then, I was ghosted like I was a 15 year old in a high school romance novel. I never heard from him again. Nothing. Radio silence. Not even an old fashioned letter delivered by the postal service.
I landed some part-time gigs. One that is on-going and wonderful. It is the congregation I serve and without them over these four years, I’m not sure I would ever make my bed or take a shower. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to serve — even in the very part-time way it is. I stage manage sometimes. That comes and goes and with the Pandemic, it went for a long time. I haven’t had a full-time position since my career abruptly ended. I don’t want to be a cry-baby about it. But, I am trying to be radically vulnerable. We are three months into these daily blog posts and I’m still trying to figure out the difference between those two things. I guess if you think of it as whining, then you will stop reading.
After two years of steady “We are going in a different direction” emails or no emails at all, I stopped looking. Hubby ended up working full-time along with other part-time gigs and we have been able to manage. Kid #2 was in middle school and being bullied, so we started home-schooling. Then, of course, the Pandemic. It was helpful that I could be home to be the OCD monitor of all things school. I taught a couple of courses on worship via Zoom. I started a new faith community. I kept busy.
I got into a routine, of sorts. I don’t really do routines very well, but I settled in again. Over the last few months, I have found myself thinking aloud, “Wow, I have a great life.” I stepped away from the edge of the abyss that is depression and began to be grateful for the time I had to spend on things I feel called to do, including spending time with the kids.
Then, I heard about a position opening up that sounded perfect for me. I worked on my cover letter and résumé. And, of course, there was an online application in addition to that. I got an interview. I killed the interview. (I think I did, anyway.) I did not get chosen for the position. They went a different direction.
Before the interview, I wasn’t sure what I thought about any of it. I had been satisfied. But, this was going to make the financial situation at our house a lot less stressful, so it would be good. I would be great at the job. I honestly have no doubt about that. I feel weird saying that without apologizing, but it is the truth. I don’t know if I would enjoy the environment. I don’t know if I would miss how settled my life had become. I do know I would have been good at it.
After the interview, I still didn’t know what I thought. Honestly, I hoped they would hire a BIPOC. They need to. All you have to do is look at a website to know this. But, if they weren’t going to choose someone with darker skin tones than me, then I wanted to be the chosen one. Who doesn’t want to be chosen?
So, when I found out that I had not been chosen — again — all the same old feelings and questions began to circle my head. I made a list that day of questions I was asking myself. They weren’t deliberate. I just tried to notice what came into my mind. When something floated through, I wrote it down.
1. I must look good on paper. What happens in the interview that makes them not want me?
2. Oprah said the decade of the 50’s is the best. What is going to happen between now and May to make my 50’s better than this decade has been?
3. Is it because I’m almost 50?
4. Did they know the whole time who they were going to hire? This seems to happen all the time and I’m pretty sick of it.
5. Do I seem crazy to other people?
6. Is it because I’m fat?
Now, that last one is going to make some of you very uncomfortable. Sorry. That question went through my mind more times than any other. I don’t think people do it consciously. I don’t think the committee had a conversation about me after the interview saying,
“Well, she WOULD be perfect, if it just weren’t for that one thing.”
And, I wish it weren’t true, but I know it is true. I know it is true because I do it and I AM FAT. So, I know others are doing it all the time. Subconsciously, we decide what kind of person a person must be if they are fat. Words like “unhealthy,” “lazy,” and “slow” come to mind without us even registering that it is happening. Of course, words like “jolly,” “snuggly,” and “make the rockin’ world go round” come to mind too. The stereotypes aren’t all bad. If this was a reason, I don’t think the people making the decision even know that it was a reason. I can’t help but wonder.
One day, I said that whole Oprah thing to BFF — “Oprah says that my 50’s will be the best yet!” To which she replied, “Well, it couldn’t get any worse!”
Ouch!
As far as looking good on paper, I am one of those people who is over-qualified for just about everything I could get an interview for. Continuing my education, getting a doctorate seemed like the perfect idea at the time. And, had I been able to maintain my position at the seminary, it would have been. I educated myself for that particular position and while it does sound nice to list my degrees, there are few positions looking for such things from me. So, of course, they have questions about why in the world a person with such education and experience would apply for a job that only requires a Bachelor’s degree. I would wonder too. “Either this person is hard to work with or crazy or both!”
When I was in my twenties and early thirties, I got called all the time to do conferences or preach for special events. When the position opened at the seminary, someone called me to tell me to apply. I didn’t have to go look for it. So, one of the things that happens in not being chosen is the comparison to what once was. And, with that, inevitably I ask, “Am I just past my prime now? Will I never be able to land a job again?”
All these questions don’t even begin to touch on the theological. And, let me tell you, when a position seems to appear from thin air written for me and I’m still not chosen, there are a lot of theological questions! “What are you doing, God?!” But, I know I’m not the only one who thought this way about the position either. I’m sure many of the people who interviewed have some kind of faith that was guiding them in their decisions. There is no reason I should get chosen over someone else. It doesn’t stop the questions from coming to my mind.
I’m using the word “chosen” a lot because that is how it feels to me. I wasn’t chosen. And, I want to be chosen. Even if I were going to turn down the offer, it would be nice to be asked. I’m sure there are people in the world who can go through this process without it feeling so personal. And, maybe that is one of the things I should be working on, one of the things other people can see in me that makes them nervous. Maybe it shouldn’t feel so personal all the time.
I really am okay. I needed about five hours to grieve not being chosen. I will continue to ponder the “making it personal” thing, but right now I don’t think that is so bad. I do make things personal. I like being personal. I want to know you personally. I want you to be personal with me. Living in the world through radical vulnerability means things feel very personal. That may not be a way to “land a job,” but I happen to believe it is pretty good way to live a life. | https://medium.com/@thmcclung/landing-a-job-4f1bf10d1c0d | ['T. H. Mcclung', 'She Her S'] | 2021-09-04 00:50:42.005000+00:00 | ['Careers', 'Daily Blog', 'Chosen', 'Year 49', 'Oprah'] |
Anxiety Is a Superpower | “What’d you learn at school today, Grace?”
“I learned that the antibacterial soap we use doesn’t work anymore and we’re making superbugs that will kill us all.”
This is a scene from the first season of Nurse Jackie illustrating the growing anxiety of Jackie’s 10-year-old daughter, Grace. Grace becomes fixated on the kind of “imminent doom” programming popular on cable channels and finds that she can’t look away from shows like Viral Armageddon and Could the Superflu Return?
She begins having panic attacks at school and later, the school counselor tells her parents that he believes Grace has generalized anxiety disorder.
I sympathize with that little girl, even though she’s fiction, because I was that little girl.
And if my life were on DVD, like my copies of Nurse Jackie, it would be possible to cue up one of the early chapters in Season Two of my life, right around the time my Titanic Texas family tilted nose down toward disaster while the littlest of us scrambled to hold onto the railings.
At 9 years old, I started taking half a 5 mg. Valium because I became convinced my heart would stop if I didn’t keep my hand over it.
I ate in alphabetical order, touched the front door three times to make sure it was locked, and chanted John 3:16 like a magic spell whenever I had intrusive thoughts about my family being murdered.
Move forward on this imaginary DVD to my 15th year for the season debut of yet another permutation of my anxiety.
“Mrs. Skinner said that Jesus is going to come back in a thunderstorm,” I told my grandmother after Sunday School. “So every time there’s a thunderstorm we should be excited because it could be Jesus coming back.”
Which is exactly how you create panic disorder in a teenager who’s been steeped in Southern Baptist End Times scenarios her whole life. And who lived smack in the middle of the Texas Panhandle’s “Tornado Alley,” guaranteeing at least a dozen operatic thunderstorms each spring.
“Oh, it doesn’t say that anywhere in the Bible,” my Meemaw said, a dismissive wave of her hand finalizing her thoughts. “The Rapture will happen at any minute and you won’t have any warning at all. Don’t worry about storms.”
Thunderstorms already made me uneasy and now the idea that they were possible harbingers of The Rapture rendered them terrifying. The very next storm caused me to cower in the covers, a pillow over my head, prayers streaming in a rush.
My grandmother found me and gave me one of her muscle relaxants.
But it didn’t work.
I still felt like my heart would burst through my chest like the monster in Alien. Seeing this distress, my mother, taking up the special bottle from her purse, tapped out a yellow pill. What looked like an arrowhead was carved into its middle.
A Valium.
Swallowing it was like pulling a bowstring. And the Valium’s arrowhead shot into the middle of the alien clutching my throat, quieting it.
Fast-forward to the school prom.
“I’m nervous about going,” I confide to my grandmother.
“Here,” she says, opening her personal medicine cabinet. She ceremoniously cranks the top of the child-proof cap off, delicately retrieving a pale blue pill. Through the machine-pressed V, I could see the lines on my palm.
“It’s a ten, break it in half and you’ll have two doses, if you need them.”
I was 17, a full set of braces freshly removed, a crinkly crown of permed hair weighing down my tiny self-image.
My date: a pen pal from New York. I’d found his address in a Star Trek fan magazine. (No really). We’d never actually met until I picked him up at the airport earlier that day.
Of course I needed both halves of that blue pill.
Go forward a bit more to my wedding.
The guy I’m about to marry is a mistake. I know it. My family knows it. Even the doctor I work for knows it. And somewhere down inside his hollow heart, my fiancé knows this is a mistake too.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Meemaw says, zipping up the back of the wedding dress she spent three months making.
“But all those people. I can’t do it. I have to do it,” I said, starting to feel the alien scratch the insides of my ribcage.
“Do you want one?” she says. We both know what she’s talking about.
Under my veil, I nod my head.
My dad is loaded to the gunnels with whiskey, as was his Saturday night custom. He and I lean into each other so we can make it down the aisle without looking like two ships caught in a storm at sea. I count the steps under my breath to keep my focus: one, two, one, two…
Click on the next chapter and you’ll see the montage of me clutching a paper bag over my mouth and nose to stop hyperventilating during various stressors over the next few years: the first Thanksgiving with my husband’s family, finding out I’m pregnant, deciding to divorce my husband and some other scenes that I can’t even really remember, but you get the idea.
The montage will also show that I became a borderline recluse because of the fear of public panic attacks. The montage ends with me in an E.R. being hooked up to an EKG because I’m certain I’m having a heart attack.
Fade out of montage into this bit of dialogue:
“You have a fairly severe anxiety disorder.”
Fade to black. | https://medium.com/swlh/anxiety-is-a-superpower-d2388d73b17a | ['Shanna Peeples'] | 2019-10-23 21:14:35.815000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Anxiety', 'Leadership', 'Self-awareness', 'Mental Health'] |
Rebranding Little England | Who benefits from liberal nationalism?
Emily Thornberry vs Rochester
On the 20th of November, 2014, Emily Thornberry, made a tactical error. A throwaway tweet led to her resignation, at the same crystallising the discussion around English patriotism.
On the campaign trail for a by-election in Rochester, Kent, the Labour MP for Islington South shared a photo of a house she had found. The suburban newbuild was emblazoned with three large England flags and had a white van parked outside. She simply captioned the image ‘#rochester’, suggesting the image spoke to the wider nature of Rochester itself.
This image was subjected to much hand-wringing, so let’s break it down quickly. A white van is a visual shorthand for the working-class — driven by the “white van man”, a salt of the earth geezer, forthright in opinion and mannerism. This cultural stereotype is often linked to nationalist politics, represented by the St. George’s Cross. Another linked cultural stereotype is the middle-class liberal. They don’t have quite as strong a symbol as the white van, or St. George’s Cross — maybe The Guardian newspaper, or latte coffee. This group considers English nationalism rather gauche: one of the many reasons these two groups are at odds with each other.
Nationalism in England is a complex and confrontational topic. That’s why these figures (white-van-man vs latte-liberal) are used, to reduce it to class friction. This is something that English people understand well. But they don’t stand up to scrutiny and are not useful when discussing the future of England. That’s why any attempts to flag-wash Labour without bothering to examine the world we’re living in and seriously plan for the future, will fail. For one, everyone drinks lattes these days.
The infamous snap
When Thornberry, scion of the Islington Elite, posted that image, most read it to have a scornful subtext. ‘Look at this’, it seemed to say, ‘state of the nation! These symbols, and those who tout them, are beneath me’.
One of her colleagues described it as an ‘own goal’, and this might be the gentlest criticism she received. It was a PR disaster for Labour, leaving them to be hammered as snobs. For her part, Thornberry was apologetic but mystified. Having grown up in a working-class community herself, she claimed to have been genuinely astounded that someone would cover their own windows with flags — ‘It was a house covered in British flags. I’ve never seen anything like it before’.
The whole debacle fitted neatly into the class friction we discussed earlier. Nationalism was a battle between the white (in ethnicity as well as preferred van colour) working class, and their middle-class counterparts in Islington. Excoriated by her opponents and allies, Emily Thornberry had revealed a sore spot in the psyche of a small and furious island nation.
English nationalism isn’t going anywhere. Its supporters care deeply for what it means to them, whereas critics deride it as a symptom of prejudice and bigotry, the antithesis of a progressive “multicultural Britain”.
Liberals might have been hoping it would dissolve after being robustly beaten in the marketplace of ideas, following disgraced BNP politician Nick Griffin who slunk off the scene in the early ’10s. But the reason for Griffin’s departure wasn’t the drubbing he got on Question Time. In fact, the airtime he was provided gave exposure to his racist take on nationalism and exerted considerable rightward pressure on the mainstream political discourse.
Conservatives haven’t been nearly so blinkered to nationalism. They’ve cleverly courted it to bring its supporters on-side. And only now are Labour (having lost both their memberships to the EU in 2016 and the once-immutable ‘red wall’ of Labour voters in the crushing 2019 elections) are waking up to the fact that they need to take English nationalism seriously. But the question is, who is even asking for a red and white handshake from the centre-left?
Progressive Patriotism
Reckoning with an English identity that they’ve held for years at arm’s length with noses wrinkled, the centrist machinery in the Labour party and liberal media will be chewing over the issue of a left-wing nationalism. The danger is that they will settle on an unconvincing mirror of the Conservatives (more on which later), or repackaged New Labour — this time with more flags!. There will certainly be space to throw a few elbows at Jeremy Corbyn.
Julian Coman puts forward an argument for ‘progressive patriotism’ which lays out a directive for a left-wing national identity. Some of his arguments are valuable, and can thread into a strong Leftist movement for a new form of “Englishness”. But it’s important to question these liberal approaches to an English national identity by asking — who is it for, and what will make it worth their while?
Coman reminds us that the ‘Progressive Patriotism’ gestured to by Rebecca Long-Bailey in her 2019 Labour leadership campaign was widely panned, derided by the Leftist groups that were her natural allies. He calls it ‘somewhat sketchy’ — noting the vague thrust of her argument. Ruth Kinna for Novara Media was more explicit, all but calling it ahistorical. She states that ‘positioning the left in a politics dominated by mavericks preoccupied with symbolic politics — like crowdfunding £500,000 for Big Ben to chime to mark Brexit — is surely a dangerous game’.
Brexit party
Kinna is right — right-wing groups are expert puppet masters, using emotive symbols to muddle discourse and shift goalposts. There’s an idiom that states you shouldn’t argue with an idiot, because they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you. Not to say that right-wing ideologues are fools — but challenging them in the field of cynical symbolism is a fool’s errand.
However, maybe Long-Bailey’s outline was more prescient than she was given credit for. She centres the Green Industrial Revolution as a rallying point for a renewed national unity.
‘I have been proud to champion our party’s plans for a green industrial revolution to tackle the climate crisis through investment in good, unionised jobs and the reindustrialisation of our regions and nations. It will spark the growth of new industries as well as guarantee that the renewable technologies of the future’ — Rebecca Long-Bailey, 2019
This was refreshingly non-rhetorical. Long-Bailey backed up her concept of patriotism with a plan of action to sustainably invigorate the economy across the nation, whilst protecting it from climate change. This would be a much greater driver of unity than any length of column inches wrestling with the right-or-wrongness of patriotism. A left-wing conception of patriotism requires such a concrete basis of forward action to be not just popular, but rightful. All across the left in the United Kingdom you can see examples of bold, public-minded thinking, and most importantly, action. This is the key way to frame patriotism, by looking (and moving) forward. Creating a brighter, more bountiful future for everyone, rather than defending the scraps of what is left.
Coman’s article intelligently positions the concept of Englishness and nationhood, perhaps trying to nestle it comfortably within liberal minds (latte gang) so that they may go forth and win support from those who already hold nationhood dear (white van gang). However, this could lead to the trap warned of by Kinna — simply by claiming patriotism, the left will fail to convince, or be easily outmanoeuvred. By showing what patriotism means through action, through top-down policy pressure and grassroots community activism, then Labour and the left can create their own idiot’s argument that will be hard to deny.
‘The land has been here longer than anyone else…’
‘This England’ is a quarterly magazine, published since 1968. Each issue depicts picturesque scenes, from stunning seaside views to cosy winter villages. The contents are predictable — more beautiful imagery, along with proudly nostalgic articles about the great people and accomplishments of England and Britain. While not a magazine read for its hard-hitting journalism, it is extremely conservative, with an editorial voice that’s not just euro-sceptic but metric-sceptic.
It’s the ideal candidate as flagship publication for the “Little Englander”, a popular cultural stereotype that’s been bubbling in our national consciousness since the late 18th century. The term first described members of the Liberal Party that were advocating to draw back the borders of the British Empire. It’s with this definition that Coman begins his article, leading off with an excerpt from JB Priestley’s ‘English Journey’:
‘That little sounds the right note of affection. It is little England I love. And I considered how much I disliked Big Englanders, whom I saw as red-faced, staring loud fellows, wanting to go and boss everybody about all over the world. Patriots to a man. I wish their patriotism would begin at home.’
Over time, this term evolved to cover those wishing to cease involvement in international affairs beyond what benefitted England, now describing a band of the population known for their insular, xenophobic outlook (see also: gammon). “Little Englanders” are often evoked as a socially conservative image in the urban vs rural political divide in Britain, where multicultural cosmopolitan centres tend to vote left and less diverse agricultural regions vote right.
However, for the “Little Englanders” of today to be spiritual owners of England’s natural beauty (like what you’ll find on the cover of ‘This England’ magazine) is a barrier to a progressive conception of English nationalism.
This is a worry for Coman too, as he remarks: ‘in parts of the left, there is an unattractive blind spot that misses the importance of collective attachment to an inherited landscape, both physical and emotional’. I’m not so sure. It sounds obvious to me, but it bears stating: England’s natural beauty is revered and appreciated by all ages and segments of the political spectrum. A new generation of nature lovers embody this — from the arcane ramblers at Weird Walk, to outdoors/ urban hybrid fashion influencers l.holl and onenorff and projects like The Art of Mushrooms - rarely has the fabric of England been more visible to the Instagram generation.
And as for the emotional connection to the landscape — it’s not so simple as to be a given.
Zakia Sewell’s challenging and enlightening documentary series ‘My Albion’ investigated the intersections of Britain’s natural fabric with ethnic, national and generational identities, producing essential results. She went some way to mine out how Englishness can be a sinister phantasm in the English countryside, a barrier to the second part of Coman’s equation for an ‘inherited landscape, both physical and emotional’.
She starts the episode ‘Four Hundred Years’ by ruminating how she and her mother ‘stick out’ in their family home of Wales, compared to London. She goes on to speak to other British POC to discover their experiences of both being othered and finding solace in the English countryside.
Rapper and playwright Testament lays bare his experiences walking in the countryside:
‘The landscape is a refuge to me, a bit of a sanctuary to me, but I definitely have gone on walks and you get a side-eye from another walker, or you turn the corner and you come out the woods and an approaching party sees you and sees a person of colour, and — bless them — sometimes they look a bit scared, seeing a dark skin guy with a hoodie. Yep, there is a preconception…’
Horticulturalist Sam Siva speaks with clarity, discussing how she’s made to feel in the countryside, versus how the countryside itself makes her feel:
‘I think for me, the only times that I’ve really felt able to love this country has been when I’m in nature. Even when someone looks at me funny in the countryside, I just know that the land has been here longer than anyone else. If anyone tries to tell me that I am not welcome here, I’m not listening to them — I’m listening to, rather, what are the trees saying, what are the plants saying, what are the animals saying. They’re not looking at me or discriminating against me based on the colour of my skin or the way I speak, so I don’t feel like I need to listen to humans when I’m connecting to the environment.’
Siva considers how English landscapes reconcile with the wilder nature of her childhood in Montego Bay, Jamaica. She notes how cultivated, enclosed and subdivided England’s landscape is:
‘England is this really cultivated place, I think it fits within a Christian ethos, Adam and Eve, with their dominion of all the animals they’re supposed to rule over. That everything is something to take from rather than having this integrated relationship with nature, and that Christian ethos is what has been exported through empire.’
Here Siva has hit on a key indicator of how love and advocacy for England’s nature can find a much more natural home in a Leftist-Socialist political base, rather than with Conservative-Neoliberalism. Priti Patel’s urging through of new trespass laws is, on the face of it, a cruel campaign to criminalise Irish and Romani travellers. But it will severely impact walkers rights to enjoy our ‘inherited landscape’. No doubt this side effect is welcome to the Conservative party — it further cements the aloof, capitalist individualism they’ve stoked since the day of Thatcher, dissolving the glue of communities in Britain.
Moreover, the uncomfortable experiences of Zakia Sewell’s guests reveal how important it is to centre the experiences of minority groups in England if talk about patriotism is to come without a taste of bitterness. Championing individuals like Marcus Rashford and Stormzy is popular with the liberal media, and it’s clear to see why — they are towering figures of art, sports, and humanity. But it rings hollow without investigating the animosity that they and other Black and Asian people are facing at the same time. It’s an animosity driven by a conservative establishment aching to stir dissent, and a liberal establishment that’s indifferent to the deeper causes of Black Briton’s exclusion from Englishness.
The Unpatriotic Left
It’s not for me to dictate how POC members of English society self-identify — but I can raid archived statistical reports. In 2004, the Office for National Statistics shone a light on the implicit racial coding of Englishness:
‘People from the white British group were more likely to describe their national identity as English, rather than British. However, the opposite was true of the non-white groups, who were far more likely to identify themselves as British. For example, two-thirds (67%) of Bangladeshis said they were British, while only 6% said they were English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish.’
This was 17 years ago, so the data may not still be as representative. But if it does still resemble the truth, then it should give pause to any generalised notions of “Englishness”. Clearly, these are labels that won’t stick by themselves. It’s worth noting that this data was published just four years after the Runnymede Trust’s report ‘The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain’, a document that contained startling findings that were bitterly refuted by then-Home Secretary, Jack Straw of the Labour Party.
‘Britishness, as much as Englishness, has systematic, largely unspoken, racial connotations. Whiteness nowhere features as an explicit condition of being British, but it is widely understood that Englishness, and therefore by extension Britishness, is racially coded. Race is deeply entwined with the idea of nation’ (Runnymede, 2000: 38).
Disliking the critical, realist findings of the report, Straw attacked the ‘unpatriotic Left’ for undermining ‘traditional concepts of Britishness’. It’s great to know that 20 years on, the discourse has progressed so much 🙃.
The question is — why would Black Britons want to embrace Englishness when they have much to offer but little to gain?
Does Matt Hancock Even Know Who Danny Weed is?
Matt Hancock may go down in history as the Health Secretary who passed out profitable contracts to incompetent cronies during the Coronavirus pandemic. But in 2017 he was a humble Minister of State for Digital and Culture in Theresa May’s government. In this role, he published an article in The Times, advocating for the dominance of British music worldwide. It was caught by some eagle-eyed observers such as Dan Hancox in his book ‘Inner City Pressure: The Story Of Grime’ (a must-read for anybody interested in Grime and contemporary cultural identity in the UK).
Anyway, Hancock’s article ‘As a grime fan, I know the power of the UK’s urban music scene’ went viral in 2020 and spawned a host of mocking takes, spinning Hancock for being inauthentic and out of touch. It is a funny image, the stuffy conservative politician promoting a genre that was once the height of anti-establishment youth culture. And it’s true, he did fail his on-the-spot Skepta trivia quiz. However, the discourse surrounding Hancock’s unprompted admission missed some important facts.
For one, Grime has been around for nearly 20 years. If it’s your marker for edgy youth culture, please recalibrate. Furthermore, Matt Hancock doesn’t need to know who Danny Weed (pioneering Grime artist) is to advocate for the genre, as one pundit asked of him.
Lastly — he might have been dead right.
Grime and other iterations of UK Rap such as Drill are exemplary cultural exports. Hancock is bang on the money to recognise that. And highlighting the counterproductive racism of the infamous Form 696 is precisely the sort of work a digital culture minister should be doing.
How exactly is this Hancock love-in relevant to the matter at hand — defining a progressive national identity? The arts and culture fermented in England and Britain are hugely powerful and influential. We’re in a golden age of musical creativity, with digital tools democratising the processes of making music, video, and other types of creative communication. In this sense, “English’’ culture is being exported 24/7. Artists like Ilford’s 808Melo work with US star Pop Smoke (now sadly deceased) helped to popularise UK Drill, a style that’s now echoing across the charts internationally as global artists scrabble to keep up.
You don’t have to look far to find a wealth of valuable cultural talent to hang your hat on, if you’re looking to articulate a national identity that’s truthful and relevant. And it won’t rely on the hazening memories of a generation that have convinced themselves they lived through The Blitz, despite being born in the 1960s.
Grime and Drill music are arbitrary examples of the pioneering arts produced on this rainy island. However, they do exemplify how some of the most forward-thinking, vital art is being produced at the intersections of the diverse cultural communities that inhabit Britain — Carribean, African, Asian, and more. It’s impossible to forget England’s shameful colonial past, but this legacy has created a multicultural catalyst for the art forms like Grime music.
Again, this reinforces the point that making space to invite POC communities into any kind of national identity cuts two ways — who says they would even want to be part of a club, one that has reviled them so much, when they’re doing perfectly well in forging a bold cultural identity?
England for the English
In ‘My Albion’, Sewell spends some time talking to Alex Niven, an academic and poet. He’s spent years mining the causes and conclusions of different strains of British nationalism. He makes an interesting point: you can have power, or you can have soul — but you can’t have both.
I interpret this to describe how the experience of a people under the mantle of an oppressive force creates an elusive bond, a self-image that is expressed in art and culture. The phrase is rooted in the African-American experience; a notably oppressed community who have been stereotyped in popular culture as ‘soulful’, supposedly demonstrated through dialect, music, and an innate charisma.
But clearly, Niven isn’t talking about the soul of Motown — he’s referring to the soul of the Welsh, Scottish, and Irish. These nations, under the yoke of English dominance for centuries, have fairly soulful national stereotypes, which we won’t go into here.
Discussing the nationalism of these British Isles nations, Alex Niven remarks to Sewell:
‘They’ve developed a more modern sense of self, in opposition to the imperialism of Anglo-Britishness, those forms of nationalism tend to be more a bit coherent, and they tend to have more potential for progressive politics at some point.’
When you picture the “Englishman”, does this image evoke soul? Probably not, if you’re going by the image England’s been exporting for much of its modern history. Eton and Oxford-educated, sporting a bow tie and speaking in clipped RP. Or maybe the boys-own-adventure dress-up version, in fatigues or safari hat. Some of the more rogue elements among you might consider a slick James Bond character or some kind of shedman tinkering with marrow growth formulas.
Whichever Cecil you came up with, none of them are very “soulful”. They might be commanding, or impressive, or even ‘cool’ (extremely debatable), but they don’t have the resilient swagger of the underdog, the proud rebel. These faces of the English upper class have power (military, financial, institutional) but they don’t have soul. This is certainly enough to keep a national identity ticking over, when said power is in use. But as England’s power recedes from the corners of the globe it previously infiltrated, trickling back downstream, what does it leave?
This menace has absolutely zero soul
But of course, there is soul in England. Regional communities of England have always had their own soul, or “authenticity”, you might put it. But again, these are groups that don’t wield large social power; their unique and characterful selfhoods are constructed from a position of social disadvantage. Here, in the character and strength of regional Englishness there is soul and identity.
Identity is best formed in opposition — even the confusing landscape of England pulled itself together in opposition to the EU. And in Scotland, nationalism is an extremely broad church when wielded against the English centres of power. Look no further than the Northern Independence Party, seeking to capitalise on the rising currents of independence by securing freedom for proud Northumbria.
Fighting Over Crumbs
In a pitched battle over the essence of Englishness, the priority of the rightwing establishment is to flog the second hand, well-worn image of “English power” — leaning on the strong-arm accomplishments of the past, but hiding the fading, cracked paintwork with copious flags and decorating the dashboard in Churchill-shaped trinkets. They know what they had, and they know it’s on the way out — although they would never admit this. So they’re pulling a final sleight of hand to consolidate a dwindling power, and offering the working classes part-ownership on an “English power” that they were never offered when it was still ripe.
A group that continues to benefit from England’s historical strength, the liberal middle class, are only just easing back into the fight to define English nationalism. In an insightful article that preemptively rejoins Coman’s, Nivens points out that ‘England simply does not have a strong enough cultural imaginary to meaningfully define itself in the globalised, precarious 21st century’. When liberals search for a cohesive English identity to oppose the right-wing stage show of flags and playground bullying, they will flounder.
Therefore, leftists need to press on and break new ground, creating new territory for modern Englishness to inhabit. It needs to be making something new, a proposition that’s valuable to working-class white and POC communities, one that understands that these groups aren’t discrete abstractions. The Englishness worth creating is one not based on “power” or “soul”, as both of these catalysts for identity are based on inequality.
It is possible to embrace the strength and pride of regional English identities, while also reforming the concept of an English identity through action, creating a valuable offer to the communities that are at the sharp edge of English society — economically precarious workers, migrants, and minority communities. The best way to cherish the landscape is to protect it from unscrupulous private interests and make it the joy of everybody. Facilitating the intensely creative arts and music scenes rather than pulling them apart at a grassroots level and leaving the industries out in the cold is an extremely simple way to create a powerful union of creative heritage.
Moreover, there is a path to bring measures of strength and prosperity back to pinched “red wall” regions that feel alienated by metropolitan political classes. Deep investment into the green economy, infrastrcture and job-creation, rather than frittering away money on tax cuts for flighty billionaires and deregulating parasitical private actors such as property speculators. Conservatives will continue to get away with murder for as long as they frame Labour for it. Labour can’t stand up for itself for as long as party advisors keep dreaming of the 90s, whilst sabotaging progressive movements.
It seems that to perform nationalism, the best place to start isn’t chucking a thumbs up in the presence of a St. George’s Cross. That’s not serious. It’s half-hearted and equally insulting to those that hold nationalism dearly and to those that are made to feel intimidated by it. It’s time to do the real work of reform and united action, to make an England worth shouting about. If not, then the image of Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner draped in a flag (whether English or British), will be their ‘EdStone’, a centrist folly left to dissolve in the rain.
After all, as Niven points out Sewell in ‘My Albion’ — England ceded its identity to the empire long ago, first in Britain then globally. The establishment only cares about what England means now that the last vestiges of this empire are crumbling. The imperative isn’t to rethink or reposition, but to rebuild it anew. | https://medium.com/@bertiecoyle/rebranding-little-england-4ad272fd8f99 | ['Bertie Coyle'] | 2021-06-18 11:34:46.576000+00:00 | ['UK Politics', 'Thinkpiece', 'Nationalism', 'Essay', 'Politics'] |
Why Copywriting Is NOT As Easy As The “Gurus” Say It Is! And Why It’s Not For Everyone! | Why Copywriting Is NOT As Easy As The “Gurus” Say It Is! And Why It’s Not For Everyone! Velascocopywriting Jan 21·3 min read
2020 was the year that gave most people time to try new things, and some people decided it was time to learn how to make money, and how to make it fast. You might have even been looking online for different fast and easy ways to make money, and if you have, chances are you have come across copywriting. If you haven’t heard of it before, let me give you a quick breakdown.
Copywriting is the art of writing words with the intent to persuade the reader to take action, whether it's to click on a link, open an email, click through an ad, make a purchase, etc. It’s basically a type of marketing in written form, we see it everywhere, people write copy all the time for their businesses even if they don't realize they're writing copy. Copywriting is mostly used to increase conversions and boost sales, which makes it a very lucrative career.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
Here’s the thing, there are a lot of people claiming they can teach you how to write copy in a fast and easy way, and in theory, it does sound easy! But truth is, it’s a bit more complicated than that. What I mean by that is, it’s not just writing anything that comes to your head, because if it was, there wouldn't be a need for any copywriters. And if anyone could teach copywriting, everybody would be doing it because it can be done from anywhere in the world. But there is a huge difference in what an actual trained and experienced copywriter can do vs. what a beginner would be capable of writing, and it definitely shows.
An experienced copywriter will persuade you without you even noticing, an experienced copywriter will make use of emotions that will move you to take action, an experienced copywriter doesn't only give you information, they sell you a story, which in turn leads you as the reader, to do what the writer intended for you to do.
As a copywriter, you have to give intent to your words from the start to the end. All the way from the title to the very last sentence. It is not something that can be learned how to do by just learning what copywriting is. It takes tons of practice, time, and failure. It’s not something you can learn from one day to the other, and it is definitely not for everyone.
So, If you are online looking for different ways to make money fast and easy, and you come across copywriting as a way to do so, stop, and realize it is not for you because copywriting is neither fast nor easy.
Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
But I will tell you this, If you are willing to commit, and put in the hours it takes to practice and research copywriting, and if you are willing to put yourself out there over and over again while failing and learning from your mistakes, you might actually have a chance to be successful and make a living. | https://medium.com/@velascocopywriting/why-copywriting-is-not-as-easy-as-the-gurus-say-it-is-and-why-its-not-for-everyone-328cfd21497c | [] | 2021-01-21 19:18:31.606000+00:00 | ['Copywriting', 'Copywriter', 'Financial Freedom', 'Fast And Easy', 'How To Make Money'] |
How to Deploy a VuePress Project to the Server? | VuePress Official Website
What is VuePress
VuePress is a static site generator based on Vue. Can be used to make technical documents, personal blogs, etc.
21YunBox provides a very simple VuePress deployment method. You can deploy on the 21YunBox in a static site environment.
How to Deploy VuePress in China?
Register as a 21YunBox member In Gitee Fork VuePress Example Create a cloud service on 21YunBox, and allow 21YunBox to access your code base Create with the following configuration:
If the description of the above text is not clear, feel free to watch this step by step video.
Why 21YunBox
21YunBox is a Cloud Service Platform based out of Beijing, China. Our services provides you with an easy and budget friendly, end-to-end web platform deployment service within China for all applications. No matter your stack, we have a flexible solution to assist. If needed, we also offer full support in obtaining your ICP license which allows you to legally host online content within Mainland China.
To learn about the differences between 21YunBox and these foreign (outside of China) Cloud Service Platforms? You can refer to: | https://medium.com/@21yunbox/how-to-deploy-a-vuepress-project-to-the-server-b45f78d42687 | [] | 2021-03-09 23:29:02.580000+00:00 | ['Vuejs', 'Web Development', 'Vuepress', 'Static Site Generator', 'China'] |
NSO In Your Neighborhood (Sep. 3–22, 2021) | Petworth | Brightwood | Brightwood Park | Shepherd Park | Takoma | Takoma Park & Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland
About In Your Neighborhood 2021
Taking place across three weeks in September, the National Symphony Orchestra’s In Your Neighborhood partners with local artists and venues to celebrate the power of live music. Join us for a month of FREE performances as we reflect and reconnect with each other.
You can follow all of the action on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — and don’t forget to share your own In Your Neighborhood experiences on social media. Tag your posts, photos, and videos using the hashtag #NSOneighbor!
Full Schedule of Free Events
All of these concerts are free to the public with first-come, first-served seating. Face masks are required for all indoor performances. Other COVID protocols are listed below.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
Music and Mandala Making Workshop
6:15–7 p.m., 7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Adriana Horne (harp) and IYN Visual Artist Stephanie Kiah
This year’s commissioned In Your Neighborhood visual artist, Stephanie Kiah, leads an art therapy informed mandala making workshop, geared for all ages. This session will take place prior to the full orchestra concert that evening, and feature a solo harp performance to support the creative process.
Full Orchestra Concert
7:30 p.m., 7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Lina Gonzalez-Granados, conductor
Doors open at 7 p.m.
Proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 is required to attend all indoor performances and events at the Center. Patrons with a medical condition or a closely-held religious belief that prevents vaccination must provide proof of a recent (within 72hrs) negative COVID-19 test to attend an indoor performance. More information: https://mcblogs.montgomerycollege.edu/cac/nso/
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
DC International School
*Private Event* Mini-Concerts
12–1 p.m., 1400 Main Dr NW, Washington, DC 20012
Mahoko Eguchi (viola), Jennifer Mondie (viola)
DC International School prides themselves on inspiring multilingual and culturally competent students, and creating socially engaged global citizens. An NSO viola duo will serenade students with four, 15 minute pop-up performances in various outdoor and indoor locations around the campus. This event is not open to the public. Face masks are required for indoor performances.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
Fort Stevens Recreation Center Park
Outdoor Chamber Performance
12–1 p.m., 1327 Van Buren St NW, Washington, DC 20012
Natasha Bogachek (violin), Zino Bogachek (violin)
This department of Parks and Recreation community center is home to a community of active seniors from the local neighborhood who convene here regularly for arts and recreational programming. An NSO and WNO violin duo will perform a lunchtime concert in the outdoor public park.
Potter Violins
Masterclass
5–6 p.m., 7711 Eastern Ave NW, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Nurit Bar-Josef (violin)
This full-service violin shop run by musicians for musicians, has been a staple in the Takoma Park community for professional musicians, students and classical music lovers alike. Join NSO Concertmaster for a masterclass in the recital hall at Potter Violins.
Face masks are required.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
La Coop Coffee Company
Outdoor Chamber Performance
3–4 p.m., 5505 1st St NW, Washington, DC 20011
With deep roots in the Guatamalan coffee industry, La Coop Coffee Company is a family-owned and operated business from the beginning of the value chain in Union Cantinil, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, to the end in Washington, D.C. La Coop Coffee prides themselves on using the business to foster community in this uptown neighborhood of Brightwood Park. Join members of the NSO for an outdoor concert in the backyard of this home-style coffee shop. Bringing your own blankets and chairs are encouraged.
Franz-Anton Hoffmeister: Duo in C Major, op. 6 no. 1 (movements 1 & 3)
William Shield, arr. Mark O’Connor: “When Bidden to the Wake or Fair”
Adolphus Hailstork: “Twilight” from Evensong
José L. Elizondo: Danzas Latinoamericanas
Jeremy Cohen: “Superspy”
Jeremy Cohen: “Tango Eight”
Jeremy Cohen: “Stromp”
Dave Richarson & John McCusker, arr. Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: “Calliope Meets Frank”
Roger Tallroth, arr. Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: Josephine’s Waltz
Traditional, arr. Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas: The Scandinavian
The Parks at Walter Reed
Outdoor Chamber Performance
6–7 p.m., 1010 Butternut St NW, Washington, DC 20012
Steve Honigberg String Quartet: Peiming Lin (violin), Angelia Cho (violin), Mahoko Eguchi (viola), and Steve Honigberg (cello)
The Parks at Walter Reed is a vibrant community of mixed-use development spaces on 66 acres of land, formerly known as the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This NSO string quartet performance will take place on the Great Lawn, prior to a screening of Disney Pixar’s Soul. Bringing your own blankets and chairs are encouraged.
Haydn: Op. 33 №2 Joke Quartet
Mozart: Dissonant Quartet KV 465
Takoma Station Tavern
Outdoor Chamber Performance
7–8 p.m., Triangle Park located at the intersection of 4th and Blair Roads, NW across from 6914 4th St NW
Natasha Bogachek (violin), Zino Bogachek (violin)
Takoma Station Tavern is a well-established and historic DC venue, known for supporting local musicians, particularly jazz musicians and soul singers. This chamber concert will take place outdoors across the street from the venue. In the event of rain, this event will be held indoors at Takoma Station Tavern. Come enjoy live music along with local food trucks and family friendly activities.
Works for two violins composed and arranged by Zino Bogachek:
1. March
2. Graben Waltzer
3. Fleischmarkt Waltzer
4. Prater Waltzer
5. Memories
6. Hamantashen
7. Rhapsody on a theme by A. Piazzolla
8. Royal Street Stroll
9. Cafe Cubano
10. Blues Alley
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center
Chamber Performance
12–1 p.m., 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Jennifer Kim (violin), Jane Stewart (violin)
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in downtown Silver Spring is a historic landmark dedicated to preserving the art of the moving image, and concentrates on presenting film and video generally unavailable elsewhere. This chamber performance will take place against the backdrop of 1938 art deco details, in the historic Theater 1.
FREE event; tickets required! RSVP here, then pick up your tickets at the theater on Sun, Sept. 12, starting at 11:30 a.m. RSVP is strongly recommended. Walk-up admissions on Sept. 12 will be accepted on the basis of availability, but are not guaranteed.
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center will require proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test result from within the past 72 hours for entry. Read the full policy here.
Rock Creek Nature Park Center
Outdoor Chamber Performance
12–1 p.m., 5200 Glover Rd NW, Washington, DC 20015
Leah Arsenault Barrick (Flute), Jamie Roberts (Oboe), Kristin Bowers (Clarinet), Robert Rearden (Horn), Sam Blair (Bassoon)
Rock Creek Nature Park consists of 1,754 acres of lush greenery. The Nature Park Center serves as the hub, where park ranger-led programs meet and numerous trails begin. This chamber concert will take place outdoors in front of the center, accompanied by the quiet bustling sounds of nature.
This is a limited capacity event with a max of 49 attendees. Please RSVP here.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
Levine Music Silver Spring
Chamber Performance
7–8 p.m., 900 Wayne Ave 2nd floor, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Marissa Regni (violin), Derek Powell (violin), Mahoko Eguchi (viola), Rachel Young (cello)
Levine Music kicks off the academic year with this collaborative concert to celebrate the return of a live audience. Taking place in the recital hall, this concert highlights NSO musicians and Levine faculty musicians to inspire young audiences. Capacity is limited and first come first serve.
All eligible individuals 12+ must provide proof of completed vaccination at the door or evidence of an approved accommodation for medical or religious reasons.
Levine Faculty Piano Trio
Erin Durham, violin; Maxfield Wollam-Fisher, cello; Topher Ruggiero, piano
Dolores White: Las Tarantulas for Cello and Piano
Rachel Eubanks: Kiép Nào CóYeu Nhau for Violin and Piano
Gabriela Lena Frank: Four Folk Songs for Piano Trio
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
Due to inclement weather, the events on Thursday, September 16 have been canceled or postponed to a later date.
CANCELED: Roosevelt High School
Outdoor Chamber Performance
4:30–5:30 p.m., 4301 13th St NW, Washington, DC 20011
Heather Green (violin), Jennifer Mondie (viola), Britton Riley (cello)
This string trio performance welcomes students, teachers, staff and the local Roosevelt High School community back to campus with an outdoor celebratory performance on the front steps. Seats are first-come-first serve.
POSTPONED: Fort Slocum Park Picnic Pavilion
Outdoor Chamber Performance
5:30–6:30 p.m., 5800 Kansas Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011
Leah Arsenault Barrick (Flute), Jamie Roberts (Oboe), Kristin Bowers (Clarinet), Robert Rearden (Horn), Sam Blair (Bassoon)
Fort Slocum Park is a historic site and marker honoring Civil War History. Together with the Rock Creek Conservatory, the National Parks Service led a restoration project of the Picnic Pavilion, which was just completed in September 2020. This performance will celebrate this neighborhood park with an NSO winds and brass quintet.
POSTPONED: Money Muscle BBQ
Outdoor Chamber Performance
7–8 p.m., 8630 Fenton St, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Aaron Goldman (flute), Sue Heineman (bassoon)
This chamber performance at Money Muscle BBQ (an affiliate of All Set Restaurant, next door) in downtown Silver Spring is positioned as a concrete oasis in the middle of a busy downtown area, transformed by colorful murals, picnic benches and food trucks. Bringing your own blankets and chairs are encouraged.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Rhizome DC
Outdoor Chamber Performance
7:30–8:30 p.m., 6950 Maple St NW, Washington, DC 20012
Alexander Jacobsen (bass), Charles Nilles (bass), Michael Marks (bass) and Jeffrey Weisner (bass)
Rhizome DC is a nonprofit community arts space in the Takoma neighborhood of D.C. Their mission to promote creativity as a force for personal empowerment and community engagement. Rhizome DC prioritizes non-mainstream programming with the goal of promoting creativity in all its forms. Bringing your own blankets and chairs are encouraged.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Emery Recreation Center
IYN Mural Painting
5:30–7:15 p.m., 5701 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011
In partnership with DCPS, this year’s pre-concert live mural painting activity will be led by students from Coolidge High School, and will be presented during the full orchestra concert that evening.
Meet the Composer Workshop
6–7 p.m., 5701 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011
Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence, Carlos Simon
Face masks are required.
Full Orchestra Concert
7:30 p.m., 5701 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011
Joseph Young, conductor
Doors open at 7 p.m.
Face masks are required.
Funding Credits
NSO In Your Neighborhood is presented as part of the Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives.
Major support for NSO In Your Neighborhood is provided by
The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Linda and Tobia Mercuro†, and Tina and Albert Small, Jr.
Additional support is provided by Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather, and Melanie and Larry Nussdorf. | https://medium.com/the-kennedy-center/nso-in-your-neighborhood-sep-3-22-2021-5676d4ce1b88 | ['The Kennedy Center'] | 2021-09-16 17:46:36.277000+00:00 | ['Free', 'National Symphony', 'Community Engagement', 'Nso'] |
When Santa Claus meets the Grim Reaper on 2020 Winter Solstice | Its actually not bad at all — its very good…
A modern metaphor for Jupiter might be Santa Claus. When we think of Santa Claus we picture a jolly old fat sage in a red suit and hat. He is happy, generous, optimistic, on the grandiose side, probably opinionated too, and has some international appeal. Jupiter, the Roman God is analogous to the Greek’s Zeus.
Conversely Saturn is often depicted as the Grim Reaper — a dark hooded figure with a scythe — the angel of death. Saturn has been given a bad rap due to his constraints and limitations. Anyone who has had accomplishments has done so through hard work; has had deadlines, set-backs, etc. They have known the power and authority of accomplishment, especially when it has been acknowledged by their peers (examples of awards for excellence: The National Book Award, the Pulitzer Prize, The Oscar, The Nobel Prize, winning the Presidency of the United States to name a few.)
When their electromagnetic energies meet as in this “great conjunction” on 12/21/20 just after 10 am PST on the Winter Solstice then let the great alchemical blending begin… First thought — the energies cancel each other out. Not true: this astrologer is exuding a lazy brain demeanor.
The Santa Claus energy is being injected into the seeming harshness of disciplined hard work, focus and drive for accomplishment yielding opportunities for great abundance and prosperity for the next 20 years (since a great conjunction like this one occurs approximately every twenty years). Since this occurs on the solstice (winter — north of the equator) and (summer solstice south of the equator) this marks a new beginning in the sign of Capricorn. I look to the southern hemisphere for new leadership and creativity equal and/or better to us northern types. | https://medium.com/@the-kai9/when-santa-claus-meets-the-grim-reaper-on-2020-winter-solstice-54cf2d5dc390 | ['Frank Ontario'] | 2020-12-20 01:32:50.003000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'Myths'] |
How to Design a Basic Logging System in Your Go Application | Best Practices for Designing and Storing Golang Logs (Datadog, 2019):
Avoid declaring ‘goroutines’ for logging
There are two reasons to avoid creating your own goroutine s to handle writing logs. First, it can lead to concurrency issues, as duplicates of the logger would attempt to access the same io.Writer . Second, logging libraries usually start goroutine s themselves, managing any concurrency issues internally, and starting your own goroutine s will only interfere.
Write your logs to a file
As you collect logs from your application, it’s recommended you write them to a local file directly (not to a remote file directly). You need to ensure your logs are always available locally and not lost in the network.
Implement a standard logging interface
In a team of developers/engineers, it’s probable to see members using different attribute names to describe the same thing. This can lead to an unresolvable inconsistency in your logs and make it drastic to correlate logs that should form part of the same picture. For example, two developers might log the same error — a missing client name — when handling an upload in different ways. Implementing a standard logging interface is the only way to avoid such a disaster.
Let's look at a practical example. The below struct defined the objects/events we wish to log. Of course, we can add more events to the list:
type LogEvent struct {
id int
message string
}
These variables store our log messages as new events:
var (
invalidArgMessage = LogEvent{1, “Invalid arg: %s”} invalidArgValueMessage = LogEvent{2, “Invalid value for argument: %s: %v”} missingArgMessage = LogEvent{3, “Missing arg: %s”}
)
Standard error messages and init():
// Standard “InvalidArg error messagefunc (m *MainLogger) InvalidArg(argumentName string){
m.Errorf(invalidArgMessage.message, argumentName)
} // Standard “InvalidArgValue error message
func (m *MainLogger) InvalidArgValue(argumentName string, argumentValue string){
m.Errorf(invalidArgValueMessage.message, argumentName, argumentValue)
} // “Standard “MissingArg error message”
func (m *MainLogger) MissingArg(argumentName string){
m.Errorf(missingArgMessage.message, argumentName)
} // MainLogger enforces specific log message formats (we are using logrus, but you are free to use other libraries) type MainLogger struct {
*logrus.Logger
} func init() {
// Log as JSON instead of the default ASCII formatter.
logrus.SetFormatter(&logrus.JSONFormatter{})
}
Creating a constructor/initializer to return our MainLogger struct:
func NewLogger() *MainLogger {
f, err := os.OpenFile(“logrus.log”, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_RDWR, 0666) if err != nil {
fmt.Printf(“error opening file: %v”, err)
} var baseLogger = logrus.New() var standardLogger = &MainLogger{baseLogger} standardLogger.Formatter = &logrus.JSONFormatter{} mw := io.MultiWriter(os.Stdout, f) standardLogger.SetOutput(mw) return standardLogger
}
We’re done designing the basic standard interface and can start calling the methods in our Go files as:
var standardLogger = logger.NewLogger() // call method when an argument is missing
standardLogger.MissingArg(“imgModel.ImageData”) // call method when an invalid argument is supplied
standardLogger.InvalidArg(“imgModel.ImageData”)
4. Centralize Golang logs
Some Go applications are deployed across a cluster of hosts.
When you need to check/investigate your logs in those hosts, you’d be compelled to SSH into each one of them. This isn’t efficient in any way!
A scalable and efficient solution is to pass a log from your local files to a central platform where you can then process the logs as you deem required.
There are many ways to achieve this; one way is to use the Golang syslog package to forward logs from throughout your infrastructure to a single syslog server. Another way is to use a log management solution. Datadog and OpenTracing, for example, can tail your log files and forward logs to a central platform for processing and analysis. | https://medium.com/better-programming/understanding-and-designing-logging-system-in-go-application-c85a28bb8526 | ['Adeshina H. Hassan'] | 2020-03-18 17:24:34.826000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Logging', 'Tracing', 'Go', 'Golang'] |
“Burnout Empties You From Within” | So, what is burnout?
Burnout is a syndrome composed of three key aspects: (1) emotional exhaustion, (2) depersonalization or cynicism, and (3) decrease in personal efficacy. To my mind, exhaustion is the most important component. It’s not just emotional, but a total exhaustion of your resources — mental, psychological, physical, spiritual.
Burnout usually occurs in the context of work as a result of stressful conditions which may take anywhere from weeks to years to manifest. I’ve met people who had been suffering from burnout symptoms for decades. And this is what is dangerous about burnout: people continue to go to work and do what they are supposed to do, while burnt out, and don’t admit that there is a serious issue which requires change or treatment.
What happens when we burn out?
Burnout empties you from within. You may become emotionally detached, yet still function. You may become very cynical. I’m not talking about having a sense of humor in the workplace; a lighthearted joke can be a way of letting off a little steam.
Cynicism in burnout is different — it’s more like using humor or sarcasm as a weapon. And you become cynical about yourself as well. Some people are able to live like that for a very long time. The big question still unanswered by the research and all the studies I’ve read: how is that possible — that people are able to persist in burnout for a very long time? Perhaps it has to do with a motivation they hold.
Can you tell me a little about the existential or logotherapy approach to burnout?
Logotherapy is the third school in psychotherapy. Freud’s psychoanalysis viewed will as related to sexual desire and “achieving” pleasure; Adler’s individual psychotherapy focused on “will to power”. Victor Frankl’s contribution to psychotherapy was on the topic of “will to meaning”: the main drive humans have is a spiritual one, to find a meaningful way to live. In this approach, burnout can resemble what Frankl would call an existential vacuum.
In burnout there is very little meaning left: you do something you believe you are supposed to do, but you don’t enjoy it anymore. It is a struggle. Cynicism and inefficacy creep in. Eventually, it damages other relationships and can affect your health.
“People who burnout have created motives or drives that are not truly their own.”
One of the signals for experiencing burnout is that you are starting to put your needs or the fulfilment of your needs last. You have to work first; you have back pain but you don’t go to the doctor. This is one of the first signals that you are becoming demanding on yourself and sometimes you lose the connection with your reality. You’re not seeing things as they are. You live in your mind.
What causes burnout?
In our research, we found that people who burnout have created motives or drives that are not truly their own. For example, you want to prove to your parents that you are good enough, that you can do this job. Or you want to prove to your friends that you can earn a lot of money. Or in order to feel worthy, you want to have a prestigious, sought-after career.
Alfried Längle, who worked with Frankl, called these ‘pseudo-motives’ — you don’t do the work because you like it or because you’re good at it or because it resonates with you, but for some other reason. This often happens subconsciously. Perhaps this is why people stay in unfriendly, unfavorable circumstances for a very long time: because they have these inner pseudo-drives.
In our research we made correlations between burnout and Längle’s Existence Scale, between burnout and traumatic stress symptoms, because some aspects of burnout (for example detachment or depersonalization) are also typical symptoms of some post-traumatic states. We also compared burnout to depression and made correlations between burnout and alexithymia, which involves a decreased ability to feel and describe emotions.
What do you see as possibilities for preventing and reducing the occurrence of burnout?
From an organizational perspective, we need to be much more careful about the stress levels people are forced to endure. Which, particularly in light of COVID, is easier said than done. 2020 has been very stressful for many people.
Be very attentive to whether and why people feel stressed, especially if you are a leader in an organization.
According to the existential analysis, there are four main motivations, and stress is a signal that something is wrong with one of these:
I am able to do my work I like what I’m doing My work resonates with me; I can be myself My work has meaning for me, for society or for the future
Imagine something is wrong with the first aspect: perhaps I don’t have the right training so I can’t do what I’m meant to, or there is too much work to do.
Liking your job is also very important. Some people like structure, some like figures and spreadsheets, some like planning, some are demotivated by any of these things. Organizations need to look at whether people enjoy what they are doing. Because then you can spot the pseudo-motivations — you don’t like it, but you endure it for the money, or the prestige.
Thirdly, does your work resonate with you? Can you express your true self and feel authentic? This is important for preventing burnout.
And finally, do you find it meaningful? Is your work of value to you, your clients, society, or the future?
And how about from an individual level — how can you as an individual avoid burnout?
Have a good relationship with yourself. Listen to yourself, to what’s on your mind, to your body, for example if you’re tired and you need to rest. Observe when you’re bored and why, or when it’s overwhelming or too much, and make changes accordingly. Have what I’d call a ‘self-care plan’: know yourself, remain alert, and avoid environments of long-term stress. This kind of plan is both a preventative and a restorative measure.
If someone comes to me with burnout, first I would look at what they could do to reduce the amount of stress immediately, and then if they have this kind of self-care plan.
Therapy and coaching can help tremendously to create such a plan. People need a sounding board, someone to talk to openly and then someone who will help them to implement the change.
I think it’s hard for young people. You study a particular degree, unaware of what’s a true motive and what’s a pseudo-motive, and embark on a career without being aware that your motivation might not actually be true to you.
Absolutely — and you don’t come to realize that by yourself. Sometimes you really need an independent third party to talk to. If your parents or your partner are worried, you might not listen to their concerns.
Perhaps, as part of university degrees, we could do a short course on self-knowledge, to ensure that young people who are entering professional fields have some time at an early stage in their life to think about those things. Because not everyone has had that opportunity as a child growing up.
That’s a great idea! I’d support that 100%. Learning to become self-aware should really be a part of any education. Looking at yourself from this meta level. Be reflective. The question is, when is the right time — for some people, they’re not ready for that even at 30. Others will be ready at 16 years of age.
This needs an individual approach, something that unfortunately in our current world is not very common. We focus on the average, the mean or the approximation, and overlook the individual, because we want scale, large numbers, higher sales, identical products.
Alfried Längle defines meaning as the most valuable possibility in a given actual situation of an individual. This is clever because it shows that as a coach or therapist you need to really work on an individual level. You need to look at the situation from your client’s perspective, because they need to find their meaning.
I cannot say to you or to any other person “this is what you should do”, because I’m not you. I can create an environment in which we can look at this together, and maybe I can get some idea about how you feel and offer insight. I think would be great if we can use this kind of individualized approach to finding meaning in peoples’ lives.
What steps could leaders in organizations take to change that, and prevent burnout within their organization?
I have two answers here, on two different levels.
Let’s call the first the ‘big dream’. We re-examine the set of values according to which we live and how organizations and the corporate world are framed. What do they truly want to achieve and does it hold real value? Is it just increasing the amount of money in shareholders’ pockets, and more exploitation of the planet and human workers? Or is it something else — creating a greater good, a more ethical society, more beauty into the environment in which we live, respect for nature and for others? And to really examine this with a truthful and sincere intent. This would be my big dream: that we as a civilization and as humankind really reconsider this, particularly in light of what is happening now — the pandemic, global warming, deforestation — things that can really damage our life forever.
The other level at which we can approach this is to look at the environment organizations and managers are creating. Corporate values or goals impact how leaders and managers behave.
It’s paradoxical — some companies are setting up the perfect environment for burnout. “I can give you another project? Great! You don’t want more money? Even better! You don’t need to go and see a doctor? Perfect, no absenteeism!” Companies seem to almost seek out these kind of pre-burnout people — up to that point of total collapse, they are ideal employees in the corporate world. But leaders and managers do have the capacity to change this.
“What are the costs to you of doing this work: psychologically, spiritually, physically?”
We need to educate leaders. When I’ve conducted lectures and seminars on burnout at companies, managers often approach me afterwards and say, “I can see now that some of my team members are on track to reach burnout. I need to change my behavior — not send emails after hours, not expect them to respond on the weekend. Check in with them more often whether they enjoy what they’re doing and how their stress levels are. Whether their work resonates with them, and whether they derive meaning from it.” In the one-on-ones managers have with their team members, they can start to have these conversations.
And right now, with people working from home, it’s even more important. If people are socially isolated, they quickly lose their pseudo-motives: they are no longer going to their fancy office in their fancy new car. They don’t have these rewards that they’d been using, so now there’s a real question mark: is this work truly meaningful to me?
When you work with clients in burnout, what are your recommendations in terms of immediate steps to take?
First of all, they need to admit they are burnt out and acknowledge that the situation is serious. Because burnout can coincide with diseases such as depression, or even post-traumatic states, they may need to speak to a trained psychologist or psychotherapist to find out if it’s truly burnout or in fact something different.
Coaching offers a great, accessible opportunity for people to talk to someone who is experienced with burnout, but without feeling as significant or serious as to warrant more formal types of therapy — especially in the early stages of burnout, when people are more likely to be in denial.
Secondly, it’s essential to reduce the stress levels and the workload — even if it means that there’s a risk of losing your job, or of the organization responding poorly. Some European countries offer health insurance coverage for burnout, but there’s a large debate going on due to the significant danger of labelling, and misuse or misdiagnosis. Burnout is still a grey area; it has many different aspects and connotations.
On the other hand, it’s important that we take burnout seriously. The workload should be reduced to permit the employee to work on themselves more, to really redefine and look at what they find meaningful. Conversations need to involve questions such as what is it that drives you to do your job — not the superficial motives, like it pays well, or my friends are in the same field, no. What’s the underlying motivation? And what are the costs to you of doing this work: psychologically, spiritually, physically?
In essence, in coaching you create time and space for people to evaluate what actually drives them on a real level?
And recognizing the circumstances in which they operate. It also involves reevaluating their boundaries: how much they want or are able to give to the organization. And sometimes they really need to learn how to say “no” more often, to projects or requests from colleagues or a manager. So, they might need some training to acquire that skillset.
I feel like that also relates to the organizational culture. As a lawyer, a partner once approached me and asked me to take on a new matter. When I said “no”, he said, “well, you have to.” And I did it! It’s a culture of, there is no space for no. When I burned out, I had to leave because part-time work or only working 40 hours a week wasn’t in their culture. So, I’m grateful to hear that your work with managers is helping them to see how important their own perspectives are, but also the individual needs and traits of each team member.
There’s a long way to go. The system is rarely conducive, and effective interventions are not in place. And, at the same time, we need to be careful not to over-use the term ‘burnout’. We need to get to the real issue, which is the humanity and the individual meaning. People need to feel good about what they do.
Burnout is interesting; in one building you have very similar conditions — you have 50 people working there in the same position, at the same level, for the same managers, and only 5 of them will burn out. 45 are fine! So, it definitely has this individual aspect.
We need to look at it from both sides — what the individual person brings that can create the conditions for burnout but also what are the conditions we are creating as an organization to induce that process of becoming burnt out. Because burnout is a process. There are stages of burnout, which many authors have described. True burnout does not occur overnight — it usually takes months or even years.
People use the term ‘burnout’ almost colloquially, whereas it is a syndrome which has now been defined by the WHO. In the same way we should be careful when we say, ‘oh I’m so depressed about XYZ’.
Yes, and I also find the connotation of ‘burning’ useful. Freudenberger used the term burnout for the first time when he noticed he and his colleagues were losing their ‘glow’. And Ayala Pines said that “in order to burn out, a person needs to have been on fire at one time” – you must have had some real interest in something at one point.
So, burnout recovery can be very meaningful in terms of getting people back to their real core, to who they really are. It’s a great opportunity to take notice of a signal that there’s something you are overlooking or forgetting. And maybe you should look at things differently, find a new perspective, look within. That’s where Frankl’s logotherapy is so valuable, because he talks about this noetic or spiritual dimension.
Yes! For me, burnout forced me to address exactly those kinds of questions which empowered me to live a life that I love. There’s absolutely a spiritual aspect to it.
In post-traumatic psychology they refer to post-traumatic growth, and I think we can analogously say that there is something like ‘post-burnout growth’. It is possible to experience post-burnout growth, because going through a burnout encourages you to address those important existential questions. | https://medium.com/@salcla/burnout-empties-you-from-within-25014b62cfd2 | ['Sally Clarke'] | 2020-12-02 17:44:44.099000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Burnout', 'Coaching', 'Work', 'Personal Development'] |
Daily Berminal Brief (8/23/18): Thailand To Launch Its Own Cryptocurrency, And China Continues Its Ban On Crypto | The State Of The Market: After Bitcoin’s sudden surge to $6,800 during BitMEX’s downtime, it is back to its previous levels now. Bitcoin is currently priced at $6,454, losing 3.34% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin’s price has managed to remain stable, even after SEC’s decision to not allow ProShares Bitcoin ETF. However, more than 90 Cryptocurrencies in the top 100 list are flashing red today. Ethereum (ETH) is currently priced at $273, losing 4.46%.
1) After Thailand’s crypto-friendly regulations, their next move is to create a digital currency. But, the digital token is not for the general public to use. It will be used by banks to transact with each other. Thailand’s Central Bank has partnered with 8 participating banks to test out its central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative called ‘Project Inthanon.’ The bank will use R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform Corda to build a proof-of-concept prototype (read more).
2) Following a complete ban of Cryptocurrencies early this year, the Chinese government continues its onslaught. Early this week, Chinese cryptocurrency media outlets were removed from WeChat. The government continued its crackdown by banning all offices and hotels from hosting crypto events in the country. Now, China is also seeking access to block 124 foreign crypto exchanges from the country through the great firewall (read more).
3) The team behind Bitcoin Core (BTCC) announced a successful hard fork of Bitcoin Cash for one-minute blocks. As a result, BTCC now has more on-chain space as compared to BCH. Additionally, the latest version fixes several other issues such as the previously reported “expensive attack against SPV proofs” as well as another issue with the ‘abandontransaction’ RPC where it now abandons “all descendant transactions, not just children” (read more).
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Berminal Twitter | https://medium.com/hackernoon/daily-berminal-brief-8-23-18-thailand-to-launch-its-own-cryptocurrency-and-china-continues-its-ea9071398541 | ['Berminal - The Crypto News Platform'] | 2018-08-29 20:52:39.249000+00:00 | ['China', 'Cryptocurrency News', 'Thailand', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
November Astrology | Belonging to a Water sign with the ruling planet of Pluto, November is a time to investigate life at a deeper, emotional level. November has us accomplishing things that other people consider impossible. It is also a time of regeneration. It is “all or nothing” as challenges in November can make one feel alive. In November, the will to succeed is tremendous. This month brings a strong instinct for survival, springing from a deep-seated fear that he who is not fore-armed will be left behind. It is a time to seek new and exciting interests and be a help to others. | https://medium.com/mysticaltalk/november-astrology-7b90758bdd2c | ['Maynard Originals'] | 2018-03-15 11:58:36.988000+00:00 | ['November Astrology', 'Scorpio', 'Sagittarius'] |
Smiling Snow Face | Flicker and Flight is a Poetry Publication that has married the art of Photography. This publication focuses on supporting Nature, Love/Unity, Spirituality, and Growth, through the beauty of Word-Play and Images.
Follow | https://medium.com/flicker-and-flight/smiling-snow-face-2552d8e5a970 | ['Megan Nicole Morgan'] | 2020-12-18 14:16:47.960000+00:00 | ['Poetry On Medium', 'Poetry', 'Art', 'Poem', 'Haiku'] |
When Science Stuffed Up: The Case Against Artificial Sweeteners | Peter sits in front of the television, guiltlessly sipping away at what will calculate to be 2 litres of diet soft drink over the course of the evening. He is happy because he has just finished logging his calories for the day, and is well under target. However, this happiness is fleeting, as tomorrow, despite restricting his caloric intake, Peter will once again weigh in heavier than the previous week. Peter’s story is one all too common in doctor’s and dietitian’s offices around Australia and the world. What is happening here? Why is it that diet soft drinks, despite having no calories and no sugar, do not aid weight loss? Once hailed a magical method for weight loss, epidemiological and experimental research is now demonstrating artificial sweeteners cause more harm than good. With recent calls for a sugar tax in Australia, it is high time we educate ourselves about artificial sweeteners, and their not so sweet health consequences.
Classifications
Before we jump into this, it is important to first clarify that sweeteners are classified into two broad categories- nutritive and non-nutritive. Essentially, nutritive sweeteners contain sugar and provide energy (i.e. calories). Nutritive sweeteners are the common sweeteners like glucose, fructose, sucrose (table sugar) and corn-based sweeteners. They also include sugar alcohols like xylitol and sorbitol; which still contain calories but no sugar and do not contribute to dental decay (which is why you will find these sweeteners in toothpaste). Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), commonly known as artificial sweeteners, are high intensity sweeteners that are essentially calorie and sugar free. For your viewing pleasure, some of the common artificial sweeteners, their food code number, popular brand name/s and food sources are summarised below (please don’t sue Coca-Cola).
You may have noticed that stevia is classified as a non-nutritive artificial sweetener, and questioned my sanity. I can see the sassy girl emoji already, “ah stevia comes from a plant Danielle. Plants are natural.” Although stevia is a herb derivative commonly marketed as a natural product; it is still a calorie free, sugar free hyper intensive sweetener and therefore classed as such (take that sassy girl emoji).
Health effects
Human research continues to associate artificial sweetener consumption with metabolic disorder and chronic disease; not with long-lasting weight loss. Several population-based studies link intake of diet soda (sweetened with NNS) with increased incidence of obesity and metabolic syndrome similar to, and sometimes greater than, the levels observed with sugar sweetened beverage intake.
A study published in The Journal of Circulation reported a positive relationship between diet soda consumption and metabolic syndrome, larger than that identified with consumption of regular soda. The authors explain “the similar metabolic hazard posed by both regular and diet soft drinks is noteworthy given the lack of calories in the latter.” In simple English, the authors are saying how super strange it is that drinking calorie and sugar free beverages provides a greater risk of disrupting your metabolism than sugar laden soft drink.
“The similar metabolic hazard posed by both regular and diet soft drinks is noteworthy given the lack of calories in the latter.”
Similar results linking consumption of artificial sweeteners to metabolic disease have been observed elsewhere. Of note is a prospective study published The Journal of Obesity. Researchers took normal weight or non-obese adults and tracked their dietary intake. At follow up 7 to 8 years later, they a found intake of more than 21 NNS beverages per week (diet soda, artificially sweetened tea and coffee) was associated with double the risk of obesity compared to non-users at follow up.
More recently, a large cohort study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, identified an association of both sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially-sweetened beverage consumption with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The results are clearly, and concernedly, explained in the graph below.
Given the the difficulties in controlling food intake research, the extent to which artificial sweeteners induce metabolic disruption, weight gain and the development of chronic disease in humans is unclear (Is it just the artificial sweeteners? Are people already prone to metabolic dysfunction choosing artificial sweeteners?). What is clear however, is that artificial sweetened food and beverages are an ineffective method of long-term weight loss.
Mechanism of destruction action
Multiple hypotheses attempt to explain why artificial sweeteners do not aid weight loss. Research has suggested that artificial sweeteners may result in a desensitisation to sweetness, increased appetite, dysregulation of energy intake and an undesirable microbiome.
With artificial sweeteners hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular table sugar, it is logical that taste buds may become desensitised to sweetness. In a Harvard Health Letter, physician Dr. David Ludwig explains that for habitual consumers of artificial sweeteners “healthful satiating foods that are less sweet — such as fruits and vegetables — may become unappetizing by comparison.”
A study published in The Journal of Physiology & Behaviour, High-intensity Sweeteners and Energy Balance, investigated beyond the desensitisation of taste buds. The research team, lead by Susan Swithers (a professor in psychological sciences and behavioural neuroscientist), suggest the use of non-nutritive sweeteners results in taste no longer serving an accurate predictor of the nutritional content of food, which can lead to metabolic dysregulation. The researchers more eloquently explain;
“The dissociation between the sweet taste cues and the caloric consequences could lead to a decrease in the ability of sweet taste to evoke physiological responses that serve to regulate energy balance.”
To prove their hypothesis, a series of rodent experiments were conducted. With all other factors constant, these experiments demonstrated that, in contrast to glucose sweetened diets, the consumption of high-intensity sweeteners resulted in greater weight gain, greater accumulation of body fat, weakened caloric compensation, and decreased thermogenesis (the increased heat produced by the body after ingesting food). This research also investigated the reversibility of this metabolic damage, by switching rats trained with saccharin-sweetened diets to diets sweetened with glucose. Compared to unchanged controls (saccharin-saccharin, glucose-glucose), rats trained with artificially sweetened diets remained unable to lower their weight to the weight of glucose controls, even when consumption of artificial sweeteners ceased.
Emerging evidence suggests the counterintuitive links between artificial sweeteners may also be attributable to shifts caused to the gut bacteria- the magical microbiome. In a study entitled Artificial Sweeteners Induce Glucose Intolerance by Altering the Gut Microbiota, researchers were able to induce glucose intolerance by adding common artificial sweeteners to the drinking water of lean mice (shock twist with that title hey?). If you aren’t well versed in metabolic lingo, glucose intolerance is a pre-diabetic state of sugar malabsorption. Sequencing the microbial composition of saccharin-drinking mice showed a distinct bacterial composition associated with type 2 diabetes in humans. In order to prove saccharin consumption was the causal factor of metabolic dysfunction, the microbiome of saccharin-drinking mice was transplanted into germ free mice. The transplant of the saccharin altered microbiome into germ free mice also induced glucose intolerance.
But Stevia is different, right?
Although marketed as a natural product, stevia is a highly processed non-nutritive sweetener and limited available research raises concern that stevia may act in the same ways as other artificial sweeteners. The processing chain from Stevia Rebaudiana plant the to the commercialised sweetener is very long. In the aforementioned High-intensity Sweeteners and Energy Balance study, preliminary research on the effects of stevia was conducted. Results showed body weight gain was significantly greater in mice consuming either saccharin or stevia solutions compared to mice consuming glucose solutions.
The truth is there is currently not enough evidence for anybody to make a call whether Stevia is beneficial or detrimental to health. However, I do not want our national food supply to provide the testing ground.
I hope this article has provided insight into the health consequences of non-nutritive artificial sweeteners, including stevia, and done justice to the fascinating research emerging in this area. Understanding the physiological mechanisms by which artificial sweeteners fail to facilitate weight loss, brings us closer to providing answers to Peter and overcoming the obesity crisis. With the potential introduction of a sugar tax in Australia, the food industry will be tempted to use artificially sweeteners to create “sugar free” products. As consumers, it is important we need to know these foods are not healthy alternatives and communicate our food expectations with our dollar.
Originally published at The Isthmus. | https://medium.com/the-isthmus/when-science-stuffed-up-the-case-against-artificial-sweeteners-64d311779ba | ['The Isthmus'] | 2016-06-06 08:43:07.291000+00:00 | ['Sugar', 'Health'] |
You Have Something to Say | You Have Something to Say
And it may be more original than you think. Here’s why.
Photo by Andrew Gaines on Unsplash
You have something to say.
It may be something that’s already been said, but all of us habitually forget the things we already know and need to be constantly reminded of them. Maybe what you say is exactly what someone needs to be reminded of, and you’ve said it at exactly the right moment.
Have you ever read something that was so well put and so relevant to the things you’d been thinking and worrying about that it made you cry? I have.
Even if what you say has already been said, you’re using slightly different words to say it. You’re filtering it through the experience of a life that no-one’s previously lived. And every time you rephrase something you fundamentally change the texture of it. Old becomes new.
Have you ever seen a stale truth you’ve heard a thousand times before expressed slightly differently — in more modern English, via a different metaphor, in a different context — and finally gone ‘Oh yeah! That’s so true!’ I have.
There’s a huge difference between knowing something in your head and getting it in your bones. Most of us “know” thousands of deep truths but only feel the truth of a few of them, and put even fewer of them into practice.
What you say — and the way you say it — could be the catalyst that turns someone’s ‘I mean, everyone knows that’ into an ‘Oh yeah! That’s so true!’
If what you say excites you at the moment you’re saying it, then it’s worth saying. You don’t know if it’ll excite anyone else. But you’ve given the thought or feeling its due, and the rest is out of your hands. You never know what it might do after you put it out there.
You have something to say. | https://medium.com/the-small-dark-light/you-have-something-to-say-b4bb30aa061f | ['Wabi Sabi'] | 2020-12-22 23:59:34.579000+00:00 | ['Self Help', 'Writing', 'Self Actualization', 'Philosophy Of Language', 'Encouragement'] |
How I Write +5,000 Words Almost Every Day | How I Write +5,000 Words Almost Every Day
And how you too, can build a writing routine that fits your needs
Photo by Kat Stokes on Unsplash
While Social Media has tons of negative aspects, it also has some great ones. For example, you can come across tools and products you might not have found without seeing it on the profile of an influencer or a friend.
Last week, when I was browsing through some Instagram stories, the video of a fellow writer caught my attention. She was talking about a writing challenge and that she’s trying to write 2,500 words every day. What was really interesting, though, was how she tracked the number of words per day: She was using a word counter app on her Mac. I’m not sure if that’s a common tool most digital writers know about anyway, but I heard of it before, and I was thrilled.
During the past two years, I’ve written more than 300 blog posts and a book of 400 pages, so I wish I’d known about the tool earlier. I guess that’s one of the products you don’t think of before having, but once you have it, you don’t want to miss it.
Until I downloaded a word counter app, I had no idea what my average daily word count was. Yet, after a casual work week, I realized it’s around 5,000 words per day. This includes everything I write on my laptop: Articles, emails, copy for my business, Whatsapp messages, social media posts,…
And while I reach those 5,000 words per day effortlessly, I realized that this sounds like a lot to most people. We all know how it was back in school when we had to hand in papers and desperately tried to prolong our written pieces.
If you’re, however, writing because it’s your job, like in my case, it’s not about typing as much as possible, but rather about writing lots of useful and high-quality content.
The good news is that writing much doesn’t need to be hard or complicated. Instead, it can even be fun if you take care of a few basics and build a consistent writing routine that fits your needs.
Here’s what I did to build a consistent writing practice and how you too, can use these strategies:
Decide when and where you want to write
Even though writing means getting work done, it can be quite different from other tasks, such as client calls, brainstorming, or administrative to-do’s.
To write productively, you’ll need to be fully focused, that’s why most people prefer a specific time and place for their writing routines. Many writers whom I know prefer mornings and late evenings for their practice as they seem to be most creative and productive during these times of the day.
Besides the time of your writing routine, having a particular place dedicated to your writing might also make a difference. If you, for example, have a work desk to get all your other stuff done, focusing on your writing while sitting there might seem hard due to distractions. In that case, you might try writing from the kitchen table, from your balcony, from a café nearby or whatever environment best fits your needs.
What I do whenever I feel uninspired is sitting at our dining table, which is right across our bookshelf. By looking at hundreds of books, I remind myself that all these people managed to write entire books and that writing a blog post is not that hard. It might sound weird, but so far, this approach helped me to get my writing done during my most unproductive times.
Bottom line: Figure out when your most productive writing time is and where you feel most productive and inspired during your writing schedule.
These two aspects might sound like trivialities, but for me, they play a huge role. I’m a 10x faster writer late at night than during the afternoon. Thus, it makes sense to get administrative tasks done during the day and then write during the evening. Find what works best for you. | https://medium.com/illumination/how-i-write-5-000-words-almost-every-day-8c4e2488e408 | ['Sinem Günel'] | 2020-05-24 09:56:58.477000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Advice', 'Ideas', 'Writing', 'Writing Tips'] |
Why (black) Christians Get Sexuality So Wrong | Christians are supposed to be in the New Testament. Yes, the New Testament was written in order to make it possible for humanity to receive spiritual salvation. The Old Testament is PART of the Jewish Torah. If you’re not a Jew or better, a Jewish person rooted in Jewish culture and theology, WHAT are you doing in the 21st Century attempting to base your reality on a bygone 1st Century culture… that isn’t yours ethnically, geographically, nor culturally?
“The term “Torah” is used in the general sense to include both Rabbinic Judaism ‘s written law and Oral Law, serving to encompass the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash and more…”
Most–no, 99.9% of Christians don’t know anything about the Mishnah, the Midrash, the Talmud, nor those oral–unwritten– aspects of the Torah handed down through time from Rabbis. The only constant in the Universe is change, yet far too many of today’s “Christian’s” seek refuge in either a post-Civil War version of theology, or one that is as narrow and rigid as their Ego’s can find… probably because thinking confuses them.
“One of the most helpful ways to think about this is to look at the types of laws there are in the Old Testament. The 16th-century Reformer John Calvin saw that the NT seemed to treat the OT laws in three ways. There were Civil Laws, which governed the nation of Israel, encompassing not only behaviors, but also punishments for crimes. There were Ceremonial Laws about “clean” and “unclean” things, about various kinds of sacrifices, and other temple practices. And then there were the Moral Laws, which declared what God deemed right and wrong — the 10 Commandments, for instance.” ~ Pastor JD
Scholars aren’t sure the Exodus actually occurred (Moses parted the Red Sea, etc…) but if the Jews did dwell in Egypt, then they were aware of Egypt’s religion and spiritual laws. The Christian 10 Commandments appear to have been edited and summarized from Egypt’s 42 Ma’ats or 42 Admonition to Goddess Maat. Sadly, this wouldn’t be the last time our beautiful Jewish brothers and sisters “lifted” ideas, art, or music from dark skin people without giving them credit…
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are, and were created.”
~Revelation 4:11
Jungian psychologist James Hillman said, “When you have a religion made up of rules and laws, when calamity hits, all you have is rules and laws.” We need compassion and empathy to grow up into wisdom and functionality.
The only– ONLY thing that New Testament Jesus said about Homosexuality, Transgenders, Intersex people, and gay people was Matthew 19:12 —
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.” ~Colossians 1:16
In some posts I’ve gone into the issues of how complicated–and diverse–a person’s sexuality is. Yes, sexuality is plastic and can be fluid throughout a person’s life. Yes, many people are born so “Intersexed” that doctors have to call in genetic specialist to determine what gender a child is. And yes, the “Over Powering Mother” and the Oedipal and Electra Complexes are the norm in our unbalanced, Materialist, narcissistic culture that thinks beating and shaming children is a “good idea.”
The highest attribute … the greatest virtue of Christianity is … “God is love”. Not that in your shame or inadequacy you puff yourself up as being better than someone else — like “God” broke the mold when your rusty behind showed up late. Mind your business. God is LOVE — Love is love.
© 2020 | https://medium.com/@journeyman712/why-black-christians-get-sexuality-so-wrong-132c8eabd324 | ['Freddy G.'] | 2020-11-27 06:25:16.130000+00:00 | ['Black Hebrew Israelites', 'Thug', 'Reconquista', 'Islam', 'White Supremacy'] |
A Full Guide on the Differences Between UI and UX Design | You’ll learn what is UI, what is UX, and the difference between UI and UX design here. Useful advice on UI/UX design course and tutorials also provided.
Increasingly, with the development of technology, more and more people are getting involved in design. For beginners, it’s important to know the difference between UI and UX design. Having a comprehensive theoretical understanding about design is the first and necessary step in becoming a UI/UX designer.
What is User Experience Design?
User experience design is the process of building relationships between a company, its products, and its customers.
User experience design is the process of researching, developing, and improving all aspects of user interaction with a company ’s product to satisfy its users. The goal is to improve the user’s experience with the product through test results, ultimately creating a product that is useful and valuable, as well as easy to obtain, pleasing to use.
UX design contributes to a product that provides an effective user experience. It includes different disciplines, such as visual design, interaction design, usability, and more.
What is User Interface Design?
The user interface is the visual appearance of a product, and UI designers decide how to visually design the product for effective user experience. A good UI design helps attract users and ensures a pleasant product experience.
The elements of UI design include content such as documents, text, images, videos; forms including buttons, tags, text fields, checkboxes, drop-down lists, graphic designs; and behaviors like what will happen when the user’s click/drag/enter.
It requires UI designers to have a good sense of aesthetics and technical skill. A creative role, the goal of the UI designer is to create a compelling, beautiful user interface that elicits an emotional response from the user.
Simply put, if you first saw a website and marveled at it its visual appeal, it was mainly due to a UI designer.
What’s the Difference Between UI and UX?
UI design and UX design always overlap, but are you really clear about their differences? Simply, UX design refers to user experience design, and UI design refers to the user interface design. They have a close relationship in product design but serve different roles.
In terms of functionality, UI is how things look, UX is how things work. UX is a process, while UI is a deliverable.But people easily confuse the two since they tend to have a symbiotic relationship. As Rahul Varshney, co-creator of Foster.fm puts it:
“User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are some of the most confused and misused terms in our field. A UI without UX is like a painter slapping paint onto canvas without thought; while UX without UI is like the frame of a sculpture with no paper match on it. A great product experience starts with UX followed by UI. Both are essential for the product’s success.”
So the obvious differences between UI design and UX design result in different roles.
1. Different focus
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The most important difference between UI and UX designers is that they have a different use for prototyping. Many UI designers believe a prototype should be a hi-fi model. However, for the UX designer, fidelity is an afterthought; they care more about logic. Simply speaking: when you’re going to meet your customers, show them the design made by the UI designer. When you’re going to meet the programmers, take the prototype made by the UX designer.
The reason is really simple too. UI designers pay more attention to the interface- the front end, while UX designers focus on the back end.
2. The colors they use
UI designers tend to design prototypes in full color. Conversely, UX designers generally use only three colors in prototype design: black, white and gray.
This difference can be seen commonly in designing and using icons. For example, when you need to create a bottom navigation bar, UI designers will spend lots of energy making it as realistic as possible, including the button color before and after clicking. On the contrary, UX designers would insert the button in the right place, then leave a note: Gray after clicking.
3. The tools they use
Since there are so many differences in the roles between UI and UX designers, the tools they use must be different. For UI designers, designing images is of prime importance. Hence, tools like Flinto and Principle, which are bounded to Sketch, have an advantage.
Mockplus iDoc is also an option and the team collaboration and handoff function with automatic markups, specs, assets and code snippets makes it a competitive option.
UX designers will favor a wireframe as it saves time and makes designing more efficient. There are lots of qualified prototyping tools.
Mockplus with its easy and transparent to operate, Balsamiq with sketch style, and Axure with comprehensive functions. What’s more, there’s a unique advantage to using Mockplus; it has 8 ways to test and preview projects. This is especially helpful during testing.
UX is Not UI
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works”
-SteveJobs
Theoretically, UX design includes wireframing/prototyping, interaction design, and user testing. UI design includes visual design and interaction design.
Note that both UI design and UX design requires interaction design. Interaction design guides the user’s feelings and behavior.
If you are confused by the terms mentioned above, have a look at our article UX vs UI vs IA vs IxD to build up your design thinking.
UX is not UI, but they do complement each other:
UX makes interfaces useful, UI makes interfaces beautiful.
UX helps users accomplish goals, UI makes emotional connections.
UX design precedes UI design.
UX design occurs throughout products, interfaces, and services; UI only pertains to interfaces.
What Do UI/UX Designers Do?
The best way to learn what UI/UX designer do is to peruse job descriptions. You can find many real UI/UX designer job descriptions on recruitment websites.
Career Foundry illustrates the key responsibilities of each position.
UX Designer Skills and Responsibilities
Content/Strategy: Customer Analysis, Competitor Analysis, Product Structure/Strategy Prototyping and Wireframing: Prototyping, Testing/Iteration, Development, Planning, Wireframing Analytics and Execution: Coordination with Developer(s), Coordination with UI Designer(s), Analysis and Iteration, Tracking Goals and Integration
So, the User Experience Designer is not only responsible for preplanning and preparing the technology behind the product. They are also responsible for how users interact online and offline, including customer service and analytics.
UI Designer Skills and Responsibilities
Look and Feel: Branding and Graphic Development, User Guides/Storyline, Customer Analysis, Design Research
Responsiveness and Interactivity: Adaptation to All Device Screen Sizes, Interactivity, and Animation, Implementation with Developer, UI Prototyping, Implementation with Developer
UI design creates the skin and appearance of a product. It forms the personality and the brand. It connects the product to the user, building trust, and transferring of the brand concept. The role of UI designer requires collaboration with other team members, such as developers and the UX designer.
What Kind of UI/UX Design Course Should You Take?
For most beginners, taking a course is the best and quickest way of learning how to be a UI/UX designer. It’s not easy and there is no shortcut.
There are many ways that you can f take a UI/UX design course, with many free or paid options. Free UX design courses from top universities is a good place to start, but not enough to advance to a career. Lots of organizations and platforms are now providing good courses and tutorials online. Here are 30 of the best online course websites to learn UI/UX design summarized by the Mockplus team.
What’s is the Salary of a UI/UX Designer?
The salary of a UI/UX designer depends on many aspects, including location, experience, industry, and project/product type.
According to Glassdoor, the average base salary of a UI designer in the United States is $80,450/yr, while the average base salary of a UX designer is $90,697.
For more information, here is a study of UI/UX designer salaries from around the world.
So, do you want to be a UX Designer or a UI Designer?
People face choices every day. Once you get know the differences between UI/UX design, from the theory, to how they work together, resources of where to learn each, as well as how much they get paid, it’s your turn to make the decision to be a UI designer or a UX designer. | https://blog.prototypr.io/a-full-guide-on-the-differences-between-ui-and-ux-design-eec890d59094 | ['Amy Smith'] | 2020-01-10 10:18:02.906000+00:00 | ['Guides And Tutorials', 'Design', 'UI', 'Designer', 'UX'] |
20 reasons why 2020 is my best year | Dear 2020, it’s been pleasure, thank you.
Photo Credit: Mohammed Nohassi, Unsplash
The year I became a born-again Christian.
I cannot fathom how freeing and blessed I feel that God has woken me up this year and be fulfilled by his works.
2. I am earning more money than any other year.
In the times that we live in, I managed to resign from a job I absolutely hated (Yes, I still have a day job and not yet earning enough through writing). I received a new job that allows me to earn much more, and I am also working at home, so it feels like even more of a surplus in income.
3. I had taken up therapy.
For nearly 2 months, I was doing therapy once a week for 1 hour. Although I had to end it due to a clash in our beliefs from a psychological point of view, it has helped me understand any issues I had and continue to go back to her points while looking for a therapist best suited to my needs and lifestyle.
4. I learned not to be a people pleaser.
I become confident in myself and learned not to do things I didn’t feel 100% because it would end up with a negative outcome as a result
5. I Accepted losing friends.
I lost a total of 4 friends, non of them ending in a feud. I just learned to remove toxic people in my life
6. I set boundaries with my family.
Talking of Toxicity, I learned to create healthier boundaries with my family members.
7. I learned to be kind.
I am a natural empath. I get emotional quite easily when I see evil being done in the world. However, I learned to use the act of kindness more. Asking myself when was the last time I did a good deed and ensuring I do so.
8. Learnt to heal.
Healing from childhood trauma that has led to my adulting years. I learned about my behavioral patterns to be a better daughter, sister, friend, and colleague.
9. I learned more about myself.
I felt like I had more time to think, so I had more time to improve my mental and physical health.
10. Gratitude.
To survive 2020 and be fit and healthy and not have to worry about money is a privilege at it’s finest. I have learned to be so grateful from the moment I wake up. I am so conscious of all the things I have, and l have learned to complain less as a result.
11. I am more privileged than I can fathom.
going back to gratitude, learning that the country, city and culture that I have consumed by wealth I have learned to let go of worldly view of wealth and instead
12. Accepting my journey.
I have a list of goals I want to achieve and set targets of when I would like to achieve them. If it doesn’t occur in the way I want them to, and I have learned to be ok with that, some of my goals will happen quicker or slower than anticipated.
13. Focus on my own Lane.
I am grateful not to have social media where I can easily sidetrack and watch over others’ people’s success and compare them to mine.
14. Sincerity.
To be more honest with myself and the people around me. To be more opinionated and defend the disadvantaged and vulnerable is how I have learned to be this year.
15. Love myself.
Who else will? I’m the main character In my life.
16. Learning differentiate my needs and wants.
By doing so, I have become healthier this year as a result.
17. I learned to break my day down.
As much as it is easier to sit down and binge-watch Netflix all day, I am aware of the unhelpful, it is for my sanity and. If I want to move forward in life, I have to sacrifice tv time to add value to important things in my life.
18. mature led attitude.
I’m in my mid-20s, so it is expected; however, this year, I have learned to think carefully before taking any drastic actions and attitudes.
19. To be more forgiving.
To learned not to hold grudges and move past things.
20. Valuing the importance of fellowship.
As a Christian, having a fellowship group is so pivotal. It was important to have a Christian community, especially in the world climate, to remind you to fix up when off track.
After a full of blessings this year, I am looking forward to what 2021 has to bring. | https://medium.com/writers-blokke/20-reasons-why-2020-is-my-best-year-70ac7203d8c8 | ['Cathy Assoba'] | 2021-01-01 11:17:15.461000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Christianity', '2020', 'Christian', 'Wellbeing'] |
Tyrion | Eyes of gold
To me behold
Your decisive gaze
Upon me,
Your wayward glance
Like in a trance
Follows mine eye
Forward,
A sprig of hair
And whiskers there
Dance upon nose
In motion,
All shades of brown
Speckled ‘round
A face lit with
Emotion. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/tyrion-b841d1654531 | ['Sarah E Sturgis'] | 2019-11-28 17:52:18.738000+00:00 | ['Perspective', 'Cats', 'Beauty', 'Poetry', 'Writing'] |
MS Excel — Connecting PowerQuery To An Excel File In The Cloud (Google Drive) — Part 2 | Here’s The Process for Excel Files in Google Drive
Locate the Excel file in Google Drive. Open the spreadsheet.
Excel File in Google Drive Folder
Share file from Google Drive to “Anyone With Link” (I would recommend NOT to do this with sensitive information!).
Spreadsheet in Google Drive with “Share” Icon
Sharing Set at “Anyone with Link can view”
Next, we need to access the data source link for use in Power Query. To do this we use “File >> Download as >> Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)”.
Although the file will download, what we care about is the download LINK that is generated.
Download Google Spreadsheet as a Microsoft Excel file
Downloaded file — this can be deleted later!
Now, access the Downloads information for your Web Browser (I am using Chrome here — which is “CTRL + J”).
Downloads page of the Chrome Browser — Copy associated Link
This is what we use in Excel Power Query to access the data directly on the Internet.
Open a new Excel workbook. Using Excel 2016, I select “Data >> Get & Transform Data >> From Web”.
Excel 2016 “Data >> Get & Transform Data >> From Web”
Paste the link into the Dialog box that appears.
Paste Download link (Web URL) Into the Dialog Box
Connect using “Anonymous” and click “Connect”.
Select “Anonymous” and Click “Connect”
Select the worksheet tab that you want to Import and click Edit — do not immediately Load the query.
Select Data source and Click Edit in Query Navigator window
Edit Query Settings to change the query name.
Power Query Edit Mode — change Query Name
Finally, this is where we edit the query and shape the data set. For purposes of this discussion, I am not going to do anything other than “Load” the data.
Editing and shaping this data is for another discussion!
I load the data into a Table in Excel.
Load Data — select “File >> Close & Load To…”
Load data into an Excel Worksheet | https://medium.com/lets-excel/ms-excel-connecting-powerquery-to-an-excel-file-in-the-cloud-google-drive-part-2-87cbaf2b16b4 | ['Don Tomoff'] | 2019-01-12 12:18:12.337000+00:00 | ['Power Query', 'Excel', 'How To', 'Data', 'Google Drive'] |
Get Started with AI in 15 Minutes Using Text Classification on Airbnb reviews | Watson Natural Language Classifier (NLC) is a text classification (aka text categorization) service that enables developers to quickly train and integrate natural language processing (NLP) capabilities into their applications. Once you have the training data, you can set up a classification model (aka a classifier) in 15 minutes or less to label text with your custom labels. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create two classifiers using publicly available Airbnb reviews data.
One of the more common text classification patterns I’ve seen is analyzing and labeling customer reviews. Understanding unstructured customer feedback enables organizations to make informed decisions that’ll improve customer experience or resolve issues faster. Sentiment analysis is perhaps one of the most common text classification cross-industry use cases, as it empowers businesses to understand voice and tone of their customers. However, companies also need to organize their data into categories that are specific to their business. This often requires data scientists to build custom machine learning models. With NLC, you can build a custom model in minutes without any machine learning experience.
Training data
To obtain training data, I went to insideairbnb.com and downloaded the ‘reviews.csv.gz’ file from Austin, Texas. This file contains thousands of real reviews from Airbnbs in Austin.
Next, I defined my labels. I decided to build two classifiers one for categorizing the reviews and the other for sentiment. It was best to separate the training data for each and create separate classifiers in order to achieve the highest accuracy possible. The labels I defined are below:
Category Classifier: Environment, Location, Cleanliness, Hospitality, Noise, Amenities, Communication, Other
Environment, Location, Cleanliness, Hospitality, Noise, Amenities, Communication, Other Sentiment Classifier: Positive, Neutral, Negative
Both sets of training data only contain 219 rows (examples). That isn’t a lot of examples in the grand scheme of things. However, one of the benefits of Watson Natural Language Classifier is that it works better on smaller sets of examples. Feel free to continue to add to the training data once you have downloaded the file to further improve the accuracy!
Training the Classifiers
In this tutorial, I will be using Watson Studio. If you would prefer to use the API directly, check out the documentation.
Create an instance of NLC and launch the tooling (Note: if you get lost, please refer to the embedded video at the bottom of this post):
Go to the Natural Language Classifier page in the IBM Cloud Catalog. Sign up for a free IBM Cloud account or log in. Click Create. Once an instance is created, you will be taken to the below screen. Click Launch tool to open the tooling in Watson Studio.
Open tooling from IBM Cloud Catalog
Train your classifier
Download the training data. Two columns is all you need! That’s how easy it is to train a classifier in NLC! Download here! Click “Create Model” to start building your classifier(s).
Begin creating your classifier
Next, you’ll need to create a project in Watson Studio. If you do not have an instance of Watson Studio created then you will need to provision a one on the Lite plan. After you have provisioned your instance of Watson Studio, refresh the page and name your Watson Studio project. Then click “Create” in the bottom right hand corner. Upload the training data for either the Categories or Sentiment Click Train Model (Training will take approximately 5-10 minutes for each classifier)
Uploading training data and training a classifier
Testing your classifier
Now that training is done, you can test your classifier! Click into your classifier and go to the Test page. Enter any text and see how Watson classifies it. The classifier works best when using actual Airbnb reviews — so test it out with data from insideairbnb.com. If the classifier makes a mistake, simply click Edit and Retrain in the top right corner and add more training examples to your training data. You’ll be classifying Airbnb reviews in no time!
Want to hook your classifiers up to a user interface? Check out the Github repo for the Natural Language Classifier demo. This repo will give you the Node.JS for the NLC demo so you can hook your classifiers up to a simple user experience.
Classify Airbnb Reviews with Watson NLC
Helpful Links
Product Page | Documentation | Sample apps and code | API Reference
Want to see what else Watson can do with Airbnb reviews? Check out the new demo for Watson Discovery Service! | https://medium.com/ibm-watson/get-started-with-ai-in-15-minutes-28039853e6f3 | ['Reid Francis'] | 2018-11-20 21:54:07.039000+00:00 | ['Tutorial', 'Machine Learning', 'Classification', 'Development', 'AI'] |
Why do we have Easter day Holiday? | Why do we have Easter day Holiday? Orthodox Easter Day in Russia is a holiday that is so important that people celebrated it even during the atheist Soviet period. To this day, Russians discover many Easter traditions, just the way their forefathers did.
Easter is a time when the faithful and atheists alike, young and old, city citizens, and country folk attend Easter Mass. But Easter in Russia is a lot more than just a celebration of the renewal of Jesus Christ. It’s a long and robust tradition that even the communists couldn’t get rid of. Easter cleanses souls and thoughts, bringing peace, joy, and hope. And it’s a period when Russians look ahead to a happy family dinner with lots of exceptional Easter food like Easter bread, traditional cheesecake, Easter eggs, and other tasty treats.
Easter in Russia is calling as Paskha. The name probably develops from the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which dedicates to the rescue of Jews from Egyptian slavery. The word indicates transitioning with Christ from death to eternity and from earth to heaven by Christian tradition.
It’s a shifting holiday.
Russian Easter changes yearly because it falls on the first Sunday after the first religious full moon. Paskha usually is celebrates later than Catholic Easter because the Russian Orthodox Church attends the old Julian calendar, unlike the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, which have been using the Gregorian calendar since the 16th century.
People fast before Easter.
Paskha comes before 40 days of Great Lent, the most important event in the Orthodox church year. Those who examine it are not supposed to eat meat, dairy, and, on some days, even vegetable oils. No food or drink should be eaten until the evening on the final Friday before Easter (Good Friday).
Preparation
Russians suppose to do all their pre-Easter tasks during the last week before the holiday, also known as the Holy Week. Houses should be clean entirely before “Clean Thursday, “when Russians color and decorate eggs. On Saturdays, everyone cooks popular Easter food and those who fast do not taste it while cooking. It is also popular to honor the food at church during the night ceremony.
Easter customs
There’s a church ceremony at night
In Russia, the Easter church ceremony starts on Saturday evening and lasts until daylight. This usually a stunning ceremony with candle lights and liturgical chants, attended even by those who don’t attend mass frequently. At midnight, the bells jingle to announce the renewal of Christ. In history, only men were allow to ring church bells. Bell-ringing could hear everywhere, creating a joyful environment. There was a lot of playing coming to pass.
Church of Christ the Saviour at night
Eggs are more important than you think
Easter eggs are an essential part of the holiday. Hard-boiled eggs traditionally paint red using onion skins; they signify renewal and new life. Eggs exchanging are one of the most popular Easter customs. The following small standard process keeps the eggs until Easter, which supposedly helps protect the house from floods, fires, and other natural disasters.
Easter Cake
Traditional food is still popular
On Easter morning, most families in Russia, no matter how religious they are, will maybe enjoy a traditional breakfast of eggs, kulich, a special kind of yeast bread, and Paskha, a pyramid-formed cake made of cottage cheese and raisins. Many food shops give ready-made kulichi and paskhas, but people like to make them using family recipes approved from generation to generation.
There’s a special greeting.
Russians hardly stay at home on Easter; this holiday is all about family gatherings and festive dinners. So that the day people exchange Easter eggs, kiss each other on the cheek three times.
Easter Eggs
Painted eggs are an international Easter symbol. In Russia, Easter eggs believe in maintaining magic powers. They suppose to protect crops against rain damage, keep cattle healthy and prevent evil spirits. An Easter egg hidden in the organization of a house would bring the landlords happiness and success. It should even be likely to make yourself look younger by rolling an Easter egg over the face. So it’s no surprise that painted and blessed Easter eggs kept as lucky charms for a long time. The most wonderful ones probably the Great Easter Eggs designed by the world-famous jeweler for the Russian Royal Family.
Traditional Easter eggs are red. As it is not compulsory to use red, it is also possible to use other colors. In Russia, eggs are always cooked together with onion skins or wrapped in colorful fabric remnants. Spinach colors egg green, and beetroot gives them a red color. Easter eggs get an excellent glow if rubbed with vegetable oil.
Easter has its games. Russian Easter celebrations include various games, which unsurprisingly involve Easter eggs. The most popular one is rolling the eggs along the floor or down a slope, and the one that reaches the base without breaking wins. People also try to hurt each other’s eggs, and the one whose egg breaks down last is the winner.
Easter lasts 40 days.
The first week after Easter, they were supposed to be holy. During this period, church services were held with their holy doors open, symbolizing Christ opening the kingdom of heaven to all people. The 40 days between Easter and Ascension Day refer to as paschal.
The trumpet fanfares heard multiple times throughout, adding to the overall excitement in the Easter holiday musical description. Easter also applied to as ‘The Bright Holiday’ in Russia, as it offers hope to those who may need it. This is a familiar feeling throughout the Russian Easter Festival Overture, particularly at the end, where the whole costume comes together to create a vast celebratory sound to represent the ending, if you will, of the Easter holiday.
To know more like this festival visit our website that is https://gyanibalak.com/. Our website carries information about different types of festivals worldwide. | https://medium.com/@gyanibalakji/why-do-we-have-easter-day-holiday-45ed4344235b | ['Rahul Modhgil'] | 2021-12-28 08:18:03.145000+00:00 | ['Easter Egg', 'Easter', 'Eastern Europe', 'Festivals', 'Europe'] |
Stank Culture | Stank Culture
An unfashionable Anti-Poem dedicated to Stan Twitter & TikTok teens
Image Courtesy of PNGWave
Stank Culture
Your cool couture is CANCELLED
Distressed worse than a damsel.
Best get out of the house
Decompress and delouse.
Casting shade but not sorry
Youth’s just part of the story.
Here today, gone tomorrow
Who’ll Stan by your late show?
Look — these locals are pissed
U & mutuals have dissed
Stressed them out with spilt tea;
Skinny legend? Guilty plea!
Trendy slang gets ‘snatched’
Here for sh-nacks, duly stashed…
:P~ | https://medium.com/illumination/stank-culture-4b51d98e3db7 | ['Obsidian Eagle'] | 2020-11-24 08:32:24.404000+00:00 | ['Rhymes', 'Poetry', 'Pop Culture', 'Linguistics', 'Critique'] |
My TIIDELab Experience 4.0 (Fourth Month) | It is my second to last month at TIIDELab and it’s been the most important so far, all fellows have been broken into their respective tracks (Frontend or Backend) where we will continue learning. I’m in the backend track where I will be learning and using Nodejs.
Backend languages and frameworks
In the first week, we were introduced to Backend development by Mr. Kenny and different programming languages and frameworks that can be used in backend development. We then installed Nodejs and were introduced to the node package manager (npm) and what it is used for, how to initialize it, and how to install different packages and importing modules. During our weekly Friday meetup, we were trained on Appreciative Communication and The 4D Cycles of AI (Appreciative Inquiry). We had a guest speaker that day, Mr. Lanre Yusuf (VP Techspecialist Consulting Ltd) who taught us how to properly prepare a Requirement Specification Document for a client and also to always confirm that you understand your client and they equally understand you.
A photo of Abuja fellows with Mr. Lanre Yusuf (Red attire in the middle)
In the second week, we were introduced to REST APIs and how to build RESTful web services in Nodejs. We learned the key principles of RESTful web services and HTTP methods that are used with RESTful web services. After learning about REST APIs, we were introduced to Express, a web application framework that is used for designing and building web applications quickly and easily. During our meet-up this week, we learned about SMART, SWOT, and PEST Analysis when setting Goals. You should be able to identify if your goal is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) as well as the SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) and PEST (Political, Economical, Socio-cultural, Technological) Analysis to identify all possible internal factors and external factors that could affect your goal. We had a guest this week, Mr. Ayomide Oyekanmi (Google Software Engineer) who talked to us about his journey and mistakes he made, the challenges he faced, and valuable lessons learned. In his own words, “No one is special, you just have to put in the work”.
My team’s SMART and SWOT analysis on TIIDELab’s goal to train more youths in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria
Mr. Ayo at Lagos giving us a story of his journey
In the third week, we were introduced to databases and SQL we then installed xampp and began to create databases and tables and perform functions on the databases like INSERT, SELECT, JOIN, etc. We then learnt how to use Nodejs to directly query the mysql databases with Express. In our Friday meetup that week, we learnt about Public Speaking Strategies and Speech Writing. We were given a task of representing a country in a Model United Nation assembly and give a speech on the impact of Corona Virus in the country and what the country has done to tackle it and unite as one nation and proffer a resolution.
Me giving my speech as the Reprsentative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
In the final week of the month of November, we learnt about Authentication and Authorization, securely storing passwords in the database with hashing and authenticating and authorizing users using a JSON web token. During our meet-up that week, we were trained on Negotation and Mediation Skills. We learnt the different types of negotiation, processes of negotation, negotiation tactics, proceduce, strategies. When negotating you should know your BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) and ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement). We also learnt skills to be an effective mediator and mediation processes, which we applied in a drama where there were certain conflicts and issues and being a mediator and finding a common ground for a fair negotation to occur. My team won both the drama presentation and the Head of House (HOH) activity that week and my team memebers voted me as the Head of House for the week.
The month of November was really different compared to other months because were were finally following our respective tracks and building ourselves in that track. I was eager to learn Nodejs and I am happy that I’m on the backend development track because it was very interesting learning these new concepts and practices. My tenure as HOH just began but I’m eager to see the responsibilities that lie ahead. See you next month for the final article of this series. | https://medium.com/@ekesolonge/my-tiidelab-experience-4-0-fourth-month-edc1529aac95 | ['Ekeso Longe'] | 2020-12-03 12:34:51.388000+00:00 | ['Nodejs', 'Tiidelab', 'Programming', 'Backend', 'Bootcamp'] |
Jesus Is Not a Brand | Should churches use social media ad campaigns to “convert and recruit?”
Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
Last week writer Josh Wilbur, in an article at Slate, described the recent trend of churches using targeted advertising on social media platforms to “convert and recruit” people to Christianity.” As Wilbur explains,
“Churches of all denominations are using Facebook and Instagram ads to reach pinpointed audiences in their communities, transforming the Great Commission’s “nations” into living, breathing (scrolling) individuals. Now, it’s, “Go and make disciples of all 18- to 34-year-olds within a 10-mile radius who prefer Chick-fil-A to Popeyes.”
Wilbur’s tone is critical and rightfully so. Churches and their social media “teams” have uncritically adopted yet another aspect of consumer culture and are operating as if they are corporations and Jesus is the brand on offer. Jesus is many things, but he is most certainly not a brand.
Is it possible that using social media to advertise him as a brand, in order to create more traffic on Sunday mornings, denigrates who he is and what he did, and brings churches down to the level of common hucksters, hawking their swag in an attempt to make a buck? Has anyone stopped to ask that question? Maybe the answer is no, using social media to meet people and invite them to church isn’t inherently bad. But it is worth exploring in more detail before implementing targeted ad campaigns outright.
To be sure, targeted advertising on social media might be an effective way to meet people, to get 400 people to show up to an easter egg hunt (as Wilbur reports one Ohio pastor was able to do with $20 ad campaign on Facebook). But is getting people to show up to an easter egg hunt the ultimate goal of the church? I would argue it isn’t—worship and discipleship are.
Of course underneath the social media issue is the question of whether the church should be more like a corporation, where the pastor is the vision-casting CEO, churchgoers are consumers, and Jesus is the product, or more like a family with all the relational implications such a model brings with it. As one author notes, the tendency towards bigger churches, run like corporations, is merely a reflection of the consumer culture we live in, and it really does turn Christianity into a brand rather than a “counter cultural calling.”
Many have already come to a conclusion on this issue. Obviously, churches like those Wilbur refers to, for example Elevation church in North Carolina with its young, hip pastor and online presence (Elevation sermons had 80 million views online last year) have made their choice clear.
But others have written persuasively in the opposite direction. For one, Karl Vaters definitively states, “Churches cannot and should not be run like businesses.” Vaters sees this as a conflict of interest or a disordering of authority. He explains that in businesses, the owner casts the vision and makes the decisions. But in the church, Jesus is the owner. He has already cast his vision. Furthermore, the church is to be relational, where brothers and sisters in Christ bear one another’s burdens. Note the familial terms “brothers” and “sisters.”
The problem is that American Christians, growing up in the quintessential consumer culture, like the slick, megachurch style where the pastor is the CEO and worship is entertainment. The 60–75 minute church service, in stadium-sized venues with thousands of strangers is eminently marketable, consumable, and requires little commitment or devotion. Unfortunately, even as younger Americans are leaving the church, or never showing up in the first place, it is the smaller, relational-driven churches that are bearing the brunt of that exodus. In general, those who remain prefer the polished and no-strings-attached feel of the megachurch.
There are serious consequences to this trend beyond silly social media ad campaigns. As Joe Carter explains, “when churches become larger, it is harder for pastors to know how individual parishioners are doing spiritually.” This can lead to an increased risk of online radicalization and make it harder for those in authority to become aware of abuse in the church and be available to deal with it appropriately.
There are of course other aspects of the Christian life that are more difficult to live out in a big church than in a small church. Much of Christianity is meant to be relational. There is a reason the New Testament contains dozens of calls to “love one another” or “serve one another,” which, in order to do well, means people actually have to know one another. And Jesus’ own ministry was lived out in the context of deep relationship with his twelve followers.
The pastor of my church once said in a sermon, “What you win them with, is what you win them to.” If megachurches continue to use social media ad campaigns to reach people, they won’t be making disciples, but attracting people to an ineffectual brand of feel-good, American churchianity.
The early church looks very different from the church in America today. Part of this is because of the consumer culture we live in and the technological innovations that have been introduced to foster that consumerism. Instead of co-opting it, Christians should weigh and consider if following the culture when it comes to social media ad campaigns and big, corporate church structures, is really what Jesus is calling us to.
John Thomas is a freelance writer. His writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The American Conservative, and Desiring God. He writes regularly at medium.com/soli-deo-gloria. | https://medium.com/soli-deo-gloria/jesus-is-not-a-brand-717a3d65c9cd | ['John Thomas'] | 2019-09-17 09:59:35.069000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Christianity', 'Culture', 'Religion', 'Social Media'] |
Falling in Love With Fitness: | Doing it for ME
I think I can speak for all of us when I say that 2020 was not a fan favorite for everyone. It completely shifted our lives around and did a complete 180 on what we thought would be a normal year. Being sent home from college 3 months early was not something I expected to happen and it impacted my mental and physical health a lot. Normally I would be in the gym 3 times a week and playing pick up 2 times a week for basketball but that plan went out the window the minute we were forced out. It was at that point every unhealthy habit I had picked up over the year, came back to me from March until August. I was staying up until 5 am, sleeping until 12, and eating less than two meals a day but filling up that space with every snack in sight. By no means am I a healthy-eater to begin with but I definitely gained the so-called “quarantine 15”. I was ashamed of it and not being able to see friends really sunk me back into a bad mental state that of which hadn’t been reached in 3 years.
I tried working out with my sister and stepdad but I would always end up in a breakdown, hating the way I felt and never seeing a positive outlook. My relationship with fitness has never been love/hate it’s always been just hate. I would find any excuses not to do it and didn’t enjoy it at all. Friends were my distraction from my own detrimental thoughts and a way to feel good. I tried to feel good and put off that I was feeling the best that I have ever felt. You would have thought I was on cloud nine.
It was all a lie.
Cut to late July/early August, I had just received word that we were going to be able to start practicing in October for basketball and I needed to get my act together quick. I started doing core workouts almost everyday and counting calories but that quickly ended after a small camping trip disrupted that flow and I never looked back.
College had since started back up and I am running almost every day because of basketball and trying to balance school, my physical health, and my mental health while trying to not obtain COVID was a lot. Again, it may have seemed like I was having the best time but I am a master at hiding things. I wasn’t happy with my grades, working out, and again, fighting off the potential for COVID.
Well… come late October… I am COVID positive.
Surprisingly, my time with COVID didn’t hurt my mental health at all but all the “hard work” I put in to be in shape was gone. Which in turn, hurt my mental health. I was so over being at school, I wanted the semester to be over, my grades were not what I wanted them to be and I couldn’t practice because COVID had left my heart a little weak after attacking my body.
Thanksgiving was now coming up and that meant going home. I knew that this also meant I needed to figure out a way to get in shape again to help my health and my heart gain its strength.
So for the first time in my life.. I joined a gym.
On my first day there I had no clue what I was doing. I did some arms and some legs and maybe a core workout and that was it. In that same week, I went 2 more times and started figuring things out more. I saw some old friends I knew and honestly realized no one was watching me or cared what I was doing. It was strange, I had never had this feeling of, “I can’t wait to go to the gym!”, it has never happened for me. I sat down that weekend and came up with a 4-week plan, watched different Youtube videos, and researched different exercises to build the perfect routine.
I am now on week 2 and I go to the gym 5/7 days of the week and love every day. I realized every time that I had to work out before that… it was never for me. For once, I was doing this for me and to feel good about myself. I look in the mirror and see someone on their way to looking how they want to look but just for themself. I see someone who is on their way to being mentally healthy again because they have found a new distraction and a new way to challenge themself.
I feel free. I have fallen in love with researching new exercises, joining fitness groups on Instagram, and following TikTok fitness accounts for guidance and motivation. I am not afraid of being in the gym and I enjoy buying new equipment and outfits to wear while there.
2020 has been a hell of a ride. I started off not knowing where my life was going to end up and I do hope 2021 is significantly better just like the rest of us. I still have a long ways to go, however, I am grateful for my newfound love and I am prepared and excited to take this new journey and make it into something great.
I will end with this. Being afraid is normal and you are not the only one feeling this way. But, taking the first step whether it’s joining the gym, going for a walk, or doing anything that YOU consider fitness is amazing and you are doing great already. I am no fitness or motivational coach but I have some things I want to share, some things I have learned. Everyone is different and everyone’s journey and relationship with fitness or health are different. But do what makes YOU happy, do what makes YOU feel healthy.
Do it for YOU | https://medium.com/@oefflk/falling-in-love-with-fitness-5ecd0fcb370b | ['Kyra Oeffler'] | 2020-12-18 02:19:10.667000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Fitnessmotivation', 'Journey', 'Workout'] |
Texas State Veterans Homes Celebrate the Holidays | The Texas Veterans Land Board (VLB) has eight Texas State Veterans Homes across the state. These homes provide affordable, long-term skilled nursing care for Texas Veterans, their spouses and Gold Star Parents. The staff and volunteers at our homes work incredibly hard to provide the residents with special activities and celebrations to show them all how much they are loved.
We are so grateful to all the community members who take the time to stop in and visit with our Veterans and other residents, especially around the holidays. Many different groups of people brought our residents special gifts, performed holiday music, baked cookies and just visited with them. The most important gift that anyone can give our residents is their time and companionship.
Here are some of the events and visitors we had this past November and December.
Ussery Roan State Veterans Home
Residents from the Ussery Roan State Veterans Home in Amarillo attended the unveiling of the West Texas A&M University Veteran Memorial in Canyon on Friday November 9. The University provided hot dogs and apple pie for lunch. This was the kickoff of the weekend celebration for Veterans Day.
West Texas A&M University Veteran Memorial
Every 3rd and 4th Thursday of the month, residents from the VA Community Living Center come over to Ussery Roan to collaborate with some of our residents in a woodworking workshop. The Veterans have built and stained a woodworking table. In December the residents will all sign and seal the table.
The Christmas Party on Tuesday, December 18, included delicious hors d’oeuvres and other treats, and a musical performance by singers from West Texas A&M University. Many thanks to our community partners, Open Heart Hospice and Pantex, for bringing gifts for each of our residents. Our deepest gratitude goes to Mitchell Miller with the DAV J E Pietzsch Chapter 26 for delivering four new recliners, and to Atmos Energy for providing two new birdbaths for the garden. No Christmas Party is complete without a visit from Santa Claus! | https://medium.com/texas-veterans-blog/texas-state-veterans-homes-celebrate-the-holidays-43ef3e832fef | ['Texas Vlb'] | 2019-01-04 23:03:14.725000+00:00 | ['Texas', 'Giving', 'Holidays', 'Military', 'Veterans'] |
Week 2: Electric Boogaloo. This is Week 2 of a series called 3… | Photo by Noelle Otto from Pexels
Day 5 Detox [12.14.2020]
Detox yoga on a Monday morning? Just what the doctor ordered!
All jokes aside this was a sweaty flow of twists and stretches that really got deep down into the spine. At the beginning of the warmup, Eliot reminds us that the body is like a sponge and with the power of yoga twists and bends, we can wring out all the negativity and toxicity that’s built up in the body.
Whether or not there’s any scientific basis for these statements, I can’t really tell. That said, from an anecdotal point of view I certainly felt lighter, cleaner and more open after this session.
You will sweat. A lot.
A lot.
This is somewhat surprising as the flows themselves are not particularly intense, much less so than the Cardio or Strength sessions and yet they somehow penetrated at a deeper level. By then end I was a sweaty, happy mess.
I struggled this morning to get onto the mat; I felt groggy and spent from the weekend, and even though it took a few extra minutes to motivate myself, I eventually got up and got to work.
I’m glad I did and enjoyed the class in spite of myself.
As we enter week 2 I’m excited to see the benefits of this program begin to multiply with consistency and as my body strengthens.
Meditation: Gratitude
This gratitude meditation is in many ways complementary to the Loving Kindness meditation that I did previously. The focus is on generating those feelings of gratitude within you, reminding you of the goodness in your life. I’m a big believer in gratitude as a practice and I felt like this meditation works well in conjunction with a formalized gratitude journaling practice. | https://medium.com/@theadamhenning/3m2t-week-2-2c6d5bf327e1 | ['Adam Henning'] | 2020-12-30 04:27:08.503000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Happiness', 'Yoga', 'Exercise', 'Self Improvement'] |
Social Listening or Tea Leaf Reading: What’s a Better Determinant of Brand Success? | Agencies and brands have been tempted to use social mentions/social share of voice as some kind of proxy for business success. The problem is, this methodology is completely unfounded.
The following evaluation shows why tea-leaf reading — an ancient fortune-telling method, is essentially as useful as social listening tools for measuring success for your brand.
Method 1: Social listening tools
SOV is an effective measure, social SOV is not
For the last 16 years, it has been statistically proven by three independent academic studies (1/2/3) that in order to grow a brand share of market, you need to grow your share of voice (media spend) beyond your SOM percentage. For instance, if you’re a tea brand that owns 20% of the tea market, then you need to own a share of voice (media spend) beyond 20% of that market.
However, in the eight years that have followed, no social listening tool has proven that there is any linkage between social share of voice and share of market. Crimson Hexagon — a leading social listening tool, has even gone as far to say,
‘For us, it’s not about counting mentions or SOV — it’s about gaining consumer insights from social data, that can help improve everything from sales to product development to ad spend to planning.’ 1 2
Social listening can’t accurately capture all category buyers
One of the biggest drawbacks of social listening is the limited access to conversations. The large volume of results come from Twitter. However social listening fails to track a number of the other big social platforms including Facebook (with limited access), Snapchat, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp which all have larger number of daily users than Twitter.
What’s more, Pew Research has found that social platforms are not universal, aside from Facebook. Twitter and other smaller platforms have big variances in who uses the social platform based on ethnicity and demographics. On top of that, Twitter lacks demographic data about their users, so you cannot cut the data into figuring out who is in your target and who is outside your target. This raises massive red flags for any brand who is looking to get a representative sample of category buyers as you are going to get a lot of noise.
Method 2: Tea Leaf Reading
The historical art of reading tea leaves, or ‘Tasseography’ has not historically been considered an accepted technique to measure brand performance. However, the mystical interpretation method does have some advantages. Especially, when you consider it has been a practiced art form for the last 400 years.
‘The first inklings of Western tasseography can be traced to medieval European fortune tellers who developed their readings from splatters of wax, lead, and other molten substances. This evolved into tea-leaf reading in the seventeenth century, a short time after Dutch merchants introduced tea to Europe via trade routes to China.’
Firstly, It is universally accepted and practiced method around the world, which makes it an attractive candidate for global brands.
‘Many interpretations for symbols exist, but readers commonly focus on the color of the symbols. Since most cups used are white or ivory and the grounds are dark, symbols are formed from the strong, contrasting colors. White is considered a “good” symbol foretelling of generally positive things for the querent, while the grounds themselves are considered to form “bad” symbols.’
With this, it’s safe to assume that more white in the cup would suggest that your campaign is a success and big market share gains are in the works. If you are seeing more tea leaves, you can easily conclude that consumers don’t know a good branded hashtag when they see one, and potential market share losses are on the horizon.
What’s the verdict: social mentions or tea leaves?
Both measures hold about the same amount of weight in helping to predict a brand’s performance. A safe bet would be to do both methods if you want a cheap gamble for measuring marketing success.
If you are a BBDO client, find some time to speak with your Comms Planner about the right measures of success, we will continue to cover better methods to measure your brand on our Medium page in the upcoming months so stay tuned. | https://medium.com/comms-planning/social-listening-or-tea-leaf-reading-whats-a-better-determinant-of-brand-success-1bbe9e972a3f | ['Julian Cole'] | 2016-06-24 17:08:50.534000+00:00 | ['Measurement', 'Social Listening', 'Advertising'] |
TryHackMe: Windows Fundamentals 2 Walkthrough. | Windows Fundamentals 2
You can access the room through this link: https://tryhackme.com/room/windowsfundamentals2x0x
Task 1 :- Introduction
Read above and start the virtual machine. → No answer needed.
Task 2 :- System Configuration
What is the name of the service that lists Systems Internals as the manufacturer? → PsShutdown
PsShutdown
Whom is the Windows license registered to? → Windows User
What is the command for Windows Troubleshooting?→ C:\Windows\System32\control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting
C:\Windows\System32\control.exe /name Microsoft.Troubleshooting
What command will open the Control Panel? (The answer is the name of .exe, not the full path) → control.exe
control.exe
Task 3 :- Change UAC Settings
What is the command to open User Account Control Settings? (The answer is the name of the .exe file, not the full path) → UserAccountControlSettings.exe
UserAccountControlSettings.exe
Task 4 :- Computer Management
What is the command to open Computer Management? (The answer is the name of the .msc file, not the full path) → compmgmt.msc
compmgmt.msc
At what time every day is the GoogleUpdateTaskMachineUA task configured to run? → 6:15 AM
6:15 AM
What is the name of the hidden share? → sh4r3dF0Ld3r
sh4r3dF0Ld3r
Task 5 :- System Information
What is the command to open System Information? (The answer is the name of the .exe file, not the full path) → msinfo32.exe
msinfo32.exe
What is listed under System Name? → THM-WINFUN2
THM-WINFUN2
Under Environment Variables, what is the value for ComSpec? → %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe
%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe
Task 6 :- Resource Monitor
What is the command to open Resource Monitor? (The answer is the name of the .exe file, not the full path) → resmon.exe
resmon.exe
Task 7 :- Command Prompt
In System Configuration, what is the full command for Internet Protocol Configuration? → C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\system32\ipconfig.exe
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\system32\ipconfig.exe
For the ipconfig command, how do you show detailed information? → ipconfig /all
ipconfig /all
Task 8 :- Registry Editor
What is the command to open the Registry Editor? (The answer is the name of the .exe file, not the full path) → regedt32.exe
regedt32.exe
Task 9 :- Conclusion
Read above. → No answer needed
Always terminate the Windows machine you deployed in this room. | https://medium.com/@r4v4n/tryhackme-windows-fundamentals-2-walkthrough-73d0e0d8503a | [] | 2021-07-02 11:49:24.799000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Windows Fundamentals', 'Tryhackme Walkthrough', 'Writeup', 'Tryhackme Writeup'] |
4 Fascinating Truths About Your Life That You Believed Were Lies | Whenever I am in my seminars or with wakeful friends, I am curious what people are thinking about their lives or what is true to them.
The funny thing is — rarely anybody knows the truth for their lives.
You and I lived in such an unaware state of mind that we did not even notice that we breathed alternately through one nosehole at a time! It changes from the right to the left and back again in a specific period.
Now that you know this — you cannot say that I did not warn you!
And if we are not aware of such fundamental things that literally happen right in (front of) our nose — what else do we miss? | https://medium.com/journey-to-self/4-fascinating-truths-about-your-life-that-you-believed-were-lies-22444298740 | ['Daniel Hövermann'] | 2020-12-17 19:17:35.550000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Truth', 'Change', 'Personal Growth', 'Personal Development'] |
Wireguard for the Initiated. Wireguard is awesome. Modern crypto… | Wireguard is insanely great. Modern crypto, lightweight, in-kernel, UDP for everything and seamless roaming if your IP changes. What’s not to love?
But if you are just starting out with it and have a strong TCP/IP and Linux background, you might appreciate a concise explanation. This attempts to be that.
Wireguard
All it Does
Wireguard creates a virtual network interface, the first of which is called wg0 , which encrypts and decrypts traffic. The kernel retains a list of peers and associated public keys. If the kernel get a packet destined to one of the peers, it gets encrypted and sent via UDP to the last known IP / port of that peer. The reverse happens if encrypted traffic arrives from a peer. If a properly encrypted packet arrives from an unexpected IP, that peer is updated and all response packets will now flow back to that new IP. That’s how roaming is supported — just like mosh . That’s all it does. Everything else — complicated IP subnetting, routing or any fancy port mappings— is done with netfilter, iproute2 or other standard kernel strategies. Wireguard’s elegance is in doing only one thing — encrypting and decrypting traffic — really well.
Install
Get the package however you prefer. In Ubuntu you could:
apt install wireguard
Now you presumably have the kernel module and the related userland utilities wg and the helper application wg-quick .
Keys
Wireguard uses Curve25519 public / secret key pairs which can be generated with wg thusly:
wg genkey | tee secretkey | wg pubkey | tee publickey
We’ll do this on two machines, machine “A” and machine “B”. Let’s bring up a wireguard interface on machine “A” named wg0 with 10.0.0.1/24 on it and pass it our secret key:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1)
ip link add wg0 type wireguard
ip addr add 10.0.0.1/24 dev wg0
wg set wg0 private-key ./secretkey
ip link set wg0 up
We’ll do the same using a different IP on machine “B”.
# Machine B (2.2.2.2)
ip link add wg0 type wireguard
ip addr add 10.0.0.2/24 dev wg0
wg set wg0 private-key ./secretkey
ip link set wg0 up
We can see what wireguard interface settings look like using wg with no arguments:
# Machine B (2.2.2.2)
$ wg
interface: wg0
public key: M6c1PIs1GUoOtCrO8O+fs0Bh5iRvBdNtGj3BwNkHbQM=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: 50764
Peers
Now let’s tell machine “A” about the public key and initial IP / port combination to use to get to machine “B”:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1) <VPN 10.0.0.1>
wg set wg0 peer M6c1PIs1GUoOtCrO8O+fs0Bh5iRvBdNtGj3BwNkHbQM= allowed-ips 10.0.0.2/32 endpoint 2.2.2.2:50764
And machine “B” about the same for “A”:
# Machine B (2.2.2.2) <VPN 10.0.0.2>
wg set wg0 peer atv4BKui/BSG+Wz+3xZDvyqZi5fUsvZXqAyqo6JeaC8= allowed-ips 10.0.0.1/32 endpoint 1.1.1.1:57593
Peers are known by their public key. The associated IP / port combination can change as valid packets start to arrive from alternate addresses. Roaming clients are handled this way so you can just slap your laptop shut on one network and open it up on another without re-negotiating your VPN session.
The “allowed-ips” lets the interface know what network it can get to by encrypting packets with the given key and sending it to the given endpoint. Right now it is just the single machine 10.0.0.1/32 but you could send all 10.0.0.0/24 traffic or simply 0.0.0.0/0 . You can think about it like the route entry for this key / IP / port combination.
Now try pinging 10.0.0.2 from 10.0.0.1 and you should get responses:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1) <VPN 10.0.0.1>
$ ping 10.0.0.2
PING 10.0.0.2 (10.0.0.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.489 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.519 ms
64 bytes from 10.0.0.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.39 ms
^C
--- 10.0.0.2 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2029ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.489/0.799/1.390/0.417 ms
Check on the peers your machine knows about with the wg command — you’ll see peers listed there now:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1) <VPN 10.0.0.1>
$ wg
interface: wg0
public key: atv4BKui/BSG+Wz+3xZDvyqZi5fUsvZXqAyqo6JeaC8=
private key: (hidden)
listening port: 57593 peer: M6c1PIs1GUoOtCrO8O+fs0Bh5iRvBdNtGj3BwNkHbQM=
endpoint: 2.2.2.2:50764
allowed ips: 10.0.0.1/32
latest handshake: 2 minutes, 15 seconds ago
transfer: 1.09 KiB received, 11.18 KiB sent
That’s it (Oh, one more thing!)
There is a helper app called wg-quick which reads config files from /etc/wireguard/ which makes setting things up a little easier. (and more painlessly survive reboots) Here’s a minimal example:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1) <VPN 10.0.0.1>
# /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
[Interface]
PrivateKey = EF7nGyEOl1OlZwoQgYLN41SQuDJTMpJeht9CMarHC1k=
Address = 10.0.0.1/24
ListenPort = 57593
SaveConfig = false [Peer]
PublicKey = M6c1PIs1GUoOtCrO8O+fs0Bh5iRvBdNtGj3BwNkHbQM=
AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.2/32
Now, fire up wg-quick and see if you get the same setup:
wg-quick up wg0
And wg-quick down wg0 will do the opposite. On Ubuntu, you might make that survive reboots with:
systemctl enable wg-quick@wg0
DNS
If you end up routing most or all traffic through a Wireguard tunnel, you might want to automatically drop the IP of a DNS cache in there and maybe set a search domain. You can do that fairly concisely with:
# Machine A (1.1.1.1) <VPN 10.0.0.1>
# /etc/wireguard/wg0.conf
[Interface]
PrivateKey = EF7nGyEOl1OlZwoQgYLN41SQuDJTMpJeht9CMarHC1k=
Address = 10.0.0.1/24
ListenPort = 57593
SaveConfig = false
DNS = 8.8.8.8, example.com [Peer]
PublicKey = M6c1PIs1GUoOtCrO8O+fs0Bh5iRvBdNtGj3BwNkHbQM=
AllowedIPs = 10.0.0.2/32
You’ll notice 8.8.8.8 which is the DNS cache and example.com is how you specify your default search domain. Numbers are caches and names are search domains, all separated by commas.
Hub and Spoke
It is common to designate one peer as a “server” and have other clients peer through that to get to other peers. You do this using traditional iproute2 strategies ( echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward and ip route entries) so there isn’t anything special here. I’ve been very happy with the minimal amount of CPU encrypting / decrypting to accomplish this costs. Even a $200 embedded appliance holds up fairly well at the center. You can see what I use for this in A Home Network which is a bit more broad article.
Conclusion | https://medium.com/@anders94/wireguard-config-for-the-initiated-2b1cc5f2b1ee | ['Anders Brownworth'] | 2021-04-21 14:56:00.097000+00:00 | ['Linux', 'Encrypted', 'Wireguard', 'Tunnel', 'VPN'] |
Airbnb S1 Analysis | The below chart shows the crazy effect the pandemic had on Airbnb
79% of the hosts coming to the platform organically to sign up in 2019
23% of the new hosts are converting from guests — this is a very healthy sign | https://medium.com/@siliconvalleystories/airbnb-s1-analysis-d58c2c7ffa2 | [] | 2020-12-06 09:13:19.456000+00:00 | ['Bay Area', 'Airbnb', 'S1', 'IPO', 'Silicon Valley'] |
Aloneness | Image of Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA, by the author, who ran here alone.
“Art is a wound turned into light,” (Marina character in the movie The Postcard Killings).
Sometimes a mirror and reenforcement breaks the desire to remain. Seeing oneself through another’s eyes is often the only way to see. The Jo Hari Window concept talks about four panes of a window: How you see yourself, How the world sees you, How the world and you see yourself, and that which is unknown. The point is to get into a place, where you can see yourself as the world sees you, or to open yourself completely. Some of us cannot see how pathetic we might appear because we live alone and no one, who can see us is close enough to share their view. Unless we piss them off and they are vindictive, they may never say anything, just observe.
I understand this gloom. I am not broken by it. I work to change it because it is well-known. I read an article today (https://medium.com/hello-love/how-to-tell-if-a-woman-is-not-interested-in-you-9fdb7fc71d4a) about why women do not choose certain men, and a couple of reasons really resonated with me, mainly a negativity that I possess. I think we are all well-aware, my regurgitation should not be so damning. It is not so simple. I see where it started. I know its source. My father died when I was ten and as my therapist said, at that point I became “the emotional adult of the family.” There is a study, which put rats underwater, one almost to the point of death and its behavior thereafter was not one of thankfulness and happiness to be alive, but one, which always questioned life, saw it in terms of that powerlessness. Psychologically, thereafter the rat embodied near-death. I was hopeless and whipped. Other rats had less time underwater and were fine.
A person, like that, is drawn to the motions and potions of distress. They write in a maudlin tone and are always taking the negative perspective. A New Yorker editor once said, however, that we don’t want to read happiness, there’s no point in that, we like to immerse ourselves in grief and pain, stories and times that bring us to tears. There’s more substance in sadness.
Most literary works, if you haven’t noticed, are not joyous embraces, but toils within the quagmire of life. Elliot’s poem “The Wasteland” is one of my favorites. The lines and words carry me deeply. I don’t want to be cast afflight, I want to be close to the earth and her true course. You cannot learn to live, you can only learn to create art out of pain. Check out this new piece of mine: After the Rain.
I am constantly creating art of every kind and that initial sadness has kept me in my chair. If this gives you catharsis, which it does me, then that’s the point. Sadness and perhaps happiness are on a quest to find catharsis. I don’t think happy people feel it as closely as someone in pain. | https://medium.com/@savioni/aloneness-bf1f3f483bf0 | ['Mario Savioni'] | 2021-01-03 01:45:37.134000+00:00 | ['Changing Your Life', 'Happiness', 'Loneliness', 'Past Experiences', 'Catharsis'] |
Using Hive instead of SharedPreferences for storing preferences | Note that the units here are in milliseconds and even when I ran the benchmark for the write operation with 20 entries, time of Hive was ~40ms and time of SharedPreferences was ~160 ms.
Some people may say that the difference is too small for your users to notice, which for many apps is a fair thing to say, but I would argue that it’s better to use something that scales well and stay safe as we keep adding more preferences in our app.
Because when we add dozens of small optimisations like this, all these milliseconds will sum up and it will start being noticeable by our users.
Types supported
Hive not only supports all types that shared_preferences support - bool , int , double , String , List<String> but also DateTime , Uint8List and actually List and Map of any primitive types.
Hive not only supports all types that shared_preferences support - , , , , but also , and actually and of any primitive types. Encryption
If you would need to encrypt some values of your preferences Hive got you covered with AES-256 encryption built-in. You can read more about it here.
If you would need to encrypt some values of your preferences Hive got you covered with AES-256 encryption built-in. You can read more about it here. Verbosity
After all, Hive is a solid database library offering various features, so we might use it for data storage as well.
In which case we end up depending just on hive instead of hive and shared_preferences.
How
Firstly we need to set up Hive in our project. If you already have done this, then you can skip to step 4:
Add hive and hive_flutter in pubspec.yaml:
2. Add initFlutter() call in main.dart:
3. Optional step: Add Hive.close() in your main app class:
4. Preferences Implementation:
and that’s it. Now we can use Hive Preferences similarly as we used the shared_preferences plugin.
I like keeping my preferences keys private and exposing just concrete getters and setters, but alternatively, you could make getValue and setValue public and use it for everything.
Also, note that the Preferences instance doesn’t have to be a singleton nor does it have to be synchronised - we just want to make sure that box is open before we try accessing it. Alternatively, we could always be using openBox and then implementation would look something like this, but I think it’s slightly less convenient because then we would have all getters async as well.
Finally, here’s an example usage with a rewritten counter example:
Additional resources | https://medium.com/flutter-community/using-hive-instead-of-sharedpreferences-for-storing-preferences-2d98c9db930f | ['Michal Baran'] | 2020-05-09 10:01:00.978000+00:00 | ['Flutter', 'Mobile App Development', 'Dart', 'Hive', 'Cross Platform'] |
If You Only Read 5 Books in 2019… | For more recommendations, check out my 2020 book blog.
Time again for another installation of Book Recommendations from the last year of books I read. I first wrote a blog like this in 2017 as a response to the many, many lists I’d see of 50 or 100 or 500 books Everyone Must Read, apparently. There are so many reasons why reading isn’t a priority for folks, and a lot of books that get on those lists just aren’t that great.
For me, reading is what I do for fun. It’s my downtime, my hobby, the one thing I do just for the pleasure of it. Each year I track what I’ve read and at the end, I can look back and name a few books that I think almost anyone would enjoy—books that are life-changing, profound, changing the game, or just downright fun.
This year I offer ten books total, five fiction, five non-fiction. If you only read five books in 2019, any one of these ten should be among them. In the case of the non-fiction books, if you don’t have the time to read one but you’re interested in the topic or the author’s work elsewhere, I have included links to podcasts, transcripts, and videos featuring the same content. I’ve also included links to each book on the publisher's website whenever possible, but remember your local library as a resource for checking these out. Libraries are great!
NON-FICTION
Emergent Strategy — adrienne maree brown
Normally I do not rank these. The order is arbitrary, but in the case of Emergent Strategy, this really was the very best book I read in 2018 and it’s in my top five Most Important, significant, transformative books ever. adrienne maree brown has created a genuine gift for any human being who wants to be a force for liberation and transformative change. She herself acknowledges that the concept is not new, but I would say her presentation of it most certainly is.
This book is an accessible, practical guide to living in an interconnected, interrelated, interdependent world. It is a dharma book, a practice guide, and a toolkit. It’s galvanising, uplifting, and empowering. If you are a helping professional, an employee or volunteer with a non-for-profit/charity, a manager, a director, a spiritual being, a member of a religious organisation, an activist, a speaker, a movement leader or participant, a connector, an artist and/or writer, this book is worth reading.
I have gifted seven copies of it in just five months. That’s how amazing this book is.
In addition to writing amazing books, and a bunch of other skills and talents, adrienne is also the co-host of How to Survive the End of the World with her sister, Autumn Brown. I also want to thank adrienne for making the time to collaborate with me on an episode of Everything is Workable in 2018!
The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity — Kwame Anthony Appiah
This is a delightful and easy to follow philosophical book unpacking identity across religion, location, class, race and gender. Professor Appiah uses wonderful examples throughout to illustrate the mutable nature of identity, whilst also pointing out how mutability does not render identity meaningless. In this regard, reading along is like joining someone in a contemplation on emptiness. He names an identity and proceeds to unpick it, sharing with us how we can let go of fixed ideas about who a person is, ourselves as much as anyone else. But then he also names how relational our identities are, to one another and within ourselves, and that this shouldn’t be disregarded simply because identity is lacking in any inherent quality.
It’s a beautiful example of how we can challenge our dualistic way of thinking to open up and be inclusive of a much bigger view beyond just what we have in common or not, to seeing the full complexity of what it is to be human. This book is a marriage of the absolute and relative view, and a guide for how to look at the world through an all-encompassing lens.
I was fortunate to get to see Professor Appiah give a talk on this book at the Seattle Public Library, which published a podcast of the evening. You can listen to that or read the transcript to get a taste.
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World — His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Compiled from conversations between Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April, 2015, The Book of Joy is heartwarming, encouraging, and profound. This is unsurprising considering the two spiritual leaders and what we know of their offerings to the world, but the added piece I loved about this book is their friendship. These two men are revered — held in the highest regard by millions of people — but they remain humble, and express that through their silly antics and lighthearted banter. The way their relationship is shared on the pages is as much a gift of wisdom as their conversation on the topic of joy. It’s a reminder to all of us about the importance of human connection and what a gift it is to be fully ourselves in relationship with others.
There are many wonderful gems throughout this book, but my favourite quote comes from Archbishop Tutu:
“It helps no one if you sacrifice your joy because others are suffering.”
Because this book was compiled from a series of talks there are many videos available of the many aspects of joy they discussed. I particularly appreciate their dialogue on forgiveness.
Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear & Courage Meet — Joan Halifax
“Compassion does not fatigue us — it is a source of strength, and supports our thriving and benefits others.”
The teachings of Roshi Joan Halifax are rich and practical, as she brings the fullness of her personal experience to what she has to teach. She grounds the practice of compassion with lived examples, both her own and those of her students. Her guidance on how to be present when meeting our edges so we can learn to stretch and grow them is applicable to anyone, regardless of our belief or practice. This is a book of how to connect with our potential for limitless compassion.
There is a wonderful episode of the Upaya Podcast with Roshi Halifax where she outlines the key points of this book. The Upaya podcast is free, but if you are able, please make a contribution. Donations help keep these talks available to folks regardless of income. When money is a resource we have, we can gift it in this way to ensure that such wisdom remains accessible to as many people as possible.
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture — edited by Roxane Gay
I struggled with whether or not to include this book in my top five non-fiction recommendations because it is brutal. It is brutal and raw and also true. Which is why I have chosen it. Because I wish every single human being would read it — but especially cis-male folk.
This book is a collection of personal accounts and reflections on the impact of misogyny, sexism, patriarchy, and restrictive masculinity on all genders. This is a social problem we all have a responsibility to address, and men have yet to really step-up and get on board to dismantle. This is why Roxane Gay continues to write about rape and sexual abuse. This is why Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette is so necessary, important and groundbreaking. This is why #MeToo matters. | https://medium.com/kaitlynschatch/if-you-only-read-5-books-in-2019-acdfba22871a | ['Kaitlyn S. C. Hatch'] | 2020-01-08 22:37:57.511000+00:00 | ['Representation', 'Book Recommendations', 'Books', 'Book Review'] |
Design Stories: How Creative Melissa Lissone’s past has shaped her present | Adyen, for all intents and purposes, is a fintech company. But in industry-label only.
The company is more than just a payment solution. There’s a certain culture behind Adyen — one without hierarchy, without ego. But with plenty of style and panache. This really is a band of rebels, or self-proclaimed misfits.
From designers to developers to marketing geniuses. This is the real competitive advantage for the company known for dominating an industry.
One incredible team member is Creative, Melissa Lissone.
Melissa’s tale is the first of many stories we’ll share in our Design Stories — a new way to hear from Adyen about their experience, early successes, and tips for creating great designs.
How it all began
Melissa always loved to create things and started studying at a school where she was introduced with different ways to be creative — including photography, 3D furniture design, creating videos, graphic design and even setting up window shops.
Though she really wanted to get her bachelor’s, Melissa felt an ‘art academy’ would be too artsy as she tended to lean more towards the commercial side of design — focusing more on problem solving and work with briefings.
“For me it’s important to make sense of the design I’m creating and have a good concept behind it.”
So she ditched the traditional route of art school and instead studied at the prestigious University of Lincoln, where the focus was more on concept development. This piqued an interest in the theory where Melissa went on to study applied creativity at Amsterdam’s Hallo Academy.
Keeping it in the family
Growing up with two older brothers, Melissa was interested in technology from a young age. As she explains,
“My brothers would explain how technology worked — from DVD players to computers. But they always said each lesson would happen only once. So I needed to pay close attention, and that’s what I did.”
At the ripe age of 11, Melissa was installing CD drives for friends. But it wasn’t just her sibling’s fascination that influenced her love affair with technology.
A photographer from Indonesia — a part of the world synonymous with being head of the latest tech trends — Melissa’s grandfather was usually one of the first to implement color into photographs in the Netherlands. Melissa remembers visiting her grandfather and every week he’d pull out a new lens or filter or any myriad of photography-related tech. They would ooh and ahh and play around with the latest innovation together.
Her father was also influential in her life — always bringing home old computers from work. In fact, there wasn’t a time in her life that she can’t remember tinkering around with gadgets. To this day, her father still proudly shows off his latest geeky find from eBay.
Ironically enough, her father was an IT specialist at a bank. So when Melissa had the chance to work for in fintech, it was the perfect continuation to her upbringing and interests, and she felt at home in the industry.
From freelancing to full-time
Upon the arrival of her first born (Melissa is actually expecting number two in September), she realized that with freelancing, there wasn’t much of a routine, often making it difficult to find a rhythm for her son.
Having noticed that more and more companies and brands were establishing their own creative departments in-house made her wonder how it would be on the “other” side.
But just how much greener the grass is on the other side of the “freelance” fence?
Melissa, with plenty already on her table as full-time mom and full-time art director, also found herself cofounder of a new business venture. This is where the pros of structure overcame the cons of routine. | https://medium.com/adyen-design/design-stories-how-creative-melissa-lissones-past-has-shaped-her-present-95620583d65e | [] | 2017-09-18 12:49:07.377000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Design'] |
Mistakes I did while starting a new business which buried it to the ground. | Market Research and Validation:
Entering with your product or service without market research or market validation can cost you a great deal of time and money.
You model your business truly based on your assumptions and guts. Doing what you feel is fair and good without understanding the needs of your users. In most cases, only to realise that you’ve burnt your hard earned money and the market is not accepting it.
You also loose time to design a product or service totally based on what you think the users need. This can break your motivation and enthusiasm if things don’t turn out like you’d imagined.
Start by doing a market research which shall give an answer or a huge hint if there is even a market for what you are offering.
You wouldn’t jump in water without first learning about it, would you? Information like depth, is it safe etc. Same applies to your market. If there are really people looking for your solution. If there are then what are they willing to pay, your competition and how they are performing. Your competitors revenue can give you a glance about the scope in the market for your product or service and how the current market is reacting to it.
This will also help you make good product decisions because instead of assuming what you think, you have realistic data.
Now if there’s a market, you need to validate to understand how much of it is true. In our water example, this is the time where you step into the water to test your research.
Market validation is a technique wherein you get your idea out there to your target audience, and try to get the actual numbers and data. For instance: People who are actually ready to listen to your offerings.
This can be done through a basic working prototype of your product or even a landing page.
You can ask for visitor’s email if they are interested. If they share their emails then the chances are more where they may open up their wallets for you too.
Relying on team members:
Photo by Clayton Cardinalli on Unsplash
As we were working on one of our products, I told my co-founder that I have a tester and he committed a business development person from his end. We relied on them and they said they were ready. We knew them personally.
When the MVP was ready which took us a while and efforts. The tester stopped picking calls and replying to communications. The co-founder later barged in with the news that the business development guy has stopped responding too.
Don’t know about the tester and still no communication yet but the B.D. guy later replied and said he was out with his girlfriend. We had to drop him.
We were left with no tester and B.D. as he was supposed to take it further from here.
Lesson here is never rely too much on anyone and learn some of their work yourself so you can manage it when you get caught up in such situations. Another point to take away is people do abandon the project when there’s no money running in.
They have a short vision and don’t realise that these things take time to get the traction you expect. There is a lot of effort and years of work even behind the overnight success stories we hear.
I hope you’ve got some takeaways from my mistakes and they were helpful to you.
This post was brought to you by: Siggma.io
Thanks for sticking till the end of this article and please share with your circle so they may benefit from it too. | https://medium.com/@siggma/mistakes-i-did-while-starting-a-new-business-which-buried-it-to-the-ground-70d67d08d814 | ['Sufiyaan Rajput'] | 2020-12-18 00:41:47.370000+00:00 | ['Startup Life', 'Startup', 'Product', 'Business', 'Startup Lessons'] |
Employee Benefits for Canadian Nannies, Housekeepers & Caregivers | I’ve had a few friends ask me about this, so thought I’d consolidate my thoughts in a single post.
A number of our clients at Beneplan have revealed to us that they’ve added the boss’s caregiver to their payroll and now wonder about adding them to their benefit plan.
There are a number of pros to providing a caregiver with Canadian employee benefits:
In a labour market where it seems like “we need them more than they need us,” it’s a great way to distinguish yourself as an employer of choice.
as an employer of choice. You will eventually observe them in their physical job and empathize for their sore feet, lack of a dentist, or medicine needed. Your heart will tell you to help subsidize these costs.
for their sore feet, lack of a dentist, or medicine needed. Your heart will tell you to help subsidize these costs. Instead of giving them cash from your hard earned after-tax dollars, you can deduct a Private Health Services Plan as a business expense from a Canadian sole proprietorship. Further, the dollars the employee receives are tax-free to them, therefore allowing them to bypass unnecessary income taxes if the money is going straight to medical expenses.
from a Canadian sole proprietorship. Further, the dollars the employee receives are tax-free to them, therefore allowing them to bypass unnecessary income taxes if the money is going straight to medical expenses. Benefits through a third party are a clean way of letting someone else be the bad cop with your budget (otherwise, where do you draw the line?) without getting into the detail of their private medical details.
with your budget (otherwise, where do you draw the line?) without getting into the detail of their private medical details. The perceived value of benefits is usually greater than the discrete costs.
The simplest and most cost effective way to provide a starter benefit plan is to add a singular health spending account with the amount you’re comfortable budgeting.
Here’s how you’d go about it:
It’s best to set up a separate plan or division from your firm’s benefit plan. This is because your firm may be designed for a different type of worker and the coverage may not be a fit for the caregiver.
Find a provider of Canadian health spending accounts or benefit plans.
Provide your budget and desired start date.
and desired start date. Consider giving benefits only after the probation period is over, for example, three months after the hire date.
is over, for example, three months after the hire date. Provide the enrolment form to the caregiver and have them submit it to you. Always keep a copy on file for your records.
for your records. If you have multiple caregivers , it’s best practice to allow them the same opportunity to have benefits. It’s understandable if you want to provide different tiers/classes of benefits, but make sure it’s only based on non-discriminatory factors such as tenure or occupation — not based on gender, age, perceived disability, family status, or other protected parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or provincial human rights codes.
, it’s best practice to allow them the same opportunity to have benefits. It’s understandable if you want to provide different tiers/classes of benefits, but make sure it’s only based on non-discriminatory factors such as tenure or occupation — not based on gender, age, perceived disability, family status, or other protected parts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or provincial human rights codes. It’s best practice to cover the entire premium. I don’t recommend that you ask the caregiver to contribute a portion of their pay to the plan. It may leave a bad taste in their mouth, the caregiver can’t deduct the full amount from their taxes, and you won’t be saving a significant amount. Either provide the plan or don’t.
Termination of Benefits
Based on Canadian employment standards, here are the Do’s and Don’ts of terminating a benefit plan:
DO
DO remember to terminate the benefit plan if your caregiver quits. The plan should end on their last day at work.
DO terminate the plan if you have let them go. The plan should end at the end of their notice period. Ex) If you give them two weeks’ working notice, the benefits should end on their last date worked. If you give them two weeks’ paid notice, end benefits on their last day being paid.
DON’T
DON’T terminate their plan arbitrarily without giving them prior written warning. Just like you wouldn’t let them show up to work with the door locked without any notice, don’t let them show up to the pharmacy with a prescription they can’t fill.
DON’T terminate their plan if they go on vacation, sick leave, parental leave, or any other protected leaves under Canadian employment standards (like Ontario’s ESA). This is deemed discriminatory.
DON’T terminate their plan if they leave the country but are still your employee.
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT
ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ask them or the benefits provider what they claimed.
DO NOT ask to see their receipts.
DO NOT prevent them from adding their legal dependants to the plan. It’s none of your business who in their family is sick or healthy.
Individuals have a right to the privacy of their personal health information.
That’s the basic nuts & bolts — feel free to reach out if you have any questions — [email protected]. | https://medium.com/@yafasakkejha/employee-benefits-for-canadian-nannies-housekeepers-caregivers-6a3d42ff9345 | ['Yafa Sakkejha'] | 2019-02-28 15:48:07.359000+00:00 | ['Employee Benefits', 'Caregivers', 'Moms', 'Dads', 'Taxes'] |
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