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Deepnote — A Better Data Science Notebook | With the proliferation of data, notebooks gained popularity in both academia and industry as intuitive tools enabling code writing and execution, visualization, and insights sharing — all within one interface. Notebooks are now the go-to tool for data scientists for exploratory programming but come with their own set of challenges. Cumbersome versioning, reproducibility, lack of collaboration. Notebooks often encourage sloppy coding practices and they are notoriously hard to integrate with other systems.
As Jupyter users, we felt the pain of using data science notebooks every day. But we also knew how powerful they could be. So 2 years ago, we started to think about how to build a better data science notebook and created Deepnote. Deepnote is built on the top of Jupyter and extends the amazing work that has been done by the Jupyter community. We are using the same format as Jupyter and intend to remain fully compatible in both directions. However, in order to execute on our vision, we realized that with the Deepnote data science notebook, we must make some significant changes to how we think about notebooks today.
Embracing real-time collaboration in notebooks
Managing your data, models, and results as a data scientist is a tricky endeavor — even more so when working with others. Data science is a team discipline, but, data science notebooks generally don’t support collaboration.
With Deepnote, we decided to make collaboration a first-class citizen. To do this, we had to make some significant changes to the architecture. Deepnote runs in the cloud by default. We did this because we realized that the work of a data scientist is fundamentally different from the work of a software engineer. Data scientists don’t work alone — they share their work with others. Not just with other data scientists, but also with non-technical stakeholders. Every notebook is easily shareable, supports real-time editing and comments (just like Google Docs do).
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Making data scientists more productive
Second, Deepnote makes you a better data scientist. We abstract away the complexity of setting up and managing hardware — Deepnote is built for the browser and platform-agnostic. Your projects in Deepnote are always available, with hardware up and running in a few seconds — only when you need it.
We’ve also redesigned the interface to encourage you to follow best practices, write clean code, define dependencies, and create reproducible notebooks. The autocomplete system and powerful command palette allow you to iterate faster, and the variable explorer enables you to identify insights in your datasets more easily.
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Playing with the rest of your stack
Third, Deepnote integrates with other services. We don’t want to build just another data science platform where people work with an iframed notebook. We want to build an amazing notebook that plays well with other services, databases, ML platforms, and the Jupyter ecosystem.
Check out a 2-min demo here: https://www.loom.com/share/b7e05ecca78047c2a2f687d77be8ecea
Let’s re-invent notebooks together
Even though we started 2 years ago, building a new computational medium is a long journey. It’s both a hard technical problem and a user interface challenge. We’ve recently launched a public beta and have a lot in store for the future, including versioning, support for code reviews, full reproducibility, and visualizations.
If you’re a data scientist and like to try new things, we’d love for you to take Deepnote for a test drive.
If you’d like to chat with us about the challenges you face in using notebooks, we’d love to hear from you {email: [email protected]}. | https://medium.com/@ODSC/deepnote-a-better-data-science-notebook-e2cc6313c27a | ['Odsc - Open Data Science'] | 2020-12-18 12:01:08.881000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Open Source'] |
Slack IPO Preview: Good Company, Unsustainable Valuation Expectations | By Clement Thibault
The seemingly endless flow of tech initial public offerings (IPOs) continues. Over the past few months we’ve been relatively skeptical about many of these offerings, including Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and Uber (UBER).
Can Slack, a San Francisco-based messaging app, rise above other much-heralded IPOs to become not only a unicorn company but something even rarer — an IPO worth investing in? Slack is planning to go public via a direct listing, but its first day of trade is unknown. However, based on previous IPOs, we expect it to start trading at the end of May, under the ticker SK. Its valuation when it IPOs is also unknown as we write this, but we might be able to find some clues from Slack’s S-1; we’ll return to the subject of its valuation later in this post.
Slack characterizes itself as an enterprise messaging application with a goal of facilitating communication within teams and throughout organizations. Originally it was created as an internal tool at Tiny Speck in 2013, the software company Slack’s founder built previously. However, when it became evident that the product was a good fit for the enterprise market, Slack became the main product — and Tiny Speck was rebranded as Slack Technologies.
Slack’s business model is based on monthly or annual subscription fees per user, with costs ranging between $6 and $15 a month per user, depending on features required and the resulting billing cycle. Slack offers a free version as well, with limited features. As is typical for many companies, the free version provides an introduction to the service’s messaging tool, with the hope that organizations will decide to scale up and expand the options provided, thereby converting to paying customers after the free trial.
Slack’s adaptability and ease of integration into any organization based on what the enterprise needs and wants is what separates it from competitors.
Revenue and Earnings
Here’s the most obvious fact from Slack’s S-1: the company isn’t profitable. Over the past three years, it lost $140 million, $180 million, and $146 million, respectively. Still, as is true for many IPOs, profitability is less of a concern at the moment, as the company focuses on top line growth.
In addition, revenue is growing — from $105 million in 2016 to $220 million in 2017 to $400 million in 2018, representing growth of 110% from 2016 to 2017 and 82% from 2017 to 2018. During 2016, Slack lost $146 million on $105 million in revenue. Two years later, Slack is losing $140 million on $400 million in revenue so its prospects look better than they did two years ago, an encouraging sign.
Customer Breakdown
With approximately 600,000 organizations of various sizes using its messaging app, Slack has a total of over 10 million users. Unfortunately, currently, the vast majority — about 512,000 — rely on the free version. This leaves 88,000 organizations as Slack’s primary revenue source.
Slack Paid Customer Growth
Luckily for Slack, the number of paying customers has been impressive. That metric jumped 59%, from 37,000 to 59,000 in 2017, and 49% to 88,000 in 2018.
Of those 88,000 organizations, 575 pay over $100,000 in total for their subscriptions. These heavy hitters are crucial for Slack’s growth. In 2018, 40% of Slack’s revenue came from this subset of users.
Slack understands that growing this portion of their user base is key. The company is actively trying to provide functionality geared toward large organizations along with developing a direct sales force focused on this demographic. In 2017, only 298 organizations were paying over $100,000 a year. That’s grown 93% to the current 575 organizations.
Messaging Moat?
Slack’s mission right now is to become the go-to communications system for organizations, including by disrupting emails, which require individual inboxes that fragment information and limit transparency. As well, Slack’s messaging system can relay all necessary information in a simple message to multiple recipients at the same time.
The stickiness of its platform, especially where network effects increase the value of the service as the number of users grows, gives Slack the initial infrastructure for a potential messaging moat.
Slack Product and Partnerships Timeline
Additionally, Slack has done a stellar job increasing their ‘protective barriers’ by initiating partnerships and integrating support for third-party software and tools from such companies as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM).
Indeed, Slack has reported that over the three months ended in January, third-party developers had created over 450,000 applications and custom integration options so users can tailor Slack to their own needs. In fact, the word ‘integration’ appears on average once per page in the first 100 pages of the company’s S-1. Clearly, Slack sees that as a major selling point.
It’s also one of Slack’s most effective growth drivers. The company has created a sandbox that’s generic enough to fit any communications use-case while allowing customers to incorporate their own specific products, creating a very sticky platform that users won’t rush to leave for the next communications app inevitably released by competitors.
Conclusion
The exact valuation Slack is looking for is currently still a mystery. However, we do know that Slack raised $400 million in August, giving it a valuation of $7 billion at that time. Some analysts expect Slack to look for a valuation of up to $10 billion.
With its good growth prospects, we think Slack has a real chance at profitability as it becomes the go-to tool for internal business communication, even though it’s still losing money. Based on what we know from its S-1, a valuation at $9 billion seems appropriate. However, according to a CNBC report, the price of Slack’s shares in private markets currently puts its valuation at a sky-high $16.7 billion — which would mean Slack’s value more than doubled in the past 8 months.
One final thing to keep in mind — Slack has opted for a direct listing, which means there won’t be underwriters to mitigate volatility in the early days of trading. This isn’t necessarily bad. Spotify (NYSE:SPOT) has done it already. Nevertheless, it’s something to keep in mind in case you’re thinking of trading the stock on IPO day. | https://medium.com/investing-com/slack-ipo-preview-good-company-unsustainable-valuation-expectations-32d506d839f0 | [] | 2019-05-15 12:31:00.925000+00:00 | ['IPO', 'Stock Market', 'Startup', 'Slack', 'Stocks'] |
Manejando roles y permisos en Angular | ngx-permissions
Permission and roles based access control for your angular(angular 2,4,5,6,7,8+) applications(AOT, lazy modules… | https://medium.com/@asfo/manejando-roles-y-permisos-en-angular-dc55cbd37770 | [] | 2020-08-03 04:40:36.118000+00:00 | ['Angular', 'Permisos', 'Español', 'NPM', 'Roles'] |
Cultural Marxism: Why Liberals should be Concerned. | Cultural Marxism is not a conspiracy theory.
While Marxists advocating for a communist revolution and the total redistribution of wealth have all but disappeared from the political landscape, segments of marxist thinking have infiltrated the western collective consciousness.
These ideas have the potential to fundementally destroy western civilization.
This is not an exaggeration.
Western civilization, and the progress and achievements that have arisen alongside it, is the result of a culture which recognizes enlightenment values as “divine.” (Divine meaning Absolute, Undeniable, Universally True)
Marxist concepts stand in direct contrast to these values.
Marxism is an ideology, which demands its adherents to recognize its concepts as true, and demands uniformity across a society as a means of achieving equality of OUTCOME.
Diversity of thought, of values, of opinion, stand in opposition to the utopian goal of marxist thought.
Marxism in this way is no different from 18th century religious dogma, which enlightenment thinkers fought tirelessly to overthrow.
It was that fight that made the conversation of equality even possible.
Enlightenment values and their embracement by the larger western world made scientific progress possible in the first place.
It was this philosophical tradition which laid the way for rationality to become the principle method for western societies to approach societal problems.
The commitment to rationality above all else creates a universal standard from which a range of ideas and concepts can be produced and compete amongst each other to bring about complex novel ideas which could and have benefited the society at large.
It was rationality, absent of ideology, which lead us to the conclusion that equality of OPPORTUNITY was a fundementally good idea.
It was rationality that lead to the technological and scientific advancements that we all benefit from today.
Equality of Outcome and Equality of Opportunity are two very different ideas.
Each posits a distinct conception of human nature.
Equality of Outcome presupposes that human nature is the product of social relations, and as such can be reconstructed.
Equality of Opportunity recognizes the possibility of a universal human nature, but it most importantly assumes that human beings are self interested organisms.
To bring about Equality of Outcome human nature must be altered to value equality and the collective good above self interest.
If we were to embark on a scientific quest to reveal the truth of human nature, which perspective do you believe the evidence would support?
Does the selfishness of human beings throughout history seem to be the product of social relations?
Does the competitive nature of natural organisms and their innate desire to reproduce and collect resources that bring about this possibility tell us nothing of human beings?
It seems to be that bringing about Equality of Outcome depends on rejecting the notion that human beings are extensions of the natural world bound by material reality.
Why? Because if Human beings are of nature, than they are the result of evolutionary processes working over time.
Processes which would inevitably result in the persistence of organisms whose psychological processes were shaped to optimize reproduction.
While one could argue that human beings are a social species, we are not social in such a way that it is reflected in us genetically.
Meaning that the continuation of our genes is not dependent on the continuation of other members of our species in the way that it is for Eusocial species such as bees.
We are a social species to the extent that our social relations benefit us individually.
Our altruistic tendencies are the result of our innate recognition of the benefits that come from reciprocity.
At the end of the day we as human beings are selfish, but that does not mean we cannot produce a more equal society, but it does mean that we cannot produce a society that is entirely equal.
This truth stands in direct contrast to marxist views and as such makes the reconciliation of a society based on rationality and marxist concepts an impossibility.
But are marxist concepts REALLY relevant and are they actually gaining traction?
Karl Marx recognized a fundamental problem with western capitalism. That overtime competition within a free market would lead to a concentration of wealth, and the division of society into two classes. This division would leave the majority in a state of poverty and result in a revolution.
This economic inequality is a natural outcome of the free market, and one which has resulted in numerous revolutions throughout history.
These revolutions are often lead by individuals committed to either marxism or fascism. Two very problematic ideological positions, neither of which can bring about a truly stable society.
Concentration of wealth is once again the problem we are faced with as a society. Individuals on both sides of the political spectrum are facing great economic challenges, and as a result we are seeing a rise in the acceptance of radical ideologies.
On the right, we are seeing a resurgence in Nationalism, Racism, Xenophobia, as individuals are being mislead to believe that their economic hardships are the result of globalism and multiculturalism rather than Corporatism.
On the left, we are seeing a resurgence in the Marxist ideology as a response to economic hardships and racial inequality which marxists equate as the inevitable products of liberal democracy and capitalism.
Our discourse on the left regarding rational inequality and economic hardship is devolving from a rational discussion of policy proposals to a rejection of western ideals in entirety.
More and more we are seeing the complete rejection of judgements in entirety, and the insistence that meritocracy and evaluation based on merit are fundementally immoral concepts.
We are experiencing an attack on the very notion of excellence, and the emergence of a marxist moral framework which characterizes individuals who achieve or aspire for excellence as immoral.
The total eradication of inequality from society is an impossibility. We must accept that some level of inequality will always exist, but that does not mean that that inequality should be as great as it is today.
Rejecting the very values that allowed us to exponentially progress as a society is not the answer.
We must become aware of the subtle attacks on enlightenment values, and reaffirm our commitment to them as a means of combating inequality.
These attacks are worrisome not because they could produce a communist government in the near future, but because they devalue enlightenment values, and give way to the potential of true marxists and right wing authoritarians gaining power.
We must act now, and we must recognize the progress that we have made as a society due to our commitment to rationality as the principle means by which we evaluate societal problems.
Liberals must be cognizant of this fact, or else Trumpists and other Far-Right Authoritarians will weaponize it and use it as a fear mongering tactic to gain power.
We must remain committed to pursuing equality of opportunity. | https://medium.com/@liampatquinn2/cultural-marxism-why-liberals-should-be-concerned-d9e2a8fc3d42 | ['Liam P. Quinn Ii'] | 2020-12-24 03:33:21.572000+00:00 | ['Leftism', 'American Politics', 'Inequality', 'Cultural Marxism', 'Enlightenment Values'] |
Custom Video Thumbnails Guide for 2021: Get Clicks & Views | After spending time and resources on creating a great video for your company, can you compel your target audience to click on and watch it?
A video thumbnail is an image that acts as the preview image for your video. Similar to a book cover, a movie poster or a magazine’s front page, thumbnails should entice people to see more and access your content. A platform might automatically generate a thumbnail for your video. But instead of a random blurry still, a custom thumbnail will make your content stand out.
In this article, you’ll learn just why you need to pay attention to video thumbnails. Then you’ll receive 6 actionable tips for creating and choosing thumbnails for your video in 2021.
1. WHY BOTHER WITH VIDEO THUMBNAILS?
First impressions are important. Thumbnails are often the first thing people see when they come across one of your videos.
And along with the video title, they’re one of the few things people have to go on when deciding whether or not to watch your video. So it makes sense that you would want to put effort into your video thumbnail.
In other words, to beat your competitors, custom thumbnails are the way to go. On YouTube, 90% of the best-performing videos have custom thumbnails.
2. THUMBNAIL REQUIREMENTS & SPECS
2.1 YOUTUBE
On YouTube, you can either pick a thumbnail from the 3 auto-generated frames or manually upload your own. For the latter, the file size has a 2MB limit. It should also have a minimum 1280px x 720px resolution, and aim for a 16:9 aspect ratio.
2.2 FACEBOOK
When you upload a video on Facebook, you can 1) pick a thumbnail from one of the auto-generated suggested images, 2) manually choose a still frame from the video, or 3) upload a high-resolution custom thumbnail image.
For option 3, your image must be a JPG or PNG file; 16:9 ratio; recommended 1200px by 675px.
2.3 VIMEO
Vimeo gives you the same thumbnail options as Facebook. However, the requirements are slightly different:
JPG, PNG or GIF file (note: animated GIF files are currently not supported.)
Resolution: no more than 9600px wide or 5400px tall; match video dimensions
2.4 LINKEDIN
LinkedIn will automatically use the first frame of your video as the thumbnail. But you can also upload an image to use as a thumbnail. Your thumbnail should be a JPG or PNG image, match the aspect ratio and resolution of your video, and have a file size no larger than 2MB.
3. WHEN YOU CAN’T NATIVELY UPLOAD A THUMBNAIL
Frustratingly, not all social media and content sharing platforms allow you to add a custom thumbnail to your video.
For instance, Twitter will automatically use the first frame of your video as the thumbnail. Instagram is slightly better in allowing you to choose a still frame from your video to use as a thumbnail. However, once the video is posted, you cannot change this.
But with these platforms, there IS a way to manually insert a custom thumbnail. Use the same tips below to create your thumbnail, and then edit your video so that this thumbnail appears for the first few frames.
4. VIDEO THUMBNAIL CREATION TOOLS
4.1 CANVA (DESKTOP & MOBILE APP)
Canva offers hundreds of YouTube template designs to choose from (though there is also the option to start from a blank canvas).
You can then add, edit and adjust different elements, including colours, photos, shapes, graphics, frames and text. You can upload your own media, or use their extensive library of free-to-use images and graphics. Once your thumbnail is complete, download and use it on your video content.
4.2 TUBEBUDDY (GOOGLE CHROME EXTENSION)
TubeBuddy is a freemium Google Chrome extension. One of its key features is its thumbnail creator, which can be accessed without leaving YouTube.
Once you’ve installed and set up the TubeBuddy extension, go to the video editing screen on YouTube and scroll down to ‘Thumbnail’. There, you should find a ‘CREATE THUMBNAIL’ button. This takes you to the Thumbnail generator, where you can customise your background, add text, emojis and shapes, and preview your thumbnail before updating it.
Note: thumbnail frames and the option to create and use templates are only available for TubeBuddy Pro users.
5. BEST PRACTICES FOR VIDEO THUMBNAIL CREATION
5.1 BRANDING & CONSISTENCY
Using branding across your thumbnails is one way to achieve consistency and thus make it easy for viewers to spot your videos.
An obvious example is to include your brand logo. On our video thumbnails, we often include our logo in the bottom left corner of the screen. We do this to help viewers to recognise who is producing these videos. Plus, it provides a sense of professionalism. You can also brand your thumbnails by sticking to your brand colours and choosing fonts that suit your brand.
Another way to achieve consistency is to create and use distinctive thumbnail templates. For instance, at Blueprint Film, we use the same photoshop template for all of our video showreel thumbnails, changing the background image and text to keep things fresh.
5.2 COMPOSITION — RULE OF THIRDS & WHITE SPACE
Using the rule of thirds is an easy way to produce dynamic and eye-pleasing thumbnails. Aim to place the main subject of your thumbnail on one of the four intersecting points where two grid lines meet. Because these are the points that get the most viewer focus.
Another aspect to consider is the space between elements in your thumbnail. A thumbnail that is too chaotic or cluttered can confuse viewers or put them off watching your content.
To give the different elements of your thumbnail space to breathe, consider negative space. Negative space (also known as whitespace) refers to the area around and between the subjects of an image. When used effectively, it can produce a clean and professional design.
5.3 AVOID CLICKBAIT
Clickbait refers to material that misrepresents the content of your video. Using clickbait can be tempting — but it is rarely worth it.
For one, it leads to lower average view duration and audience retention. Viewers will click on your video, only to realise it wasn’t what they expected and click off. This, in turn, can negatively affect how your video ranks in viewer recommendations or on search engines.
Not to mention these types of thumbnails can be annoying for users. Indeed, several browser extensions have been developed to remove and replace clickbait thumbnails for users when browsing YouTube.
Sites like YouTube also discourage sensational thumbnails. This includes imagery or language that is shocking, offensive, indecent or unnecessarily violent.
5.4 RELEVANT & ENGAGING IMAGERY
How should you decide what image to use for your thumbnail? When making thumbnails for videos on the Blueprint Film YouTube channel, we always use an interesting still image from the video that we are posting. After all, it accurately represents the video content and saves us from having to find another image from elsewhere.
If you don’t want to use a still from your video, you can either use one of your own photos or find a relevant, free-to-use image. For this, we recommend sites such as Pexels or Unsplash. Whatever you do, do not use an image that you do not have permission to use, as this can get you in trouble.
Additionally, make sure the image you use is high-resolution. A poor-quality thumbnail image will give viewers a negative impression of your video content.
Here are some ideas for the type of image to use:
Close-up of your subject: easier for users to view on smaller devices
Photo showing a face: our brains naturally focus on faces, and including a human face creates a sense of familiarity and connection
Image portraying emotion: encourages the viewer to engage and connect with the story of the video
Action shot: dynamic, generates excitement
Before and after comparison shot: makes viewers curious about what happened/how the result was achieved
5.5 BRIGHT & CONTRASTING COLOURS
Our eyes are naturally drawn to bold, bright and saturated colours. So using these will help get more eyeballs on your video.
As an example, take a look at the thumbnails used on the TED-Ed YouTube channel, which currently has over 14 million subscribers. Each thumbnail features an image with bold colours, with the text in a contrasting colour. This creates a visually appealing effect whilst also being easy to read and take in. It also means each video thumbnail can look distinctive while also sharing a similar tone and feeling.
Consider using imagery and graphics with complementary and contrasting colours — A.K.A. colours that are opposite one another on the colour wheel. Interestingly, the colour yellow is particularly effective at drawing attention. You can use image-editing software like Canva or Adobe Photoshop to increase the colour saturation and contrast of a photograph.
5.6 ADDING & FORMATTING TEXT
Adding text to your thumbnails can provide context, helping viewers to identify faster what your video is about.
The primary text should be large and easy to read — especially since so many people are using smaller screens to watch videos. When it comes to formatting, capitalised words in bolded fonts are the easiest to read.
Most video channels use a shortened version of the video’s title as their thumbnail text. Alternatively, you could use a short, snappy quote from your video. We suggest limiting any text to 2–5 words so that it doesn’t take up too much screen space.
What font should you use? The most important thing is to make sure the font you pick is easy to read. Cool-looking fonts are great, but useless if people are going to have trouble reading your text. Also, aim for a font that fits the tone of your video, channel and brand. | https://medium.com/@blueprintfilm/custom-video-thumbnails-guide-for-2021-get-clicks-views-b861254ad41e | ['Blueprint Film'] | 2021-11-22 10:56:18.485000+00:00 | ['Thumbnail', 'Youtube Tips', 'Video Marketing', 'Video', 'YouTube'] |
5 Types of Remote Work that You Have not Heard About | 5 Types of Remote Work that You Have not Heard About
We are introducing flexible office, digital nomad office, travelling company and more.
More and more companies are moving towards having their staff work at least partly from home. This shift has come because of tools like video chat and secure cloud storage, as well as the increasing amount of work being knowledge work that can be performed at any location.
This shift has massively accelerated with the Coronavirus pandemic, where many companies were forced to have their staff work from home.
In the discussion on remote work, we often see that remote work is seen as a binary choice:
● Either work 100% from the office, or
● Work 100% from home
But in fact, there is a wide spectrum of innovative options that people often do not consider when choosing an alternative to traditional office work. Here we will show all alternatives to the traditional office work and look at the advantages and disadvantages of each. | https://medium.com/@focuscycles/5-types-of-remote-work-that-you-have-not-heard-about-3475cdcf8f06 | ['Focus Cycles'] | 2021-02-01 17:33:12.399000+00:00 | ['Home Office', 'Remote Working', 'Work From Home', 'Work Life Balance', 'Remote Work'] |
10 Reasons Minimalism May be Right For yo | The minimalist lifestyle only allows people to attract those possessions which are essential for them. Basically, it’s a lifestyle choice. If someone is happy to purchase a refurbished car, then it’s his life choice. One of the pristine beauties of this lifestyle is living with less and best. In 2018 minimalism had inspired me a lot, so I went through decluttering phrases. I began to remove all stressful stuff from life, and you know what I felt so relaxed and lighter. As of now, I have been living and enjoying my minimalist lifestyle. In this blog, I will tell you the top ten reasons why becoming a minimalist is the best choice you will make.
1 Less Stress:
When you live with less stuff, it allows you to focus on important ones. No extra maintenance cost, free your space and enables you to think about life, not things.
2 Make your love life better
Insisting your partner to go shopping and purchasing unnecessary items will make your relationship materialistic, not romantic. When you focus on your partner’s health, likes, and dislikes, not a new brand sale or luxury car, it will boost your relationship.
3 Ease of travel
You can easily relocate from one place to another place if you are living a minimalist life. As you are living with less stuff means you can pack and transport them hassle-free.
4 Increase your savings
When you spend less on stuff, it automatically increases your savings. You can easily maintain an emergency funds account and make your personal financing stable. A minimalist always creates a budget plan and follow it throughout the month. At the end of the month, he is debt-free, stress-free, and savings- tree.
5 A healthier body
A minimalist knows the importance of keeping the body in shape and organs healthy. They go to the gym, exercise daily, and cook healthy food. After being a minimalist, i only go restaurants once a week and eat junk food at that day only.
6 More confidence
When your pocket is full of money when your mind is stress-free and when your body is healthy, you feel more confident all day, month, and year.
7 You think about the humans, not stuff
When you surround yourself with the physical objects, your mind always thinks about “oh where’s my new camera, shit where i put my new car keys, and so forth”. When you live with less stuff, you think about yourself, beloved ones, and the important things that are attached to you.
8 You are helping nature
There is a core correlation that exists between minimalism and the environment. A minimalist use old products, purchase biodegradable products, and consuming less fossil fuels and when it comes to discarding something he doesn’t toss just throw in the trash.
9 An ability to create opportunities where others see none.
A minimalist is a highly focused person. They grasp the opportunity easily because his mind is free from anxiety and stress. He thinks differently than others when it comes to creating opportunities.
10 Success at an early age.
A minimalist knows what he wants from his life. Rather than focusing on the new sale, he opts for new opportunities. Even a young 18 years old minimalist can achieve success before 21.
Final Say:
In case you are still on the fence that whether i choose minimalist life or not, then read 5 benefits of living a minimalist life. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/10-reasons-minimalism-may-be-right-for-yo-ba43b594ed5b | ['Akriti Vyas'] | 2020-07-19 19:11:13.399000+00:00 | ['Savings Tips', 'Stress Relief', 'Lifestyle', 'Minimalism', 'Minimalist'] |
On Immigration, Government Shutdowns, Hypocrisy and Hope | I am an advocate for liberal immigration policies and have been one for decades. I came to the United States as a legal immigrant after my mother legally migrated during the early 1950’s. But I’ve also seen how for many, many decades, immigrants, legal and otherwise, have been merely used as political pawns by faux-liberal Democrats.
Despite the noble sonnet writ on the Statue of Liberty, as any real student of history knows the United States is and has always been xenophobic. Ironically and incoherently, as we practiced our xenophobia we praised our nature as a melting pot and as a nation of immigrants. Facing our true nature has never been our strong point. Take our attitude towards peaceful resolution of conflicts. We’re all for it, especially (at least officially) Democrats, but in reality, no country since our founding has been more prone to invading and occupying others and indeed, most major military adventures in the last century have been started under Democratic Party leadership. Hypocrisy is not only evil, it is counterproductive as we spend our resources solving non-existent problems while ignoring real ones. Never more so than today.
On January 11, 2019, Seraphim Hanisch, a young amateur journalist writing in The Duran published an interesting article entitled “A dispassionate case for the American border wall”. Mr. Hanisch has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Montclair State University in New Jersey and a master’s of divinity degree from Montclair State University, an interesting combination, and may also be an immigrant although not knowing very much about him I confess that only his name makes me reach that observation, an admittedly inadequate basis. Apparently, he self describes himself as a conservative which, notwithstanding current mainstream media perceptions, does not make him automatically wrong. Regardless of the merits of the article, the title makes an important point, one in which our perverted, allegedly “mainstream” media certainly has no interest. Most of the world’s current problems can be traced to the degeneration of the “mainstream media” from pseudo journalists to creative writers employed to write and circulate propaganda for the tiny minority of billionaires who control most of the world’s political systems, much to our detriment.
So, to the point.
As an immigrant and immigrant advocate, I have been aware for half a century that the United States immigration system is dysfunctional at best, perhaps deliberately so. Ineptitude is not always the result of mere inefficiency. It is also unfair and inhumane, but not in the manner that today’s Democratic Party and its media allies portray. Relying on a belief that we have no memory of current events (as too many of us don’t read, watch or listen to news), they attack President Trump’s proposal for a physical barrier on our southern border as immoral, ineffective, too expensive, evil, and “never going to happen”, but some of us do in fact recall that such a barrier was proposed, funded and partially implemented under the administrations of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and vocally advocated for by the same Democratic Party leaders who today just as adamantly oppose it. That does not make the proposed border barrier right, it just makes today’s political landscape putrid and emphasizes why real liberals and real progressives ought not to permit themselves to be tainted by association with the Democratic Party. Not that they ought to become Republicans but it is way past time for them to organize a “league of their own”.
The real issue is simple, okay, simple in a complex fashion.
The United States needs immigrants, our demographic realities beg for them. Our population is shrinking and our financial basis requires that it grow for both internal revenue and social security purposes. Moral issues aside (and they are not irrelevant), practical solutions to real problems require expanded not reduced immigration. However, determination of the nature of such immigration is a justifiable and critical issue. Unfortunately, for too many politicians the only real issue is whether or not, once citizenship is attained, immigrants will support their party, and the entirety of the current Democratic Party orchestrated drama seems merely designed to capture that large potential voting bloc, especially with reference to Hispanics, just as it’s captured Afro-Americans, maintaining them in virtual political slavery while ignoring their real needs, a form of sadomasochistic symbiosis for fun and profit. Republicans, notwithstanding efforts by the Bush dynasty to address the issue, seem tone deaf to it but that is not a bad thing. It means that their proposals may be less self-serving, albeit not necessarily better.
The crux of the issue involves a very fundamental problem. Whether or not bad laws should be ignored and not enforced, or reformed and enforced. The Democratic Party’s position is the former, it keeps the immigration issue alive and permits characterization of Republicans as evil, uncaring, unfeeling monsters, indeed child abusers (despite the fact that Democratic Presidents and legislators have been no different). It is a reflection of the traditional divide and conquer strategy now given a kinder and gentler (although no less malevolent) moniker, “identity politics”. The position of the GOP is the latter. The sticking point involves the status of the twelve million or so human beings currently in the United States in willful violation of the current immigration legal structure and those streaming in to join them, a legal structure crafted by both major political parties over way too many decades. A critical aspect for any real solution involves the capacity for any legal reforms to be adequately implemented by avoiding future large scale legal violations. That’s it. That’s the problem, freed of polemics and hyperbole.
President Trump’s immigration proposals are rational (which is not synonymous with optimal) but involve a very fundamental paradigm shift. A system based on merit rather than chance. Rather than the “huddled masses” that have never really been welcome, it would, as most of the world now does, open the United States to further future immigration by prioritizing United States personnel needs. Concurrently, it would provide a pathway to legal status for current non-legal residents, although perhaps not to citizenship, either for them or for their progeny (i.e., the Trump proposal also seeks to eliminate, as much of the rest of the world has done, the automatic birth-right citizenship concept that grants citizenship to almost anyone born within United States territorial jurisdiction regardless of the citizenship status of their parents). Finally, recognizing that past amnesties for illegal immigrants have only increased the problem of non-legal migration, President Trump has adopted-as-his-own the Democratic Party’s southern border barrier proposals as part of the solution, not only to the problem of non-legal migration, but as a means of reducing smuggling of items that current policies prohibit and to permit more effective vetting of those who enter the United States. The proposal would create a problematic, perhaps unworkable dual national system that would deprive the Democratic Party of the voter bloc it so much desires but would eliminate an essential inducement for non-legal immigration. And the Democratic Party solution? Well, there is none, Mr. Trump having coopted theirs. Democrats now just very firmly oppose their prior perceptions, abandoning the “Dreamers” they claim to hold in awe to whatever fate holds in store for them.
As is so often the case there is no right answer, only perhaps the best among bad choices. The Trump proposals are coldly efficient but deprive the United States of the faux moral high ground it has almost always claimed to occupy. They are isolationist rather than globalist and emulate solutions implemented by governments whose human rights records are abysmal, but which in at least the most important case, both major political parties idolize (i.e., Israel). What we need is to look in the mirror and decide who we really want to be, admit it, and move on.
Unfortunately, in the current political and media contexts that is virtually impossible. It requires a political and media reboot and the Dark State that really controls us is not about to permit that, at least not willingly. Still there is good news. Tulsi Gabbard, unfortunately a Democrat but a very different brand of Democrat, just announced her candidacy for the United States presidency. Like former Senator and Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb, she is an anti-war combat veteran and she is not yet bound hand and foot to the hypocrisy and political expediency that characterizes her party. She is a Hindu, child of immigrants, with progressive political tendencies but apparently does not see her political opponents as vermin to be ridiculed. She is, of course, likely to tread the sad but brave path taken by former Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, i.e., to be Gerrymandered out of office by her own party or worse (yes, the Democratic Party participates in Gerrymandering whenever it suits its purposes), but that she exists inspires hope. Perhaps she can serve as a bridge to find a way out of today’s current quandaries regarding immigration, government shutdowns and hypocrisy, a ray of hope on a dismal day.
Echoing in the background an idyllic tune and prescient words echoing in shadows: “When will we ever learn? When will we, … ever learn?”
Who knows, perhaps, eventually we will.
_______
© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2019; all rights reserved. Please feel free to share with appropriate attribution.
Guillermo Calvo Mahé (a sometime poet) is a writer, political commentator and academic currently residing in the Republic of Colombia although he has primarily lived in the United States of America (of which he is a citizen). Until recently he chaired the political science, government and international relations programs at the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales. He has academic degrees in political science (the Citadel), law (St. John’s University), international legal studies (New York University) and translation and linguistic studies (the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies). He can be contacted at [email protected] and much of his writing is available through his blog at www.guillermocalvo.com. | https://guillermo-calvo-mahe.medium.com/on-immigration-government-shutdowns-hypocrisy-and-hope-e6ba1f4152ec | ['Guillermo Calvo Mahé'] | 2019-01-12 14:53:07.234000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Immigration', 'Progressive', 'Mainstream Media', 'Journalism'] |
Trends in Pharma Tech Investing | Trends in Pharma Tech Investing
Venture capitalists invested over $7 billion in pharmaceutical technology startups as part of a record year in 2020 Kathy Quigley Follow Sep 12 · 6 min read
Image: Shutterstock
When the stock market crashed toward the beginning of the Covid pandemic in April of 2020, many of us anticipated that funding activity would slow down amidst the uncertainty of lockdowns, social distancing, and strains on the healthcare system. However, 2020 proved to be a record year for venture capital in the U.S., with $156 billion invested in startups and $74 billion raised by VC funds. Also contrary to what pundits might expect in a downturn, corporate VCs (CVCs) nearly matched their 2018 high water mark, investing $68 billion.
Pharmaceutical technology startups also received a record amount of venture capital in 2020, with $7.7B invested across 348 companies, up nearly 125% over 2019’s total. We define pharmaceutical technology (“Pharma Tech”) as technologies that improve or enhance the pharmaceutical industry’s value chain. This includes A.I. for drug discovery platforms, software applications that enable virtual clinical trials, innovations progressing the industry towards continuous manufacturing, software or hardware that reduces drug counterfeiting, and so on. We exclude therapeutics, medical devices, and diagnostics from this data set. Drivers of this funding and overall trends in the Pharma Tech market included:
Sea Change in Sentiment — Pharma Tech investment has historically suffered from the industry’s low appetite for risk — as the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities, pharma companies and VCs alike accelerated investment in remote and digital solutions
— Pharma Tech investment has historically suffered from the industry’s low appetite for risk — as the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities, pharma companies and VCs alike accelerated investment in remote and digital solutions Internal R&D Hedge — The continued decline of internal pharmaceutical R&D productivity drove significant investments into AI for drug discovery and, to a lesser extent, digital clinical trials
— The continued decline of internal pharmaceutical R&D productivity drove significant investments into AI for drug discovery and, to a lesser extent, digital clinical trials Data Arms Race — The increasing availability of real-world patient data has triggered investments in solutions that boost pharma’s value proposition for doctors, patients, and regulators
Including data from PitchBook and NVCA’s quarterly Venture Monitor report, this analysis shares highlights from the U.S. VC industry as a whole, as well as statistics and observations specific to the Pharma Tech startup market, based on Touchdown’s work with Colorcon Ventures.
Pharma Tech & VC Funding Highlights
As noted, 2020 was a record year for VC activity in the U.S., with $156B invested. Capital allocations to Pharma Tech grew 125%, versus 13% for the U.S. venture market as a whole. This outperformance was likely due to the factors mentioned above, and the fact that the pandemic itself is a healthcare crisis. Most Americans may not have previously considered what it takes to develop and manufacture a new drug until they were reading about it daily. And the pandemic initially halted two-thirds of clinical trials when the world was desperate for pharmaceutical solutions, which may have contributed to investment activity.
While Pharma Tech outgrew other sectors by dollar volume, total deal count for Pharma Tech generally mirrored the overall market. A slight decrease was noted from 2019; potentially to manage the economic risk of the pandemic, VCs favored later-stage companies.
CVC Highlights
In corporate venture, CVC funds deployed 48% by dollar value and participated in 26% of deals overall in the U.S. in 2020. As shown in the chart below, the $68B invested by corporations was nearly $10B more than 2019, which suggests CVCs stayed in the market despite economic uncertainty, as Touchdown co-founder Scott Lenet forecasted in this post from 2019.
CVCs are an important source of capital for Pharma Tech startups, providing industry validation. Traditional pharma companies are frequent CVC participants in the Pharma Tech space. These organizations are accustomed to working on long time horizons, but they also see the need to innovate and speed up drug-to-market timelines. Investing in Pharma Tech startups is one way to achieve these goals.
The following CVCs were the most active in 2020:
McKesson Ventures , the CVC arm of drug distributor McKesson, participated in five deals, focused heavily on clinical trial and data solutions.
, the CVC arm of drug distributor McKesson, participated in five deals, focused heavily on clinical trial and data solutions. Novartis Venture Fund participated in three Pharma Tech deals in 2020 to advance the pharmaceutical company’s objectives in life science and digital health.
participated in three Pharma Tech deals in 2020 to advance the pharmaceutical company’s objectives in life science and digital health. Amgen Ventures completed three Pharma Tech investments, focused on data, clinical trials, and drug discovery.
completed three Pharma Tech investments, focused on data, clinical trials, and drug discovery. In addition to its enterprise and consumer focus, GV, the venture arm of Alphabet, participated in three investments that leverage the company’s interest in Pharma Tech.
Notable Pharma Tech Deals and Exits
Synthetic biology startups Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) and Zymergen (NASDAQ: ZY) closed two of the largest rounds of 2020 . Ginkgo closed a $1.1B debt financing round from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, in addition to a $70M Series E earlier in the year. Zymergen closed a $350M Series D in October. Each company completed an initial public offering in 2021.
(NYSE: DNA) and (NASDAQ: ZY) closed two of the largest rounds of 2020 Ginkgo closed a $1.1B debt financing round from U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, in addition to a $70M Series E earlier in the year. Zymergen closed a $350M Series D in October. Each company completed an initial public offering in 2021. 2020 was also a busy year for drug discovery. In February, Schrodinger (NASDAQ: SDGR) raised $232M in an IPO. In May, Insitro raised $143M. In July, Relay Therapeutics (NASDAQ: RLAY) went public, raising $400M. In August, Atomwise (a company Touchdown’s corporate partner Colorcon Ventures has funded) raised $123M. To end the year, Recursion Pharma (NASDAQ: RXRX) raised $245M, before eventually going public in April 2021.
(NASDAQ: SDGR) raised $232M in an IPO. In May, raised $143M. In July, (NASDAQ: RLAY) went public, raising $400M. In August, (a company Touchdown’s corporate partner Colorcon Ventures has funded) raised $123M. To end the year, (NASDAQ: RXRX) raised $245M, before eventually going public in April 2021. Alternative pharmacy company Alto raised a $250M Series D round in January 2020. The company offers a telehealth pharmacy platform to improve the prescription experience.
Pharma Tech Innovation In the News
3D printed pharmaceuticals could lead to customizable medicine — 3D printing may be suited to create medications for rare diseases because it’s geared for customized pills made in small batches.
Can augmented and virtual reality be applied to pharma and not just entertainment? — Apprentice.io’s remote collaboration tool connects pharma manufacturing teams for troubleshooting operations over a secure virtual platform amid Covid-19.
Please contact us directly at [email protected] for any ideas or investment opportunities related to this sector. Thank you for reading!
Liked what you read? Click 👏 to help others find this article. | https://medium.com/touchdownvc/trends-in-pharma-tech-investing-5128350a270e | ['Kathy Quigley'] | 2021-09-17 14:57:44.133000+00:00 | ['Corporate Venture', 'Corporate Innovation', 'Pharmaceutical', 'Cvc Playbook', 'Venture Capital'] |
Plutus Bi-Monthly Report — Card Production (Jun 1/2) | Welcome back to our bi-monthly report, the team has made some great progress in recent weeks and hit several internal milestones.
Pinned Announcements
Access to features is available to team accounts and members of our Pilot Programme.
The aim of the Pilot is to gather feedback from our community in order to provide an improved platform for the wider audience.
Our site and a new app will be available to the wider public once the pilot ends, unveiling our new live features.
Development Update
Crypto Buy/Sell
The tech team demonstrated the new and improved PlutusDEX internally last week and it received overwhelmingly positive responses. We have designed an incredibly intuitive trading platform with a slick frontend interface that even technical newbies will be able to use.
We are currently testing the crypto buy/sell feature internally and we will shortly be rolling it out to our pilot programme users. The team are excited to reveal the progress that’s been made.
Marketing Update
Award Nominations
Plutus has received two nominations for the PayTech Awards 2019, which strengthens our position as a truly innovative brand within the finance sector. Nominations include ‘Best Consumer Payments Initiative’ and ‘Top Paytech Innovation’. You can view the rest of the categories and nominations here. The results will be announced on July 5th.
Press Announcement Schedule
The marketing team has put together a schedule of potential press announcements to release over the coming weeks and first drafts of several announcements have already been written up. With the product quickly coming together, the team can begin to unveil partnerships, new features, marketing and more.
USP’s
The marketing team has been evaluating our messaging in order to clarify our unique selling proposition (USP). We have identified several features that are yet to be achieved by anyone else and we aim to engrain these in the minds of consumers. Most prominently, that Plutus is the most secure crypto finance app in the world.
Discord Rewards
Our Discord channel has quickly become the central hub for all Plutus related discussions. We have ordered and received several Plutus-branded prizes to give away to active members of our Discord community at the end of each month. Our first winner was announced this week, join us here and engage in conversations for a chance to win.
General Update
Card Production & Packaging
The Plutus Debit Cards are officially in production! All elements have been confirmed (design, layout, weight, etc.) and we are now awaiting the manufacturers to deliver.
The card packaging and mailer have also been finalised and the team are now negotiating prices before entering development.
PLU Rewards
The team has been discussing ways to add further utility to PLU so users can get the most out of their earned rewards. After considering all eventualities including costs, longevity, PLU price, scalability and more, the team identified an appropriate solution.
The team are in discussions with a 3rd party rewards partner and we are preparing for front-end integration; the backend functionality of our Rebate Programme is ready.
Enhanced Due Diligence
Plutus is in the planning phase of implementing an enhanced due diligence process where applicable, such as dealing with Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs). Our long-term plan is to automate the process as much as possible and ensure its user-friendly as well as highly secure.
We have the procedures in place but upgrading the system to combine automated processes and manual oversight will offer the best user experience from a compliance perspective. | https://medium.com/plutus/plutus-bi-monthly-report-card-production-jun-1-2-eb88369e6718 | [] | 2019-06-05 12:49:31.873000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Report'] |
[S8_E7] The Curse of Oak Island Series 8 Episode 7 || (Online1080p) | ☆~Stream : The Curse of Oak Island Season 8 Episode 7 Full — The Curse of Oak Island Season 8 Episode 7 Full Episode — Watch The Curse of Oak Island Season 8 Episode 7 Full Series ☆
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The Curse of Oak Island Season 8 Episode 7
Overview
Follow brothers Marty and Rick Lagina through their effort to find the speculated — and as of yet undiscovered — buried treasure believed to have been concealed through extraordinary means on Oak Island.
While powerful currents threaten Alex and Tony’s dangerous dive in the Northern Atlantic, Rick and Marty investigate a mysterious earthen anomaly.
The Curse of Oak Island Season 8 Episode 7
❏ STREAMING MEDIA ❏
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider. The verb to stream identifies the process of delivering or obtaining media in this manner.[clarification needed] Streaming refers to the delivery method of the medium, instead of the medium itself. Distinguishing delivery method from the media distributed applies particularly to telecommunications networks, as almost all of the delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, music CDs). There are challenges with streaming content on the Internet. For instance, users whose Internet connection lacks satisfactory bandwidth may experience stops, lags, or slow buffering of the content. And users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain content.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet content in real-time much as live television broadcasts content over the airwaves with a television signal. Live internet streaming takes a form of source media (e.g. a video camera, an audio tracks interface, screen capture software), an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and deliver the content. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the origination point, although it frequently is.
Streaming is an option to file downloading, a process where the end-user obtains the entire file for this content before watching or listening to it. Through streaming, an end-user can use their media player to get started on playing digital video or digital sound content before the complete file has been transmitted. The word “streaming media” can connect with media other than video and audio, such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are considered “streaming text”.
❏ COPYRIGHT CONTENT ❏
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[1][2][3][4][5] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[6][7][8] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][9][10][11][12] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[13]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsistent.[14]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 50 to 100 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[5] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[15]
❏ GOODS OF SERVICES ❏
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[1] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and extensible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[2] Credit is extended by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower. | https://medium.com/@hoxay87388/s8-e7-the-curse-of-oak-island-series-8-episode-7-online1080p-c70adce7691d | [] | 2020-12-22 15:49:35.662000+00:00 | ['Mystery', 'Documentary', 'TV Series', 'The Curse Of Oak Island'] |
How do I overcome the fear of not being loved by someone? | Answer: This is a great question because it seems that we have been taught that one of our greatest needs in life is to be loved. But the truth is just the opposite. Our greatest need is to love rather than to be loved. For 2000 years, our human ego nature has been looking for love in the wrong place. We have been looking everywhere for love except where it actually exists. Jesus gave us the answer when he said “the kingdom of God, love, is within you”.
In other words, the kingdom of God is where love is and so as you ponder upon this, you come into the realization that you don’t get love, you don’t struggle to find love, it has already been given to you. The kingdom of God is love and there is no other place to find it. Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of God, love” because when you are conscious of God, love, the principle of consciousness reveals that love will externalize itself as your experience.
It was the poet Browning who said that “we must open out a way to release the imprisoned splendor of love”. And it is in this consciousness of love that you now see God as the reality and the very life of every individual, that you now know the Truth about you is the Truth about everyone you meet, that the infinity of love is within every individual because the kingdom of God is within them as it is within you. You are now connected in oneness with everyone and you can now share the love of God with everyone you meet. There is no longer the fear of not being loved by someone for nothing can separate you from the love of God.Now you will be asked and you will have the answer to “how do I overcome the fear of not being loved by someone?”. | https://medium.com/pathway-to-happiness/how-do-i-overcome-the-fear-of-not-being-loved-by-someone-ab8274d3a571 | ['Don Carpenter'] | 2019-06-06 14:46:54.390000+00:00 | ['Successful Entrepreneurs', 'PTSD', 'Life Lessons', 'Self Improvement', 'Mental Illness'] |
Professional networking in my pajamas is absolutely the best | When life closes a door, you open many zoom windows.
Nostalgia is a very thick layer of paint. All the people missing going to the office might not recall the daily commute in the train (or as I call it: “morning breath in a can”), the long lines to get a regretable $15 sandwich at the food court or the compounded smell of everybody’s microwaved lunch coming from the kitchen.
Same thing with networking events. I always admired professional networkers capable of jumping from and to a dozen conversations in one single night. They could not be happier swimming in a sea of people, they know everybody, and everybody knows them. That is not me, I like talking to people, but I am exhausted at the end of a large event!
Over time I have developed some unconventional networking strategies. I always tend to stay near the food table, so people gravitate towards my direction. It also gave me a great vantage point; if that person was picking food with his hands (especially during chicken wings night), maybe it is better not to engage him. I have been on the receiving end of way too many sticky chipotle-BBQ handshakes to make the usage of forks an absolute requirement to be part of a professional network. Chopsticks are cool; please do not think I am culturally insensitive.
This year many significant design events and conferences transitioned to online mode and most of them at a small fraction of the price. It is hard to explain how much radical change this is. It is a step forward for more inclusive design communities and the democratization of knowledge beyond physical boundaries. Not everybody could afford to take a week off from work, flying to NY, paying for accommodation/meals and adding a couple of hundred dollars of the entry-ticket on top.
For those who could invest, the opportunity cost of thoroughly enjoying it is way too high. Most large conferences had several events going simultaneously, and the chances of missing out on a great speaker because you picked a famous one were always present. FOMO UX style.
I always felt disappointed when a speaker got into “diva” mode, showing the same images from their website and not adding any more context of processes, what business goals drove this project and the challenges faced during its completion. Things just magically materialized from three lines of his sketchbook, and now you have the honour to pay to see him live.
The opposite is also an annoyance. Many design leaders are so good at what they do that every single sentence is worth the ticket. They are the LeBron James of UX Design, living in a whole different category than the rest of the mortals. I used to take many notes as possible on a tiny sketchpad, with my terrible handwriting, on almost zero-light conditions while trying to catch up with the latest pearl of knowledge dropped by the Design guru in front of me. Later on, I realize that my annotations are as readable and coherent as the Zodiac killer letters (hopefully less threatening).
After experiencing online design conferences, it is tough for me to make a case for a different format (leaving aside some technical glitches). The possibility to access an event in Taiwan from the most comfortable place in the world, my sofa, is something hard to trade-off. Business casual has become sweatpants, and most of us could use Movember as an excuse for not shaving. So really, the bar could not get any lower.
Online-conferences offer more tools to engage the audience. That awkward moment of raising your hand to get a microphone so you can ask a question and being horrified about how your voice sounds on the auditorium’s Dolby speakers. Now, it could not be more straightforward than typing.
At the same time, the participants can provide meta-commentary about the topic in real-time. The presenter's references get a couple of links, articles, and books from the chat in seconds. Most conferences are recorded, and slides are made available after the talk, no more cryptic notes.
After the talk, some of the speakers hang around in the chat and answer any questions. For me, this is huge! I tend to get very nervous when I talk to people I admire for years. The worst happened some years ago was when I spoke to the CEO of an electronic toy company and noticed I was sweating, getting light-headed and blurry eyesight. Maybe I was starstruck, or perhaps my drink had pineapple juice, and I was getting a mild allergic reaction—a little column a, a little column b. | https://uxdesign.cc/professional-networking-in-my-pajamas-is-absolutely-the-best-acb2b12efb20 | ['Luis Berumen Castro'] | 2020-12-15 12:18:48.964000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'UX', 'Design', 'Remote Work', 'Product Design'] |
Rabbithole that is USB HID in Wine | Image from WiKi Is the glass half empty or half full?
As you know I was a bit frustrated with the proprietary closed source workflow imposed on me compared to the industry standard to get the onboard audio recordings off those wireless mics.
Not only that — BUT remember the bullet time ?
Scaling the workflows..
Like in Matrix they had tons of DSLR cameras surrounding the acting to do just that and it was essential to have precise fine shutter control and not to say efficient ingest off those cameras and certainly someone going to each camera and running some windows app ingesting these photos one by one was out of question…
Now we could say one wants to do some crazy innovative SFX similar to that the GO II can come as nice value proposition considering you get two on board recording units as well as the stereo receiver for them but problem with that is the latency among other 2.4 GHz gotchas not to mention that you need to handle inputs from tons of receivers at the same time so that leaves the ingest over USB.
For ingest already I figured I could attempt to stuff this problem into a container with questionmark around how to pass the connected USB device(s) presented as Human Interface Devices (HID) in various OSes typically at user space into those containers whilst previously I’ve associated all sorts of networking virtual and physical connectivity with those.
In the future I really want to see the USB or HID raw inputs/outputs encapsulated into standardised network protocols/APIs so instead of everyone building their separate IoT APIs and centralised public cloud deployments with questionable data security (say easily with S3)/privacy we could just “plug” our devices in standardised manner to where we want, how we want and when we want…. leaving us all in control with our physical assets
It’s just yet another format?
I also figured I could just reverse-engineer the Oggs but what fun would would it be?
Without some Docker magic and having the ability to run the ingest from multiple devices at the same time cutting all that mad clicking out?
If the mountains don’t come to me..
I could of course have combined but I ran out of time so I just started throwing a generic “over the top” solution to it that I could teach easily to clicki-bunti if they change stuff.
Same time I could ensure the devices are clean for fresh recordings after the files have been successfully ingested as the thing requires you trashbin existing recordings out thru the proprietary app which a regular human may forget.
Benefits? Maybe later…
This would also allow other workflow magic to automatically process to create sound report and such to send straight to offline with additional processing e.g. process the metadata and provide splitting the clips at scene/take and maybe even synchronization to non-linear (NLE) editing offlining.
And even on bullet time on Matrix I bet they had real time previews off their take straight after only enabled by the automated ingest at scale.
Plus I was really interested to see how USB HID has evolved in Wine past year and if it’s ready for the prime time.. gotta learn sometimes!
Association between the physical and the virtual worlds
To parallelize we need a way to associate physical world things within our virtual worlds and even with a single transmitter (TX) device it would be nice if we can pass the device with fixed identifier to the container instance without giving it privileges.
You could certainly put a trigger-scheduler-queue type of ad-hoc containerization where you spawn a container for each new detected connected device but here I am just keeping things single assigned per container.
On OSX you could even script your way with diskutil monitor but you’ll need to handle this logic somewhere which sees all the USB devices attachments and detachments.
Linux udev to keep things neat
For me I want to keep things neat so I want to properly identify each of the RØDE Wireless GO II TX units that store the recordings and talk via USB in a controlled manner so the containers (per device) which run parallel are not mixing up the physical assets they are associated with.
On a Linux host (say a Raspberry PI) for easier identifying the USB can be done by writing udev rules and an example from StackExchange.
Typically we do this with all sorts of physical/virtual network interfaces when we have complex communication requirements where the typical docker NAT doesn’t cut it anymore.
For desktop environment you could alreasy see some example hidraw entries there from physical hardware keys/tokens such as Yubikey that implements U2F/FIDO for browsers and such as organisations such as Google have done the smart thing to reduce phishing.
Find the device popup in dmesg:
usb 1–1: new high-speed USB device number 8 using xhci_hcd
usb 1–1: New USB device found, idVendor=19f7, idProduct=001e, bcdDevice= 1.19
usb 1–1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 1–1: Product: Wireless GO II TX
usb 1–1: Manufacturer: RØDE Microphones
usb 1–1: SerialNumber: XXXXX
hid-generic 0003:19F7:001E.0007: hiddev1,hidraw4: USB HID v1.11 Device [RØDE Microphones Wireless GO II TX] on usb-0000:00:14.0–1/input0
Or lookup from usb-devices or lsusb (-v for more detail):
$ sudo lsusb|grep RODE
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 19f7:001e RODE Microphones Wireless GO II TX
Looking at the attributes…
To create a udev rule so we can id and expose this device properly to the associated container without giving it inappropriate privileges.
We can look at the attributes we use to match
udevadm info --attribute-walk /dev/bus/usb/001/008
Good candidates are typically the idProduct and idVendor
looking at device '/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-1':
KERNEL=="1-1"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb"
DRIVER=="usb"
ATTR{product}=="Wireless GO II TX"
ATTR{version}==" 2.00"
ATTR{idProduct}=="001e"
ATTR{idVendor}=="19f7"
And then write the rules
We need to give the hidraw entities read/write permission in order for these to be usable over WiNe as well as trigger actions e.g. docker run upon device attachment and destroy upon detachment.
Additionally one needs to address the race conditions and make sure containers are not overlapping with appropriate cleanup and monitoring.
Sadly as is the case with network devices we cannot rename or even symlink (Docker doesn’t work with symlink — devices either) the device names to ID them so we have to trigger attachments/detachments and pass the hidrawX here along.
The rules for hidraw I would write from attach/detach trigger:
ACTION=="add", KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19f7", ATTRS{idProduct}=="001e", USER="docker", GROUP="docker", TAG+="uaccess", RUN+="run something with %n" ACTION=="remove", KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="19f7", ATTRS{idProduct}=="001e", RUN+="clean up %n"
To apply and re-trigger the rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger
And to test the rules to some degree
sudo udevadm test usb-device path
Create a WINE prefix somewhere
In container we need to be on the edge with Wine and compile it ourselves since typical packaged linux distribution has not included the crucial bits that deal with the USB which have started to appear to Wine from only last year.
I am not covering the problem that is multi-arch / WoW64 / bits here but that’s a long topic by itself considering all this information is rapidly evolving and confused.
Don’t expect perfection but don’t expect RAWness either..
Not everything will run smoothly for every app which I come back later as-in how this thing turned into rabbithole looking at how Windows enumerates USB HID thru SetupAPI and registry and what I need to do for the central app USB HID enumerator to detect the device(s) correctly under Wine.
Just also know that Wine is being used by Valve/Steam for tons of games as part of their white-label Proton and it has had a lot of funding to create great things to make Windows games work in OSX and Linux (or SteamOS) so it’s pretty mature platform for some things :)
I also tried to see if I could test out darling which is attempting to do similar with the OSX than Wine is already doing with the Windows but it isn’t much mature yet considering it doesn’t run much GUI yet and a lot of things are still to be developed.
Whilst running winecfg make sure to set up the environment as “Windows 10” as Windows 7 seems to hit installer detection thing about incompatible environment with some versions of Windows.
To create a wine prefix which default should be 64 bit:
WINEPREFIX=~/rode/central/WINE winecfg
Run the central app installation
You need to install the application into the wine prefix as below.
WINEPREFIX=~/rode/central/WINE wine msiexec /i ~’/Downloads/RODE\ Central.msi’
I installed to C:\Program Files\RODE\
Which simply installed just the central app .exe into
$ md5sum ~/rode/central/WINE/drive_c/Program\ Files/RODE/RODE\ Central.exe
5a4796d2d6165a74d71f07840c0a1ee4 /home/foobar/rode/central/WINE/drive_c/Program Files/RODE/RODE Central.exe
It was all going fine until I hit the brick wall with Wine
I was already crafting the Dockerfile that would run it all from my existing stuff and then more which wasn’t too big of a loss since I had the most bits already I can re-use.
Only to hit a brick wall where the Central App refused to acknowledge the plugged transmitter over USB despite this showing on my USB hid enumerator running over Wine I made myself — there is also pywinusb pure python Windows USB user space snippet or say hclient.
For this I need to continue looking at perhaps what is not implemented at setupapi and more closely how the central app enumerates the USB devices in the Windows environment…
To be continued…
If someone has Windows domain expertise around USB HID / SetupAPI pls or the associated register stuff get in touch I wanna fix it all :) | https://medium.com/@missmissm/rabbithole-that-is-usb-hid-in-wine-98f05f853724 | ['Missm', 'She Her Hers'] | 2021-04-26 06:37:46.806000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Linux', 'Wine', 'Glass Half Full', 'DevOps'] |
The best holiday movies to stream over the 12 days of Christmas | The best holiday movies to stream over the 12 days of Christmas Marcus Dec 18, 2020·10 min read
Most of us will be spending more of the holiday season at home than in years past. Rather than recommend films that might summon family complaints of “didn’t we see that last year,” we did a deep dive into a batch of 13 Christmas movies that are new—and new to us. Some of these are recent arrivals to popular streaming services; others are entirely new, having been released—like so many new movies in 2020—directly to home viewers. We hope you enjoy our picks.
A Bad Moms Christmas★★★☆☆ STX Entertainment Kiki (Kristen Bell), Amy (Mila Kunis), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) deal with their own bad moms in A Bad Moms Christmas.
Stream on NetflixIn this sequel to Bad Moms (2016)—which you don’t need to see in order to enjoy this—Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell), and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) return, this time with their own “bad moms” on board. Amy wants to have a simple Christmas, but her disapproving mother Ruth (Christine Baranski) arrives to turn it into a complicated nightmare. Kiki’s lonely mother Sandy (Cheryl Hines) shows up for the holiday unannounced, hoping to be besties with Kiki, and hang out all the time. And Sandy’s mom, the ne’er-do-well Isis (Susan Sarandon), who is usually looking for handouts to finance her fast-and-loose lifestyle, turns up as well. A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) has its share of ridiculous, slapsticky moments, and it’s not exactly a laugh riot, but it digs into some genuinely organic mother-daughter relationships, all the more surprising given that it was written and directed by two men (Jon Lucas and Scott Moore). Justin Hartley plays a male stripper who makes a hilarious instant connection with Carla while having his privates waxed.
[ Further reading: Cord-cutting myths busted ]The Christmas Chronicles 2★★★☆☆ Netflix Mrs. Claus (Goldie Hawn) and Santa (Kurt Russell) face more trouble this year in The Christmas Chronicles 2.
Stream on NetflixAt the very end of The Christmas Chronicles (2018), which starred Kurt Russell as a waylaid Santa Claus, [Spoiler:] Russell’s longtime life-partner Goldie Hawn made a neat little cameo as Mrs. Claus. Now she’s back in a lead role in this sequel, which is, happily, just as surprisingly enjoyable as the original. In The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020), Kate (Darby Camp) is bummed about spending Christmas on the beach in Cancun with her mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and her mother’s new boyfriend Bob (Tyrese Gibson), so she escapes with Bob’s nerdy son Jack (Jahzir Bruno). Unfortunately, they are picked up by a renegade, now-human-sized elf, Belsnickel (Julian Dennison), and deposited at the North Pole. There, they must help Santa and Mrs. Claus defend the village from Belsnickel’s evil attacks. Russell and Hawn provide just the right kind of lift for this swift, silly fun.
A Creepshow Holiday Special★★★★☆ Shudder Anna Camp and Adam Pally attend a group meeting for people with special abilities in A Creepshow Holiday Special.
Stream on ShudderThe Shudder original series Creepshow is a tribute to the 1982 horror movie written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero; the anthology series even uses the same comic book panel transitions and practical makeup effects. This new standalone A Creepshow Holiday Special (2020), which drops on December 18, is titled “Shapeshifters Anonymous.” Adam Pally stars as a man who begins finding strange things in his poop, such as buttons and pieces of clothing. He goes to a group meeting, wherein all the participants change into animals each full moon (one is a were-turtle, and another is a were-boar). From the group’s host (Anna Camp), he learns the history and culture of such outcasts, and then learns an even more bizarre secret having to do with Santa Claus himself. The episode is gory, but tongue-in-cheek, brightly decorated and fun. It’s directed by Greg Nicotero, based on a story by J.A. Konrath.
Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan★★★★☆ Magnolia Pictures Shane MacGowan performs on stage in his heyday as the lead singer of The Pogues, in Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan.
Rent on Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube… ($6.99)In the documentary Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020), filmmaker Julien Temple (The Filth and the Fury, Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten) turns his camera on Shane MacGowan, the leader of the great Irish punk/pop band The Pogues. Known as a legendary, bruisingly hard drinker, MacGowan is still going in his sixties, now in near ruin, slumped in a wheelchair and sipping at pints. Rather than being interviewed, he speaks candidly with his close friends, including Johnny Depp, telling his stories. He began drinking as a child, discovered punk music, and found that the two went well together. His lyrics are often described as poetry, and he’s an irascible interviewee; Temple lovingly combines his footage with animation, archival material, and plenty of music—with special favor given to their all-time great Christmas song “Fairytale of New York”—to make a cautionary tale feel like a celebration.
Dear Santa★★★★☆ IFC Films Children mail a Christmas letter in the documentary Dear Santa.
Rent on Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube… ($6.99)Filmmaker Dana Nachman, who makes uplifting, kid-friendly documentaries like Batkid Begins and Pick of the Litter, returns with this holiday delight, sure to inspire smiles and reaches for the tissue box. Dear Santa (2020) begins by looking at the hundreds of thousands of letters sent to Santa Claus each year, and then tells all about “Operation Santa,” in which kind, ordinary people read the letters and then do what they can to make the wishes come true. Nachman misses a chance to answer some basic questions about how the program really works, but some of the individual stories—one in which a boy wishes for a pet rabbit, and another for a ride in a limo—are truly special. The movie stays near kid level, with interviewees referring to the real Santa, so it’s safe for family viewing.
Emma.★★★★☆ Focus Features Emma (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn) share a dance in Emma.
Stream on HBO MaxFollowing in the footsteps of Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Beckinsale, who both played Jane Austen’s titular matchmaker in 1996, Anya Taylor-Joy takes on the role in Emma. (2020), with its own, defiant period added after the title. Emma befriends Harriet (Mia Goth) and then subtly tries to manipulate everyone around her into, and out of, love affairs and creating several intersecting triangles in the process. Fortunately, director Autumn de Wilde keeps it all bright and shiny and clear, and, for what could have been a stuffy costume piece, it’s remarkably entertaining. One brightly decorated sequence takes place at a Christmas dinner, making it a perfect holiday treat. Johnny Flynn plays the boy who finally wins Emma’s heart, and Bill Nighy steals every scene he’s in as Emma’s wry father, sitting behind an elaborate series of screens to prevent drafts from reaching him while he warms himself by the fire.
Fatman★★★☆☆ Saban Films Chris Cringle (Mel Gibson) struggles with a lack of good girls and boys in Fatman
Rent on Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube… ($6.99)In this unlikely Christmas cult classic, Mel Gibson plays the hard-drinking Chris Cringle, who takes out his frustrations in target practice on Christmas-themed cans. This year, his government subsidy check is alarmingly low—he gets paid for the number of gifts delivered, and more and more children are on the naughty list these days—and his workshop is in danger of closing down. Meanwhile, a nasty little rich kid (Chance Hurstfield) hires a hitman (Walton Goggins) to end Cringle’s life; the hitman is only too glad to oblige, given that he himself never received any gifts as a child. Directed by brothers Eshom and Ian Nelms, Fatman (2020) is a strange thing, seemingly made up of used parts that don’t seem to fit together—until they do. It’s an odd combination of brutal violence and genuine holiday cheer that, taken with a glass of eggnog, kinda-sorta works. Marianne Jean-Baptiste, as a no-nonsense Mrs. Cringle, is a big part of the reason it does.
Happiest Season★★★★☆ Hulu Abby (Kristen Stewart) and her friend John (Dan Levy) pick up an engagement ring in Happiest Season.
Stream on HuluClea DuVall wrote and directed this comedy-romance in an attempt to create a holiday perennial for the LGBTQ+ community. Happiest Season does fall into the old groove of being about a couple wherein one partner is out and the other isn’t, which usually makes for annoyingly formulaic, lie-based romcoms. But this time DuVall is aware of the trope, and she nonetheless makes it all feel emotionally true. While out one night admiring Christmas lights, Harper (Mackenzie Davis) is swept away in a romantic moment and invites her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart) home for Christmas. On the drive there, Harper confesses that her conservative family doesn’t know about her relationship status, and can Abby please pretend to be her roommate? Stewart is the one who really sells this, balancing her fury at the situation and her genuine love for Harper. The cast is tremendous, with Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen as Harper’s parents, Aubrey Plaza as a potential temptation for Abby, and Alison Brie as Harper’s “perfect” older sister.
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey★★★★☆ Netflix Inventor Jeronicus Jangle (Forest Whitaker) receives a Christmas visit from his granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills) in Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.
Stream on NetflixOf all the new 2020 Christmas movies, David E. Talbert’s wonderful Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020), a holiday blend of science and magic, towers above them all. Jeronicus Jangle is a brilliant inventor with a shop full of amazing things, until his apprentice Gustafson steals his latest invention, a sentient doll (voiced by Ricky Martin), as well as his book of inventions. Twenty years later, Gustafson (Keegan-Michael Key) has become a wealthy and famous toymaker, but he’s used up everything in Jeronicus’s book and has nowhere left to turn. Meanwhile, Jeronicus (Forest Whitaker) has turned his shop into a pawn service, and struggles to come up with just one more great invention. At this time, his clever granddaughter Journey (Madalen Mills) comes to visit, and he helps Jeronicus with the one thing that has been missing from his work. The musical numbers are a delight, and the costume designs truly sparkle, especially Journey’s hairdo (with little gears embedded in her tufts). Lisa Davina Phillip plays a postal carrier who loves Jeronicus, and Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, and Hugh Bonneville co-star.
Last Christmas★★★☆☆ Universal Enigmatic Tom (Henry Golding) changes things at Christmastime for worker “elf” Kate (Emilia Clarke) in Last Christmas.
Stream on HBO MaxOpening to poor reviews in theaters (remember those?) last year, Last Christmas (2019) deserves a second look. Aspiring singer Kate (Emilia Clarke) works as an “elf” in a year-round Christmas shop, and her life is a wreck. She can’t hang onto a place to live and is loath to go back and stay with her controlling mother (Emma Thompson). But then she meets Tom (Henry Golding), and everything changes. As they spend time together, she learns to “look up” and see things in the city that she has never noticed before and learns to think of others. While the story looks romantic, and it is in some ways, romance is not actually what this movie is about. Various songs by George Michael and Wham! pepper the soundtrack in appropriate ways, especially Wham!’s radio-friendly 1984 tune “Last Christmas,” which gives a clue to the movie’s real motivation. Michelle Yeoh is hilarious as the Christmas shop owner, who makes Kate call her “Santa.”
Lego Star Wars Holiday Special★★★☆☆ Disney Finn and Rey (left) try to get ready for “Life Day” on the planet Wookiee, in Lego Star Wars Holiday Special.
Stream on Disney+Anyone who remembers, or has seen a muddy, fuzzy bootleg version of The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) might salivate at the idea of an all Lego parody of that misfire, but the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020) is something else. It goes in a new direction while drawing upon some of the old special’s ideas, notably the Wookiee holiday “Life Day.” (It’s not strictly a “Christmas” special, but it still features plenty of Christmas colors and good cheer.) The plot here focuses on Rey (voiced by Helen Sadler) who is having trouble training Finn (voiced by Omar Miller) in the ways of the Jedi. She finds a time key and begins traveling to certain moments throughout the entire Star Wars series, and even The Mandalorian, where she finds inspiration. Running only 44 minutes, and with a quick wit and bold colors, this one is a holiday must for any Star Wars fan that can handle a little messing around with canon.
Let It Snow★★★☆☆ Netflix Julie (Isabela Merced) has a Christmastime run-in with pop star Stuart Bale (Shameik Moore) in Let It Snow.
Stream on NetflixAt a glance, Let It Snow (2019) looks like one of those thousands of annoying, syrupy Christmas romance movies, but it’s actually surprisingly heartfelt and sweet. It tells several intertwining stories of troubled, yet hopeful teens as they try to figure out life. Julie (Isabela Moner) has been accepted at Columbia University but is reluctant to leave her sick mother. She meets pop star Stuart Bale (Shameik Moore) and makes a connection with him while eating at a run-down restaurant called “Waffle Town” (the “W” has fallen off the sign; say it out loud). Waffle Town employee Dorrie (Liv Hewson) is having girl trouble, as well as best-friend trouble. Tobin (Mitchell Hope) is secretly in love with his best friend “Duke” (Kiernan Shipka). And aspiring DJ Keon (Jacob Batalon) hopes to throw a huge party in Waffle Town as a snowstorm approaches. Joan Cusack co-stars as a strange woman who drives around wearing tin foil, and who helps out brokenhearted Addie (Odeya Rush). D’Arcy Carden appears as Stuart’s snippy publicist.
Olaf’s Frozen Adventure★★★☆☆ Disney Sentient snowman Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad, center) goes on a quest to find a Christmas tradition in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure.
Stream on Disney+This 22-minute long short caused quite a ruckus when it debuted in theaters in front of Coco in 2017; much longer than the usual Pixar short cartoon, it tested the patience of many moviegoers who sat through several unexpected songs, wondering when the feature was going to start. Now Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017) can be viewed all by itself on Disney+, and it’s a sweet, silly little treat, thanks mostly to Josh Gad’s funny, lovable voice performance as sentient snowman Olaf. When Olaf discovers that sisters Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) have no Christmas traditions of their own, he sets out with Sven the reindeer to find one. He eventually gets himself into trouble and must be rescued, and the finale is pretty darn heartwarming. It takes place after the events of Frozen (2013) and might make a decent wintertime double feature for anyone willing to hear “Let It Go” again.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@marcus34215640/the-best-holiday-movies-to-stream-over-the-12-days-of-christmas-e24a871cce90 | [] | 2020-12-18 18:50:03.607000+00:00 | ['Home Theater', 'Chargers'] |
NLP-Abstract Topic Modeling. Derive Topics from Long Text | NLP-Abstract Topic Modeling
Derive Topics from Long Text
This is part 3 of a 4 part post. Until now we have talked about:
Pre-processing and Cleaning Text Summarization Topic Modeling using Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)- We are here Clustering
In this article, we will be using a summary version of long text documents to find what topics makeup each document. We summarize the text before topic modeling because there could be extra details in some documents. Whereas, others might have just the gist.
Wait, but why model topics? What does that even mean? | https://towardsdatascience.com/nlp-topic-modeling-to-identify-clusters-ca207244d04f | ['Gaurika Tyagi'] | 2020-09-07 03:02:39.663000+00:00 | ['Topic Modeling', 'NLP', 'Lda', 'Gensim', 'Spacy'] |
4 Things I Wish People Knew About Healing From Abuse | 1. Talking about my experiences doesn’t mean I want pity.
Trust me, nobody feels worse about my experiences with abuse than I do. Often when I’m recounting an experience, it means I’m comfortable with that person and in that space enough to talk about it. I’m not actively searching for sympathy or wanting to cause another person to feel bad. Most of the time, I simply want to be listened to.
Opening up can be hard for anyone to do, so if a person is expressing their trauma with you, it could mean there’s trust there, and the most powerful thing you can do for that person is to listen.
2. Patience is one of the best things you can give to a survivor.
When you endure a traumatic experience, sometimes the memory visits you in dreams or intrusive thoughts, especially if you’re being exposed to a similar circumstance.
If my romantic history consisted of abusive partners, it might take some getting used to navigating through a healthy one. The same goes for any shift in circumstances or relationships.
Just like it isn’t in someone's spirit to understand abuse if they’ve never suffered through it, it isn’t so simple for a survivor to adapt to being in a better place.
Time, understanding, and empathy are usually all I ask for, and I know the same goes for others.
3. I’m constantly unlearning toxic patterns I picked up through abuse, and I need to be held accountable, too.
I read a Tweet once that said something along the lines of “I’m still unlearning toxic behaviors I learned as survival tactics,” and it helped put my behavior in perspective.
When I reflect on my anger specifically, I tend to feel guilty about it. Why was I irritated with this person or situation? Why did I react with anger? When I look deeper, I remember all the times I had no choice but to be angry in order to survive a toxic situation.
Although sometimes those reactions are unwarranted, I was conditioned to react that way as a means of survival, and adjusting to a healthy life is going to take time and lots of trial and error.
This means I’ll need to separate my past experience current emotions so I can hold myself accountable and prevent the cycle of abuse.
4. My experiences don’t make me fragile.
I often hear survivors of abuse say the reason they keep their abusive history a secret because they don’t want others to treat or see them differently. I’ve had experiences with people who acted differently around me than they did in a setting with other people — often they’d speak softer or overly sensitive, and I’m sure they mean well.
I’d take this over insensitivity and callousness any day, but there’s an extent to sensitivity where it can seem insincere and condescending.
Coddling my trauma, walking on eggshells, and being overly sensitive is another form of victimizing me even if that’s not your intention; it works against the purpose of healing.
I’m not a victim and I’m not fragile. I’m a resilient bad-ass, and that’s how I’d prefer to be treated. | https://medium.com/illumination/4-things-i-wish-people-knew-about-healing-from-abuse-8d9a70184c96 | ['Brittany Beringer'] | 2020-12-23 09:45:57.878000+00:00 | ['Survivor', 'Trauma', 'Abuse', 'Self Love', 'Healing From Trauma'] |
Andy Slavitt on Vaccines, Biden, and How Life Will Get Back to Normal | This article is adapted from a new live-event series called Medium in Conversation. Andy Slavitt is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Barack Obama, host of the pandemic podcast In the Bubble, and author of the forthcoming book Preventable — a behind-the-scenes look at the U.S. coronavirus crisis and response. Sarah Collins is the editor-in-chief of Elemental. Slavitt and Collins spoke in front of a Zoom audience on December 8 about incoming Covid-19 vaccines and what people can expect in the coming weeks and beyond.
Elemental: Since day one of the pandemic, [you have] been reaching out to your vast network of health care experts, politicians, and scientists and broadcasting info through Twitter threads and Medium posts. What compelled you to start reaching out to experts and writing these posts, and what were you hoping to accomplish?
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https://www.reddit.com/r/joshuapulevstreamsuk/comments/kbubi2/streamsofficial_joshua_vs_pulev_live_streamsreddit/
https://www.reddit.com/r/joshuapulevstreamsuk/comments/kbubfz/streamsofficial_joshua_vs_pulev_live_streamsreddit/
https://www.reddit.com/r/joshuapulevstreamsuk/comments/kbub0v/officiallivestreams_joshua_vs_pulev_live_streams/
https://usastream6.medium.com/every-covid-19-vaccine-question-youll-ever-have-answered-9be45049d383
https://usastream6.medium.com/why-pregnant-people-should-be-in-covid-19-vaccine-trials-584817adde22
https://usastream6.medium.com/21-times-experts-warned-it-would-get-this-bad-3a4c61ff1ea7
https://note.com/ranoge7204/n/na9b79c9bb704
https://tautaruna.nra.lv/forums/tema/43494-every-covid-19-vaccine-question-you-ll-ever-have-answered/
https://blog.goo.ne.jp/sghtutyolou/e/71473c23dbed14ac6e5b08e61778e740
http://millionairex3.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sfhgjt8oklkkgj
https://caribbeanfever.com/photo/albums/fdhjugkiu
http://korsika.ning.com/profiles/blogs/xdfghghkll
http://www.onfeetnation.com/profiles/blogs/fghyijkyilkyi?xg_source=activity
http://www.4mark.net/story/2923068/!!-streams-official-%e2%80%9c-joshua-vs-pulev%e2%80%9c-live-streams-reddit
https://paiza.io/projects/cs3wRCn2FTrjLY3chgy-vw?language=php
https://mhumayra792.medium.com/covid-19-is-looking-more-and-more-like-an-autoimmune-disease-82551666e9f9
https://c.mi.com/thread-3491872-1-1.html
https://mhumayra792.medium.com/how-to-manage-long-covid-19-symptoms-and-fatigue-23c61c68eac6
Andy Slavitt: Remember this, back in March, which wasn’t that long ago, nobody knew anything. Now everybody’s an armchair epidemiologist and we all know curves, but the administration wasn’t saying a lot and it was hard to know what the reality was. I was just calling, talking to hospitals in New York, talking to scientists, talking to politicians, talking to labs about how long things were taking. I’d pick up the phone and call people who are manufacturing ventilators. So one day, I just basically put it all in a thread. I’m like, “This is what I did today,” and it had 10 million views. I was like, “Okay.” So I did it the next day. And then I did it the next day. I realized that people were lacking really transparent information in a way that was usable. Over time, I think as people have had more basic information available to them through reliable sources, I’ve gone away from providing facts and more towards what I’m learning and towards impressions, so I don’t drive everybody completely crazy.
Well, you’re not driving us crazy. You’re helping us a lot. Now you’re 10 months into this, and you’re still doing it. How have you not managed to spiral into just a pit of despair and rage at some of the things you’re learning?
I never despair. Maybe sometimes rage. There are things to be angry about, but even then, I think you [can] catch yourself and realize how much of it is just frustration at the situation. I’d love to be able to sit here and say, “Look, everybody’s doing the best they can, and therefore we have to be a little bit charitable.” I would love to feel that way. I actually don’t feel that way. I don’t think everybody involved has been of pure instinct and trying to save the most lives. Look, if we were out there doing our best and failing but I felt like everybody was out there prioritizing trying to save people’s lives, then I’d be very charitable to that.
But there are things you run across and people you run across who have other agendas that they’re laying over this. And then I think occasionally you get angry just the way things are in the country. That things are unfair for certain people, for farm laborers, for people in jails, for people in nursing homes. As you run across that stuff, it makes you want to call attention to it and want to make it better. Look, a lot of those things were true before the pandemic, they’re true and worse during the pandemic, and I think it’s up to us whether they’ll be true after the pandemic.
The theme of this talk is that it’s darkest before dawn. I want to start talking about the darkness. As of today, more than 283,000 Americans are dead. Cases are spiking in nearly every state. Health care workers and hospitals are overwhelmed. Public health experts are exasperated. And then you have the pandemic deniers and the anti-maskers and our current president. As you’ve said, we aren’t just dealing with a pandemic. We’re dealing with a society who doesn’t know how to deal with the pandemic. So, in a nutshell, just in a few sentences to start, how did we end up here?
I think there’s a couple of things about our society that have become real challenges in the pandemic. If you wanted to pick a country where you’d say, “Where’s the easiest place to make a billion dollars?” if that matters to you, you’d probably say the U.S. is at the top of the list. But if you wanted to pick a country with a collective commitment we had to one another to save lives, unfortunately, we wouldn’t be at the top of that list. We’re a country that’s not used to sacrificing. So, if I don’t have my Starbucks in the morning, I’m cranky, right? Whereas my grandparents and all of our great-grandparents went through the Depression. They went three years without coffee, right?
We’ve never dealt with a big global health crisis like this en masse. It’s the kind of thing we think happens to other people. It happens in Asia. It happens in Africa. One of the premises of my book is you have two lines of defense. One of them is your technology and your government and your CDC. If that works, as it always has for us, that’s great. But your second-line defense is each other, and that’s where I think we’ve really fallen down. Without even mentioning Trump, without even mentioning what I consider to be very bad leadership, we have some endemic flaws that we have to face up to.
A lot of those things were true before the pandemic, they’re true and worse during the pandemic, and I think it’s up to us whether they’ll be true after the pandemic.
In this time when everything is so serious and scary, what do the next six weeks look like for us, and what mindset should we have to get through both safely and sanely?
The best mindset is it’s only six goddamn weeks, right? Six weeks from now seems far, but six weeks ago doesn’t seem that far. We have to understand that what we’re asking of each other is not unlimited. If you want to be busy doing something, be supportive of the people that need it. If you need help, by all means, ask for help. Ask the people in your life for help. If you could provide people some help, do it because it’s been challenging over the holidays. It’s challenging during the winter. I don’t want to make light of it, but it is much more dangerous out there than it looks.
How is the Slavitt family navigating right now? What are you doing? How careful are you being?
We’re careful. I mean, all of us have had preexisting conditions of some sort. All of us are slightly at risk. Look, I’m not going to lie. We have the privilege to be careful. It would be very irresponsible if we weren’t because there are people that are forced to see us every day. If you work at the grocery store or whatever, you should not be forced to see us without a mask because you don’t have a choice. We have a choice. I mean, the people in this country that have a choice — the separation between those who do and those who don’t is enormous.
In my book, I interviewed a whole bunch of different people. One was this guy who works at an Amazon warehouse. Not only did he get Covid-19 at the Amazon warehouse when he was forced to work, but then he went, when he got sick, and he couldn’t get a test because there were no tests, they stopped paying him, and so he had to get back to work as soon as possible. So, for any of the rest of us that aren’t in situations like that, I would hope we would be realizing how privileged we are and then doing everything we can to just help out those others.
That brings me back to the analogy “it’s always darkest before dawn.” We’re in this terrible spot, but there is a guaranteed light at the end of the tunnel and soon. It’s just a very strange place to be. You tweeted about this, and you said, “What will I regret not doing once the dawn is here? Knowing with good certainty that soon enough will be out of this is a gift of sorts.” How do you intend to use the remaining time of the darkness in a meaningful way?
The thing about that expression — it’s always darkest before dawn — is that people usually say it when they’re trying to tell somebody, “Hey, I know it seems bleak, but keep going. It’ll get better.” But they don’t know when it’ll get better. We are in an amazing situation where we actually have really good confidence that over the course of 2021, because of the vaccines, things are going to get a lot better. What that should tell us is “Okay, we’re living through a historic period, but there’s a limited window. What do we want to do to take advantage of that window?” I just think, maybe it’s my own obsession, but I just think about all the people that are going to die every day.
It’s like every death you can prevent, any bit of despair you can prevent, and I don’t distinguish between people dying from Covid-19 or people who are upset and have addiction challenges or people who have any kind of challenge, those things are going to be better soon, I hope. But we’ve got to help people get there. I just view it as an amazing opportunity, whatever way any of us can in our community, to reach out and help people. Sometimes you’re not in a position to help people. You may need help, but you have to ask for it. I think there’s nothing more encouraging and empowering in the human condition than asking someone for help or hearing someone’s plea for help and knowing you can help and doing that. We started out that way, I think, in April, but we got a little bit away from this in the last few months, and we turned against each other.
People say, “Well what do you do about the people that don’t believe in this?” Don’t do anything about it. When does it make sense to worry about the things we can’t control? If there are people that are going to be doing stupid things, the chances of us changing their minds are pretty low. I guess I advise people that when the dawn comes, are you really going to want to break your relationships with your children, with your cousins, with your friends, over a temporary situation? And people don’t like to be judged, so it very rarely works anyway to glare at people who aren’t wearing a mask.
That’s great advice. I think as we move into the dawn in this conversation, we know that the two things that will get us there are vaccines and a new administration. And so I want to talk about both and start with vaccines. Despite the ineptitude in America’s Covid-19 response, there’s a lot to be proud of when it comes to vaccine development. What stands out to you about the development process?
There are the career civil servants, like Peter Marks at the FDA, like Rick Bright at BARDA, Anthony Fauci at NIH. Part of the reason why we have gotten where we are is Rick Bright made an investment in the messenger RNA platform in 2017. And Peter Marks came up with this idea that we would embed government people on each of the best pharmaceutical teams so that we wouldn’t have to do the back and forth of the submissions to the FDA, and he called that Warp Speed because he’s a Star Trek geek. And before it got big — before the White House started calling it that and before the White House was even aware of it — Marks said, “We should get money for Congress to do at-risk manufacturing.” The civil servants have been so maligned by the president and by this administration. These are real heroes here.
There’s lots of heroes, and I don’t begrudge credit for anybody for getting these things done successfully because all the vaccines, like every other good thing, are a massive team effort. But I think when the story emerges, that will be there. And it’s not a uniquely American thing, as you know. There’s BioNTech in Germany, Oxford in England, all around the world, and it’s not a story, sadly, of U.S. collaboration and cooperation, but it is a story of science absolutely kicking butt. They should be very proud.
We’re probably just about a week away from vaccines starting to roll out across the country, which is incredible. You did a great podcast recently about vaccines and about their dissemination. Do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about how the rollout will go and why?
It won’t go perfectly. But it depends what our expectations are. Sadly, I don’t think the public is willing to give the process any time. I think people will be barbecuing on Memorial Day whether we have a vaccine or not. So we have to run pretty fast at this. I think in terms of how we’re going to see where our readiness is in each of these processes, I think we’re actually quite good at having a vaccine that is going to do far better than we thought, which essentially means we don’t have to give it to quite as many people for us to reach herd immunity. I think manufacturing is going to be a challenge because we’re going to be a little bit behind, but I think we’re talking about weeks, not months. In other words, if you’re not in group one or group two or group three, it’s not a matter of like, “Okay, you’re not going to get it for months and months.” It will be probably a matter of weeks.
I think our distribution system, whether it’s FedEx for Pfizer or McKesson, they are good logistic partners. And then the last mile is you’re at the CVS, you get a call, you get a note, you got to come in, and you got to come in a second time, you got to be scheduled, and all of that. And then, of course, you can’t be at the CVS with 700 people; you’ve got to be in there one at a time. And I think they know what they’re doing. There will be bumps. We’ll be following it closely. But in the big picture, if we should get it done by May or June and instead we don’t get it done till July or August, that’s still an enormous success. In fact, getting it done in 2021 is an enormous success.
We have the privilege to be careful. It would be very irresponsible if we weren’t.
Each state’s handling of the pandemic so far has been really individual and all over the place. How does that play out in terms of vaccine dissemination and is that individuality a problem?
Yeah, it has been a problem. States are not set up to manage disasters on their own. They don’t have public health departments set up to do it, they don’t have the capital resources, they can’t do what they want to do, which is close businesses but keep them whole and keep them from closing. So the federal government had a much bigger role to play in all of those things, including procurement. And so we need a much more coordinated effort here.
Hopefully, most states will just follow the [American College of Physicians] guidelines, and there’ll be some interesting public debate. When should teachers be vaccinated? College students? We’ve thought through most of the big-chunk issues in most states. There will be states where we have really complex challenges in terms of rural populations. There will certainly be bigger challenges. But the thinking that went into this from the U.S. Army has been good, and the ability to get the vaccine from here to there, we know how to do it. We’ve got to hope that as many people as possible come back for their second booster, things of that nature.
We’ll all be in the squishy middle for a while. Some people will get vaccinated, some won’t be, some will be halfway. Do you see a system where there’s some sort of badge or passport you have for proof that you have been vaccinated and then, therefore, you can go back to college, you can go to work, go back to the office?
Sure. What we have today is low tech, where you can’t go to college unless you get your vaccinations, you can’t go back into certain schools. And I think with things like sporting events and music events, you see organizations like Clear getting involved. I think there are partnerships between companies like StubHub, Clear, and different sports and music leagues where you’ll be able to either confirm your vaccination or get a test as you’re buying tickets to something. And it will just become a part of the social compact that you don’t go into large events or large spaces or large crowds with other people if you’re at risk. So I do think that will become more of a norm.
And look, at the same time, massive reductions in community spread will start to make them less and less necessary over time. Not this year, not 2021, but over time, we’ll have very low levels of community spread.
The way I talk about it is presumed guilt versus presumed innocence. If I ran into you in the streets, Sarah, and you weren’t wearing a mask, I would have to presume that you might have Covid-19. At some point in time, the community prevalence goal gets so low that I’ll run into you in the street and I’ll assume you don’t have it, and that’ll be back to the way we used to think in 2019. And if you were seeing a friend, you’d give them a hug, and you wouldn’t think twice of it because the risk would be so low.
The vaccine will help us get to that point. With the vaccine, plus mask-wearing for a while, we’ll start to get the community prevalence so low that the chances of us running into each other and one of us having Covid-19 would be incredibly remote. Risks are never zero, but when we get back to that point, some habits will stick. We may still wear masks during the wintertime; we may never shake hands again because we wonder why we ever shook hands to begin with. It may be a whole new set of habits, particularly for certain times of year.
What is the threshold for when it flips, where the presumption of guilt becomes the presumption of innocence? Or the threshold for when you actually go in for a hug? What is that point?
Right. So I’m going to say it depends on one factor, which is your own risk prevalence. So if you’re 85 versus 25, it’s a different answer. If you have diabetes or something like that, it’s a different answer. So I think you’re going to be around a loop, but I think you just go back and look to the measures that were rolled out by Deborah Birx back in April that were never followed. And you have prevalence levels per 100,000 that are really, really low when you get to green. And there’s something called European green, which is a level that they get to in Europe.
I don’t know if people saw the videos in Australia — they just had these massive street parties because they got to a level of Covid-19 that was like zero new cases in a day for some period of time. They just had massive street parties because their chances of getting Covid-19 were literally approaching zero — if not zero. So it can get down to that. It doesn’t seem possible, but the way the math works, it’s actually interesting.
Just like we have exponential growth, there’s a parallel concept called exponential decay. And exponential decay is actually a good thing, even though it sounds kind of goofy and eerie, but it’s when exponential math works in your favor. It’s how 100,000 cases a month later becomes a dozen because if you get the R naught below like 0.5 — which means that every person spreading it to less than half a person — you start to take that number and multiply everything by 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, you’re cutting stuff in half really rapidly. So, that can happen quite quickly, but we shouldn’t jump the gun either. I mean, we should just be checking out those tolerance levels. And I think the good news is that to your point about the election, we’ll have a CDC that my presumption is will be very clear and very specific about what those numbers need to be.
That’s great. I look forward to the day with specific and clear instructions. One more question about vaccines for you: There’s been a lot of rumbling about vaccine hesitancy and how some Americans may not get the vaccine because of distrust and misinformation. Other experts are saying that this is overblown and actually talking about it all the time normalizes it and makes it a thing. What do you think?
I guess I don’t know how worried to be about it, to be honest, Sarah. If you’re worried about political interference in the vaccine process, all you have to do is look to the fact that Europe already approved the vaccine. They were not involved in our political process. The data is incredibly strong.
There’s a set of people that will never take the vaccine. Fine. We can understand that. No one’s going to convince them. That’s not a huge part of the population. There are others that maybe they don’t like needles or maybe they don’t want to get a second dose or maybe they’ve got other types of concerns. We need to listen to what those issues are. I don’t think the answer is bullying people into taking it but rather to listen. I think we need probably 70% of people to take the vaccine, and I think that’s achievable.
I talked to people who are very different from me politically the other day, and they said they’re taking the vaccine. I asked if they would be public about it, and they said they will be. It would be great if President Trump publicly took the vaccine and told his supporters to take it. I don’t think he will. I suspect he will do the opposite. But if he did, that would be great.
Speaking of administrations, let’s talk about the Biden administration. You have said that you don’t just expect “not Trump” but that you expect repair. What do you mean?
I had this conversation with David Frum, and he said something that stuck with me. He said it’s really impossible to get an “A” managing a vaccine and managing a pandemic, but it’s a no-brainer to get a “B.” Because to get a “B,” you need to demonstrate some amount of compassion and empathy and a decent level of competence, and people will give you a lot of credit. So it’s almost remarkable that we have had a president that has been unwilling, in my opinion, to show any amount of compassion or competency or just level with the public, just to say, look, here’s the situation. So repairing those things is a no-brainer because that’s a low bar. So is demonstrating compassion. I mean, the president-elect himself, I think because of who he is and what he’s been through, will do that. He will talk to the public that way. The people around him, the people who’ve been brought in, they will be competent, and we will get the straight answers, and we will get the truth. Unfortunately, that’s not the job. The job is to build back, and it’s to fix the things that aren’t working.
The fact that he named someone to run, for example, the impact on health equity and health disparities, that’s like saying we don’t just have to be good at this, but we have to fix the things about our country that were shown to be broken. And it doesn’t happen automatically.
We may still wear masks during the wintertime; we may never shake hands again because we wonder why we ever shook hands to begin with.
So this is a wishful-thinking question, but I’m going to ask it. When Biden comes into office in late January, will there be any tangible differences that we notice immediately? Will it feel like a switch has flipped?
I think in some respects it might because I think we’ll start to feel like we’re getting clear, compassionate communication hearing from science. I think it will feel like we’re seeing the progress as it happens. We’re getting told the truth. That doesn’t mean it’ll be instantly better, and I think it would also mean we’re going to have things asked of us.
Biden announced key members of his health team recently, including the heads of CDC, HHS, the surgeon general, and an appointment for Dr. Fauci. Any surprises in these selections? What do you think of them?
I don’t know the woman who has been asked to run CDC. I’ve heard really good things about her. So in the sense that I don’t know if I call that a surprise, everything I’ve heard is she’s the exact right kind of person that we need right now.
Xavier Becerra to run the department of HHS is, I think, an excellent choice. I love the idea of finally combining health and justice as kind of a powerful concept for our country. We couldn’t ever have needed it more than we do now. And he’s a wonderful person. I think he’ll be great.
Jeff Zients will run the pandemic response. I don’t know anybody more competent and more execution-focused than Jeff. He and I worked together on the ACA turnaround, and I just think he’s amazing. I’m so grateful he was willing to do this.
Then Fauci’s role is great. I mean, that should bring a smile to everybody’s face. Vivek [Murthy] is one of the most empathetic and compassionate people that most people who’ve met him have ever known. And then all of them have another quality that we’ve been missing, which is they all are trusted by the president or the president-elect.
You have some relatively weak people [currently] at CDC and HHS and FDA who just kind of want to know what the president wants. They don’t want to tell him what’s right. You end up in a place where any dissent gets squashed, and you end up in a place where people just sort of crawl into a shell.
I think we’re going to have a place where people will all very much be on the same page, which the public needs. And I think they’ll keep adding more good people. I’ve been helping out where I can in the process of looking at people, vetting people, and they’re just incredibly thorough. And they’re looking for people who look like America. They’re looking for people who have actually experienced challenges personally. They’re looking at people who are the best at what they do, and they like people who are team players. And by team players, I don’t mean like loyal to a fault. I just mean people who aren’t looking to get a lot of credit for things. I think a lot of that is Ron Klain, to be honest. I think Ron — he’s got a lot of wisdom in terms of how these things can work best.
I want to talk about the war on truth and science. In this new administration, how can we change the minds of people who are Covid-19 denialists and also who are questioning science and scientists? Or are people just too far gone or do we not try?
I think this is a bigger question caught up in bigger waves than even the pandemic. It’s just sort of how tribal we’ve become. I try to explain it to people this way. It’s like, let’s say, I don’t know what your religion is, Sarah. Let’s say you’re Protestant, and you meet a priest who you love and a Protestant pastor who you don’t love. Then people ask, “Why didn’t you go to the priest on Sunday? Why didn’t you go to see the Protestant service?” You’ll say, “That’s who I am. I wasn’t evaluating what I liked better. That’s my identity.” In this country now, a lot of these things that shouldn’t be part of our identity are part of that package.
And you do what your tribe does. And if your tribe says they don’t like masks, your identity in the tribe is far more important to you than any specific individual decision like whether to wear a mask or not. And that’s where people have it wrong in terms of communication because I think that people can’t be persuaded or bullied or what have you. To some degree, some people can be persuaded with logic and emotion and experience. But we have a far deeper set of issues, which is, how do we identify?
Biden is making this [vaccine push] about patriotism. And maybe that’ll work for some people. I just had an episode that comes out tomorrow looking at how Biden should reach Trump country with his messaging and his communication. And simply saying, “Look, this is public health. This is not a political issue,” you would think would work.
But if they’re getting counter-messages, then it becomes very challenging. As you know, everybody’s not reading my Medium posts. People who agree with me are probably more than people who don’t. Not that people don’t disagree with me, but the people who don’t like what I have to say in general are not likely to read it. People want to get the information that appeals to them. And we live in a world where we want to satisfy our need for who we are and for what our tribe is and what our tribe wants. And that’s part of the whole In the Bubble podcast is making exactly that point, that we’re all in our own bubble we define.
We tolerate inequality much more than most countries do. We have very little collective will. We have very little recent experience sacrificing.
I wanted to end with some lessons learned. You just finished your book, congratulations. Originally you thought this book would be basically all of your posts with more color and context, but when you really got to thinking about it and writing about it, it was a much more introspective, intense process. If we went through this pandemic again and Trump was not president, what would it be like?
That’s the ultimate question that I try to get to in the book. I wanted to write a book that would read like The Big Short around 2008 issues and really still be a readable, on-the-ground book with occasional jumps up to 10,000 feet so you can see how some of these lessons work. And, of course, in the process of writing it, you make these discoveries around things that have been deeply wrong and deeply challenging. Trump didn’t come out of nowhere, so it’s impossible to say that this was driven by Trump because the causes that caused us to elect him are some of the same things. We have a lot of unexamined issues that we need to have dialogues about. We tolerate inequality much more than most countries do. We have very little collective will. We have very little recent experience sacrificing, certainly for one another. We’re very comfortable, and we’re hesitant to give up even the highest of those creature comforts.
And the real question is, are we introspective enough to come away and learn the lessons? I know we’ll learn the literal lessons. We’ll have enough PPE next time; that won’t be a problem. But will we learn the more fundamental lessons? Hong Kong, which has the most cross-border travel with Wuhan, has had fewer than 100 deaths because they’re just practiced at this. They get it. One of the things that happened here is that certain people who could isolate safely, who were white, who were more well off, and who were younger, as soon as they started to feel safe, they started to feel very impatient.
And so all you’ve got to ask yourself is, what if next time this doesn’t prey on older people — what if it preys on kids like the measles? What if it preys on people that golf? It could be you next time. So our attitudes change, and it’s not entirely because of racism, although that may be some of it with some people. It is because human nature is such that as soon as we start to feel safe, then we start to crave and recognize the things that we want. And I spend a lot of time with sociologists and risk managers and all of this. This is all stuff I’ve learned, not stuff that I knew going into the book, that helped me understand how we process things because we’re self-protective. We don’t want to live in fear. We don’t want that fight-or-flight brain on. So we start to go, “Oh, this isn’t happening to people like me as much. I’m not as afraid, and therefore my behavior changes.” That happens with everybody, not just people with bad intent.
What does next year look like for you, professionally? I know you have this incredible book that’s coming out, and I’m sure you’ll be doing lots of talks like this one. What does it look like for you?
I do several different things. As you mentioned, United States of Care is a nonprofit that I founded a couple of years ago that we’re dedicated to trying to get every American health care and to never have to worry about health care again. So I will spend a fair amount of time, hopefully, on that, working with the administration and states and others to do that because that’s a passion. I founded an investment fund called Town Hall Ventures, which invests in underserved communities in health care to try to bring health care to underserved communities. So I will spend time on that.
The podcast has been a delight to do. And as things get better, I’ll do it as long as people want to keep hearing it. So we’ll have to see what happens there, but I enjoy that. At some point, I’ll probably stop writing these daily threads because they fill up people’s timelines. So we’ll get back to normal. I think there’s a lot of repair work to do. My passion happens to run right into the kinds of things we needed this year. And if that’s the case next year, I’ll keep doing those things for as long as needed. | https://medium.com/@mhumayra792/andy-slavitt-on-vaccines-biden-and-how-life-will-get-back-to-normal-aeb6469bf820 | [] | 2020-12-12 19:40:58.074000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Science', 'Public Health', 'Covid 19', 'Society'] |
Dr Frank Weakly Reader for 6.21.2019 | FROM THE DESK OF: DR FRANK
— Dr Frank vs. Warner Chappell: the publishing arm of Warner Bros. along with the notorious ABKCO, have filed a claim on YouTube asserting ownership of my song “Here She Comes.” They think my song is the same as a soul song of the same name controlled by them.
It is quite obviously not the same song. I’m sure this is all automated, but my case has been clearly expressed with copious documentation in my disputes and appeals and I have no doubt it’ll eventually go my way: I’m right and they’re wrong.
(One strange thing though: it seems pretty clear that this claim is based on the title alone, which is not legitimate — no one owns the words “here,” “she,” and “comes,” and there are hundreds if not thousands of songs with that title out there. That’s a terrible way to conduct this business, but I’ve been noticing it more and more even in the more benign situations. But there’s also some indication that the “content ID” system. which is allegedly based on a sonic scan of the audio, is also involved. It’s hard to get to the bottom of that. But if it’s true, that’s not a good sign as to Content ID’s reliability. There’s no conceivable way in which those two recordings are remotely similar beyond the title.)
This copyright claim thing happens from time to time on my channel, and in every case so far till now, all I had to do was dispute the claim and produce my documentation, whereupon someone at the label or publisher who lodged the claim reviews it and immediately releases it. These folks, however, have doubled down and are pressing the erroneous claim far further than anyone else ever has with me. It’s like trying to quit Comcast: they make it so unpleasant for you that you just give up, and that appears to be a deliberate business strategy. One thing I’ve learned from following the process this far for the first time is that YouTube’s policy gives all the benefit of the doubt to the complainant (them) and presumes the target (me) to be guilty of copyright infringement just because of being accused. And they leave it to the complainant to decide whether or not the appeal in response has merit. That’s a crazy system. The fox is guarding the henhouse.
Anyway, I assume at some point some human will look at the evidence and decide in my favor, but it’s not spelled out when that will happen. And maybe it won’t at that. I’ve learned not to assume that that the logical, commonsensical thing will happen in such situations. It is a world of robots, after all.
But of course, I could just as easily and with just as much merit claim their song as mine. I have exactly as much claim on theirs as they have on mine. Of course, while that might be funny, I won’t do it because I’m sure I won’t fare as well as Warner Bros. in that match-up. YouTube will summarily delete my channel and send WMG a bouquet of carnations, more like. Seriously though, unless it’s some big screw-up, it really seems as though Warner Chappell and ABKCO are abusing the system and deliberately acting fraudulently. And if it is just a screw-up, they still owe me an apology.
To judge from the rhetoric in the explanatory text in YouTube’s various screens, the system seems to have been set up mainly to address video “creators” who use unauthorized music in their videos. But of course, it can work the other way, and to judge from googling around the internet unscrupulous copyright claimants, tacitly aided and abetted by YouTube, have been doing just that, claiming other peoples’ intellectual property as their own, hijacking it, running ads on it, and taking all the money, on the assumption that most people won’t bother to pursue it, especially since the YouTube system is biased against the victim and is so difficult to understand and navigate. I’ve heard these “copyright trolls” have gotten increasingly aggressive, and that certainly has been my experience with regard to this one case at least.
I’m rather curious to see how it all goes. This incident brings up other issues concerning songwriters and publishers on YouTube that I may write about in a future post. People like me fall through the cracks in the system, which really wasn’t designed to remunerate individual writers, even when their work is used and funds generated by it is collected by others. More on that later.
In the meantime, I’ve had some “fun” with it. Here’s the video on which the copyright claim was filed:
And, in case they miss it, here’s yet another:
(The “minor secrets” write-up on that one is pretty good.)
I’m going to start including the full copyright, publishing, and release history of every song in the video description. Not that that will defeat the robots, but at least I’ll be able to respond by cutting and pasting.
Anyway, I started exploring other songs with that title and found some good ones from: The Beach Boys; something pretty funny from Adult Swim; Dead Rabbits (UK); Bell X1; and the Peasants.
Finally, here’s an interesting essay on combatting copyright trolls on YouTube. Sounds exhausting!
— Some questions about the minds.com E-tag and fine art. No answers yet.
— “OMG OMG! I’m on dr frank’s website!” said Dina on June 20, 2008, in reference to this blog post. She made her own shirt because we didn’t make ’em small enough. I’ve always liked it. | https://medium.com/@drankf/dr-frank-weakly-reader-for-6-21-2019-4fef14247d1f | ['Frank Portman'] | 2019-06-21 14:55:02.776000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'YouTube', 'Music', 'Copyright', 'Songs'] |
Client Side Wallets | Which? What? Why?
One of the most popular questions connected with crypto is “Which Bitcoin wallet should I choose?”
The main distinctive feature of a reliable and secure wallet is a access to private keys. If private keys are generated within the wallet of the client and aren’t kept in servers they are called client side wallets.
Today we have prepared a detailed explanation of this kind of crypto wallet.
Client Side Web Wallets
Client side web wallets are considered to be the most secure and private. Encrypted backups of the wallet are stored securely on servers, but no one has a way of decrypting them except the user on their own side. The process of encryption and decryption is done within your web wallet using your password as a key. It means the wallet is encrypted by a password only when the user is connected to the server.
Advantages:
Easy to use, no software installation required
You can access your funds from any computer but mind your safety!
There is no need to worry about accidentally deleting your wallet or losing it to computer failure
You can transfer your funds to any wallet with the help of a mnemonic in case if you stop to trust your provider
Disadvantages:
You still need to trust your provider. But if you learn about the provider more you can avoid these difficulties.
Client Side Crypto Wallets
It is an app that is absolutely focused on the client side. How does it work? The main idea is the same. The client side means private and secure. Why? The private keys aren’t kept on the servers of your crypto wallet. They are created entirely on your device and no one can get access to them or steel them. Even if there is some kind of a hack attack on the server of your wallet your funds are safe. You can just import your mnemonic into another wallet and live happily!
Advantages:
Absolutely secure. Just take care of your mnemonic and use a password for your device
Your private keys are absolutely yours. No third party can have access to them
Your funds are always on hand
You can choose any another wallet and transfer your funds with your mnemonic
Disadvantages:
Need to trust the operational system of your device
Another point connected with this kind of wallet is the private key. What they need for? A private key is a sophisticated form of cryptography that allows a user to access their cryptocurrency. Sound difficult? Simply think of it like your “signature” that you would give under each transaction. With the help of this “signature” your transaction will be identified as yours and no one will be able to usurp it. That’s why you need to keep it absolutely safe and the best way is a client side wallet without any third party.
Which wallet should I choose?
Now you know what a client side wallet is and why it is so secure and private. Until you try to learn if your wallet is client side we suggest that you to install Lumi wallet. Why you ask?
As you have understood, Lumi wallet is client side and besides, you will be surprised when you see how multifunctional it is. Lumi has thought about you and has provided you with every convenience.
Firstly, Lumi is a crypto wallet that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, and tokens. It also includes a web interface if that is your prefered method. These features allow you to have your funds on hand and also the ability to access your funds from any computer.
Secondly, Lumi is an HD wallet so you only need to be backed up once, and can be fully restored at any time in the future from just the backup of that single master seed. Seeds are typically serialized into human-readable words in a 12-word Mnemonic phrase. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?
Here is your way to absolute anonymity and security!
You can always reach out to the Lumi team at [email protected] and get more information about Lumi. Follow us on our Blog, Medium, and Reddit for educational and useful articles! | https://medium.com/lumiwallet/client-side-wallets-1011c2265a1d | ['Lumi Blockchain Wallet'] | 2018-04-26 16:46:13.927000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Token', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin Wallet'] |
熱帶氣旋艾莎尼進南海後將減弱 | A columnist in political development in Greater China region, technology and gadgets, media industry, parenting and other interesting topics. | https://medium.com/@frederickyeung-59743/%E7%86%B1%E5%B8%B6%E6%B0%A3%E6%97%8B%E8%89%BE%E8%8E%8E%E5%B0%BC%E9%80%B2%E5%8D%97%E6%B5%B7%E5%BE%8C%E5%B0%87%E6%B8%9B%E5%BC%B1-a3e3012df898 | ['C Y S'] | 2020-11-05 06:12:26.555000+00:00 | ['Hong Kong', 'Weather'] |
My Reflection On Amal’s 5 TotkaYS | My Reflection On Amal’s 5 TotkaYS
Totakys are the very old traditional ways to find out solution for problems and have widely been used and are still in practice in South Asian Countries. These are the tricks that are used to come up with things in a easier way.
Amals tokays are really important when applied in life, they are helpful and may lead us to have an understanding and dealing difficult situations.
How I found Amal Totkays and My Fav Amal totka
Although all of the the Amal totkays are very important in our lives but I feel they all begin to work when we start to develop a growth mindset, a growth mind is very important to bring positivity in our lives. A growth mind not only help us tackle problems but also keep us motivated in hard situations, it helps us come out of our growth zone, helps us create new healthy habits, makes us challenging, gives us to have courage to ask and question and helps us achieve all in our lives.
The Take away from Amal Totkays
The Amal totkays are very important in our daily lives, they help us understand the necessities of staying positive , having the growth mind in our lives, pushing our selves out of our comfort towards learning and growth zone where majority of us fear facing problems. They help us change our mindset about dealing situations and reinforce new and better habits doing tasks that we feel uncomfortable with, help us take suggestions, guidance when in trouble, let us believe on our credentials and capabilities that we own encouraging us towards task in our lives.
What Amal totkay I have started implementing in my life today?
Although all of the Amal totkays are important but since I believe a growth mind is all that is necessary to lead our selves into a successful carrier. I have been pushing myself towards positivity , started learning more by putting myself into tougher equations.
By pushing myself out of my comfort zone, staying positive, believing myself I can lead towards a growth zone from today. | https://medium.com/@nasrullah-169/my-reflection-on-amals-5-totkays-35c30b1a2d93 | [] | 2020-12-29 19:58:28.754000+00:00 | ['Amal Fellowship', 'Amal Academy', 'Amal Totkay'] |
Architecture Website Design | When most people think of web design, they think about what the individual pages look like: the color scheme, the layout, the photos, the text size, and font. Those things matter, but good web design is defined as much by what’s happening behind the scenes as what visitor sees on the page.
As an architect, you understand this. Attractive web design can be aesthetically pleasing and attract attention, but it can never be enough to compensate for poor functionality. Just as a home or office has to work properly to be a good value, so does a website.
When you hire an Architecture website design company that specializes in web design for architects, the website you get will align with what your target audience expects on an architect’s website. As a result, your visitors are more likely to see you as a reputable architect and are more likely to engage with you. A major benefit of having a professional architect website is being able to market your business quicker and more cost-effectively in the competitive architecture industry.
DataIT Solutions is one of the best Architect Website Design Company. All our creative, innovative and professional website designing are according to the web standers using CSS, W3C compliance and SEO friendly. Our philosophy is to understand the client’s expectations from the website and the internet. In this fast-growing internet era when each target audience is going online, our goal is to help small and large businesses to create their web presence.
Some Features That Provide By DataIT Solutions:
Comprehensive Web Design
Responsive Layout
Seo Friendly Websites
Social Media Marketing
Photo And Video Gallery
Lead Capture Forms
Scan the Image Below for More Information | https://medium.com/@khushbu-muchhadiya/architecture-website-design-16d6e36d3e08 | ['Khushbu Muchhadiya'] | 2020-03-17 07:18:12.029000+00:00 | ['Web Design Company', 'Architectural Design', 'Website Design', 'Architecture Web Design', 'Architecture'] |
The latest from Workflow Builder | The latest from Workflow Builder
Illustration and design by Giacomo Bagnara.
Slack is where people, tools, and data come together in one centralized place, so you can stay focused, productive, and informed— like receiving an alert for a new support ticket or tracking a project status.
Usually that means installing a Slack app from the App Directory or building a custom app using Slack APIs. If you need a simple, but impactful way to connect external systems to Slack, you can now accomplish this with Workflow Builder.
Introducing webhook triggers in Workflow Builder
A webhook can now trigger a series of steps tailored to your work. Webhooks allow disparate systems to exchange information by sending a POST request to a standard URL with key-value pairs; Slack uses JSON to encode those key-value pairs.
This means information across various systems of record (like employee data, project trackers, or “to do” lists) can be sent to Slack when something happens you’d like to take action on.
Creating an incoming webhook trigger
If you’ve never used Workflow Builder before, it’s a visual tool for automating routine processes directly in Slack. Each workflow begins with a trigger, such as someone joining a channel. Then, a series of steps follow, like sending a message or displaying a form.
To kick off a workflow with a webhook, create a new workflow, give it a name, then choose Webhook from the trigger options.
Next, you’ll define the variables that your webhook will accept. Each variable can be named anything you’d like, it just needs to be a string. These variables will then be used in the steps of your workflow.
Webhook variables can be one of three data types:
1. Text, just a string (numbers and other ID’s will be treated as a string)
2. A Slack user email, which is the email address corresponding to a member of your workspace, such as [email protected]
3. A Slack user ID, which is the encoded ID uniquely assigned to every Slack user, such as U2665FE0F
Setting up a webhook’s variables
Text variables are plain text strings — nothing more, nothing less. However, the Slack user email and Slack user ID are unique, since they allow you to direct message or mention specific people in channels.
Imagine you’re creating an approval workflow — when someone requests PTO in your company’s HR tool, their manager receives a notification in Slack. Since the HR database hosts email addresses, you’ll set up the HR system to post to a webhook that has defined a variable for manager_email with a data type of Slack user email. The next step of the workflow sends a direct message to the value of manager_email . Slack automatically identifies the person based on their email address, so you’re all set.
Tips for working with webhooks
After you save your first webhook triggered workflow, Slack will generate a unique URL, which you will use to send data from your other system. You’ll need to encode the key-value pair(s) as JSON, set a header of Content-Type: application/json , and send them as an HTTP POST .
For example:
Your payload must include each webhook variable (though the value can be empty), and any extra variables that are sent but not expected are simply ignored. So, if you’re using a third party system that has a predefined webhook sending pattern, you can define your own variables to match.
Workflows that use webhook triggers support Slack message formatting — so you can *bold*, _italicize_, or ~strikethrough~ text, add newlines, link text, and (of course) express yourself with emojis :hearts: .
If you include a variable in a message that’s sent to a Slack user email or Slack user ID, we’ll automatically interpolate and display it as a linked username, just like when you reference a teammate by their username.
If your workflow includes a step that sends a direct message, the message will come from Slackbot, but will appear as your workflow’s name and icon.
Finally, you can regenerate the URL for your webhook at any time, which will invalidate the previous URL.
Using your webhook workflow
Webhooks are handy for connecting various systems without getting into the technicalities of app permissions and authentication. Here are some other ideas for how you might want to use webhook triggered workflows:
Set up basic triaging protocols when a piece of infrastructure hits a critical load or is behaving erratically. Because webhooks can be invoked with nothing more than a command line tool, this is a quick and simple way to set up an alert system.
Send notifications between external tools— especially for teams that use DevOps practices to manage their deploy pipelines. Using a git hook, a custom script could notify a channel that new code is ready to be reviewed. Once a suite of integration tests pass, another notification could alert a channel that the code is ready to deploy.
Track metrics for marketing campaigns, like reaching referral traffic goals or social media impressions; or for sales pipeline trends.
Though webhooks are currently limited to triggers from other systems, workflows don’t have to stop at notifications. Webhooks could trigger a form that cross-posts to a triage channel, where a separate workflow is watching for emoji reactions. The possibilities are endless!
Getting started with webhook triggers
Webhook triggers are one of the latest enhancements to Workflow Builder — so your work (and automation) is simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.
Need some inspiration? Check out the workflow example library for pre-built, customizable workflows. If you have an idea for a webhook triggered workflow, tweet it our way at @SlackAPI. We can’t wait to see you what you build. | https://medium.com/slack-developer-blog/the-latest-from-workflow-builder-8e0278ddc569 | ['Jim Ray'] | 2020-02-19 20:20:13.097000+00:00 | ['Apps', 'Slack', 'Automation', 'Developer', 'Bots'] |
A Little Tour Through One Gay Man’s Life | Kevin and the Dog House
I knew at five that I was gay. That is to say, I vividly recall feelings and desires I had at five that I now know to have been homosexual in nature.
Most people believe that one cannot remember something that occurred that early. They have no such memories. They allow their subjective experience to fix their judgment of others who relate a contrary experience. They discount them.
So, discount me if you like when I tell you that I’ve always been gay, that I have a genuine memory of the time when, at five, I not only felt “that” way but also acted on it. Discount if you will, the true story of Kevin and the dog house that I relate to you in Five Years Old and Gay in Rural, Western Kansas. Or not.
From Premed to Computer Science in One Semester
I matriculated at Johns Hopkins University as a premed student, but switched in my freshman year, second semester to computer science and mathematics. It was for the best. I think sophomore-year Biochem wouldn’t have been all that agreeable.
After graduating in 1970, I moved to Washington, DC. I worked for four years as a computer systems analyst/programmer. For the last two years, I was an independent consultant. I had no fixed office. I ran the projects in my tennis whites from my bicycle and backpack. I was raking in cash but found the work unsatisfying.
It was in DC that I came out and quickly met my two first lovers, Michael and Tommy. For three years, we were an inseparable triad. Needing to find some other part of himself, Tommy ended that after ten years with Michael, the last three also with me. Michael and I spent the next year together until I made an elephantine mistake. I entered a Ph.D. program at Cornell. The manner in which I did it cost me Michael. A little bit of that story appears in Hello? Past? This is me calling Michael. The rest is yet to be told.
Life and death at Cornell
On the way to Cornell, Michael and I toured New England. In a hotel in Boston, we saved a 13-year-old, pregnant girl from her attempted suicide.
One cold and snowy day that winter, I was hiking up a gorge to campus. A freshman leapt off a bridge high above as I passed under. He landed spread-eagle in front of me on the jagged rocks. Snow fell as I held him. The blood running from his wounds made an ugly stain on God’s pristine, white blanket around us. I cradled his head in the crook of my arm as he died. He had gotten a failing grade in one course and couldn’t face telling his parents. Afterward, I volunteered at the suicide-prevention hotline.
I had a full course-load, a thesis to write, and a paid teaching assistantship in Finite Mathematics, which I had not taken at Johns Hopkins. I had to learn it as I taught it. I kept two chapters ahead of the current lesson, and all was well.
Although I was enrolled in the Engineering School, I took a wine-tasting course at the Hotel School. I audited a creative writing course at Ithaca College that Rod Serling was teaching. He was predictably fascinating.
I ran cross-country — six days a week, six miles a day, six-minute miles. I swam for an hour at lunchtime. I biked on Saturdays and Sundays. At 26, I was in the best condition of my life.
I found the local coed, nude, mixed gay/straight swimming hole. I met several Cornell luminaries and their families there plus a gay couple I later slept with in both meanings of the word.
I joined the Gay Students’ Union. We went around to the freshman houses. Standing before 100 of them at a time, we let them see two real, live homosexuals. We let them hear the timber of our voices and gauge our gait. We let them know that we were among them just as some would discover that they were among us.
We did the same for the Lions Club. The Lion Tamer arranged for us to come, but told none of the members who we were or why we were there. After lunch, to their surprise and discomfiture, we gave our little presentation. We took questions, which, at first, were made either reticently or with some hostility. But, the members became more interested. The inquiries became genuine and personal. After an hour and a half, the club president closed the meeting. Several members gathered round, asking us to stay longer.
On our way out, one Lion approached me. He told me that he had a gay, 17-year-old son. He said he had been angry and disappointed with his son. Having fathered a homosexual had made him feel like a failure. Looking directly into my eyes, he thanked me for helping him understand. He was going to talk with the boy and tell him that whatever his sexuality, it was OK. He would support him in coming out and coming to terms with being gay. A tear rolled down his cheek. We did a good thing that day.
I was unhappy at Cornell. My department chairman had lied to me, thinking that I would join him in his research once I was there. I wasn’t interested; I had my own to pursue. At the end of that first year, I did a hard, left dogleg to law school in San Francisco and found a calling.
Absorbed and Engrossed in Law School in San Francisco
I arrived in San Francisco in 1975, eager to start law school and more eager to launch myself into life in what was the gay Mecca of the U.S. in its heyday. Tyler — The Man I Met Naked on the Quaking Ground, and Came to Love tells one of the stories of my three years there. Another is The Hilarious Thing My Mother Said on Coming Out to Her.
In my second year, I had a teaching assistantship in Appellate Advocacy, an unprecedented accomplishment. I spent my last (third) year as an intern law clerk to a District Court judge in the Northern District of California, also unprecedented. I had responsibilities and privileges coextensive with the paid clerks. I took no classes that year but got 18 credits for independent studies. I was the Moot Court Board president, an editor of the law review, and a member of the admissions and orientation committees.
A Judgeship, My Narrowly Missed Murder, and My Saving a Life in Fairbanks
At the end of my third year, I had two offers for clerkships, one from the chief judge of the Alaska Superior Court based in Fairbanks, and one from a judge from Idaho sitting on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A Ninth Circuit clerkship was a rare, extraordinary opportunity. It had gravitas; it carried resume power. On paper at least, an Alaskan trial-court clerkship was inferior.
I had a dilemma, take the Ninth Circuit appellate opportunity or accept the less prestigious Alaska offer. I already knew how to research and write appeals but had no trial court experience. I wanted to be a litigator, so Alaska made sense. Besides, who wanted to live in Idaho?
In Fairbanks, the chief judge asked that I revamp the court’s motion practice. The court had a six-month backlog. He was anxious to tame the beast. I redesigned the system and, in two months, cleared the backlog while staying current with the incoming motions.
He soon appointed me the court’s standing divorce master.
Alaska had a no-fault divorce statute. Either party could get a divorce so long as it was uncontested. The statutory language was that a party need only show “irreconcilable differences that caused an irremediable breakdown in the marriage.” It was sufficient that one party appear and testify.
The magic words were “irreconcilable differences” and “irremediable breakdown.”
It was my duty as standing master to take testimony evidencing that the statutory requirement had been met.
Although legal representation was not required, most parties came with counsel whose invariable practice was to have the party stand up, say the magic words, and sit down.
On one occasion, a grizzled old man, a gold-miner type with unkempt white hair and scraggly beard, walked in with his lawyer. He was dressed in dirty, worn, and torn miner’s overalls that came to his chest and had straps over his shoulders. He wore yesterday’s shirt, well frayed at the collar and cuffs.
When it came time, the lawyer had the man stand to say the magic words.
But the old man could not get them out. He stammered, stuttered, and sputtered over them while the lawyer prodded him in the ribs and whispered the words. I was certain that he had no inkling what the words meant. His tongue would not form them. It was no use.
I signaled to the lawyer to stop. I asked the man to tell me in his own words why he wanted a divorce.
“Because, if I have to sleep with the bitch one more night, I’m gonna kill her,” came the reply.
“That will do,” I told him. The gavel came down with me trying not to laugh.
After six months, my judge appointed me an acting District Court judge, that too being unprecedented. My duties were in addition to my law-clerk and standing-master appointments. There were several dozen criminal cases threatened with impending dismissal under Alaska’s strict speedy-trial rule. He assigned the other District Court judges exclusively to those trials. The rest of the court’s business he entrusted to me.
All this was an incredible professional growth experience. It could have happened nowhere else than in Alaska. I was elated at having declined the Ninth-Circuit clerkship.
That year in Alaska proved not only a professional growth opportunity but also an adventure.
I knew it would be cold, so, on the way up, I stopped in Seattle and bought an Eddie Bauer, heavyweight parka. It was down-filled. It had a hood and zippers and stays and drawstring ties around the face, wrists, waist, and mid-thigh hem. It was so big, thick, and heavy that, when I got in it all buttoned up, I had the look and mobility of a fire hydrant.
One day in early November, it was -5℉. I knew that because I had a thermometer calibrated to -40° sitting outside on the window sill. After scraping the ice off the inside of the windowpane, I saw that it read -5°. I figured that would be a day to wear my Eddie Bauer parka.
Crossing the courthouse parking lot, all sewn up in my down-filled, fire-hydrant parka, I met a litigator on his way to court. He looked at me, stopped short in his tracks, and smiled the broadest smile one could ever hope to see. The smile broke out into a wider grin; the grin morphed into a short, one-burst laugh before he stifled it. He said, “That’s cool, but … what are you going to do when it gets really cold?”
I thought he was joking. But, no, he was quite serious. In the third week of December, the mercury crawled into the thermometer’s bulb. It did not poke it’s nose out again until around the second week of February. For seven weeks, the air temperature was below 40 below. At its coldest, it was -60. Icicles formed on my mustache from the moisture in my breath as I exhaled. I carried full, arctic-survival gear in my car everywhere I went. If the car broke down even a half-mile (six blocks) from my apartment or the grocery store, I would die trying to walk the distance without the gear.
It was also pitch black 24/7. I came to understand why bears hibernate. In such cold and dark, all one wants to do is crawl under the electric blanket, assume the fetal position, turn the dial to nine, and not come out till May.
I had time on my hands despite all the work at court. I got a second job as the night and weekend manager of the racquetball club. I wanted to get lessons from the club pro, but couldn’t afford the membership or his fee. My judge knew the club owner. I prevailed upon him to prevail upon the owner to hire me. As an employee, I got free lessons. Playing every day, I progressed to the level of an A-minus professional player by the end of the year.
I volunteered three evenings a week for the crisis-intervention and suicide-prevention hotline. I narrowly escaped being murdered by the ex-husband of another volunteer he fatally shot before killing himself. Also, I saved an alcoholic’s life. He called the hotline from a phone in a bar. He was drunk. He told me that he was going to suicide by walking outside without protective clothing.
Although we weren’t supposed to get personally involved beyond the conversation, I could not let that happen. I called the police and told them the situation, but I did not know what bar it was. The officer asked what music was playing. When I told him, he said he knew where the man was. There was but one bar that played that music. The man had collapsed onto a snowbank in -30° cold. The policeman rescued him thanks to my disregarding the policy.
Practice in Philadelphia and the First Inkling I Was Getting Old
The second-in-command of a Philadelphia law firm, just then forming, headhunted me in June 1979, the end of my clerkship year. By the last week in September, I was a fledgling, genuine Philadelphia lawyer.
I was fortunate. Serendipity had taken me to the best place that I could have been for professional development. The firm was small, but thanks to the owner’s ability and reputation, garnered some of the biggest, most complex, and most important cases in Philadelphia. The litigation was advanced, visible, high-pressure, and stressful. I worked 3,000 to 3,500 billable hours (1.5 to 1.875 man years) a year. By my fifth year out of law school, I consistently bested lawyers seven or eight years out. The owner of a firm that once opposed us gave me the nickname “Trouble.” I kept getting his junior associate in hot water with the court.
For eight years, I never had the same type of case twice. Everything was new and adventuresome. One case had languished for three years in four lawyers’ hands. They were unable to find merit in it. Within a month, I developed three theories of liability and punitive damages against three defendants, Pepsi, Ford, and a truck body alteration company in Kansas City. It was the first million-dollar win I engineered. In another case, we sued the NFL in antitrust. We lost. In a third, I sued The Philadelphia Inquirer for tortious breach of contract, a notoriously difficult theory to win under. I won.
I operated at all ahead flank, 110% on the reactor, all the time. I thrived on, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was in Philadelphia that I had the first inkling I was getting old.
I regularly played racquetball at my club. In racquetball, one plays to 21; one has to win by at least 2 points. I was better than most.
One evening, I noticed a new fellow watching me through the glass back wall. As I left the court, he asked for a game. I said, “sure.” In our only game that evening, he beat me by 3. I wasn’t quite devastated, but it riled my competitive spirit.
We played for several weeks. I never beat him. Sometimes I came within 2 points. Mostly, it was 4 or 5. I went to the club pro.
“Doug, what’s wrong with my game,” I said.
“What do you mean,” he asked.
“My game is off,” I replied, “I need to know what I’m doing wrong. I can’t beat Jason.”
He gave me a curious look, the meaning of which soon became evident.
“How old are you,” he asked.
“Thirty-six,” I snapped as if that was germane to anything.
Doug snorted.
“Well, he’s 18. You’re never going to beat him.”
Ouch!
Wheat Fields, Cattle Ranches, Dairy Farms, and Litigation Galore
After eight years in Philadelphia, I accepted a position as the chief litigator in a boutique law firm headquartered in Fayetteville, Arkansas. We exclusively represented farmers being foreclosed upon by private and governmental lenders.
The practice was nearly as intensive as Philadelphia had been. At one point, I had litigations in 26 states, literally from Georgia to California, from Texas to North Dakota. The firm had its own plane. We flew to mega-cities and toy towns all across the country. I was gone from home for about two of every three months, always David against Goliath-type lenders and unsympathetic judges.
Run Over by a Train and Left Crumpled and Bleeding in Crisis
After five years of that, a monstrous and massively dark depression felled me. Onset was sudden. Wham! I felt as if I had been struck by a mile-long train with such momentum behind it that I laid like Humpty Dumpty irreparably in pieces and askew on the tracks.
All in all, I spent 13 years in both a physically debilitating and a life-threatening depression, in a world of mental and emotional devastation. The impulse to suicide was so great so many times. Once, I came as close to it as one can without pulling the trigger. Gun loaded, safety off, and in my hand. What stopped me were the thoughts of my sister’s lonely crying and of the mess I’d leave behind for people to clean up. Strange reasons to stay alive under those oppressive conditions, I thought. My psychiatrist told me, though, that often such reasons are why seriously suicidal people don’t go through with it.
Blessed Again by Fortune, or Perhaps Just Inattention
Though that experience was less than pleasant, I was fortunate in two respects.
First: I was 34 in 1982, hyper-sexed and versatile, often having been the receptive partner. That year, HIV appeared in Philadelphia. There was no treatment. HIV positive cases ineluctably advanced to AIDS and death, mostly within one to two years. I was certain that I was HIV positive and would be dead by my thirty-fifth birthday.
I bought the best medical insurance coverage I could, together with the best disability income insurance. I put COLA (cost of living adjustment) and “own-occupation” riders on the disability policy. (“Own occupation” meant that if I could not practice law because of a disability, I would be considered fully disabled even though I could work in other fields.) I bought a $500,000 life policy so that I would have something to leave my mother. I bought these before the insurance companies got wise and stopped insuring single men between 20 and 45.
I continued to work with no further thought given to my impending death. That was my nature.
Second: I’m what is called a long-term progressor. I stayed alive for 15 years after I should have died until the successful “three-drug cocktail” came along in 1997. By that time, though, my T-cells were less than 200/ml, which was diagnostic for AIDS. If the cocktail had been delayed one more year, I would be dead today.
Retirement, Wealth, and Dinosaurs
I kept the insurance policies less from planning than from inertia. Who knew that, a decade later, depression would leave me in need of the disability policy or that the riders would prove my salvation during a 13-year illness and the 16 years I’ve lived since? Because of them, I have a very comfortable retirement.
I’ve also been favored in that I have always had the opportunity to work with my mind. I have always loved doing what I was doing until I didn’t. Then, I found something better that I loved doing more.
Serendipity brought me all my many opportunities and salvation from the ravages of illnesses, both mental and physical. It brought me many men who came to love me. I broke all their hearts. It brought me five men whom I came to love so much. With one exception, they serially broke my heart. The exception died of AIDS 25 years ago, after a life of nine years together.
Sounds sad, doesn’t it? But, from my perspective looking at the whole canvas, it’s a damned fine watercolor. | https://medium.com/prismnpen/a-little-tour-across-one-gay-mans-life-6018a26e997f | ['Alex'] | 2020-11-07 22:15:43.078000+00:00 | ['Lawyers', 'LGBTQ', 'Gay', 'Autobiography', 'Creative Non Fiction'] |
The Most Personal Is the Most Creative | A Year of Essays: December 29, 2021
Before I made the conscious choice to become a theatre artist in my mid-fifties, I had seen close to a thousand productions ranging from school plays to Broadway/West End. I saw every kind of theatre one can imagine — classical, modern, absurd, divisive, stellar, and downright awful. I’ve walked out on three productions: The Lion King (yes, I did), We Will Rock You (the musical about Freddie Mercury), and an all-male nude production of The Importance of Being Earnest (truly awful, even if I had acquaintances involved in the production).
I resisted musicals for a long time, preferring the storytelling of straight plays. In 1996, I saw Talking Heads in London, a double bill of Alan Bennett monologues. The first monologue was Soldiering On, of a widow tidying loose ends after her husband’s death. The second was Bed Among the Lentils, of a disillusioned and detached alcoholic. The actors: Margaret Tyzack and Maggie Smith. That work, and Yazmina Reza’s West End premier of “Art” which I saw a few days later, sparked the notion I might become, one day, a theatre artist. It would be 15 more years until I took that spark seriously.
I have always been a storyteller. Structurally, I have found monologuist and duologist works tell strong stories, like those works mentioned above, and they have served as the structure for my recent plays, Desperation for Glue and Mothers and Terrorists, two highly personal works.
Desperation for Glue is an elegy for my “brother from another mother.” We met when he was a poet in an MFA program, and we spent Fridays working in a writing center. He stopped writing in the late ’90s. After his death, I retrieved a cache of his poems, rereading each, inserting them into my own (or, really, our own) story. He had a daughter. She wants to be a writer like her father. Initially, writing this play was to work through my own grief. Then, it became something else: for his daughter so she’ll have access to his creations and to some of his life, and for the world so his work could live on in some way.
Mothers and Terrorists is the outcome of working with 105 emails I received or sent on September 11, 2001, and for a two-week period thereafter. In the months prior to 9/11, I put my mother in a nursing facility and tended to dismantling a life to which she would never return. Around noon on 9/11, the only thing I remember thinking was that my mother was in the facility’s common room in front of a television. In the first draft, Mom appear half-way through, after a long exposition of the attacks. From that point on, it was all about my mother. The play became an exploration of juxtaposed emotions — personal, national, existential.
When Bong Joon-ho accepted the Oscar for directing Parasite, he said he was inspired by something Martin Scorsese said: “The most personal is the most creative.” I’m happy I’ve learned that lesson. | https://medium.com/@davidrussellbeach/the-most-personal-is-the-most-creative-e83bbd4995fa | ['David Russell Beach'] | 2021-12-29 14:51:49.387000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Personal Growth', 'Playwriting', 'Theatre'] |
Designer sneakers you will love | write in the comments which design do you like
All this can be found here https://www.zazzle.com/store/vagrantstore | https://medium.com/@btcxlab/designer-sneakers-you-will-love-f993ef79cee3 | ['Black Square Design'] | 2020-11-27 20:07:20.167000+00:00 | ['Designer', 'Design Patterns', 'Design', 'Design Process', 'Design Thinking'] |
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency: Where Are All The Women? | “As with most things tech related,” Phu Styles, founder of the Women in Blockchain Foundation said, “men are the target demographic for crypto, thus due to a lack of exposure, there are fewer women invested/involved in cryptocurrency.”
As of May 2018, coin.dance estimated that only 5.27% of women are actively engaged in the Bitcoin community as opposed to 94.73% of men. But why? It all boils down to traditional societal stereotypes. We live in a male-dominated culture, and in the crypto world this group is referred to as ‘blockchain bros’.
Various studies have been done comparing how men and women make decisions under stress. It was concluded that men are not only capable of taking more significant risks, but also tend to do so at a greater pace under such pressure. Such decision making is only exacerbated in the world of banking and finance. The same can be said for those involved in the blockchain and cryptocurrency community.
So is it possible that the volatile nature of crypto along with its varying levels of risk and adversity account for the gender disparity? Are men ‘biologically assigned’ to take on the unpredictable nature of such industries as blockchain and crypto?
“When facing a risky decision, leaders must weigh a lot of factors. Two of the biggest are, first, the likelihood that the risk in question will help hit strategic objectives and, second, the effect the risk will have on people involved” Risk Taking Leadership Consultant, Doug Sundheim said. “In my consulting practice I’ve noticed a tendency for men to put a stronger emphasis on the former and women on the latter.”
Men make decisions and take risks thinking more about how much money can be made and how fast, while women tend to first think about who their decision will affect.
The third significant barrier for women in crypto is the unspoken rule that women in crypto do not talk about being women in crypto. Why? Once again, gender stereotypes. Women have a suppressed fear of succeeding in the realm of blockchain thinking men will not support their thinking or business decisions, no matter how good.
“What you’re observing is really a reflection of the much larger complications of gender and work and power in American society,” said Joy Rankin, a historian of gender and technology and an assistant professor at Michigan State University. “This is a microcosm of all of the challenges of a developing, burgeoning sector of the economy that has a lot of promise but is therefore also fraught with high stakes.”
According to the Forbes database, 19 of the wealthiest individuals involved in crypto are men, but zero women. Mainstream society success and opportunity is still mostly a product of a male-dominated world.
To break through, women must strike a delicate balance between representation while also respecting their roll in what is still a male-dominant world.
By nature, crypto is anonymous, so anyone can contribute to the technology, mine various currencies as well as create a digital wallet without any sort of identification. This anonymity allows women the perfect platform to engage in blockchain and crypto. But, they must do so tenuously. While women can and will do great things, society must first warm up to this new norm.
Here are more interesting thoughts from Crypto PR Lab Co-Founders, Masha Prusakova and Alexandra Karpova…
· What can companies do to attract more women to invest in crypto?
Alexandra: Companies can research specific areas that women are gifted in (communication, marketing, community building, etc.), and then seek out more women to help in those areas. Crypto is also very confusing to the average public. Women may have the potential to use their gift of connecting with listeners, to explain crypto better.
Masha: To foster diversity, companies need to get more women interested in crypto, understand it and only then invest. This could mean organizing regular crypto discussions for women, setting up weekly “women in crypto” meetups, or even building internal workshops to teach one another about the newest trends in crypto.
Then, education around blockchain and cryptocurrencies needs to be more readily available. Communities like Girls Who Code and CodingFTW (which offers scholarships for EOS hackathons) can get involved in the crypto space. It will bring more awareness into this space — ultimately making it an industry that doesn’t just have more females but is also female-friendly.
Finally, the successes of the leading women in crypto should be publicly recognized. We should raise awareness about their achievements, interview them and write about them in the media, and invite them as speakers and mentors for emerging startups. Such exposure to female role models will motivate more women to explore blockchain technology and invest in crypto.
· Why do you think women are not investing?
Masha: Possibly out of lack of natural interest. Possibly out of intimidation, thinking that it’s not their “thing” to invest in general, possibly making mental correlations with traditional finance and its larger barrier to entry.
Besides that, cryptocurrency operates at the intersection of computer science and finance — two industries that women have historically been excluded from. The worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency are predominantly driven by the development community, a demographic where most professionals are male. This is partly due to the fact that men tend to pursue finance in higher education at a markedly higher rate than females. In fact, a recent study by Glassdoor showed that men accounted for more than 61% of new degrees obtained in finance.
However, the opportunity for female founders to drive massive innovation in the space is bigger than ever — and by pursuing leadership roles, females can ensure they get equal recognition with their male counterparts as well. A number of recent high-profile appointments in the crypto space (such as a16z’s appointment of Katie Haun as the head of its crypto investment fund) have many believing that true change isn’t just possible — but inevitable.
· What is your reaction to the statement that the world of cryptocurrency is a boys club?
Alexandra: It depends on who you talk to. There are likely people who think this. But there are also many men in the crypto community who would like to see more women in crypto. This has been seen many times on Twitter.
Masha: It started as a boys club but not anymore. Male and white — this was the start of the cryptocurrency world. Since the early days of cryptocurrencies, miners and blockchain developers are men. Today’s token projects reflect gender imbalance in the content and nature of the applications and features being built. So it is true that there are more men in the industry because of the historical reasons. Although, women feel very welcome to be part of this club and expand it to become a girls club too.
Thank you Masha and Alexandra and learn more about how these trends are changing in Part 2. | https://medium.com/instant-sponsor/blockchain-cryptocurrency-where-are-all-the-women-1a0506fe5b41 | ['Kathryn Kuchefski'] | 2019-02-13 14:10:47.723000+00:00 | ['Gender Stereotypes', 'Women In Tech', 'Anonymity', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain'] |
Learning (and teaching) how to be a good programmer | Whatever the context (be it at Blue Harvest, Hack Your Future where I used to give Sunday lessons, or at work, where I spend as much time as possible mentoring juniors), I noticed one thing: teaching and learning programming (or a programming language in particular) is a lengthy process but a relatively simple one. There’s only one rule, the same that applies to learning natural languages: practice.
Teaching and learning how to become a good programmer, however, is a much trickier task.
What I mean by “good programmer”
There are many definitions and criteria out there for what a good programmer is, but this quote from Martin Fowler sums it up pretty well for me:
“Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.”
Robert C. Martin has been honing the same idea throughout his books and talks about clean code: being a professional software engineer isn’t so much about managing complexity at the machine level (i.e. merely getting code to work) as it is about dealing with it at a human level (i.e. writing maintainable and predictable code that is easy to reason about).
A lot of theory has already been written about what this all means (if you didn’t get the hint, read Fowler and Uncle Bob’s stuff), but to master it, to put it into practice, merely following an enumerable set of guidelines and principles just won’t do. This is where teaching comes in.
What teaching code is about and why we need it
Knowing what you don’t know
It is preferable — and to some extent even necessary — to undertake the intellectual journey of learning to “write code that a computer can understand” alone.
As a mentor, I believe that my role in this area should be mostly that of a curator or a guardrail: I’ll orient my students or mentees to the resources (books, articles, tutorials, etc.) and concepts they need to get started or unstuck. I’ll help them not to waste time and to stay on track, providing them with an outline of what they don’t know. But it’s crucial that they do the heavy lifting, come to solutions on their own and enjoy those very important, very personal aha moments.
This has the added benefit of letting me focus on what’s key and what written and video materials are not so suited for: instilling the right mindset.
“You don’t become a software craftsman by learning a list of heuristics. Professionalism and craftsmanship come from values that drive disciplines.” — Robert C. Martin
Of course, the heuristics — the plethora of acronymic paradigms (OOP, DDD, TDD, BDD, AOP, etc.), design patterns, principles and language-specific best practices — pave the way. But the core of it all lies in more fundamental mental constructs that require a discursive approach to be fostered.
“Whatever is well conceived is clearly said”
More than anything, being a good programmer is about tackling conceptual problems methodically. Most of that happens outside the IDE: clean code is a byproduct of thinking clearly and writing it should feel effortless.
Passing on that mental discipline requires more questions than answers on the part of the teacher, in a Socratic kind of way. While the challenge of learning heuristics lies with digesting a large pool of information, acquiring a certain mindset can only come from challenging one’s perspective and approach to problems.
When I see a mentee struggling with an issue or coming up with hard-to-read code (which is quite often the same thing), I’ll start by pulling the thread of their reasoning, asking them to describe, step-by-step, what they’re trying to achieve. The goal is for them to lay out, either mentally or on paper, the constitutive parts of both the problem and the solution in the most straightforward way possible.
Getting to a clean representation of the task at hand is usually not too difficult if you focus on building a solution composed of very simple, very dumb components — which will ultimately result in very simple classes, functions, loops. Doing this through discussions makes that process even easier, as the constraints of verbal communication will tend to ensure a certain degree of simplification.
This is unfortunately too often overlooked, especially by junior developers who “just want to make it work” and “clean it up afterwards”. If I can convince you of only one thing though, please let it be this: refrain from writing code until you’ve built a clear and simple picture of its overall structure. Not only will you solve problems faster and faster as this habit grows, but other developers will understand your solutions with less and less effort.
These discussions with my mentees and students also help me to improve my coding skills and clarify my own outlook on programming. This famous quote from Richard Feynman comes to mind: “if you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it”. I don’t know whether teaching code made me a “good” programmer, but it certainly makes me a much better one. And I can only recommend trying to explain or simply discuss the stuff you learn and know to someone else as often as you can, even if you only just started programming.
In practice
What getting the right mindset means for any given person depends entirely on their particular background and experience. It goes without saying that a CS graduate fresh out of the university and a self-learner with a couple of years of professional experience will require very different approaches. Mentor and mentee must figure out the mentee’s needs together, iteratively, through short feedback loops and open discussions.
At Blue Harvest, we tried to achieve this flexibility by coming up with a set of guidelines rather than a strict plan for our coaching program. Something flexible enough to let us quickly explore new avenues and tailor the format of our coaching sessions to the engineers who would join them. And — maybe more importantly: something centered around actual practice and real-world engineering problems.
Learn and teach by doing
Once again, coaching should be about breaching the gap between the heuristics and their application. Abstract knowledge of the SOLID principles for instance is pretty much pointless without a holistic and instinctive understanding of how to apply them to concrete problems.
To tackle that, we built our coaching program around a real world project. Instead of coming up with our own, we chose the realworld.io example application. It has enough moving parts to offer a healthy variety of problems and raise some fundamental and generic questions, yet the requirements and features are very straightforward and can fade into the background.
The goal was really not to deliver a functioning app, but rather to have a pretext for practice, code reviews, pair programming and informal chats about translating abstract principles into lines of code in a very tangible way.
Save time with good educational materials
Whenever we could, we’d orient our coachees towards educational resources to get the heuristics out of the way and have time to focus on the rest during our sessions.
The group didn’t need an actual presentation of the syntax, as all of them had experience with another language and at least once tried their hand at JavaScript. But if you do need a formal language introduction, cheat-sheets and videos like those of Derek Banas’ Learn in One Video series should be enough to get started with your first program. Keep them at hand and start hacking. Proficiency will come later.
As far as libraries and frameworks go, we’d briefly introduce them by giving an overview of their philosophy and then refer to their documentation, without going into detailed expositions of their idiomatic usage. Learning new libraries, frameworks and APIs on-the-fly is an essential part of the job. So if lack of guidance in that area becomes a problem, it makes more sense to teach how to effectively parse docs in general than painstakingly walking students through this or that specific library.
Lessons and discussions
Typically, short talks and/or chats, sometimes with live coding, about general topics (e.g. micro-service architecture, databases, security, language-specific use cases, etc.) would either kick-start the day or wrap it up. Far from being purely theoretical, they were meant to shed light on the whys and hows of the code we were writing or about to write.
Some other areas — like functional programming, git best practices, unit-, integration- and functional testing, etc. — were also on the menu, but we decided to scrap them as the participants asked for other specific topics to be discussed and especially enjoyed the time spent coding (so we made sure they had plenty of that). | https://medium.com/blue-harvest-tech-blog/learning-and-teaching-how-to-be-a-good-programmer-a2b46dc6214c | ['Alexandre Borrego'] | 2019-05-13 16:12:48.416000+00:00 | ['Teaching And Learning', 'Programming'] |
Investing for Beginners 101 — Let’s Talk Funds | What are funds?
Funds offer an easy way to invest and conveniently diversifies your investment across a number of different assets. Funds can invest in various types of assets, such as shares, bonds or property (REITs), depending on the investment objective of the fund.
There are two main types of funds
Active funds: Active funds are managed frequently by the fund manager, who actively chooses the underlying investments held in the fund on the investors’ behalf, aiming to outperform the market and their peers. The fund manager will continually undertake research and analysis, and then update the investments in the fund when they feel it necessary. This means that over time, they will buy and sell different assets depending on market conditions. An active fund manager analyses stocks and tries to pick the best performers. Example is ARK Invest.
Index/passive funds: Index funds are more common as they aim to match the performance of a particular stock market index, often by investing in a plethora of companies in the index being tracked. Good examples of index funds are the FTSE 100 (a list of the 100 biggest companies in the UK. In this case, the index being tracked is the largest companies in the UK). A popular example of index funds is the S&P 500 (a stock market index that measures the stock performance of 500 large companies listed in the United States). There are 2 types of index funds: mutual index funds & exchange traded funds (ETFs).
There are many benefits of sticking to funds…
It is easy to invest in funds and you don’t need to do as much research as you would into individual stocks. A professional makes the investment decisions by creating the fund, taking away the pressure of choosing and managing your own investments. You have different funds that track certain niches and markets allowing you to get exposure to certain sectors without choosing and managing the stocks in those sectors. Low risk: Funds are a basket of individual companies and therefore if a few stocks decline in price — the overall performance of the fund doesn’t decline massively. Funds are typically diversified across different stocks, industries, sizes and countries that give you a breadth of exciting and mature companies to invest in. For example; one share of the S&P 500 index fund gives you ownership in 500 companies. There are funds that are a mixture of equities and bonds (e.g. Vanguard LifeStrategy Funds) allowing you to invest in fast growing companies & markets but diversified with bonds which hedge against economic downturns (e.g. Brexit, Covid-19 etc.) Typically less expensive to invest in as index funds tend to have low expense ratios, making them cheap to invest in.
…but it’s not without its few drawbacks
Compared to individual stock picking, funds historically offer lower returns. The S&P 500 ETF has an historic annualised average return of 10% since its inception. You would not benefit massively from stocks/assets that are doing extremely well in a fund, as funds are really diversified — and therefore, dilutes returns. Fund managers typically sell their own funds on their platforms (e.g. Invesco funds, Vanguard funds). However, you could use brokerage platforms that provide a broad range of ETFs. As funds are created by fund managers, you have no control over which stocks are added to the funds and you might end up investing in assets that you don’t agree with or goes against your ethics.
If you do not or cannot conduct the level of research and due dilligence needed for individual stocks and/or your appetite for volatility is low — you might be best sticking to funds.
Disclaimer: This is not invesment advice and if you would like investment advice, please seek a qualified financial adviser. | https://medium.com/fortune-for-future/investing-for-beginners-101-lets-talk-funds-c6a885672a77 | ['Ade Akindele'] | 2020-12-22 04:59:17.715000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'Money', 'Personal Finance', 'Money Management', 'Investors'] |
The authentic “glow” | We are raised in a society where beauty is subjected to “fairness”, how could we not forget the advertisements which persistently convinces people to buy their products which according to them will somehow lessen the amount of melanin in the body, quite impossible and impractical, biologically it isn't possible and sounds too cliché to believe. Eventually, the gigantic brands endorsed by our very favorite celebrities selling perfect skin for few bucks is definitely a catch for us, we see and the next moment we buy.
There are high standards set for face creams some of them moisturize, some of them revitalizes, but on top of them there are the ones that brighten skin tone in a miraculous way, visuals which trap our interests perfectly and somehow or other convinces us to buy them. I’ll here bring a brand in my writing, previously called “fair and lovely”. well, you see the exact wording “fair” isn’t fancy. stops your interest right there as we are running in a race to get a tone lighter.
This brand ain't a new launch, we have been listening about it since our childhood, and probably have seen some relatives or our own mom’s using it. So. the point is these brands have already established a parameter to achieve a standard of beauty, I mean you can definitely get smooth skin or lustrous skin but changing complexion inside out is a heck of a task. Perfect skin comes in bright tones as they claim, as from the name we get a hunch that beauty is packed in a scale of complexion (namely darker to brighter).
The only straight way to even change the slightest of people's minds about the definition of beauty is to somehow commute these brands' way of representing beauty as a whole. We have seen how the brand “fair and lovely” refashioned its brand name to “glow and lovely”, omitting that specific word to sell their product and not fair skin in general. Although the old fashioned way of channelizing the stereotype in viewer's minds about beauty and grace has not changed much, each advertisement contains a lot of stuff about fairness.
As glow is independent of color and much easier to process and achieve, we can definitely get glowing skin. Fairness, well can’t assure and even these brands don't do. This procedure of promoting a healthy supple skin independent of the melanin amount is rather a good way to showcase to the public as it would somehow ask people to feel good about their skin tone and act as a method to stop the bizarre race of getting fair.
let’s give a little more love to the skin color we have, and appreciate the thing that actually makes us radiant “ the skill” that everyone has, which has no parameter or scale to be measured. | https://medium.com/@masters-ofmercy27/the-authentic-glow-bdfc9278cd30 | [] | 2020-12-23 10:29:04.985000+00:00 | ['Newblog', 'Latest', 'Trending', 'Beauty', 'Love'] |
Top 5 Drip Campaign Examples in B2B | What is Drip Marketing?
Drip marketing is a technique of direct marketing, through which, you can get customers by lead nurturing. This method involves sending your marketing information to the customer on a continuous basis for an extended period.
The most efficient technique to execute drip campaigns is email marketing.
In drip campaigns or drip marketing, you don’t sell the products or services at the very first interaction with the customer. In fact, drip marketing is a time consuming, but a result-oriented process.
During the drip campaign, you track your customers’ behavior on your website. You also interact with them in bits by sending them content in which they are interested.
Over the years, it has been observed that B2B drip campaigns are efficient in building a great relationship with customers. Some of the critical features of drip campaigns are relevancy, personalization, focus on user behavior and automation.
These key features will make it easy for you to achieve your goals.
In the next stage of this blog, we’ll try to understand some of the top examples of b2b drip campaigns. We hope this will help you to understand the concept.
Here are 5 B2B Drip Campaign Examples From Which You Can Learn
Welcome and Onboarding E-mail
Asana is a mobile and web-based application which helps your team to organize and manage their task daily, and track it daily.
Asana uses welcome and onboarding emails to attract and introduce their workflow to the clients. By these emails, they invite them to start their new projects on the application.
They designed the email in such a way that their client can start their work by a single click on the email.
In the email itself, they provide a CTA (Call to action) button, and by clicking it, their clients are redirected to the front page of their application.
Asana’s welcome and onboarding emails also provide a little glimpse of their application features.
These include features like you can create your task today, assign your tasks to teammates, add due date to your tasks, and mark the completed tasks.
This practice helps them to make their clients aware of their application.
Engagement Emails
Litmus is an email marketing tool that offers you to create, test, and analyze your email. This way your email marketing campaigns can perform better in the market.
Now, it’s so obvious, if an email marketing service provider starts their own email campaign, it will be a bit fancy. Litmus designed an email for their email design conference.
In this email, they used the Easter egg technique to give away five free tickets to the conference.
These emails are designed for their tech-savvy email designer audience. Litmus provides us a classic example of B2B engagement emails.
These emails are also known as the self-promoter emails because once your email reaches your target audience, the recipient of email starts forwarding it to other people in the greed of getting more free tickets.
Event Drip Mails
CoinDesk is a news site for digital currencies and bitcoins. Every year CoinDesk conducts a consensus conference. But in 2017, they came up with a brilliant drip campaign event.
During the 2017 consensus event, CoinDesk analyzed that attendees love their event.
So they took full advantage of the attendee’s mood and announced their 2018 event dates. They designed their promotional email in such a way that everyone liked it because they were giving a massive discount on the 2018 conference tickets.
The outcome of this technique came out well as they started getting registration, right after the announcement.
Educational Drip Campaigns
SuperOffice provides CRM (customer relationship management) tools to marketing, sales, and customer service teams to build a world-class customer relationship.
SuperOffice is also well known for their educational drip campaigns. Every time they launched a new whitepaper for their product or services, they’d mention all-new features and send this information to their subscribers.
It has been observed that this is the fastest way to reach your audience and make them read and download the content.
Sending the education content directly to the subscriber’s inbox is a method that they adopted to promote their product and educate their customers.
These kinds of emails are also known for their convenience because you get all the information about the product on one platform.
These emails also helped their new subscribers to make a decision while buying the product, keeping SuperOffice at the top of their minds.
Up-Sell Product Campaigns
Buffer is a web and mobile-based application designed to manage your social media accounts. With this you can schedule your posts and analyze their results.
Buffer chose an up-sell drip campaign to increase its sales. Upsell is a technique where a seller encourages the buyer to buy the upgraded version of its products.
In early 2019, Buffer came with this idea to promote its annual plan for those customers who are pursuing their monthly plans.
So they decided to change their monthly reminder email body. In the new email, they are giving an offer of 15% discount on the annual plan, which could save them up to $36.
The idea of upselling goes well for Buffer, as many of their monthly subscribes switch to their annual pack. | https://medium.com/@davewhite9494/top-5-drip-campaign-examples-in-b2b-c48cc64c168a | ['Dave White'] | 2021-12-27 06:17:56.858000+00:00 | ['It', 'B2B', 'Cloud', 'Marketing'] |
This is online data entry jobs without investment daily payment. | This is online data entry jobs without investment daily payment.
Today I am telling the authentic site to make money online with your mobile phone. This site is very popular all over the world and currently many people and businesses are members of this site making a lot of money.
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Thanks for writing this! | Thanks for writing this!
I too, used to struggle with finding the right words to describe emotions. I first realized this when I was asked to use an emotion word to describe how I felt and I was unable to. It’s definitely a learning process. | https://medium.com/@nickmarmolejo/thanks-for-writing-this-285ca222596e | ['Rice'] | 2020-12-23 20:04:00.024000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Life Lessons', 'Advice', 'Parenting', 'Fatherhood'] |
Prototyping Design Ideas with Chatbots | At Under Amour®, we’re committed to our mission: Under Armour makes you better — not just through our gear but also through our fitness apps. As software designers, it’s our job to craft digital solutions that give our users what they need to be better.
How do we know what people need? Asking users directly doesn’t always get accurate answers. Human beings can often be poor judges of their own behavior. As anthropologist Margaret Mead put it: “What people say, what people do, and what people say they do are entirely different things.”
A more fruitful tactic for learning about customer needs is to make ideas tangible. When we build working prototypes, we can let our users interact with them. Rather than asking users what they would do, we can observe what they actually do. However, building high-fidelity prototypes can take a lot of time. As part of a recent research study, we came up with an idea to speed up the prototyping timeline: we used a chatbot to prototype our ideas. What a visual prototype might uncover after months of development, a chatbot can discover in weeks or even days. | https://medium.com/ua-makers/prototyping-design-ideas-with-chatbots-24856337760 | ['Under Armour Makers'] | 2018-06-26 22:03:33.616000+00:00 | ['Automation', 'Customer Research', 'Chatbots', 'Design Research', 'Design'] |
I Live With No Regrets-Here’s How | I Live With No Regrets—Here’s How
It’s very simple.
Photo by Caju Gomes on Unsplash
Regret used to be my biggest fear. When I become a senior citizen, I do not want to think about what-ifs. Instead, I want to think about how I lived a life worth living.
Therefore, I created a system to mentally process and document life so that I can make the best decisions possible. Today, I will break down that system into its components.
Distinguish truths from myths.
I distinctly remember my fourth-grade teacher telling the class, “If you don’t go to college, you will be working minimum wage jobs for the rest of your life.”
As a child who unquestionably listened to teachers, I internalized this belief and took it with me as I progressed through my academic journey.
Today, I can safely say that the teacher was wrong. In 2020, college is simply one path (out of many) that you can take. The internet has revolutionized education and created valuable opportunities.
Success is not guaranteed even if you do go to college. Students now need to work harder than ever given the current environment of nearly $1.6 trillion in U.S. student loan debt and degree inflation.
As a human being, you need to recognize truths from myths.
Is something true because everyone says it’s true?
Are there exceptions?
Think for yourself and question what society tells you.
Develop a healthy level of skepticism.
Write your truths down. They will serve as your life guidebook when the sun rises every day.
Understand that you would’ve made the same decisions if you had the same knowledge.
“I wish I could go back in time and do things differently.”
I used to be so guilty of this kind of thinking, especially on restless nights where I would randomly start thinking about life.
Then, I realized that it’s not that simple. I now know things that I didn’t know before. I was at a different stage of my life back then.
If I time traveled into a younger version of myself (both physically and mentally), I would probably still make the same decisions given the past circumstances.
We cannot account for every future uncertainty.
Sometimes, we don’t even know what we don’t know.
We do not consider things that we are not aware of.
Make decisions with as much research and information as possible.
The defining moments in life involve making big decisions, two of which are choosing what college to go to and what career to pursue.
To make decisions that I will not regret, I consider the options in front of me and thoughtfully consider their pros and cons.
Let’s take picking a career for example.
Today, it’s easy to research since Google has made knowledge extremely accessible.
To consider whether I should become a software engineer,
I would Google search these three questions:
· Pros and cons of being a software engineer
· Day in the life of a software engineer
· What I wish I knew before becoming a software engineer
For each query, I would read each search result on the first two pages of Google. Doing so would give me a decent picture of what being a software engineer is like.
If possible, I would also try to talk to software engineers in real life. Watching YouTube videos created by software engineers would be a good alternative.
With all this information, I would finally make my decision of whether I should become a software engineer myself.
You can approach every life situation in this manner.
The risk of regret is mitigated when you navigate life thoughtfully and analytically.
Systematically finding the answers to good questions becomes a powerful tool when making important decisions.
Self-reflect every day.
I journal every day right before bedtime.
Initially, I used old fashioned marble notebooks and ballpoint pens. Then, I realized that it was much more efficient to just keep an updated file on my computer. It’s just a password-protected word document. Today, I prefer maintaining a digital journal over a physical journal because, with digital, you can easily embed images and videos along with your thoughts. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the journal getting lost or destroyed since you can create backup files and upload everything onto the cloud.
I journal because I enjoy the self-discovery process that comes with writing down my thoughts.
The process almost feels like I’m talking to a close friend. It’s therapeutic and helps me cool down after a long day. This was especially important in college when random thoughts from class would race through my mind. Journaling helps me de-stress and transition to that relaxing state needed for deep, undisturbed sleep.
Learn from the past. Live the present. Look forward to the future.
By journaling, I accomplish all three of these things simultaneously. Daily habits make a huge difference in the long-run since life is the summation of all days lived.
During the day, I live presently.
At night, I reflect on the day that is almost over.
I end every journal entry by making a list entitled “Things to Look Forward to.”
If I don’t have any plans for the weekend, I create some by messaging my friends.
Question the lifestyle that you want. Is that life a distorted version of reality?
My vision of professional success in college was this:
I would be answering phone calls in a suit and tie while looking out the window of a shiny skyscraper.
When I finally lived that lifestyle, I hated every minute of it.
Now, I would much rather live in the countryside somewhere and go to sleep as I listen to the trees rustling in the wind.
However, because I had that work experience, I was able to see if it was right for me.
Having many experiences is useful. This is why students pursue internships. Not only do internships look nice on resumes, but they also help confirm or question career choices.
Another way to see if something is right for you is by living vicariously through someone else. Read memoirs, biographies, and interviews. Watch YouTube videos that depict reality and not a glamorized version of reality.
Be action-oriented.
Life is hard. We all have our unique challenges and issues. Regardless of the situation, it’s so easy to become pessimistic and drown ourselves in self-pity. Let yourself be emotional for a little while because it’s healthy. The ability to feel is a huge part of being human. At the same time, take steps to overcome the problem of the day. You will look back in satisfaction knowing that you did everything that you could.
Final Thoughts
Be conscious of how you spend your days because life operates on autopilot if you don’t. Time seems to slow down if we ask good questions and reflect. We can then, if needed, steer ourselves in the right direction. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/i-live-with-no-regrets-heres-how-d2405f4d246 | ['Anton Lex'] | 2020-10-07 22:32:36.698000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Lifestyle', 'Mindfulness', 'Mental Health', 'Self Improvement'] |
Scientific Reasons Why You Should Present Your Data Visually | We’ve all sat through that horrible presentation that’s nothing but bullets in 10 point font.
It’s not just boring — it’s mind-numbing. The information presented is usually hard to understand and nearly impossible to remember.
And it’s not just presentations that suffer this malady. When you get that stack of financial reports or that huge Excel file that’s nothing but numbers, most us of tend to tune out. It feels like trying to see the future in tea leaves when you try and draw any conclusions from that sea of numbers.
Poorly presented information at best just bores your audience. But at worst, it will ensure that your business doesn’t get funded or you lose that next big deal.
I’m prepared to declare poor information presentation an epidemic. There are just too many bad presentations and financial reports out there.
Fortunately, there’s a cure.
The fancy term for it is “data visualization” but what that really means is simply turning your data and presentations into charts, graphs, and images instead of spreadsheets and bulleted lists.
I’ll give you a few tips on how to visualize your data, but first let’s talk about the scientific reasons why you should use visuals instead of text.
Your brain understands visual information better
Humans have been communicating with each other for approximately 30,000 years, but we’ve only been using the written word for about 3,700 years. That’s barely 10 percent of the total time that we’ve been communicating with each other.
Because of this long, long history of communicating without text, our brains are simply hard-wired to process visual information better and faster than we process text.
In fact, 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual. And, perhaps because of this incredible amount of information that we’re consuming, we process visual information 60,000-times faster than text. A quick side note: although the number 60,000 has been widely quoted across various reputable sites online, we have not been able to find the original source.
The is 60,000 number is astonishing. That means that at a glance, we consume more information than when we sit down to read an entire book.
Part of what helps us process visual information so well is that we can process multiple images simultaneously. With text, we just process one word at a time. When you think about it, that’s a pretty slow and inefficient process.
Finally, according to Dr. Lynell Burmark, Ph.D. Associate at the Thornburg Center for Professional Development and writer of several books and papers on visual literacy:
“Words are processed by our short-term memory where we can only retain about seven bits of information (plus or minus two). This is why, by the way, that we have seven-digit phone numbers. Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched.”
Go ahead and try to remember a 10-digit string of numbers. I dare you. It’s harder than you think.
Because our brains have to work so hard to process text, it’s not surprising that on average, people only read about 28 percent of the words on a web page. I guess I should count myself as lucky if you’ve actually read this sentence I wrote!
Visual information is simply more effective
Not only does our brain process visual information so much more effectively than text, visuals are simply more persuasive.
Another 3M-sponsored study found that presenters who use visual aids are 43 percent more effective in getting people to do what they want.
Imagine that you’re trying to get funding for your business and that your presentation could be that much more effective if it presents data visually instead of with text. I’ll bet that any entrepreneur would take advantage of that fact if they knew the statistics were that much in their favor.
And not only is visual information easier to understand, but visuals make complex data more accessible, understandable, and usable. When you use charts and graphs to display your data instead of grids of numbers, you’ll uncover patterns and relationships that you can’t see in standard reports.
You’ll be trusted more
Beyond being easier to understand, visual presentations and good design will increase your credibility.
When the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab asked 2,440 participants how they evaluated the credibility of web sites they were shown, almost half (46.1 percent) said that the web site’s design look was the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the presented material [PDF].
This dwarfed all other criteria that people used to judge the credibility and quality of a business. In fact, people make their first judgement of the quality of your content in only about 50 milliseconds — that’s only .05 seconds!
How you can improve your presentations and your business with visuals:
1. Replace text with evocative images in presentations
If it’s not obvious enough already, you should use fewer words and more visuals because visual presentations have such amazing power.
“It’s actually really hard to execute and takes a lot of restraint,” IDEO’s Nicole Kahn says. “But there’s very important reasoning behind it: When you have visuals on the screen and not a lot of words, you make people dependent on you as the presenter to know what’s going on. You have the authority in the room. The slides do not.”
“When you put up a sea of text, you become completely redundant,” Kahn continues. “The audience is trying to read the slide at the same time I’m just repeating what’s written on it — and they can probably do it better and faster than I can. I have no advantage.”
Start thinking about your presentations as a classic slide show that you’re narrating. Use pictures to represent what you’re talking about and then narrate the show.
But, what about handouts and takeaways? Try using the “speaker’s notes” function in Powerpoint and Keynote. You can put your bullets and other text content into this area and then send files or print presentations with speaker’s notes enabled. This way, you control the presentation while you’re giving it, but you can still have a good takeaway to give your audience if you need to.
2. Use a business dashboard for financial reporting
Instead of sharing the standard P&L, Cash Flow, and Balance Sheet with your board of directors, try using a business dashboard. I use our product, LivePlan, as a dashboard to review how the business is doing and to review month-end reports with the board and management team. It’s almost entirely visual charts and graphs (with the standard data grids if you need them) and it does a great job of helping us get real meaning from the numbers.
Charts and trend reports help us easily compare our plan to our actual results and easily spot check how we’re doing compared to the same time last year. At a glance, I can see how things are doing in the business, what the trends are, and how we compare. And that’s all at a fraction of the time it would take to get the same meaning from a bunch of spreadsheets.
Visuals make it easier to quickly understand your numerical data.
3. Use visual marketing
When we’re crafting new ad campaigns, there’s always so much I want to say about our product. I want to talk about all the great features we have, all the benefits companies will have from working with us, and how we’re a great company to work with.
But, nobody’s going to read all of that. A page full of text isn’t going to grab a prospect’s attention. Instead we try and find evocative images that communicate our message. Plenty of times, we just show our product because that’s what people want to see. In these cases, a picture is really worth a thousand words.
4. Try Pinterest if it’s right for your business
At LivePlan and over at our Bplans site, we’ve been trying to experiment a bit more with Pinterest. While we’ve been on Facebook and Twitter for a while, it’s been fascinating to see how much engagement and even traffic we’ve been getting from Pinterest.
Given the visual nature of Pinterest, it’s an interesting insight into how important visual information is compared to the more textual format of networks like Twitter.
And, the numbers back this up. Pinterest generates more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn combined.
Pinterest also drives sales — of people with Pinterest accounts, 21 percent have purchased an item after seeing it on Pinterest.
At the end of the day, the message for entrepreneurs is a simple one: Focus on design and visuals.
Whether you’re presenting to your board, doing a sales pitch, or building a marketing campaign, your image choices are critical. Not that text doesn’t matter, but paying special attention to your visuals will have a big impact on your business.
This post was originally published on the LivePlan Blog. | https://medium.com/lighting-out/scientific-reasons-why-you-should-present-your-data-visually-7f57dcf6110f | ['Noah Parsons'] | 2016-02-27 19:46:01.414000+00:00 | ['Data Visualization', 'Design', 'Presentations'] |
How to become financially successful during the pandemic | Pandemic 101 taught by a survivor
Photo by Greg Bakker on Unsplash
Due to circumstances out of most people’s control, life, as we know it, has been seeming like a nightmare. The ever-growing challenges of day to day life has forced some to adapt while a majority seem overwhelmed. At some point, we ask one another will life ever return to the status quo. Hectic circumstances indeed were facing to keep up with not just the ever-growing changes of the 20th century but a fight to adapt to an ever-changing economy. As political instability and financial aid seemingly doesn’t look to be enough. What should we do next?
The routine
Any athlete would tell you life isn’t a sprint. It’s actually a marathon because the short term progress allows for long term success. Creating these races daily and continuing to succeed may seem unnatural, but muscle memory is the gift that keeps on giving. As the wind is on your back, each stride allows you to seemingly slice through adversity effortlessly. All of us don’t have the luxury of being an athlete nor the physical attributes, but to our surprise, this only makes up 20%. The other 80% is mental fortitude or knowledge. This means finding what routine works best for you and repeating it over & over until it becomes second nature.
Discipline
This is what separates the kids from the adults. Yes, rather than assuming gender normalities such as boys to men or girls to a woman. We have to understand how the dynamics of children to the parents closely affect success. Children tend to have a natural aloofness that causes them to only pay attention to a task they deem as necessary. This may seem like human nature, but it’s not. As a parent, some may characterize you as a role model, even a hero. Meaning you fulfill your responsibilities, big nor small. A role that may seem marginal but takes upmost discipline to do successfully. This dynamic is a pivotal part of success. Parents aren’t allowed to quit their job. Having a short-term memory because all days aren’t good days. Some situations can cause stress and grief, but having the composure to diligently continue working is the best cure.
Preparation
“Knowledge is power said, somebody” Now, that was embarrassing. Imagine if I managed to deliver a quote without taking proper preparation. I would be ill-informed or even lack the ability to succeed because I failed to do the research. Thirsting for the knowledge to continue to get better no matter the situation. An overqualified client is always better than an underprepared one. Identifying the tools at your disposal to enhance your expertise. Always looking to get better rather than settling or becoming comfortable.
Positivity
Laughter is the best medicine. Quick, what’s your favorite joke? I would ask why, because of the punchline or how you feel afterward? A scientist would say this chemical reaction was caused by endorphins, but I think the scope is broader. The importance of looking on the bright side changes any situation. Nobody has it totally figured out, but leaving room for the better and have the attitude to work towards it can make the difference. | https://medium.com/@72wks/how-to-become-financially-successful-during-the-pandemic-e3c0bd2161d | [] | 2020-12-20 01:25:43.727000+00:00 | ['Innovation', 'Technology', 'Health', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Headlines'] |
decision | The river below looked as drab and grey
as the still, forbidding sky above. The day
was a perfect underscore for my mood.
No. More than mood. The life
I’ve prepared to abandon for months.
The dreariness of living has laid a
road ahead far too bleak to consider.
I am through, as the cold wraps
itself around my thin coat, my
weak, frail body. I am numb to caring.
As the wind picks up, I feel icy frost catch in
my hair on my bare head. My face, too,
is by now bitten by frost. It must be painful.
I feel nothing. Just weary from standing,
looking down, bracing myself against the wind. | https://joan-evans-nyc.medium.com/decision-aebe10b738e8 | ['Joan Evans'] | 2018-08-03 17:10:09.673000+00:00 | ['Depression', 'Poetry', 'Relationships', 'Self', 'Psychology'] |
George Harrison & Friends: The 1971 Concert for Bangladesh | There were two trigger events that led to the concert, the first a natural disaster and the second a monumental man-made disaster. I’ve just finished reading Paul Thomas Chamberlin’s The Cold War’s Killing Fields, subtitled Rethinking the Long Peace. I can’t recall when I’ve been so moved by a single book. While reading it I have mentioned to several friends that “this is the saddest book I’ve read in my life.” The underreported human suffering that has been perpetrated in the course of our lifetimes since World War II is nothing short of shocking when you lay it all out in one book. What Chamberlin does, probably unique, is to show how a single thread actually connects all these disparate atrocities, that thread being the cold war and corresponding fears of the major superpowers.
So much of what has happened these past 70 years was delivered through the media piecemeal so that Americans not only were left in the dark much of the time, the general impression has been that Americans have always been the good guys, the white horse heroes. The tragedy of Bangladesh was two-fold. The first was a destructive cyclone of historic proportions that devastated the country and left as many as 500,000 dead in its wake. Because East Pakistan was located 1000 miles from Pakistan there was a move for liberation which led to a military incursion by the Pakistan army that resulted in the deaths of a quarter million civilians and seven million refugees fleeing to India. This latter had been building for years and did not occur overnight, but the timing of its escalation couldn’t have been worse.
Bookcover photo by the author.
The Chamberlin book outlines how WW2 changed the face of the world’s power game. We tend to forget that before the World Wars European powers were colonialists whom for hundreds of years had their fingers in every corner of the known world. Suddenly this all changed. The aftermath of WW2 resulted in a variety of complicated conflicts as groups within various regions struggled for freedom and autonomy. Looking back, we’ve forgotten the relationship between the collapse of Colonialism and the various mini-wars in all corners of the world.
The subsequent power struggles occurred against a new backdrop, the Cold War. The big players in this new game interpreted events through their own lenses. Pakistan was an ally of the U.S. so when it began committing horrors against its own people, President Nixon and his advisors chose to support Pakistan with arms and did nothing to restrain the genocidal horror under the pretext that we need an ally like Pakistan in this part of the world. China was breaking with Moscow, and we wanted to be tightly embedded in the region.
After the cyclone the United States initially wanted to help alleviate suffering, but then National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger weighed in, indicating it would make Pakistan look bad in the world’s eyes if we did more than they did for their own people. After West Pakistan’s bungling relief efforts, a December election showed how divided East Pakistan sentiments were from West Pakistan. In their divine wisdom the West Pakistani leaders decided in March that instead of meeting needs they would invade and slaughter, using American made M-24 tank units. Within a few days there were radio reports of three hundred thousand killed.
Reports like this were easily dismissed as Bengali exaggerations, but when Nixon’s own foreign office reported how brutal the atrocities were Nixon and Kissinger applauded the success of the Pakistan army in crushing the “uprising.”
I don’t need to repeat all the details, only that U.S representatives in Pakistan wrote a scathing indictment of our leaders that begins with this: “Our government has failed to denounce the suppression of democracy.” The London Times reported “This is genocide, conducted with amazing casualness.” Millions of refugees fled to India. Cholera and smallpox began breaking out, taking even more lives.
You can be sure that all these horrors weighed heavily on Ravi Shankar, the Bengali musician who taught George Harrison how to play the sitar which is featured on “Within You, Without You,” the opening track on side two of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album. Ravi Shankar, who had remained a friend of Harrison since that time, had relations in East Pakistan and he (Shankar) was well aware of the trauma there.
The Concert for Bangladesh took place at the beginning of August 1971 featuring “a supergroup of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and the band Badfinger. In addition, Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan — both of whom had ancestral roots in Bangladesh — performed an opening set of Indian classical music. Decades later, Shankar would say of the overwhelming success of the event: ‘In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh. It was a fantastic occasion.’”*
The account here is much abbreviated from that which is in The Cold War Killing Fields. When I think back on that period in my life I can’t recall a single word about the atrocities that took place after the initial devastation of the cyclone. The war in Viet Nam was the focus of our media and the complexities surrounding the political struggles of these various nations made it easy to not really hear much. Americans were too distracted by other things to really try to figure out what was happening here or what happened in Indonesia where in 1965–66 500,000 to a million civilians were similarly slaughtered by their own government for reasons of their own while the U.S. simply stood by and watched.
All this to say that it was a beautiful thing what these performer did. But it makes me sad to reflect on how little I knew about the world we’ve lived in all the years. And this is but one chapter. | https://ennyman.medium.com/george-harrison-friends-the-1971-concert-for-bangladesh-ddde20570e4e | ['Ed Newman'] | 2018-10-14 07:26:53.863000+00:00 | ['Dylan', 'Bangladesh', 'Cold War', 'George Harrison', 'Music'] |
How the North Face proved that not all PR is good PR. | Brazilian ad agency creates a PR nightmare for the North Face
Photo by Chris Benson on Unsplash
If you have heard the names “North Face” or “Wikipedia” in the news recently then you may already know what happened. The Ad Agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made, with approval from the Brazilian sector of recreational apparel brand the North Face, gamed Wikipedia in order to get North Face sponsored images to the top of the Google images results. In the so-called “top of images” campaign, Leo Burnett brags that they had done “what no one has done before.” They also claimed that they paid nothing by collaborating with Wikipedia on the project. All these claims came in a video produced by the North Face.
Wikipedia Reacts
Soon after the video was released, Wikipedia released a statement not only denying any collaboration with the North Face, but also condemning the actions of Leo Burnett and the North Face. “They have risked your trust in our mission for a short-lived marketing stunt,” wrote Wikimedia (the parent group of Wikipedia) on their site.
Fans of Wikipedia also took up arms on social media, demanding that the North Face pay reparations to Wikipedia in the form of a donation. The North Face has since tweeted out an apology: “effective immediately, we have ended the campaign and moving forward, we’ll commit to ensuring that our teams and vendors are better trained on the site policies.”
But Did it Work?
There is a saying that “all PR is good PR.” The idea is that if you are in the news, people will hear about you. Some claim that any notoriety is good, but the North Face has given us some pretty solid evidence to the contrary.
Since the “wiki stunt”, the stock price for VF (the parent company for the North Face) has dropped nearly 10 dollars to 81.88. The lowest the company has been since January. It is yet to be seen how the increased media placement will affect long-term sales numbers. According to numbers from SpyFu.com (a website tracking service), organic traffic to the site has not been impacted by the campaign.
This leads me to believe that although they have been in the news a lot recently, due to the negative nature of the story, all they are doing is driving traffic to news organizations while hurting consumer trust in their own brand.
Perhaps only good PR is good PR. | https://medium.com/@nhsiebers/how-the-north-face-proved-that-not-all-pr-is-good-pr-5236596f347a | ['Nicholas Siebers'] | 2019-06-17 16:34:09.778000+00:00 | ['Public Relations', 'Wikipedia', 'The North Face', 'Marketing'] |
2o2o. | 2o2o.
Photo album.
One thing I shall hold dear in this unfortunate year 2020 is the experience of making my first documentary film all alone.
The following are some pictures during the process of filming.
Visakha Manyam. 2020.
Tagarapuvalasa, Andhra Pradesh, 2o2o.
Eastern Ghats, Paderu, Andhra Pradesh, 2020.
Turmeric farmer.
Cattle.
Coffee farm.
Harvest.
The End. | https://medium.com/@venusrikanth775/2o2o-658cff2050f3 | ['Mv Srikanth'] | 2020-12-17 11:45:11.871000+00:00 | ['Photojournalism', 'Filmmaking', 'Documentary', 'Documentary Photography', 'Andhra Pradesh'] |
A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small | A Person’s a Person No Matter How Small
(Art by Bethany Ratliff)
“I like when the teacher asks me what I think,” one kindergartner from the Early Learning Village in Jessamine County said.
“I like when we get to pick our learning stations,” another kindergartner from the Early Learning Village stated.
“Younger students must experience a myriad of voice opportunities and develop skills that support their emerging voices in order to be eager learners and prepared to engage in a meaningful partnership with students,” Kristin Fox, a vice principal in Ohio and member of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, said.
Younger students not only want and like having a voice in their school, they need it. Even though this is so important, it is not happening in most kindergartens around Kentucky. But why?
Some adults think that younger students simply don’t care about or don’t have opinions about school. Other teachers don’t believe that student opinions should impact what happens in the classroom or school. And some teachers do want to elevate student voices in their classroom, but they just don’t know how.
I have heard so many times that kindergartners don’t have opinions, or that they don’t care, or even that they just don’t know what is best for themselves. I do not believe this is true. When I was first introduced to the idea of student voice, I only heard of it in terms of middle schools and high schools, and I wondered why student voice couldn’t be just as present in elementary schools and kindergartens. So I contacted the Early Learning Village, a school in Jessamine County with only preschoolers and kindergartners, about my idea for a student voice interview project. They thought it was a great idea, so I did research about student voice and came up with a set of questions. Starting out, I thought that this project would only last about a year, but it ended up lasting three, and I am still going strong.
When a student has the chance to share their voice and opinion, they begin to develop ownership of their learning.
For the past three years, I have interviewed around 300 kindergartners at the Jessamine Early Learning Village. I would pull students out of their classroom individually to ask them seven different questions about what they thought about their school and teachers. Almost all 300 students had an answer to every question. The answers ranged from the obvious — wanting more recess or wanting to paint all the walls in the school pink — to the less intuitive — kids saying that they wish they had more time for learning centers, or they didn’t like breakfast because they weren’t able to go through the line like all their friends were since they had brought their own breakfast. At the end of each year, I would make a presentation of all the data I had collected and present it at a staff meeting at the Jessamine Early Learning Village. Then the teachers and I would work together to come up with solutions to solve the problems that the students had told me. All of these things may seem like simple changes, but to a kindergarten student, knowing that their opinions were taken into consideration could mean the world. My interviews clearly showed that younger students do have opinions about their school and want to share them.
When a student has the chance to share their voice and opinion, they begin to develop ownership of their learning. This helps the student become engaged in class because they want to learn more, which in turn helps create a strong foundation for their education, learning, student voice, and leadership skills. It is important to start encouraging student voice at a young age so that students can build on this foundation as they get older.
One of my favorite quotes is “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Despite kindergartners being four-foot-tall five-year-olds, they should still be able to have a voice in their education. No matter what age, a student should always be able to express their opinion. Kindergartners are the ones in the classroom, the ones who are coming to school everyday to learn: they might know a little something about what or even how they like to learn.
Since student voice in younger students is clearly very important, how can teachers promote student voice in their classroom? There are so many different ways. A teacher could simply ask students what they like and don’t like about coming to school. Some of the answers may be predictable, but others might help a teacher — and even if all the answers are predictable, the students are still able to experience the benefits of sharing their voices. Another option could be learning centers, where teachers set up different stations around the classroom and the student gets to pick which one they go to. For example, if a classroom is working on certain sight words, one station could be a student reading the sight words, another could be writing the sight words, another could be spelling them with magnets, and even another could be writing sentences with the sight words in them. This creates a choice for the students. Finally, teachers could include students in decisions about what topics they want to learn about. For example, if there was a unit about storytelling, the students could pick a topic like castles, the ocean, or sports. The teacher would then make an effort to pick stories or activities that go along with that topic. I have seen these examples work, and you can tell that the students are much more engaged when they have a voice in their learning.
Student voice is something that is critical for a student to experience. Starting young gives the students a foundation, and as they grow, they can build onto it.
Sophia Brannen is a sophomore at West Jessamine High School.
The opinions expressed on the Forum represent the individual students to whom they are attributed. They do not reflect the official position or opinion of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence or the Student Voice Team. Read about our policies. | https://studentvoiceforum.org/a-persons-a-person-no-matter-how-small-b1f6523de2c7 | ['The Student Voice Forum'] | 2020-12-26 05:02:17.102000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Schools', 'Children', 'Ideas', 'Teaching'] |
The Lovely Story of a Sandwich and a Bird | If you enjoyed this story, subscribe to my newsletter to get notified whenever I publish something new. | https://medium.com/the-haven/the-lovely-story-of-a-sandwich-and-a-bird-3bf1c4219315 | ['David B. Clear'] | 2020-12-08 00:11:47.795000+00:00 | ['Comics', 'Cartoon', 'Humor', 'Animals', 'Food'] |
How To Learn To Easy Drawing Tutorials With A Pencil Step By Step [The Most Complete Guide] | Welcome to another quick guide to learn to easy drawing tutorials, this time we are going to focus on pencil sketch drawing. Mastering the pencil sketch drawing technique is extremely important as it will allow you to venture into another type of drawing tutorials later.
This will be a somewhat extensive guide, but the important thing is that you will find all the necessary tips to master the pencil sketch drawing tutorials technique.
First of all, we will start talking a little about the basic materials, then the techniques to achieve different finishes: drawings with shadows, realistic, landscapes, in 3D drawing, drawing animals, etc.
Drawing objects and people in such a way that they appear real is a very simple way to impress others, the basics are easy to learn and with practice, you will easily become a great artist.
Learning to draw in pencil is essential, as I told you it will serve as a practice to improve the techniques, and the best of all is that by drawing in pencil you have the possibility of erasing the lines and improving them.
After you master the pencil sketch drawing technique, you can begin to create impressive works of art with colors, do not worry that in this article you will also find tips for drawing with colored pencils.
And finally, after mastering the easy drawing tutorials technique with pencils, you will be able to dabble in paintings, watercolors, or charcoals …
The drawings with these last materials have slightly different techniques, so they will be discussion material for another occasion.
If you want to learn anything professionally, do not hesitate to visit this article step by step.
Now if … let’s get started!
Pencil Drawing Materials
You don’t think you only need a pencil, do you?
For cool drawing ideas with pencil sketch drawing to be perfect, you will need other essential materials, these materials will make your art look much more professional and you will also realize that your learning will be much more advanced.
Now I made a list for you so that you have the best drawing materials at hand, a list with which you can manage to have at hand those instruments necessary to become the best.
Materials to Learn to Draw with A Pencil
To start drawing with a pencil you will need appropriate tools and in addition to knowing how to use them exactly since it is useless to have all the materials and not know how to use them.
PENCILS. The main tool is the pencil
These will allow you to easily draw shadows and add reflections or highlights, later I will explain how to add shadows and highlights.
It is also important that you know that pencils have different degrees of hardness (they use more or less graphite). The harder the pencil, the softer the mark you make. Use the different types depending on the shade you want.
Hard pencils are labeled with an H and soft pencils with a B. There is also a standard pencil… the HB.
2. USE APPROPRIATE PAPER
Depending on the medium you choose (pencil, color, charcoal, paints), you should make sure you get the appropriate paper. In our case, we will focus on the appropriate paper for pencil or colored drawings.
As much as possible, get acid-free paper, this will prevent the drawings from turning yellow over time or wearing out.
3. DIFFUMINATOR
A smudger is a pencil-shaped roll of paper with a rough tip. Its tip serves to blur the charcoal or pencil, forming soft degrees of shadows in the drawing tutorials.
You will need to polish it every time it gets filled with charcoal or graphite due to pencils.
4. DRAFT. When pencil drawings are made
The eraser not only helps us to remove errors, but it is also important to create shine.
The easiest to use is the plasticine pencil erasers, as they are easy to mold to erase small details.
How To Learn To Draw Well In Pencil?
The technique of pencil drawing tutorials is a technique that many begin, but in which few specialize. If done right and worked at, the results can be quite impressive.
Below I will list some tips for you to learn to draw well in pencil.
1. It is essential that you draw every day, even if it is 5 minutes or they are small drawings. Practicing daily will give your strokes greater ease, and will help you measure the force to apply to the strokes.
2. Evaluate your failures, most of the failures when we start to draw are in proportion, to better observe the failures, you can see your drawing reflected in a mirror or from other positions.
3. Try to carry a notebook and pencil with you whenever you can and at times when you do nothing, draw the first thing you see. This will have you exercising by drawing multiple pictures of different topics.
4. If your drawing is based on your imagination and you don’t have a clear model … Get inspired! Take inspiration from magazines, photos, or newspapers; the important thing is that you don’t try to copy it.
A better look at the details and the technique, so you will apply them to your next drawings.
5. Avoid using other instruments, such as rulers or compass, try to do the entire drawing freehand.
6. Make small sketches, this way it will be easier for you to see how all the elements fit together, evaluate the proportions and decide the size of each figure that will be in your final easy drawing tutorial for kids.
7. To choose the colors, it is better that you think of them as a whole, combine the colors not only by the tone but by their saturation, use the same range of colors.
All the previous tips are a small summary of what you must do to get started in pencil drawing. After you have mastered the techniques a little, you will learn to draw like a professional.
Techniques and Tricks To Learn To Draw With A Pencil
1. LEARN TO DRAW HUMAN SHAPES
If you intend to make a portrait or a full-body drawing, practice studying images from anatomy or gymnastics books, they are the best way to see the muscles and the true appearance of the human being.
As I always say, a good artist must know the structures he draws, and human anatomy does not escape from it.
2. USE THE PERSPECTIVE
The perspective or the apparent variation in size of an object as it moves away, is an important element when giving realism to a drawing, it might seem complicated but it is very simple.
To achieve this, you just have to draw the elements near or in the foreground larger and with more details, and those in the background or background smaller and with less detail, this mimics the way your eyes perceive objects, gives more realism.
3. USE A MODEL OR A PHOTOGRAPH
If what you want is to achieve a realistic cool drawing idea, the easiest way is to draw something that is in front of you, this will considerably improve your skills. It can be a model or a real image of the object or person to be drawn.
Try to do it as fast as you can, this will teach your brain to collect the most important information quickly and efficiently. Observe and draw basic shapes and proportions before details.
4. MAKE SKETCHES
Before you begin, create several sketches of how you want your final image to look, this will allow you to study the composition and details. Start with a miniature sketch, this will allow you to establish basic shapes.
5. SET THE BASIC FORMS
Basic shapes are the basis of your drawing, you should always start with them. All the things that exist are composed of one or more figures, these help you to give dimension to the drawing and to draw correctly.
6. PAY ATTENTION TO THE PROPORTIONS
Maintaining the relationship between the size of different objects is important to maintain the realism of your works, whether in compositions or drawing faces. In the latter case, you can use symmetry.
How To Learn To Draw Professionally In Pencil?
Once you have mastered the general drawing techniques, it is important to pay attention to details, as these are what will make your drawings look more professional.
To make more professional drawings use a fine-point mechanical pencil for small details, such as eyelashes and wrinkles, this will make them easier to draw and make them more real.
Practicing often helps you improve your skills quickly.
Faces are one of the most detailed structures, realistically Santa Claus drawing easy skin and hair is one of the most difficult skills to develop.
To draw the hair, remember to draw it in sections, as it grows that way, each section should have shadows and reflections to make it look more real.
Finally, one last tip to create professional drawings is to draw what you really see and not what you think you see.
You may wonder … How can I draw something different from what I see? Or what do I mean when I say draw what you really see?
It’s pretty simple, our brains tend to generalize images, so we generally view images without paying attention to detail.
This will help create more realistic and professional drawings, to improve the perception of details, I recommend looking at what you want to draw from a different point of view. This can be achieved by flipping the image or seeing it in its reflection.
If you want to draw something realistically, be sure to draw the elements that make it unique.
How to learn to draw shadows in a pencil?
Drawing shadows in pencil in your drawings will add depth, contrast, personality, and movement to each of your works. This will give them a more realistic appearance either for your fun or to improve your skills as an artist.
STEP 1. CHOOSE YOUR MATERIALS
I recommend using a soft pencil, that is, type B, since it is easier to blur shadows with a soft pencil than with a hard one. Another important thing is to choose a high-quality drawing paper to achieve the best results.
STEP 2. MAKE YOUR LINEAR DRAWING OR MAIN CHARACTER
This step in simple words is to make the pencil sketch drawing that you want to shade, start by making simple, easy, and everyday drawings; this will make it much easier for you to add shading and assess realism.
If you want to take a photograph as a drawing, I recommend you print it or find one that is in grayscale so shading will be easier.
STEP 3. PRACTICE YOUR SCALE OF VALUES
Sure, you wonder what is a scale of values?
This is basically establishing the levels of light and dark that you will use in your drawing, this will help you determine the different depths that you are going to use.
For the scale to be complete, these values must go from white to black, passing through various shades of gray, although most objects only require 5 contiguous values on the scale.
STEP 4. LOCATE THE SOURCE OF LIGHT
The light shadow will help you orient the shadows. The shadows that you draw will extend in the opposite direction from the light source, that is, the brightest or brightest parts will be closer to the light and the darkest will be the farthest.
STEP 5. CREATE A PRELIMINARY SHADOW
For this, do a very soft and subdued shading throughout your drawing, this will help you not to start from scratch when you add the darkest shading, it will also allow you to establish the areas of greater brightness.
STEP 6. ADD MORE LAYERS OF SHADOW
In this step you will gradually darken the shadows, adding light layers of gray successively one on top of the other, remembering that the darkest areas are the opposite of the light.
Be guided by your scale of values, which will allow you to be constant in the tones you use, an important aspect when shading is that little by little the contours of the drawing are lost since they become much softer.
STEP 7. BLEND THE SHADOW
This last step is essential to add a uniform touch to your drawing, thus softening the rough edges and obtaining a more gradual and realistic shading. For this, you can use a smudger, your fingers, or cotton swabs.
After blurring, use an eraser to rectify the brightness of areas that have been accidentally blurred.
GENERAL RECOMMENDATION. Place a piece of paper between your hand and the drawing to avoid spreading the grays and staining your drawing.
Place the pencil almost horizontally with respect to the paper, trying to make the shading with the flat part, thus you achieve a better effect without damaging the paper.
How to Learn How to Draw Realistic Faces in Pencil?
To draw realistic faces, it is important to know the proportion of each element of the face in an away drawing, so we will achieve a better finish.
Whenever we are going to draw a face, we are going to start by making a circle that we will divide in three by two horizontal lines, and in the lower part we will add a semi-conical curved shape, and we will divide it into two as well.
The eyes will be located right on the central line, taking care of the distance between them. The nose on the next lower line (between the middle and the bottom) and finally the mouth on the line that divides the last part in half.
The top of the eyebrows is at the same height as the ears.
For the width of the eyebrows and lips, draw two triangles, one that starts from the nose (vertex) to the outer edge of the eye and a second from the center of the eyes passing through the outer edge of the nose.
These are general notions but remember that if you make a realistic drawing the proportions should be as close as possible to the model face.
Another super important aspect to remember is that the proportions of the female face with respect to the male are different.
In men, the jaw is wider and square, the eyebrows are thicker and the nose and ears are larger than in women.
In addition, it is also important to take into account the age of the model since this also influences both the size of the face and that of the features.
How to learn to draw people in pencil step by step?
To draw people in a simpler way, you must start by choosing the sex of your subject and the position in which it will be.
Here I will show you a simple way to make a face without having a photo or a model, just respecting the proportions that I mentioned in the previous part.
STEP 1. BASIC FORMS
As always it begins by tracing the basic shapes. Make the contour of the face, the vertical axis of symmetry, and the lines of the eyes, nose, and mouth.
STEP 2. BASIC LINES OF FEATURES
For this, take the pencil and sketch the shape of the facial features, remember that the eyes do not always have that characteristic French lemon shape.
It delimits the hair, eyes, nose, and mouth; and finally, erase the guidelines.
STEP 3. ADD MORE DETAILS
With a soft pencil drawing ideas, for example, a 2B draw more details, such as the eyebrows, pupils, and iris of the eyes, facial folds, eyelashes, and other small details of the face.
STEP 4. MARK THE SHADOWS
Finally, we will achieve a realistic touch to our face by adding the shadows with the techniques that I explained previously. In the case of faces with a soft pencil highlights the most important points such as the pupils and eyelashes.
Highlighting the pupils and eyelashes will give more depth to the look of our character and much more realism. Also, mark the shadow of the cheek a little to refine the face.
How to Learn to Draw Portraits in Pencil Step by Step?
To draw portraits, the first thing we must do is have the original photo or portrait that we want to draw, since this will be the fundamental tool to start making our ideas drawing.
In the event that you want to make a portrait of a model in person, you should only apply the techniques of the previous part but this time observing very well the facial features of your model.
Now, let’s start with this step by step to draw portraits starting from a photo.
STEP 1. MARK A CHECK IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Take your picture and with a ruler start marking spaces of the centimeters of your preference, to begin I recommend making measurements of 2cm. The smaller the paintings, the more attention you will pay to details.
Make these marks on each edge of the photo and then join the marks on the parallel sides, that is, right with the left and the top with the bottom, so that you create a grid on the photo.
Finally, list each box.
STEP 2. MAKE THE SAME GRID ON YOUR SHEET OF PAPER
To do this, measure the total length of your photograph and make the large rectangle and then divide it into squares of the same length as the ones in the photo, and list them in the same order as the ones in the photo.
STEP 3. MAKE THE PORTRAIT OUTLINE
After you have the grid, you just have to copy in each square the details that correspond to the square in the photograph, as you will see it is very simple, it is like putting together a puzzle, you only have to copy what is observed in each square.
STEP 4. HOW TO GET THE DETAILS?
If you find it difficult to make a specific detail or structure, you can make diagonal lines at each point and thus enclose that detail in more specific points for a better proportion.
After you have traced it in the photo, remember to apply it in the same way on your drawing tutorials sheet, that is, draw the same lines so that you can guide yourself perfectly.
STEP 5. BRING YOUR DRAWING TO LIFE WITH SHADING
If you have printed your photograph in gray it will be much easier, use the pencils and the smudger to give the touch of softness and realism at once.
Start with the eyes, remember to give the correct brightness, and the shadows will give a good impression of your drawing from the beginning. The soft parts such as the cheeks and the forehead will be achieved with the smudger, that is, soft gray tones.
Finally, locate the rest of the shadows, blur, and add the necessary highlights.
How to Learn to Draw Animals in Pencil Step by Step?
Drawing animals is a task that is somewhat difficult for many cartoonists but with this short guide, you will draw animals like a great professional.
When drawing animals, we are faced with something new… Drawing fur.
As you know, the vast majority of animals have abundant fur and this is precisely what is difficult for cartoonists.
To draw fur, you can follow two great techniques… The first is to draw hair by hair, which will give your drawing more realism.
The second technique is to draw on fur by applying shadows, with this technique you will finish much faster, but I recommend it only if you are going to draw animals with abundant fur.
In the case of feathered animals, the same technique is applied as for fur, it is necessary to draw the feathers together one by one, remember that the feathers are formed by a structure from which several “species of hairs” emerge.
In the case of animals with scales such as fish, snakes, armadillos, among others … The scales must also be drawn one by one, there is no easier way.
So, if what you want is to draw one of these animals you must arm yourself with a lot of patience and as always practice to achieve better results.
How to Learn How to Draw Domestic Animals in Pencil Step by Step?
Domestic animals are typically given by dogs, cats, and rabbits. These three animals have in common that their skin is covered by abundant hairs, so hereafter making the basic shape of our animal the technique will be the same.
In this case, I will teach you to draw a dog, since it is the most common domestic animal … It is man’s best friend.
STEP 1. BASIC FORM
We will start by easy drawing tutorials on the basic shape of our dog’s head, which in this case will be in profile.
Make a circle for the large part of the face where the eyes will go and to the right draw a kind of square for the muzzle.
After you have the base shape add the nose, eye, and ear shapes.
STEP 2. HIGHLIGHT THE CLOSE-UP
To highlight the foreground that would be our puppy, we are going to darken the entire background of our drawing, thus highlighting the drawing.
Use a smudger so that the background is not very solid.
STEP 3. BEGIN TO TUNE THE DETAILS
Begin by detailing the eyes, for this, we are going to refine the lines a bit with a 2H pencil. Then with a 2B or B, begin to define the eyes, remembering to add the point of light.
STEP 4. LET’S START WITH THE HAIR
In this case, our drawing is of a dog with little fur so we are going to use the shading technique to draw it.
Add dark shadow around the eye, largely darkening the upper arch where the brow is, and continue with the soft shading throughout the face.
STEP 5. LET’S DETAIL THE EAR
For this, we will make a gradient on the ear placing the darkest area at the top and a little strong shadow on the edge to create depth.
STEP 6. FINISH WITH THE NOSE AND THE REST OF THE COAT
Also, for the nose, use a strong shading and add a touch of light, this time towards the tip and the top.
And finally, finish the rest of the dog’s skin with the same soft shading, giving a little more contrast in the areas where the light does not affect.
How to Learn to Draw Wild Animals in Pencil Step by Step?
In the case of wild animals, exactly the same techniques apply. In this case, I will teach you how to draw a tiger, since it is an animal with a lot of furs.
STEP 1. BASIC FORMS
As we will always start with the basic shapes of our drawing, make a circle for the head and some curved lines like a kind of mountains for the back and body of our tiger.
STEP 2. OUTLINE THE FEATURES OF THE FACE
Lightly begin by outlining the lines of the nose and lips, adding some solid color to the inside of the nostrils and at the end of the lips.
Then go on to sketch the eyes, to do this, start with two small arches and under them draw the eyes, finish by closing the initial arc, and with this, you will have finished this sketch. How to draw a realistic bird step by step.
STEP 3. REFINE DETAILS OF THE JAW AND COAT
In this step we will draw the lower part of the jaw of our tiger, paying special attention to the fur. To add the fur, we will draw small uneven peaks.
STEP 4. EARS AND MUSTACHES
For the ears, sketch two triangles in the upper part of our tiger’s head, and inside these triangles draw other slightly smaller ones.
Remember to add other small spikes for the fur.
Then close to the tiger’s nose, draw a small black dot for the whiskers, and outline the stripes that will be the black part of the fur.
STEP 5. FINISH THE TIGER’S BODY
In this step, it only remains to sketch the true shape of the body of our tiger and add the body stripes that are in black.
Remember that when you go to draw the chest stripes you must follow a kind of scheme in which all the stripes are achieved on the inner or middle part of the torso.
As once these were techniques for the sketch, in the end just add details of the fur and shadows, and voila… In the same way, I leave you a video with the step by step on how to draw a tiger or wild animal.
How to Learn How to Draw Cartoon Pencils Step by Step?
An easy cartoon drawing is a portrait that exaggerates the characteristics of a person. A large nose, close-set eyes, or spiky hair are commonly used elements in cartoons.
To draw a cartoon, you have to find out what the person we draw has that makes them different from the others and what is considered “ideal”.
STEP 1. LOOK AT YOUR MODEL
In this step, you must evaluate well the facial features of your character, what is larger or smaller than normal, since it is these features that you will use to highlight.
STEP 2. START WITH YOUR DRAWING
In this second step, you should only start making your drawing by exaggerating the distinctive features that you observed in the previous step, remember to only make them a little larger, not distorted, since it could lose the resemblance to the original character.
First, draw the outline (the shape of the face). For this, you can also exaggerate it, if it is triangular, draw it quite triangular if it is rounded making it quite rounded, and so on.
Mark the facial features and draw them, place them in the contour of the face and draw them in the proportions you want, as a recommendation I tell you, do not exaggerate all the features, only some, otherwise, it will be recharged.
Finally, draw a complement or detail that reflects the way of being of your character or his hobbies, this will personalize them a little more.
How to Learn How to Draw Cartoon Pencil Step by Step?
When we refer to cartoons, we automatically think of Disney-type drawings, we remember our childhood and we think of those cartoon icons like Mickey, Donald Duck, the Looney Tunes, among many others.
Cartoons are characterized by having smooth curved lines, that is, in cartoons we rarely see straight or strong lines since curved lines make the drawings softer and more pleasant.
Another outstanding aspect of cartoons are the eyes, the eyes in this type of drawings tend to be large and striking, with which it is possible to express the feelings and emotions of each character.
Now that you know these general characteristics, I will leave you a video so that you can learn step by step to make cartoons.
How to Learn to Draw Landscapes in Pencil Step by Step?
When it comes to drawing landscapes, the first thing we must establish is the type of landscape we want to draw, forest landscapes and we know they are the simplest so it is good that we start by learning about them.
If we draw landscapes in pencil, we must be clear that we will rely largely on the application of shadows and highlights, with this we will achieve the natural and real touch of the drawings.
FIRST STEP.
When making a landscape it is important to establish the horizon, as long as there are no mountains in our drawing. The horizon is nothing more than a horizontal line that marks the limit between the ground and the sky, so to draw it you just have to draw a horizontal line.
SECOND STEP.
After establishing the horizon, we only have to mark the other elements as a sketch, with very smooth lines, so we can locate and establish the composition of our landscape.
THIRD STEP.
Finally add the shading, being a landscape, you must pay attention to the orientation of the lines, they must all go in the same direction, remember that in landscapes the wind influences the movement of the grass.
How to Learn to Draw 3D in Pencil Step by Step?
To make a 3D drawing with a pencil we are going to use the same tips above, that is, apply the shadows correctly to achieve realism.
Start by joining two sheets to have a greater field of work.
STEP 1. MAKE THE SKETCH
In this case, we are going to draw a hand coming out of the sheet. Sketch the outline of the hand in a fairly general way without much detail and mark an angled line coming out of the junction of both sheets, close to the thumb.
After you have the sketch cut out following the angled line and the thumb pull this will leave this structure out of the drawing, then shade the division of the sheet with the pencil.
STEP 2. ADD THE REFLEX SHADOW
This shadow is nothing but the shadow left by real objects when hit by light, this is what will really give the 3D effect.
Draw the shadow under the hand at an angle, following a little the inclination that the cut we made in the sheet gives us.
STEP 3. ADD DETAILS
Finally, add the details to the sketch of the hand that you made, that is, draw the folds and fissures inside and shade a little, as you know will give more realism.
And so, in simple steps, you will have made your 3D drawing in pencil.
How to Learn to Draw Realistic Pencil Drawings Step by Step?
To make realistic drawings basically, we must apply shading and lighting techniques to our drawings in case we do them in pencil.
Following the same tips as for adding shadows, start by setting a point of light and then gradually shading the entirety of your drawing.
Remember that in realistic drawings it is vital to pay attention to details, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
If you want to make realistic color drawings, you just have to apply the color gradient with the same color or with different shades, remembering to apply more or less pressure to achieve light or dark areas.
As I have already explained how to make correct use of shadows, I will leave you a video on how to draw realistically in pencil, as a general review.
How to Learn to Draw with Colored Pencils?
To draw with colored pencils, you just have to follow the same techniques used to draw with a graphite pencil, that is, the techniques that we have been discussing.
The big difference when drawing with colored pencils is that with these we cannot erase, so we must be sure of the strokes that we make and the color that we are going to use.
If you are starting to draw with colored pencils, I recommend you, starting with soft strokes, so in case you make a mistake it will be easy to correct and perhaps you can erase the stroke you made.
I recommend you make the entire sketch of your work with light colors in a very soft way, and after you have the sketch made you can apply darker tones. Or you can make your sketch with a very light pencil and then add the colors.
When you draw with colors the blur can be done with the same color by adding more or less strength to the line or using different tones.
How to Learn to Draw Roses in Pencil Step by Step?
To drawing flowers, you must start by studying their structure, remember that the petals of roses are concentric and overlap.
Start by making a spiral and from this center add the petals one by one, so that they overlap each other.
After you have the sketch with the marked petals, start shading each one. The shading of the petals must be done individually and you must add some light to the free edge to give it more realism.
Since you know all the techniques to draw in pencil, I leave you multiple tutorials so that you can expand your knowledge of pencil drawings. | https://medium.com/@maheennaveed450/how-to-learn-to-easy-drawing-tutorials-with-a-pencil-step-by-step-the-most-complete-guide-89ba50f1b404 | ['Maheen Naveed'] | 2020-12-17 11:47:31.180000+00:00 | ['Pencil Drawing Techniques', 'Drawing', 'Drawing Tutorials', 'Easy Drawing Tutorials', 'How To Draw'] |
You Don’t Have to “Look” Gay | You Don’t Have to “Look” Gay
Photo by Rachid Oucharia on Unsplash
When I came out as a young teenager, I was lucky because I was met with support and genuine jovial responses. My parents and my friends were happy that I was expressing my true self, my true identity. Through these years of being out and proud, my mind was being shaped, like any other teenager in the 2000s.
To me, being gay meant looking gay. I am so passable for a heterosexual female that it used to bother me to my core when someone would assume that I had a boyfriend or that I was interested in talking to guys romantically. Admittedly, I only just recently became comfortable with not looking like the gayest person in the room, even though I typically am.
I got a last-minute short haircut to try to appease my gayness.
It was awful, and I pretty much hated it the instant I left the salon. Now that I had short hair, surely, I was gay enough. People complimented me on my new look, but you know what didn’t happen? There was no influx of assumptions about my sexuality. Nobody figured that I was gay by looking at me.
Feeling frustrated, I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. Even into my 20s and after moving to LA, I struggled to fit the narrative I thought I had to follow. There are a few distinct types of lesbians in LA—I fell under the “Lipstick” category. This was a group of feminine women who dated other women who were usually also feminine.
There was a time when I totally played up my femininity, fully embracing it. It still bothered me when men hit on me while I was out, even while I was standing next to my then-girlfriend. I wanted to make it stop, wanted it to be so glaringly obvious that I was gay.
I realized that it doesn’t matter how I look or what I do with my style.
A cliché moment—what matters most is what I feel on the inside. My partner knows that I am gay. The people in my life who are closest to me know that I am gay. Why the fuck do I care if the random man who passes me by on the street knows it, too?
I guess, there was a hopeful part of me that thought if people knew I was gay, I’d stop being accosted while checking the mail or walking to get groceries. The reality of today’s world is not such—straight cis-men are always going to hit on anybody they find attractive, even gay females.
No matter how “butch” or masculine I present myself to be (which would be entirely the opposite of how I truly feel inside), this would still happen. I’ve learned to take it in stride. I am now confident to the fullest extent, not only in my appearance but in my decision to wear whatever the hell I want and to look however the hell I want.
Being gay is not the only part of who I am as a person.
I have so many other redeeming qualities. I’m funny as hell, firstly. My friends say I’m the strongest person I know. One day, society might surpass the need to know who you are sleeping with the moment they meet you. Perhaps, I might encounter a new friend who doesn’t want to hear about my bedroom life at all—because, frankly—that’s none of their business.
I truly love being gay, being a part of this wonderful and diverse community. It has helped me grow so much into the person that I am right now. I also know that there is so much more room for growth. Maybe I’ll change my hair one day or wear different clothing—I’m still going to be gay, and that is validating in itself. | https://medium.com/prismnpen/you-dont-have-to-look-gay-858f8745fd65 | ['Kristen Nadel'] | 2020-11-14 15:02:19.121000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Confidence', 'Gay', 'Personal Development', 'Creative Non Fiction'] |
Querying JSON data in Couchbase using Scopes and Collections | This week I’m attending the 3-day Couchbase Connect event and will be reporting on some of the topics that I find most interesting. Today I’m reviewing one of the New N1QL Features coming in the next release, presented by Keshav Murthy, VP R&D at Couchbase. This session is available as a replay on-demand once you register.
The first day saw many sessions but I knew the N1QL update section would have a lot of technical innovations. N1QL is the SQL-like query language used on JSON documents stored in Couchbase. With Couchbase, you are not just using a key-value store but a full JSON document database that also exposes data through queries like a relational database (among other things).
Most of N1QL is identical to SQL, but there are nuances that add even more power than standard SQL provides — especially for JSON-specific features like sub-objects, array handling, and, now more refined logical data management.
One of the most practical new features for both developers and DBAs is the implementation of scopes and collections.
I’m planning to dig into other topics such as the “flex index” N1QL features for search but will do so in a separate post so this one stays short.
Logical Data Containment: Scope and Collections
Background
The main units of containment in Couchbase have buckets that store documents. Named buckets allow the grouping of documents for a particular application or even workgroup that requires different user permissions than others.
Overview of Couchbase N1QL with Scope and Collection Features
Today’s Update
A 2019 release previewed the addition of collections as a subunit of buckets. The update discussed today brings it to a more refined level — including scopes within a bucket and further collections within scopes.
Each level of this hierarchy is accessible through the table name path syntax used elsewhere in the platform. For example, in the above graphic, the FROM clause specifies the data to be used in the query, each container holds a subset of documents and is referenceable by name:
cxprof.usa.loginfo -> bucket.scope.collection
Note that indexes are as easy to create as any SQL environment and only fields that you want to query need to be indexed. Likewise, data can be partitioned automatically or with manual intervention depending on need.
Why it matters
Logical data groupings in NoSQL systems help improve the ability to manage data more effectively. Some applications will only ever need access to a subset of documents, so exposing all of them can add unneeded complexity.
Without this ability to tightly scope, a query may end up needing multiple WHERE clauses to drill down to a subset of data of interest. Whereas scopes and collections can manage it all behind the scenes.
For example, documents could have fields like countryName or appName instead of using the above syntax, but the release would be two more WHERE clauses added to the query, e.g.:
FROM cxprof
WHERE countryName = “usa”
AND appName = “loginfo”
Instead, the new features allow desired scoping within the FROM clause:
FROM cxprof.use.loginfo
Why it _really_ matters
By extending all the query capabilities of N1QL to support scope and collection keyspace usage, it allows even more granular management of data, including data security.
Role-based access control (RBAC) is available at these new levels, further enabling application developers to offload access-related issues to the database using roles. DBAs can define users and limit them to particular areas and assign read/write/edit level permissions accordingly. | https://medium.com/couchbase/querying-json-data-in-couchbase-using-scopes-and-collections-83ebd92fcb9e | ['Tyler Mitchell'] | 2020-10-15 04:31:04.423000+00:00 | ['Couchbase', 'Database', 'Bigdata', 'NoSQL', 'Query'] |
Before you were born,your brain started to work to control your body and make it function it… | Brain health review /Train your brain at its peak.
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Things to know before you purchase this tool-https://yourreview7.blogspot.com/2020/12/brain-health-review-train-your-brain-at.html | https://medium.com/@biswasrick12/before-you-were-born-your-brain-started-to-work-to-control-your-body-and-make-it-function-it-84e2f23df2dc | ['Rick Biswas'] | 2020-12-17 05:10:01.726000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Affiliate Marketing', 'Brain', 'Fitness', 'Smart'] |
Is eating bread bad for you when you are trying to lose weight? | Is eating bread bad for you when you are trying to lose weight by Damir.
Is eating bread bad for you when you are trying to lose weight? TrainChampion Follow Dec 22, 2020 · 3 min read
Many people have asked us whether eating bread can hinder their weight loss. This blog post will explain the consumption of bread from a scientific point and practical point. Let’s first deconstruct the bread and start from the basics.
What is bread actually and what is comprised of
Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. The primary nutrients in bread are carbohydrates.
There are myriads of bread on the marketplace but the two main types are:
White bread (1 slice or 28 g has about 74 calories)
Whole-grain bread (1 slice or 28g has about 69 calories)
White bread is made from refined flour and as a consequence is low on fiber. On the other hand, whole-grain bread is made from wheat that is high in fiber, vitamin B6, and E.
Usually, the whole-grain bread is more nutritious and healthier than white bread.
Scientific benefits of whole-grain bread
Many research studies have been conducted to prove that eating whole-grain bread is a usually wiser choice than eating white bread. Here are a few:
In one Harvard study completed in 1994, people who ate high-fiber bread had fewer heart attacks and strokes than those who ate typical white bread.
One research study from the University of Washington in 2003 proved that consuming whole-grain bread can lower heart disease risk by 20 percent.
So what are the main benefits of whole-grain bread? It’s the fiber. Remember fiber is your friend. Fiber can help you regulate your body’s use of sugars, helping to keep your hunger and your blood sugar in check.
Some practical advice when you are on your weight loss journey
Eating whole-grain bread is usually better than eating white bread. However, if you want to lose weight, you need to be mindful of the calories that you take in. Let’s say you have a lunch that is at about 400 calories. If you add 1 slice of whole-grain bread, you will be adding 69 on top of that. That’s only 1 slice. If you have two slices that is 138 calories just from the bread.
If you are adding bread to your every meal, calories will accumulate. So what is the practical solution? If you are someone who loves bread so much, try cutting back slowly on bread. Instead of having 2 slices of bread per meal, change to having only 1 slice per meal. Then, when you mastered that habit, try having a meal without bread.
Here is something to pay attention to. When you set your meal calorie threshold, you need to take into account the bread that you are taking with the meal. For example, if your main meal calorie threshold is 400 calories, then your main meal+ bread calorie intake needs to be within 400.
To recap…
If you need to choose between white and whole-grain bread, choose whole-grain bread as it is more nutritious and contains a healthy dose of fiber.
Although whole-grain bread is better than white, it adds additional calories to your daily meals so you need to pay attention to how many calories/slices you take in just with your bread.
Cutting back on either white or whole-grain bread is usually a good idea if your goal is to lose weight.
Until next year,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,
TrainChampion Team | https://medium.com/experts-write/is-eating-bread-bad-for-you-when-you-are-trying-to-lose-weight-6d5435b346b9 | [] | 2020-12-22 11:02:33.338000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss', 'Personal Trainer', 'Bread', 'Nutrition', 'Personalised'] |
The Pandemic Has Revealed How Vulnerable Our Cities Truly Are | There’s perhaps no better time than now to read Metropolis, historian Ben Wilson’s new book about global urban development and the cosmopolitan existence. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic prompted many to flee cities for greener pastures, metropolitan migration had been stagnating. That’s a shame, Wilson argues, because cities offer the best of humanity: the bustle, the culture, the community. Looking at 26 different cities across the world, Wilson offers a sprawling account that acts as a showcase for the ingenuity that thrives in our skyscrapered incubators.
GEN spoke with Wilson about his inspiration to write the book and how the coronavirus reveals the empty husks our city centers have become.
GEN: How do you approach a subject as broad as what you’ve written about?
Ben Wilson: I started with what I saw at the time as the most exciting city—Shanghai. You could almost tell a history of the world through Shanghai from the 1850s until now. But then I got interested in the idea of global cities in general, and my curiosity took me to do the whole story of cities and to look at them through different angles than their histories.
You traveled all over the world to write this book. What surprised you the most during the course of your travels?
What struck me about a lot of cities is the way they’re becoming quite alike—or they were before 2020. Wherever there’s a fast-growing and developing city — Lagos, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai — there are bits of it that are very similar. There’s a sort of sameness to global cities, especially in their richer districts. That comes from Shanghai, this skyscrapering of the world over the past 20 years.
That makes sense, given that we’re seeing a general “Airbnbification” all across the world.
Everyone tries to create this similar backdrop to their city: You have coffee bars, cuisine, shopping experiences. Places like Amsterdam are really kicking back against the Airbnbification of their city to try and limit it.
One of the biggest forces to shape cities over the past 150 years is the beginning of mass tourism. You have vast transient populations who occupy the center of a city, which over the course of a year is bigger than the resident population. I learned that if you want to look at a real city, you don’t go to the center of the city — that’s become quite artificial. There are bits outside the center where you get the most interesting things going on. What would have been the bohemian center of a city has been priced out.
And look at what’s happened to so many city centers during this pandemic.
What’s going on now with Covid-19 and the collapse of commuting exposes a lot of city centers as being not very resilient places. They’re very concentrated on certain types of activity, and when they’re emptied out, they become ghost towns. Covid-19 shows a trend that’s been going on for a long time: the hollowing out of the creative center of cities.
But these centers might change. We might find that a central business district just can’t support the amount of office space it has and becomes residential again. We’re living through a moment where we can rethink what cities are for.
Does this happen a lot? In the past, have natural disasters forced us to reconsider our cities in this way?
One example might be the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It didn’t just transform Chicago, but the whole of American urbanism, because there’s now a center of the city that is covered by fire regulations and another part of the city where people want to build their wooden houses again. Chicago became quickly dominated by a business core, which within a decade or so started sprouting skyscrapers. The fire also displaced people toward the city limits and beyond, creating rings of different wealth. You get a business district surrounded by very poor areas and then radiating out to richer areas.
In the book, you make the case that, given our climate crisis, we need more urbanization. But that’s an especially hard sell right now, during a pandemic.
Climate change is definitely the biggest threat facing us today. And what’s fascinating over the past 20 or 30 years is the way the environmental movement has accepted that cities offer a more sustainable way of living, and if they’re managed rightly, a huge amount of biodiversity.
A sensible policy of densification maximizes the quality of life in cities if it’s done well; densification has to become a policy in the age of climate crisis, as it is the most sustainable way of living. But sadly, density is counter to the fear that we’re all living through in this pandemic, so it becomes an enemy.
In America, our politicians don’t seem particularly mindful of the benefits of urban density.
No. America’s different because suburbanization is woven into the way of life; your politics and your economy are very much bound up with suburbia. And politicians would pay a large price, I suspect, for undermining that ethos.
The tendency to sprawl is so hardwired into all of us—to want to escape a city but still enjoy its amenities. You find cities everywhere in the world following what America did in the 20th century, expanding much quicker than population growth. There are so many hidden costs in the suburbs; they’re so massively subsidized by the federal government in providing the roads. If those costs ever became apparent to the consumer, it would be a much less attractive proposition.
At the end of the day, what makes a city successful is its resilience — having a mix of uses, a mix of services, a sense of community. And if we want to have more resilient neighborhoods, that’s a very good model how to do it: Take the best of the urban and inject it into all kinds of different neighborhoods.
Which, as you mention in the book, doesn’t bode well for a place like Los Angeles, given that it’s such a hodgepodge of different neighborhoods with little overarching structure.
No, which is sad, because it was built around public transport. It was built around the streetcar.
Los Angeles is a very interesting city; every neighborhood bears the trace of history. The neighborhoods have quite distinct identities — cities within cities.
You tout Tokyo as an example of a successfully decentralized metropolis.
Tokyo is a very good example because it was destroyed in 1923 by an enormous earthquake, and it was destroyed again in 1945 by bombing. Tokyo was built back neighborhood by neighborhood, and there has always been this very strong sense of resilience, that building was a local community thing. Within 20 or so years of being flattened, it became one of the great metropolises of the late 20th century.
I found it interesting that the energy to rebuild Tokyo came from the people rather than from the government. You see this in other cities, like Medellín in Colombia, and cities in Indonesia, where there’s a partnership between the informal, jerry-built part of the city and the central government. I was taken by the idea of messiness. I saw those examples as being very pertinent for fast-growing cities in Africa and Asia.
It strikes me a very different idea for development than what we see in the United States.
In the West, we’re used to zoning. You have residential that’s separated from industry, that’s separated from retail, that’s separated from finance. When you jumble those things up, you get a very resilient city like Tokyo, which is able to absorb huge amounts of shocks and then carry on.
It’s striking that a place like Dharavi in Mumbai, which is one of the most densely populated and poorest places on planet Earth, was able to deal with Covid-19 incredibly well as a community-based problem. The same is true of the favelas in Brazil; they’ve managed to police Covid-19 in a fairly successful way. At the heart of it is the way communities are empowered to make decisions at a grassroots level.
But cities can’t just take from grassroots—it has to be a bidirectional process. You can’t just steal the best and then try to impose your idea of order on the other parts of the city. | https://gen.medium.com/the-pandemic-has-revealed-how-vulnerable-our-cities-truly-are-1597a3cf6c2c | ['Max Ufberg'] | 2020-11-10 06:32:50.018000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Society', 'Culture', 'Urban Development', 'Pandemic'] |
Segmenting with Mixed Type Data. With the new year, I started to look… | A Case Study Using K-Medoids on Subscription Data
Photo by Joyce McCown on Unsplash
With the new year, I started to look for new employment opportunities and even managed to land a handful of final stage interviews before it all grounded to a halt following the corona-virus pandemic. Invariably, as part of the selection process I was asked to analyse a set of data and compile a number of data driven-recommendations to present in my final meeting.
In this post I retrace the steps I took for one of the take home analysis I was tasked with and revisit clustering, one of my favourite analytic methods. Only this time the set up is a lot closer to a real-world situation in that the data I had to analyse came with a mix of categorical and numerical feature. Simply put, this could not be tackled with a bog-standard K-means algorithm as it’s based on pairwise Euclidean distances and has no direct application to categorical data.
The data
library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)
library(skimr)
library(knitr)
library(janitor)
library(cluster)
library(Rtsne)
The data represents all online acquisitions in February 2018 and their subscription status 3 months later (9th June 2018) for a Fictional News Aggregator Subscription business. It contains a number of parameters describing each account, like account creation date, campaign attributed to acquisition, payment method and length of product trial. A full description of the variables can be found in the Appendix
I got hold of this dataset in the course of a recruitment selection process as I was asked to carry out an analysis and present results and recommendations that could helps improve their products sign up in my final meeting. Although fictitious in nature, I thought it best to further anonimise the dataset by changing names and values of most of the variables as well as removing several features that were of no use to the analysis
The data was raw and required some cleansing and manipulation before it could be used for analysis. You can find the anonimised dataset on my GitHub profile, along with the scripts I used to cleanse the data and perform the analysis
Data Exploration
This is a vital part of any data analysis study, often overlooked in favour of the fancier and “sexier” modelling/playing with the algos. In fact, I find it one of the most creative phases of any project, where you “join the dots” among the different variables and start formulating interesting hypothesis for you to test later on
data_clean <- readRDS("../00_data/data_clean.rds")
Here I’m loading the cleaned data before I explore a selection of the features, run through a number of considerations to set up the analysis as well as show you some of the interesting insight I gathered. You can find the post covering data cleansing and formatting on my webpage: Segmenting with Mixed Type Data — Initial data inspection and manupulation
In this project I’m also testing quite a few of the adorn_ and the tabyl functions from the janitor library, a family of functions created to help expedite the initial data exploration and cleaning but also very useful to create and format summary tables.
Country of Residence
Let’s start with the geographic distribution of subscribers, the overwhelming majority of whom are UK based
Cancellations
The dynamics of cancellations are definitely something that warrants further investigation (outside the scope of this study). In fact, Failed payments represent roughly 10% of total subscriptions and a staggering 38% when looking at cancellations alone
data_clean %>%
tabyl(canc_reason, status) %>%
adorn_totals(c("row", "col")) %>%
adorn_percentages("col") %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) %>%
adorn_ns() %>%
adorn_title("combined") %>%
kable(align = 'c') canc_reason/status Active Cancelled Total
- 100.0% (3510) 18.1% (224) 78.6% (3734)
Competitor 0.0% (0) 1.5% (18) 0.4% (18)
Editorial 0.0% (0) 3.6% (44) 0.9% (44)
Failed Payment 0.0% (0) 37.9% (469) 9.9% (469)
Lack of time 0.0% (0) 19.5% (242) 5.1% (242)
Other 0.0% (0) 6.5% (81) 1.7% (81)
Price 0.0% (0) 8.2% (101) 2.1% (101)
UX Related 0.0% (0) 4.8% (60) 1.3% (60)
Total 100.0% (3510) 100.0% (1239) 100.0% (4749)
RECOMMENDATION 1: Review causes of high failed payment rate as it could result in a 10% boost in overall subscriptions
Payment Methods
Credit Card is the preferred payment method for over two fifths (61%) of subscribers
data_clean %>%
tabyl(payment_method) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) %>%
arrange(desc(n)) %>%
kable(align = 'c') payment_method n percent
Credit Card 2905 61.2%
PayPal 1230 25.9%
Direct Debit 614 12.9%
Campaigns
Three acquisition campaigns drove the largest majority of subscriptions in February 2018
The analysis is going to focus on these top 3 campaigns, which account for over 73% of total acquisitions. Adding additional campaigns to the analysis would likely see them all lumped into one “hybrid” cluster and result in less focused insight.
data_clean %>%
tabyl(campaign_code) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) %>%
arrange(desc(n)) %>%
top_n(10, wt = n) %>%
kable(align = 'c') campaign_code n percent
57572 1546 32.6%
56472 1061 22.3%
56972 885 18.6%
51372 178 3.7%
51472 154 3.2%
57272 141 3.0%
47672 104 2.2%
53872 104 2.2%
48272 95 2.0%
52972 92 1.9%
Trial Length
Potential subscribes have a number of options available but the analysis is going to take into account only customers that took the 1-month trial before sign-up.
Given that all acquisitions refer to a particular month and their current status 3 MONTHS LATER, this will ensure a clear cut window for the analysis AND cover the vast majority of subscriptions (nearly 90%)
data_clean %>%
tabyl(trial_length) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) %>%
select(-valid_percent) %>%
kable(align = 'c') trial_length n percent
1M 4233 89.1%
2M 1 0.0%
3M 95 2.0%
6M 7 0.1%
NA 413 8.7%
Product Pricing
Zooming in on the top 3 campaigns for clarity, we can see the two price points of £6.99 for the Standard product and £15 for the Premium one.
Surprisingly, campaign 56472 is attributed to the acquisition of both products. It is good practice to keep acquisition campaigns more closely aligned to a single product as it would ensure better accountability and understanding of acquisition dynamics.
data_clean %>%
filter(campaign_code %in% c('57572', '56472', '56972')) %>%
filter(trial_length == '1M') %>%
group_by(product_group, campaign_code,
contract_monthly_price) %>%
count() %>%
ungroup() %>%
arrange(campaign_code) %>%
kable(align = 'c') product_group campaign_code contract_monthly_price n
Standard 56472 6.99 1061
Premium 56972 15.00 264
Standard 56972 6.99 587
Standard 57572 6.99 1521
Subscription Rate
For the majority of the top 10 campaigns, sign up after trial hovers in the 74–76% range. This offers a good benchmark for the general subscription levels we can expect after trial.
data_clean %>%
# selecting top n campaigns by number of
filter(campaign_code %in% c(
'57572', '56472', '56972', '51372', '57272',
'51472', '47672', '53872', '52972', '54072'
)) %>%
filter(trial_length == '1M') %>%
group_by(campaign_code, status) %>%
count() %>%
ungroup() %>%
# lag to allign past (lagging) obs to present obs
mutate(lag_1 = lag(n, n = 1)) %>%
# sort out NAs
tidyr::fill(lag_1, .direction = "up") %>%
# calculate cancelled to total rate perc difference
mutate(act_to_tot =
(lag_1 / (n + lag_1))) %>%
filter(status == 'Cancelled') %>%
select(campaign_code, act_to_tot) %>%
arrange(desc(campaign_code)) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) %>%
kable(align = 'c')
campaign_code act_to_tot
57572 75.5%
57272 75.6%
56972 72.5%
56472 75.8%
54072 86.4%
53872 71.3%
52972 73.9%
51472 48.1%
51372 68.8%
47672 74.8%
The low subscription rate for campaign 51472 may be due to the higher contract price after trial (contract_monthly_price) of £9.65 compared to £6.99 seen for other Standard product contracts.
data_clean %>%
filter(campaign_code == '51472') %>%
filter(trial_length == '1M') %>%
group_by(contract_monthly_price,
product_group,
campaign_code) %>%
count() %>%
ungroup() %>%
kable(align = 'c')
contract_monthly_price product_group campaign_code n
9.65 Standard 51472 128
RECOMMENDATION 2: Investigate different price points for standard product as lower price point could boost take up
Analysis Structure
In this analysis I want to understand what factors make a customer subscribe after a trial and to do so, I need to identify what approach is best suited for the type and cut of data I have at my disposal, and to define a measure of success.
APPROACH : The data is a snapshot in time and as such does not lend itself to any time-based type of analysis. In such cases, one of the best suited approaches to extract insight is clustering, which is especially good when you have no prior domain knowledge to guide you. However, the fact that data is a mix of categorical and numerical features requires a slightly different approach, which I discuss in the next section.
: The data is a snapshot in time and as such does not lend itself to any time-based type of analysis. In such cases, one of the to extract insight is clustering, which is especially good when you have no prior domain knowledge to guide you. However, the fact that data is a features requires a slightly different approach, which I discuss in the next section. MEASURE: The perfect candidate to measure success is Subscription Rate defined as Active / Total Subscribers. The an focus on 1-month trial subscribers also ensures a clear cut window for analysis as their status reflects whether they signed up 3 MONTHS AFTERWARDS.
Methodology
When I started to research cluster analysis with mix categorical and numerical data, I came across an excellent post on Towards Data Science entitled Clustering on mixed type data, from which I borrowed the core analysis coding and adjusted it to my needs. In his article, Thomas Filaire shows how to use the PAM clustering algorithm (Partitioning Around Medoids) to perform the clustering and the silhouette coefficient to select the optimal number of clusters.
The K-medoid, also know as PAM, is a clustering algorithm similar to the more popular K-means algorithm. K-means and K-medoids work in similar ways in that they create groups in your data and work on distances (often referred to as dissimilarities) as they ensure that elements in each group are very similar to one another by minimising the distance within each cluster. However, K-medoids has the advantage of working on distances other than numerical and lends itself well to analyse mixed-type data that include both numerical and categorical features.
I’m going to calculate the dissimilarities between observations with the help of the daisy function from the cluster library, which allows to choose between a number of methods (“euclidean”, “manhattan” and “gower”) to run the calculations. The Gower’s distance (1971) is of particular interest to us as it computes dissimilarities on a [0 1] range regardless of whether the input is numerical or categorical, hence making them comparable.
Clustering
I’m going to segment the subscription data by the following 5 dimensions:
Status : Active / Cancelled
: Active / Cancelled Product Group : Standard / Premium
: Standard / Premium Top 3 Campaigns by Subscription Numbers : 56472 / 56972 / 57572
: 56472 / 56972 / 57572 Payment Method : Credit Card / Direct Debit / PayPal
: Credit Card / Direct Debit / PayPal Contract Monthly Price: £6.99 / £15
I’ll start with selecting the cut of the data I need for the clustering. I’m keeping account_id for my reference but will not pass it to the algorithm.
clust_data <-
data_clean %>%
# filtering by the top 3 campaigns
filter(campaign_code %in% c('57572', '56472', '56972')) %>%
# selecting 1M trial subscriptions
filter(trial_length == '1M') %>%
# select features to cluster by
select(account_id, status, product_group, campaign_code,
contract_monthly_price, payment_method
) %>%
# setting all features as factors
mutate(
account_id = account_id %>% as_factor(),
status = status %>% as_factor(),
product_group = product_group %>% as_factor(),
campaign_code = campaign_code %>% as_factor(),
contract_monthly_price = contract_monthly_price %>%
as_factor(),
payment_method = payment_method %>% as_factor()
)
Then, I compute the Gower distance with the daisy function from the cluster package. The “Gower’s distance” would automatically be selected if some features in the data are not numeric but I prefer to spell it out anyway.
gower_dist <-
clust_data %>%
# de-select account_id
select(2:6) %>%
daisy(metric = "gower")
And that’s that! You’re set to go!
Assessing the Clusters
There are a number of methods to establish the optimal number of clusters to use but in this study I’m using the silhouette coefficient, which contrasts the average distance of elements in the same cluster with average distance of elements in other clusters. In other words, each additional cluster is adding “compactness” to the individual segment, bringing their elements closer together, whilst “moving” each cluster further apart from one another.
First, I’m calculating the Partition Around Medoids (a.k.a. PAM) using the pam function from the cluster library. The one number to keep an eye on is the average silhouette width (or avg.width), which I’m storing away in the sil_width parameter.
sil_width <- c(NA) for (i in 2:8) {
pam_fit <- pam(gower_dist, diss = TRUE, k = i)
sil_width[i] <- pam_fit$silinfo$avg.width
}
In a business context, we want a number of clusters to be both meaningful and easy to handle, (i.e. 2 to 8) and 5-cluster configuration seems a good starting point to investigate.
sil_width %>%
as_tibble() %>%
rowid_to_column() %>%
filter(rowid %in% c(2:8)) %>%
ggplot(aes(rowid, value)) +
geom_line(colour = 'black', size = 0.7) +
geom_point(colour = 'black', size = 1.3) +
theme_minimal() +
labs(title = 'Silhouette Widths of k-medoid Clusters',
x = "Number of clusters",
y = 'Silhouette Width') +
theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5))
When deciding on the optimal number of clusters, DO NOT rely exclusively on the output of mathematical methods. Make sure you combine it with domain knowledge and your own judgement as often adding an extra segment (say, going from 5 to 6) may only add complexity for no extra insight.
Visualising the Segments with t-SNE
Now that I have a potential optimal number of clusters, I want to visualise them. To do so, I use the t-SNE ( t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding), a dimensionality reduction technique that assists with cluster visualisation in a similar way to Principal Component Analysis and UMAP.
First, I pull the partitioning data for the 5-cluster configuration from gower_dist
pam_fit <-
gower_dist %>%
# diss = TRUE to treat argument as dissimilarity matrix
pam(k = 5, diss = TRUE)
Then I construct the 2D projection of my 5-dimensional space with Rtsne and plot it
tsne_obj <- Rtsne(gower_dist, is_distance = TRUE)
tsne_obj$Y %>%
data.frame() %>%
setNames(c("X", "Y")) %>%
mutate(cluster = factor(pam_fit$clustering)) %>% # plot
ggplot(aes(x = X, y = Y, colour = cluster)) +
geom_point() +
theme_light() +
labs(title = 't-SNE 2D Projections of k-medoid Clusters') +
theme(plot.title = element_text(hjust = 0.5))
Aside from a few elements, there is a general good separation between clusters as well as closeness of elements within clusters, which confirms the segmentation relevance
Evaluating the Clusters
At this stage of a project you get to appreciate the main difference between Supervised and Unsupervised approaches. With the latter is the algorithm that does all the leg work but it’s still up to you to interpret the results and understand what the algorithm has found.
To properly evaluate the clusters, you want to first pull all information into one tibble that you can easily manipulate. I start by appending the cluster number from the pam_fit list to the clust_data.
pam_results <- clust_data %>%
# append the cluster information onto clust_data
mutate(cluster = pam_fit$clustering) %>%
# sort out variable order
select(account_id, cluster, everything()) %>%
# attach some extra data features from the data_clean file
left_join(select(data_clean, c(account_id, canc_reason)),
by = 'account_id') %>%
mutate_if(is.character, funs(factor(.)))
NOTE THAT I’m also bringing in canc_reason from data_clean, a dimension that I did NOT use in the calculations. It does not always work but sometimes it may reveal patterns you have not explicitly considered.
From experience I found that a very good exercise is to print out the summaries (on screen or paper) of each single cluster — here’s an example for cluster 2.
Lay all the summaries before you and let your inner Sherlock Holmes comes out to play! The story usually unfolds before your very eyes when you start comparing the differences between clusters.
pam_results %>%
filter(cluster == 2) %>%
select(-c(account_id , cluster, contract_monthly_price)) %>%
summary() ## status product_group campaign_code payment_method
## Cancelled:202 Standard:900 56472: 0 Direct Debit: 0
## Active :698 Premium : 0 57572:900 Credit Card :900
## 56972: 0 PayPal : 0
##
##
##
##
## canc_reason
## - :738
## Failed Payment: 81
## Lack of time : 46
## Price : 16
## Editorial : 8
## Other : 5
## (Other) : 6
When you have your story, you may want to frame it in a nice table or graph. Here I’m showing the code I used to assemble my own overall summary and then discuss the results but feel free to tailor it to your own taste and needs!
First I calculate subscription rate (my measure of success) and failed payment rate for each cluster…
# subscription rate - my measure of success...
subscr <-
pam_results %>%
group_by(cluster, status) %>%
count() %>%
ungroup() %>%
# lag to allign past (lagging) obs to present obs
mutate(lag_1 = lag(n, n = 1)) %>%
# sort out NAs
tidyr::fill(lag_1, .direction = "up") %>%
# calculate active to total rate perc difference
mutate(sub_rate = (n / (n + lag_1))) %>%
filter(status == 'Active') %>%
select(Cluster = cluster, Subsc.Rate = sub_rate) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1) # ... and failed payment rate
fail_pymt <-
pam_results %>%
group_by(cluster , canc_reason) %>%
count() %>%
ungroup() %>%
group_by(cluster) %>%
mutate(tot = sum(n)) %>%
# calculate failed payment rate to total
mutate(fail_pymt_rate = (n / tot)) %>%
ungroup() %>%
filter(canc_reason == 'Failed Payment') %>%
select(Cluster = cluster,
Failed.Pymt.Rate = fail_pymt_rate) %>%
adorn_pct_formatting(rounding = "half up", digits = 1)
Then, I bring all together in a handy table so that we can have a closer look
pam_results %>%
group_by(Cluster = cluster,
Campaign = campaign_code,
Product = product_group,
Mth.Price = contract_monthly_price) %>%
summarise(Cluster.Size = n()) %>%
ungroup() %>%
arrange(Campaign) %>%
# attach subscription rate from subscr
left_join(select(subscr, c(Cluster, Subsc.Rate)), by = 'Cluster') %>%
# attach failed payment rate from fail_pymt
left_join(select(fail_pymt,
c(Cluster, Failed.Pymt.Rate)), by = 'Cluster') %>%
kable(align = 'c')
Clus Camp Prod Mth.Price Clus.Size Subsc.Rate Fail.Pymt.Rate
1 56472 Standard 6.99 1061 75.8% 11.0%
2 57572 Standard 6.99 900 77.6% 9.0%
5 57572 Standard 6.99 621 72.5% 15.0%
3 56972 Standard 6.99 587 76.0% 9.9%
4 56972 Premium 15 264 64.8% 9.5%
Having focused on the top 3 campaigns was a good tactic and resulted in clear separation of the groups, which meant that the K-medoid discovered sub-groups within 2 campaigns.
Let’s take a look at campaign 57572 first:
cluster 5 has a lower Subscription Rate than most campaigns (74–76%, remember?) AND higher Failed Payment Rate
has a than most campaigns (74–76%, remember?) AND Further inspection reveals that the lower subscription rate is associated with Direct Debit and PayPal payments
pam_results %>% pam_results %>%
group_by(Cluster = cluster,
Pymt.Method = payment_method) %>%
summarise(Cluster.Size = n()) %>%
ungroup() %>%
filter(Cluster %in% c(2,5)) %>%
# attach subscription rate from subscr
left_join(select(subscr, c(Cluster, Subsc.Rate)), by = 'Cluster') %>%
kable(align = 'c')
Cluster Pymt.Method Cluster.Size Subsc.Rate
2 Credit Card 900 77.6%
5 Direct Debit 165 72.5%
5 PayPal 456 72.5%
RECOMMENDATION 3: there may be potential to incentivise Credit Card payments as they seem to associate with higher Subscription Rate
Let’s move on to campaign 56972:
We already found this campaign is attributed to acquisition of both products , and has a lower overall subscription rate of 72.5% if compared to our benchmark of 74–76%
, and has a of 72.5% if compared to our benchmark of 74–76% K-medoid split this out into two groups, revealing that premium product has a lower subscription rate than its standard counterpart
Clus Camp Prod Mth.Price Clus.Size Subsc.Rate Fail.Pymt.Rate
1 56472 Standard 6.99 1061 75.8% 11.0%
2 57572 Standard 6.99 900 77.6% 9.0%
5 57572 Standard 6.99 621 72.5% 15.0%
3 56972 Standard 6.99 587 76.0% 9.9%
4 56972 Premium 15 264 64.8% 9.5%
RECOMMENDATION 4: there may be potential to investigate different price points for Premium product that could help boost take up
RECOMMENDATION 5: acquisition campaigns should be more closely aligned to a single product to ensure accountability and better understanding of acquisition dynamics
Summary of recommendations
Review and solve high failed payment rate — This could result in a 10% potential boost in overall subscriptions
— This could result in a 10% potential boost in overall subscriptions Incentivise credit card payments — Subscriptions associated with this means of payment have a higher sign up rate that other payments methods
— Subscriptions associated with this means of payment have a higher sign up rate that other payments methods Investigate different price points for both standard & premium products — Lower price point could boost take up
— Lower price point could boost take up Keep campaigns more closely aligned to product — This would ensure better accountability and understanding of acquisition dynamics
Closing thoughts
In this project I revisited clustering, one of my favourite analytic methods, to explore and analyse a real-world dataset that included a mix of categorical and numerical feature. This required a different approach from the classical K-means algorithm that cannot be no directly applied to categorical data.
Instead, I used the K-medoids algorithm, also known as PAM (Partitioning Around Medoids), that has the advantage of working on distances other than numerical and lends itself well to analyse mixed-type data.
The silhouette coefficient helped to establish the optimal number of clusters, whilst t-SNE ( t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding), a dimensionality reduction technique akin Principal Component Analysis and UMAP, unveiled good separation between clusters as well as closeness of elements within clusters, confirming the segmentation relevance.
Finally, I condensed the insight generated from the analysis into a number of actionable and data-driven recommendations that, applied correctly, could help improve product sign up.
Code Repository
The full R code and all relevant files can be found on my GitHub profile @ K Medoid Clustering
References
For the article that inspired my foray into K-medois clustering see this excellent TDS post by Thomas Filaire: Clustering on mixed type data
For a tidy and fully-featured approach to counting things, see the tabyls Function Vignette
Appendix
Table 1 — Variable Definitions
ATTRIBUTE DESCRIPTION Account ID Unique account ID
Created Date Date of original account creation
Country Country of account holder
Status Current status - active/inactive
Product Group Product type
Payment Frequency Most subscriptions are a 1 year contract
Campaign Code Unique identifier for campaign
Start Date Start date of the trial
End Date Scheduled end of term
Cancellation Date Date of instruction to cancel
Cancellation Reason Reason given for cancellation
Monthly Price Current monthly price of subscription
Contract Monthly Price Price after promo period
Payment Method Payment method | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/segmenting-with-mixed-type-data-a-case-study-using-k-medoids-on-subscription-data-c4f8752fc1d4 | ['Diego Usai'] | 2020-05-15 16:00:59.293000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualization', 'Business Intelligence', 'Analytics'] |
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How to Buy and Trade $PPAY on Uniswap and Plasma.Finance | PPAY is the utility token that confers huge benefits to its users including rewards, governance rights and a multitude of utilities within the Plasma.Finance ecosystem.
First though, you need to get your hands on the tokens themselves. Here we offer a handy guide on how to buy and trade PPAY on Uniswap and Plasma.Finance to get you on the path to enjoying all that our native token has to offer.
Uniswap
From the Uniswap homepage you can click the Launch App button or go directly to the app by clicking here. Then simply connect Uniswap to a Web 3.0 wallet such as Metamask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic or Portis.
From the swap page on Uniswap you can then transfer any existing ERC20 tokens (ETH, USDT) into PPAY.
NOTE: No matter what token you intend to swap for PPAY you will have to have at least some ETH in your wallet to pay for gas fees.
First select the From field to select the token you wish to swap for PPAY. Then go to the To field below and select PPAY. We advise using the contract address to ensure you are swapping into the genuine PPAY token. The contract address for PPAY is:
0x054d64b73d3d8a21af3d764efd76bcaa774f3bb2
The Enter an amount button should then change to Swap. Click to proceed with the token swap. From there, your wallet should pop up and tell you the gas costs and to confirm the transaction.
Plasma.Finance
From the Plasma.Finance dashboard you will be invited to Connect to a Web 3.0 wallet such as Metamask, WalletConnect, Coinbase Wallet, Fortmatic, Portis or, of course, your PlasmaPay wallet.
On the left hand side of the screen click on the Swap tab directly below the Overview button. This will then present the token swap page.
This screen should be simple and easy to operate for anyone familiar with Uniswap.
However, unlike Uniswap if you select a token amount in the From field higher than the current balance of your wallet you will be invited to Set Max to use the maximum number currently in your wallet, or to Buy More tokens including with Credit Card, or European bank details. You simply state the amount of tokens you want and then choose Buy Now.
Here we show the process from ETH to USDT as an example.
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Twitter Mob Cancels Saint Nick | 100,000 tweeters respond to the call to cancel Santa Claus.
The cause to cancel Claus began when Karen Sycamore, 32 of Buffalo, New York, became outraged over the content of the classic Christmas book The Night Before Christmas.
While browsing through holiday cookbooks, her two children, Ashley, age six, and Jasper, four, looked at the Children’s book on a table next to her. Ashley ran up to her with the offensive material in hand. After browsing the book, she told the children, “Go return the book to the pile from where you found it. Mommy already ordered you a Christmas book which includes a doll called The Elf on the Shelf.”
Outraged over the picture she saw in The Night Before Christmas, Karen later posted on her Facebook page,
I try to stay holiday neutral and respect the diversity of the various holidays celebrated at this time of the year. So, I picked out several books one for each holiday: Thanksgiving, Hanukah, Saturnalia, and Kwanza. I had already ordered the children an illustrated Christmas story. The children came to me with this profane book. At first I thought, “How safe and fun.” While thumbing through the cute little book, I was shocked. My shock turned to outrage when I saw Santa’s mistreatment of his eight tiny reindeer. With glee on his face, Santa cracked his whip at those poor creatures. Now Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen looked absolutely terrified.
Ms. Sycamore contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA. They informed Ms. Sycamore to provide actual pictures or video footage. This would give weight to her cause.
She went to the local public library to find the book with the damning evidence and checked the last copy. Karen provided photocopies to PETA’s legal team.
Ahead of the legal proceedings, PETA staged a demonstration at the closest settlement to the North Pole. Traveling to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, a team of protesters demonstrated against Santa Claus. The protesters held signs denouncing Santa Claus and his many aliases: Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Sinter Klaus, and Popo Gigo, to name just a few.
Several protestors were hospitalized for exposure.
One of the locals commented, “This time of the year, protesting nude in Longyearbyen is never a prudent thing.”
A PETA spokesperson assured us the animal rights crusaders were released after treatment for frostbite and mild hypothermia. One unnamed protestor lost one little piggie that went to the market.
The law firm of Hough and Pough representing Ms. Sycamore has filed suit against Santa. Ms. Sycamore gave as evidence several VHS tapes with footage of Claus’ misdeeds. Ian Hough, the lead on the case, pointed out that footage from the Santa Clause movie franchise as evidence would be costly. After reviewing the evidence, Ian Hough replied, “Ma’am, these are fictional movies. If Disney even sniffs a lawsuit, there’s a team of lawyers that will keep us in litigation for decades.”
Ever vigilant, Karen spoke with several store managers about removing all Santa Clause items from the stores. Though many of the managers ensured action, she has yet to hear back from one. Santa Claus still fills the stores.
She was banned from several shopping malls after assaulting the mall’s Santa Claus.
In desperation, Karen Sycamore tweeted on Twitter the cancel Claus cause. So far, 100,000 tweeters have tweeted to cancel the animal abusing “twit” — their word.
Asked if anyone has threatened her because of her cause against Claus, Karen responded, “Yes! A hacker who goes by Krampus and has an Avatar of half-goat, half-demon has stalked me on the internet. He has made my life miserable with his threats against me. Krampus says he is coming for me. The homeowners association has doubled security at our gated community.”
The Interpol Cyber Division has traced his IP Address to somewhere in Scandinavia. “We have yet to pinpoint his location. The IP Address appears to originate miles below the earth’s crust. Never seen anything like it.
An anonymous spokes-elf stated, Santa is too busy to address this nonsense right now. He will be available after the holidays.
Never one to be outdone, the Editor and Chief, the Old Toad, claims PETA contacted him concerning accusations of toad abuse at the Whole Toad News Service. He claims they claim exploitation of amphibians.
The Old Toad Croaked, “These are false allegations by CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and the nightly news to discredit the integrity of the world's foremost fake new service.”
The PETA Spokesperson responded, “We have never heard of the Whole Toad News Service. What kind of idiot would name their news organization the Whole Toad News Service?”
Story to follow: Karen Sycamore is charged with assault and battery against store Claus and violation of the city’s social distancing ordinances.
The Whole Toad News Service — unapologetically creating the news since 2016. | https://medium.com/muddyum/twitter-mob-cancels-saint-nick-9f617986446a | ['Don Feazelle'] | 2020-12-03 21:37:19.666000+00:00 | ['Animal Rights', 'Cancel Culture', 'Santa Claus', 'Humor', 'Fake News'] |
Serenity announces new partner: brokerage house MaxiMarkets | We are pleased to announce our new partner — Maxi Services Ltd.
Maxi Services Ltd. is an emerging global market leader in financial trading. The company was established in 2008 and is now a rapidly growing brokerage house that enables retail and institutional investors (banks, hedge funds, high-frequency traders, brokerage companies) to trade Indices, Commodities and Forex. In order to provide the most favorable trading conditions and the best customer service, the Maxi Services Ltd. strategy is to partner with the leading financial institutions in each region the company operates in. Low spreads and the absence of any hidden commissions make MaxiMarkets an advantageous partner for traders.
According to MaxiMarkets, “Serenity is a new and different mechanism for the brokers and more importantly, for traders. We support Serenity efforts to build an environment that will ensure trading is being done at fair market prices. Also, transparency and safety that Serenity wishes to bring to the financial markets is the approach that we support here at MaxiMarkets”
Alexander Stanovoy, the CBDO of Serenity added “Serenity is thrilled to welcome onboard Maxi Services Ltd., a very popular brokerage house worldwide. Maxi Services Ltd. is a broker with spotless reputation. This is great that such technologically sophisticated brokers as MaxiMarkets partner with Serenity.” | https://medium.com/serenity-project/serenity-announces-new-partner-brokerage-house-maximarkets-7e0e5bf95f62 | ['Serenity Financial'] | 2018-05-03 15:49:44.027000+00:00 | ['Ethereum Blockchain', 'Forex Brokers', 'Forex Trading', 'Forex', 'Finance'] |
Acknowledge Death | What can you do today that would make you feel ok to die tomorrow?
Not knowing how much time you have left is an advantage. The countdown will only tempt you to rush through life. And when you rush, you don’t get to enjoy the process.
There will always be a list of things you wished you could’ve done. That’s how it should be. Accomplishments lead to contentment. But staying in contentment can make you stagnant. That’s when boredom makes you wonder: Is this all there is to it?
Life is not a checklist but a series of problems need to be solved. Problems turn you into the person you should be. Face it with courage.
Having the intent to do solve problems weigh nothing. You must take action. Thinking it only relieves you from internal guilt but no one else benefits from it (including yourself).
There is more to gain in failing than in winning. Failure gifts you with lessons, not embarrassment. Critics may embarrass you but thank them for showing who you really are to the world.
Strive to be the best version of yourself. The better you are the better you can serve others. But don’t use that as an excuse to avoid doing what you really want. The people you serve also want you to be happy. Spare them the burden of feeling guilty for holding you back.
If you don’t think you’re gonna die today, then do something that would make things better than yesterday. | https://medium.com/quick-1/acknowledge-death-d122459b96bd | ['Rj Reyes'] | 2020-03-26 16:33:20.990000+00:00 | ['Note To Self', 'Death', 'Improvement'] |
The Dominican Republic’s Hope for April: Smooth Sailing | The Dominican Republic has the UNSC presidency this month and intends to preside over it “like a sailboat, we’ll go wherever the wind takes us.”
by Stéphanie Fillion. Read more on PassBlue.
José Singer Weisinger, the special envoy of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, in the Security Council, Sept. 18, 2019, with members of his delegation. His country assumes the presidency in April, after a tumultuous month in which the Council suddenly switched to privately held meetings online amid the coronavirus pandemic. ARIANA LINDQUIST/UN PHOTO
With the incremental transformation the Security Council has gone through in March by transferring the bulk of its meetings online, the Dominican Republic’s special envoy to the United Nations intends to preside over the Council “like a sailboat, we’ll go wherever the wind takes us.”
As the agenda of the Council will be adopted on a daily basis, there is little predictability ahead for the body, but José Singer Weisinger, the envoy, promises more transparency: “The important thing is that the whole world knows the Security Council is engaged, and it is completely transparent.”
To do so, the Dominican Republic plans to live-stream some of the Council’s meetings, which have been held by videoconference (VTC) since mid-March, for the first time in the Council’s history. But Russia is still apparently pushing for the virtual meetings to be called “informal” and thus closed to the public — while the Dominican Republic is trying to change this.
Some of the 10 elected members of the Council are also requesting a meeting on the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on peace and security — a topic that China, as president of the Council last month, was unable to do for political reasons and possibly because of its own unwillingness, too.
Still, the Council’s program of work is packed for April: the Dominican Republic’s priorities include an open meeting on youth, peace and security as well as protecting civilians from conflict-induced hunger. The Council will also discuss Yemen, Israel-Palestine, Colombia, Syria and the Great Lakes region in West Africa.
Besides the Council’s sudden changes in how it works in the age of Covid-19, Singer will be leading the world body from Santo Domingo, his country’s capital. It’s the Dominican Republic’s last year on the Council until probably 2050, the next time it could get a seat as a member of the Latin American and Caribbean regional group in the UN.
So Singer is leaning on a Caribbean style metaphor, going where the wind takes him, he said in a phone interview from his office in Santo Domingo. But he is determined to make sure his presidency leaves a paper trail for his country’s work in April 2020 and for the UN history books, when they document what happened during the coronavirus pandemic.
Singer held a media briefing by videoconference on April 1, offering the journalists who cover the UN a live window into the Council’s work since it began meeting exclusively in closed virtual sessions in mid-March.
Each month, PassBlue profiles UN ambassadors as they assume the Council presidency. To hear an original audio interview with Singer and more details on the Dominican Republic’s goals for April, download PassBlue’s latest episode of UN-Scripted. (Excerpts of the podcast are also below.)
Dominican Republic’s Special Envoy: José Singer Weisinger, 68
Envoy to UN Since: January 2019 (the permanent representative is Francisco A. Cortorreal)
Languages: English, Spanish
Education: Adelphi University (Garden City, N.Y.), bachelor’s degree in business
His story, briefly: The month of April is José Singer Weisinger’s second and final month on the Council as president — and his term as special envoy will likely end at the same time. Singer, a businessman, was sent to New York City to help with the presidency. He pays for all his expenses in New York City and says it’s a gift to his country.
But Singer was already familiar with the United States before coming to the UN headquarters: he studied business at Adelphi University on Long Island. He started his own business, buying a printing company in 1987 and one in plastics in 1992. Today, his two companies, based in the Dominican Republic, have more than 1,000 employees combined, he said, and his children are taking care of the businesses while he’s working in the Security Council.
In an interview with PassBlue during his first term as president, he said, “I may be the first Adelphi graduate to sit in the Security Council.”
Singer said he returned to Santo Domingo when the UN physically closed, in mid-March, to conduct his presidency from there remotely. He may not be the only Council member, however, to return home, as the coronavirus pandemic may force other diplomats to be repatriated and run their respective presidencies from their capital as well.
Thinking back about his term and his background, Singer says: “I really have been accepted by other ambassadors thinking outside of the box, which is mainly the strong part which I bring to the Council, to see how we can get out of this situation where we’re talk, talk, talk and don’t agree on anything. So we have to get there. So we’ll keep fighting.”
He also says that despite the long time that will lapse until the Dominican Republic’s next term on the Council, he thinks his team’s experience will serve the country’s foreign ministry and its delegation in the General Assembly for years to come.
Singer talked to PassBlue on March 30. His remarks have been edited for space and clarity.
Q. You’re talking to us from the Dominican Republic right now? Yes. I never thought that I wouldn’t go back to run the Council from New York or we weren’t able to have meetings. So that’s when the whole thing started on how are we going to manage the Council under these circumstances. . . . So the Dominican presidency is going to be handled like a sailboat, go wherever the wind takes us. These are very challenging times for the whole world. The important thing is that the Security Council is engaged, and it is completely transparent. That’s the goal of our presidency, and we would leave a long paper trail. Since it’s going to be informal, we weren’t able to convince a couple members that they [meetings] should be more formal [open]. We’re going to have it in a way that the history is there. And, you know, the Chinese presidency was able to make agreements for voting purposes. Then we submitted a working method that took a pragmatic approach, with the most important thing to us is that the Council is working.
Q. I imagine that the coronavirus changed your plans as president, so how was it in March to get ready and take over from China in April? I think we have to thank China because they were able to solve the problem of the voting on resolutions and Council members agreed, and today we are holding the first voting on four different topics. We adapted the working methods as if we’re going to have a full schedule. For the whole month, there will be a program that we’re going to take day by day, and everybody agrees with that. It’s part of the way we want to run the presidency. We want to be very, very practical. These are challenging times, and there’s no time for infighting.
Q. Can you tell me a little more about the political barriers that you encountered in getting Council work done in the last month? At first there was a lot of uncertainty on how to do things. We had to get it right. I think the experience of the Chinese presidency has helped us greatly to have something more compact and to know where we’re going. I don’t want to judge him [Ambassador Zhang Jun]; I think if I had been in that position, I probably would have had the same uncertainties, and all the other members would have had the same uncertainties. We know that voting is one of the most important things [for the Council] and that got done.
Head of State: President Danilo Medina Sánchez
Foreign Affairs Minister: Miguel Vargas
Type of Government: Representative republic
Year Dominican Republic Joined the UN: 1945
Years in the Security Council: 2019–2020
Population: 10.7 million
Memberships in Regional Groups: Organization of American States (OAS), Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, Group of 77 (G77), Inter-American Development Bank | https://passblue-un.medium.com/the-dominican-republics-hope-for-april-smooth-sailing-a318194de000 | [] | 2020-04-04 01:00:05.746000+00:00 | ['United Nations', 'Foreign Policy', 'Diplomacy', 'Dominican Republic', 'Security'] |
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Thanks for reading. | https://medium.com/@gagan24626/how-i-get-professional-looking-website-at-cheap-price-fb08f68d23b4 | ['Gagandeep Singh'] | 2020-04-23 07:35:46.353000+00:00 | ['Wordpress Web Development', 'Web Design', 'How To Make Website', 'Website Development', 'Website Design'] |
The Missing List of JupyterLab Keyboard Shortcuts | With keyboard shortcuts, you can whiz around Jupyter notebooks in JupyterLab. You can save time, reduce wrist fatigue from using your mouse, and impress your friends. 🙂
Below is the missing list of common JupyterLab keyboard shortcuts from a GitHub Gist I made. Enjoy! 🎉
If you want to make your own JupyterLab shortcuts, I wrote a guide to doing that here. 🚀
I write about Python, SQL, Docker, and other tech topics. If any of that’s of interest to you, sign up for my mailing list of awesome data science resources and read more to help you grow your skills here. 👍
Happy JupyterLab-ing! 🎉 | https://towardsdatascience.com/the-missing-list-of-jupyterlab-keyboard-shortcuts-c613ff711a20 | ['Jeff Hale'] | 2020-10-16 21:45:19.823000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Jupyter'] |
Introduction to Anomaly Detection in Time-Series Data and K-Means Clustering | Introduction to Anomaly Detection in Time-Series Data and K-Means Clustering
Introduction to anomaly detection and time-series data
Incredible amounts of data are being created and collected at any time in a variety of sectors. Autonomous vehicles continuously receive information about their surroundings from sensors to navigate on the roads; large antennas emit radio transmissions at fixed frequencies to millions around the globe; major banking corporations track transactions to prevent fraudulent behaviour. Such data collected at regular intervals into a dataset is known as a time-series. These types of datasets are typically used for statistical analysis but are increasingly used for machine learning purposes. A key area in which time-series are crucial is anomaly detection.
Figure 1 — The evolution of COVID-19 cases over a month can be considered as time-series
Data collected from a source for tracking purposes usually follows expected patterns, considered to be ordinary behaviour. For example, the evolution of the sea level due to tides is expected to be sinusoidal. However, this regular state can be disrupted by an exceptional event which will translate into an unusual pattern unlike any other in the dataset. Such an event is an anomaly. Depending on the nature of the time-series and the anomaly, different features (ie. properties of the observed event) are used to detect it.
Anomalies can be a collection of data points which deviate from the trend. In this case, they are called outliers. Contrary to classic statistical analysis, outliers can’t simply be eliminated from the dataset on the basis of experimental flaws or random noise, since they could indicate serious anomalies.
Figure 2 — Example of an outlier on a basic graph
In the case of univariate series (a simple time-series with only one parameter varying over time), such as depicted in Figure 2, a simple graph is enough to observe outliers.
Other methods have to be used in the case of multivariate series, that is when we wish to model and study the interactions among several variables. Machine Learning provides useful methods, such as:
Local Outlier Factor (LOF). Outliers are detected by their local density, which is expected to be low, in comparison to that of their neighbours. This is done by choosing a number of immediate neighbours k and determining the distance between a particular point and its k-th neighbour. Then, the local reachable density of each point is calculated (intuitively, this is how far we have to travel from one cluster to another). From this, we can deduce the local outlier factor for every point. Generally, an outlier is detected if his LOF is higher than 1. This method easily detects unique and obvious outliers but shows its limits when detecting outliers close to a cluster or a group of outliers.
One Class SVM. For a given dataset where data points belong to one particular class, the goal is to determine if a new data point will belong to this class or not (in which case it is an outlier). To this end, data points belonging to this one class are isolated from the rest thanks to hyperplanes. If the points can be scattered on a plane, they are separated thanks to lines; if they are scattered in three-dimensional space, they are separated thanks to planes. It is usual to have n-dimensional calculations.
LSTM autoencoder. This neuronal network method recreates the input data based on the data it was trained on. The reconstruction error is evaluated, and if it is above a certain threshold, an anomaly is detected.
All three above methods are examples of, respectively, unsupervised, supervised and deep learning models.
In the following section, we will describe the process of detecting outliers thanks to another unsupervised learning algorithm: K-means clustering. This method is simple to implement and accessible thanks to its clear visual representation.
K-means clustering
This method looks at the data points in the set and groups those that are similar (e.g. through Euclidean distance) into a predefined number K of clusters. A threshold value can be added to detect anomalies: if the distance between a data point and its nearest centroid is greater than the threshold value, then it is an anomaly. A typical K-Means Clustering algorithm using Euclidean distance follows these steps:
Randomly assign a number, from 1 to K, to each of the observations. Iterate until the cluster assignments stop changing: For each of the K clusters, compute the cluster centroid. The kth cluster centroid is the vector of the p feature means for the observations in the kth cluster. Assign each observation to the cluster with center closest to the observation using Euclidean distance, unless it is greater than the threshold value.
Figure 3 — Visual representation of K-Means Clustering with no threshold for K=2
This method isn’t ideal, however. The main difficulty resides in choosing K, since data in a time series is always changing and different values of K might be ideal at different times. Besides, in more complex scenarios where there are both local and global outliers, many outliers might pass under the radar and be assigned to a cluster. Another possibility is forming a cluster of anomalies if there are several of them that are alike, which would mean new anomalies would be considered as part of the normal dataset.
Graphs and clustering techniques are great ways to visually observe anomalies, but many more methods exist. An intuitive one is the use of min-max. A regular data pattern can be considered to be contained between a minimal and maximal value. If a data point exceeds this min-max interval, it may be regarded as an anomaly. Another important method uses the derivative feature: if the data pattern changes much faster (or slower) than usual, this can indicate an anomalous event. The key is to use complementary methods: anomalies detected through a change of variation might pass the min-max test.
Though many methods exist to detect unusual events in a time-series dataset, these are intrinsically unsupervised techniques. An outlier detected through K-Means Clustering might actually not be an anomaly; in this case, human input is required to teach algorithms whether exceptional events should be noticed or ignored. This is the basis of anomaly detection: man-machine cooperation to transition from unsupervised learning to supervised learning, an application that can be used in a variety of sectors. | https://medium.com/swlh/introduction-to-anomaly-detection-in-time-series-data-and-k-means-clustering-5832fb33d8cb | ['Bora Kizil'] | 2020-11-02 14:33:06.044000+00:00 | ['Time Series Data', 'K Means', 'Machine Learning', 'Time Series Analysis', 'Anomaly Detection'] |
Redshift with Rockset: High performance queries for operational analytics | In this blog, I will show how to enable high performance queries for interactive analytics on Redshift using Rockset. I will walk through steps for setting up an integration between Rockset and a Redshift table and run millisecond-latency SQL on it, for powering an interactive Tableau dashboard.
Data warehouse services like Amazon Redshift are ideal for running complex queries for low concurrency workloads. They can easily scale to petabytes of data and are great for running business reports. Now suppose an organization wants to operationalize the data that’s in Redshift, in the form of an interactive dashboard that allows users to interactively query data in Redshift. There are two challenges:
Such interactive dashboards demand millisecond-query latency for ad hoc queries, which is not typically supported by Redshift. If the dashboard is used by tens of users simultaneously, Redshift cannot support this level of concurrent queries since its not built for high QPS.
To solve this, we can connect Rockset to Redshift and have the operational dashboard issue queries against Rockset instead of Redshift. With Rockset, you can continuously import your data sitting in Amazon Redshift clusters without any ETL, run fast SQL and perform operational analytics without worrying about capacity planning, cluster sizing or performance tuning.
Redshift Integration
Each Amazon Redshift cluster can have multiple databases, schemas and tables and each table requires data definition to be defined before inserting data. Rockset makes it easy to connect a Redshift cluster and use the same set of permissions to access all the tables inside a cluster. Also, you don’t need to provide any data schema to create collection in Rockset. Rockset uses Redshift’s unload capability to stage data into a S3 bucket in the same region as the cluster and then ingests data from that S3 bucket. Rockset unloads data using parallel option to stage it faster.
Live Sync
Rockset also allows user to specify a timestamp field in the source Redshift table like last_updated_at to monitor for new updates. The sync latency is no more than a few seconds when the source Redshift table is getting updated continuously and no more than 5 minutes when the source gets updated infrequently. This currently handles only updates and new inserts in the source table. Support for record deletes is coming soon. Rockset requires source Redshift table to have Primary Keys. Primary key values from the Redshift table are used to construct the_id field in Rockset to uniquely identify a document in a Rockset collection. This ensures that updates to an existing item in the Redshift table are applied to the corresponding document in Rockset.
Connecting Redshift to Rockset
For this demo, I have loaded sample Oakland Call Center data in Amazon Redshift which I will use to create the Redshift integration below. This uses REQUESTID as the primary key in Redshift. Also I have created a column named updated_at in the the source Redshift table which sets it to current time, whenever a record is inserted or updated. The create command on Redshift looks like this:
create table oakland_call_center (
....
....
updated_at datetime default sysdate);
For the steps below I’m going to use the Rockset console. You can also create an account in Rockset by signing up here.
Creating a Redshift Integration
To let Rockset access Redshift cluster, I will create an Integration with all the permissions required to access it. This includes IAM permission for the S3 bucket which exists in the same account and region as the Redshift cluster and database permissions for Redshift user. For more information, you can refer to the docs.
Creating a Rockset collection
Once the Redshift Integration is set up, we are ready to use it to ingest different tables in Redshift cluster. Rockset requires the database, schema and table name at this step.
At this step the collection is created and getting updated with data from the specified Redshift table. We can now start querying the data.
Querying Redshift Data in Rockset
Each row in Redshift table corresponds to one record in Rockset collection. Let’s describe and see all the fields in the collection. For Datetime type fields in Redshift table, Rockset stores it as timestamp with the default UTC timezone.
Now, let’s run some queries on this dataset to understand call center operations. First query below checks the number of requests across different sources in the last 3 days.
Using Tableau I also plotted this chart to analyze the trend.
Most of the requests come through SeeClickFix (a mobile app to raise requests). Next let’s check how many of these were CANCELED (A request is cancelled if it was created erroneously). Agents answering customer calls spend time on such requests as well and a large number of these can be a good indicator to fix something in the request flow.
The collection also tracks when the issue was resolved. Let’s check the average number of days taken to resolve a case based on the type of request. Resolving a case involves external factors and can be used to dig deeper into operations of other teams which take long time to resolve.
Summary
The queries I performed are just a subset of the queries that operational dashboards typically require. Rockset supports JOINs so you can run complex queries across collections. I simply created the Redshift integration with Rockset and performed fast SQL without any ETL or cluster re-sizing. The entire process of loading the data, querying the collection and building charts took about a couple of hours. Rockset makes it easy for data practitioners to ingest and join data across different Redshift tables or even other sources! | https://medium.com/rocksetcloud/redshift-with-rockset-high-performance-queries-for-operational-analytics-f2f8041d8d1b | ['Kshitij Wadhwa'] | 2019-09-04 19:02:09.015000+00:00 | ['Real Time Analytics', 'Tableau', 'Redshift', 'Concurrency', 'Dashboard'] |
Poor People Make Great Immigrants | Poor People Make Great Immigrants
Capitalism loves the poor
Workers looking at the Forbidden City. Beijing, 2012
I have been in business and the best thing you can have is a cheap and abundant labor. Whether you’re running a restaurant or Amazon, you need people, and the cheaper those people are, the more money you get to keep. Poor people work for cheap. They drive the whole economy.
If poor people want to immigrate your country, shut up and be blessed.
Poor People Make Everything
Poor people have made your clothes, your phone, basically everything you own that wasn’t stupidly expensive or ‘bespoke’. They have picked, handled, transported and probably made your food. They take out your garbage and keep your cities livable. They care for your children and your sick. They have also made all the fortunes you see — all the millionaires and billionaires — with their labor.
Literally look around the room you are in. Look around your body. Poor peoples hands have touched your clothes, they have built your furniture, your electronics, even your most sophisticated products. They have carried these items on and off ships, they have driven them through the night; they have waited around till you walked in to buy them. We are literally held and carried aloft by the labor of the poor, and we scoff at it. We should be grateful. If poor people want to immigrate your country, shut up and be blessed.
When a poor person is working everyone is making money, except probably the poor person.
Poor People Make Money
The nature of a capitalist economy is that people making or doing stuff makes money. The worker makes some money for themselves. The capitalist sells the product for more and keeps the surplus. The consumer also gets a surplus, in the form of cheap goods or services. The state gets a cut of everything.
When a poor person is working everyone is making money, except probably the poor person. They are likely spending most of their paycheck on essentials or rent or exorbitant debt, and the rest on payroll or sales taxes. They are basically the perfect capitalist unit which extracts the least surplus from the whole process.
For Nations
If a poor immigrant lands at your door, they are not another mouth to feed. They are a gift. They are people who will work, and for less money than the frankly entitled people that are already there. Immigrants bring the gift of labor — a gift for capitalists and consumers and the entire economy.
Globalization has allowed this gift to happen without people seeing it. An iPhone gets built by poor people in China without having to see the poor or interact with them. But this has limits. Rich economies need people in their countries to supply services — nurses, cooks — and to make their local manufacturing more competitive. They also desperately need young, working people to make up for declining birth rates. Immigrants pay for entitlements, they don’t drain them. Immigrants are the children rich countries forgot to have.
For Capitalists
A true capitalist loves the poor, not because they are charitable, but because they are greedy. Poor labor creates the most surplus, because it can be exploited. The more poor people you have the better, the more surplus it creates. In short, poor people will work terrible jobs for peanuts, and the capitalist can keep the difference.
For Consumers
Someone in a capitalist society (ie, a consumer) also loves the poor because they make everything cheaper. You get TVs and restaurant dinners for prices you can afford because people didn’t get paid that well. You get people doing the work you need but don’t want to do — like building your house, feeding and clothing you and caring for your children and sick — literally the most important things in the world. For cheap. Because they’re poor.
The hatred of the poor is stronger than any economic force.
Poor People Are Dirty Though, Ew
Westerners like to say they are capitalist, but really they just like being rich. They don’t understand the weird trade-offs required to make capitalism work. For example, ‘they’re going to take our jobs!’ is not a bad thing. More competition means lower pay, which is music to a capitalists ears.
Unfortunately, this political slogan isn’t even true. Westerners don’t want to work in meat packing plants or warehouses, those aren’t ‘their’ jobs in any real sense anymore. It’s just racism, and ancient hatred of the poor.
Westerners are so repulsed by the idea of poor brown people that they demand ‘skilled’ migration, which actually does take their jobs. They would rather lose a desirable job to a presentable brown person than have a ‘dirty’ (re: poor) brown person do labor their country desperately needs. The hatred of the poor is stronger than any economic force.
Evolution
This hatred is an old evolutionary feeling that goes back to when you could only support say 100 people on a given plot of land, like modern toque macaque populations in Polonnaruwa¹. These apes are fiercely hierarchical and the ones at the bottom literally get beaten and not fed. This makes evolutionary sense because there’s only so much food to go around. Their population waxes and wanes with the food supply.
Economics
But that’s not economics. Humans have more than enough food and we’re creating value out of loot boxes in video games. We have mastered cooperation and tamed competition into serving our collective ends. Capitalism has figured out how to extract value out of the poor rather than just starving them to death. But this is a paradox, like many things in capitalism, which most people don’t really understand.
The paradox is that poverty creates wealth. Cheap labor creates cheap goods and a surplus for capitalists and the state. This is very simple equation, it’s only human culture that’s complicated. But it shouldn’t be. I’m not even getting into the moral abomination that is discrimination against the poor. I am simply saying that from a purely capitalist perspective, the poor are great. The more poor immigrants, the better. Welcome them in. Invest in them. They’ll make money for everyone. | https://indica.medium.com/why-capitalism-loves-the-poor-84aa13539e29 | ['Indi Samarajiva'] | 2019-08-15 15:11:55.521000+00:00 | ['World', 'Poverty', 'Business', 'Immigration', 'Economics'] |
Nicasio Loses Six Historic Dairy Ranches to Reservoir | By Dewey Livingston
The Tognalda ranch, established in the 1850s, is burned to make way for Nicasio Reservoir in 1959. Courtesy of Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD)
Excerpted and adapted from Nicasio: The Historic Valley at the Center of Marin, 2012 edition, published by Nicasio Historical Society.
In the years following World War II, the entire country commenced a program of progress. There were education and jobs for returning soldiers, progressive social programs and economic stimuli, improved highways, water systems and general infrastructure, and new housing. The explosive growth of the suburbs during the 1950s affected farming lands surrounding metropolitan areas in many ways, including improved access via modern highways and freeways, upgrades of utilities and telephone services, and sale and subsequent destruction of farm and ranch lands. The spread of the suburbs also brought entire new populations to rural places and displaced families that had been in residence for generations.
For the most part this did not happen in Nicasio Valley; the old roads were not widened, freeway plans were abandoned, and subdivisions were not at all dense. But the rapid suburban growth in eastern Marin brought one project that forever changed the face of the valley — Nicasio Reservoir. Creation of this new water source would obliterate some of the oldest and most historic properties and buildings in Marin County.
Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) grew out of smaller agencies that had been created to bring water supplies to San Rafael and its neighboring towns as they grew during the twentieth century. Water sources on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais provided adequate supplies for the growing county during the first half of the century. As growth increased in the 1950s with the development of Marinwood, Terra Linda, Santa Venetia, Sleepy Hollow, Greenbrae, Madera Gardens, Tiburon and other new communities, the Tamalpais watershed no longer provided enough water and the MMWD searched for new sources. By 1952, “Doc” Varon Smith of Nicasio got word of a plan that would entail a dam in the valley. The Druids called a meeting of “all Nicasio voters and property owners” in June of that year to discuss the MMWD’s water needs and how it could affect Nicasio. By the next year, the agency was at work measuring runoff from the 26,500-acre watershed and installing rain gauges in the area. In 1956, MMWD applied to the State Water Rights Board for water rights to Nicasio Creek, however local residents were informed only through rumor and newspaper articles.
MMWD’s project engineer B. G. Grant determined by 1957 that a reservoir placed in the lower part of the valley could store 8,698 billion gallons of water behind a 170-foot dam, but this would require the condemnation, or purchase, of portions of ten ranch properties totaling over 6,600 acres. The adopted dam size would be smaller and actual acreage taken would be 1,516 acres. However, since most ranch buildings were in the lower areas, six dairy ranches would be put out of business and another five affected by loss of property. Also, lengthy sections of the Nicasio Valley and Point Reyes-Petaluma roads would be inundated, requiring construction of a new bypass at higher elevations to encircle the new lake.
Site of the dam, early in construction. It will block the canyon at right. Courtesy of MMWD.
Construction of the dam would also require a filtration plant because the product of the shallow reservoir would be silty. Water would be piped from the dam to Lagunitas Creek and uphill via the abandoned Northwestern Pacific Railroad grade to a new treatment plant in Woodacre. MMWD called a $12,600,000 bond election in 1956 to pay for Nicasio Dam, water treatment plants at San Geronimo and Bon Tempe (above Ross), modern new offices in Corte Madera, and the required pumps, tanks and transmission facilities. Being out of the water district boundaries, the helpless Nicasio residents did not qualify to vote on the issue.
The November 1956 election brought victory to the water users: 33,385 for and 7,741 against. The MMWD was authorized to create a reservoir large enough to flood the town of Nicasio, but they chose a smaller option. Nonetheless, it would be the largest dam in the MMWD system.
William Robert Seeger, considered the district’s major figure in development during the twentieth century, oversaw the engineering and construction of Nicasio Dam. Seeger, a competent engineer but soon a pariah in Nicasio, first had to contend with the protests of Nicasio landowners. Seeger hoped that the dam would be completed by late 1959.
The dam would put the Farley, McIsaac, Tognalda, Garzoli, Tomasini and Tom Gallagher ranches completely out of business, having flooded their homes and barns, and adversely affect others in the vicinity. These families represented a cumulative 500 years of productive residence in Marin County. The northern Gallagher, Dolcini and Lafranchi ranches would lose good grazing land. Bill Hall would be forced out of the dairy business in 1964, despite being unaffected by land sales to MMWD.
Map of the six dairy ranches flooded by reservoir waters. All of these dated to the 1850s. Map by Dewey Livingston.
Alternate ideas began to arrive as soon as the dam was announced. In December 1956 Marin County Supervisor Ernest Kettenhofen proposed a dam at the head of Tomales Bay instead of the Nicasio dam. Charles East of Healdsburg claimed he could deliver water by gravity along railroad right-of-way from Dry Creek in Sonoma County to Marin and Nicasio residents for $35 per acre-foot. Bob Moir, a water expert on the state Chamber of Commerce, suggested that residents form their own water corporation and get water rights before MMWD, leaving an impartial state water board to decide what’s best for local residents. People talked about a proposed North Bay Aqueduct project, but that would be at least ten years off. At a public meeting, Seeger described the procedure for residents to join the water district which would require a petition for annexation followed by an election.
As time went on, the ranchers became more irate. For at least a year, all they had heard were rumors. Not until October of 1957 did ranchers receive official letters stating that they had two years to be off their land. The local paper called for better public relations by MMWD, pointing out their delay in contacting the county about the bypass road, which would be built by MMWD but maintained by the county. “Ranchers in the lake area are still in the dark about what is happening to them,” wrote George Sherman of the Baywood Press (later the Point Reyes Light). “It’s hard enough for a person to give up his property, even for good cause, without having it rubbed in by lack of a little diplomacy.”
Nicasio ranchers fought the dam plan from the beginning. While the prospect of losing their land and livelihoods was at the forefront, concerns arose about loss of tax income for the school. Florence Filippini Knecht accused MMWD of pouring taxpayers’ money “down another rat hole.” Locals criticized the state Farm Bureau for not supporting the Nicasio residents. Landowners attempted to organize but differing opinions and interests left most owners fending for themselves. MMWD made different offers to owners, unbeknownst to their neighbors. The offers, according to Wilfred Lafranchi, “were very, very small.” A landowner recalled:
We’d meet at each other’s home and [one rancher] was so irate because the first offer of land was $50 an acre, and he said he had just turned down $200 an acre. The main source of difficulty was Mr. Seeger’s attitude. He just came and told you, “That’s it. You have nothing to say.” It was such an intense feeling, and everybody realized it was a way of life that was going to be altered completely.
Seeger “thought we were a bunch of hayseeds,” said Lafranchi. Another official told an unimpressed group of ranchers, “You’re sitting on buckets of diamonds out here.” Most of the landowners hired lawyers, but the best they could do was negotiate better prices for their land. In the end it appeared that compensation depended on how hardnosed the owners and attorneys negotiated.
The multi-generation Tognalda family had to vacate to make way for the reservoir. Courtesy of Joe Tognalda.
To Seeger’s dismay, delays in land acquisition and the need for additional geological tests for the new road slowed his dam project. Soil and foundation investigations could not commence until right of entry was acquired, and the landowners refused to cooperate, flummoxing Seeger and causing him to reconsider the route of the bypass road. The problems delayed the road and dam construction by a full year.
Silicon Valley venture capitalist and San Antonio Road resident Crawford Cooley administered the Beverly Porter (Mabel Burdell) estate for his wife’s sister (James Black’s great-great- granddaughter), collecting rents from four ranchers and taking care of other business concerning the family’s Marin properties. Cooley had an interest in the engineering of the lake and knew it was not an efficient site. The topography of the reservoir would leave forty percent of the water stored in the top ten feet, which would rapidly evaporate from sunlight and wind. He also noted that any municipal water district had high powers of condemnation within their district, but the Nicasio properties weren’t within MMWD’s boundaries. In an attempt to get them to change their mind, he forced them to court to get them to amend their district boundaries which would require a process so complicated that he hoped they might drop the project; the action only delayed it.
MMWD sued rancher Paul Garzoli for condemnation of 149.45 acres. In October of 1959 a jury determined payment higher than the district had wanted to pay, awarding him $34,140 for the property and $6,000 for severance. The parties had already agreed upon $31,000 for improvements; with the value of usable gravel in the creek the price added to $225 per acre. A Solano County judge in Marin Superior Court determined in December that MMWD could proceed with condemnation, despite ranchers’ claims through attorney John Painter that condemnation was illegal because other sources for water were available, namely the Russian River. MMWD attorney Samuel Gardner responded that it would not be economically feasible to import water and that the dam would serve the public interest. Florence Filippini Tomasini Knecht was the next to face condemnation.
Only fifteen people attended a 1958 meeting in Point Reyes Station about the proposed road realignment. Seeger informed the gathering that Nicasio residents would drive slightly farther to Point Reyes Station and have a slightly shorter drive to Petaluma. Seeger claimed the dam would supply the needs of Marin until 2010, as long as West Marin didn’t join the district. The dam would not be used for flood control, and recreation would be limited to shoreline activities such as bird watching, fishing, and hiking. At the time, the estimated cost would be $4 million.
The historic James Black ranch, established in the early 1850s, would be inundated by the new reservoir. Courtesy of MMWD.
Cooley retained Chickering & Gregory of San Francisco and tried at times to get all the ranchers to work together with little success. He was concerned about his tenants, the Tognaldas and Farleys who had been there for 50 years or more and faced relocation without compensation. In the end, with a jury assembled to commence a trial to determine the condemnation award, Cooley forced MMWD to double the amount, finally getting $400 per acre. The Porter estate was left with 1,200 acres including about 400 acres near Nicasio School and the remaining east side of Black Mountain above the new road. It was not economical for them to hold the properties for agricultural purposes so they sold the remainder in the 1970s. One silver lining was that the McIsaacs were able to lease the Porter Estate’s Bowman Ranch on Novato Boulevard, where the family remains dairying today.
The first lands acquired, the Garzoli and Knecht properties, were condemned in late 1959. Already families were leaving. The McIsaacs packed up and moved to Novato in August and the Tognaldas soon followed to a dairy at the Marin-Sonoma border. Work had yet to begin on the dam site and clearing of upstream vegetation and buildings. “It took them about a year to clear the brush,” recalled Mrs. Tomasini of the $6,673 contract let to Alfred Haworth of Stockton. “They cut everything down, all the trees, and dozed them into the creek bed, and they dozed the Gallagher’s and our place and the Tognalda’s across, knocked down the barns and the houses and burned them.” She continued:
What really got me was when they dozed the house. I just couldn’t go watch them do that, and the same when they set fire to everything. You could see the reflection from a distance. I felt badly for the Gallaghers and the Tognaldas because they had been here for years. I was just starting a life out here, and it was disappointing and sad, but the thoughts of all the history that was there, it was just very, very sad.
With professed regret, MMWD employee “Moose” Muzinich bulldozed and burned century-old ranch buildings. This is the McIsaac ranch, occupied since the 1850s. Courtesy of the late Melvin Muzinich.
In early 1960 MMWD accepted bids from Cherf Brothers, Sandkay Construction, Inc. and Cheney Construction of Washington; the total cost for the dam and road was $1,780,569, a million dollars less than expected. Simultaneous to dam construction in narrow Black Canyon below the Bud Farley dairy, the new Point Reyes-Petaluma and Nicasio Valley roads were carved out of the hillsides. The road building proved to be the priciest part of the whole project, taking up over half the cost. Large cuts took down hillsides and wide rock fills spanned creek beds. The new road left the old road north of the school passing through the Lafranchi and Dolcini ranches before meeting the Point Reyes- Petaluma Road at a new intersection. The old “Four Corners” was no more, and the historic sites of a milk skimming station and Pacheco School were either flooded or brought into MMWD property.
As built in 1960, the 115-foot earth fill dam holds 7.3 billion gallons or 22,000 acre-feet of water with an average depth of 25 feet. The median runoff over the spillway is 26,500 acre-feet. The reservoir flooded 869 acres of prime grazing and farming land, caused the removal of almost 50 buildings and displaced five families, their businesses and their employees. The entire project, including land clearing and the road bypass, cost roughly $1,800,000.
The new county road around the new reservoir cost more to build than the dam itself. Courtesy of MMWD.
Some landowners went to the wire as water collected behind the new dam. Hank Tomasini was still negotiating with the MMWD over access roads and construction of his family’s new house in mid-1960 just months before the water would rise. As Mrs. Tomasini recalled,
As the lake was filling up we were still in the old house, and the water was coming. The new house wasn’t ready, and when we moved up here the wood floors were down but they had to do all the finish work around us. We just bought a barbecue table and benches, and in our bedroom I covered orange crates with fabric to make beds. We just sort of camped out.
As the lake filled, the only property issue yet to be settled was the Cutter family lands occupied by the McIsaacs since the early 1880s. Neil McIsaac had moved his family to Novato in 1960 but the buildings remained at the edge of the new lake’s waters through 1961 as the owners negotiated a price. With a $92,000 settlement in 1962, the venerable house and barns, constructed by pioneer James Black 100 years’ prior, were pushed over, broken up and burned. The late Melvin “Moose” Muzinich, the Cat operator and longtime employee of MMWD, hated to see such history disappear, but did his job well. He tied long cables around the barns and yanked them down. He pushed his Cat through the walls of the aging wood frame houses, finally striking a match to the rubble. Muzinich recalled finding “big chandeliers, oak tables, heavy stuff, and old photos” in some of the doomed homes.
Today the Nicasio Reservoir is a popular scenic spot in Marin County, with most of the heritage under its waters forgotten. Fishermen and fisherwomen crowd selected spots along the 16-mile shoreline. When the water level decreases as the summer advances, relics of the past appear. First, the 1930s-era concrete bridge rails from the old highway, then foundations of the skimming station and creameries, then a long section of old roadway laid out in the 1860s. The remains of the historic dairy ranches can be found if you know where to look. The drought of 1976–77 emptied the lake, as photographers scoured the bottom for unusual wildflowers peeking out of the sun-dried, cracked silt.
When Nicasio Reservoir gets low, old highway bridges appear. This photo was taken during the 1976–77 drought. Courtesy of Jack Mason Museum of West Marin History.
Most who know the story of the dam shake their heads in sadness or frustration. The shallow and wide lake is inefficient as water storage as it is murky and fast to evaporate in the swift winds that scour the valley. It is costly to pump the water uphill to the San Geronimo treatment plant, and that is rarely done until water levels at the other storage reservoirs reach certain low points. The reservoir changed Nicasio Valley forever, forcing families out and removing a large portion of the dairying economy. Three of the major dairying properties (the former Garzoli, Farley and Tognalda ranches) affected by the dam were subdivided into low-density tracts and only a few of those support any agriculture. One member of an old Nicasio family noted the changes that began with the dam:
The nature of the valley changed quite a bit after the dam came in. A lot of the dairies were forced to go out and, although it was delayed somewhat, that probably led to the influx of new people who had different goals than being ranchers. That has changed the character of the Nicasio Valley. Sometimes I really wonder — had the dam not gone in, what would’ve happened? Would it have stayed more dairy country, or would it have changed to what it is now? And I don’t know the answer to that question, but I think having the dam built is what began this process.
The dam “spoiled the whole town,” another former resident lamented. “It took a lot of good bottom land” and forced off good families who were part of the cultural fabric of the valley.”
The historic site of James Black’s pioneer ranch, occupied by the Farley family at time of demolition, is partly revealed when waters are low. Photo by Dewey Livingston.
The prospect of dams in Nicasio Valley did not end with the construction of Nicasio Reservoir. The MMWD proposed a 120-foot dam on Halleck Creek in the 1970s that would have inundated 600 acres including the Coast Miwok Rancheria, five ranches, 11 homes, important water wells, and scenic redwood groves and camps. The proposal died under protest. The rock and- earth-fill Soulajule Dam was built in a remote canyon north of the valley. Its waters are rarely pumped over to Nicasio Reservoir as planned. A plan to provide reservoir water to a proposed subdivision on the Cutter Ranch was scotched by local opposition, as was a proposal to allow recreational boating on the lake.
Nicasio Reservoir and all the controversy and pain surrounding its creation did lead to a few positives — a better road in the north Valley, a picturesque lake, and a population that decided to organize to keep it from happening again. Heloise Tomasini said,
One very good thing was that we realized how disorganized we were and began thinking, “What’s going to happen to the valley now?” So we started the Landowners Association.
The last 50 years in Nicasio Valley have been marked by a well-organized, progressive yet conservation-oriented and legally sound planning effort by dedicated residents that has succeeded in keeping the rural character of Nicasio Valley intact. And, Nicasio Reservoir, despite its troubled and sad history, is a popular fishing spot and scenic attraction in West Marin.
Nicasio dairy ranches affected by the reservoir:
Beverly G. Porter (James Black descendants) Estate — Bud Farley Ranch: removed
Beverly G. Porter (James Black descendants) Estate — Joseph Tognalda Ranch: removed
Paul Garzoli Ranch: removed
Cutter Family (Neil McIsaac Ranch): removed
Alvino Dolcini Ranch: lost land
Edward A. Gallagher Ranch: lost land
Thomas Gallagher Ranch: removed
Florence Knecht — Henry Tomasini Ranch: removed
Fred Lafranchi Ranch: lost land
William Hall Ranch: closed due to proximity | https://medium.com/anne-t-kent-california-room-community-newsletter/nicasio-loses-six-historic-dairy-ranches-to-reservoir-cf452ac665a6 | ['Anne T. Kent California Room'] | 2020-12-07 18:40:24.148000+00:00 | ['Marin County', 'Mmwd', 'Local History', 'Nicasio', 'Dairy Ranches'] |
Why Senior Engineers Hate Coding Interviews | Imagine that you’re a principal at a small K-8 school who’s looking to hire a new teacher. As you have less than 20 teachers, you have to ensure that each person you hire can teach any of the grades. Adding to the complications, you’ve recently lost one of your best teachers, someone with 15 years of experience, and a mentor to many of the more junior teachers. How can you replace her?
After some thought, you craft what you think is a creative approach to interviewing. When the candidates show up, you will ask them to teach a lesson drawn from the K-8 curriculum. As you want to ensure that the candidate is well-rounded, you’ll hold off telling them about which lesson you want taught until the beginning of the interview. If they nail this, you infer that they’ll be able to easily teach anything, as they’ve clearly performed well under pressure, on a randomly selected topic.
You put notice out that you’re hiring, and some truly remarkable candidates apply. For the first test of this new approach, however, you plan to try it out on a referral, a teacher that one of your staff has worked with in the past and claims was the star of the school. You marvel at your luck that she even applied, and think that she’ll be the perfect test for your new interview process. You reach out to her to arrange an interview date, and tell her about this new technique you’re using, to allow her some chance to prepare.
Then the interview day arrives, and your candidate shows up at the school. You can sense that she’s a bit nervous, which is strange because she’s an experienced candidate with an impeccable resume. You decide not to dwell on that, and instead usher her into one of your classrooms to begin the interview. “I’d like you to teach me a lesson on Number Theory”. At that point her face sinks, because unbeknownst to you, she hasn’t taught 8th grade in more than 10 years. But always the professional, she goes to the board and starts the lesson. She talks about factors of numbers, and how to determine if a given number is divisible by 2, 5 and 10, but she’s struggling. When you ask about GCF and LCM, she needs clarification about the acronyms, which you interpret as a bad sign. You explain that you’re referring to “greatest common factor” and “least common multiple”, but at this point you can tell that her confidence is shot, and you pick a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
At the end of the hour she’s stumbled through the highlights of Number Theory, but hasn’t at all filled you with a sense of confidence that she could nail this lesson in front of a group of misbehaving 8th graders. She performs very well on several other behaviour-based interviews, but you can’t shake this feeling that maybe she’s not the best in-room teacher. After some deliberation, you decide to pass on her, and hire a much less experienced teacher who excelled on the “lesson test”. | https://medium.com/@jamesfdfsysdh/why-senior-engineers-hate-coding-interviews-545d76ebde7b | [] | 2020-12-14 22:04:09.488000+00:00 | ['Engineering', 'Coding', 'Interview', 'Hiring', 'Software Development'] |
Healthful Monday~ 06/08/2020 | Today's Healthful-Amusement share worth amusing your thoughts with. Do your research and you'll lead yourself to serious diseases linking to poor diets, negative beliefs, and unhealthy lifestyles.
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” ~Edward Stanley
For example, consuming healthy ingredients and drinks can drastically reduce your chances of developing two of the world's leading killers, cancer and heart disease. Healthier consumption can improve every aspect of your life, from the top with brain function and throughout your body with physical performance. The fact is your food and drink affect every cell and living organism within your body. You input healthy then your output will be healthy!
"When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." ~Ayurvedic Proverb
You deserve nothing but the best and you'll only get it from Mother Nature. Consume these common micronutrients daily from natural resources. Calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and all vitamins from A to K. It's that simple, no diet plan necessary! You consume when your hungry and thirsty, just as you rest when your sluggish, and slumber when you're exhausted. Supporting your local farmers creates win-win situations for everyone.
CHEERS~ to your blissful moments everywhere in between good eats and great treats...
Source: https://gab.com/EdwardFTCharfauros/posts/104308855402255438
#healthful #healthmatters #enzymes #healthy #foodmatters | https://medium.com/@edwardftcharfauros/healthful-monday-06-08-2020-9f1c8adc66ad | ['Edward F. T. Charfauros'] | 2020-06-08 14:37:31.197000+00:00 | ['Infographics', 'Health Matters', 'Enzyme', 'Healthful', 'Healthy Foods'] |
[Community] MediBloc at QTUM Dapps Seoul Meetup | [Community] MediBloc at QTUM Dapps Seoul Meetup
QTUM Dapps, Building healthy blockchain ecosystems together
Last Friday(3/9), MediBloc team participated in QTUM Dapps Seoul Blockchain meetup.
Wookyun Kho, CEO from MediBloc, presented MediBloc’s vision and current progress with global blockchain experts at this meetup.
The global blockchain experts, including founders from QTUM(Combining a modified Bitcoin Core infrastructure with an intercompatible version of the Ethereal Virtual Machine), INK chain(building a blockchain based infrastructure for the Creative Industry), Qbao(building a social network with digital currency wallet, exchange, payments), and QTUM Dapps, discussed the current landscape of Korean Blockchain Industry.
MediBloc and many global blockchain leaders expressed their passion in improving blockchain technology during this meetup. MediBloc is actively interacting with QTUM Dapps to build a healthy blockchain ecosystem and will strive to do our utmost to frame a solid blockchain industry.
—
MediBloc is a team of medical professionals, data architects and blockchain technologists. Both founders are computer scientists turned to medicine, turned entrepreneurs.
If you have any questions regarding the MediBloc Project, please contact us through the following channels.
👉🏻MediBloc Official Website: https://medibloc.org | https://medium.com/medibloc/community-medibloc-at-qtum-dapps-seoul-meetup-5486b095ca17 | [] | 2020-01-31 08:57:23.305000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Qtum', 'Healthcare', 'Blockchain', 'Medibloc'] |
Korean startups are jumping on the bandwagon | You know it’s serious when the camera crew is here
Many startups and already existing corporations are finding ways to tap into blockchain technology. More and more companies are showing interest as the word is going around that South Korea regulators are considering reversal of ICO ban.
On March 22nd, Gyoung-Pil Nam, the governor of Gyeonggi province, has hosted a meeting bringing blockchain experts, pioneers, and evangelists together.
CUBE INT, MYcreditChain, UUNIO, Medibloc, and Overnodes
A lot of successful people have come to share their ideas on what they’re trying to accomplish. Medibloc has successfully concluded its ICO, having sold $30 M worth of their tokens. It is a decentralized healthcare information ecosystem that is built on blockchain.
UUNIO was working on an interesting project as well. They’re building a platform that supports community with reward system based on blockchain technology. Although it sounded similar to what Steemit is doing, UNNIO’s approach was little different from that of Steemit. “The STEEMIT community turned into a place where only the fittest survived and profit was determined by Steem Power rather than the quality of contents,” said the CEO of UUNIO.
Personally, I’m not a Steemian and not aware of its problem but considering the recent Facebook’s data privacy scandal, the blockchain version of social networking services definitely seems to be necessary.
Korea is known to be the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency market in terms of trading. There were only few who tried to incorporate blockchain technology into their business, mainly because of the regulations. However, more and more people are now showing interest and some are even quitting their jobs to jump on the bandwagon. There’s also an increasing number of Blockchain accelerators and Crypto VCs. Future seems bright despite all the FUD. | https://medium.com/overnodes/south-koreas-startups-jumping-on-the-bandwagon-575c3f47c33c | [] | 2018-07-27 05:34:22.351000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Overnodes', 'Startup', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
More Joy Through God’s Promises | God’s Promises can Become a Major Joy Booster When Used Well
Photo by Paul Green on Unsplash
The Bible teaches we live in a fallen world so we all experience some hardship and suffering. It also teaches we can have joy even when going through difficulties. Using God’s promises well is one of the best ways to increase your joy level quickly.
The Divine Nature in Us
The Apostle Peter wrote some of the most powerful, life-giving words in history shortly before His death.
“seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature….” (2 Peter 1:3–4)
There are at least 10 powerful lessons in these two verses, but I want to stick with the highlighted words, “by them.”
In the spiritual realm God has already given us everything that has to do with both life and godliness, that includes joy. In the spiritual dimension you and I already have all the joy we will ever need to live abundant lives and godly lives.
So how do we access that already given joy? “By them”, by God’s precious and magnificent promises.
The promises of God give us the life and joy of God.
God’s Promises Come Directly Out of His Glory
The words of God not only give us God’s truths and thoughts, but they also carry His life and power.
Verse 3 teaches us those amazing realities that God has already given us everything we need and that those blessings come through us knowing Jesus. It also tells us that Jesus called us to Himself out of “His own glory and excellence.”
God didn’t call you and me out of obligation or because He felt sorry for us. No, this tells us that God called us to Himself out of His glory and excellence. God’s glory is more than our minds can comprehend and His excellence is at a level unmatched anywhere.
But we are not only called to Him by His glory and excellence, but also notice the beginning of verse 4 which takes us to God’s wonderful promises.
vs. 4 “For BY THESE He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises….”
Out of God’s own nature, out of His own glory and excellence flow His amazing, wonderful, life-giving promises. His promises flow out of His incredible nature in complete harmony and alignment with His greatness.
God’s Promises are An Extension of His Person and His Will
Since God and His Word are one (John 1:1) and since His promised words come directly from His perfect nature, His glory and His excellence; it makes sense that through those promises we could experience His divine nature.
In John 15:11 Jesus said that He spoke words to His disciples so that “My joy may be in you and your joy may be full.”
There’s that divine nature idea again: we are designed to have the joy of Jesus, joy that is from God. Joy that is greater than the challenges of the world or the spiritual attacks of the enemy.
Jesus said that through His words, we can experience His joy, and our joy can be full. We can literally be full of joy through the Words of Jesus, the promises of God.
How to Turn the Promises Into Reality
I teach often about godly cycles because cycles are how so many things in God’s kingdom work, and that includes receiving God’s promises and God’s joy.
Quickly, here is how “the promises into reality” cycle most often works.
We read God’s promise. We make a decision. We can either say “yes” to it, “no” to it or ignore it (which is a form of “no.)
What helps us say “yes” to God’s promise and “no” to unbelief is reminding ourselves that God cannot lie, God backs what He says, and God’s words are an expression of Himself.
3. We then say “yes” to God’s promise and by faith receive it, before we see it happen or experience it.
Mark 11:24 Jesus told us to believe we have received it and then it would be granted. Believe before seeing or experiencing is how many of the promises become ours.
4. Then we take steps to keep the promise alive in our hearts as we wait for it to impact our soul. Hebrews 6:12 tells us that by faith and patience we inherit the promises. Soak your mind and soul in joy producing Scriptures.
This is where the faith battle happens. Our emotions might not change quickly. Researchers tell us that unless God does an instantaneous miracle, it takes on average 63 days for new responses and habits to become dominant in our brain.
5. Keep thanking God that His word is true, even if you don’t yet feel new joy. Speaking His promises over your life, seeing yourself in your mind being and acting according to the promise, and taking actions to be joyful are great things to do in this waiting and soul formation time.
Don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day or have doubts. Working through doubts is part of the faith-building process. Remember, there is never any condemnation at all for everyone who has received Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
6. If you realize you need more support to experience your joy increase then take the appropriate steps. It might simply be getting a prayer and accountability partner, the support of small group, or a counselor to work through past experiences and issues.
At whatever level you can, trust that God’s word is working in your soul and will eventually do what God sends it to do. (Isaiah 55:11)
Through God’s promises you can experience real, authentic increases in your joy level.
If you want more free resources on living a Jesus-Centered, Jesus-Empowered life go to www.TruVineMission.com
If you want to clarify and then make progress in fulfilling your unique, God-given purposes check out www.MarkFurlongCoaching.com | https://medium.com/@mrkfurlong/more-joy-through-gods-promises-aa08bc9235e3 | ['Mark Furlong'] | 2020-12-23 14:52:54.659000+00:00 | ['Purpose Driven Life', 'Bible', 'Jesus', 'Christianity', 'Joy'] |
It’s Time to Fire a Customer | It’s Time to Fire Your Customer
On Price, Value, Segmentation, Targeting, and Value Proposition
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
A while back, I started noticing an interesting tendency among guests staying in my Airbnb rental property. Customers who aggressively negotiated their price for accommodation were usually also more demanding, made more additional requests, and complained more during their stay. While those who were happy to pay the full price as advertised, generally tended to be lower-maintenance guests.
My first reaction was that of annoyance. Don’t these cheapskates realize that they are getting great value for money after the significant discount I just gave them?
Then, upon reflection, I ascribed this difference in behavior to personality. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, I thought. Guests who are willing to go through the trouble of negotiating a lower price are naturally also going to be more vocal about their needs during their stay.
I still believe that personality has something to do with it. But I have since arrived at a more actionable theory from a business perspective, based on my experience working on pricing and designing value propositions.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” -Warren Buffett
My thesis is that while Value is what a customer gets out of the service you provide, it is not entirely something you can control. And you need to target and serve your customers accordingly.
Let’s take a look at a typical demand curve.
A demand curve, such as the one above, is a mathematical function that represents customers’ willingness to pay for a product or service, given the value they get out of it. The higher the value they get out of a product or service, the higher the price they are willing to pay for it. And the value a customer gets out of a product depends on the fit between the characteristics of the product you have to offer, and those of the customer.
In this example, imagine I charge the same price per night for my Airbnb rental property and have two customers: Customer X and Customer Y.
Customer X is getting Total Value Customer X, which significantly surpasses the price she is paying for it. On the other hand, Customer Y is marginal. He is getting just about enough value out of my Airbnb rental to justify the price he is paying. Customer X is getting a lot more value out of my Airbnb rental than customer Y is.
Who do you think is going to be the more satisfied customer?
Customer Segmentation and Targeting
This is why Customer Segmentation and Targeting are so important for the long-term sustainability and profitability of your business.
You want to select a very clear and focused target for your product so that you can deliver the most value for that segment while doing it as efficiently as possible.
When you have a very targeted segment, not only will your customers be more satisfied with your product, because of that better product-customer fit, but you also don’t have to incur in all the additional cost of providing a bunch of things that you know your particular target segment doesn’t need.
When you list the features you want in your MVP (Minimum Viable Product), what you really are saying is: These are the features that add the most value for my Target Customer, and that I can develop the most efficiently.
Developing a Value Proposition
Now that we have established that you want to focus on the customers who will benefit from your product the most, how do we go about giving them what they value?
I find that the Value Proposition Canvas (affiliate link), by @AlexOsterwalder et al., is a great tool to narrow down the functionality set you absolutely need to deliver, given your target customer’s needs, which can be classified into:
Jobs to be Done: What customers seek to accomplish.
Gains: The benefits customers expect to receive by accomplishing those jobs to be done.
Pains: What are the bad outcomes or obstacles customers face while trying to accomplish those jobs to be done.
Then you get to work, helping the customer accomplish their jobs to be done, maximize their gains, and minimize their pains while they’re at it.
When to Fire Your Customer
Making a decision that will make you forego revenue understandably causes unease, but the real relevant questions are:
Does keeping this customer make sense in the long term? Will the potential issues needing additional resources and attention to remedy them be worth it?
What is the opportunity cost of serving this customer? Am I foregoing another customer who is a better fit, and less costly to serve, for my business?
Wouldn’t this customer be better off with a product that is a better fit for his or her particular needs?
As a result, I am now very upfront with the characteristics of the property, so that guests know exactly what the tradeoffs are:
It is very centrally located, but there can be a bit of noise on Friday and Saturday evenings when people go out and about, partying.
It is an ancient and photogenic house with lots of character, but it probably isn’t for you if you are after something sleek and modern.
I can’t control how sensitive to noise a customer is, or whether they value ambiance or modern conveniences more, but what I can do, is to control who I target, that is to say, who I accept as my customer.
Sometimes, potential guests decline to make a reservation after it becomes clear that my property isn’t a very good fit for them. Every once in a while, I even offer a full refund after a short partial stay, at a loss, in cases in which a guest and the property are an obvious mismatch.
In the end, I usually get another guest soon thereafter to replace the one I’ve just lost. And more often than not, this new guest turns into a satisfied customer, because I have done the homework of tailoring my target segment to focus on customers who appreciate the characteristics of my house.
And I certainly don’t miss customers complaining or requesting ‘extras’ in the middle of the night.
A Leap of Faith or Just Good Strategy?
Success in business often requires a bit of courage, to take a leap of faith without the benefit of a safety net.
Saying ‘No’ to a customer, and to the revenue he represents, can also feel a little bit like that. But if you do your homework: Segmentation, Targeting, and Value Proposition, your strategy becomes your safety net, and if will feel less of a leap of faith, and more like just the logical and strategically sound thing to do. | https://medium.com/swlh/when-its-time-to-fire-a-customer-4af77b23bc0b | ['Etienne Yuan'] | 2020-06-24 09:19:57.083000+00:00 | ['Targeting', 'Marketing', 'Airbnb', 'Segmentation', 'Customer'] |
Climate City Contracting for Humane Thriving | Initiating a discussion towards pathways to unlocking a democratically-desired climate transition. (För svenska följ denna länk)
In the report “100 climate-neutral cities by 2030 — by and for the citizens” [1], the EU Mission Board for Climate Neutral Cities proposes the development of “a multi-level and co-creative process formalised in a Climate City Contract, adjusted to the realities of each city, […] aiming at the shared goal of the mission”. Meanwhile in Sweden the first nine cities signed a national Climate Contract (Klimatkontrakt 2030) on the 11th of December 2020, together with four government agencies and Viable Cities. The concept of the Climate City Contract will be further developed during the coming years. The big question is, how can democracies [2] contract such a momentous societal transition in an age of uncertainty and complexity, while conserving or even constructing legitimacy?
Cities, towns and municipalities are aware of the large-scale transformations necessary to address the climate emergency. But we need to recognise that the climate crisis is not a nascent property of the environment. Alongside biodiversity loss [3], global inequality [4], financial injustices [5] and other wicked problems [6] — climate change is but one symptom of a deeper structural failure; our inability to construct meaningful relations through social and democratic processes enabling humane thriving. Our relationship-ability towards other humans, ourselves, things, nature and the future should be a fundamental concern when designing methods for the climate transition. Unless we are able to make this deep shift in our societies, we will neither be able to develop the social legitimacy for large scale change, nor address the multitude of risks we face that undermine the capacity of human civilisations. We are at a position, in which we have to choose whether we want to direct our efforts towards a thriving planet or keep a steady course at the edge of surviving.
The transition towards entanglement
We can imagine many versions of the future. We briefly want to discuss two of those. One, is based on the legacies passed down by dominant western histories, that lead us to incline towards risk management to ensure survival. The other, moves beyond risk management, towards constituting the conditions for the regeneration and renewal of societies and the planet.
Throughout the past centuries we have insisted on a thesis for human development that is based on command and control [7]. As a result, our democratic processes tend to create passive centralisation, simplifying the complexity and interconnectedness of reality, resulting in a singularity of publics [8], where the public is seen as a rather homogeneous expression.
At the same time, it is increasingly clear that we live in an age of entanglement. This calls for acknowledging diversity and interconnectedness. Quantum physics has proved there is a relationship between the fundamental properties of particles [9] that can’t have happened by chance. The Wood Wide Web [10] describes the millions of species of fungi and bacteria that swap nutrients between soil and the roots of trees, forming a vast, interconnected web of organisms. The field of biology is reconsidering the boundaries of individual organisms [11], understanding that where biological bodies end and where their environments begin is truly contentious. And indigenous language and philosophies have always recognised a kinship with nature [12].
It can be difficult for current government and institutional structures to recognise this transition towards entanglement. One reason for this could be that it would fundamentally challenge our perception of sovereignties. What if sovereignties were not defined by political boundaries (e.g. national borders, political jurisdictions, private properties), but rather through the knots of their systems (e.g. human relationships, nutrient exchange between trees)? How then could we imagine creating the conditions for viability and thriving of all ecosystems (e.g. environmental, human, material) that transverse territories? Could this shift the contractual relationships between different sovereignties to acknowledge interconnectedness?
Investing in relationship abilities
Investments in transitions that redistribute relation-capabilities [13] with others, ourselves, and our future is familiar for countries with deep democracies [14], like Scandinavian countries. During the 19th century, the Scandinavian context included some of the poorest nations in the world [15]. However, beginning in the mid-1800s, a series of investments in human development infrastructures, created some of the most equitable transitions and societies today.
The Folk high school movement [16] offered a unique educational setting, supporting self-fulfilment, fellowship with others, practical knowledge and active democratic participation, to a large part of the population for free. Students would develop the technical and philosophical agency, as well as the self-authorship capacity for constructing their future. Across Scandinavia, the cooperative movement [17] has been particularly strong and influential, forming an extraordinary process of self-organization, institutionalized in the form of commonly agreed upon written rules, and establishing democratic processes that ultimately led to trust and the development of valuable social capital. Similarly, the Swedish government introduced a loan (Egnahemslån [18]) to support workers in building a house on the outskirts of cities, with the aim of creating better living standards and establishing a connection with nature. As mentioned in the book The Nordic Secret [13], these and other measures allowed Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland to undergo major technological, economic and structural changes peacefully, developing everybody’s potential and changing their fate. | https://provocations.darkmatterlabs.org/climate-city-contracting-for-humane-thriving-39153a2ba5ab | ['Dark Matter'] | 2021-02-26 07:02:47.778000+00:00 | ['Climate Action', 'Governance', 'Agenda 2030', 'Climate City Contract', 'Democracy'] |
CEO Insights: Tim M. Zagar | Aristotle said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” This is also true for understanding blockchain and the opportunities that lie ahead. From this perspective, we are publishing a translation of an interview with ICONOMI CEO Tim M. Zagar originally conducted by Klemen Kosak in Dnevnik (a Slovenian daily), Dnevnikov objektiv, January 21, 2018.
Tim M. Zagar is one of the few people who is not interested in Bitcoin as an investment. “Now it’s just a store of value, like gold,” he says. For many years now, he hasn’t owned bitcoin, becoming increasingly interested in what the underlying technology means for the future.
“Blockchain allows computers to communicate with each other without being controlled by people,” explains Zagar. He is convinced that this will change our economic and political systems.
In high school, Zagar designed websites for small businesses, but he later left programming to concentrate on business. He fully committed to blockchain in 2013 when he co-founded Cashila, the first bitcoin payment company certified by European regulators as a financial institution.
Today, Tim Mitja Zagar is the co-founder and CEO of ICONOMI, the first global digital asset management platform. The platform enables investments in early-stage start-ups engaged in technological innovation. ICONOMI boasts a valuation of $150 million.
Is it difficult to explain blockchain?
It is. That’s why I studied how the Internet was explained twelve years ago. I found out that even today it is still described by what it does. Blockchain can, of course, be explained abstractly: it is a decentralized database that cannot be changed. We can also explain how it differs from the Internet. The Internet is based on copying information. These are complete copies, but they are still copies. With blockchain, the original is digitally transmitted, so everyone has access to the original digital data record in the original database of all transactions. This is a very big difference. Remember how popular MP3s were a decade ago? If blockchain had existed at that time, MP3 sharing would not have been possible. The owner of the copyright would have easily been able to record the number of times someone had listened to a song. This control is very simple with blockchain — in fact, it’s automatic.
Do you think that blockchain will reach the same level as the Internet, where we all know what it is, but not many can explain it?
Definitely. Its influence will be even deeper. It is more comparable to the impact standardized timekeeping had.
When the whole world began measuring time the same way, it was a huge change for the world economy. Blockchain puts everything over the same denominator in a similar way. Lately, the Internet has begun to develop in the direction of computer applications talking to each other in networks. Blockchain provides a uniform language for this kind of communication.
How is that?
For example, premieres of big-budget films happen in the evening, in Japan first. With standardized timekeeping, they can know in America how many tickets have been sold in Japan and can easily adapt, opening more or fewer cinemas. This requires no effort, no one to contact. Communication is facilitated in the same way as units of measurement. If you ask the tailor for five meters of fabric, he or she will know exactly how much you need without any additional explanation. If there weren’t standardized units of measurement, the tailor might understand, but might not. The same is true of Internet applications: they either understand each other or they don’t. Blockchain delivers complete standardization. Perhaps this does not seem very important at first glance, but it is. It will affect everything, everywhere.
You said that the easiest way to describe the Internet is to describe what it does. What will blockchain bring us? Besides Bitcoin, of course.
We have to separate cryptocurrency and economics. I have been interested in the currency part from the beginning, and I also invested in bitcoin. But even then, I was already interested in what Bitcoin meant for the future. Bitcoin showed that digital originals can be transmitted online. Now it’s just a store of value, like gold.
I am more interested in technological advances that can make things work better. I wonder if it really has to take as long as it does to get a building permit or an entry from a land registry. Why do we always have to carry a health insurance card with us when they have all the information?
Because people want things to be run not just efficiently, but also safely.
Blockchain solves this problem. The current technology the Internet operates on is not 100% secure. You cannot be absolutely sure that someone will not abuse your information. Perhaps you can now be 99.9% sure, but blockchain provides 100% reliability. That is a crazy big difference.
Since only 100% confidence is enough for people not to question the safety of data?
And that means people can take control of their data. Let’s say a police officer stops me and asks for my information. I will have this information on my mobile device, and he will have no access to it unless I allow it. It would be similar with medical records. Of course, if you do not reveal your data to a police officer, you could face consequences, as you would now if you rejected an alcohol test.
Blockchain promises a lot in the healthcare field. It is supposed to allow us to use people’s health data to learn how diseases develop, how they can be prevented, and how they can be treated. But how do we combine blockchain, which allows individuals to fully control their information, with using large amounts of data to learn how to improve people’s well-being?
Most blockchains are pseudonymous. Individuals can put their data into use but still hide their identity. In the case of police control, at the request of the owner of the data, the information already provided by the police can be linked to the identity of a specific person. Credit cards work by the customer giving the seller a card, and the seller taking some money from it. You can allow access to your entire account, and the interface, in the form of a bank, is necessary for transactions to take place as you expect. Blockchain works by giving the seller exactly as much as the goods cost from your account. It is the same as paying in cash, but in digital form. No bank required.
What will blockchain mean outside the financial sector? It’s easier to imagine that money will exist in digital form than to imagine the digitization of cars, washing machine production, etc.
Because blockchain is a universal digital record, it will be important everywhere where what one machine does affects what another machine will do. Milking machines will put the amount of milk they produce in a blockchain. The data will be automatically understood by the computer at the distributor, by the cheese producer, and so on, all the way to the store and the consumer. In the end, wet will know exactly how each piece of cheese or container of yogurt came to the table. For example, events like the 2013 horse meat scandal would not be possible.
Even now, in every industry, large amounts of data are being collected, and manufacturers are working hard to adapt as quickly as possible.
Of course, milking machine production is already recorded in a database the farmer has on his computer. Tanks are already ready for day-to-day volatility, shops already anticipate what buyers will want on shelves next month, the government already estimates which milk products need increased production. And, of course, farmers are constantly thinking about whether it is better to sell milk abroad or at home, whether it is better not to sell it at all and make cheese instead, etc.
But blockchain will allow these data to be recorded in a universal database so they will be able to be read by any computer. This will create a new acceleration of global business, a new increase in productivity. The first adopters will have a great advantage.
Could blockchain be described as a technology that allows many more things to happen without people controlling them?
Sure. This is also generally a consequence of technological progress. When I was in Montenegro last year, I noticed that fewer people advertise apartments on the street than they did four years ago. Of course, since then, Booking.com has expanded to Airbnb, which greatly simplifies advertising for accommodation. People no longer have to stand in the sun and personally interact with tourists.
Does this mean that with blockchain, the human intermediaries we now need to ensure the security and reliability of transactions will no longer be necessary?
Blockchain provides an infrastructure for communication between computers. Computers will know a lot more, and the number of transactions between them will increase. For example, a car will be able to pay for fuel at the filling station, the milk tank will transact with the milking machine itself, etc. The number of transactions will be very high, too high to be processed with the technology on which payments and credit cards are based now. This is not a problem with blockchain.
If the numbers are recorded in a timely and reliable way, this will greatly simplify accounting. Will technology, therefore, soon be important for accounting and tax control?
Big accounting firms are already trying to integrate blockchain technology, but blockchain will also eliminate the gray economy. This is why state authorities are following the development of blockchain with such great interest.
There are always positive aspects of new technology, but there are also consequences that are not so popular with people. Automatically recorded data that is also completely reliable of course gives the possibility of greater control.
We can imagine that in the future, all citizens will have a registered digital wallet that will be able to receive only “clean” money, and that that will be the only possible way to pay for things. The gray economy will then not be possible because transactions will not be possible without payment of the relevant taxes.
In reality, human control over monetary transactions will not be necessary, since people will not have the opportunity to do anything that will not be completely in line with the rules of the official economy. There could only be a parallel, completely black economy that could not be linked with the official economy. If someone was to work in this economy, he or she would have to live completely outside of the system, since the money could not be laundered.
Large amounts of data are already being collected by web browsers and intelligence services, but they do not know exactly how to determine what’s valuable. Will blockchain enable machines to do this?
For the foreseeable future there will be more data available than people and machines will be able to analyze. Today, stores collect information about their customers, but they do not know what to do with it. It’s the same with Google and Facebook. Although they collect information about individuals’ activity on the Internet, they still do not know how to target advertisements and content that users would most like to see.
But at some point, they will know?
Other companies will know. IBM did not make Microsoft, Microsoft did not make Google, and Google did not make Facebook. IBM understood hardware, and Bill Gates developed software with Microsoft. He developed a computer desktop, but he did not understand the Internet. That was Google’s area, but social networking was Facebook’s.
New technology is developed from the bottom up, and large companies are too inflexible and focused on what brought them success in the past. Therefore, it is essential that new technology is developed by new players.
How much should politics intervene in blockchain?
A little bit, for sure. Politicians see an opportunity to collect more taxes, which could, of course, lead to better public services. Overall, this seems like a good thing to me, because the attention of the government gives the developing technology legitimacy.
In addition to the potential additional revenue in blockchain policy budgets, politicians are also interested in improving bureaucratic procedures.
This, of course, is also very appealing. When we were thinking about blockchain projects in Slovenia that would be minimally controversial from a political point of view, we remembered the permits for supplementary work that have already been introduced in Slovenia with the aim of reducing the gray economy. It has to start somewhere, and other solutions will definitely follow, especially if the new technology lowers prices.
What politician would not want things to work better at the same or lower cost? Public administration will be cheaper, it will work better, and then someone will probably think of something else that can be improved and done with lower costs.
Do you mean the idea that blockchain will enable direct democracy?
The main concern about electronic elections is the security and reliability of expressing the will of the people, which is precisely what blockchain ensures. And why should they stop at elections? It will also be possible for every political decision to be decided using electronic referendums. Thinking about such changes also increases people’s dissatisfaction with the political-economic system.
Although we are talking about what the development of an existing technology will bring, it is still a prediction of the future. How confident are you that the future will really be like this and that it’s not just a fantasy?
The standardization of the blockchain will be part of everyday life, but how it will be expressed in practice is very difficult to predict. The fact is that there are no technological barriers for social regulation with direct decision-making mechanisms. The basis for it already exists.
What is the most important thing about blockchain people should know?
At the moment, it is probably necessary to warn against reckless investment in crypto. It’s not smart to invest in something just because it has had high returns in the past; you really have to understand the crypto-economy. The financial industry sells bitcoin as digital gold. As with gold, the demand for bitcoin is not associated with any useful value. And then they say that bitcoin is better than gold as a store of value since gold is harder to move. They conclude that bitcoin will increasingly replace gold. “Listen, dear investors,” they say. “The market capitalization of gold is currently between $5 trillion and $6 trillion, and bitcoin’s is only $300 billion, accounting for 2.7 percent of the market capitalization of gold. Do you think that next year this share will be 1% or 5%?” they ask. I would not be surprised if it reached 30% in the first bull market, maybe even more. There are many players in the financial industry who are hungry for a new product.
You do not personally own bitcoin, but do you offer it to investors?
Through our ICONOMI platform, which works on the Ethereum network, which is a kind of Bitcoin upgrade that represents a decentralized global computer, it is of course possible to invest in bitcoin.
We offer software, a platform for Digital Asset Arrays (baskets of digital assets), and managers pay us for the use of our services. Comparing the opportunity to invest in this new industry to finding gold in the Wild West: we are not the ones looking for gold, we are the ones selling shovels. We see where people are digging, but we do not know whether or not there is gold there.
What’s new about crypto funds?
Today, through our platform, people can invest small amounts in start-up companies. This was not possible in the past; you couldn’t invest 50 euros in Google. Start-up companies were dependent on a small number of large-scale venture capital funds. Our technology allows people to invest in start-up companies without the intermediary of venture capital funds. We provide financial and technology experts with the tools to buy the crypto coins of different companies and place them in baskets. Then an individual can buy this basket instead of buying twenty different coins individually. Disruptive investments are generally more meaningful, but what pushed us to create ICONOMI was the realization that people would want to invest in the crypto-economy and that it makes more sense to invest in the industry as a whole than to buy shares in individual companies.
Is this the future of the financial sector? The end of banks, the end of large investment companies?
Initially, investment firms and similar financial institutions will earn a lot because they have open distribution channels and relationships with investors. In the long run, however, they will definitely have to adapt. | https://medium.com/iconominet/ceo-insights-tim-m-zagar-8fd236c16cd4 | ['Matej Tomazin'] | 2018-02-23 13:26:30.481000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Interview', 'Insights', 'Ethereum', 'Iconomi'] |
Vacation reflections | At the end of 2018, one of my goals for 2019 was to be more deliberate in how I choose to allocate and spend my vacation days. I realized that in 2018 (my first full year of working) I had taken two week-long vacations, but both weeks were spent with family, leaving less time for personal reflection and quality time with Eric. For 2019, I wanted to balance spending time with family and just with Eric or alone. I had a vague vision of going somewhere completely new and faraway for one of my vacations, and for the other, pursuing something familiar and relaxing that would neither require a lot of planning nor incite any FOMO if I wanted to just stay in and do nothing while on vacation.
Given these goals, at the end of March, Eric and I took a week off to spend time with family in Boston and Toronto. Leading up to our vacation, I was especially excited because it had been over a year since I was last in Boston and I couldn’t wait to see all the places that we had frequented when we were in school. (I had deliberately held off on returning to Boston/campus for the past year because I didn’t feel ready, and finally, I found myself missing specific restaurants or feeling nostalgic for specific places and bit the bullet.)
I’m now writing this as we fly back to San Francisco at the end of our week long vacation and trying to figure out if I was able to accomplish my goals for the week off. Taking an entire five days off from work feels monumental given that I only have fifteen vacation days a year, and this vacation is definitely one of my cornerstone “events” of the year. As is the case with the rest of my life, I feel a strong pull to understand and analyze and assess whether I’ve been making good use of the resources at my disposal — and so in this case, understanding whether I took full advantage of my vacation.
We started our nine day vacation in Boston, where we split our time between seeing Eric’s grandma for a few hours each day and going to revisit our favourite places/catching up with friends. We actually stayed in a hotel for our duration in Boston, making it feel like a real holiday! I would say what stood out the most about being back in Boston was revisiting special places that either reminded me of how exciting, new, and liberating being at college felt when I first got there (and thus how far I’ve come in the past few years) or the early days when Eric and I first started dating and shared so many special conversation and moments (and also therefore how far we have come). We took so many trips down memory lane — and for those of you that know me/us, you can only imagine how much we sounded like Old Man Eric and Old Lady Isabella.
I was most struck by the changes in Harvard Square and how the differences compounded to make me feel like the neighbourhood and area weren’t mine anymore. In retrospect, it feels a little silly that I had thought of them as “mine” before, but I like to think this is a sign that I was actually somewhat engaged with and involved in the local community rather than just a transient passerby. As we walked around and remarked on all the new stores and the places where cafes and restaurants had closed down, it felt incredibly strange to see all the people there who were going about their daily lives, comfortable, familiar with the spaces. It was almost like watching a movie and peeking into others’ lives. We were suddenly the audience rather than the protagonists and it made me feel not only old, but also made me realize that maybe all along I’ve been chasing something I can’t quite attain: the feeling of being back in college Isabella’s shoes. I won’t ever experience the exact feeling I used to have when I walked around Harvard Square because I won’t ever be back in the same life situation I was in when I was a student there. Since graduating, I’ve gone through so many more experiences and now my worldview isn’t quite the same as it was back then, and nothing I view now through my current lens will ever be the same as how I saw it before.
As I read what I’m writing, it feels painfully obvious. There doesn’t seem to be any major revelation that I couldn’t have logically deduced, but it does feel like I’ve stumbled upon some new, intuitive wisdom that wasn’t so visceral before. I suppose that’s just maturity and growth!
Somewhat relatedly, my true “vacation” highlights from being in Boston also pointed to just how adult my life has become — I was most excited that: (1) we had a great reason to eat out (a minimal kitchen was all we had at the hotel, and we weren’t realistically able to cook for ourselves), and (2) we got to guiltlessly stay up late because we were indulging in the TV access that we don’t have at home.
What also helped really drive home that I am an adult now was the type of interaction we had with Eric’s grandma. Whereas when we were in school, we would show up and help out here and there, I felt a different sense of responsibility this time when we were in Boston. It felt like we were the adults, and we were the ones who needed to check up on her and make sure she had everything she needed. Instead of merely being helping hands, we were the ones who had to figure everything out from start to finish.
This is a trend I’ve started to feel across the board with respect to elderly relatives, and I see it more and more with my friends and their families as well. Although I feel pride at having more responsibility (and enjoy the relative freedom or authority to decide what I want to do that comes with it), I also find that this leaves me feeling the most burdened in life (and wistful for childhood).
The second half of our vacation was spent in Toronto, where we stayed with my parents. This definitely shifted my focus from feeling like a true adult to treading the line between still being a kid and sort of being a grown up. I felt a lot more aware of my relationship with my parents and my relationship with Eric, and how those come together. I also spent a lot of time pondering what my life would look like if I lived in Toronto instead of San Francisco.
In the many years that Eric and I have been dating, we’ve spent countless hours and days with friends, and often with just one or two mutual friends at once. I have always aimed to be the couple that doesn’t make others feel like a third wheel, and I’d like to think that we generally do a good job of it. That said, it’s fascinating to think about how we appear to outsiders, especially when the outsiders are my parents. I am always curious whether we are too cutesy or silly or, on the flip side, too formal and serious around my parents. I wonder what they expect us to be, and I realize that they probably don’t have an answer either.
Sometimes I wonder whether these are thoughts that cross my mind primarily because Eric and I started dating when we were still students and so the dynamic of our interactions with our families was more clearly as children to our parents. Had we started dating as “proper” adults, would the dynamic be different? Is it possible that I wouldn’t even had thought about any of these things? If this theory stands, are we navigating that transition from children to adults gradually? (There are some signs that maybe this is the case, but it’s still hard to pinpoint.)
Anyway, I think for a long time I’ve lived with a fear of balancing my relationship with my parents and my relationship with Eric. I am lucky to be very, very close with my parents and in some ways it feels zero sum because as Eric and I grow together, we lean on each other in increasingly many ways, and for each of those added ways in which we become co-dependent, we become a little more independent from our respective families and parents. I assume this is generally just how growing up works, but I do find myself wondering how I would feel towards the significant others of my future children, and whether it would make me sad to see my children lean on someone else, or if I’d just be relieved to hand the burden of responsibility off to someone else!
So, given all of these questions and thoughts on my mind, I have to say that this trip to Toronto marked a small but mighty milestone — and be warned, you may laugh out loud. I distinctly recall that when Eric first came to our house, we were all super formal and my parents didn’t really lounge around in their pyjamas in the evenings, and we all slept with the bedroom doors closed and always locked the bathroom door whenever someone was inside. (In contrast, when it’s just my parents and me, we leave the bedroom doors open at nighttime and only close but don’t lock the bathroom doors. I might even push that by leaving the door ajar so I can holler and continue my conversation with my mom…)
This trip, I broke an invisible barrier by peeing with the bathroom door ajar. I assume that this didn’t particularly shock anyone, but somehow it took a huge leap of faith on my part to trust that everyone would be okay with me doing this around all of them at the same time. And I haven’t heard any complaints from any of them just yet. (Admittedly, it’s possible literally none of them realized.)
Other highlights from the Toronto trip included catching up with a few friends that I’ve missed on recent trips back home and also getting sick/recovering/getting a good reminder to not over-schedule and jam pack my trips.
All in all, it was a good ten days and it feels like it was ten days’ worth of stuff. There were a lot of meaningful conversations with new and old friends. There were many, many delicious bites of food. There were familiar encounters and surprising ones. There was down time to read two books, journal, and write. There were a number of flights, and there was even an encounter with four cast members from Kim’s Convenience on our flight from Boston to Toronto. (Also somewhat noteworthy because I’m a nerd, we were on the inaugural day of United flights servicing the Toronto-San Francisco route! There is finally competition for Air Canada on the YYZ-SFO route!) It was a great “staycation” in our favourite familiar cities, and I think it was worth not having photos from some exotic, warmer, more “exciting” destination. | https://medium.com/@isabellajchiu/vacation-reflections-6edf3017b10b | ['Isabella C'] | 2019-04-05 16:41:35.901000+00:00 | ['Vacation', 'Relationship', 'Travel', 'Nostalgia', 'Family'] |
Bring your own Kubernetes cluster to Azure — Azure Arc | There are use cases where customers wants to bring on-premises resources to cloud and tap on cloud services to easily manage it as well. Microsoft Azure Arc helps you extend Azure management to any infrastructure and enables deployment of Azure data services anywhere. It actually simplify day to day monitoring and management of the resource from an operations perspective and you can leverage the goodness of cloud to on premise resources. Azure Arc is still in preview and currently supports Kubernetes, SQL Servers, VMs and HCI and additional features are being developed under the hood. Initially I thought to onboard my Raspberry Pi cluster to Arc, but unfortunately preview version doesn’t support armv7 or armv8 architecture yet. So in this article , we will setup a Kubernetes single node on a VM and integrate with Azure Arc.
We can easily setup a Kubernetes cluster using Rancher K3s. Please not that you need to have Azure Account and subscription to setup the following resources. You may create an account using the portal. The below code snippet is executed on the VM (Ubuntu-18.04).
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | INSTALL_K3S_EXEC="server --tls-san $(curl ifconfig.me) --write-kubeconfig-mode 644" INSTALL_K3S_CHANNEL=latest sh -
Once it has been setup, next step is to install Azure CLI and login to your azure account and register azure providers for Kubernetes.
https://gist.github.com/mysticrenji/d3a7b179be7ce578d29e8fc3a0c828f3
If the connection is successful, you would see the cluster in the Azure Arc.
Enable Monitoring in Azure Arc Kubernetes
To enable monitoring on Azure Arc resources, you need to have Log Analytics Workspace Resource created in the Azure resource group. Recommended to put in the same resource group where Azure Arc was created. You may the steps provided in this link to create it. Once its created, please use the below code snippet to enable the monitoring feature in Azure Arc
https://gist.github.com/mysticrenji/a9ec25604114d7305ad4d1727908b32f
If enablement is complete, the metrics from inside the Kubernetes cluster will gradually start appear in the app insights section.
We will be able check the metrics — CPU, Disk, Pod logs etc. from Kubernetes with Azure monitor — Insight. The metrics will be published in the log analytics workspace and also we can write custom query to fetch details and even configure alerts.
So we have covered the integration part of Kubernetes with Azure Arc and also the monitoring side. Hope Arc would go GA soon with extended support for other platforms. Like always, please share your feedback and share it.
References
Arc Installations
Enable Monitoring | https://medium.com/techbeatly/bring-your-own-kubernetes-cluster-to-azure-azure-arc-7ee7bfe3d3a6 | ['Renjith Ravindranathan'] | 2021-02-11 01:30:33.810000+00:00 | ['DevOps', 'Arc', 'Azure', 'Kubernetes', 'Infrastructure'] |
My Race And Religion Does Not Matter, And Neither Do Yours | A couple of years ago, I read a news article about how a group of religious fanatics was so adamant that certain eateries should not operate in the country where I currently reside.
Their reasoning was because the food that the eateries were selling were not ‘kosher’ for them. In other words, it was unclean for just their group. For others, it was fine but because they are the majority in my country, they demanded that the other ‘minority’ groups follow and submit to their demand.
Without question, it was sickening for me.
I live in a multiracial country. We have 3 of what we call the ‘main’ ethnicities, followed by the ‘others.’ In total, my country is easily home to over 20 different ethnicities. And these 20 groups probably have over 10 different faiths and beliefs.
Of course, the main ethnicity is also the ones with the biggest number of a certain faith. I don’t wanna be naming names right now but you can more or less figure it out that whenever a country has a majority race, that race’s particular religion will also be the biggest one in the country.
Needless to say, when you have a large number of anything and they are the majority, you will have certain groups that will want to step over the ‘little’ guys.
It’s sad and pathetic.
It got to a point where anything the others do, will be scrutinized and criticized by these groups because it will be different from their ideologies and understandings.
However, I’m happy that there are a lot of those in that race and religion who are more understanding and open to accepting differences.
Time and time again, I read about how extremist groups of the main faiths in the world are bashing and carrying out acts of terrorism against other religions, in the name of their own religion.
Like, honestly?
Do you really think that God — the Almighty, the all-powerful, the creator of the heavens, the universe and every single thing ever known to have existed, to need you, a tiny, puny, insignificant human being to kill another human being in His name?
How delusional can you be?
And that’s just the problem. The delusion that your religion is better than the other religions out there.
I was brought up with that delusion. I was taught that my religion, the faith that I was born in was THE religion. It was the ONLY religion that mattered. It was the ONLY religion that was right, true and proper. That MY God was THE God and all other gods of other faiths were pagan gods.
And it wasn’t just me.
Speaking to my friends of other faiths, they were brought up the exact same way as well. The exact same things, the exact same words, just fitted to their faith, to their God.
That caused a little rift between us, even though we tried our hardest not to. Of course, me being the minority in the country and most of my friends were the majority, they said things that were not only hurtful but also very disrespectful and provoking against my beliefs and my faith.
I couldn’t say much because if I were to say the same things about their beliefs, I would have been put in jail.
So, I just bit my tongue and ignored them. Thankfully, those snide remarks didn’t come out as often as it did from other people.
But as I grew older, studied my religion a bit more in-depth, as well as the other religions of the world, I realized that they’re all just the same. Same teachings, just slight differences here and there. Some even have the same prophets, just slightly different names. Same historical events that happened, just slightly different outcomes.
And it made me come to a realization that the only thing we have that is different is the colour of our skins, which is also the results of the continent that we live in. Over the years, our body adapts and the pigmentation of our skins change to adapt to our surroundings.
In reality, we’re all just the same.
Even our faiths and beliefs.
If you believe in God, your religion is merely a pathway to Him. God is your destination and your religion is the highway to where He is. Think of it like God is a shopping mall. That’s where you want to go. And to get to that shopping mall, there are 3 different highways that you can use. At the end of the day, you will still reach the shopping mall.
God is the shopping mall, the religions are different highways.
Regardless of which highway you use, you’ll get there. Regardless of which religion you believe in, you will get to God in the end.
When you think about it that way, your religion really shouldn’t matter to anyone else but yourself. That’s why my religion, my faith, my beliefs do not matter and neither should yours.
In the end, it is between myself and God.
If you’re not one to believe in religion, then believe that the universe is fair and that there is such a thing as karma.
Religions have torn the world apart for way too long. I’m sure God never intended for His ‘teachings’ to be used to tear each other apart. If anything, I’m sure He intended it for everyone to get along, to love one another as their own.
Isn’t that the main teaching of every major religion out there?
To love without reservation?
We’ve all suffered too much because of the divide that religions have brought upon us.
It’s about time that religions are used for the good of ALL, regardless of which religion, someone subscribes to or even if they do not subscribe to any religion at all.
Because that’s what I truly believe God intended His teachings and His words to be for. | https://medium.com/blueinsight/my-race-and-religion-does-not-matter-and-neither-do-yours-3d77914d3edc | ['Benny Lim'] | 2019-10-28 20:00:53.812000+00:00 | ['Blue Insights', 'Equality', 'Colour', 'Religion', 'Race'] |
33 Life Lessons That Brought Me Growth In 33 Years | When I was 17-years-old my brother committed suicide.
At 29 I had a tumor that needed to be surgically removed. I was also pregnant at the time.
As I take the time to reflect on my birthday, there has been a lot of living and lessons learned in 33 years. And still, so much more to do…
1. For every bad thing that happens to us, good will come too.
Think about the worst event that has ever happened to you. Now imagine if that never occurred. There are many paths our life can take. How different does your life look if your worst moment never happened?
My brother committed suicide in February 2005. Before his passing, I had planned to go away to college. While I stood at a crossroad contemplating my future and going away for school, I couldn’t help but think about my parents. How empty the house would be for them. Watching their only surviving child leave for school in six months did not sit well in my heart or soul. I could not leave them. I chose to stay home and attend the local community college.
Loss is the hardest part of our existence, but you have to find the good in life through the tragedies. If you look at our time here on earth, you’ll see the events that happen in our life all have a connection. My first day on campus was the day I met my husband. I knew he was the “one.” Had I opted to go away for school I would have not met him. All the blessings I’ve had along the way, especially our daughter, may not have happened.
Photo courtesy of Under the Old Willow Photography.
2. Every life is touched by tragedy.
We all have a story. Don’t assume a person has had an easy life. Don’t assume your story is worse than theirs. Even though it may seem like someone’s life is easy that does not mean everything goes their way. We are all on equal ground. Tragedy does not discriminate.
3. Make time for those who are important to you.
We are in a society that is geared to be connected. Whether it is with a cellphone, text, social media, or email, there is always a way for someone to get a hold of us. It’s pretty surprising how quickly life will pass you by if you spend the majority of it looking at a screen. Take steps to take the time to “shut down.” Start with an hour a day, work to an evening, or take a whole day. I guarantee you that you will feel recharged. You’ll even have some good old fashioned memories to share as well.
4. The love of your parents is unconditional.
“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” — Henry Ward Beecher
You never realize the physical, mental and financial sacrifices our parents make until we walk that path ourselves. They are there for every step in our life story. I did not realize that until I became a parent myself. The love and bond I have with my child go deeper than I could ever explain. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. For those who do not have an active parent in their life, look to a parental figure that you’re close to. It’s also an opportunity to recognize the traits you’ll want to embody when you become a parent.
5. Take your health seriously.
Take a serious look at where your health is at. It doesn’t have to be about losing those pesky pounds that won’t go away. Take steps like making sure you’re getting enough fluids, have at least one healthy meal a day, or creating a regular workout regime. When I have a balanced diet and regular workout routine, I have mental sharpness and energy.
6. Use the fear from your first brush with mortality as a motivator.
My tumor, located in the left parotid gland. It measured 2cm here. It was 4cm when it was removed eight months later.
When I felt a lump beneath my left ear, I was beyond scared. It’s not until you get that first brush with your mortality that you realize your time here is limited. It could be over at any moment. That will wake you up from your lack of productivity slumber. That fear is the realization that you need to stop putting off what you want out of life. You have so much to do. The time is now!
7. Smile, every chance you get.
Since my tumor was sitting on the facial nerve in my left parotid gland. There was a chance of permanent facial paralysis. Meaning there was a chance I would never be able to smile or close my eye again. I had an amazing surgeon who removed the tumor and maintained my facial nerves. I did have temporary paralysis due to the nerves being stretched.
A smile is a welcoming symbol. The left side of my face was paralyzed for four months. You never realize the gift of a smile until the ability is taken from you.
I gained my smile back by Thanksgiving and my eye function at Christmas. I’ll never feel self-conscious about my smile for a photograph ever again!
8. Give.
One of the greatest moments of enlightenment for me was that I realized you don’t have to have money to be charitable. We are rich with our thought, time, and sentiment. Sometimes people need a little extra support when they are going through a rough time.
9. Don’t be afraid of becoming a parent. It’s the greatest work you’ll ever do.
It feels like we’re all on a clock. We think that we need to have everything figured out before we settle down and have kids. We’re worried that they’ll tie us down and we won’t be able to do anything and our accomplishments will be limited. Wrong!
Since becoming a parent my inspiration and perspective have widened. I have never felt more inspired than I do now. I see the importance of our society and humanity. I want to be the change the world needs because of my daughter. I want to raise a great human being.
10. Don’t have a “plan” when it comes to starting a family.
Back to that life on a clock thing. I had a plan. Get married. Have a kid by 28, the next by 30 and the last by 34.
I really wanted three kids. It was a rude awakening when I realized getting pregnant is not easy! The hardest part is seeing everyone start having families while you wait for your chance. You have such joy for others, but it also brings you heartache. When we were giving up hope I found out I was pregnant. It was one of the greatest days of my life.
11. The things you say you’ll never do as a parent, you will do.
I think back to my life before having a child. I had so many ideas of what my parental style would be. And of course, I had very strict ideas of what I would and would not do. Life happens and we do what we can to survive and stay sane in parenting. It’s important to not beat yourself up. Being a parent is one of the hardest, humbling and most rewarding experiences.
12. Continue dating your significant other.
As time goes on we are not the same people we were when we met and fell in love with our significant others. Throughout life, we will grow apart and grow together again. It is important to remember no matter how much time passes you need to continue to make each other a priority.
13. It’s OK if you don’t have it all figured out.
You’ll never have it all figured out and that is OK! As each year passes you gain a piece of confidence and understanding of yourself. Your place in the world will unfold with time because wisdom comes with age.
14. Take a break.
Everyone needs a break, and it’s OK to admit that. If you’re burned out, you will be no good to an organization you work at or the people you care about. Sometimes we don’t always have the privilege of time, but there are ways to recharge and reset.
15. Travel.
There’s something special about traveling and learning about history and culture. It allows for growth, development, and enlightenment.
16. If you’re not happy with your job, then leave.
If you don’t like the environment you’re working in, change it. Of course, there are responsibilities in life that may make it difficult to quit a job. Here’s the beautiful thing though, every minute you spend where you’re at is an experience you’re gaining. Use that. Move on.
17. Network and collaborate.
We live in a world where we can connect with anyone. All it takes is a push of a button to follow or message someone. Reach out. Talk about common interests. There are always opportunities to collaborate. It’s a great chance to learn and grow.
18. Have a side hustle.
Whatever you’re good at. Whatever you’re passionate about, consider that for your side hustle. This is your opportunity to make your mark in the world and a chance for you to have some creative and professional freedom. Before you know it your side hustle could become your full-time gig.
19. Be flexible.
Your way may not always be the right way. It’s important to hear other people out. You can always meet somewhere in the middle.
20. Yet, speak up.
If there is something you’re passionate about or you feel compelled to express then it’s important to speak up. Always be respectful while communicating your views.
“The most powerful way people give up power is by thinking they don’t have any.” — Alice Walker
21. Be slow to anger.
We need to learn to master our emotions. Because you’re guaranteed to hurt someone when you’re speaking out of anger. Try to identify your triggers or step away from the situation until you calm down. While people will forgive, they won’t forget. By re-framing your thinking you can save a lot of regret with words that are said in the heat of the moment.
22. Build your brand.
Building your brand is important. I know it’s something I need to work harder at.
“Personal branding is about managing your name — even if you don’t own a business — in a world of misinformation, disinformation, and semi-permanent Google records.” — Tim Ferriss
He explains: “Going on a date? Chances are that your ‘blind’ date has Googled your name. Going to a job interview? Ditto.”
23. Be good to those who are good to you.
We are often hardest on those who are closest to us. Why? Because we have a comfort level with them where we can let our guard down. Love makes us feel safe, but that doesn’t mean we should be hurtful to those we care for because we are comfortable.
24. Binge-watch a good show or movie.
Sometimes you need to be a couch potato. That’s OK! You need to unwind. You need to let your brain shut off. Be mindless. Rest and recharge!
25. Treat yourself.
You work hard. You take care of those around you so take care of yourself! Buy yourself something nice. Go get a spa treatment, buy a meal or a new piece of equipment.
“When you treat yourself right, you run better and more efficiently. Which means you don’t have to go 100 miles an hour to get everything done.” — Ann Curry
26. There are no failures.
We often associate fear with failure. We’re afraid something won’t work out. It takes courage to learn from a mistake. These are opportunities to learn and grow. There is great bravery when going into uncharted waters. Failure can give way to an adventure where your next success is right around the corner.
27. Be there for someone.
“I don’t like to give up on people when they need someone not to give up on them.” — Carrol Bryant
Be the type of person that walks in when others walk out. It may be a long road, but it’s worth it in the end. Be the person that you’d want to be there for you.
28. Get out of your comfort zone.
“If you are deliberately trying to create a future that feels safe, you will willfully ignore the future that is likely.” Seth Godin
Imagine missing out on something big and amazing because you wanted to play it safe. There is some truth to the phrase, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” You can’t continue to grow if you are staying in the same lane.
29. Stay true to yourself.
There will come a time where you may be asked or feel pressured to do something that may not sit well with you. Never waiver because you feel obligated. Trust your instincts with a situation.
30. Always be loyal.
“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.” — Confucius
Relationships are important. Trust and loyalty go hand-in-hand. If you don’t have one then you don’t have the other. Be the type of person that someone can count on. They might be there for you when you need it.
31. Continue educating yourself.
Whatever you are passionate about, seek out a way to learn more. Whether it’s enrolling in a certification program or getting a degree, education is something that can never be taken away from you.
32. Have a second birthday.
August 31, 2019 — We caught a sunrise balloon launch in New York State.
Pick a date of significance to you. A day where you changed. It could be a happy day, a sad or tragic day. My second birthday is on August 31. That was my surgery day for my parotidectomy. When I was being taken back to the operating room for surgery I thought about what I would be doing every August 31. I knew that this was a day that I wanted to be doing something significant. I see it as a thank you to my surgeon for the gift of tomorrow. It’s a way to honor my story and celebrate my life.
33. Remember, the best is yet to come.
“Incredible things can be done simply if we are committed to making them happen.” — Sadhguru
Aging is a privilege that’s granted to few. We’re always looking back instead of forward. We never realize the memories we’re making while we’re in the moment. We have a limited amount of time here. Commit to the present. Stop dwelling on what was and focus on what will be. Because the best is yet to come! | https://medium.com/the-ascent/33-life-lessons-that-brought-me-growth-in-33-years-80cff4261c0a | ['Sarah Seweryniak'] | 2020-04-22 13:16:01.245000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Self Improvement', 'Reflections', 'Love', 'Self'] |
The New Atomic Clock Can Run For 14 Billion Years | They use a peculiar phenomenon called quantum entanglement, in which particles are closely connected together
The researchers explained that quantum entanglement helps reduce the uncertainty that occurs when the atom oscillates and enables precise timing.
Atomic clocks can reveal the elusive “dark matter” that constitutes more than three-quarters of the universe, and can also be used to study the influence of gravity on time.
Edwin Pedrozzo Penafiel, an electronics engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said: “Compared with the most advanced optical clocks, the quantum entanglement-enhanced optical atomic clock has the potential to achieve more High precision.”
Just as a floor-standing pendulum clock uses the swing of a pendulum for timing, atomic clocks use lasers to measure the regular vibrations of atomic clouds.
This is the most stable periodic event that scientists can currently observe
In an ideal situation, people can use the motion of a single atom to time. However, on the atomic scale, the peculiar rules of quantum mechanics come into play.
At the same time, the measurement results are affected by statistical probabilities, and the average value must be averaged to produce reliable data.
The physicist Simone Colombo from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology explained that when the number of atoms is increased, the average value of all these atoms tends to be correct.
The current atomic clock can measure thousands of ultra-cold atoms, use lasers to gather them in “optical traps,” and then detect them with another laser with a frequency similar to the vibration frequency of the measured atom
However, even this method has a certain degree of quantum uncertainty, but as the research team has shown, some of these problems can be eliminated by quantum entanglement. Through quantum entanglement, a set of related measurement results of atoms can be obtained.
The researchers explained that this means that the individual oscillations of entangled atoms tighten around a common frequency, thereby improving the accuracy of clock measurements.
In their latest clock design, Penafiel and colleagues entangled about 350 ytterbium atoms (rare earth elements).
The ytterbium atoms oscillate 100,000 times per second, which is faster than the oscillations of palladium atoms (the element used in traditional atomic clocks)
The fact that the frequency is higher means that if the atomic oscillations are tracked accurately, this new type of clock can even distinguish differences in a shorter time range.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Like an ordinary atomic clock
The research team trapped atoms in an optical cavity surrounded by two mirrors, and then emitted laser light through the optical cavity, causing the laser to bounce between the two mirrors, repeatedly interacting with atoms and entangled them together.
MIT CHINA physicist Chi Shu said:
“It’s like light acts as a communication link between atoms. The first atom of seeing light can slightly change the light, and this light will also change the second. One atom, the third atom, after many cycles, the atoms collectively understand each other and begin to show similar behavioral characteristics.”
Then, the research team used another laser to measure the average frequency of atoms, similar to the method used in existing atomic clocks. The team found that this quantum entanglement allowed the clock to reach the desired accuracy at four times the speed.
MIT CHINA physicist Vladan Ruretick said: We can make the clock more accurate by measuring longer. The question is how long it takes you to reach a certain accuracy.
Many phenomena require a fast time. Measured by scale. The latest clock design can be used to better solve various mysteries in the universe. As the universe ages, will the speed of light change?
Will the charge change? You can use a more accurate atomic clock Perform detection.
Democritus said:
“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.” | https://medium.com/technology-hits/the-new-atomic-clock-can-run-for-14-billion-years-d8b4773231ec | ['Arslan Mirza'] | 2020-12-20 12:27:45.704000+00:00 | ['Research', 'Atomic Clock', 'Physics', 'Atomsolutions', 'Quantum Physics'] |
Perform a Forecast analysis when you don’t know how to coding | Perform a Forecast analysis when you don’t know how to coding
Introduction to a website for a forecast analysis.
Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash
Background
Time series analysis is one of the vital parts of the Data Science techniques. It plays an important role in many applications in several domains such as energies, banking, finance, healthcare, education, environment, resource management, etc. There are several tools for time series forecasting, prediction, and performance evaluations. Time series analysis majorly characterized as supervised methods, where the time series is segmented into two parts, i.e., training and testing. The training part should be the longer part, say 70 to 90% initial values in the time series on which time series methods are modeled (Find some example here). The leftover last part of the time series is used for evaluation purposes, on which forecasted values are compared and based on it the accuracy of a method is evaluated.
The R and Python are the leading languages for such analysis. The testbench like ForecastTB makes such analysis more user-friendly and reproductive. So far, it is a challenging task for users who are not used to the coding skills to perform such analysis. This post is introducing a website (shiny app) to use the features of the ForecastTB package for the users who are not familiar with the coding. Let’s go the procedure step by step.
Hands-on:
Step 1: Go through the website: https://psfonline.shinyapps.io/ForeCastTB/
It will startup with an option to upload your time series as shown below:
Step 2: Upload a time series dataset
The user can upload the time series that he wants to use for the forecast analysis. The time series should be .csv or .xls or .txt files.
By default, the app can use the ‘nottem’ time series (a standard time series) by ticking in the box named, ‘use default dataset’. After uploading the time series dataset, it shows some initial values of the time series (up panel)and its statistical characteristics (down panel) as shown in the following image:
Step 3: Forecast analysis:
After uploading the time series, click on ‘Forecast’ tab shown in the left panel. It will bring you to the new tab, where one needs to update several details as shown in the following image:
By default, it uses ARIMA method, but the user can append several methods in the study with the following two options:
By selecting the methods which are available in the system. There are three default methods available in the present version of the website. (Users can expect more number of forecasting methods embedded in the website in the near future.)
2. By adding additional forecasting methods in the system. For this action, click on the ‘Add New Method’ tab and it opens up a new window as shown below:
For user reference, an example is provided below each input box. There is three input box for adding each new method in the system. In the first box, the user needs to provide a function that takes time series data and ‘nval’ as a input paraments. The ‘nval’ is the number of values to be forecasted. This function must be able to return the string of the forecasted values of length ‘nval’. The second and third boxes are the method names of the newly introduced methods. Finally, click on the ‘ADD’ button and it will append a new method in the system as shown in the following figures:
Step 4:
Let’s move on to the next parameter, i.e., the ‘Prediction parameter’. If the time series uploaded in the system has multiple columns, then the user can select the targeted column through this parameter. By default, the system will select the first column of the dataset.
Step 5:
After selecting the appropriate column, select the horizon of prediction and length of the dataset to be used for analysis by two sliders provided in the window.
Step 6:
Select the forecasting strategy for the analysis. By default, the ‘Recursive’ strategy is used, but anytime, users can use the ‘RirRec’ one.
Step 7:
After setting the input parameters, check the forecasting result plots and compare the performance of each method.
Step 8:
The users can check the results in tabular form by clicking on ‘Numerical Results’ tab:
Step 9:
Further, a polar plot showing forecasted values is shown in the system. This plot can help users to understand that after what horizon, the performance of a method is started degrading.
Step 10: Report Generation
The whole analysis can be saved as a summary with a single click on the ‘Generate Report’ button.
Concluding Remarks:
The website discussed in this post can be useful for a user with limited or no knowledge of the coding. Also, it can benefit regular programer for a quick intuitive time series analysis. I hope the readers like the post and for any query feel free to contact me. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/perform-a-forecast-analysis-when-you-dont-know-how-to-coding-d6e3ac2a6f76 | ['Neeraj Dhanraj'] | 2020-08-15 08:30:36.854000+00:00 | ['Forecasting', 'Time Series Analysis', 'R', 'Data', 'Data Science'] |
Art, eats & excursions: 11 local outings for a perfect purple-tier Thanksgiving break | A recent Sunday sunset on Pacifica’s Mori Ridge trail. (Photo by Kate Bradshaw)
Explore the rugged hills and vistas of Pacifica
There’s nothing like a short drive out to the Coastside to feel like you’re a world away from the corporate office parks and mansions of Silicon Valley. Although November is a bit chilly for beachgoing, it’s a beautiful time to explore the mountains and hills of Coastside towns like Pacifica—definitely bring a jacket, though. The town offers miles of surprisingly dog-friendly trails that combine spectacular ocean views and challenging terrain sure to help you burn off that third helping of pie a la mode. Here are a few trail suggestions, with routes linked via AllTrails.
Mori Point // 2.5 miles. Parking at the official Mori Point parking area fills up fast on weekends, so you can also park near Sharp Park Beach and start the hike with a southbound stroll along the beach promenade until you get to the trails at Mori Point.
Sweeney Ridge // 4.8 miles. If you don’t feel like driving all the way to Pacifica but still want amazing views, Sweeney Ridge is for you. The trailhead is easy to access from 280 near San Bruno. Take the Sweeney Ridge trail from Sneath Lane, which is dog-friendly and mostly paved, up about 2 miles to the ridge. Turn left at the summit to visit the Bay Area Discovery Site, where Spain’s Captain Juan Gaspar de Portola and his crew — accompanied by members of the local Aramai tribe — first “discovered” the San Francisco Bay in 1769, according to the National Park Service.
Montara Mountain // 7.0 miles. This hike is a bit more challenging, with about 1,800 feet of elevation gain largely in the first three miles, but the rewards of summiting, and the downhill views on the flipside are worth it. Pro tip: Start from the McNee Ranch trailhead on the Coastside to skip the $6 parking fee and dog ban at San Mateo County’s San Pedro County Park. | https://thesixfifty.com/art-eats-excursions-11-local-outings-for-a-perfect-purple-tier-thanksgiving-break-8465af1fcec5 | ['Charles Russo'] | 2020-11-30 23:02:14.223000+00:00 | ['Bay Area', 'Travel Writing', 'California', 'San Francisco', 'Silicon Valley'] |
5 Reasons to Start Rock Climbing — Dillon Mollinet | Have you considered picking up rock climbing but are unsure if you should? Rock climbing, indoors or outdoors, is an exceptional sport. Here are some of the reasons why you should start a rock climbing habit, especially after a year like 2020.
It’s stress-relieving
It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a stressful year for just about everyone. Fortunately, exercise is a simple way to relieve stress. With nearly half of the American workforce reporting feeling burnt out from time to time, this is a benefit that should not be overlooked. Rock climbing, specifically, increases the levels of norepinephrine in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter that helps reduce stress. That means that rock climbing on the weekend is the perfect way to unwind after a stressful workweek.
2. It’s challenging
We all need activities in our lives that challenge us. It’s fulfilling to find a sport that allows you to set goals and reach greater heights through hard work and perseverance. Rock climbing on a regular basis will inspire you to set goals, train hard, and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Then, once you’ve reached your current goals, you can always push yourself to the next level.
3. It’s a great workout
Aside from the stress-relieving benefits, climbing also has many other physical benefits. Rock climbing is an excellent workout for strength, endurance, and flexibility. It’s also one of the few sports that combines cardio and strength-training. After climbing for a few weeks, you will start to notice that everything in your life becomes easier, from walking up the stairs to carrying groceries.
4. It’s most accessible than you think
Many people mistakenly think that they can’t afford to rock climb because they’ll need to purchase expensive gear. However, rock climbing is more affordable than you may realize. Many gyms now include rock climbing walls in their membership prices. You can also find used gear for sale online if you plan to climb outdoors.
5. It’s fun!
Lastly, you should consider trying rock climbing because it’s one of the most fun activities you can do! Once you get into a flow of reaching, climbing, and leaping, you will start to experience feelings of ecstasy that make you forget about everything else. | https://medium.com/@dillonmollinet/5-reasons-to-start-rock-climbing-dillon-mollinet-4fa7805ded6d | ['Dillon Mollinet'] | 2020-12-03 14:20:37.733000+00:00 | ['Rock Climber', 'Dillon Mollinet', 'Rock Climbing', 'Adventure', 'Outdoors'] |
Marketing in Korea: 5 Essential Tips to Get You Started | Korea is known for its fast internet, rapid and near-complete adoption of new technology and high smartphone usage. Despite its modest market size (53 million inhabitants), Korea is one of the most attractive and potentially lucrative markets in Asia. Part of this is ease of entry. For example, we have found that Korea is a much easier prospect for expansion than navigating the extreme complexities of China or the ultra conservative nature of Japan. Its advanced, socio-economic position makes the nation a much more familiar market to many western companies and wide ranging FTAs open opportunities that may not be found in much of Southeast Asia.
But don’t be fooled! While Korea is an attractive prospect, many foreign brands have had a hard time here. The list includes Yahoo, WalMart, CarreFour, Groupon, Uber, and Lone Star. Even IKEA, Airbnb and Google have had their fair share of difficulties. Many of these brands have taken a ‘copy-paste’ approach to their Korean marketing, dramatically underestimating the uniqueness in approach that is needed to forge success.
I’m a Korean marketer who’s supported various types of companies with their entry into Korea. Here are five critical (but often ignored) factors that could help you power into the world’s most wired nation.
1. Know your market
Like any foreign market, Korea is unique in many ways. One of the first mistakes companies often make when planning their marketing strategy in Asia is that they see the regions as a single country, rather than a group of extremely diverse and unique nations. Even within Northeast Asia, the expectations and consumer behavior of Koreans are very different from their neighbors in China or Japan.
For example, Korean consumers are used to getting things for free. There are free samples everywhere, and ticket prices for most events are usually low. The nation’s top e-commerce player started as a daily deals site, like Groupon. But while Korean consumers are drawn to deals, this doesn’t mean Koreans don’t spend money. Koreans are quick to adopt new trends, including high priced products. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a strong drive among Korean consumers. They also don’t want to be left behind, which means they are also quick to move on to new trends. As such, timing is crucial when entering the Korean market.
2. Know thine enemy
Competition can be tough. Especially when you are up against a home team that deeply understands the market and already has a loyal consumer base. Take K-beauty for example. The international popularity of Korean skincare and makeup is celebrated by Korean people. When American or European cosmetic companies try to enter the Korean market, like Benefit or Sephora, they are often met with obstacles. It is extremely difficult for foreign brands to survive when Koreans have so many cheaper, good quality local options.
This is why extensive market research is necessary in order to compete with local brands. If you don’t know your competition, you’re setting yourself up for failure even before the game begins.
3. Localization — do it right, or not at all
The importance of content localization is often ignored. And to be clear, translation is not the same as localization. Sure, localization starts with good translation, but don’t be that company that cuts corners on content localization just for the sake of adding a new language. If you don’t have the time or resources to do it well, it’s better just to leave it in English.
Far beyond accurate translations, foreign brands that succeed in Korea develop content that is relevant to Korean audiences. This means sensitivity to underlying cultural/political/historical context. From copywriting to design, to seemingly insignificant details such as font choice, your content needs to resonate with your target audience.
DO NOT use this font, please!
For example, using a certain font can drastically increase/decrease marketing impact and brand reputation. Also, understanding popular concepts like Agee-jagee (a particular Korean cute style) and Ajae-gag (dad jokes) can open doors for your marketing projects. I highly recommend having at least one reliable local partner check if content hits the mark, a local partner who is well-versed in Korean and international markets.
4. Relationship — not everything, but almost everything
In Korea establishing and maintaining strong business relationships is more than just ‘important’. Strong local relationships are essential for success. The foreign startups that have been most successful here spend a lot of time on the ground in the set up stage, fostering relationships before launch. That process could take months and is therefore a big investment, but it could feasibly mean the difference between success and failure. It’s obvious that being on the ground gives you insights you will never be able to get from afar.
Uber did not foster solid relationships in the right places, prior to launch. It disregarded the highly political nature of Korean taxi unions, local transport laws, and the Korean courts. The ballsy Silicon Valley upstart ultimately paid the price — getting itself banned from the country and their ex-CEO earmarked for arrest should he ever turn up. Good relationships on the ground are the only way to access a level of understanding deep enough to succeed in the market. So, book your ticket, mingle a bit and make some friends.
5. Find the right partner
If you want to succeed in Korea (or any other foreign market) you’ll need to dedicate considerable time on the ground yourself, but that may not be feasible in the long term. Foreign brands that have excelled in Korea spent much of that time finding a strong local partner — preferably native Korean. Working with local experts can help you navigate the local dynamics, business norms, and ensure you avoid costly mistakes.
How do you know if you’ve found the right partner? A portfolio of past [foreign] clients, along with proven success cases is a must. If you’re seeking a marketing partner, spend some time to research their online presence. If a marketing company isn’t good at doing marketing for themselves, it’s unlikely they’d be able to do a good job for your company. Also, you need to be ready to actively engage in the process rather than expecting them to do everything.
Got more questions about marketing in Korea? Feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I’m happy to provide some local insights, also actual support. | https://medium.com/@swansong719/marketing-in-korea-5-essential-tips-to-get-you-started-e96c8eac3c76 | ['Olivia Song'] | 2020-02-08 05:38:10.754000+00:00 | ['Marketing Strategies', 'Marketing', 'Korea', 'Tips', 'Digital Marketing Agency'] |
If I had to counsel my 20 year old self on ONE thing, I’d say THIS | If I had to counsel my 20 year old self on ONE thing, I’d say THIS Priyanka Baranwal Dec 13, 2021·4 min read
It is one of the most asked questions —
If you were to give one advice to your younger self, what would it be?
The question has always made sense. It indicates that you have grown and have become wiser in terms of dealing with life and circumstances which further means that you now have an uncanny sense of judgment in some areas of life. So —
If I were to give one advice to my younger self, what would it be?
I would counsel my younger self on ways to be financially independent.
From my experience, I have observed that girls and women are far more talented than they give themselves credit for.
— I can’t go out and earn!
— I don’t have any skills!
— All I am good for is taking care of household, kids and husband!
— I have never done a job! How can I got out now and start earning?
— I wish I had some proper education. It would help me get a job.
— I wish I hadn’t taken a break in the career. Restarting is fucking freaking me out!
— Only confident women can be financially independent. I am not confident.
These are mere examples of what goes on in women’s heads on the daily basis. Before you condemn me laying out a chart of how women are progressing in 21st century, let me tell you that there is still a major lot where women do not feel adequate enough to go out and become financially independent.
I look around and witness many female friends/acquaintances/relatives questioning themselves over and over again. Most of the time they feel that they have absolutely nothing, zero skills that can earn them money.
This mindset in and itself—
a. is self-deprecating
b. chips away on self-confidence
c. is highly inadequate
And why talk about other women when I myself had been in this shoes for a long time. Believe it or not but I too was once questioning myself on gaining financial independence.
Now, I can confidently say that it is possible.
Yes, you heard me right, my beauties! Gaining financial independence, regardless of what or how you think about/treat yourselves, is absolutely freaking possible.
You simply need to evaluate yourself instead of looking up to other women who are turning tides and sailing ships, and feel inadequate. You too have hundreds of skills, which if given due time and thought, can help you earn money and declare financial independence. Those women didn’t start earning right after coming out of the womb. They too evaluated the best qualities in themselves to reach where they are now. Look at those women as an inspiration.
Here are a few examples of skills/talents that can help you earn money or get a job —
Classes on— Sewing/Knitting/Cooking/Etiquette/Beauty/Parlor/Salon/Bakery
2. Knowledge of basic computer software such as MS Office, photoshop, video editing etc.
3. Tuition at home or a teaching job in schools
4. Online tutor
5. Content Writing such as blogging, poetry, articles, books and novels, ghost writing etc. You actually get paid to write!
6. Editing and proofreading
7.Tiffin service at home
8. Virtual assistant
9. Interior designing
10. Make-up/Hair artist
11. Event planner
There are more ideas that can help you earn financial independence. You only need to make a list of things you are good at.
If you still find yourself lacking somewhere then you can always educate yourself in a particular field which will certainly help you earn money after a year or so.
After all, what’s two more years in comparison to the next forty, right? INVEST time, money and energy in upskilling yourself so that if not today but tomorrow you CAN get a job and start earning.
Earning money is easy. The only thing difficult is to be confident about it.
So, this is the most important advice I’d give to my younger self.
What would YOU counsel on your younger self? | https://medium.com/@priyashmit/if-i-had-to-counsel-my-20-year-old-on-one-thing-id-say-this-626a69043129 | ['Priyanka Baranwal'] | 2021-12-13 09:25:21.220000+00:00 | ['Motivational', 'Earning Money', 'Financial Freedom', 'Self Improvement'] |
The Rules For The Facebook Group About Facebook Group Rules | We’re so glad you’re here. Except for you, Karen.
Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash
Welcome to the Facebook Group about Facebook Group Rules. This is a place to discuss all the different kinds of Facebook Group rules and absolutely nothing else. If you’d like to discuss something else, please do not request access to this group. Not that we’d let you in, but if you could just save us the time and not even try that would be great, we all have jobs and Greg is training for the marathon.
The admins of this group know how much we all love leading lives within clearly defined but heavily abundant boundaries, so we’ve pinned this to the top of this Facebook Group page for easy reference. Please review, bookmark, and memorize all rules and abide by them or your posts will be removed, your access to this group will be revoked, and we’ll publish your 9th grade report card on the front page of a small but very reputable local newspaper. | https://shanisilver.medium.com/the-rules-for-the-facebook-group-about-facebook-group-rules-a2a41ac4d02a | ['Shani Silver'] | 2020-09-17 22:32:16.751000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Writing', 'Facebook', 'Culture', 'Social Media'] |
Fluent: Design Behind the Design | Purpose and process
This month, we’ve launched an update to our Fluent Design System website. The update represents our approach to helping our designers and developers build and design products for our customers. Fluent Design is a collective, open design system that ensures people, teams, and their products have the fundamental components and processes to build coherent experiences across platforms.
Earlier this year, I wrote about how we’re evolving the Fluent Design System to be “more than a set of outcomes” and how we use it to collectively design and build products.
The evolution of Fluent represents a critical moment for our design system at Microsoft. At Build 2017, we introduced Fluent as the latest Windows design language with a focus on bridging user experiences across multiple devices and 3D environments. Both figuratively and literally, Fluent became defined by its focus on fundamental principles and building blocks: light, depth, motion, materials, and scale.
Today, Fluent is simple in its emphasis on systematizing the fundamentals. It’s an attempt to optimize the process for both designers and developers through a shared foundation. At least in its initial stage, it’s as much about process as it is about pixels and interactions. It’s less about creating something new and more about establishing coherence. Coherence relieves cognitive overload, helping people focus on what they’re trying to accomplish and not on how they’re trying to accomplish it. Essentially, the updated Fluent website is a representation of this evolution to broaden this story of coherent experiences.
Simply put, it’s about designers and developers working better together to create best-in-class experiences that empower our customers. | https://medium.com/microsoft-design/fluent-design-behind-the-design-973028062fcc | ['Joseph Mclaughlin'] | 2019-08-22 17:25:43.526000+00:00 | ['Fluent Design', 'Microsoft', 'Fluent Design System', 'User Experience', 'Design'] |
Let the People Pick the President | The framers of the Constitution created the Electoral College to serve as a compromise between small and large states, to allow for discussion of how America will be governed going forward, as Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist #68. At a time when education was so poor and literacy rates were relatively low, the Electoral College ensured that a group of well-educated individuals selected the Commander-in-chief. The ultimate motivation for the Electoral College was to make sure that every state would be equally represented in the election and that no one state or few states could have an overbearing effect. However, that same logic is what makes the Electoral College so unbecoming of a country that prides itself on being the greatest democracy of the modern era.
The number of electors allocated to each state is decided by the following method: the total number of House Representatives for that state + the total number of Senators for that state (always two). At face value, this seems fair. But, let’s dig deeper. In 2016, California had 55 electors, a combination of its representation in the House of Representatives and Senate. It also had a population of 39, 510, 000. This is where the popular vote comes into play. An elector’s purpose is to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote of the state. Therefore, if you voted in California in the 2016 election, your representation in the Electoral College, and ultimately the election, would be 0.00000139 (55/39,510,000). Now, let’s look at Wyoming. In 2016, Wyoming had 3 total electors. It also had a population of 578,759. If you voted in Wyoming in the 2016 election, your representation in the Electoral College would be 0.00000518 (3/578,759), or almost four times that of California. Mind-boggling, is it not? How can we possibly assign more representation to voters in less populated states and claim to be champions of democracy? This convoluted notion that states, rather than people, deserve equal representation is absurd, and is the exact mechanism that allowed the Electoral College to go against the wishes of the people in the 2016 and previous elections. In their attempt to please small states or those with small populations, the framers completely neglected to consider this possibility, which is precisely why the Electoral College needs to be abolished.
Secondly, despite creating this supposedly elaborate plan to ensure equal representation between states, the framers did not at all detail rules and regulations for the choosing of electors and the consequences of their actions, instead leaving the power to do so with states. By allowing individual state legislatures to choose electors and influence their roles in the election, there exist many discrepancies between states which have led to the rise of faithless electors. Take Hawaii, for example. In the 2016 election, elector David Mulinix cast his vote for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton, despite Clinton winning the popular vote in Hawaii. Furthermore, even though this was explicitly against state laws, no action was taken because no provision had been included in the law for faithless electors. While some states punish faithless electors, states like Hawaii, Florida, Alaska, Alabama, and many more simply take no action on the issue. Again, how can America profess to be a democracy when the wishes of the people are deliberately disobeyed and those responsible refuse to act? These are symptoms of an anachronistic institution built not to further the desires of “the people,” as the Constitution states, but rather to suppress them.
Therefore, for the reasons expressed above and many more, I advocate for the passage and ratification of the 28th amendment, which should abolish the Electoral College and establish a nationwide popular vote for the election of the President and revolutionize the country into a true democracy, a democracy that we have been pretending to be for centuries. | https://medium.com/@danrico371/let-the-people-pick-the-president-545783533039 | ['Dan Rico'] | 2020-12-20 18:42:06.498000+00:00 | ['Electoral College', 'Politics', 'Government', 'Electoral College Reform', 'President'] |
Why an Exotic Dancer Is (Financially) Just Like Your Hairdresser | After we get our 50/50 split with the club, our earnings are further depleted. Tip-out in the service industry is standard, and anyone who had to bust their ass in a restaurant job knows what this is. You either ran around cleaning dirty tables at a restaurant, and were the happy recipient of the waitstaff’s castoff dollar bills at the end of the night, or you were the bitter waitress forced to give the bus staff (and the hostess, and the bartender, and the food runner, and maybe even the manager and cook if you worked for a really sketchy place) around 2 percent of your sales out of your hard-earned tip money.
How much do strippers tip out?
My highest tip-out as a stripper was $700.
Part 2: How Strippers Get Tipped and Who They Are Tipping
Unlike tips to restaurant employees (who are paid sub-minimum wages in 43 out of the 50 US states), tips do not make up the bulk of strippers’ income. Tips are, however, the only money that you could truly say is ours and ours alone.
I received the most tips from customers after I had the “are you a contractor?” conversation with them and explained that the club was splitting dance fees with me. Sometimes, even without that conversation, men would just open their wallets and feel the need to tip me. That cash, like the money made on stage, was always mine to keep, and no one inside the club had any claim to it.
Tips are the only money that is ours and ours alone.
I worked with many dancers who had very strong opinions about customers giving them tips. Some were of the opinion that tipping should happen at the conclusion of every dance exchange, regardless of the situation or total cost, even though we were already being paid for the dance outright. I never shared this opinion, as I still think tips are always optional. The one exception being when I demanded a tip from a man who was so rough with me during a dance that, while bouncing me on his knee like a newborn baby, I was briefly airborne. The only reason I didn’t fall was because his fingers were fiercely digging into my thighs, and he made damn sure my pelvic bone made violent connection with his leg on my way back down. That guy owed me everything he had in his wallet.
Tips from customer to dancer could shift and change our income significantly, but I always took it as a nice surprise rather than expected income. Or, even more appropriately, it could serve as a replacement for the tip-out that I was obligated to pass on to the staff who supported me, which was not optional.
If restaurant servers are tipping out on sales numbers, then it should make sense that strippers are tipping out on dance numbers. In the Los Angeles strip clubs where I worked, it was customary to tip out to your support staff $1 per dance. At the height of the 2008 recession, a good daytime shift would see me doing 15 dances, and a great night shift would see me doing 40+. (Just for context, veteran strippers thought those numbers were dismal.)
The tip out situation on day shift vs. night shift was extremely different, as you had around double the staff on the floor. Day shift: 1 DJ, 1 bartender, 1 manager, 0 bouncers. Night shift: 1 DJ, 2 bartenders, 2 bouncers, 1 manager. All of these people would earmark $1 per dance out of your half of your dance money, so your tip out doubles if you choose to work a night shift.
Treating your support staff well pays you back in spades, and that didn’t necessarily mean I had to over tip. It just meant I had to be reliable and steady. My first club had several high-roller customers who, of course, had the freedom to choose which girls they spent time with. However, the bouncing staff would help steer certain dancers in their direction, or make phone calls to off-duty dancers if those high roller customers suddenly walked in the door. The dancers they weren’t doing any favors for: the skimpy and unreliable tippers.
I made a point to tip $1 per dance no matter what. Even if I worked a day shift where I did three dances, I walked around and gave the each staff member three dollars. Sometimes, they would wave me away. “Get me next time.” I’d often make them take it, because I’d claim I’d forget to catch up with them next time (highly likely). But just making the effort was something they took notice of, and it was enough. They also took notice of girls who considered ten dances a “bad day,” and would slink out the back without tipping anyone.
Treating your support staff well pays you back in spades.
On one particular night where I found myself with an infamous over-tipping high roller, I was deciding what to do about my tip out. I had done upwards of 80 dances since he had kept me for so long in the booth, and I’d been with other customers as well. There was an extra bouncer on the floor, which gave me seven staff people to tip out to, which was a lot.
I could give them all $80, the logistics of which would require me to get the manager to break up a bunch of my monetary dealings (the mess of bills and OIU chips I had from credit card transactions was insane). Or I could toss them all $100 IOU chips, which served as real money inside the club. Was tipping out an extra $160 worth showing the staff that I appreciate the services they provide, and that keeping me in mind for future Good Customers is in their best interest? Will that money come back around to me?
Sure it is, and yes it will.
That was the night I tipped out $700. | https://medium.com/the-billfold/why-an-exotic-dancer-is-financially-just-like-your-hairdresser-d4fe85a52291 | ['Ainslie Caswell'] | 2020-01-09 19:20:13.905000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Money', 'Jobs', 'Sex Work', 'Freelancing'] |
Smart home trends that will die in the next 2 years | In 2019, when the tech industry is witnessing unprecedented growth of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, just being ”smart” is not enough. Smart home devices industry is constantly developing and shows no signs of slowing down. Every year this ever-evolving market is introducing new smart home trends. Ordinary homes turn into places that look and function more like habitation from futuristic TV series. And if you want to stay compatitive while producing stuff for this sort of market, you definitely need to follow actual trends and preventively recognize anti-trends.
Smart home industry brings up a huge number of advantages such as energy-saving, accessibility, safety, and sustainability. At the same time, many users still face difficulties when having to decide on which services should their home devices be used or how to make sure that your smart home is working at its fullest. It happens due to many reasons, for instance, the different capabilities of separate services and product compatibility. Good thing is that the producers of disruptive home technologies monitor critically failed ideas and patterns and fix them. As a result, some trends naturally fade away while more effective solutions displace them.
In the following sections, we will describe the major trends that are currently disappearing from the smart home industry and what is coming instead. Check out with us if you anticipate the future of smart home appliances properly.
Smart Charging Instead Of Wires
No matter how innovative some of your home appliances are, most of them still depend on power batteries and wires. Modern smart home users find it annoying and time-consuming. Thus, many companies are also working on various wireless solutions for smart devices. For example, Wi-Charge has introduced a unique algorithm that enables sustainable device charging. The technology can give a new push for the development of such battery depending devices like mobile phones, smart locks, doors, and window sensors. Apparently, in quite a while we’ll say goodbye to most ugly and ubiquitous wires. After all, basic features of smart home are not only convenience and safety but also beauty and aesthetics.
Multifunctionality Instead Of Monofunctionality
With growing competition on the market, smart devices are getting even more advanced. There is no more place for solo products any longer. In 2019, tech companies strive to supply established smart appliances with plenty of functions and features. For instance, Philips started its light story with simple light bulbs that had only one actual function — illumination. But the latest generation of bulbs also have built-in motion sensors and millions of different light regimes to choose from. Moreover, such smart bulbs offer good compatibility across the board (Apple Homekit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings).
Total Connectivity Kills Rare Connection Protocols
The ability of a smart device to interact with other products without any restrictions of access became a huge challenge for smart home producers. Currently, most businesses turned to WiFi and Bluetooth in order to connect their smart home devices and create a single smart home environment. At the same time, the idea of total connectivity requires high quality of connection technologies. Poor signal might become a serious obstacle for enjoying the full potential of smart home devices. Thus, the latest smart home devices are switching into Wi-Fi 6, or the next-generation WiFi.
Screened Smart Home Control Pushes Back Voice Control
A few years ago, voice control systems have disrupted the modern tech market. The idea of getting any info you want without any effort was so simple and convenient. Apps like Google Home, Apple Homepod and Amazon Echo are now integrated with speakers, lamps, cars, microwave ovens, TVs, and clocks, basically making every home device “listening” to you. In the modern smart market, voice is often not enough. For this reason, the latest smart home trends tend to build screened smart home devices, which would be able to display large pieces of information, adjust a range of settings at one time, or suggest persistent instructions.
Another strong wave that sooner or later will fundamentally change the idea of home environment management is “brain” control. So far Elon Mask only announced about future capabilities of his new innovation — Neuralink. But all humanity is looking forward with great anticipation to this technology and it’d better for smart home manufactures to keep their ears open in this direction.
More Virtual Assistances
Soon after making their home smart, users often realize that their smart devices speak different languages. Industry newcomers often do not know that different devices and services available on the smart home market are only compatible with particular smart assistant (Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Apple’s HomeKit or Samsung’s SmartThings). Having light bulbs only working with Alexa and smart locks supporting Google Home can become a real disaster. In 2019, many smart home devices started supporting two or more smart assistances at the same time. For example, Sonos One speakers are now compatible with both Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. In the meanwhile, it might be a good decision to choose one “brain” for all your smart home devices.
One app replaces millions apps
Modern smart home devices do not require a separate app to work with them any more. This innovation helps both the smart home devices industry and users to save a lot of money and time. Users only need an app once to set up to launch a bunch of new devices. Later on, smart hybrid apps, such as Loxone Smart Home App, are successfully used to control your smart home.
Importance Of Being Actual
The idea of having a smart home is to make one’s life easier and more relaxed. However, this is not always the reality faced by modern users. In fact, having smart home can end up proving to be quite stressful with a range of issues. Devices don’t connect properly or have difficulties to find the speaker, or the coffee machine doesn’t make its scheduled coffee and users find themselves dozing at the wheel of their cars and so on and so forth. It’s not that easy to be a producer of smart home devices nowadays. You should permanently monitor thousands of user cases, enroot really cool solutions and throw away poor and out-of-date technologies. Just remember that the world of smart home appliances changes all the time for better and you should change with it as well.
For us, CES 2020 is an amazing opportunity to discover the latest news of the IoT world, and meet other professionals and enthusiasts. Yes, exactly, we are looking forward to meeting you. If you have the same thoughts, schedule a meeting with us, and we’ll talk in January!
Source: https://brainbeanapps.com/best-practices/smart-home-trends-that-will-die-in-the-next-two-years/
Visit Brainbean Apps blog for more insights. | https://medium.com/@brainbeanapps/smart-home-trends-that-will-die-in-the-next-2-years-715b1239955a | ['Alexey Pelykh'] | 2020-02-21 09:37:44.104000+00:00 | ['Consumer Electronics', 'Marketing', 'Strategy', 'Management', 'Smart Home'] |
Experience Local Uttarakhand at an homestay near Auli | NotonMap | Live local, Live with NotOnMap
The mountains have something very comforting about them. The scale at which they soar creates a sense of wonder and gives a sense of perspective. Uttarakhand- the state of abundant natural beauty and cultural heritage- houses such picturesque landscapes. And the best way to experience the beauty of this state is by living like a local. Mountain View Abode, a homestay, near Auli, will cater to this need of yours. This homely accommodation is a location which is not on the map and will, therefore provide the much sought out tranquility.
Stay At Notonmap Mountain View Abode, Near Auli
NotOnMap Mountain View Abode- Near Auli
The first sight of the homestay is pretty surreal. During your walk on the path leading to the homestay, you might be looking down and watching your steps. But the end of the journey holds a surprise! You reach the clearing, and the view is breath-taking! Your eyes will have their own share of struggle. They won’t know whether to focus on the vibrancy of the rustic homestay near Auli or the magnificence of the Nanda Devi peak.
Ranaji, the host, is a vibrant, charismatic man and excellent at breaking the ice. Once you hear him talk about the peaks sheltering the house — Nanda Devi, Barmal, Sleeping Beauty, Hathi Parvat- you’ll already feel at home. As students, we learnt about Nanda Devi- the second-highest mountain. But imagine actually witnessing it and waking up to it! It is surreal. In addition, the rooms will further enhance this experience. You wake up in rooms which have rustic interiors, mud-plastered walls, and a wooden truss roof.
Now that the house and the rooms are being talked about, here are some interesting facts about this homestay. This homestay near Auli is a 400-year-old house built in the Vernacular style of Architecture. The legend says that this property was the first house to be built in the village. All the other houses were built uphill. And while traditionally houses in the mountains have a ground floor which houses the cattle, and the upper level with a sloping roof, this house has been refurbished.
The lower room has transformed into a cosy bedroom. The upper level inhabits two rooms, which can house 2- 4 people (extra mattresses are provided). Made wholly from recycled wood and crafted by local artisans, the furniture gives a rustic feel to the place. The play of traditional colours of bright blue, red and yellow against the backdrop of brown mud adds to the visual dynamism.
Experience farm fresh produce
One can find themselves to be hungrier than usual in the hills. Don’t worry. Your hunger gets satiated the moment you enter the aangan of the homestay. You can find apples hanging from the branch in the courtyard. Mamta Didi, the wife of Ranaji will hand you a hot cup of tea, straight from the Ringal wood furbished kitchen. This tea, prepared on a chulah, has a flavour, which one must have never tasted before.
Chulah system at Mountain View Abode
This difference in flavour and taste manifests even in the meals. It is so because the vegetables are fresh and handpicked. The experience is further enhanced as the food gets served in a ‘Thali’ system. The thali has modest and delicious local dishes like Chasedo, ‘Kapeli’, ‘Chaunsa’ and many more. The best part is that you can take your meal outside and have your dinner under the shade of the starry sky. The bird-feeder designed right outside the dining room is the most loved feature of this quaint kitchen. It ensures that the food is not wasted, as all the leftovers are almost always served to the birds.
Activites At Notonmap Mountain View Abode
Ranaji is middle-aged, but has the zeal of an adventurous teenager! He is an avid nature lover, loves to travel, and very knowledgeable about the local culture. Ask him to accompany in your nature trails, and treks. He’d be more than happy to do so! In fact, he will encourage you to go with him to the fields, learn about the local vegetables and cooking techniques. Not only will you get to go out for cattle herding but also for Rajma picking, if Ranaji’s brother- Kundan Bhaiya- is around.
Another astounding fact about the village is that all the residents are members of the same extended family! As we date back in time, we learn that the establishment of the village started with this very homestay. While the house resides at the bottom pedestal, the village spreads out uphill. Do take a walk in the evening into the village. You’ll find people gathered in front of the temple and talk about their day. The people are warm and hospitable, and in no time, you will be a part of their conversation.
Places To Visit Near Auli
Gwaldung is a picturesque spot about 20 minutes trek uphill. The route is narrow and beautiful, as you walk along the mountain peaks on one side, with little streams on the way.
is a picturesque spot about 20 minutes trek uphill. The route is narrow and beautiful, as you walk along the mountain peaks on one side, with little streams on the way. Surrounding this home stay is Joshimath town. While Joshimath acts as a perfect getaway for those seeking expeditions and trekking, it is also home to many pilgrim centers. Renowned for the four cardinal pīthas established by Adi Shankara, Joshimath attracts a lot of tourists. The auspicious ‘Kalpavruksha’ tree, under which the philosopher meditated is said to make people’s wishes come true!
Mighty mountains of Joshimath!
The famous tourist destination, Auli is a 30-minute trek from the home stay. You could also visit Auli from Joshimath in the cable car, which is the largest in Asia. Be mesmerized by the vast panoramas of one of the tallest peaks in the country!
is a 30-minute trek from the home stay. You could also visit Auli from Joshimath in the cable car, which is the largest in Asia. Be mesmerized by the vast panoramas of one of the tallest peaks in the country! Tapovan and Badrinath are other destinations you could visit if you happen to stay for more than a day in the village. Tapovan has a collection of five hot water springs. One of the temples there houses a hot spring. The water coming from the spring is said to be medicinal and can cure joint pains. After a long day, the experience of sitting under a hot water stream here is incomparable.
Picturesque view on the way to Tapovan
An hour and a half away from Joshimath, Badrinath is one of the five Kedars, which holds a significant value in the Hindu mythology. Even if you are not a religious person, the journey to Badrinath is sure to instigate some spiritual vibes in you.
By Air: The nearest airport to the village is the Dehradun Airport, also known as the Jolly Grant Airport. From the Airport, you can either hire a private vehicle or take a bus to take an 8-hour journey towards Joshimath. The village is another half an hour ride uphill from here.
The nearest airport to the village is the Dehradun Airport, also known as the Jolly Grant Airport. From the Airport, you can either hire a private vehicle or take a bus to take an 8-hour journey towards Joshimath. The village is another half an hour ride uphill from here. Another alternative is to get on the bus (Uttarakhand Parivahan) to Auli and get down at the ‘TV Tower’ on Parsari road.
By Rail: The nearest Railway Station is the Dehradun Station, from where you take a bus/cab/private vehicle to Joshimath, the village is an hour away from there.
The nearest Railway Station is the Dehradun Station, from where you take a bus/cab/private vehicle to Joshimath, the village is an hour away from there. Another way is to reach Haridwar / Rishikesh and then take a bus going to Joshimath, and then follow the route ahead as mentioned above.
By Road: Joshimath is well connected by NH7, which passes through the town. It is a 9-hour drive if traveling on road from Rishikesh side. After reaching Joshimath, take the route to Auli, you will reach in an hour.
You’ll find legends, stories, history, religion, myths, all in the lap of nature. So, hurry up and pack your bags for NotOnMap Mountain View Abode! | https://medium.com/notonmap/experience-local-uttarakhand-at-an-homestay-near-auli-notonmap-54c39b5a6bb5 | ['Not On Map'] | 2019-08-26 16:18:35.548000+00:00 | ['India', 'Travel', 'Notonmap', 'Live Like Local', 'Uttarakhand'] |
Fully Connected vs Convolutional Neural Networks | Dataset Used
MNIST (Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology database) dataset of 60,000 28x28 grayscale images of the 10 digits, along with a test set of 10,000 images.
It is a subset of a larger set available from NIST. The digits have been size-normalized and centered in a fixed-size image.
It is a good database for people who want to try learning techniques and pattern recognition methods on real-world data while spending minimal efforts on preprocessing and formatting.
Model Implementation
A) Using Fully Connected Neural Network Architecture
Model Architecture
For the fully-connected architecture, I have used a total of three hidden layers with ‘relu’ activation function apart from input and output layers.
Model Summary
The total number of trainable parameters is around 0.3 million. In a fully-connected layer, for n inputs and m outputs, the number of weights is n*m. Additionally, you have a bias for each output node, so total (n+1)*m parameters.
Model Accuracy
On training the fully connected model for five epochs with a batch size of 128, and validation split value set to 0.3 we got training accuracy of 98.6% and validation accuracy of 96.07%. Moreover, after 2nd epoch, we can visualize how train and validation accuracy tends to move wide apart.
Accuracy on Test data
On test data with 10,000 images accuracy for the fully connected neural network is 96%.
B) Using Convolutional Neural Network Architecture
Model Architecture
For Convolutional Neural network architecture, we added 3 convolutional layers with activation as ‘relu’ and a max pool layer after the first convolutional layer.
Model Summary
With CNN the differences you can notice in summary are Output shape and number of parameters. As compared to the fully connected neural network model the total number of parameters is too less i.e. 0.1 million.
Model Accuracy
On training, CNN for five epochs for a batch size of 128, and validation split value set to 0.3 we got training accuracy of 99.19% and validation accuracy of 99.63%. Moreover, unlike the fully connected model, we can visualize train and validation accuracy do not tend to move as wide apart.
Accuracy on the Test dataset
On test data with 10,000 images, accuracy for the fully connected neural network is 98.9%.
Final Thoughts
Although fully connected networks make no assumptions about the input they tend to perform less and aren’t good for feature extraction. Plus they have a higher number of weights to train that results in high training time while on the other hand CNNs are trained to identify and extract the best features from the images for the problem at hand with relatively fewer parameters to train.
Please find the relevant codes used in this blog here. On similar lines, you can find the implementation of CNNs on the FMNIST dataset using PyTorch here.
References : | https://medium.com/swlh/fully-connected-vs-convolutional-neural-networks-813ca7bc6ee5 | ['Pooja Mahajan'] | 2020-10-23 14:09:56.518000+00:00 | ['Neural Networks', 'Convolutional Network', 'Keras', 'Computer Vision', 'Deep Learning'] |
Github | Authentication failed..? | Looks like you have just pulled in a new repository in your machine but could not use any of git commands ?
To make it work all we have to do is get a token from Github and use it from your terminal. Let’s see how we can do that ?
First navigate to your Github account https://github.com then follow these:
Go to your account settings:
Then developer settings:
Then Personal Access Token and Generate new token:
Then in Note just enter the purpose of the token and select all or applicable scope (“repo” is enough for pull and push) and Generate Token. That’s it!!
Make sure to copy the access token before moving away from the page, it won’t show up again. Also you can enable SSO for newly generated access tokens if your organisation has any.
Back in the terminal you can use your Personal Access Token as password during the authentication.
Happy Coding :) | https://medium.com/@mzmmlds03/github-authentication-failed-99f0fad0102f | [] | 2020-11-23 14:00:00.753000+00:00 | ['Github Api', 'Authentication', 'Github', 'Git Clone'] |
Should I hire a Nigerian Freelancer? | Working with a Nigerian freelancer is not a bad idea after all, and you will find out why as you read this piece.
Quite true, the Nigerian identity has been dented by some 'bad eggs' over the years, from members of its corrupt government to some unscrupulous youths who know nothing about hard work.
You probably have heard of the buzzword "Nigerian Prince" when people talk about catfish scams. But then understand this- corrupt government officials and con artists are a world problem, not just a Nigerian problem. So it's unfair to prejudge anyone from anywhere because of the behaviors of others.
We can at least take a chance on them. Talking about taking a chance on them, some people have done that, and they have been blown away by the extraordinary talents they discovered.
Here below is a tweet from Ross Simmonds on February 11, 2021
Below his tweets were several others who have enjoyed working with talents from Nigeria.
Find some of them below:
So if you have been sitting on the fence about working with a Nigerian freelancer, there you have it- people have been tapping the country's best talents while you linger.
If I weren't a Nigerian, I would probably be asking the same question. So believe me- I understand your fears.
However, there a Nigerian Freelancers and entrepreneurs who know what they're doing. Plus, a good majority of Nigerian youths are self-driven and ready to take on any opportunity.
Don't waste any more time. The next time you see a Nigerian freelancer bidding for your gig on Upwork, don't brush it off because of their nationality, cut them some slack, and give them a chance. If you find them a fit, hire them, and you will be surprised.
PS. If you are wondering where to find one, you can find them on Upwork. Newton also offers his freelance writing services on the platform. You can shoot him DM. He'd be glad to come on board. | https://medium.com/@neo4iver/should-i-hire-a-nigerian-freelancer-6ff48266be2 | ['Newton Ukeh'] | 2021-03-12 21:00:49.964000+00:00 | ['Gig Economy', 'Freelancers'] |
Loom Network — Gamifying scaling & mass adoption of Ethereum — Analysis of Business Model & Token | Loom Network — Gamifying scaling & mass adoption of Ethereum — Analysis of Business Model & Token
During the late 2017-early 2018 bull-run, the volume of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain increased to a level where the limitations became painfully apparent.
Transaction costs rose to unreasonable levels as the network couldn’t properly scale to cope with its popularity. This scalability issue has been well-documented within the community, and came as no surprise to certain projects working on second-layer solutions to segregate the bulk of transactions from the main blockchain.
Loom Network is one such project, and they are creating a platform that allows easy development of dApps on their own sidechains, while using the Ethereum network as its base layer. The team describes it as a type of “build your own blockchain” generator. Loom is notable for having released a working product with functioning Decentralized Applications (DApps). The core component is a Software Development Kit (SDK) that allows integration of Javascript, Phaser, Golang, and Unity and supports all the other tech built on top of it.
In addition to solving scalability issues, Loom is also trying make DApps easier to develop, and to drive adoption of DApps through a seamless user experience.
How it works
Loom utilizes sidechains (which it refers to as “DAppChains”) — second layer blockchains that will host the DApps. Each DApp will have its own sidechain running parallel to the base Ethereum network, which allow for high levels of scaling while still maintaining public shareable data, reasonable security, and decentralization.
The platform has integrated Plasma Cash to allow for transfer of digital assets onto sidechains. This sidechain is appropriately called PlasmaChain, and effectively acts as a bridge to the Ethereum mainnet with a built-in Decentralized Exchange (DEX), that other sidechains can use for faster and cheaper transactions without ever touching mainnet.
For example, the collectible card assets (ERC-721 tokens) used in the Zombie Battleground game are expected to be purchased and played with on the CryptoZombies GameChain, but the cards can also be transferred to the Ethereum mainnet to be stored securely, traded, or even transferred to another sidechain for some other potential functionality.
While PlasmaChain is the most ground-breaking implementation of the sidechain experiment, there are a couple of other significant sidechains operating within the Loom ecosystem.
GameChain is optimized to run interactive mobile games without any sacrifice in performance due to blockchain latency. It’s a sidechain of PlasmaChain, and doesn’t connect directly to the Ethereum mainnet. It’s being used to run the alpha version of Zombie Battleground.
GameChain is important as it allows users to earn items while playing, and then trade them on the marketplace instantly, without having to worry about paying for gas. Taking the game Zombie Battleground as an example, it is on GameChain where all the matchmaking, tournaments, ladders, player rankings,and individual moves in the matches themselves take place — basically everything that would traditionally happen on a backend web server.
SocialChain has been used since March 2018 to run DelegateCall, which is a blockchain Question & Answer portal where users can earn tokenized karma. In the future, there are plans to open up SocialChain to other social network DApps that share similar feature requirements, such as ERC20-based karma, sybil resistance, or reputation-based transaction limiting.
The Loom Network also features DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) functionality. DPoS is a staking mechanism where users select “witnesses” to validate transactions. Only the top witnesses will validate transactions and be rewarded with associated fees, and the community voting mechanism can kick out bad witnesses. Initial validators on the PlasmaChain include Mythos, Bitfish, Bixin & MW Partners.
DPoS allows for significant scaling and lower transaction costs. It does however lack decentralization, considering that only a handful of the witnesses will be voted to validate transactions. This is a major reason why Loom focuses on gaming and social networking; the data in these types of applications are less sensitive. It should be noted however that each DAppChain will be allowed to choose its own consensus algorithm.
A major differentiator that has led to Loom’s popularity is the team’s track record of releasing tangible and useable software. The beta SDK was released in March 2018, offering a scaling solution that took the community by surprise, as it came ahead of more well-known projects such as the Raiden Network and Plasma. The Loom team prides itself on their action-first mentality, maintaining that no white paper needs to be written based on this belief.
On the other hand, it should be noted that Loom’s expedient release is largely due to its centralized nature. Their approach is to release something tangible first, and then fine-tune the security and decentralization later, reflecting their belief that the community will appreciate imperfect releases rather than delayed promises. Up and running products include:
CryptoZombies.io — interactive DApp coding tutorial
Zombies Battleground — collectible card game
DelegateCall — social Q&A site
Zombie Battleground
Zombie Battleground is the first major game release by the Loom team that aims to propel mobile blockchain gaming into the mainstream. Its essentially a collectible card game in the style of Magic the Gathering, where assets and game data are stored the blockchain. The game has raised over $320,000 in funding from Kickstarter, and is currently in alpha testing stage, but there is plenty of anticipation, with over 22,000 people waiting to play once the game is opened up.
The blockchain transactions are be completely invisible to the player, and someone who has never even heard of blockchain will find that the game is easy to pick up with performance similar to any other comparable mobile game. When users decide they want to trade or sell their cards, then they will discover and learn how to carry out blockchain transactions to securely interact in the marketplace.
Loom has underlined its belief that games are the best way to encourage mass adoption of blockchain technology, and while Zombie Battlegrounds is only one of the team’s various DApps, it is being pushed as a potentially “Killer App”.
The LOOM Token
The LOOM token is utilized both by users and by developers.
For users, the LOOM token represents a membership pass that allows DAppChain assets to be transferred between the sidechains and the Ethereum mainnet. It should be noted that the token is not used as a currency; there is no spending of this token for transactions. Rather, as long as you hold a minimum amount (one token as of writing), you are permitted to perform cross-chain transactions. The platform can also integrate staking of tokens for various DApps. For example, Zombie Battlegrounds will allow LOOM stakers access to free cards on a monthly basis. The team is also consider various other ways these tokens can be used.
For developers, LOOM tokens will be required for access to the SDK at cost of 10–10,000 tokens, depending on the level of deployment. The Loom team is also offering enterprise support at a cost of 100,000 LOOM per year.
Notable Partnerships
Trust Wallet — A big focus for Loom Network is allowing easy integration of DApps into mobile. Trust Wallet is a mobile ERC-20 wallet recently acquired by Binance, that is working on easy interaction between mobile apps and the Ethereum mainnet. It aims to reduce the friction of somewhat unintuitive implementations such as Metamask.
Cocos-BCX — Cocos is a game engine utilized by popular games such as Angry Birds and Clash of Kings. Cocos-BCX is the blockchain development arm of the team, and is aiming to develop the definitive game engine for DApp games. It should be noted that Cocos-BCX has also partnered with other major platforms such as EOS, Ontology and NEO. The Cocos SDK is currently available for the Loom Network.
Roadmap — Where are we?
Loom Network does not have a whitepaper, but releases limited roadmaps via blog posts.
A number of important milestones have been hit recent months:
The public beta SDK was released in June, and a number of games are building using the SDK, including Axie Infinity, Neon District, CryptoWars, Coins & Steel.
Plasma Cash implementation in June, allowing the use of ERC721 non-fungible tokens on sidechains
Zombie Battleground game alpha release in August (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)
PlasmaChain launch in August
ERC721x , a new token standard to allow for batch transfers and gas efficiency, while maintaining full backward compatibility with ERC721
For Q4 2018 / Q1 2019, Loom plans to:
Add more utility to the LOOM token
Open up staking later to become a validator of the PlasmaChain
Develop the Marketplace and game mechanics for Zombie Battleground
Develop new features within SDK & Plasma Cash
Stats & Metrics*
*(as of 21 November 2018)
Marketcap — $35,909,000
Price Chart
Cost to join Vladimir Club (own 0.0001% of tokens): $3,591
Circulating Supply — 604,116,333
Total Supply — 1,000,000,000
Unique Addresses holding tokens — 6,957
Top 20 Addresses hold 76% of the Supply.
*Defined as “distinct senders that sent the tokens using ERC20 transfer() method”. NOTE — it only includes onchain transactions.
Matthew Campbell, CEO & Cofounder — Software developer who has worked for a broad range of companies including Gucci, Bloomberg, and Thomson Reuters. His longest stint was as a principal at Hyperworks, Inc., which is a CAE software company still active today. He is a graduate of Georgia State University.
James Martin Duffy — Co-Founder — Software developer who has worked in various start-ups throughout his career. Starting as a freelancer, he was lead developer for Casual Steps, Inc., a South Korea-based ecommerce platform. He founded KoreaJobFinder.com, an English to Korea job portal, and Auragin, a herbal supplement brand. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Virginia Tech.
Luke Zhang — Co-Founder — Software engineer who has worked for various companies/projects which include Workopolis, Elemica, and Blockmason. Blockmason is an accounting blockchain protocol; Mr. Zhang left the project shortly after ICO to join the Loom team.
Overall, Loom has an extensive team of ~50 employees. The team includes divisions for game development, blockchain development, artists, marketing, and operations. The group is broad in scope, and appears just as focused on marketing and mainstream accessibility as technical excellence.
Competitors
The Loom Network provides a broad scaling solution for all types of DApps, and at its core competes by offering an easy-to-use implementation of second layer DApps. While the network is not restricted to any particular type of DApp, the Loom team has focused on gaming and social networks, with significant investment into art and design that appeals to that market. As such, the Loom Network can be viewed as competing in both the scaling platform space, as well as the decentralized gaming space.
Enjin — Enjin is a longstanding community management services platform for games that originated in 2009. It is best-known for providing websites, forums, and other community-based services to gamers. The Enjin Coin hopes to integrate a decentralized currency into the Enjin platform, allowing payments, subscriptions, and virtual good purchase/sales through the crypto rather than fiat. While Loom Network provides a platform for building dApp games via side chains, Enjin focuses more on integrating existing games into blockchain.
EOS — EOS is a dApp platform that utilizes DPoS and aims to incorporate various features and technologies to make it superior to Ethereum and all other networks. In comparison, the Loom Network is built on top of the Ethereum network, and hence is largely dependent on the popularity and developer support for Ethereum. In general, Loom has incorporated many of the features of EOS through its use of side chains, although the charge of centralization that is frequently levied against EOS could also be applied to Loom DappChains.
Raiden Network — Raiden Network offers a different type of scaling solution than Loom. While Loom Network utilizes sidechains for transactions, Raiden Network aims to utilize state channels, which are direct transactions between two parties that take place entirely off-chain. These two technologies are largely complementary, and many other projects are investigating the usage of state channels such as Lightning Network and Trinity.
Concerns
No whitepaper / Lack of defined roadmap — The Loom team has always stressed their focus on producing results instead of promises. From the beginning, the team differentiated itself through no whitepaper and minimal roadmap. This has made it difficult for investors to track the project’s development from a macro perspective, while also freeing the team from keeping up with deadlines and expectations. The inability to hold the team accountable to a long-term plan is certainly a risk, although the team has produced meaningful releases consistently with ample community updates and good communication.
Token pricing — One of the most befuddling aspects of the Loom Network has been around token pricing. Until recently, the token was sold directly on the Loom website for a premium well above the listed price on exchanges. The community pointed out this discrepancy, questioning the morality and business acumen behind this decision, and subsequently it is no longer possible to buy Loom directly from the site. One argument for why Loom did this is that an average user may have found it difficult to sign up to an exchange and go through the process of making the purchases, hence Loom was simply providing an easy gateway to purchasing their tokens, although at a high cost.
What is the core focus? — On a more conceptual level, a concern about the Loom Network is that there is no definitive focus. The team is developing the Loom Network platform, while also trying to release high-quality mobile games, while also working improving UI/UX , while also developing scaling solutions via Plasma. With lack of whitepaper and definitive roadmap, there is risk that the team may end up not staying on the same page, or being too dispersed for meaningful development. On the other hand, the development team is quite large, and progress thus far has shown the team is capable of managing different projects.
Summary
The Loom Network has provided the community with the first major platform to ease Ethereum scalability issues through the usage of sidechains. The team has also proven to be very industrious, with a comprehensive SDK, clever implementation of Plasma Cash, as well as alpha release of the Zombies Battleground game.
On the other hand, the extent to which the Loom Network provides a solution for scaling that is truly secure and decentralized still remains to be seen. Developers of DAppChains will be able to choose their consensus algorithm, and modify the number of validators, so the level of decentralization and security will presumably differ across various sidechains.
There has been significant investment into the Zombie Battleground mobile game, however, it is notoriously difficult to predict the popularity of such endeavors. If the game does not take off then it will be back to the drawing board in terms of adoption. At least with the SDK this problem is being outsourced to other professional game developers, and in time, one of them could hit it big and bring the benefits of blockchain to the wider gaming community.
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Let me know what you think of LOOM in the comments?
I’ll try to update this review periodically to keep it relevant, but please feel free to help me by notifying me of any updates to the project, or offering any corrections/suggestions to improve the analysis!
_______________________________________________________
To stay up-to-date with all the news about LOOM , and to monitor key metrics like Price, Holders & Daily Active Users, have a look at Loom’s token profile on Trivial.co | https://medium.com/trivial-co/loom-network-gamifying-scaling-mass-adoption-of-ethereum-analysis-of-business-model-token-96ec6764a812 | ['Jan Wozniak'] | 2018-11-21 10:41:08.891000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Dapps', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto'] |
Excel: 2 Common Bugs, 1 Rare | Excel: 2 Common Bugs, 1 Rare
Photo by Joshua Coleman via Unsplash
Excel is king. It’s probably used by a lot of the stakeholders in your company. It’s commonly used for quick analysis. It has a rather low barrier of entry when compared to coding. With so many people using it with so many reports, you’re almost certain to stumble across a bug.
I am going to cover two common errors and a lesser occurring example. This article can either help you avoid these situations or can help you offer guidance to those using reports that have numbers that don’t check out with a source of truth.
(Red Ball From Minority Report Rolls Down) There’s a Data Discrepancy!!!
You throw on those gloves that allow you to move through the footage to identify the source of the problem. You have all of your monitors full of evidence. You’re on a mission!
Someone has pointed out that they’re coming up with different values for ‘average_$_per_cust’ than what they’re seeing in other places.
Photo by Author
This report has taken a column that has already calculated the ‘average_$_per_customer’ by store by month and it’s now taking the average for each month. Averaging averages is a no-no! Note the difference in the pivot table above when using the sum of the ‘sales’ / sum of the ‘cust’, a created formula.
This might not look like a huge difference, but when it comes to some important decisions that are made, this could be the end of a program that is actually doing just well enough to survive.
How Much Trouble Can Averaging Start?
Speaking of averages, the tricky part about them is that the value of the denominator can make a pretty sizable difference in results. In this example, Store 10 had not opened up last year, so no sales were associated with it. In our left column, we put a 0 for sales. In our right column, we don’t have a value. Using a 0 will add a 1 to the denominator for each observed instance.
Photo by Author
$905 (we’ll say that’s in thousands) split between 10 stores is very different compared to the 9 stores actually needed for the calculation.
This One’s a Little Sneaky
We’re going to change the scenery and bring in our old friend: the V-Lookup. This scenario is sort of an oddball. I’m wanting to show it just in case you run into something similar. First, take a look at the two columns near the middle of our output.
Photo by Author
In this scenario, we’re using our V-Lookup to bring in the value for ‘cust’, far right, to match up alongside ‘sales’. We don’t have a unique identifier to join on, so one was created. The column ‘year_week_store_concat’ seems pretty self-explanatory. It concatenates the year, week, and store columns. This will give us a unique value, right?
Note that in our ‘cust_vlookup’ column, we see a duplicate for the values of 52 and 50. If you look at our ‘year_week_store_concat’ column, you’ll notice that for the two rows with 52, the lookup for both of those rows is 2021111. Week 1, Store 11 looks just like Week 11, Store 1. With a V-Lookup, whatever value it finds first will be brought in.
The solution? Use a delimiter. Note that now we have 2021–1–11 vs 2021–11–1. Using this method, ‘delim_cust_vlookup’, matches the values correctly!
Final Thoughts
Because it’s so easy to throw data into an Excel file and create pivot tables in just seconds, people can forget the smaller details. My hope is that you won’t run into these issues, but if you do, maybe these will help in the debugging process and save you time.
These are great little tips to help others avoid issues as well. Ideally, you will be able to move forward as a team and spend less time comparing results. As always, keep on learnin’!
For those that use SQL, check out this possible bug when summing two columns with an explanation of how it works:
This will help you avoid a year calculating error when using DateDiff() in SQL: | https://towardsdatascience.com/excel-2-common-bugs-1-rare-1cbe2dc5faef | ['Joseph Burton'] | 2021-09-11 17:09:46.920000+00:00 | ['Data Analysis', 'Data Analytics', 'Data Science', 'Debugging', 'Excel'] |
What can help you seize control of your inbox right now? | OK, so you’ve been away for a few days and you come back to inbox hell. Stacks of email to read through and respond to.
How can you make life easier for yourself? What does it take to master that inbox and turn it into heaven?
Simple answer: cloud-based email. Switching to a cloud-based service such as Google Apps can make life so much easier.
Switching to a cloud-based service such as Google Apps can make life so much easier. Click To Tweet
Why bother to switch?
Get your email on your smartphone, tablet, or computer
Read and respond on the go on any device with the same inbox
Say goodbye to a cluttered, unmanageable inbox
Why not give it a try? New year — new inbox! | https://medium.com/pennink-productions-blog/what-can-help-you-seize-control-of-your-inbox-right-now-a76f9006c7a3 | ['Pennink Productions'] | 2018-01-31 14:40:09.073000+00:00 | ['Google Apps', 'Collaboration', 'Email'] |
Am I what you thought I would be? | Photo by Julian Myles on Unsplash
Am I what you thought I would be;
Now that you know the real me, even though I am changing constantly?Evolving continuously
Am I what you thought I would be?
Do I feel how you thought I would feel when my hand caresses your face and chin hairs?
Did you know it would feel like that?
When you asked for a kiss, did you know my lips would be that soft?
And once inside, did you know it would feel so welcoming?
Like you had returned home after being gone for too long
Am I everything you thought I would be?
I must admit that in the past I’ve been very disappointed in who people turned out to be. Felt as though I had been deceived.
But you have not deceived me.
You have made me a better me in ways I can’t explain.
But some things make sense to me now, like why the older generation called dating “going steady.”
I needed a steady love. Correction, I need a steady love like the love you give.
Didn’t know such a love existed.
No emotional roller-coasters.
No annoying sudden dives down that leave my stomach all in knots due to the anxiety of not knowing what happens next.
And yet…
I had a bit of anxiety today because I’ve never been here before; and I don’t know what happens next.
But I’m looking forward to it and I’m grateful for you. | https://psiloveyou.xyz/am-i-what-you-thought-i-would-be-537808c5f825 | ['Jyn Lynk'] | 2020-02-23 14:01:01.396000+00:00 | ['Love Letters', 'Poetry', 'Poetry Sunday', 'Love', 'Relationships'] |
Reasons why developers make apps for Android rather than iOS | Android vs iOS
What is the most popular operating system for mobile platforms? From small startups to big enterprises in Information technology. This is the paramount question and the litmus test that decides what mobile platform is to be developed first.
Why not all at the same time you may ask? If you run a big development team skilled with all set, possess all the resources and tools for mobile development, then you can kick off all the platforms at once. However, it is very important to have a detailed risk analysis and a robust budget.
Why Andriod is Worthy
We are taking a look at the technical and commercial advantages of Andriod over iOS. These are the rays of light to the path, the main reasons why an Andriod app will be a great choice to come first in the development process.
Importance of Andriod
The Market share
This is no doubt a pointer, even If you ignore all the other reasons mentioned later, numbers don’t Lie! Statistics from the IDC shows clearly that Android is leading the number of smartphones shipped worldwide with an 86.1% market share.
“ In 2018, around 1.56 billion smartphones were sold worldwide. In the first quarter of 2019, around 88 percent of all smartphones sold to end users were phones with the Android operating system. Android operating system.” source www.statista.com/
Portability
Java as the primary programming language for Native Android apps provides a special advantage. The codes are accessible to other mobile operating systems easily via porting. Besides, Android apps have a range that reaches to Chrome OS and Windows devices.
Android Studio
The Android Studio has the beauty and strength of a very potent IDE that is based on IntelliJ IDE. Android Studio as an IDE was designed and customized for Android app development. Speed and efficiency are key with Andriod studio. It allows the setup of a new Android project for different types of Android apps in a few seconds. This, of course, was a relief from the old era when Android app development was made with Eclipse and the Android Developer Tools plugin. Android studio is powered with the following features :
Systems built on Gradle-base
Real-time app layout rendering with Live-layout
The option of multiple screen configurations and layout preview while editing
Variants and multiple Apk file generation can be built.
Lint tools for enabling version compatibility, usability, performance, etc
Allows the development of Android Wear and gears, TV and Auto apps
Compatible integration with Google Cloud Platform, App Engine, and Google Cloud Messaging
Coding in Java
Java has proven itself to be a chosen programming language for the coding of various devices and operating systems including Android. Java codes hold the keys to other operating systems including Windows, and Linux.
Unlike iOS, Apple’s coding languages Objective C and Swift are really only used for developing Apple-type products iOS and OS X, and can not be easily ported to other operating systems. Except for Swift that is open-sourced with Linux tools.
Quick to App Store
There is a delay for weeks before Apps deployed to Apple’s App Store can be available for download by users, but for Google Play store it’s in just a few hours and you can download.
Google play store allows easy updates, you can run updates multiple times a day depending on the urgency. On the other side of the Apple App Stores, it is the same lengthy protocol as a fresh deployment even if it is just fixing a bug.
Play Store Monitor
If you plan your app release well, you can control by specifics the percentage of users that can get updates, this will allow you to track feedback and crash reports. You can then increase the percentage of users to receive further updates.
This is possible because the Play Store allows the release of an app in both alpha and beta releases, and can be made to be available to an exclusive group of testers.
The advantage here is that the initial access to a subset of users, and feedbacks received can be used to finetune the app before the final release. It also allows a staged and gradual update rollout.
Cost of Android phones
iPhone is most times seen as high class and expensive, fewer people use it if compared to Android on the bases of cost. The notion that iPhone uses can afford more makes Andriod apps cheaper. Although in the past this might be true, however in the present day, Android apps have been surpassing iPhone apps in some categories both in the initial app and for in-app purchases. This has been proven by increasing profit from in-app adverts which are cheaper on Andriod and mobile app games.
Your Road to Andriod
As a product owner, if you are still confused about the platform to develop first, be it for your business automation or for the use of the general public. It is smart moves backed by economics and best to go for Andriod since it has a larger reach.
Are you a new business startup, established business owner, or a product manager? Do you want to create, tweak, or manage an app? iTwis is willing to see you through this process. Our well-skilled and experienced mobile development team can successfully facilitate your app production process from scratch and bring it to a significant product release. Contact us today for a consultation. | https://medium.com/itwis/reasons-why-developers-make-apps-for-android-rather-than-ios-c345c8b1c198 | ['Ayo Oladele'] | 2020-07-02 02:41:49.251000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Java', 'Software Development', 'Kotlin', 'Android'] |
Using Aleph: The Times data journalist on why he prefers the platform | George Greenwood, a data journalist with the UK-based newspaper The Times, is one of many journalists outside the OCCRP network who uses Aleph in his investigations.
Major investigations are almost always based on documents, lots of documents, that reach journalists as a hodgepodge of Xerox-stained PDFs, images, and other formats that aren’t even digital. To make sense of messy data sets, journalists can upload them onto Aleph, OCCRP’s investigative data platform, which supports optical character recognition (OCR).
George Greenwood, a data journalist with the The Times, used Aleph when he joined our #29Leaks investigative series, which was based on leaked records obtained from the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets in 2019.
In this Q&A, Greenwood explains why he continues to upload documents to Aleph, and how he thinks the platform could help other journalists. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
OCCRP: How would you describe Aleph to other journalists?
George Greenwood: I’d describe Aleph as another library of content that journalists should check when doing background research on a person or a company. I have a list of 10 data sources I run down when I’m backgrounding a target, and Aleph is top of the list, followed by ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, LexisNexis, Pacer, and a few others.
That’s what I’d say to a non-tech person. For my colleagues in data journalism, I’d focus on its strengths as an archival tool to host leaks.
When I was first introduced to Aleph, I immediately noticed the platform’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and natural language processing that makes it easy to find keywords and entities from large data sets.
After reading the documentation behind it — all open sourced — I figured I might as well use it for other investigations, especially when I have big sets of PDF flat files.
In the past, I used Google Drive’s R interface to upload datasets. The problem was it only works for smaller files. Anything over a couple of pages wouldn’t OCR at all in Drive. With Aleph, I can type one line of code and it will OCR an entire folder. I can then share it where I need to.
I prefer Aleph to Document Cloud mainly because of the interface, but also the ability to safely search through databases that aren’t open to the public for confidentiality or legal reasons.
Where to upload data sets on Aleph
Have you used Aleph for other reporting projects besides our #29Leaks investigation?
Yes. A good example has been with Prevention of Future Deaths Reports. In the UK, when a coroner investigates death under suspicious circumstances, and they find failings by a public sector body where a death could have been prevented, the coroner can issue one of these reports. But they’re horribly formatted.
You’ll find them on the government website usually as picture PDFs. Some are missing headlines and other descriptive copy. Aleph is great at collating these poorly formatted records. This story was a direct result of my work with these documents.
The platform has also been useful for going through government contracts as well — something I’m still working on. In the UK, we have a system called “Contracts Finder,” but it’s a nightmare. Paper contracts are sometimes attached as PDFs, sometimes as pictures, sometimes not, in a variety of formats.
It makes it impossible to search unless you know exactly what you’re looking for. Now, I make sure to strip all the contracts I may need using a scraper, then upload them to Aleph so I can search through them quickly.
I’m also using Aleph for our work on Aquind, an energy project co-run by former Russian arms company executive Alexander Temerko, but some of this is still yet to go out. I put all the project planning documents into Aleph, which have helped us find concerns filed by local residents about the project.
What do you think about the concept of public-facing databases? Should there be limits to what financial documents the average person can have access to?
I think if there’s no good reason to not release this stuff, we should. If we’re telling the public what’s true and what’s not, they will want to know why.
I think journalists often withhold documents out of fear they got things wrong. So I’m very in favor of publishing anything where there are no legal concerns. Obviously, you have to be careful when documents come from confidential sources, but loads of material doesn’t have that issue.
I also just think it’s fascinating to look at the original documents, and I believe there’s a real interest from the public for this type of access.
Do you see data tools like Aleph as reducing the need for researchers and archivists in newsrooms?
Not really. I think these platforms free up journalists to be more investigative. Now, reporters don’t need to spend a week at a local library looking at clippings, instead they can make calls and form a story rather than worry about the administrative prep work.
I think there’s a sea change in journalism right now. I didn’t start as a data journalist, I started out as a specialist in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). But knowing these tools were out there drove me to learn to code, to learn how to use these resources, and to become the best investigative journalist I could be.
I hope newsrooms push young journalists to do the same, because there are free stories out there just waiting to be told. | https://medium.com/occrp-unreported/using-aleph-the-times-data-journalist-on-why-he-prefers-the-platform-8edcc48e9c3b | ['The Occrp Team'] | 2020-08-13 07:50:14.847000+00:00 | ['Data Journalism', 'Data Scraping', 'Investigative Journalism', 'Ocr Software', 'Aleph'] |
Time Jumps | 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/chalkboard/time-jumps-ff4dc675818f | ['Ana-Maria Schweitzer'] | 2020-12-23 22:15:59.717000+00:00 | ['One Line', 'Time', 'One Line Poetry', 'Life', 'Existence'] |
Reflection on Amal Totkay. You have to apply yourself each day to… | You have to apply yourself each day to becoming a little better. By becoming a little better each and every day, over a period of time, you will become a lot better.
Here is the mine reflection on Amal Totkay:
How do I find these tips?
Amal Totkay is very helpful in developing our mind from a Fixed to a growth mindset. It helps us to be confident and capable of taking you to new heights. It teaches us to find out new ways of succeeding in life.
Takeaways?
1. Ask anyone for help! I am working on it, Before that, it was very difficult for me to ask for help from anyone.
2. Try to have High Self-esteem.
3. Feedback is Important. It will help you to improve yourself and always try to learn from the feedback.
My Favorite Tip:
My favorite tip is to Fake it till you make it. if you don’t fully buy into the new mindset, try acting as if you were. Really I am going to work on this Totka.
What have I started Implementing?
I have implementing started 2 Amal Totkay:
1. Self-Talk
2. Ask people help
How can I develop a growth mindset from today?
I can develop a growth mindset by developing high self-esteem in myself from today, By exploring new things and creating new habits that can really help in broadening our vision and for the growth mindset. | https://medium.com/@muhammad-usman164/reflection-on-amal-totkas-b600a96783b0 | ['Muhammad Usman'] | 2020-12-24 22:05:44.480000+00:00 | ['Growth Mindset', 'Amal Academy', 'Amal Totkay', 'Development', 'Reflections'] |
The global warming debate is heating up | 5 minutes, 27 seconds.
Think about what you typically do in that amount of time. It’s probably about how long it takes to trim my beard every couple of weeks, or — as often happens — the time I have to wait for all invited participants to jump on a work conference call.
If you’re more musically inclined, it’s about the same length as Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” or slightly less than two typical pop songs played one after the other.
With all due respect to Eminem, I think we can all agree that 5 minutes, 27 seconds is not enough time to dedicate to anything of vital importance — you know, those life or death, existential types of problems.
Keeping that in mind, I’m was deeply alarmed to learn that 5 minutes, 27 seconds was the total amount of time that then-candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spent discussing climate change during the course of four debates leading up to the 2016 presidential election. What’s more, the moderators didn’t ask a single question about climate policy.
Washington Gov. and Democratic presidential candidate Jay Inslee has called for a climate debate. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
Considering how little climate was discussed during the 2016 race, it’s worth asking what sort of bandwidth the topic will get heading into 2020. On the one hand, 15 Democratic candidates, most vehemently Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, are clamoring for a debate focused solely to the issue of climate. On the other hand, the Democratic National Committee has rejected that plea.
While the media is focusing on the climate debate conflict, they’re missing the bigger picture. Even if a climate debate doesn’t take place, there are many reasons to believe that the issue won’t be ignored this time around. Over the last two and a half years, global warming has gone from a near afterthought to one of the top motivating issues. Here’s how.
Given what we know about the climate crisis, the fact that the debates ignored the topic in 2016 is almost incomprehensible. You’d think such a meaningful issue that touches all of our lives — from rising sea levels and hotter summers to the increased risk of tornadoes and even insect-borne diseases — would merit more than a brief exchange between the two people vying for the most powerful position in the world.
This perplexing result didn’t occur because the candidates lacked distinct opinions on the topic. In fact, Clinton wanted to talk about the subject so much that she had to pivot away from an unrelated question to bring it up at all.
It also wasn’t necessarily the fault of the moderators or cable news channels running the debates. After all, they’re basing their questions at least partly on what issues they perceive their viewers want to hear about. (Apparently, climate change is not historically a ratings winner at presidential debates.)
Simply put, the problem was that even though climate change was widely seen as an important issue, it wasn’t the issue. Two and a half years ago, we (environmental advocates) clearly hadn’t convinced enough of the public — left, right and center — that we needed to demand big, bold climate plans and a robust conversation around them from candidates.
Things are different in 2019, and not a moment too soon. Climate change has been hard to ignore lately: The federal government released two reports predicting catastrophic consequences if we don’t dramatically slash carbon emissions; Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, Florence and Michael have devastated coastal and island communities; and unprecedented rains are inundating the Midwest.
Driven in part by those increasingly tangible and immediate impacts, as well as sustained efforts by Environment America and allies, climate urgency is starting to break through at the state and local level. In less than a year, statewide commitments to 100 percent renewable energy, once seen as a pie-in-the-sky result, have been signed into law by California, New Mexico and Washington. Colorado and Nevada also passed bills dramatically cutting carbon pollution this session, and Maine is poised to do the same.
In the most recent major national election, the 2018 midterms, global warming featured more prominently than ever before. Several pro-environment candidates won, in part because they ran on a strong climate message. While, again, it wasn’t the issue, it was a factor. That also signaled that public sentiment is shifting when it comes to making decisions at the ballot box.
We still have work to do at the national level, where the administration and Congress are actively working to roll back or stall existing climate action plans. But even in that environment, since the beginning of the year, we’ve seen climate legislation pass the House and be introduced in the Senate.
Looking ahead to the 2020 election, even if there isn’t a climate-only debate, there’s good reason to believe that it will be featured more prominently in these televised events. Climate change now ranks as a top issue (if not the top issue) for Democratic primary voters.
The candidates have taken notice. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke all made sure to release bold, detailed climate plans as one of their first proposals. Inslee has made it the central issue of his campaign. Most (if not all) of the others are bringing it up regularly on the campaign trail.
Even President Trump, whose scientifically inaccurate views on climate are well-documented, knows he needs to have a compelling message on the issue.
Why? Because they recognize that in 2019, not coming to the table armed with a serious plan to stave off the worst impacts of climate change is not only irresponsible (as it always was), but it’s also bad politics. We have all the tireless work done by environmental advocates to thank for that. And with the future of the planet at stake, we all need to keep demanding it.
So when the debates come around this presidential campaign cycle, you’ll probably hear a lot more than 5 minutes and 27 seconds of discourse about the climate emergency. In honor of that, I think I’ll go listen to a couple of my favorite pop songs. | https://medium.com/the-public-interest-network/the-global-warming-debate-is-heating-up-6cadad3c4c30 | ['Ross Sherman'] | 2019-06-17 18:57:29.819000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Global Warming', 'Debate', 'Climate Change', 'Election 2020'] |
About Me — Nitish Menon. Unwrapping good in the world — one pun… | About Me
Originally from India but currently residing in Toronto after successfully completing my MBA degree here. Yes, that business guy — but with a whole lot of heart. Promise.
Which is a perfect segue to learn about the content I write about. I generally write at the intersection of marketing, business, strategy, and a few thought pieces inspired by personal events. If any of the above themes excite you, be sure to check out some of my work. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Did I mention earlier that I love puns and sarcasm of all kinds? It’s almost always expected in my stories, or at least wherever possible.
I love exploring new places. This passion of mine has taken me to over 10+ countries across the globe, with many more on the wish list. If you have some cool recommendations on places to visit, be sure to drop them in the comments below. I would love to check them out.
Another cliché, but I’m a huge football enthusiast. No, please don’t call it “soccer”. Absolutely love the English Premier League and Arsenal FC (once upon a time called “The Invincibles”). I also play the sport, not just admire it from a distance. Fun fact, I had the chance to represent my country at a soccer tournament hosted in Malaysia. Safe to say, I’m not bad at it. | https://medium.com/about-me-stories/about-me-nitish-menon-1cc2db74cf19 | ['Nitish Menon'] | 2021-03-31 23:37:56.561000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Introduction', 'About Me', 'Personal', 'Journey'] |
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