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Star Wars Spirituality: Conclusion | Episodes 7–9
Star Wars saw a resurgence in 2015 when Disney purchased Lucasfilm and vowed to put out another trilogy, Episodes 7–9, that would introduce a new generation of characters and wrap up the stories of the Original Trilogy. These films also introduce us to some new Force-powers and new ideas about spirituality.
The Force Awakens
One of the realities of the Force in the Star Wars universe is that there is an ebb and flow. It comes like a wave and then returns to balance. Thousands of years before the events of the Original Trilogy or the Prequels for that matter. took place, there was what is referred to as the “Old Republic.” This was a time of peace and prosperity in the galaxy. Then darkness arises in the form of the Sith, and then Jedi arise to counter that darkness. Eventually, the Jedi overtake the Sith, and peace reigns again for a thousand years until the rise of Palpatine and Darth Vader. Then light again rises to counter that darkness in the presence of Luke and Leia Skywalker and their friends. The point is that there is a cycle. “Darkness rises, and light to meet it,” as Supreme Leader Snoke says. In this first installment of the new trilogy, darkness has again risen, and light is rising to meet it. The Force is “awakened” throughout the galaxy yet again. What this tells me about spirituality is that darkness is not something that can be avoided, but that must be expected. Darkness is a reality of the universe. Evil is a reality, at least as far as we know, of humanity. Will it ever be exterminated? That depends on your religious tradition, but for now, we can say no. It comes and goes, rises, and falls.
I could make many societal comments about the ebb and flow of light and darkness, but I will stick to the individual. Within our own selves, there is an ebb and flow of light and darkness. No one is pure light or pure darkness. If there is anything that was revealed through the narrative of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, it is that no one is beyond redemption. We find the same narrative in this new trilogy except this time with Vader’s grandson, Kylo Ren/Ben Skywalker. His actions seem irredeemable, but the running thread throughout the trilogy is that there is possibly still light in him. Another thread runs counter to this through the character of Rey, who is representative of the light, but also has elements of darkness in herself as well. We are a combination of both. This is represented in every major faith tradition on this planet. Evil and goodness exist in all of us, and whichever side we feed is the one that will grow.
The Last Jedi
In the second installment of the trilogy, we really get into the whole balance idea. Snoke makes the quote mentioned above, and Luke, who has isolated himself on a sacred Jedi island, seems to be frustrated by the futility of it all. He is frustrated by the seemingly endless cycle of darkness and light. The Dark Side rises, the Light rises to meet it. Then darkness rises again to counter the light. It seems to never end. So he says the Jedi must end because the cycle will continue with or without them. Kylo Ren also says, “Let old things die.” In other words, they can end at least one version of the cycle. What if we could embrace the cyclical nature of good and bad in our own lives? If we could accept that bad is a part of the deal, then perhaps we can be a step closer to contentment and happiness. This is what Yoda tells Luke when he appears in this film. He tells Luke to stop worrying about the future and about trying to end the cycle of good and evil. Rather, focus on what’s right in front of you. What is happening right now? This is the question that confronts all of us every day. Will we be slaves to the past or the future, or will we be present in the moments that we have?
Rian Johnson’s idea behind this second movie was clearly that the Force does not belong to anybody. It doesn’t belong to certain powerful families but is a part of everyone, and anybody can become sensitive to it. This is the point of “broom boy” at the end of the movie. Will “broom boy” grow up to be a Jedi? Probably not. But again, the Force doesn’t belong to the Jedi or the Sith. In the same way, God does not belong to Christians or Muslims or Jews or Hindus. God is not limited to our contrived ideas about God. As soon as we have used language to describe God, we have limited God; we have boxed God. Star Wars shows us in this particular film that the Force/God/Mystery/The Divine can belong to anybody.
The Rise of Skywalker
The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment in the Skywalker saga, continues the idea of redemption, inner conflict, and a balance between light and dark. Kylo has seemingly fully committed himself to the dark, and yet Rey still believes there is light in him. Conversely, Rey has fully committed to the light but discovers that are strong traces of darkness within her. How do individuals deal with these realities? If there’s anything that the spirituality of this recent Star Wars trilogy tells us, it is that we are not defined by our family lineage or by destiny but by choice. No matter what Kylo Ren has done, there is still light in him because there is light in all of us, and therefore a chance for redemption. No matter what Rey’s lineage is, she does not have to be defined by that. She is free to choose her own path.
Finally, in the Rise of Skywalker, it is the collective voices/presence of the Jedi of the past that ultimately help Rey accomplish her mission. So while her biological lineage oppresses her and seeks to pull her to the dark, it is her spiritual lineage that frees her and keeps her grounded in the light. This idea is present in several faith traditions — that one’s commitment to God/The Divine takes precedence even over one’s biological lineage. The problem and question that Star Wars raises for us then is what is our spiritual lineage? What is the lineage that keeps us grounded in the light within us? Even if our DNA is pulling us toward the darkness, we still have choice, and we have “a cloud of witnesses” around us that can help bring us through our darkness back to light. This is Star Wars spirituality. Indeed, this is the task of all spirituality. As we watch these films, perhaps we will hear the call toward a greater depth of spirituality in our own lives.
May the Force be with you. | https://medium.com/interfaith-now/star-wars-spirituality-conclusion-c1664f69edc7 | ['Meade Adams'] | 2020-02-28 18:03:12.347000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'Spirituality', 'Film', 'Faith', 'Religion'] |
How to Keep Customers Happy During the Holidays | If you’ve already read our piece about prepping for the holidays, you can see this post as Part 2: How to keep customers happy during the holidays.
No matter how much you love Christmas, gift shopping is stressful. The lines, the crowds, the empty shelves… it’s a lot to take in. Thankfully the mulled wine, twinkling street lights, and carolers’ noise make it that little bit easier.
Read more here — https://returngo.ai/blog/how-to-keep-customers-happy-during-the-holidays/ | https://medium.com/returngo/how-to-keep-customers-happy-during-the-holidays-351419ded09e | ['Abigail Dunn'] | 2021-01-31 14:48:41.992000+00:00 | ['Holidays', 'Customer Service', 'Happy', 'Return'] |
Making sense of the Gaza pullout | The New Republic is a good magazine and I am glad to subscribe to it. Articles like Leon Wieseltier’s Dry Your Eyes, Keep Your Heads — The Fall clearly and concisely describes the predicted effects of the Israeli pullout of the Gaza settlements in a way others have failed to even try.
Even faced with the idea of Greater Palestine, it is impossible not to rejoice in the defeat of the idea of Greater Israel. It was always a foul idea, morally and strategically. It promoted the immediate ecstasy of the few above the eventual safety of the many; it introduced the toxins of messianism and mysticism into the politics of a great modern democracy; it preferred chosenness to human rights; it subordinated laws to visions, and the Jewish state to the Jewish millennium; it worshiped soil in a primitive, almost un-Jewish way. The settlers of the West Bank and Gaza are not a Jewish vanguard, they are a Jewish sect; and in their insistence that the destiny of their state and their society should be held hostage to the fulfillment of their metaphysical and historical conceptions, they have always displayed a sectarian self-love.
I too, look to those anguished settlers’ faces as they are ushered from their temporary homes, with little empathy. I understand the selfishness of their actions and how their insistence of righteousness has cost hundreds of lives and thousands more needless misunderstandings. Hopefully this is the first step towards greater understanding and ultimately peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. | https://medium.com/alttext/making-sense-of-the-gaza-pullout-7d8197d4c69c | ['Ben Edwards'] | 2017-04-21 05:54:36.223000+00:00 | ['Conflict', 'War'] |
5 Essential Cybersecurity & Privacy Tips for Building Your Personal Brand | The Internet is growing up. So are you. And you’re ready to get out there and break it. You’re going to be an influencer, a digital brand expert, a social media marketing guru. The first brand you’re going to build, you’ve decided, is yours.
Welcome to the fray.
Sowing Your Oats
You’re diving into an $8B market, chock full of people just like you who have decided to make being themselves (or whoever their sponsors pay them to be) their full-time gig. You’re voluntarily (and ambitiously) exposing yourself — or at least what the marketeers deem your most valuable parts to be — to the world (and perhaps the highest bidder?). There are over 1 billion users (potential fans!) on Instagram alone.
What could go wrong?
The opportunities are endless — both for you, and for social engineers (like me) that hack humans as targets of interest (and opportunity). Luckily for you, I’m one of the good guys, and I’m here to help you.
First, a story.
But Everyone’s Doing It…
A friend of mine — let’s call him Bob — decided to build his personal brand as an interior designer. He had spent years honing his skills as an enthusiast, decorating homes for his friends and family as a part-time hobby.
Feedback was very positive, and his work became all the rage amongst his circle, and their connections.
Bob was elated — and so were the peeps who got free decorating.
With much excitement, Bob announced that he would harness his gift, along with the power of social media and the Interwebs, to turn his hobby into a career and bring his designs to the (well-paying) masses.
Bob opened a GoDaddy account, bought a domain, created his Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat profiles, and set to work. And he worked hard.
60 days into his adventure, Bob had 10 paying clients — more than he needed to earn gown-up money — and several thousand followers on his social channels.
Bob was elated — and so were the peeps who eventually hacked him and shut him down.
90 days into his adventure, Bob was out of business — or at least out of commission.
Bob was devastated. So were his clients. How could this have happened?
Bob’s downfall was due to a nasty combination of (not so skillful, but persistent) social engineering, and poor cybersecurity hygiene.
Let’s Get to Know Each Other First
Bob’s first Instagram posts were pictures of his most intimate design work — his own downtown apartment — and he blasted them out across all of his channels.
Among the likes, comments, and accolades — there was a “woman” who we’ll call Alice, who stated she and her husband were moving to Bob’s home city, and wanted to know what building he lived in to get such a killer view of the skyline she saw in the pictures.
Bob told Alice the name of the building and told her how great it was to live there. Among the continued small talk (online), she even convinced Bob to tell her the floor he lived on.
Bob’s online admirer asked if the building accepted pets. He told her it did, which was lucky for his cat, Morpheus.
And that’s how it started.
Bob’s new friend was able to keep the conversation going by bringing in small details that only a friend or colleague would know — in this case, she was asking about a design contest entry from an industry fair in Los Angeles that Bob had attended.
Alice obviously wasn’t there but found a photo online and used it to describe Bob’s work and how amazing it was — as if she had seen it in person and was in awe of such amazing talent. Certainly, he deserved better than an honorable mention.
Alice mentioned she’d be willing to have a chat with some of her connections in L.A. and possibly get Bob some meetings with higher profile clients.
She asked for a personal email address so she could send Bob some ideas, and said she’d connect with him on his other social accounts as well. She even mentioned meeting up for coffee when she and her husband got to town.
Bob was elated. And so was Alice, who now had everything she needed to launch her attack.
Your Tests Came Back Positive…
Bob was being doxed, a technique where a bad actor works a target to compile pieces of open source (publicly available) information, along with verification information from the targeted individual, to build a profile and do something bad (as bad actors often do).
In this instance, the bad actor (Alice) was verifying information she was able to find on Bob — and then she went to work.
Alice had the building, even the floor, where Bob lived. Bob told her himself. She easily searched online to reverse-engineer the address. Strike one.
Alice had Bob’s personal email address, which he gave her and she verified with a quick note and an even quicker reply. As you’ve probably already deduced, email addresses are also typically usernames — for almost everything. Strike two.
Morpheus, Bob’s cat? It’s a response for Bob’s “secret” security question — “What’s your favorite pet’s name?” — on his web hosting account (and a ton of other things). Strike three.
Bob’s not tech-savvy. Alice guessed that. She also guessed (cracked) the password for his email account using an online tool. Game over.
While Alice didn’t inflict direct financial damage — thankfully she didn’t get to Bob’s bank accounts or credit cards — she was able to take control of two of his social media accounts and his primary email.
Those thousands of followers? Gone (including Alice). Hours of work in selecting and posting photos and stories and comments? Trashed.
Rather than growing his budding business, Bob spent the next four months cleaning up and becoming hacker-free. But that’s for another article.
Sadly, this is a true (and all too common) story. But happily, Bob learned his lesson, and we can all learn from his mistakes.
Let’s Have the Talk.
Here are five essential steps to consider in securing your personal brand on social media. Don’t be like Bob.
#1. Go Hack Yourself.
Before you launch your world-changing online persona, conduct an audit of your current online footprint. It’s easy to get started — Google yourself and see what’s out there.
Sites like Spokeo, Manta, and others routinely post sensitive information including addresses, phone numbers, and in some cases even spouses, relatives, and business associates. In the security world, we call this OSINT — open source intelligence — and there’s plenty of it available.
Marriage and divorce records, census data and birth certificates, and in some cases more sensitive documents like tax returns, vehicle registration, and credit information are out there online for the picking.
Not only is this information useful for a potential bad actor, it can also be considered by people who are getting to know your brand. You don’t want your first impression to be your DUI arrest from 2001.
In subsequent articles, I’ll teach you how to get your information removed from these databases and lock down your publicly available persona.
#2. Now Clean Yourself Up.
Now it’s time to disinfect your online presence. Your entire digital footprint is in scope here.
In addition to restricting access to sensitive data, you should be reviewing what information is out there that you did intend for people to see. Those revealing spring break pics from Cabo? Take ’em down.
The mildly inappropriate meme about needing a beer before work that your best friend tagged you in? Consider removing the tag.
The nasty Yelp review you left for that nasty taco joint on 3rd Avenue? Delete it.
You see the trend here. Anything that could be used to compromise your brand is fair game for a bad actor, a competitor, or an investigator.
As mentioned in my previous article on social media privacy — be intentional with what you post, even if you think others will never see it.
#3. Be Discreet, and Always Use Protection.
This is where the good security hygiene comes in.
Don’t pass account numbers, financial information, personal data — or anything else that you’d consider sensitive — through email, text, or DM, even with people you trust. There are ways to exchange all of this information securely.
Don’t use weak or common passwords for your online social media accounts. Moreover, don’t use the same passwords between all of your platforms. If one password is compromised, a (proficient) bad actor will try all the sites with that same password.
Put a password or PIN on your phone/tablet, or even better, enable biometrics. Where possible, enable two-factor authentication on your individual social apps (Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc.) to prevent unauthorized activity, particularly in a scenario where you ignored the first part of this recommendation and then lost your phone.
These are the big three. I could easily write a whole guide on this portion of the process. In fact, I think I will!
#4. Don’t Get Emotional.
As illustrated in our example, it’s very easy to build rapport, and even friendships, with connections you make online as you’re building your brand. It’s exciting to see these relationships develop as you get closer and increase interaction with your fans and admirers — and your haters. Don’t let emotion take over in these scenarios.
If an interaction seems overly friendly, makes you uncomfortable, or seems slightly suspicious, it probably is. A good social engineer who’s marked you as a target of opportunity will intentionally extend the building period of your online connection in order to divert that suspicion — so you should always do some recon of your own.
Who’s this person connected to that you know? Do they have other followers, or follow others in your market? Do they have profiles on other platforms? These are basic but effective verification steps that you can perform fairly easily.
This is another area where I could, and probably will, write a separate guide to help folks stay safe.
#5. Get Checked Regularly.
Monitor all of your platform profiles for strange activity or unauthorized access. Always review posts where you’re mentioned, tagged, or shared. You can usually control this particular feature in the social application’s settings.
Make it a habit to conduct a periodic review of your online footprint, to include public and private information on your social accounts — and stay consistent with your grooming.
Stay smart on how to get support on your various social various platforms if something goes bad. Technical support is usually just a live chat away and these teams will always prioritize potential security issues. | https://cybersage.medium.com/5-essential-cybersecurity-privacy-tips-for-building-your-personal-brand-878ddd4faad6 | ['David Scott'] | 2019-11-06 16:10:14.915000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Security', 'Privacy', 'Social Media', 'Personal Branding'] |
Debug your Flask(Python) web application using Visual Studio Code | There are several articles for helping us to learn how to debug flask applications in Visual Studio Code but they all didn’t help me at all because of one mistake. I hope this article will help some people like me who are banging their heads to figure out why they are unable to debug their flask application.
To build a small API or web application in Python I think Flask is the best framework candidate to start with. Whenever we look for an example mostly we will get the code sample looking like this.
from flask import Flask app = Flask(__name__) @app.route("/")
def home():
return "Hello, Flask!" if __name__ == "__main__":
app.run(port=1234, threaded=True)
To run this code we need python I am assuming you have it already if not please install I will recommend installing Python 3. Then you need to install Flask package. To do that run following command.
pip install Flask
Let’s assume you stored the above code in app.py. If you run below command you can see your application is up and running.
python app.py
If you open http://localhost:1234 in the browser you will see this
Congrats!!! your application is up. Let’s say you want to add little extra touch like creating a new API where you can page view counter. So we need to maintain somewhere it’s counter right when the server stops so we will store in a file at the time of server start we will load it.
# Usual imports
from flask import Flask
import os,signal # Flask constructor takes the name of current module (__name__) as argument.
app = Flask(__name__)
page_view_counter = 0
counter_file_name = "visitor_counter.txt" def init():
"""
Page view counter loads from the file where we stored last time when the application stopped.
"""
global page_view_counter
counter_file = open(counter_file_name, "a+")
counter = counter_file.read()
if counter:
page_view_counter = int(counter)
counter_file.close() def on_stop(*args):
"""
This function is triggered when the application stops and then writes the current page view counter into the file for future use.
"""
global page_view_counter
counter_file = open(counter_file_name, "w")
counter_file.write(str(page_view_counter))
counter_file.close() @app.route("/")
def home():
return "Hello, Flask!" @app.route("/hello/<name>")
def hello_there(name):
"""
This function triggers when the hello route is called. This takes the value next to \/hello\/ as argument and forms greeting text with the current page view counter.
"""
global page_view_counter
page_view_counter += 1
content = "Hello there, " + name + "! This page viewed so far " + str(page_view_counter) + " time(s)"
return content if __name__ == "__main__":
"""
This is where code execution starts when the application starts. It calls the init() method to load page view counter where we ended last time and convey at what port we need to start the flask application too.
"""
init()
app.run(port=1234, threaded=True) # Adding function on_stop() as listener function when the application stops.
signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, on_stop)
os.kill(os.getpid(), signal.SIGTERM)
Code comments pretty much explain what exactly each function does. If you run app.py using below command your flask application starts
python app.py
If you open http://localhost:1234/hello/ashok in the browser you will see this
Hello there, ashok! This page viewed so far 1 time(s)
If you refresh the page or hit the URL again then the page viewed so far number changes. So, far everything is happy but if you want to debug this code then the problem arises.
I am using VS Code(Visual Studio Code) as IDE. In that, there is an option to debug the flask application. To do that I followed the following steps
In VS Code on the left, you will find the activity bar in that you can see icons in those you need to select Debug and Run.
Then we will get options like Debug with Python and Run with Python. Click on Debug with Python to run our application and then debug.
Then we will get options to choose for what kind of application you want to debug we wrote flask application so we usually click on Flask and it gives text box to enter what’s the path of the application file(app.py) once you give the relative path in my case flask-debugging/app.py then things get weird from here onwards
We don’t get anything when we hit URL( http://localhost:1234/hello/ashok) in the browser which used to work perfectly. If we see the terminal you will get something like this
env PTVSD_LAUNCHER_PORT=44957 /usr/bin/python3 /home/ashok/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.python-2020.2.63072/pythonFiles/lib/python/new_ptvsd/no_wheels/ptvsd/launcher -m flask run --no-debugger --no-reload
* Serving Flask app "flask-debugging/app.py"
* Environment: development
* Debug mode: off
* Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
Let’s understand what it is saying, first of all, it doesn’t run the code which we have in if __name__ == “__main__”: so it runs on default port 5000 and one more thing it doesn’t run init function so it will never read our last page view counter at all.
After doing research I understood that Flask application runs run function and Python script starts from if __name__ == “__main__”: because python interpreter is running that module (the source file) as the main program, it sets the special name variable to have a value “ main “.
So, we wrote Flask application like a normal Python script that’s why we are able to run the application by simply running the usual command python app.py.
To debug the application we need to choose Python File option after clicking on Debug with Python instead of Flask like this.
Then everything works fine you can put debug point where you want then with the respective operation debug stops there. I put the debug point at hello_there function and then hit the URL( http://localhost:1234/hello/ashok)
You can see the variable name value on left and page_view_counter value when you mouseover there. You will see 0 there because I deleted the visitor_counter.txt file.
To move the Execution from there you need to click on continue or hit F5 on keyboard.
If you open the browser you can see the output.
Hello there, ashok! This page viewed so far 1 time(s)
If you want to debug it as Flask application then remove if __name__ == “__main__”: block and put init() function. Now code looks like this
# Usual imports
from flask import Flask
import os,signal # Flask constructor takes the name of current module (__name__) as argument.
app = Flask(__name__)
page_view_counter = 0
counter_file_name = "visitor_counter.txt" def init():
"""
Page view counter loads from the file where we stored last time when the application stopped.
"""
global page_view_counter
counter_file = open(counter_file_name, "a+")
counter = counter_file.read()
if counter:
page_view_counter = int(counter)
counter_file.close() def on_stop(*args):
"""
This function is triggered when the application stops and then writes the current page view counter into the file for future use.
"""
global page_view_counter
counter_file = open(counter_file_name, "w")
counter_file.write(str(page_view_counter))
counter_file.close() @app.route("/")
def home():
return "Hello, Flask!" @app.route("/hello/<name>")
def hello_there(name):
"""
This function triggers when the hello route is called. This takes the value next to \/hello\/ as argument and forms greeting text with the current page view counter.
"""
global page_view_counter
page_view_counter += 1
content = "Hello there, " + name + "! This page viewed so far " + str(page_view_counter) + " time(s)"
return content
init() # Adding function on_stop() as listener function when the application stops.
signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, on_stop)
os.kill(os.getpid(), signal.SIGTERM)
Peace. Happy Coding. | https://medium.com/@ashok.tankala/debug-your-flask-python-web-application-using-visual-studio-code-34561b4a55ac | ['Ashok Tankala'] | 2020-02-21 05:22:10.545000+00:00 | ['Vscode', 'Debugging', 'Python', 'Flask'] |
Making mailing system | Short introduction:
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I Spent two months Straight to Make this System Easy to Follow So Any Body with any Background Will be able to Make their own Mailing System.
Here is 5 step system in the link ,This 5 Step System is so Easy that my younger brother who is just 14 Years old was able to make his own Mailing System all by himself.
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Before Discovering this system, I Ask an Expert to Make Mailing System for me. He Asked $2000 in First Payment and $300 A Month for Maintenance.
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Why pay monthly fee to do the same things you can do for free. Rather than spending money on Email Service Providers, why not Run Ads to Grow your Email List?
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WITH NO SUBSCRIBERS AND SENDING LIMITATIONS… | https://medium.com/@maryamfatima-24265/making-mailing-system-12f26943a9cb | ['Maryam Fatima'] | 2020-12-25 17:07:00.371000+00:00 | ['Email Marketing', 'Email', 'Online Marketing', 'Online Business', 'Email Marketing Tips'] |
Portraits. Fashion. Tattoos. in Los Angeles With Kevin Laroy | Courtesy of Kevin Laroy
Fashion. Tattoos and Style exude Kevin Laroy. With his, God-speed impeccable eyesight, and attention to detail his gift for portraits is undying, I don’t see him slowing up any time soon. Kevin is an amazing creature, a gentle soul which is not often showcased to appease his public persona his artistic and gentle side was captured in the exclusive with Subject Thread Podcast.
Dubbed the portrait king, Kevin has been a tattoo artist for 15 years and is renowned all around the world for his seamless and impeccable tattoos. He is best known for his extremely true to life and unparalleled photo-realistic portraits.
Courtesy of Kevin Laroy
Raised in Dallas, Migrated to NYC, and finally landing in Los Angeles Kevin’s first steps towards becoming an artist was when he would tattoo in his mentor’s garage in Dallas. Kevin has always gravitated to the arts and fashion world from youth.
Other than being a tattoo artist with stunning and flawless work each and every time Kevin is a fashion forerunner and has also ventured into the television world. He has appeared in numerous television shows including How Far is Tattoo Far, Ink Master, and Black Ink Crew: New York.
Kevin also recently collaborated on an exclusive URBN WTR Artist Collection which was immediately sold out.
URBN WTR X KEVIN LAROY
During the conversation, Kevin spoke about entrepreneurship and the importance of structure, tattoo mastering classes in the future, fashion, brand collaborations, taboo subjects in the black community such as sexuality, and his love for the 90s especially rap icon Lil Kim.
Stream new episodes weekly on Spotify, Deezer, Amazon, Google Podcast, Podchaser, TuneIn, Player FM, Listen Notes, and www.subjectthreadpodcast.com
by: Nailah L. Wright Follow me on Instagram. Check out my website. | https://medium.com/@nailahlovell/portraits-fashion-tattoos-in-los-angeles-with-kevin-laroy-85c966e320de | ['Nailah Lovell'] | 2020-12-04 14:26:05.494000+00:00 | ['Art', 'Tattoo', 'Los Angeles', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Fashion'] |
WARNING: Any Veterans Struggling & Ready To Give Up, It’s Time To Unlock Transformational Change &… | Veterans Chosen and Set Apart
WARNING: Any Veterans Struggling & Ready To Give Up, It’s Time To Unlock Transformational Change & Claim Victory In Your Life Before It’s To Late!
Veterans have you ever wished there was a transformational change switch in your head you could flip that would transform you back into the bold courageous soldier you once were? You just want victory over the problems and issues you face so you can start living a confident purposeful life, right?
I’m Pappi (Gregory L Henderson) Christian Combat Vietnam Veteran/Transformational Change Life Coach and what we’re going to talk about today is something you probably don’t want to hear. So, let’s get started!
Odds are if you’re here listening to me or reading this you’re not having the best of days and you think the future doesn’t look to promising am I right?
I’m not going to lie to you, “Life is hard!” but you already know that. So, what do I have to say that’s worth hearing! It’s called CHOICE!
You can make a choice right here and now to stop listening to all this stuff about the world’s new age life. A life with all the success that people are having believing they are in control when they’re not.
Or you can believe the truth and seek the Christ centered approach to life that will transform you and set you free. It’s all up to you.
What am I talking about? It’s plain and simple! If you profess to be a Born-Again Christian and you’re not living a life of Victory in Jesus you’ve missed the boat. You don’t understand or know God’s transformational change for your life. He has a plan and a future for you. Jeremiah1:5
God has life all planned out for you but it’s your choice to whether you take his Christ centered approach to life or the world’s new age approach.
Apparently, you’ve taken the world’s approach up till now or you wouldn’t be in the mess you’re in right now. So, how’s life been going with this way of living?
Have you ever wondered what your life would look like if you had a solution to all the problems and issues you now face? Well, there’s one thing for sure, “There Is Nothing New Under The Sun.”
Someone, somewhere, or at some time in history including today has gone through what you’re dealing with and has come out on top. Why, because they were living a Christ Centered Approach to life.
Was it easy, NO! Was it rewarding, YES!
Veterans what I’m saying here is life has choices, worldly and heavenly. New Age and Christ Centered Transformational Change and you get to choose. But you’re a Christian!
Well, it’s like this: God’s Word says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it (That’s the World New Age Approach). But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (The Christ Centered Approach) Matthew 7:13–14 NIV
Or you can read His Word in this modern version which goes like this.
The Message Bible says it this way, “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff (World New Age Approach), even though crowds of people do. The way to life — to God! — is vigorous and requires total attention. (Christ Centered Approach) Matthew 7:13–14
The Biblical word for Vigorous: Exhibiting strength, either of body or mind; powerful; strong; forcible; energetic; as, vigorous exertions; a vigorous continuation of a war.
“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:31–33 NIV
Or you can read His Word in this modern version which goes like this. Veterans remember it’s all about transformational change.
Jesus answered them, “Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it — saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I’m not abandoned. The Father is with me. I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” John 16:31–33 MSG — The Message Bible
It’s just as Jesus said, “In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties.”
Again, I say to you there is nothing New Under The Sun. From the beginning of Mankind until today we have had and will always have issues in life!!!
But JESUS says, “TAKE HEART! I’ve Conquered the World.”
VETERANS if you like this about TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE and Want More, Please SUBSCRIBE! If not peace and see you later. YOU CAN ALSO JOIN ME @
You are just ONE STEP from TRANSFORMING and CREATING the life you want, the life GOD intended you to live. Book a Veteran’s Transformation Breakthrough Call Here https://calendly.com/victory-as-veteran-men-discovery-call/60min
Start your TRANSFORMATION by downloading the FREE Veterans GREAT SLEEP GUIDE — 3 Steps to a Peaceful Night Sleep that not only TRANSFORMS your HEALTH but your MIND as well: https://sleep.victoryasaveterancoaching.com/peace
While your at it CHECK OUT the Victory As A Veteran BLOG at: https://gregorylhenderson.com/clone
God’s Word (Plain & Simple) Veterans Transformational Change,
Pappi (Gregory L Henderson) | https://medium.com/@pastorpappi/warning-any-veterans-struggling-ready-to-give-up-its-time-to-unlock-transformational-change-806fb0bf7cdc | ['Vetrepreneur Dmz Coaching Overcome Fear Of Failure'] | 2021-06-01 14:28:16.185000+00:00 | ['God', 'Choices', 'Transformational Change', 'Veterans', 'Bible'] |
Local Social Media | Grow Your Local Company Utilizing Social Media
Are you a small business proprietor looking for methods to expand your organisation? Are you aiming to bring in more causes your company, or have become aware of Social Media Marketing, as well as now wish to attempt it?
As a small business owner you deal with many difficulties — minimal capital, marginal support personnel and having excessive to do in what appears like extremely little time. So, how do you expand your local business without hefty investment in advertising and marketing? Solution — with the use of technology. Web 2.0 offers you with different devices and also strategies that help you to generate leads and boost the exposure of your home-based service. Social network is one such tool. Right here’s all you require to called a local business owner to begin increasing incomes making use of social media.
What is Social Media?
Social network is a group of on-line media where individuals are talking, participating, sharing, networking, and bookmarking online. Examples consist of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, GooglePlus, and also MySpace.
What is Social Network Advertising?
Social media site advertising is making use of the above pointed out systems to reach a new audience of customers and also create item brand name understanding. By spreading out word of a product from individual to user, Social Media Marketing makes every effort to acquire greater authenticity for a message since it is shared between trusted “close friends.”.
Which Social Media Site Networks are most popular?
Research studies show that Facebook & Twitter are most preferred social media networks followed closely by YouTube and LinkedIn, GooglePlus.
Why should Social Media Marketing Rate Of Interest me?
If you assume this sort of Marketing is except you, think again. These systems supply a large package of advantages to small company proprietors. Right here are some reasons that you need to take into consideration making use of Social media site for your company.
Exposure: As a small company proprietor you count mainly on mlm to channel brings about your service — which, consequently relies upon your interaction with people. This is the core idea of what Social Media is! But Social media site supplies basically unlimited chances to engage with individuals — millions of them! With this intriguing kind of advertising and marketing, your service is no longer restricted to local leads; you will locate leads being available in from a diversified geographic market!
Zero-cost: While other advertising media would be pricey, this type of marketing is reasonably totally free, or requires negligible monetary financial investment. It’s a wonderful inexpensive way to get your message throughout.
Boosted web visibility: Getting on popular social networks systems reinforces your internet existence. The even more people speak about you on Facebook or Twitter, the higher are the possibilities of your service being found on appropriate internet searches such as Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.
Direct call with leads: These platforms put you in contact with your customers straight. You can have one-on-one call with them, understand what they actually desire.
Go viral: Such advertising provides you the opportunity to go viral with your marketing. Think about this. You put up a video clip concerning your organisation on YouTube. 10 people like it, as well as five of them share it with their pals, that in-turn share it with 20 even more individuals. This is referred to as “viral advertising and marketing,” and also it can be a very reliable method to enhance your list building.
What is a Social network “game plan” as well as why should you have one?
A social media strategy is a procedure containing a few straightforward steps that can aid you achieve your social networks advertising purposes. The social media field is big as well as you can get lost in it if you don’t play by the policies. There’s a great deal of competition as well as you need to have a clear strategy if you intend to stand apart of the group and obtain discovered.
Your ideal Social network strategy.
A typical strategy for your service ought to include these 4 actions.
- Build your network.
- Circulate your presence.
- Keep connected.
- Screen.
Action 1 — develop your network: The very first step is to look for and add those users to your network whom you think fall into your target market sector. When positioning a demand to add users to your network, it is constantly far better to come with such requests with an individualized message. You can likewise search for and sign up with groups that relate to your line of business. For example, if you are a business marketing Wellness drinks and various other health-related items, you might sign up with teams where subjects such as nutrition, diet plan or health and wellness are reviewed. Such groups give you target market for the products you need to supply. Nevertheless, when in a group, do keep in mind to INCLUDE WORTH. Answer questions that you are equipped to respond to, actively take part in conversations, be refined as well as don’t boldy “push” your products.
Action 2-propagate: The following step is to introduce your Social Media existence. You can do this by including links to your social networks web pages on your web site, e-mail signature line or newsletter, if you have one. You are around with your business-announce it!
Tip 3-stay attached: The 3rd step is to stay gotten in touch with your fans as well as team participants. Social media advertising and marketing effort is easy to begin, however calls for effort to maintain. And also like many networking efforts, outcomes are normally not prompt. Get consent from group members and also others on your network to send emails. You can after that e-mail pertinent web content to individuals on your network. The trick here is to send RELEVANT, WORTH ADDING content-not an ad of your products/services. If you are a health-drink marketing business that is likewise a part of the diet plan and also nutrition group, you can send out web links such as ’10 Ideal Anti-Oxidant Abundant Fruits’ and then probably include a picture and also some info concerning your item, encouraging individuals to contact you if they’re interested. This approach will certainly be better-received than simply sending the prospects an e-mail leaflet entirely dedicated to your product.
Dos as well as Do n’ts.
While social networking is all about human communication and can not be strait-jacketed, here are some pointers that will can be found in useful.
What you should do?
Add value to your calls: Always add value to your contacts. Constantly! Provide them valuable info, pointers and various other fascinating facts that they can use. As an example, Jane, a home-based local business owner markets wellness drinks as well as weight reduction items. So, it makes good sense for her to supply her target market with intriguing short articles on the topic of weight reduction.
Correspond in your on-line involvement: It is not an one-time effort. It has to do with building a relationship … as well as connections take time. Correspond in your social media interaction. Have an intriguing tweet/post/update at least each day. In some couple of cases, several postings a day are even better-but do not forget regulation # 1-add value. Your articles should not seem like meaningless ramblings or advertisements of your product/service.
Take notice of what’s being gone over: If you have actually joined an online forum or a group, actively join pertinent conversations. Utilize your certain, specialist understanding to assist others. Contribute to add depth and measurement to a discussion.
Discussion is the secret: As discussed previously, social networks marketing flourishes on connections. To construct a solid relationship with your potential customers, you need to engage in a discussion with them. Keep a 2-way interaction in between you as well as your audience. Take authentic interest in what they have to say as well as follow up on comments or monitorings that are made.
Completely recognize the subject you are speaking about: Position yourself as an expert on these systems. Yet be sure that you know what you’re talking about. Research if you aren’t certain of something. Errors on these platforms spread swiftly as well as harm the credibility of your business.
Customize your communication: It’s a good idea to customize your communication with your target market. Inquire about an event or occasion uploaded on a Wall surface, such as a current journey, or “such as” their trip pictures on Facebook.
Portray your originality: The most significant advantage small business owners have over big firms is the fact that they are much smaller and have not lost that real-person feeling. Let your target market know the person behind business. Make certain your interactions consist of a personal side!
Reply to your clients’ grievances ASAP: Did you recognize that 88% of clients say unanswered issues on social networks websites discourage them from doing repeat company? And also erasing customer issues is also worse! So ensure you resolve your consumer’s issues on social networks systems quickly. Even if you can not settle them, at least respond so that they recognize they’re being listened to. Acknowledge whatever.
State your Social media site presence: Advertise your accounts. Constantly give links to your social media account in your internet site, blog, emails as well as even publish materials. For websites and blog sites, it’s best to add Twitter and facebook widgets which provide an online feed of what’s happening on your Facebook/twitter page, right there on your web site or blog site. Supply incentives or worth adding information such as whitepapers or write-ups in order to motivate individuals to follow you on social networks websites!
Display & moderate: Screen your social media visibility. Figure out where your name’s turning up on the internet as well as in what context it has actually been utilized. A Google alert is the easiest means to do this, though there are many free devices readily available online to monitor your web existence. Additionally remain in-control of your social networks pages. Read what others are installing on your page as well as react without delay.
Syndicate your Social media site content: Web content production takes time. So why not take advantage of the content you have? Article your content on all preferred social networks websites as well as do not think twice to re-use them. Turn a blog post right into a web link and also placed it on Facebook. Convert it into a video as well as include in YouTube as well as Facebook or turn it right into a presentation as well as put it up on SlideShare. The goal is to get maximum direct exposure for your web content.
What you should not do?
DON’T overtly push your products/services: Social media is a platform.
where you construct partnerships, to develop value. It’s NOT an advertising venue. Your target market will certainly avoid you if all you discuss is right stuff you market. Consider it, would certainly you speak with your family and friends concerning the products you sell all the time? Certainly not! Then do not treat your social media sites audience any type of in different ways.
DON’T spam your calls with meaningless updates: OK, so now you included 2 brand-new items to your line-up. While it’s great to share the news, do not spam your calls with ads. Set up a link to the brand-new range of items; monitor that is interested and share information on a need-to-know basis.
DON’T have grammar and also spelling errors in your articles: You are a small company out to develop an impression. Do not ruin it via punctuation and also grammatic errors. Usage spelling/grammar checking devices, yet never rely only on them. Proofread your messages before placing them up online. If spelling or grammar is not your strength, have someone else proofread your job before it goes out.
DON’T fall short to reply to demands for help in your area of experience: If you belong of a group or discussion forum, seize every possibility to show your know-how. Do not be a wallflower-actively join discussions.
DON’T let your account obtain stale: Make sure your profile is often upgraded and that you supply something brand-new. One mistake numerous local business proprietors make is producing social media sites accounts and after that forgetting about them. Your social networks efforts have to be on-going to bear results.
DON’T get sidetracked: There’s a lot of disturbance offered online-especially on social networks channels that can make you lose track of your effective hours online. Games, quizzes, discussion forums and also live-chats-while these can be interesting tools to draw in prospect interest, focus on your goals. Otherwise you’ll discover on your own spending way too much time and energy into activities that provide no returns to your company. local social selling
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youtube | https://medium.com/@localsocialmarketer/local-social-media-969e8b51604a | ['Phil Belleville'] | 2019-03-27 07:52:27.109000+00:00 | ['Media', 'Social Media', 'Local', 'Social'] |
Broken jar: Art of Lying | “I swear. I didn’t. He did” pointing his dog, five years Abhinav accused his dog, sniffing newly brought jar of pickle, which now lies on the floor with thousand pieces.
“I saw you”
“But I didn’t! How can you know without being here that I broke this?”
His adroitness puzzled her. It reminded her of childhood. Back then when mother used to scold, she didn’t know a single excuse to lie or get away with anything.
She had no other option “Tell me the truth, I know you’re lying.”
Once, she overheard her mother with another lady “Our Sonu never lies. She is a pure soul. All thanks to her father for such values.” She was thrilled by that but later she realized it was a trap. From then, whenever she tried to hide or lie, she failed miserably. From that experience, she learned that sometimes even praise can help to bring out something which can’t be pulled out through anger and screaming.
She took him in her lap, looked into his eyes, and kissed his forehead. Instead of asking for the truth, she decided to tell him a story.
“Abhi when I was of your age, your nani used to tell ‘god watches us, every moment of our lives’. You know, he keeps an account of every act we do knowingly or unknowingly. Our every sin and charity is noted down and whenever we become weak, he pronounces his fate. So, I always tell truth.”
But her mind transacted into the past where she used to wear a tiara of being idol and truth worshiper, which one day paid her a visit behind the bars. Even today in nightmares she wonders why that happened to her, and still in the quest for answers. Sometimes she doubts herself, ‘because I couldn’t lie or became a meek spectator for what happened in front of me, that’s why it happened with me.’
She continues “Beta, it might be possible that revealing truth may end up you in trouble. But you know, god always give justice to them, who never take a stance with a lie.”
Her conversation was more of an oscillation in the past and present.
“Madam! You saw nothing” constables shook her shocked body. She stunned by what happened in front of her. Waving his hands in front of her eyes he continued on a high note “Oh! Madam, I’m talking to you. Don’t you understand? Nothing happened here. Go to your business. This is not a nautanki show.”
She didn’t know what was going on but she refused to move. This was her first time when reality was blinking in front of her. All her fairy tales of truth and ideal world fantasies came to an end the moment she encountered that act.
Two constables pushed those who stopped hereby in the galli. “You did this. He is at no-fault. You are the demon dressed as the messiah.” She was shouting the hell out of her.
Inspector generated a challan and took her to the police station. On her way to the station, the brutality of a police inspector on a man next to him danced in front of her eyes.
“Beta, sometimes people can force you to lie and try to suppress your voice against injustice and atrocities. But you should always make choice based on truth and justice.”
“Why you arrested me?” she shouted from behind the bars, standing in isolation, fully cut off from the outer world — full of choices, expressions, and freedoms. But, now she had no choice, no freedom, and no expression except self-doubt and isolation.
“At least give me a solid reason for this confinement, or else let me call my family. I am supposed to know the reason.” No response came. But the fear in isolation sowed seeds of doubt, why she reacted in this way?
Truth can bear false acquisitions and can still stand for centuries but her legs can’t. She crushed down with her own weight. Weight of truth and idealization of the world she carried throughout her life in her head.
“Madam you are charged with violation of traffic rule. You were driving in the wrong lane.” A lady constable whispered. Even night has a moon.
“But there was nothing…”
“Shhh….” She gestured to be silent and offered the phone.
“Abhi, even if you are caught in the darkest hour and no hope of light coming. Believe in yourself. There is always another option or way, which validates the truth.”
“Why they caught you? Are they gone mad?” Shaker bewildered. He can’t see his wife in agony.
“I should call the commission. This is ridiculous. Have they lost the integrity of social justice?”
“Listen to me. I know what is going through you right now, but first, you need to prove my innocence without that justice won’t be delivered to those who deserve that.”
“Keep that out, I don’t care about anyone but I need you to out this moment.”
“Stop! Stop please! Listen to me”
“Why are you doing all this?”
“Promise me you won’t call anyone.”
His head messed with this situation. He thought for a moment ‘Is she also gone mad?’
“What all rubbish you are saying? I’m coming now.”
“Listen first you need to prove it.”
“What you want to prove, you’re behind the bars and I’m….”
She interrupted “I know how you can.”
“You know Abhi, I believe ‘truth always triumph’. If you tell the truth you will be free from the after-effects of lying. You know what I mean. Once the truth is out, your heart becomes free from the cycle of guilt.
As I said god always watches our actions and he always suggests a way out if you believe in him. Do you believe in God, Abhi?”
“When they forced me into the jeep, I saw, there is an ATM at the end of galli where it meets the main road. Look for CCTV footage. If you get, you can help me.”
“But how can I..”
“I know you can and you will.”
“Madam, balance khatam ho jyaga.” Lady Constable from the other side of the world.
“Thank you very much.”
She had nothing to do in the dark, dusty dungeon but to lost in thoughts, how the family of that vendor would have reacted? Had they gone mad by the miserable condition of their father or husband or son, or they just accepted it as their fate?
Suddenly, the police station came into the activity. The phone started ringing, television geared up for breaking news, she could hear ‘The nation wants to know’.
It was the earthquake she anticipated a few hours back. The same constable came running to open the lock, “Madam please forgive me.”
She had nothing to say but to watch what they had done to him for a few free oranges. The whole nation witnessed his bruises and abrasions over national television. This was the moment that nation really wanted to know.
The trio (inspector and two constables) were suspended with immediate effect. Commissioner apologized on the behalf of police administration and gave full assurance to take strict actions so that this does not repeat in the future.
Shaker came with wide open arms and hugged.
She murmured, “I know you will do it.”
“Don’t say any other word.” They made their way out.
“Yes, mom! I believe in god and truth, but won’t you scold me, if I tell you the truth?”
His expression showed — he got nothing from her gyan, but at least it courage him to give a try.
She looked in his eyes, so innocent and pure. Gave him a hug and kissed again “no beta”
“That jar slipped from my hand.”
She had nothing to do but to enjoy his innocence. | https://medium.com/@ravinarayanbishnoi/broken-jar-art-of-lying-50ee342856bb | ['Ravi Narayan Bishnoi'] | 2020-11-26 18:42:18.692000+00:00 | ['Police Brutality', 'Motherhood', 'Innocence', 'Childhood Memories', 'Truth Telling'] |
5 Awesome Years at Coinbase | In 2015, I got an email from a recruiter:
I may have responded because of the personal nature of the email (mentioning my GER project), but TBH I have no idea why I responded. I emailed back that I was more into DevOps work which they also had positions for. So we set up some online interviews.
I didn’t really need this job so I was super relaxed during the interviews, mostly I just had a good time solving interesting problems. One question was to implement the Mandelbrot set which I did in Ruby, and another was some data munging problem I did in Javascript. In one interview Brian Armstrong dropped by to ask a few questions, including if I was a Coinbase user. After saying “no” he sent me $15 of Bitcoin (he used to do that with everyone).
I think because I had fun and demonstrated some skill with multiple languages they decided to fly me (and my wife) to SF for a week long interview called a work-trial.
At the work-trial I was given a project to setup a third-party code-coverage tool for Ruby. That quickly got derailed when I realized the tool wouldn’t scale to Coinbase’s large codebase, so I started looking around for other problems to solve. I found a way to speed up some test times, worked with an engineer on a visualization, and also tried to help out (i.e. flailed around) during a few DDOS incidents.
Hanging out in a cool SF office with a ton of talented engineers building high stakes applications was exhilarating. There is nothing like being in a room full of experts working hard to solve an immediate problem. I think my willingness to jump in, help and to find useful things to do when stuck is why I got an offer at the end of the week. | https://maori.geek.nz/5-awesome-years-at-coinbase-fb2e0b4d808f | ['Graham Jenson'] | 2021-04-03 21:08:11.010000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Jobs', 'New Zealand', 'DevOps', 'Coinbase'] |
Optimize Your App By Applying These Top 5 Flutter and Dart Best Practices. | Here, in this blog, I will be discussing how you can optimize your Flutter app with best practices of the object-oriented programming language of Flutter, Dart!
Again every project has its own functionality and nature but most of the practices are a kind of standard practices which has been practiced by the global Flutter community.
So, let’s get started!
Using Call method
To create a callable class that can work well as a class instance function Dart can be an extended hand.
This can be implemented by call() method, for example, have a look at the below syntax
class class_name { … // class return_type call ( parameters ) { … // call the function content } } With the example, class EducativeIntro { // Defining call method String call(String a, String b, String c) => ‘Welcome to $a$b$c’; } // Main Function void main() { var educative_input = EducativeIntro(); // Calling the class through its instance var educative_output = educative_input(‘our ‘, ‘Dart ‘, ‘tutorial’); print(educative_output); }
Enhance the experience
One of the ideal IDE for flutter that feels like home is Android studio. If you want to build an iOS version as well, you will surely need to work on macOS as well and have to install Xcode.
Fo this sort of matter, we will come to our most important feature of Flutter and Dart which is Hot reloading!
This can repaint the widget that has changed the widget tree in your application code.
Any functionality which is unaffected by that code will stay unaffected and as the name suggests it will show the rapid change in no time.
Performing hot reload…
Syncing files to device iPhone SE (2nd generation)…
Reloaded 3 of 511 libraries in 396ms.
Reformatting the code
It will take no time to look like a portion of spaghetti for any nested widgets in the Flutter App Development process. So it becomes essential to build your code neat.
Dartfmt is the tool that will straighten your code in no time by reformatting it. It also has this smart which enables it to reformat your code by eliminating any comas you have put in between, and it does it automatically while you save the file.
This will eliminate your manual efforts to eliminate them one by one.
Wrapping your components
So conventionally, to reduce the complexity and make your development process bulletproof we have been wrapping the components with a container.
Flutter Outline Android studio lets you do this task with just a single click.
Doing Copy/ Paste was so last year, try this instead. While extracting name your widget and there you go! You have yourself a personalized custom widget.
You will see something like this.
Converting to StatefulWidget
Often in the middle of the development process, you realize your stateful widget has to be stateful but fortunately in Flutter.
The pro tip here that works best is, you can create the new widget and type stful and stless and will generate the widget automatically by respective order.
To conclude things, Dart and Flutter are like hand and glove when it comes to building high-performing applications.
If you know when to make the right move you can find the jackpot in terms of reaching a smooth and unique user experience as well as a hassle-free Flutter App Development Process!
Think if you can have a professional expert who has significant experience in this field, how far you can go with your Application! Hire Flutter Developers in the USA who can understand your objectives and can give you performance beyond your expectations! | https://blog.devgenius.io/optimize-your-app-by-applying-these-top-5-flutter-and-dart-best-practices-96e4674b0156 | ['Arohi Adhyaru'] | 2021-07-16 08:01:24.370000+00:00 | ['Development', 'Mobile App Development', 'Flutter', 'Programming', 'Flutter App Development'] |
6 Points Why Yoga Is Halal In Islam | The name “Yoga” is a Sanskrit generally means union or a method or technique. There is a lot of controversy regarding the practice of Yoga among Muslims because it’s roots date back to the Hindu Veda, Upanishads, Buddhist and Jain teachings. In this article, I hope to clarify and prove why Yoga is not haram in Islam. Some scholars are of the view that practicing Yoga is haram because it is like following some of the practices of Hinduism. In the Rig Veda, it mentions as follows.
“yoge yoge tavastaraṁ vāje vāje havāmahe” which means “In each yoga, we invoke the Strong (Indra); in each struggle” (Rig Veda-1.30.7)
“Yama: The firm control of the senses, they regard as Yoga. At that time one gets careful, for, Yoga is acquired and lost”
(Katha Upanishad 2.3.11)
Now, the mentioning of Yoga does not relate to any practical poses. The Verses in the Rig Veda and the Katha Upanishad mentions unity by mentioning Yoga. But, there are many verses in the Sveteshvatara Upanishad that mentions about certain Yoga.
“When the fivefold qualities of yoga consisting of the earth, water, fire, air and ether are firmly established in the body, then in that body strengthened by the fire of yoga, there is no place for sickness, old age and death”
(Sveteshvatara Upanishad-2.12)
“Lightness of being, health, steadiness, improvement in the complexion of the body, perfection in the voice, sweetness of the body odor, slight excretions are said to be the first results of the progress of yoga”
(Sveteshvatara Upanishad-2.13)
“There, having the mind actively focused upon a single point, with thought and sense activity controlled,
Sitting on a seat, one should practice yoga for purification of the self.
With an aligned body, head, and neck — keeping these steady, without movement;
Focusing the vision toward the tip of one’s nose without looking about in any direction”.
(Bhagavad Gita 6.12–13)
The Author, Patanjali wrote the Yoga Sutras outlining the theory of Yoga and let me explain my points on why Yoga is not haram in Islam.
Point-1
The argument has arisen among Muslims is that practicing Yoga amounts to Shirk and Kufr because the Muslim who practices Yoga would fall to Shirk. This is wrong because Yoga is a broad term and could mean a form of worship, a form of exercise that is derived from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sources. The Shirk/Kufr argument is stemming from one practice in Yoga called “Surya namaskar” which means sun salutation. This is a form of sun worship but this is not a necessary practice when doing Yoga. Yoga has many exercises which are not at all Shirk or Kufr. Trying to put the entire Yoga practice as Shirk or Kufr based on the Surya namaskar or the “Om” chanting cannot be accepted. You can simply avoid them and practice Yoga
Point-2
Allah says in the Quran,
“And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship”
(Al Quran-41:37)
Allah (Swt) says in the above verse that he created the Sun and the Moon as to show the signs that are the night and day. Now taking this in to context we can understand clearly that Yoga can be used for good health and to keep the mind free from stress which is not haram in Islam without using Yoga as a way to worship the Sun or to chant anything which is Shirk or Kufr.
Point-3
Let us take the example of incantations. Incantations can be used for black magic and other things which are haram in Islam and you can use incantations which are not haram. The evidence is as follows,
Auf b. Malik Ashja’i reported we practise incantation in the pre-Islamic days and we said:
“Allah’s Messenger. What is your opinion about it? He said: Let me know your incantation and said: There is no harm in the incantation which does not have Shirk in them is fine”
(Sahih Muslim)
When we look at the history of the use of incantations, we find that incantations were used by the Celtics, Anglo Saxons and even the ancient Egyptians and Hindus before the messenger of Allah (Sal) and some of them were used for witchcraft and black magic. Even in such scenario the prophet (Sal) never forbade the use of incantations and allowed the Muslims the use incantations as long as they do not include Shirk or Kufr or anything which is haram. Similarly, the use of Yoga falls in to the same category as the use of incantations because Yoga is a broad term just like incantations.
Point-4
There is no direct evidence to prove from the Quran or authentic hadiths which says that Yoga is haram. All the fatwas which state that it is haram are based on the various implications drawn by scholars. The Prophet (sal) said, “Verily Allah has obligated the obligations — so do not neglect them. And He has limited the limits — so do not transgress them. And His silence about things is from His mercy, not forgetfulness, so do not investigate them.” (Hasan Sahih-Ad-Darqutni №4/199 and Al-Baihaqi №10/122)
In this hadith it is clear that Islam is actually silent on Yoga and Allah’s silence is a mercy and that proves clearly that Yoga is also halal.
Point-5
There are many products that are inspired by the ancient medicine call Ayurveda. Ayurveda is inspired by the Hindu Vedas especially the Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. In the Atharva Veda, the use of herbs and plants for medicinal purpose is mentioned as follows
“The tawny colored, and the pale, the variegated and the red,
The dusky tinted, and the black — all Plants we summon hitherward.
I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single,
I call for thee the fibrous, and the reed like, and branching plants, dear to Vishwa Devas, powerful, giving life to men.
The conquering strength, the power and might, which ye, victorious plants possess,
Therewith deliver this man here from this consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare the remedy”
(Atharvaveda 8.7)
The Hindu Idol Dhanavanthri is regarded by the Hindus as the avatar of Vishnu and the God of medicine and is associated with Ayurveda. Nowadays in some countries, Ayurveda products are in cosmetics, shampoos and even food and drinks. Now does this make all these products haram? No because the term Ayurveda is broad just like Yoga and we have to look specifically rather than giving blanket armchair fatwas stating that it is haram.
Point-6
The prophet (Sal) said.
“Actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
From this hadith it is clear that the action of a person is judged according to what he or she intended and the performance of Yoga as a form of keeping your body healthy is a good intention and that intention itself proves that Yoga is not haram in Islam.
The Detailed Article Was Originally Published on My Blog Where You Can Read By Clicking Here | https://medium.com/@tpurzy/6-points-why-yoga-is-halal-in-islam-d138f1deb17a | ['C J Ahmed'] | 2020-07-21 10:20:07.528000+00:00 | ['Fiqh', 'Yoga', 'Muslim Women', 'Muslim', 'Islam'] |
Cryptography — An Art of Information Security. | Cryptography is an art of securing information and communication, where only the sender and the intended recipient can view the content of the information. The term Cryptography is derived from the Greek word kryptos and graphy ,where kryptos means “Hidden” and graphy means “Art of writing”. The term Crypto has become verypopular after the introduction of crypto currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. Cryptography is basically used to secure the electronic transaction where the sender encrypts the message and sends it over the network and the receiver decrypts the message to get the original content.
Components of Cryptography
Plaintext: A text message, image or binary content that needs to be secured during the communication. It is the unencrypted or non-tempered data sent from sender to the receiver.
Encryptions: A process where plaintext is converted to an unreadable format which can be converted back to plaintext by the receiving party. Encryption algorithm users’ cipher the message and use a secret key. The receiving party cannot decrypt the message without the secret key.
Ciphers: A set of steps for encrypting and decrypting a message together are known as cipher.
Secret Key: A set of numbers on which the cipher works to convert the plaintext to ciphertext and vice versa.
Ciphertext: The plaintext which is converted to unreadable format is known as ciphertext. It can be easily decrypted based on the secret key and a decryption algorithm.
Decryption: A process where ciphertext is converted back to the plaintext using the secret key. The key might be different, based on type of encryption used like for symmetric key encryption, same key will be used to decrypt whereas for asymmetric, there will be different keys.
Objectives
Confidentiality / Privacy : Only intended recipient of the message should be able to decrypt the message.
Reliability / Integrity : The message sent to the receiver cannot be modified in transit or at rest.
Non-repudiation : Sender of the message cannot deny the fact that the message was sent by him.
Authenticity : At any point of time, both sender and receiver of the message can verify the identities of each other.
Types of Cryptography
Symmetric Key Cryptography
Symmetric Key Cryptography is a cryptographic algorithm where same key is used for encryption and decryption of the content. This is also known as private or secret key cryptography where the same key is shared between sender and the receiver.
Some examples of symmetric key algorithms are:
· AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
· DES (Data Encryption Standard)
· Blowfish
Asymmetric Key Cryptography
Asymmetric Key Cryptography is also known as Public-key Cryptography where different keys are used for encryption and decryption. One key which is kept private is known as the “Private Key” and a key shared with all the parties is known as “Public Key”. The mathematical computation is such that the private key cannot be derived from the public key, but public key can be derived from private key.
When a sender wants to send some content, they encrypt the message using the public key of the recipient. After receiving the message, the receiver can decrypt the content by using their own private key. Anyone snooping in on the content in middle can’t decrypt the message as the private key of intended recipient is unknown.
Some examples of Asymmetric key algorithms are:
· RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman)
· DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm)
· ECC (Elliptic-curve cryptography)
Hash Function
Hash functions are one-way functions used to protect the content at the cost of not being able to get the original plaintext. Hash functions convert the text in a fix length string, the only way to verify the content is to try all the possible input on a hash function till both the stored hash match.
Some examples of Hash functions algorithms are:
· MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5)
· SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1)
· SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2)
Do we really use Cryptography?
Yes, cryptography has become a standard for day-to-day data transfer. Many of us use the messaging apps for sending messages to friends, family or intended recipients. There apps safeguard our messages by encrypting the content in transit and rest. When we configure these apps, a pair of keys are generated and registered with the server to help us in message transfer.
Some more examples are:
· Authentication / digital signature service
· Data time stamping service
· Secure network communication
· Email services
· Data storage
Conclusion
The current technological advancement generates a lot of data which is sensitive and more associated with an individual’s information like Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or geolocation, etc. Securing this information is very important as it can be harmful if exposed to public networks. Cryptography is a means of securing this information and ensuring that only intended recipients can make use of it. | https://medium.com/geekculture/cryptography-an-art-of-information-security-d51b7723b613 | ['Dinesh Rivankar'] | 2021-06-11 11:06:06.421000+00:00 | ['Cryptography', 'Decryption', 'Encryption', 'Hashing', 'Ciphertext'] |
Bitpie Wallet now support BTC , USDT Loan. | Crypto currency`s loan market is quite useful to users. People can borrow USDT to invest on other new blockchain start-ups to gain profits without losing their BTC if they can payback the margin.
Now, Bitpie Wallet has supported BTC, USDT and CKB borrow and lend function. And here is the instruction of how to use.
Before we start, you should download the newest Bitpie Wallet (bitpie.com) and install it on your phone.
Borrow USDT from the Loan Market
Step 1, find an order you need or create your own order.
When we enter the Loan Page, we can see different orders in the surface. You can view and choose an order that you need or you can Click the ‘Create AD’ button to customize your own order.
You can set the loan period, margin ratio and daily interest ratio by your own, to customize the perfect borrowing order.
Step 2, Find your ADs, Orders and reminding messages
After some one take your order, you can find it and check out the details in ADs, Orders and Message.
Step 3, deposit BTC into the Pie Bank to complete the order.
You can find Pie Bank inside ‘ More ’ and click the ‘ deposit ’ button. Once you have BTC in your Pie Bank, the system will calculate how much BTC you should pledge (Calculation method can be found in the ‘Related Agreements’) and deduct from your Pie Bank account. If you don`t have enough BTC in your Pie Bank account, the system will inform you with a warning message.
Once your order been taken and the system deduct your margin, the USDT will send to your Pie Bank USDT account, then you can withdraw to your address.
Lend USDT to others
The lending process is similar to borrowing, so I made it simplify .
Step 1, create an order for lending out USDT.
Step 2, check out your order and start getting interest
Step 3, Get the margin once the borrower fail to call margin and order been offset.
Most of the time, the borrower will pay back the principle and interest. But in case the BTC price drop sharply, and the borrower fail to call margin. The system will offset the order and give the BTC to the lender as compensate. | https://medium.com/bitpie/bitpie-wallet-now-support-btc-usdt-and-ckb-loan-cf7fa2453a30 | ['Bitpie Wallet'] | 2020-04-08 14:19:56.937000+00:00 | ['Loans', 'Btc', 'Bitcoin', 'Usdt'] |
Straightforward | Medical writer who prefers to read and write fiction and some nonfiction, though the latter may appear at times as the former. patrickmohana.wordpress.com
Follow | https://medium.com/blueinsight/straightforward-db7f2a44519e | ['Patrick M. Ohana'] | 2020-12-19 15:51:54.525000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Haiku', 'Poetry', 'Truce', 'Blue Insights'] |
The House That Was | The first thing that comes to mind, are the checkered tiles. Although, hidden from the public eye, somewhere on the first floor of the building; it is the tiles that hold the memories wedged in between the tiny gaps among them. Weddings, funerals, Dholkis, the occasional game of tag, human chess and the many drops of rain that graced its glossy surface. The tiles, in short, carry decades of joy and grief altogether.
It was a two-storey house, situated smack in the middle of a small colony called Hadinagar, in the city of Hyderabad itself. Now if you’ve ever been to Hyderabad, you’ll know these certain ‘colonies’ as referred to in the local language (or ‘nagars’) are quite narrow, villas joined together; each one with its own awning at the entrance, usually.
Like most architecture native to Sindh, the house had its’ own quirks. Decadent fudge-coloured doors, leading to a complete dead-end; dusty glass-stained windows which would make an interior designer and church-goer baulk; marbled staircase, leading all the way up to the first floor and then another set of stairs entirely, leading up to the servants quarters. Which, at times doubled as a storage space for all kind of oddities.
The checkered tiles on the first floor.
My Dada bought the house in the 80s. He moved into the city from a tiny village called ‘Gambat’ in the district of Khairpur. With ten mouths to feed, the necessity for a large house and better opportunities grew more than ever. Although my father does remember spending his childhood in another place entirely, it is in this house where we lived and died.
I say died because like all things that reach the end of its course, the house had started coming apart at the seams with my Dadi’s passing. A glue which held us together, all my aunts and uncles and a truckload of nieces and nephews, who would frequent it every other day.
Being situated in the UAE, we only ever made trips to the homeland, in summers. The end of every scholastic year was marked by this fervent excitement, at seeing our extended family, cousins and spending an entire summer sucking on ripe mangoes; while being perched upon the charpai in the front yard.
A fond memory that comes to mind, is lying between my grandparents and stargazing with them. Hyderabadi summers often called for sleeping outdoors. Since the skies were clearer back in the day; free of light pollution and smog, it was much easier to spot constellations such as Orion the Hunter, stars like Sirius and Polaris (the Guiding Star). The charpais always felt itchy, too hard and uncomfortable, compared to my bed back home. But the experience was worth it, always.
My aunt and uncle’s anniversary in the main hall (I’m in the denim frock waving at the camera)
The house was full of tight, small spaces. The kitchen was probably the smallest one. Situated on the ground floor, there was never enough space for more than four people to cook, clean and do the washing in there. But it was the kitchen, where, in the dead of the night; my cousins and I would sneak up to cook meals of all sorts — instant noodles with leftover korma, french toast (a rather sad and sloppy sight) and horrendously milky chai. It was the kitchen where we discovered a giant rat, the size of a newborn baby. Took the entire household to catch the critter and kill it in a rather gruesome manner — beating it to a pulp with a broomstick. It was the kitchen where after my Dadi passed away, we gathered to prepare food for hundreds of relatives that kept dropping in.
Then there was the case of the “supposedly" haunted servants' quarters, upstairs on the rooftop. The rumour among the cousins was that while descending down the stairs at night, one could hear the soft chun chun of the payal. That, a certain amorphous spirit resided upstairs, which could attach itself to anyone that dares cross its path at night. It didn’t help that the shadows loomed on the rooftop at night, making it seem forbidding and uninviting altogether. The adults dispelled it as mere superstitions, but then they too avoided going upstairs after dark.
I think it was only a matter of time before things starting coming apart. The house went through multiple renovations, but even then the first cracks in the foundation, starting appearing way before my Dadi’s passing. A lot of familial conflicts, embroiled with the heavy rains that would engulf our entire galli; the house was creaking and groaning already. It was inevitable. No amount of paint or plaster could fix the damage that had already been done.
Myself being carried by our help at the time, Arjun, in front of the house.
And then there was the case of my Dada, an old man all on his own in a big house; with only the servants to talk to. All the ten mouths he had once fed, were married off and settled away from him. As much as my aunts and uncles tried dropping in (minus my family, since we were oceans away), the nights would be long and lonely when they would depart for their own homes. The house itself kept sinking bit by bit into the ground every year. No matter the number of fixations that were made, the yearly torrential rains only got worse, and the house was constantly flooded. It was obvious that it was becoming unlivable every passing day.
My memory is slightly fuzzy when it comes to remembering the exact date we sold it off. But I do remember memorising every corner, every surface, every crack in the wall and even the damned tiles before I left for UAE, yet again. We were told that it would be sold, and so we knew that we had to make something of it.
It was slightly raining that day, as I took pictures of all the rooms and the floors with my Nokia phone. I slid down the stairs that day, for the last time (as was my habit usually). I recall waving at the house, as we set off for the airport as if I was expecting a wave back. If houses could feel, I’m sure this one was disappointed, tired and heaving. Time for us to go, and time for the house to rest.
Rest it did, for now, stands a strange, unfamiliar structure in its place. Quite surprising how easily and how quickly things can change, but perhaps we knew it all along, in our hearts of hearts at least. With nothing left of its old halls, odd windows and terrifying staircases; the house now remains eulogized only in pictures, and imprinted in our memories. | https://medium.com/@hiba-memon/the-house-that-was-a92dbf625fd6 | ['Hiba Memon'] | 2020-12-27 23:18:34.526000+00:00 | ['Pakistan', 'Articles', 'Nostalgia', 'Memories', 'House'] |
Python+ 101: Most useful data structures and algorithms | 2. Most common element and number of occurrences of an element in a collection
Sometimes, we need to find N most common elements in a collection. The Counter class of the collections library is a simple way of extracting the most common elements in a list or numpy array along with the number of their occurrences, with its most_common method.
Figure 2. Most common elements of an array
The most_common method takes the number of most common elements we want as an argument and returns a list of tuples whose first element denotes the most common element of the array and the second element is the number of that element’s occurences, sorted according to decreasing occurences. In the snippet shown in Figure 2, 1 in myarray occurs 6 times and 0 occurs 3 times.
Also, the number of occurences of a specific element can be obtained by indexing. The element 5 , for example, occurs 3 times in myarray which can be found by simply using myarray[5]. | https://towardsdatascience.com/python-101-most-useful-data-structures-and-algorithms-895d6bf2f1b3 | ['Neerav Kaushal'] | 2020-10-20 19:06:10.172000+00:00 | ['Python Standard Library', 'Data Structures', 'Python', 'Algorithms', 'Useful'] |
Facilitating Effective Retrospectives: Capturing Lessons and Actually Learning From Them | Benefits of Holding a Retrospective
Retrospectives are an essential part of doing Agile “right”. Teams that conduct structured Retrospectives are typically more effective than those that do not.
Why are Retrospectives good for your team?
Uncover Issues
Unmet objectives, incomplete tasks, and missed deadlines can be the result of a number of small setbacks. Unfulfilled goals left at the end of a Sprint can put stress on your team and hinder performance.
We all know the familiar feeling — you start to work on something but don’t finish it. Thoughts of the unfinished work continue to pop into your mind, even when you’ve moved on to other things — taunting you with the work you have yet to complete. This is known as the Zeigarnik Effect — the propensity for an individual to remember interrupted tasks better than completed work. The Zeigarnik effect highlights the stress, anxiety, and strained relationships that can result when tasks and issues are left incomplete.
Unfulfilled goals in a project raise questions about team performance, bring project challenges to the forefront, and indicate that changes need to be made. The change can be one that is easily integrated into your processes or one that sparks a massive rehaul of operations. Either way, it’s imperative that the root cause is identified.
A deep dive into issues that arise is an essential part of understanding performance impediments and limitations; issues can fester and run wild if left unaddressed. Retrospectives provide an opportunity to sort through uncertainties in complex environments to improve team processes and dynamics.
Create Action Items
The lessons learned from participating in a Retrospective can help with the development of plans, improvement of processes, or result in a list of considerations for Sprint Planning. Regardless of how you choose to integrate the lessons learned from a Sprint into future use, you should have actionable items outlined to ensure future benefit. Sharing knowledge and leveraging refined insight is important; action items provide a record of what has been learned from each Sprint experience.
Your team can promote continuous improvement and achieve accelerated learning by using shared experiences to reduce the learning curve. Failure to incorporate a clearly defined reflection point can put your team at a disadvantage — team members carry on with bad habits, continue to run into the same obstacles, and are unable to improve moving forward. Retrospectives can help your team identify opportunities for improvement, experiment with new approaches, and uncover approaches to clearing obstacles.
Use an action-focused approach for your Sprint Retrospectives to ensure that your discussions generate change rather than just being a forum for your team to air grievances. Checklists can provide an excellent way to prioritize your action items and motivate you to get more done.
Develop an Open Culture
Retrospectives provide a forum for team members to learn from themselves and from each other. When performed properly a Sprint Retrospective promotes a culture of learning, openness, and honesty. To build trust, team members need to be honest and transparent. No one should feel like they will be ostracized or punished for admitting there is a problem. Discussions should focus on analyzing what went wrong instead of who caused it to happen; it is not a finger-pointing exercise but should encourage self-identification and areas for improvement from everyone on the team. | https://jxedwards.medium.com/facilitating-effective-retrospectives-capturing-lessons-and-actually-learning-from-them-3bbb683ba983 | ['J Edwards'] | 2021-01-01 00:36:50.608000+00:00 | ['Scrum', 'Project Management', 'Retrospectives', 'Lessons Learned', 'Agile'] |
How to change bad luck | A string of adverse fortune can lead you to believe you or an organization you care about is cursed. How do you alter a hard-luck period?
Many people don’t buy the concept of curses. But many do, especially those who seem to go through extraordinarily long strings of adverse fortune.
Take the Chicago Cubs and their fans. Many believe they existed under the “Curse of the Billy Goat” for decades. The misfortune supposedly originated in 1945 when local tavern owner William Sianis brought his pet goat to game four of the World Series. After fans complained about the goat’s odor — which was enhanced by rain — officials forced Sianis to leave. As he did, an enraged Sianis reportedly proclaimed that the Cubs wouldn’t win that series or any other.
The Cubs subsequently lost that game and the series. It took until 2016 for the Cubs to play in another World Series, which Chicago won and, by many accounts, broke the curse. By then, fans had been tortured by various mishaps, most notably the Steve Bartman foul-ball incident in 2003.
Many Boston Red Sox fans also thought their team was cursed after owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919. Ruth had helped the Sox win three championships, and he was a key part, to say the least, in the Yankees winning four more titles between 1923 and 1932.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, would not win another World Series until 2004, when fans celebrated the team finally breaking the “Curse of the Bambino.” Sox fans, likewise, had gone through all sorts of hell, including the famed Bill Buckner World Series error in 1986.
Curse of the Griffiths
Then there are the curses under which numerous fans of Washington, D.C., MLB teams believed their team had played until Halloween 2019. Various D.C. teams in the National Association — the first pro baseball league founded in 1871 that disbanded in 1875 and contributed some teams to the newly-formed National League in 1876 — could not record a single winning season, let alone a championship.
The first Washington team in the National League — the Washington Nationals — began in 1886 but didn’t come close to a winning record, folding in 1889. A Washington Senators NL franchise continued the losing ways in the 1890s.
Then came a Washington Senators franchise that began in 1901 as one of eight founding teams of the American League. The team was so bad — losing a then AL-record 113 games in 1904 — that the owners changed its name to Nationals in 1905 in hopes of spurring more victories. But many fans and sportswriters ignored the change and still called them the Senators.
After two seasons, the team just put a “W” logo on uniforms but did not formally change the name back to Senators until 1956. Many fans called them the Nats — a reference to the NATionals and SeNATors.
Fortunes rose after signing a big Kansas farm kid named Walter Johnson in 1907. Nicknamed “The Big Train” for his pitching speed that clocked at a then unheard-of 91 miles per hour, Johnson became one of the best pitchers in MLB history — he still holds the record for most career shutouts and is second in career wins.
He almost single-handedly lifted the Nationals from the cellar to respectability, as Washington placed second in 1912 in its first winning season. But only one team from each league made the playoffs back then, and the Nats would not make it to the World Series until 1924. Johnson was a key part of the team’s first and only championship, winning the league’s MVP award with a 23–7 record and 2.72 ERA. He also won the deciding game 7 in the World Series.
The Nationals returned to the World Series in 1925 but lost. Soon after Johnson retired, owner Clark Griffith hired him as manager. Despite coaching the team to three straight winning seasons in which the team finished as high as second place, Johnson was fired by Griffith after the 1932 season. Supposedly, the reason was Johnson was being paid too much by the notoriously tightwad Griffith, who thought a change was needed to move the team into first place.
The Nats made the World Series the following year, but they lost again. That franchise would not play in another postseason game until after Calvin Griffith — the adopted son of Clark — moved the team to Minnesota in 1960. To the sorrow of many Senators/Nats fans, the Twins made the World Series in 1965 and won it in 1987 and 1991.
Some say the firing of DC baseball legend Walter Johnson as Nationals’ manager in 1932 sparked a curse that has hampered baseball in the nation’s capital to this day. The Nationals erected a statue for Johnson outside the current ballpark, but some say the curse remains. [Kevin Shay photo]
While the low-key Johnson made little waves about being fired as manager in 1932 and even reportedly told Griffith it was a “good idea,” some fans believed that Griffith cursed the team with that move. It was akin to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones firing legendary coach Tom Landry in 1989. Perhaps it was the right move, as the Cowboys won three Super Bowls between 1993 and 1996. But the firing of a legend still stung to many fans.
Unlike in the Cowboys’ case, the Nats did not win multiple titles shortly after the move. And when the team went back to being laughingstocks to the point that the Broadway play Damn Yankees poked fun of the Nats/Senators’ plight, the Johnson firing became a sore point for decades.
Other D.C. baseball fans were sure that Griffith’s adopted son cursed D.C. baseball when he moved the franchise to become the Twins. Perhaps it was the right move for him as the franchise found more success in Minnesota than in Washington.
The AL installed a new franchise in D.C. in 1961, but that one was as bad as the previous two decades’ version with one winning season in 11 tries. It moved to Texas in 1971, becoming the Rangers. Numerous Rangers fans believed a curse stayed with the franchise, as it came within a strike of winning its first World Series in 2011 before losing in torturous fashion.
Curse of the Expos and Strasburg Shutdown
Washington would not gain a baseball team again until 2005, when the Montreal Expos moved south, becoming the Nationals. The Expos had a cursed history of its own.
Since forming from scratch in 1969, the Expos made the postseason once in 36 seasons. They did win a playoff series that year, making the NL championship round in 1981.
The Expos’ best year came in 1994, when they held the best record in the MLB and a six-game lead in the NL East division in mid-August. That’s when players went on strike, and officials canceled the rest of the season. The Expos never recovered, and owners unloaded key players.
So that team came to D.C. Building through the draft with picks like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, the Nats blossomed in 2012. Under the guidance of veteran manager Davey Johnson, who benefited from the Red Sox curse in 1986 as the opposing manager of the World Series winning New York Mets, the Nats started strong and built a substantial divisional lead.
But in late August, general manager Mike Rizzo announced that Strasburg, who was having his best year and showed little sign of wear from Tommy John surgery in 2010, would be shutdown for the rest of the season, including the playoffs. Rizzo cited a seasonal innings limit and spoke about saving the ace for “future playoff runs.” Never mind that the upstart Nats were on their way to putting up the best record in the MLB and had as a good of a chance as any team to reach the World Series that year.
Davey Johnson knows a thing or two about curses. Some say his team benefited by one in 1986 and was plagued by another in 2012. [Kevin Shay photo]
Johnson publicly supported the move, but he privately opposed it. He later said that Strasburg’s workload could have been reduced, that he had effectively managed pitchers for years. The Nats would likely have reached the World Series with Strasburg, Johnson contended. Even missing their ace, the Nats held a 6–0 lead in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS against the Cardinals, only to see pitchers like Gio Gonzalez and Drew Storen fritter that away.
The “Curse of the Strasburg Shutdown” was born.
While many baseball experts proclaimed the Nats to be paper champs, living up to those expectations was another matter. In 2014, 2016, and 2017, the team again got bounced from the divisional series in the most cruel and creative of ways. The Nats lost two more Game 5’s by one run, games where they again held early leads.
They lost in 18 innings after rookie manager Matt Williams took out Jordan Zimmermann in the ninth inning with a 1–0 lead in favor of Storen, who again blew the big-moment save. They lost in an inning when four consecutive Cubs batters reached base on an intentional walk, a passed-ball strikeout, catcher’s interference, and a hit-by-pitch — a special set of voodoo events that hadn’t been duplicated in MLB history.
Little wonder many Nats fans scoured the Internet, searching for clues on how to lift a curse.
How to change your lot
Changing a string of bad luck can seem like swimming against a rip current. There is little limit to what is done to remedy such situations, but does it help? Who knows?
Basically, the idea is to make enough changes from what you are currently doing until something goes your way. Move to another city. Change jobs or partners. Buy a new wardrobe. Do the opposite of anything you’ve been doing.
When mired in a World Series title drought for more than a century, the Cubs and their fans did everything they could. A restaurateur blew up the Bartman foul ball after having to buy it from a lawyer for more than $100,000. The team paraded goats across Wrigley Field and allowed a Greek Orthodox priest to bless the field with holy water. Some fans donated goats to families in Africa. A group even forced a goat named “Wrigley” to march from Arizona to Chicago.
Eventually, the Cubs got enough breaks on the field to end their World Series title drought. New players who hadn’t heard much about the curse contributed.
In the Nats’ case, many fans tried similar means to break a seeming curse as Cubs fans, though they stopped short of walking with a goat for several thousand miles. Some performed an exorcism rite and burned sage in the stadium. Others wore different jerseys, including ones with pointed messages to Bryce Harper, a star player who left early in 2019 to join the rival Phillies. Players started a dance routine after home runs and “Baby Shark” motions.
To help the Washington Nationals reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history, this writer broke out a cap signed by two former Nats he hadn’t worn since a heart-breaking playoff game in 2014. [Shay photo]
I broke out a Nats cap I hadn’t worn since the 2014 heart-breaking, 18-inning playoff game in which Drew Storen again couldn’t hold a ninth inning lead. Ross Ohlendorf, a Princeton-educated pitcher who played for the Nats in 2013, had signed it then, hopefully as good luck. The hat had seemed to bring the opposite in 2014.
So I shelved that cap until last year’s All-Star Game. I took it to FanFest to get it signed by a former Nat player who seemed to run into more than his share of rotten luck. Justin Maxwell, a University of Maryland alum, had been drafted by the Nats fairly high in 2005 after a good career with the Terps. In just his third MLB at-bat, Maxwell hit a grand slam. He would hit two more grand slams for the Nats, but injuries slowed his development, and the team traded him to the Yankees in 2011. The Yanks let him go the following year. He played for five other MLB teams, but injuries and other factors held him back.
After Maxwell signed the hat, I kept it in a bin until going through some items before the 2019 playoffs. The Nats had made the playoffs as a wildcard team for the first time, with the other four times since moving to D.C. being as a division winner. So it seemed like it was a good time to try something different. I wore the hat while watching that winner-take-all game at a local bar.
When Juan Soto — a 20-year-old Dominican-born budding star who had no ties to D.C. before signing with the Nats as an international free agent in 2015 — broke the team’s string of playoff round losses with a big-moment hit, people went crazy. A D.C. team advanced in the playoffs for the first time since that 1924 World Series win, the first time since Griffith fired the legendary Walter Johnson, whose name in the D.C. area adorns everything from schools to parks and roads.
Then, Soto and Rendon and Kendrick delivered some more big hits during Game 5 of the NLDS against the Dodgers, propelling the Nats to the NL Championship Series. Stellar pitching performances by Sanchez, Scherzer, and Strasburg, as well as big hits by Kendrick, Rendon, and others, put the team in the World Series, the first time for a D.C. MLB club since 1933. And in a story line too unbelievable for even Hollywood, the team that had one of the worst records in baseball back in May won it all.
I wore that hat whenever I watched a Nats playoff game, including to the World Series watch parties at Nats Park. I like to think it helped. Thanks, Justin Maxwell.
More cursed teams
No matter how bad you think you or a team you follow may have it, someone inevitably has it worse.
The Seattle Mariners haven’t as much as made the playoffs since 2001 and are the only MLB team that has yet to make a World Series. Several teams have yet to make a Super Bowl, including the Browns and Jaguars.
Here is a list of some currently “cursed” teams:
Team …………..…. Number of years since championship
Cleveland Indians, MLB ………….. 71 [1948]
Sacramento Kings, NBA …………. 68 [1951]
Detroit Lions, NFL ………………… 62 [1957]
Atlanta Hawks, NBA ………………. 61 [1958]
Minnesota Vikings, NFL ………… 59 [Never]
Texas Rangers, MLB …………….. 58 [Never]
Los Angeles Chargers, NFL ……… 56 [1963]
Cleveland Browns, NFL …………… 55 [1964]
Buffalo Bills, NFL ………………….. 54 [1965]
Atlanta Falcons, NFL ……………. 54 [Never]
Cincinnati Bengals, NFL ………… 52 [never]
Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL ………. 52 [1967]
Phoenix Suns, NBA ……………… 51 [Never]
San Diego Padres, MLB …………… 50 [Never]
Milwaukee Brewers, MLB ……… 50 [Never]
Buffalo Sabres, NHL ……………. 49 [Never]
Vancouver Canucks, NHL ……… 49 [Never]
Los Angeles Clippers, NBA ……… 49 [Never]
Seattle Mariners, MLB ………….. 42 [Never]
Washington Wizards, NBA ……….. 41 [1978]
Ottawa Senators, NHL …………. 27 [Never]
Colorado Rockies, MLB …………. 26 [Never]
New York Red Bulls, MLS ………. 25 [Never]
New England Revolution, MLS …. 25 [Never]
FC Dallas, MLS ………………….. 24 [Never]
Tampa Bay Rays, MLB …………… 21 [Never]
Here are some previously “cursed” teams that took a long time to win their first championship or another one:
Team …………………….. Years between titles or to win first
Chicago Cubs, MLB ……………. 108 [1908–2016]
Boston Red Sox, MLB …………… 86 [1918-2004]
Philadelphia Eagles, NFL ……….. 57 [1960-2017]
St. Louis Blues, NHL …………… 52 [1967–2019]
Washington Nationals, MLB …… 50 [1969–2019]
Houston Astros, MLB ……………. 48 [1969–2017]
Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA ………. 46 [1970-2016]
Los Angeles Kings, NHL ………… 45 [1967–2012]
Washington Capitals, NHL ……... 44 [1974-2018]
Dallas Mavericks, NBA ……….…. 31 [1980–2011]
And on the other side, here are some teams that won championships in short times:
Team ……………….. Year won title …….. Year founded or entered league
Cleveland Browns, NFL ………. 1950 ………………. 1950
DC United, MLS ………………. 1996 ……………….. 1996
Chicago Bears, NFL …………… 1921 ………………. 1920
New York Giants, NFL ………… 1927 ………………. 1925
Los Angeles Lakers, NBA …….. 1949 ……………….. 1947
Arizona Dbacks, MLB ……..…. 2001 ……………….. 1998
Milwaukee Bucks, NBA ………. 1971 ……………….. 1968
Florida Marlins, MLB ………….. 1997 ………………. 1993
Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS ……… 2002 ……………… 1996
Philadephia Flyers, NHL ………. 1974 ……………… 1967 | https://kevinjshay44.medium.com/are-curses-real-bae13f3a3db9 | ['Kevin Shay'] | 2019-11-09 03:11:35.218000+00:00 | ['Luck', 'Sports', 'Superstition', 'Baseball', 'Psychology'] |
Depressed? We’ll Make You Less Stressed! | The #1 club that I believe should be here at KSU is a club designed for students that are struggling with mental illness, especially those struggling with anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are some of the two most common mental illnesses that are diagnosed in teens and adults. You would not believe my shock when I logged into OwlLife and found that there are no clubs at KSU designed for those that are dealing with anxiety and/or depression. Enter the Anxiety and Depression Club at KSU, where we give those who need someone to talk to a safe place to be heard and understood!
Why is this club important to me? I was diagnosed with Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, and Clinical depression, also known as Major depression, during sophomore year of high school. Having to deal with these mental health illnesses first-hand every single day, I know that it is crucial to have others that can relate and support you while going through a heightened episode of these illnesses. Having a club, such as the Anxiety and Depression Club, would give those that need to be heard and just be able to talk about their feelings in a place where others can relate is something that is much needed on a college campus. The transition to college can be extremely different and tough, and this club would be a great place to have others be able to relate since they are probably experiencing the same changes through the transition.
How would the club work? The Anxiety and Depression Club would have a designated space on campus, such as a spot in the student center or maybe somewhere outside, where students could meet at different times throughout the week. During the meeting times, students can choose to either talk one-on-one to others or talk as a group. I think that the flexibility of talking to however many people you want to is extremely important for those with anxiety because forced group settings can be very daunting and stressful. The Anxiety and Depression Club would have a zero judgment rule because every single person’s feelings are completely valid and need to be heard to making someone feel that they are valued and understood by others.
What would we do? In the club, we can sit around and just talk or play some fun games just to get our minds off of any stress that may be lingering overhead. Healthy distractions are a really good way to feel less overwhelmed. Another thing that I would like to have is guest speakers that come and talk to the group about their struggles with anxiety and/or depression. While having these mental illnesses, it can sometimes feel that you are completely alone. It is extremely validating to hear that there are others with the same mental illness that are still successful and are more than their mental illness, so I believe that having motivational speakers could be uplifting. Lastly, I would like to take some time during every meeting to focus on self-care. I think that everyone struggles with making time for themselves, especially those with a mental illness, so doing simple things such as going for a walk can have an extremely positive impact on one’s mental health.
In closing, I hope that there is a club that is similar to the Anxiety and Depression Club created at KSU soon because it would help decrease the stigma about mental illness. Having depression or anxiety does not define a person, it’s just a small part of them that makes them unique. Therefore, we should have a club that gives a space for each person to share their uniqueness and share their stories. | https://medium.com/year-one-ksu/depressed-well-make-you-less-stressed-407d390eca0a | ['Caylah Molley'] | 2019-09-12 03:08:13.646000+00:00 | ['Belonging', 'Mental Health'] |
Edie’s Three — Steamy Edition. Top 3 for November 7th | It’s no secret that sex is enticing. It’s alluring and tempting, and even the more outwardly demure of us sometimes have the most surprising and erotic fantasies. It’s part of our genetic makeup…
Adventure Sex: An Event That Can Take Months to Unravel
By: Louise Sawyer 2.0
This article to me is ground-breaking on the basis that it seems to break the stigma that women who sleep with people they don’t know (or those who have many partners) are to be considered promiscuous. Basically, they’re labeled a slut. A harlot. Slap on that red A on your chest and go about your business. But if a man does it, he’s scoring. He’s a stud, a Casanova. He’s a lady’s man.
Louise makes me extremely jealous in this piece about finding ‘adventure sex’ in the most easy-going and natural way. No inhibitions — that’s the way we should all live our lives. Being our true selves and not care what others think… I want adventure sex with a stranger too (although my husband might have something to say about that! Ha!)
I Want to Complete My Naughty Bucket List
By: Demeter deLune
I think we all have one of these, whether we admit it or not. We all have secret desires and fantasies we would love the chance to explore. It’s refreshing to see something put in writing what I’m sure so many of us wish we could.
Although the things on our lists may differ greatly from one another, we all have things we’re curious about. Life is short, why not have a little sexy fun?
I Want To Be A Good Girl
By: Thelma Dickinson 2.0
Okay, so I don’t know for sure, but I think this is probably something a lot of women dream about ever since the whole ‘Fifty Shades’ trend. How many of us have fantasized about Jamie Dornan? Come on now, don’t be shy!
This was actually a really interesting and enlightening view of the lifestyle portrayed in those books, with more of a ‘real-life’ rawness. Not for the faint of heart or the prudish, but definitely stirring in more ways than one! What are your thoughts on the whole ‘Sub-Dom’ lifestyle? Do you have any real-life experiences to share? …are you a good girl? | https://medium.com/top-3/edies-three-steamy-edition-7bc53089651 | ['Edie Tuck'] | 2019-11-07 15:17:57.861000+00:00 | ['Top 3', 'Sex', 'Sexy', 'Fantasy', 'Desire'] |
Why subscribers on YouTube don’t matter | Yes, you read this right. You can almost forget about subscribers. Unless you’re aiming for the illusive YouTube play buttons. Let me tell you why.
If you think about subscribers as a success metric, your going in the wrong direction. While yes they can be important later on. At an early stage it isn’t what you should focus on. subscribers shouldn’t be your focus to grow on YouTube. you should focus on other metrics instead in order to grow on YouTube, the right way.
One of the big metrics you should focus on (and the most obvious one) is views. The more views get the more likely your video is to be recommended. YouTube drives more traffic to great videos. This is controlled by the algorithm. Many try to reverse engineer and find hacks to rank better and get more views, some succeed, while others fail. Views are what drives the platform. YouTube’s main objective isn’t that different than yours. They want more viewers, engaging more and watching longer because that’s how they make their money as a platform. More time spent on YouTube = more attractiveness for advertisers = more advertising budget allocated to YouTube = more revenue for YouTube (i.e. Google, its parent company). In short. The YouTube algorithm is basically Pandora’s box. You just need to create the right content that engages audiences and unlock the secret of said box.
This is easier said than done. There are a lot of things you have no control over. But it’s not all bad news. There are things you can to do to take control somewhat. For example you can’t force people to sit down and watch hours upon hours of dull and boring content. But you can create genuinely engaging content for your viewers so that they will want to come back to watch more of you.
If the algorithm has the power to push more views to channels on the platform, it also has the power to not recommend other channels that create low effort and full videos that people click off instantly. For example imagine a channel with 1,000 subscribers but just a handful of videos that barely get any views. it shows that their subscribers aren’t engaging with what that person is uploading. Those subscribers don’t matter and can be compared to ghosts in a graveyard. This is why sub4sub is a terrible growth strategy What if it’s the other way round. Well that’s also bad. Because if people are not watching for long enough because they got mislead by a title or thumbnail. YouTube will be less inclined to push that out into the algorithm
Now let’s look at the other side of the story Imagine a small channel, with just a few subscribers, that uploads regularly and constantly gets around 1k views. As well as that people are watching to the end and enjoying the videos. This shows YouTube that the content is good and videos like that are much more likely to get ranked in the algorithm
Now Imagine if those viewers took a call to action and subscribed to your channel and decides to check out your other content. You’ve just turned a viewer into a fan that will keep coming back to watch more of your content. You need to let people subscribe to your channel when they have genuinely enjoyed the content youve created. So thats where your focus should be. High quality and enjoyable, that will entertain your audience.From here a lot more people will be more inclined to Subscribe to you if you leave enough of them entertained after they watched your content, Therefore driving more important metrics like viewership and watchtime higher
And just to be clear, There’s nothing wrong about reminding people to subscribe at the end of your videos. This is called a call to action and most people do it. However most people do it wrong. If they’ve watch the video to the end, they must have enjoyed it. That’s your chance to ask them into consider subscribing. But don’t beg them after 15 seconds, it just feels needy. and people will be less inclined to do so. You can even do this midway thought the video but you should only do that on longer videos
But haven’t you contradicted myself?
No and there is a really easy way to prove this. Youtube has a tool that lets you see the percentage of your views coming from your subscribers vs. non-subscribers. A lot of people also use this metric to encourage people to subscribe. The average is 90 to 95% of their views come from non-subscribers. That means most people watch videos from creators they haven’t (yet) subscribed to. And that’s YouTube’s algorithm recommending your videos and sending traffic to your channel, And another thing. Lets say you are trying to reach the monetization requiurements, which are 1k subs and 4k public watch hours. Imagine you beg people to subscribe and use methods like sub4sub to reach the monetization requirements. You have 1,000 ghosts following your channel. You showed YouTube that your first 1,000 subscribers don’t watch your content for more than a few seconds, so you ruined your potential for being promoted in the algorithm. How will you get to 4,000 hours of watch time now? You can spend hours and hours spamming all corners of the internet to get views, but chances are you’ll lose patience or motivation before reaching monetization. And even if you do end up reaching monetization with spam, your audience won’t be targeted, they won’t be relevant for ads on your channel and you won’t end up making a lot of money from AdSense. | https://medium.com/@shanepepperell/why-subscribers-on-youtube-dont-matter-341f04168273 | ['Shane Pepperell'] | 2020-12-24 02:53:49.867000+00:00 | ['Subscribers', 'Money', 'YouTube', 'Views'] |
Day 1 — The Hero’s Journey begins | What lies ahead!
So it is that I take the first steps towards departing my old world and embarking on a new grand adventure, full of knowledge, excitement and discovery. Like Neo in the Matrix, I headed the call, took the Red Pill and peeled back the veil over reality and began my initiation into Video Game Creation.
For the first time seeing the inner workings of the games I so cherished my whole life. For better or worse I am now beginning to understand the mechanics, the programming code, the challenges and struggles that create these incredibly immersive worlds. There is no going back; now when I play games I will always view it through the lens of a Video Game Programmer…….and it’s AWESOME!
While I may be a fledgling programmer right now, deep down I sense my potential and after just a short time I know that Jonathan and GameDevHQ are the ultimate resources to learn such an amazing profession. The lessons are clear, concise and riddled with just enough challenge to make you think. I like the emphasis on no hand holding and teaching you to find the information on your own and understanding what you are doing instead of copying & pasting.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. ~Lao-Tzu
Today I completed the Project Setup from 2D Development, Variables and If-Then Logic sections from the C# Survival Guide before moving on to complete Create the Player in 2D Development. This was the recommended order and it really does make a big difference to follow this order. By the time I got to Creating the player I felt comfortable with the logic and syntax and breezed through the challenges.
My biggest challenges where familiarizing myself with the syntax and a couple times I had the wrong toggles selected in Unity:
I tried making changes to the inspector when in PLAY mode and not understanding why the values were not saving. I somehow inadvertently unselected the LOG toggle in the CONSOLE and couldn’t understand why any of my DEBUG.LOG messages where not being displayed. This one took me 40 minutes as I kept checking my code over and over again and comparing it to Jonathan’s; I either thought that Unity/VS was buggy or I was losing my mind. Thankfully GOOGLE sorted me out!
At the end of the day seeing my little blue CUBE move back and forth and loop around was very exciting and made all those frustrations worth while. Overall a great first day and looking forward to tomorrow!
Mark | https://medium.com/@mark-17211/day-1-the-heros-journey-begins-9c4cd80b61fb | ['Mark Bohuslav'] | 2020-11-26 11:06:53.025000+00:00 | ['Unity', 'Game Design', 'Game Development', 'Heros Journey', 'C Sharp Programming'] |
Golang First Impressions | Ive recently had the perfect use case to try my hand at Golang (more on the particular project later).
It’s been a long time coming. Its no secret you will find many articles on the web proclaiming how good Golang is, and its always been something I wanted to try out.
Until now I haven’t really had a use case and I feel its always much better to have a “need” to use something to really evaluate it, or your stuck just running through hello world’s and tutorials where your doing little more than copy/pasting working code.
The project in question is almost ready for a big reveal, but for the purposes of this article lets just say I needed a binary I could distribute without the surrounding architecture needing a runtime to run the application.
So that ruled out my two go to languages, PHP and NodeJs/Javascript. And lead me down the Golang or Rust path.
I will concede I actually attempted to use Rust first. There seems to be even more hype around Rust at present and watching all the conferences around Rust and WebAssembly that are popping up on YouTube I took a stab. As this is a Golang article I won’t delve too deep into Rust, lets just say after half a day I quickly realised if I wanted to get a proof of concept out quickly for this new project Rust was not the language I should be learning on the job for. This is by far not a knock at Rust. It looks really promising, it is probably just a little too far out of my comfort level right now.
So having wasted a half a day I picked up the Golang handbook and started a project.
I had run all the samples you can find in the documentation and the tour guide multiple times in the past so the core concepts like operators, values, structs etc I had an understanding of already. Packages on the other hand caused me some confusion early on which I’ll delve into further down this article.
The Proof Of Concept
Building the POC I dumped all my code in the main package. At this point the code was pretty ropey. But it did confirm for me the approach was going to work. I felt pretty at home with writing at least basic code, the syntax is very similar to PHP and javascript. Well to be more specific strongly typed PHP8.0 and Typescript.
I was getting on quite well with the language and now wanted to refactor the work into something I would be happy to commit to version control.
Folder Structure
This still irks me a little, it’s almost hard coded into my brain. Code goes into a src folder and is organised by logical groupings. At least this is how I work and is the accepted structure for the languages I use day to day.
Golang on the other hand has a different recommended structure. Its not a requirement but is recommended so I went with it. Full details can be found here: https://github.com/golang-standards/project-layout
Im sure there must be a reason that’s inherent in the language or devised by some people smarter than me that makes this a better structure, but at this point I just don’t like it. It may become clearer the more I use Golang but I just feel the separation detaches the domain relationships and functionality. I don’t see why private code should be in a wholly different location when Golang has public exports inherent in the language.
Modules
This is where I hit my first real hurdle, maybe I didn’t read the docs well enough, or maybe it was just me. But I had a good few hours of frustration with my IDE (Intellij IDEA) shouting at me because it couldn’t find my code. At least part of the problem was my choice to just dump everything in main.go , then migrating to a directory type project, and finally landing on a module structure. I also think I may of been led down a few garden paths reading up on outdated articles.
I managed to figure it out eventually and it is pretty obvious with hindsight. I haven’t yet been in a position to write a module that’s meant to be consumed externally so i’m cautious of being too critical here. But from my relatively short experience I don’t understand why you can’t use relative imports in internal code?
The fact only its name is known by a package, but it needs to explicitly define the whole module path to pickup other packages feels a little off to me:
Dependency Loops
Im not sure how common this is, but I had a real hard time when refactoring due to cyclic dependencies on structs. Again mainly my fault and bad design in my proof of concept. If I had started with modules up front I don’t think I would of had this issue. But the good thing that came of this is my understanding of Golang interfaces.
What I really like about them is their implicit rather than explicit nature (duck typing). When I found out about this it all became clear what I needed to do to resolve my problems.
err != nil
I don’t think a Golang article is complete without the mention of err != nil . Even before I started I knew about this. I have seen various articles propose how to write better code to prevent the repetition. Something I did pickup along the way was the use of defer which is a pretty neat feature allowing you to something similar to try{}finally . But I would be lying if I didn't say I would be immensely grateful to see try{}catch make an appearance in Golang.
Releasing
Building the project was always super simple. I then needed to figure out how I could distribute this for different architecture. By the time I got here I was feeling pretty confident with what I had achieved, my confidence lead me to starting to reinventing a process already handled exceptionally by the Goreleaser and Godownloader projects. These two projects make it super simple to provide access to built copies of your app.
Which made it very surprising Godownloader seems to be struggling: https://github.com/goreleaser/godownloader/issues/161
To me these two packages feel like the composer and npm of the PHP and Javascript world i’m used to.
They appear to be a critical part of the ecosystem and certainly helped me get to a usable system very quickly.
In short a simple generated yml file and some CI scripts and I had automated releases available to the project without much customisation required.
Conclusion
There are definitely some things i’m not used to or fully understand. But i’m still very interested and very happy with what i’ve able to achieve pretty quickly. It has a familiar syntax which no doubt helps and I can’t believe i’ve got to the conclusion without mentioning its SUPER fast. I’ll be talking more about the specific project this was about when its ready for launch. The source code will be open source, so please don’t judge it too harshly. It will be my first Golang project, hopefully one of many. | https://medium.com/@lee-mason/golang-first-impressions-7027b08f9f85 | ['Lee Mason'] | 2020-12-12 09:03:35.991000+00:00 | ['Go', 'Golang'] |
Spiral Matrix — Day 26(Python). Today, we will be looking into one of… | When we think of an array, we should imagine a data structure with contiguous memory allocation. When it comes to a 2D array, each cell is identified using row and column numbers.
To solve the given problem, we just need to learn how we can trace the path in our matrix. I have shown below, how we need to trace path, if we are given a 3x3 matrix.
Tracing the path in 2D matrix
A point to notice, once we traverse through a row or a column, we would never visit that row/column again. We need to keep track of rows/columns that we have already traversed. We can hold 4 variables that we keep track of traversed rows/columns. We need to start traversing the array from left to right, then top to bottom, later right to left and finally bottom to top.
The code will look like below.
class SpiralOrderCreater:
def spiralOrder(self, matrix):
nums = []
if(len(matrix) == 0):
return nums
else:
top = 0
bottom = len(matrix) - 1
left = 0
right = len(matrix[0]) - 1
total_nums = len(matrix) * len(matrix[0])
while(len(nums) < total_nums):
for i in range(left,right+1):
if(len(nums) < total_nums):
nums.append(matrix[top][i])
top += 1
for i in range(top, bottom+1):
if(len(nums) < total_nums):
nums.append(matrix[i][right])
right -= 1
for i in range(right, left-1, -1):
if(len(nums) < total_nums):
nums.append(matrix[bottom][i])
bottom -= 1
for i in range(bottom, top-1, -1):
if(len(nums) < total_nums):
nums.append(matrix[i][left])
left += 1
return(nums)
Complexity analysis
Time Complexity
We are looking at each element in our array once, and hence the time complexity is O(m*n).
Space Complexity
We are not using any extra space while finding the solution, except for the output array. We do not consider space used for output array, and hence space complexity is O(1). | https://medium.com/@atharayil/spiral-matrix-day-26-python-e870a6fd76c2 | ['Annamariya Tharayil'] | 2020-11-10 07:03:20.072000+00:00 | ['Coding', '365dayschallenge', 'Arrays', 'Python', 'Leetcode Medium'] |
In Defense of the Y-Wing | Hardly anyone loves the Y-Wing. The early-Clone Wars-era-relic is subject to online ridicule, and no one dresses up as a Y-Wing pilot at cons. When introduced to fans in the first Star Wars movie, it was basically fodder for TIE fighters to blow up in order to emphasize to the audience how deadly the baddies could be, and how awesome Luke and the X-Wing were. Over the years, between the prequel trilogy, Clone Wars cartoons, and other canon, a much larger body of lore about the Y-Wing has emerged.
As an defense analyst, and former Naval aviator, I evaluate programs and weapons systems that the DOD is considering procuring. While the Department of Defense doesn’t always listen to us when we recommend which system to buy, we make these decision based on what we believe the “best” option for the service is, based not only on how combat effective a system is at entry, but based on a wide variety of other factors including reliability, maintainability, life cycle costs, training, logistics, what facilities are needed to support the platform, and how well the system fits with current doctrine. The military even has an acronym for the trade space of solutions evaluated: DOTMLPF (doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel, and facilities — pronounced “dot-mil-p-f”)
So, is the Y-Wing a “bad” weapons system? This is a bit like asking if the B-52, KC-135, UH-60, A-10, F-15, or other older systems are bad because they have become less and less survivable as the battlespace has evolved. Other aircraft, like the PBY Catalina and B-52, managed to stay in service well past their expiration date and outlast the models meant to replace them. There are reasons why some weapons systems remain in service for 70 years or more, and others are phased out rapidly (B-58 Hustler, F7U Cutlass) in less than a decade.
In general, though, systems which have extremely long service lives aren’t considered to be awful: rather they are generally judged to be the great success stories of military design and procurement. There are usually several key areas where they did very well that allowed them to stay in service for so long.
So, let’s explore what allowed the venerable Y-Wing to stay in service for over 50 years, and why these provide strong evidence that the Y-Wing did not, in fact, “suck”.
(Note: this analysis is based on canon where possible, and literally hundreds of hours in college spent playing X-Wing and X-Wing vs. TIE, and my background as a defense analyst where all else fails.)
Doctrine
At the start of the Clone Wars, the Republic had just stood up its fleet, was outnumbered by the separatist droid armies, and was generally just trying to hold on to what it had. They had very few options for a fleet fighter at the time, namely the V-19 Torrent, Delta 7 light interceptor, and the BTL-B Y-Wing. The Delta 7 was ill-suited to large scale space warfare; it lacked an internal hyperdrive, shields, payload, and was so difficult to fly that the only humans who could control it effectively were Jedi. Despite entering service the same year (22 BBY) as the Y-Wing, the V-19 lacked shields, had no hyperdrive (initially), had less payload than the Y-Wing, and was generally considered a “rush-job” to get something into the fleet that could be mass produced and flown by hastily trained clone troopers.
The Republic was mostly on the defensive at the start, and relied on the sort of “hit and fade” tactics that characterized the rebellion two decades later. At the start of the Clone Wars, the Y-Wing was state of the art. It was clearly a better option for deep-strike hit-and-run tactics than the other two alternatives, both of which required hyperdrive rings to travel interstellar distances. This prevented the V-19 and Delta 7 from quickly and easily escaping after their missions. With heavier armor, hyperdrive, large missile payloads, and shields, the Y-Wing was far better suited to the doctrine of the early-War Republic. This was why it was chosen by General Anakin Skywalker for the surprise long-range strike on the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence early in the war.
Unlike the ARC-170 heavy starfighter, which replaced the V-19 and partially supplanted the Y-Wing during the Clone Wars, the BTL-B had ion cannons, which allowed them to disable ships without destroying them or killing those on board. “Acquiring” supplies, stealing ships, and liberating prisoners were all frequent missions of the early rebellion. Without the logistic support of allied worlds, stealing supplies from the Empire and hit and fade tactics weren’t just preferred — they were the only feasible options. Ion cannons facilitated all of these missions, and were usually necessary when boarding non-cooperative ships.
Thus, the Y-wing was also well suited to the beginning of the rebellion, and better suited than the newer ARC-170. In many cases it was better suited than the newer X-Wing or A-Wings because of it’s ion cannon. These same characteristics that made the Y-Wing a viable option during the Rebellion were again necessary during the fight with the First Order, and the collapse of the New Republic.
Organization
The organization of Y-Wing squadrons, and the tactics and doctrine of employing them, changed over time. During the early years of the Clone Wars, the Y-Wing did an acceptable enough job in the role of a fighter that was capable of what the military calls ”self-escort.” As time went by, and ships grew faster, escort duties and space-superiority missions more commonly went to the Z-95 Headhunter multi-role fighter, and later to the smaller V-Wing starfighter. The Z-95 had shields, but lacked hyperdrive initially, making it a poor choice to escort Y-Wings on long range missions. The V-Wing was much like the Delta 7 Jedi interceptor in terms of armaments, speed, and maneuverability, but was pilotable by clones and non-force sensitive humans. Unlike the phased-out V-19 (but similar to the Z-95), the V-Wing had shields, but still lacked an internal hyperdrive, reducing its effectiveness and survivability on escort missions as well.
A precursor to the A-Wing had been in development at the end of the Clone Wars to address the issues of the V-Wing as a platform with speed, maneuverability, shields, and an internal hyperdrive. However, the R-22 prototype was completed too late to see service. However, the pairing of A-Wings and Y-Wings early in the Rebellion was a continuation of the doctrine and organization of Y-Wing units during the latter parts of the Clone Wars. What changed, primarily, was organizing small units of Y-Wings for hit and fade missions, to operate with similarly hyperdrive equipped escort fighters. Planning for this had been in the works at the end of the Clone Wars, and resurrecting old ideas is not new to the military: the U.S. Navy arsenal ship concept just keeps coming back.
The A-Wing was not ideal for longer range strike missions, being difficult to fly, lacking an astromech droid for navigation and autopilot duties, having a cramped cockpit, and having mechanical reliability issues.
As the Rebellion grew, there were more attacks on capital ships, allowing Y-Wings to operate in larger squadrons (rather than small or 3-ship formations) acting as mobile proton-torpedo launchers that drop in, get within range, launch, and leave as quickly as possible. This isn’t too different from how modern B-52s are used as “trucks” to get to the edge of the weapon envelope and fire swarms of cruise missiles. Also like the Y-Wing, at the beginning of the B-52’s career it was expected to go “downtown”. However, as defenses advanced both platforms adapted to new roles that exploited their payload, versatility, and range to deploy long range weaponry in large volumes against well defended targets.
Compared with the TIE Bomber in this role, Y-Wings were more survivable (having shields, more armor before retrofit, a hyperdrive, and heavier structure), faster, and better suited to defend themselves in a pinch if the fighter escort “leaked”. Again, the versatility of the Y-Wing allowed it to function within different organizational structures and support doctrines that changed as the course of the war did.
Training
The Star Wars universe doesn’t speak directly to this, but we can make inferences. How the Y-Wing was used suggests that it was relatively simple and easy to fly compared with the ARC-170 (which required a minimum of three people to fly). The deletion of the second crew member in later models further suggests that the pilot was not task saturated by the star fighter and its human-machine interface. They face that Y-Wings soldiered on in the Outer Rim and with various and assorted planetary defense forces, private mercenary corps, and even pirate forces suggests simplicity, and that acquiring legacy simulators, instructors, and training materials wasn’t too difficult, especially with so many cashiered clone pilots looking for work after the Empire got out of the cloning business.
On the flip side, such training infrastructure had to be built from the ground up with the A-Wing, X-Wing, and B-Wing. There’s a reason why canon says that pilots usually started in the Y-Wing, and then graduated to either A-Wing or X-Wing: the first plane new Navy pilots strap into isn’t an F-35C, it’s a turboprop that flies a lot like a P-51 Mustang. For decades Air Force pilots started on the jet-powered, versatile, simple, but slow and forgiving T-37 “Tweet”. Although hopeless as fighters, either is capable in the Close Air Support (CAS) or ground attack role. Similarly, the World War II era P-47 Thunderbolt and Vought F4U Corsair started as capable fighter-bombers but ended their successful careers primarily as ground attack aircraft, particularly in Korea where the Corsair was outclassed badly by the new Soviet MiG-15s they faced.
Material
Material means all the “stuff” (weapons, spares, support equipment, etc.) needed to support operations, excluding personnel. In this regard, the Y-Wing is the clear winner among snub-fighters of the rebellion. After the Clone Wars the Y-Wing and the ARC-170 were the dominant strike fighters of the era. The Empire quickly divested itself of both as its fleet tactics changed. The Imperial fleet paradigm switched to amassing armadas of large capital ships defended by swarms of small fighters, such as V-Wings and the original TIEs. These fleets would jump into systems en masse and overwhelm any conceivable opposition. Hyperdrive-equipped fighters like the ARC-170 and Y-Wing did not fit in with this new strategy.
Given a vast surplus of fighters after a great conflict, the Empire had three options: sell them, scrap them, or store them for a future conflict. It appears that the Empire found buyers for at least some of their massive fleet of used BTL-B Y-Wings, but not so with the complicated, expensive, crew intensive ARC-170. This may not make sense on the surface, but remember that the Empire emerged from the Clone Wars in desperate economic straits. Selling war surplus in dribs and drabs to entities that couldn’t hope to threaten (at the time) Imperial capital ships may have been a way to quickly draw down and deal with the overwhelming debt of financing the war.
Koensayr (the manufacturer of the Y-Wing), and Incom (manufacturer of the ARC-170, Z-95, and later the X-Wing) both emerged from the Clone Wars with massive manufacturing infrastructure on their hands, as well as substantial unsold stock in parts and partially built Y-Wings and ARC-170s. Koensayr apparently was able to find continued buyers of the Y-Wing. Incom apparently could not for the ARC-170, and the Z-95 was already obsolete, being the oldest of the designs. Manufacturing a new fighter requires building out factories (e.g. land, buildings, machinery, tools, dies, etc…) and other infrastructure (e.g. parts supply chains). Going into the Rebellion, Koensayr likely had these in place for resuming large scale production of the Y-Wing. Incom was likely still ramping it up for the X-Wing.
As a result, Y-Wings emerged from the conflict the dominant multi-role fighter available to planets for self-defense, guilds for convoy protection missions, and even general policing duties in a system using their ion canons. Spares were plentiful, with both aftermarket parts and ones cannibalized from boneyards and salvaged craft being widely available. Everything else needed to support operating Y-Wings could also likely be acquired cheaply and easily.
Contrast this with the X-Wing, A-Wing, and B-Wing. None of these had existing aftermarkets, logistics supply chains, or boneyards. Parts and support equipment for these craft would have been difficult to find except through new parts and craft coming off the line, and likely only from the original manufacturers. It is impossible to overstate the value of having a robust logistics supply line and access to functional support equipment to enable operations. A functional Y-Wing is infinitely more valuable to the Rebellion than an X-Wing that is non-mission capable for spares, or an A-Wing whose engines won’t light off because the start cart replacement won’t arrive for another three weeks (assuming that the Empire doesn’t find and seize the shipment en route.) In both these cases, you have a paperweight taking up valuable hangar space.
In real life, there’s a reason why you can still find parts for, and maintain, aircraft dating to the 50’s. It is possible keep them in service with second-line nations around the world. Israel operated the robust, versatile, mass produced little A-4 Skyhawk until 2015, and Argentina still does. Because so many were built during the Cold War, and you can still find parts relatively easily.
Personnel
Personnel refers to anyone required to operate the system. This includes pilots, maintainers, logisticians, mission planners, and anyone else necessary to making the mission happen. In the real world, personnel and fuel tend to be the two biggest reasons why Air Forces collapse during sustained conflicts. After the Clone Wars, there were a substantial number of people who knew how to operate, maintain, support, and utilize either the Y-Wing or ARC-170 operationally. However, the Y-Wing was clearly the better choice among what is immediately available.
Though both the Y-Wing and the ARC-170 were available as surplus and salvage after the war, the latter needed three times as many flight-crew members to operate, while being only marginally more survivable. Whenever a smaller adversary must fight a larger opponent, they have to rely on lopsided kill ratios to win. Given that crew members are the hardest part of the starfighter to replace, the Y-Wing was a far better choice than the ARC-170 for what the Rebellion should choose “off the shelf” as a long-range fighter bomber.
While the Y-Wing was less survivable than the fast and nimble (but poorly shielded) A-Wing, and the legendary X-Wing space superiority fighter, it was a reasonably survivable spacecraft when used properly. The Y-Wing was still effective as a long-range reconnaissance craft, as missile barges against capital ships, or a commerce raider against poorly defended targets. Under normal circumstances, its combination of shields and internal hyperdrive allowed pilots with good situational awareness to recognize when they were in over their heads and jump out to safety. It was only when the ship was pressed into staying and fighting against hordes of TIE fighters at battles (like Yavin and Endor) that they suffered heavy casualties.
Thus, the Y-Wing was better than the alternative (the ARC-170) when it came to protecting the Rebellion’s most valuable resource: its pilots. Training new pilots to a high level of competence requires a great deal of time, money, fuel, and effort. The outnumbered Luftwaffe and IJN pilots of Japan generally bested the Allies during the early years of the war, but over time they simply could not train pilots fast enough or effectively enough to overcome their losses, and the kill ratio shifted dramatically as WWII wore on.
It is also worth pointing out that the Rebellion was so badly outnumbered that there was not an option to simply use A-Wings, X-Wings, or B-Wings instead of Y-Wings. These ships were just coming into service, existed in very limited numbers, and production was still ramping up. All three were also more difficult and costly to manufacture. Y-Wings, and trained pilots, were available in larger quantities at that time.
The B-Wing was intended as a replacement for the Y-Wing yet was not suited for dogfighting either. It provided only slightly more survivability than its predecessor, which is usually the main argument against the BTL-A4. It’s also worth noting that the Y-Wing had 50% more shielding than a T-65B X-Wing, and could divert as much power from weapons to shields, allowing them take a hits, while preparing for the jump to hyperspace. Y-Wings were far better than nothing, particularly on missions requiring disabling fire or large volleys of proton torpedoes.
Other Considerations
While DOTMLPF analysis looks at the viability of a system from a high-level organizational standpoint, it does not look as deeply at the platform itself. When doing an Analysis of Alternatives on various systems, you have to take into consideration such attributes as reliability, maintainability, cost, versatility, engineering space for growth, and performance. While the Y-Wing suffers in the performance department compared with other fighters of the Rebellion, it actually shines in the other areas.
Reliability / Maintainability
Weapons systems are useless if they can’t fight. In fact, they can be of net negative value if you’re spending excessive amounts of time, money, and manpower keeping them in a mission-capable state of readiness. There is always a trade-off: the people and money spent keeping a system going could also be used for other tasks.
Reliability involves how often a system “breaks”. Complicated systems with lots of moving parts are less reliable. So are bleeding edge high performance systems designed to push the edge of engineering margins squeeze out every last ounce of performance without wasting a single ounce of weight or cubic inch of space. While the age, wear and tear, and flight hours on Y-Wing frames increased the number of maintenance actions needed, the simplicity, robustness, system redundancy, and design maturity work in its favor, meaning less maintenance than other platforms of similar age.
Maintainability involves how easy it is to keep a system operationally ready. This involves already discussed factors like parts availability, training for maintainers, and how easy it is to find people with experience working on a system. It also involves things like system complexity, compactness, and how difficult it is to replace components within the weapon system.
The Y-Wing is the clear winner in both reliability and maintainability when compared with other Rebellion fighters. With the Clone Wars-vintage armor plating stripped off, the Y-Wing gave easy access to most systems on the ship. For reasons already discussed, the Y-Wing had far better access to spares and trained maintainers. It was generally reliable, despite its age. Koensayr had decades to work out most of the bugs in the design.
Conversely the A-Wing had poor reliability due to trying to cram as much capability into as small a space as possible, which also made it more difficult to maintain. The X-Wing and B-Wing had the complicated moving foil system. Working on the B-Wing could be a nightmare, given how difficult it was to reach certain component while the craft was on the ground. They were also newer, meaning that it is likely early operations were revealing design issues that would need to be fixed on later models.
B-Wing prototype on the ground. Note how foils cover much of the fuselage
Cost
The cost of a system isn’t just how much it takes to buy it. The total Life Cycle Cost of a system also includes research and development (R&D) procurement, operation, support, and disposal. For military aircraft with an expected 30-year life, the rule of thumb for Life Cycle Cost Estimation is that 10% of total cost is R&D, 30% is procurement (unit cost), and 60% of total cost is for operations, support, and disposal. With this in mind, let’s discuss why the Y-Wing was the hands down winner in terms of cost.
Rebellion-Era Starship Procurement Costs per Wookiepedia
The costs listed above are only the cost of buying the spacecraft. These are somewhat misleading. Virtually any Y-Wing during the Galactic Civil War was going to be used, but demand for the other Rebel fighters was such that finding a used A-Wing, B-Wing, or X-Wing was highly unlikely: the Alliance was buying them as fast as they could be manufactured. In fact, the real cost of Y-Wing’s was frequently zero. Rebels could simply steal them from poorly defended Imperial surplus storage facilities.
R&D costs for the Y-Wing were also effectively zero. Koensayr had been paid by the Republic for the R&D costs decades ago. When bought second hand, the seller is not trying to recoup R&D costs either. Stealing them also means no R&D cost.
Thus, assuming that O&S costs are based on the “new” price of a ship, we can see Life Cycle Costs (LCC) to the Rebellion based on an expected 30-year life of each ship using the 10/30/60 rule of thumb in the figure above. This is a conservative estimate, as it doesn’t take into account the Y-Wing’s fuel recycling capability that gave the BTL-B, and particularly the BTL-S3 versions, the long range needed for the deep strike and reconnaissance missions they were designed for. Nor does it account for the fact that the support equipment and spares for the Y-Wing can also be acquired more cheaply used, aftermarket, or just stolen from scrapyards than parts could be for newer models that required more reputable supply chains.
Based on this table, we can see that the expected relative cost of alternatives to the Y-Wing. Using the ratios shown, and the proton torpedo magazine capacities of the B-Wing (12) and the Y-Wing (8), it works out that for a fixed cost a group of Y-Wings can put out almost 50% more missiles in a sortie. In other words, Y-Wings are a significantly more cost-effective solution to the hit-and-fade missile-firing strike bomber role, and also significantly cheaper filling the role of ion-cannon platform for disabling fire in support of boarding actions.
Even during the Resistance War against the First Order, the Y-Wing remained a more cost effective, capable, and survivable alternative to the large, slow, vulnerable, costly, and ill-conceived MG-100 StarFortress. This monstrosity cost 350,000 Galactic credits, and killed five valuable crew members every time one was lost. They lacked the Y-Wing’s ability to accelerate to the edge of the launch envelope, ripple off their weapons, and retreat back within the covering fire of allied capital ships, or quickly hyperspace jump to safety after launching their ordnance.
Adaptability / Versatility
Military craft which only do one thing well, or complexly rely on one mission concept, rarely have long and successful careers. The ultra-fast B-58 Hustler only had one thing going for it in life: it went very fast. But, as Soviet air defenses improved enough to make it vulnerable, its short range and high operating costs doomed the otherwise beautiful plane, and it was withdrawn from service in only 10 years. Conversely, aircraft which do many things well, and have the space and power to act as “trucks”, last a very long time as their payload capacity allows them to take on different missions and equipment over time. The B-52 Stratofortress, UH-1 “Huey”, and PBY Catalina have all had exceptionally long careers based on their simplicity, reliability, robustness, payload, adaptability, and versatility.
The Y-Wing remained in service for so long because it was something of a truck. It could employ a wide variety of munitions, carried a mixed armament of lasers and ion cannons, possessed good range and good hyperspace speed, had better than average shielding, acceptable maneuverability for basic purposes of survival, and had wide engineering tolerances for new systems or modifications. Throughout its life, the BTL Y-Wing series was modified repeatedly Rebel engineers and maintainers to adapt it to function in an environment where the threats and missions were constantly evolving.
Over time they removed armor plating and the gunner’s seat from the BTL-A4 (the version most commonly used by the Rebellion) to improve speed. They re-routed engine power to improve maneuverability as the “meta” of the war shifted to an increased emphasis on fast, maneuverable fighters to deal with (and survive) TIE interceptors and the TIE advanced. They also removed the Y-Wing’s fuel reclamation system, increasing speed and maneuverability at the expense of fuel efficiency and range. The torpedo magazine was reduced by two to reduce weight, increase speed and maneuverability, and provide additional space within the frame. This improved survivability, and the Y-Wing still retained its best feature: shields with a SBD rating of 75.
The Y-Wing was designed with enough “surplus” power and space to allow changes and modifications that were almost modular: making one change to the craft didn’t require altering nearly everything else in the ship as well to keep the systems working together, as was an issue with the A-Wing, whose engineering was as over-complicated and touchy as a British race car.
Mobility
Mobility is the ability to get to where you need to be. The Y-Wing was far ahead of its time here. It’s Class 1 hyperdrive made it one of the fastest ships in hyperspace during the Clone Wars. During the Galactic Civil War, this speed was still good enough for it to keep up with other Rebel fighters past light speed, and able to outrun most Imperial ships. Only a few highly specialized ship were faster than Rebel fighters in general. The other piece of mobility is range and endurance. The Y-Wing had good-to-great range, depending on whether the fuel reclamation system was left in place.
This meant that the Y-Wing, along with the X-Wing, could show up unannounced almost anywhere, complete their mission, and get out faster than the opposition could respond. It was fully capable of implementing the overriding principle of Rebel combat operations: “He who defends everything, defends nothing.” This philosophy of forcing the Empire to try and defend everything led them to become spread far too thin, and as a result more and more extreme measures to crack down on the Rebellion, thus driving even more worlds onto the side of the Alliance.
Was the Y-Wing the best at carrying out this doctrine? Of course not. But more importantly, the Y-Wings capabilities fit with Rebel doctrine, concept of operations, strategy, and tactics despite having been designed almost two decades earlier. The X-Wing and B-Wing were a response to current needs: the Y-Wing had effectively anticipated them.
Was the Y-Wing’s Longevity Good Luck or Good Design?
Much of the Y-Wing’s ubiquity, availability, desirability, and success during the Rebellion and Galactic Civil War stems from the simple fact (and perhaps good luck) that they were built in massive numbers in the Clone Wars. These ended suddenly, leaving a glut of surplus Y-Wings. Thus, if they had been built in much smaller numbers, or the Clone Wars hadn’t happened, would they still be considered among the “greats”? Was the longevity of this starfighter more a product of luck at coming about at just the right time and place to be built in vast numbers, or was it more a result of great design and foresight by the engineers at Koensayr?
Undoubtedly there was some luck involved. However, that luck didn’t carry through to any of the other innumerable types of fighters used by the Republic during the Clone Wars (e.g. V-19, V-Wing, Z-95, Delta 7) because the Y-Wing was simply a better design. The flour basic reasons why the Y-Wing soldiered on were its shields, hyperdrive, ion cannon secondary armament, and simplicity to operate and fly compared to the ARC-170. The only other fighter with shields and hyperdrive to match the Y-Wing was the ARC, but its need for three crew members and how difficult it was to operate made it more expensive and more difficult to field.
The ion cannon was simply the cherry on the top: giving it the ability to support boarding operations more effectively. Even some of the simple design choices made the Y-Wing more effective, such as mounting both lasers close together in line with the pilot and concentrating firepower. This rewarded good marksmanship, ensuring if one blaster hit, they both did. This was usually enough to one-shot a TIE/ln. In a X-Wing or B-Wing, the widely spaced cannons reduced firepower concentration against small targets in a dogfight. Even in WWII, mounting machine guns and cannons close together in the nose was considered an advantage in fighters like the P-38.
If there hadn’t been a Clone War, the Y-Wing would have found buyers among planetary police forces space coast guards, unions and guilds looking to provide escort for convoys, local defense forces that needed a counter to smaller capital ships, and (especially) pirates who would likely use the vessels the same way the Rebels did later. In short, the Y-wing possessed qualities that guaranteed someone would have bought and used it. And if it hadn’t existed, something similar would likely have been designed. There was clearly a trade space, or niche, for the Y-Wing to operate it between the roles filled by the A-Wing (point defense space dominance), X-Wing (space superiority), and B-Wing (expensive super-heavy assault craft).
In the final analysis, the Y-Wing would not have had such a long career without solid engineering behind it. Luck will only get you so far before you actually have to be good at something.
The Final Verdict
The Y-Wing was a phenomenal ship when it was designed. It was the only fighter design to last all the way through the Clone Wars in front line service. In World War II, only a few fighters achieved this feat (P-38 lightning, ME-109, Supermarine Spitfire) and all are considered among the greatest designs of the period. It continued to serve on alongside craft that were supposed to replace it, but proved too cheap, durable, and effective to replace entirely, much as the PBY Catalina remains in service as a water-bomber 85 years past its first flight, and decades after its supposed successors were retired.
The argument that the Y-Wing was a terrible ship because it was too slow and wasn’t maneuverable enough during the Galactic Civil war is an unfair assessment. The Vought F4U Corsair and North American P-51 Mustang were among the best fighters in World War II, but too slow to defend themselves from Russian piloted MiG-15 jets during the Korean War only five years later. They still did great work as close air support fighter-bombers in Korea based on their endurance, range, payload, and (in the case of the F4U) rugged construction and survivability. Both are still considered some of the best combat aircraft ever made, despite their obsolescence later in their service lives. Thus, the Y-Wing is being held to a different historical standard than other platforms.
The fact that the Y-Wing still played a pivotal role as a front line starfighter in a war 20 years after it entered service is a testament to how forward-looking its design was in many ways. It had a niche as a cheap, effective, survivable fighter-bomber within the Rebel concept of operations, despite being designed long before some of the pilots were born *cough*Luke*cough*. There is no historical precedent of a fighter-bomber that served through all of WWII, and then through most of Vietnam. The closest analogy is the A-1 Skyraider, which was a favorite of pilots and grunts alike for many of the same reasons why the Y-Wing stuck around so long.
In the end, history should judge the Y-Wing against its Clone Wars contemporaries. From this perspective the Y-Wing’s design was so far ahead of its time, innovative, longevity, adaptable, and versatile that it allowed the starfighter to have a lengthy front-line career unlike any other in either the Star Wars Universe, or the real world. | https://medium.com/@brynntannehill/in-defense-of-the-y-wing-1c23a1454627 | ['Brynn Tannehill'] | 2021-01-28 16:33:33.338000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'Starfighter', 'Clone Wars', 'Xwing', 'Y Wing'] |
How Sketch and Legos can kickstart your UI design library | Here in the Product Design team at Hotstar, Sketch is our workhorse. Chances are that you use Sketch as much as we do. To kickstart our design system, we recognized the need to make our Sketch files smarter and more semantic. We designers strive for consistency, and want our UI elements to look and behave consistently across our design.
Think of UI elements as Legos we can reuse to build interfaces. Legos are modular and repeatable — which are great for consistency.
Building Robust Legos
To build robust Legos, we need to make robust symbols. If your design uses a few symbols to fulfil many use cases, while making semantic sense, your symbols are robust.
Let’s make a robust symbol of the humble tray thumbnail.
Use Image Fills
Create a rectangular shape, and then apply an image fill. This lets you:
Replace images by overriding symbols.
Resize images without stretching (choose the “Fill” option in Display)
Have border radii without any extra fuss.
Add dark overlays and scrims without extra layers (click the “+” icon to create an additional fill)
Now, add other symbols within your symbol. If there’s an instance where you don’t need that particular symbol, you can remove it using an override.
Use Constraints
When you make a symbol with elements in it, add constraints to them so they’re 100% responsive.
Take the overflow menu icon on the top right. We want this icon to always be on the top right, no matter what.
The constraints will be:
It should always stay at a fixed distance from the top and right edge, so we pin to the top and right edge .
. It should never get stretched, so we fix the height and width.
You can distort the instance all you want and the icon stays put. Your symbol is now totally responsive! Constraints work on groups, too. | https://uxdesign.cc/how-sketch-and-legos-can-kickstart-your-design-system-daaeea481878 | ['Ananth Pai'] | 2020-03-29 01:10:25.401000+00:00 | ['UI', 'Visual Design', 'Symbols', 'Sketch', 'Design System'] |
Open Call for #NewHarvest2020 Programming Suggestions | Open Call for #NewHarvest2020 Programming Suggestions
Nominate a speaker or panel topic! Applications close Friday, March 13.
Every year, New Harvest hosts an event by and for the cellular agriculture community. This year, we’re introducing a theme…Elephant in the Room.
Our mission has always been to address the neglected needs of cell ag (hence why we support academic research). In keeping with that mission, we want New Harvest 2020 to provide a forum for neglected conversations that the community (that means you!) feels are important for our collective growth.
“Elephant in the room” refers to topics which, although difficult, must be discussed if cell ag is to progress as a field.
What topics need to be highlighted but are often sidelined or ignored? What dialogues, and between which individuals, ought to be facilitated?
…what is the elephant in the room? You tell us! | https://medium.com/new-harvest/open-call-for-newharvest2020-programming-suggestions-72880409deaa | ['New Harvest'] | 2020-03-02 20:15:42.061000+00:00 | ['Lab Grown Meat', 'Cellular Agriculture', 'Cultured Meat', 'Cell Based Meat', 'Newharvest2020'] |
how to autoregulate your training like a boss | Hey omorfe,
When life gets in the way, I often decide to not write anything to my email list. In other words, I listen to my mind and act accordingly.
Interestingly enough, today’s topic is about listening to your body. Aka autoregulation. It’s not something that should worry newbies, but if you have some experience lifting, you can use the concept to your advantage.
By autoregulation I mean listening to your body and adjusting your training to the signals you receive.
The most obvious way to use autoregulation is when an exercises hurts a joint. If there’s pain, you could immediately switch to another exercise that doesn’t hurt. As long as it’s similar to the first exercise, you’re good.
But you can use autoregulation to adjust your training on the spot. In fact, it’s something I’ll be using moving forward. There’s a lil bit of chaos in my day to day life and I need to be flexible with my training.
So I’m gonna explain how I’ll do things.
For starters, my days have a template. They don’t have exercises that are set in stone. Here is the template from my last workout:
A1) Chest exercise
A2) Biceps exercise
B1) Back exercises
B2) Triceps exercise
C) Shoulders exercise
And here’s what I ended up doing:
A1) High incline db press
A2) Dumbell curls
B1) Seated cable row
B2) Cable tricep pulldown
C) Dumbbell shrugs
But since I had the structure in mind, I could do a completely different workout like this:
A1) Weighted push ups
A2) Hammer curls
B1) Wide grip lat pulldown
B2) Overhead tricep dumbbell extension
C) Dumbbell lateral throws
The exercise selection doesn’t matter that much, as long as you follow the structure. This lets me adjust my workout on the fly and still hit most of my body parts.
If you wonder why I didn’t do any leg exercises that day, it’s simple: I was out hitting on girls (hey, we’re all men here) and after a few hours walking, my legs and feet felt fried. I could have done some light squats or back extensions along with shoulders, but chose to not do so.
But exercise selection is one way to autoregulate your training.
For example, I was feeling a bit “off” that day. Not exactly tired, but I had some trouble getting in the zone.
So instead of going high intensity, I decided to go for volume. I did 4 sets per exercise but I stayed 3–5 reps away from failure. This might contradict a few things you’ve read from me (doing 1–3 sets per exercise and staying only 1–2 reps from failure) but you have to remember, omorfe, context tramples all.
Yes, 1–3 sets/exercise and staying 1–2 reps away from failure are solid suggestions.
But for your Greek buddy, at that given moment, given his energy, doing 4 sets and leaving 3–5 reps in the tank, felt much better. I finished the workout, was pumped, and invigorated, not dead.
All because I listened to my body.
Again, autoregulation is not something you need to do if you’re a noob. But it has lots of value if you’re experienced.
I’ve been training for years and know how my body responds.
Plus, I don’t have competitive goals. I’m perfectly happy having a top 1%-10% physique and impressing most of the girls I sleep with (not because I’m amazing, but because 90%-99% of men don’t take care of their bodies)
For those goals, my system works beautifully.
Anyway, that’s all for today.
For more tips and strategies on looking great naked without turning fitness into a full-time job, grab my one sentence muscle building plan at:
http://grecianman.com/
Your Greek buddy,
Fotis Chatzinicolaou | https://medium.com/@chatzifot/how-to-autoregulate-your-training-like-a-boss-c0f07e410c58 | ['Fotis Chatzinicolaou'] | 2021-12-31 15:55:25.746000+00:00 | ['Bodybuilding', 'Training', 'Mens Health', 'Fitness Tips', 'Smart'] |
DJ Profiles — Yakay. Interview with DJ Yakay | Welcome to DJ Profiles
DJ Profiles is a brand new series from Ayo Vibes, featuring interviews with some of the best DJ’s in the world. People rarely do writeups on DJ’s and I think it’s a great way to connect with an untapped community.
I hope that these interviews will be a useful resource for aspiring DJ’s and established ones.
Our latest profile is on DJ Yakay. For the month of June, we will only be profiling black DJs who identify with the LGBTQ community.
Image courtesy of DJ Yakay
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
DJ Yakay:
My name is YAKAY. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. I am an entrepreneur and I’ve been DJing professionally since late 2018. | https://medium.com/ayo-vibes/dj-profiles-yakay-2dcc1b16126e | ['Branda Ayo'] | 2020-06-01 17:32:15.870000+00:00 | ['Dj', 'Lifestyle', 'LGBTQ', 'Music', 'Interview'] |
Eclipse Haiku | Flicker and Flight is a Poetry Publication that has married the art of Photography. This publication focuses on supporting Nature, Love/Unity, Spirituality, and Growth, through the beauty of Word-Play and Images.
Follow | https://medium.com/flicker-and-flight/eclipse-haiku-66bd28e4098f | ['Jackie Ann'] | 2020-11-01 01:34:54.294000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Poems On Medium', 'Eclipse', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Haiku'] |
Togas, Vodka, And Secrets, Oh My! | Togas, Vodka, And Secrets, Oh My!
A toga party shifted two relationships.
Photo courtesy of Twitter
His name was Ryan. On paper, he was my perfect man. Masculine, football player, blond hair and blue eyes. The only problem with him was that he identified as straight. His parents were religious, they wouldn’t understand! His arguments fell on deaf ears. As much as I wanted him, I had pride.
One of the rules I have for myself is that I will never be someone’s dirty little secret. I am out and proud of who I am. If someone doesn’t like it, that’s their issue, not mine. Still, given my propensity for liking men who are still in the closet, this rule has led to a lot of heartache for me.
Even as we debated the merits of our relationship, we were intimate with one another. I can’t count how many times one of his frat brothers walked in on me giving Ryan head. It became a running joke that his dick was going to fall off from as much head as he was getting from me.
“Come on, please come to the toga party,” Ryan begged me. He was modeling his costume for the evening and it left almost nothing to the imagination. I agreed to come and he threw me down on the bed. Our physical relationship once from one-sided to consummated in just a few minutes.
We didn’t know someone had been watching us. | https://medium.com/the-bad-influence/togas-vodka-and-secrets-oh-my-78f068849587 | ['Edward Anderson'] | 2020-01-14 22:16:01.890000+00:00 | ['Frat', 'LGBTQ', 'Love', 'Outed', 'Dating'] |
How to be alone on Christmas. | Cathedral Quarter, Belfast, December 2019
I’m lucky that, this year, I will be around the small bubble of people I’ve been living with while I daydrink and watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I’m cognizant of the fact that this is not true for a signifcant number of people and, as I’ve been talking with various friends about their single-living holiday plans, I’ve also been reminiscing about the one time I was without family on Christmas.
I had never spent a Christmas without family and, if I’m being honest, I didn’t think in late December of last year that I would have any problem with that. Prior to that day, I had envisioned myself wrapped up in my studio apartment, overlooking a cold, icy and empty Belfast street, sipping my favorite cuppa — an Irish breakfast tea. Perhaps I’d stream a movie or two, call some folks back in the States, eat a self-made charcuterie curated at my local Tesco’s. I’m fancy. I know.
There are a great many aspects of growing older that make holidays…a chore. I had been so used to the theatrical endeavor of traveling home for the holidays. I had moved away from home for college and had continued living my post-grad life there as well, so I was used to sojourning home for what always ended up being quite the holiday adventure (what I’m alluding to here is that it’s no coindence that the Christmas Vacation Griswold family has always reminded me of my own and held a special place in my heart).
Traveling home for the holidays always included a schedule of pre-roadtrip tasks: the packing, the apartment cleaning, the shoving a cat into a crate and then that crate into a car, the stop off at a Valvoline so that I could have a mechanic tell me that “No, there is nothing wrong with your tires” (a tradition I started after I blew a tire on the interstate a few Christmases back).
Once I arrived, I would be greeted at the door by the family dog (my biggest fan because I am and always have been a huge advocate for long walks) and my siblings who are nine years younger than me and might as well be surrogate children. The first two days are magical. I can sleep in. I can venture to old haunts (a favorite local coffeeshop). I can catch up with friends who are also back engaging in the same travel ritual as I am. Around day three or so, though, I begin to remember why I enjoyed leaving in the first place.
Privacy goes out the window. You want to nap? Someone is going to ask why and for how long. There is the constant stream of conservative media on the family television, bookended only by nearly identical Hallmark Christmas movies. There is far too much drinking that occurs at the tail end, usually spurred on by two things: the introduction of politics into family discussion and the clear reality that you won’t be able to take the beer with you, so you might as well drink it there.
All logic (and lived experience) had conditioned me to think that December 25, 2019 would be a great many things it usually wasn’t: quiet, calm, and devoid of passive aggressive politics or weird questions about my love life. Last Christmas was all of those things. But it was also a little lonely. I caught myself missing the warmth that occurs in a dimly lit space where a group of people who love each other decide to be quiet together. For all of the boisterous conversation, the third degree questioning about my career, or the unending Hallmark marathon, holidays are also the time when I’m fully and physically surrounded by familial love. It’s the only time, barring weddings and funerals, when I feel it. Weddings are far too stressful to me, typically, and funerals far too sad. Both of those occassions usually require uncomfortable shoes to be worn. Christmas, as a time for gathering, never had the accompanying stress and commotion of nuptials or the melancholy of a death. And I was always free to wear elastic pants without judgment. | https://medium.com/@alexishtarver/how-to-be-alone-on-christmas-8e4f97de91ac | ['Alexis Tarver'] | 2020-12-25 18:17:34.469000+00:00 | ['Northern Ireland', 'Holidays', 'Christmas', 'Loneliness', 'Belfast'] |
Hawkering on — Raymond and Sheila’s climb off the corporate ladder to success | Text: Tan Yi Shu
Photography: Bernard Wee (@lousycameraman)
It is not every day that you come across elderly hawkers who are extremely conversant in English, to the point where they sprinkle their speeches with metaphors as generously as they garnish their dishes.
So imagine my surprise when Raymond and Sheila, a husband-wife pair of sexagenarians who run a porridge stall at the Telok Blangah Hawker, told me I could interview them in English, as they were fluent in it.
How exactly did this come to pass? What made them decide to cook up a career as hawkers instead of continuing with their first jobs in marketing? Why do they only open their stall twice a week now, and how is that sustainable? This is their story.
When We Were Young
“So how did you two get so good in English,” I blurted out, to their amusement.
Raymond and Sheila acknowledged that they were fortunate to have received decent educations when they were children — something not that common in their generation. At that point in their young lives, neither had contemplated being a hawker. After graduating, Raymond worked at Roxy-Sharp marketing television sets for six years, while Sheila was at a German firm — coincidentally also in marketing — for 13 years.
A young Raymond was no stranger to working at a food stall though, as his family ran — and are still running — a stall at Tiong Bahru Hawker. Although he enjoyed helping out, he did not aspire to take over the business or a run one of his own, as he had a strong preference to do something related to his marketing diploma.
“I wanted to be white-collar worker, in a nice office, doing what my studies had equipped me to do,” Raymond said, a tad ruefully. “Otherwise, all of it would have been for nothing. At that point, I considered being a full time hawker as a step-back, especially since my polytechnic peers were doing very well.”
However, the intrinsically kind-hearted him did not enjoy the rat-race culture common in the corporate world. So when his father asked him again at the age of 30 to consider helping at the stall full time, he thought he owed it to himself to give it a try.
He confessed that he was in two minds back then — being a hawker lacked prestige as compared to his marketing job, yet, the business was brisk and would provide a more stable income. Despite being disillusioned at the start, he gradually threw himself whole-heartedly into the work.
Raymond (in white) helping out at his father’s stall in his younger days
Spread Your Wings and Fly
As often happens in life, hard work leads to good things. His big break came when Violet Oon, a renowned food writer, approached him when he was in his late 30s. She was a regular customer, and asked if he would like to set up his own stall with her help. Having her backing was a big boost to Raymond’s confidence and he decided to take the leap of faith.
That put the wheels in motion for the next 15 years where he ran his first stall at 51 Neil Road Food Court, then later at another food court at Amara Hotel. He counts those years as the most important ones of his career; helping his father gave him the foundation, but running his own stall made him take ownership and allowed him to exercise autonomy –important elements in running a successful business.
“Those 15 years were very crucial. They exposed me to various cooking techniques, I increased my repertoire of dishes, and also consolidated my skills. As I built up my customer base, I eventually realised that I could succeed in this business. I am really thankful that my customers liked my dishes — without them, I would not be here today” Raymond recounted.
Right Place, Right Time
As he turned into his mid-50s, the desire to serve the local community tugged at his heartstrings. He also thought operating a smaller hawker stall with just a few specialised dishes would be more manageable workload-wise. As fate would have it, a stall owner at the Telok Blangah Drive Hawker was just contemplating about retiring, and they successfully negotiated a transfer of stall ownership.
“It really was fate… right place, right time,” Raymond mused.
Raymond preparing ingredients in the wee hours of the morning
In the first few months at Telok Blangah, Raymond ran the stall with a helper, as Sheila stayed home to take care of their three children. Eventually, when their children needed less nannying, she started to help Raymond at the stall. For someone who has never mass cooked before, much less entertained thoughts of being a hawker, surely the transition must have been tough?
“Not at all,” she grinned. “Somehow, I took to it like a duck takes to water.”
Prior to helping at the stall, Sheila usually only cooked for family
At this point, Raymond jumped in with a big helping of praises. She really was a quick learner, he had gushed, and analytical too. For example, while some would hesitate to offer suggestions to the head chef, Sheila often spoke to Raymond about ways to be more efficient, as well as how to improve the food’s taste. Over the years, he grew to rely upon her as his trusted advisor, and credits a large part of his success to her.
“In the early years of our marriage, she sacrificed her career to tend to domestic matters so that I could focus on the business. Later on, when I needed help to run the Telok Blangah stall, she didn’t hesitate at all. I am really very thankful to have married her,” he said.
A Match Made in Heaven
With such affection and admiration for each other, I couldn’t help but ask: how did they meet?
“Fate — right place, right time” Sheila quipped.
Back in those days, word of mouth and referrals were the most common ways of getting match-made. It so happened that Sheila wanted to get a new television set for her family as they enjoyed bonding in the living room over shows. So she approached a family friend who worked as a TV dealer.
“Raymond used to sell TVs, and the dealer was his middleman. He told Raymond that I was single… Raymond not only sold him the TV, but also the idea of setting up a blind date,” she laughed.
Raymond chimed in, “It wasn’t an affluent society back then. But here was a young lady who was willing to spend hard earned money to buy a TV for her family. I admired her sense of filial piety; I just had to meet her.”
Sheila added that being an introvert and naturally shy, she had previously never been open to dating, so she not only surprised everyone, but herself when she agreed to the blind date.
Did they, as common in today’s dating scene, know how each other looked like before the first meet?
“No,” they both said unequivocally. In the days before Facebook and digital cameras, photographs were hard to come by.
And so on D-Day — Date-Day — Sheila arrived at the meeting point in a bundle of nerves. She really did not know what to expect as this was the very first date of her life. When an unkempt looking guy walked towards her, she confessed that she had feared the worst.
Thankfully, the guy walked right by, and Sheila breathed a sigh of relief. Not long after, Raymond turned up, all well-mannered and well dressed, and introduced himself.
“After looking at him, I thought to myself, now that’s fine!” she chuckled.
Things progressed smoothly, and after about a year of dating, they both knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. A match made in heaven!
Service to the Community
Raymond, chatty by nature, is thankful to have Sheila help with the customer facing side of things. “Otherwise, I’ll end up spending more time talking to customers than doing business!” he said.
In the last few years, Raymond and Sheila have progressively lessened their number of working days, as they took up another “job” — looking after and bonding with their grandchildren. They are now just open on weekends, and have also restricted their menu to just porridge and chopped chicken. I asked with some amazement if operating a mere two days a week is profitable or even sustainable.
“Well, we make enough to break even. We are no longer doing this for money, we are doing it for our customers — we know many of them love our porridge. We will continue as long as we are healthy; we think of it as our service to the community,” Raymond said.
This sense of service was never as apparent as during the Circuit Breaker, where people, particularly the elderly, were told to stay home as much as possible to limit exposure to the Covid virus.
Wanting to help, Raymond and Sheila’s youngest son, Leon, started a “Gift-a-Porridge” programme, where he worked with local partners to deliver dozens, sometimes hundreds, of discounted bowls of porridge to those in need and residents living in one room rental flats. Some publicity led to regular customers knowing about the project, and many came forward with monetary donations.
“It was not uncommon to receive $20 or $50 donations from customers,” Sheila said. “But we were really surprised when my cousin donated enough for about 600 bowls of porridge. He told us he had rallied his friends and family to chip in. We were very touched by his effort and generosity, and also everyone else who contributed!”
Raymond added that this project would not have been possible without his son’s initiative.
“I am very proud of him. He has a busy job, yet still made time to volunteer, in the process also helping me to fulfil my wish of contributing meaningfully back to society in a time of great need.”
Delivering porridge to residents during the Circuit Breaker. Photo courtesy of Wah Yuen Porridge and Chicken Rice
Retirement and Hobbies
With full retirement perhaps not too far in the horizon, I asked Raymond and Sheila if they have any hobbies to keep them occupied. Given her proficiency in English, it was no surprise when Sheila said she is an avid reader, especially of the romance/thriller genre. She lists Nora Roberts as her favourite author, and loves stretching out on the sofa by the window to read.
The magnificent view Sheila has of the surrounding greenery and the sea from her sofa
Sheila is fond of keeping herself updated of happenings through the news
As for Raymond, he enjoys taking walks in nature and counts the Singapore Botanic Gardens and Labrador Nature Reserve as places he loves to visit. He takes these walks as good opportunities to catch up with friends, exchanging views on life and encouraging each other to stay healthy. Like his wife, he also enjoys reading, and can often be found immersed in Buddhist scriptures.
Raymond enjoys reading during his spare time, occasionally relaxing in the massage chair to do so
Holding each other’s hands is something that comes naturally for them, even though it does nt happen as much as when they were young. “It’s my lucky day today!” Raymond grinned, as the photo was being taken. “Don’t expect this too often!” Sheila laughed.
Life in Telok Blangah
Having resided in Telok Blangah for about four decades now, I asked them how the area has changed.
“There used to be a bus interchange in the area, where the NTUC is now. There were also frequent night bazaars — the area was very bustling in the past. Now, times have changed. Even though there are many more residents, the overall ambience is quieter,” she said.
“People are still very friendly though, they’ll smile and wave at us when they see us outside of work.” Raymond added.
Raymond and Sheila shared that one of the most fortunate things that happened to them in recent years was how they managed to buy their current house through the sale of balance flats exercise in 2012. They love that it is extremely breezy, with a sea view that they would never tire of.
“You know, we stayed on a low floor most of our lives. So when we came to view this flat, we all went ‘wahhhhhhh’. It felt like we were in heaven!” Sheila recalled happily.
“We were really very lucky to get the flat. We were at that age where there were many potential hurdles, such as length and size of the loan amount, and whether the contra period fit. But it seemed like at every step of the way, we met officers who were very sincere in helping us. We are extremely grateful — we really love the place,” Raymond enthused.
One of Sheila’s favourite quotes and guiding principle in life is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” After a lifetime of showing kindness to others, it was wonderful to hear about how kindness has rebounded back to them in many ways, and how they are thriving with three healthy children, a beautiful home, and still fulfilling their life purpose of doing good and serving their community.
We wish them all the best and the next time you order from them, try doing it in English! | https://medium.com/stories-of-telok-blangah/hawkering-on-raymond-and-sheilas-climb-off-the-corporate-ladder-to-success-5e640e38e3c4 | ['Tan Yi Shu'] | 2020-12-19 01:48:16.676000+00:00 | ['Singapore Food', 'Telok Blangah', 'Singapore'] |
“Consideration” Under Common Law of Contracts | The common law tradition includes many legal systems modeled on the English system. These common law systems are basically ex- or present-day English colonies, including the US, Australia, New Zealand, India, parts of Canada, etc.
Map Source: Wikipedia
The law of contract formation is generally similar across common law jurisdictions (there’s a lot of convergence with civil law jurisdictions as well).
1. Elements of a K
Looking at US & English law as examples, we find that a contract (K) is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that is typically comprised of several elements.
In the US: K = MA + C
= + In England: K = A1+ I + C
What are these weird symbols and notations? Here’s a key:
Capsule Summary on K Formation Elements in US/English Law (a larger chart w/more jdxns is available here)
As you can see, there are a lot of similarities between English & American contract formation rules. The terminology might be somewhat different, but both sets of rules are looking for the same thing: objective evidence of parties’ intent to create a contract.
In the US, the party that wants to prove the existence of a K must allege and prove the existence of what’s known as ‘mutual assent’ (MA). The same is true in England, except the English legal term used to describe MA is ‘agreement’ (that phrasing is confusing because it’s circular, since a K is a legally enforceable agreement, but c’est la vie).
If you’d like a deeper dive into this first element under US/English law, we have you covered:
After mutual assent, the party alleging a contract must also allege and prove what’s known as ‘consideration,’ the subject of this short guide.
2. Consideration Intro
Consideration is a tricky topic. It confounds both law students and experienced judges. But once we work through a few explanations and examples, you’ll see that it’s not as difficult as lawyers sometimes make it out to be.
Let’s start by asking a simple but important question: why does the common law have this requirement? What are the functions served by consideration?
At a very basic level, consideration is a legal tool used to show that parties had objective intent to enter into a contract.
Q: Consideration, what’s your function? A: Hooking up promises, and making them function!
So, how does a legal rule accomplish this important objective?
3. Consideration Must Be Alleged & Proven
How does the legal rule for consideration accomplish the objective of linking up A’s & B’s promises? — is a bit of a trick question. That’s because the rule itself isn’t doing anything for anyone.
More precisely, the doctrine of consideration places a burden on the party (A) alleging a contract to use consideration rules against a party (B) that is denying the existence of a K.
This may seem like a distinction without a difference, but it matters a lot, as we’ll see shortly. | https://medium.com/cryptolawreview/consideration-under-common-law-of-contracts-9d6b441d271c | [] | 2019-11-27 19:47:54.589000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Consideration', 'Contract Disputes', 'Contract Law', 'Contract Formation'] |
Monitoring with JMX: How to Integrate Tableau Server with InfluxDB | Concurrent VizQL Sessions from JMX in InfluxDB/Grafana
Telegraf is a great tool to collect information from thousands of different sources, but sometimes you need to complete it with other tools due to source limitations. One of these cases when we want to get monitoring and/or performance information from applications using Java Management Extensions API — an API exclusive for Java VMs — where the client must be written in Java too.
This the second part of the Grafana/InfluxDB monitoring series, focusing on collecting JMX metrics from 3rd party applications like Tableau Server. The previous post can be found here.
We have two options: use Telegraf’s Jolokia2 plugin, or use a standalone JMX agent: jmxtrans. Jolokia2 (a JMX-to-REST-API gateway) is a great solution in case we need to monitor local processes, however, to use it for remote monitoring it has to be deployed in a web container (like OSGi, Tomcat, Jboss). For these scenarios using jmxtrans is more straightforward: it can monitor multiple JMX/RMI endpoints and feed the results to time series databases such as InfluxDB.
Monitoring Tableau Server using its JMX API
Tableau Server containers and most parts of their application are written in Java, thus it was a natural decision from the Tableau engineering teams to make their internal, performance metrics available in JMX/RMI. You can get information about current active sessions in each service, cache/hit ratio in the VizQL servers among many other metrics.
Enable JMX in Tableau Server
To enable JMX ports in Tableau Server, use the following tsm commands:
$ tsm configuration set -k service.jmx_enabled -v true
$ tsm pending-changes apply
After the configuration is deployed, you can check the JMX ports for each service:
tsm topology list-ports | grep jmx[^\.]
These ports are dynamically allocated, so it is advised to set them manually to a fixed port as described here.
Now our Server is ready to serve us with JMX metrics.
Understand our Server JMX Domains, MBeans, Attributes and values
Before we set up jmxtrans to collect JMX metrics, we need to understand what are the available attributes in each service. Some people like to use jconsole for this purpose, I personally favor command-line tools like jmxterm .
Let’s pick one of the vizqlserver JMX ports from list-ports ‘s output and connect to it:
wget https://github.com/jiaqi/jmxterm/releases/download/v1.0.2/jmxterm-1.0.2-uber.jar
$ java -jar jmxterm-1.0.2-uber.jar
Welcome to JMX terminal. Type "help" for available commands.
$>open localhost:8789
#Connection to localhost:8789 is opened Welcome to JMX terminal. Type "help" for available commands.$>#Connection to localhost:8789 is opened
We are connected to our vizqlserver JMX service, how exciting it is. The first thing we can do is to list all domains using domains command:
$>domains
#following domains are available
Catalina
JMImplementation
Users
com.sun.management
com.tableausoftware.instrumentation
java.lang
java.nio
java.util.logging
org.apache.commons.pool2
tableau.health.jmx
Catalina domain contains tomcat related information, we have a few JVM related domains too, but tableau.health.jmx is the one what we are looking for. Let’s have a closer look, what beans do we have in it:
$>beans -d tableau.health.jmx
#domain = tableau.health.jmx:
tableau.health.jmx:name=searchservice
tableau.health.jmx:name=vizqlservice
We have two beans in the service, one for searchservice and one for vizqlservice. To see what attributes we have inside vizqlservice bean, use the info command:
$>info -b tableau.health.jmx:name=vizqlservice -t a
#mbean = tableau.health.jmx:name=vizqlservice
#class name = com.tableausoftware.health.performancecounter.jmx.JMXMonitoringView
# attributes
%0 - PerformanceMetrics (javax.management.openmbean.CompositeData, r)
It has one attribute called PerformanceMetrics . We are getting close, the last step is to get the actual values from this bean attribute:
$>get -b tableau.health.jmx:name=vizqlservice PerformanceMetrics
#mbean = tableau.health.jmx:name=vizqlservice:
PerformanceMetrics = {
ActiveSessions = 0;
Bootstraps = 0;
BootstrapsDeferred = 0;
BootstrapsDeferredThenPerformed = 0;
DataserverInserters = 0;
DataserverLockedSessions = 0;
[...]
VisualModelCacheHits = 0;
VisualModelCacheMisses = 0;
VisualModelCachePartialHits = 0;
WorkbookAttributesParseCacheHits = 0;
WorkbookAttributesParseCacheMisses = 0;
};
These metrics are extremely important in case we want to understand how our Server performs. Since these metrics are stored in these processes’ memory, we do not have to go into the Postgres repository and collect these data with costly SQL queries — everything is a matter of milliseconds.
Now we just have to collect some of the important metrics and store them in our InfluxDB.
Sending metrics to InfluxDB with jmxtrans
You can use rpm to install jmxtrans on Centos, otherwise, you can follow the install instruction on the page.
sudo rpm -Uvh https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/jmxtrans/jmxtrans/271/jmxtrans-271.rpm
Configuration files are stored under /var/lib/jmxtrans folder. Let’s create a new file called /var/lib/jmxtrans/tableau.json with the following contents (sample config for one vizqlserver and one backgrounder processes):
If all set, we can start our JMX service:
sudo service jmxtrans start
Results in Grafana
If we log in to our grafana instance (the one what we configured in my previous blog post), we can start consuming the results:
We have tons of vizqlservice metrics available for our dashboards
In the next parts, we will build an execd based input plugin for telegraf to collect additional, non-standard metrics (using TSM API in our case), then put everything together in a nice monitoring dashboard.
Questions? Comments?
Did this help? Or something is not quite right? Or you need help to set it up on your end? Just drop a comment below. | https://medium.com/starschema-blog/monitoring-with-jmx-how-to-integrate-tableau-server-with-influxdb-d99e87119750 | ['Tamas Foldi'] | 2020-12-15 12:26:05.765000+00:00 | ['Data Engineering', 'Jmx', 'Influxdb', 'Tableau Server', 'Dataviz'] |
Waiting For The Next CRM Feature | Waiting For The Next CRM Feature
I was inspired by a tweet How Important is the Next New Feature in a CRM System, until I realized it was all about Microsoft CRM. Of course, they have all the features you would ever want. And it might be shinier and slicker looking than some of their competitors.
What stood out was the list of the feature categories and I realized that not one of them focused on a job that had to be done. Do these features get your job done? If they did, maybe we would have that simple system that everyone talks about…instead the behemoths that CRM systems have become. It’s all about the next new features, so get used to it. You asked for it.
I would say that next new feature isn’t that important.
In Search of the Simple System That Grows As You Grow — A Platform
I am a geek at heart. I like features. I build features. I use features. But after a lot of years of dealing with features, I’ve found that they have the most value on a marketing brochure. More often than not, getting them to work the way you need to work, is an exercise in futility. I guess it wasn’t convenient for the programmer who designed and built it to think through who’s actually using it. Nor are the features I need ever sitting right there in front of me. How many clicks does it take you to get to your most used feature, or how many clicks does it take to execute it? If it’s more than one or two, you, the customer, were definitely not in the minds of the people that designed it. It was all about them.
So as I was reading this blog post, I had high hopes, right up until I saw these bullets. These are your typical features that get checked off in a backwards CRM implementation. It was simply a list of features Microsoft CRM is currently touting. Nothing against MSCRM, it’s a solid product. Social media at it’s best — there is no value being added by publishing a brochure on your blog. If the IT department is selecting your CRM platform based on specs like those below, then you should read more about CRM strategy because your IT department understands networks and hardware!
Simplified UI that keeps the user in a familiar environment — SIMPLE? Strong integration to productivity tools for message management, activity management & quote generation Dynamic reporting Automated processes to support the sales, marketing and service processes Ease of configuration to support system change Mobility support Deployment flexibility Open architecture to support legacy system integrations Collaboration Data integrity tools Social Interaction Tracking
At the end of the day, if you’re a sales person that’s out pounding pavement all day, how important is social interaction tracking or collaboration? I know there are a lot of really bright people out there creating cool features left and right and I don’t want to make them feel bad. But, how are they helping you do your job? Do they really add value, or are the just adding bloat to an already cumbersome application? Last time I checked, tweeting out, or reading tweets, was not part of my job. How about yours? Maybe social media people, but even the marketing people traditionally looked for ROI, so explain how tweeting does that again? Don’t make anything up now!
Can Feature Bloated CRM Applications Be Turned Into Agile Platforms?
Are you obsessed with your new smartphone? How many of you have an iPad? Have you stopped to think just how different the experience is with these devices than you’ve traditionally had with your PC? Exactly, there are no bloated apps that do everything! Everything you download has, for the most part, a specific and simple purpose. A compass, a conversion calculator, a Twitter client, a Contact list or an Email app. Even on the pad devices, unless you hit an existing web application, you’re seeing simple and straightforward utilities. Whether they deliver value or not, they are all simple and task oriented because you just can’t fit anything else into these small spaces.
Sure, you could build an app that is 100 levels deep — but you can’t build it sideways — so navigating that would be next to impossible for the average worker. I’ve seen apps for SalesLogix appearing out there, and they try to deliver a lot of the basic functionality of the product in a single app. But what’s the point? Can you really fit all of this into a smart phone? And worse, do all of your customers do the same jobs and tasks — or at least the exact same way?
Or does it make more sense to take advantage of the platform and break things up into the tasks people do? Even the job may be too big for a single app, in my opinion. New products, like Nimble, are building the platform first. And the way it’s designed will allow developers to deliver apps that perform specific tasks — whether they reside in the standard Nimble interface, or as standalone on a iPhone. Some will be awesome, and some will suck. But, hey, that’s life!
On the other hand, SalesLogix, a well established product, is able to tap into a protocol developed for all Sage products called SData. While Sage and/or it’s business partners will undoubtedly attempt to recreate the entire application for delivery to a smart phone or tablet device, I think the really smart consultants will begin creating job and task focused apps that do one or two things really well. In fact, much of their service work could end up being the design of specific widgetized apps for their customers’ unique set of needs. Anything they make can also be sold in an app store, by the consulting firm, or by the customer — depending on the deal that’s stuck. SData should make this sort of thing extremely easy for SalesLogix developers — the ones that learn Java that is.
I meet sales people regularly because they are simply the biggest consumers of CRM software. And guess what, more often than not, I hear them say they just need to spit out a quote, or enter an order. Sure, they have to schedule appointments, make phone calls and send emails too. But, many of them don’t really need anything else. So why are we giving it to them? A bloated do-everything application installed on a computer that takes 15 minutes to boot. Does that sound like something a mobile warrior wants? A lot of these people would kiss the ground you walk on if you just gave them a icon on their iPhone, or Android, desktop that helped them do the top 3 or 4 things they need to do each day. “Oh, but CRM is so much more than that” I hear you say. Yes, it is. But for a mobile salesperson, it’s really not.
Is The Next New CRM Feature What Gets You Up In The Morning?
If it is, then you’re probably a programmer at one of the CRM vendors, or possibly someone who buys the hype that this wonderful new feature is going to solve all of your problems. I typically talk strategy and all that boring stuff here. But at the end of the day, we are trying to align our workforce to the work processes and flows we need them to interact with, and support. Aren’t we really creating obstacles for them with each new feature? Do some of these features make it more difficult to get their job done, through winding pathways and extra clicks? It’s worth thinking about.
If your job is to design a solution around a job or even a set of jobs, doesn’t it make sense that each user’s experience should be just about that job? Give them access to all of the information if they want it. But, also give them a direct top level path to their job in a single click. To me, that’s the best next new feature — Solution Provider 2.0. | https://medium.com/@mikeboysen/waiting-for-the-next-crm-feature-aadcedb16ec2 | ['Mike Boysen'] | 2016-08-11 14:54:42.060000+00:00 | ['CRM', 'Crm Software', 'Innovation'] |
3 Resolutions Teachers Should Make This New Years | A New Year should come with new resolutions, a zing to do better, and the wisdom to learn from the mistakes and lessons of the last year. A new start should be welcomed by wisdom, embraced with enthusiasm, and accompanied by a will to grow. And as a teacher or home tutor, it should come with all these and more, because we are the example we teach the children to be. So what resolutions should you make this year? Here are a few to get the ball rolling:
Be More Creative: Teaching and lessons can get monotonous and boring. Add a creative twist to learning and see how it becomes interesting for both you and your students. Educate the children with the help of movies, music, art, craft, and games.
Communicate More: Improve your communication channel both with parents and students to better address the needs of the child, understand their requirements, and create a healthy balance for the child with the help of their parents.
Stay Positive: Children look up to their teachers, and how your attitude is towards teaching, students, and in the classroom will be a make and break the deal between how good you are as a teacher. A positive attitude will go a long way in making you likable, approachable, and understandable. | https://medium.com/@bestwayfinder/3-resolutions-teachers-should-make-this-new-years-c79ab12ee784 | ['Best Way Finder'] | 2021-01-29 13:10:38.334000+00:00 | ['New Year', 'New Year Resolution'] |
The Games Market and Beyond in 2021: The Year in Numbers | To reflect on one of the most eventful and innovative years across games, streaming, esports, and mobile, we’ll now look back at our data and analysis over the past year.
The article will also highlight some of the year’s most significant developments, featuring quotes from Newzoo’s market analysts.
2021 Shows Resilience of the Games Market: Key Numbers and Data
After an unprecedented period of growth last year, we assumed that the games market would not be able to grow at the same pace. In fact, we initially forecast a slight decline in revenues, but consumer spending on games has been resilient to the longer-term consequences of the pandemic. The games market in 2021 will generate total revenues of $180.3 billion, up +1.4% over last 2020.
“We started the year thinking it would be impossible for the market to match 2020, as delays for AAA releases and ongoing supply shortages for new gaming hardware gave people little opportunity to spend,” says Tom Wijman, Newzoo’s Head of Reports & Forecasting. “Yet, nine months into 2021, we realized that the market would grow again. If anything, this shows that the games market is definitely no longer the seasonal, hit-driven business it once was. New gaming content no longer means new games or new hardware — a new season pass is just as likely to drive revenues.”
While console and PC will see slight declines due to thinner release calendars, mobile’s performance has secured another growth year for the overall market:
Likewise, the audiences for games and gaming content have continued to grow, even following 2020’s unprecedented addition of new gamers:
3.0 billion players will drive the above revenues.
That’s +5.3% more than 2020’s player number.
55% of these players are based in Asia-Pacific.
2021’s Games Market Highlights: M&A, Metaverse, and Media
One of the most notable developments across games market operations has been the huge number of merger and acquisition deals, investments, and IPOs, including Roblox, Applovin, Krafton, and Unity.
Most of these deals were closed or announced in the first half of 2021, profiting from a positive sentiment on the stock exchanges.
“Still, the number and size of large-scale acquisition deals is unprecedented, with multiple acquisitions valued over one billion dollars,” says Michiel Buijsman, a Senior Market Analyst at Newzoo. “Acquisitions are coming from all corners: console platform holders expanding their first-party portfolios, mobile advertising firms acquiring game studios for vertical integration, AAA/AA publishers expanding to diversify geographically or by platform, and much more.”
To name a few of these:
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax to boost its content and Game Pass efforts.
Mobile publishers acquired ad-tech companies to offset privacy challenges resulting from Apple’s ATT (e.g., Zynga acquired Chartboost).
ByteDance’s acquisition of Moonton put the TikTok maker in the fast lane to becoming a major core mobile game publisher.
Sony acquired some long-time partners to boost its games development (e.g., Bluepoint) and efficiency (e.g., Nixxes).
Speaking of Sony and Microsoft, the companies respectively launched their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S at the end of 2020. Supply of the new consoles has been short and demand high ever since. Both companies’ consoles are selling better than their predecessors despite these supply constraints.
Players on the new consoles even got a sneak peek at gaming’s future at the end of 2021, with an impressive playable demo of Unreal Engine 5 based in The Matrix universe.
“The engine will officially launch in spring 2022, promising photo-realism and streamlined development tools that point to an exciting future for games,” said Julianne Harty, Newzoo’s Lead for the Global Games Market Report. “All signs point to Unreal 5 bridging the gap between assets in movies and assets in games, providing a key piece of the metaverse puzzle for brands.”
Of course, one of the hottest games market topics in 2021 has been the metaverse, which includes:
The continued success of virtual concerts in Fortnite and other games;
Roblox’s IPO debut with a market cap of $40.6 billion;
Facebook’s rebrand into Meta.
But what exactly is the metaverse? And who are its biggest stakeholders and innovators? Download our free Intro to the Metaverse Report to find out.
“Whether or not people agree with the metaverse-centric future that Meta, Roblox, and Epic Games are trying to build, one thing has become increasingly clearer over the last year: personal expression and identity have become vital for players,” says Mihai Vicol, one of our new Market Analysts specifically focused on emerging trends within gaming.
“As the social activities of the relatively more tech-savvy younger generations tend to move online, virtual worlds are poised to become the social hubs of the next decade at the expense of traditional 2D social media platforms.”
Many are pegging the metaverse as the future of entertainment. But gaming is also conquering more traditional forms of entertainment: movies, TV series, and Hollywood.
“Gaming is to the 2020s entertainment what superheroes were to the 2010s,” says Julianne Harty. “The wild success of Arcane (Riot Games’ Netflix series based on the League of Legends universe) and season 2 of The Witcher (which takes visual cues from The Witcher games) highlight that games can inspire commercially and critically successful media beyond games. The future looks bright, with a The Last of Us series, Sonic movie sequel, and an Uncharted movie on the horizon.”
Cloud Gaming and 5G in 2021
Of course, we couldn’t talk about 2021’s biggest games market developments without mentioning cloud gaming, where there’s been plenty of innovation and consumer uptake this year. In fact, the cloud gaming market generated more than twice as many revenues in 2021 than it did in 2020, and even more growth is coming:
‘’The cloud gaming market is well-positioned to meet the strong growth that Newzoo predicts for next year and beyond,’’ says Market Consultant Guilherme Fernandes. ‘’Many consumers will search for alternative ways to play new releases, as gamers struggle to upgrade their hardware and new components will be hard to come until late 2022 at least. Cloud gaming is a perfect solution for these players.’’
Discover more insights into cloud gaming from Guilherme and other Newzoo experts in this free cloud gaming report, which includes an infographic of the cloud gaming ecosystem.
Cloud gaming is one of the biggest use cases of 5G. Luckily, more consumers are adopting 5G-ready devices:
In 2021, the global number of active smartphones reached 4.6 billion (+5.7% year on year), among which 15.4%, or 703.5 million, are 5G-ready. This represents an impressive year-on-year growth of +230.9% in the number of active 5G-ready smartphones worldwide.
The past year in general has been an eventful one for the mobile market.
“One of the most influential changes has been Apple’s App Tracking Transparency,” says Tianyi Gu, Newzoo’s Market Lead for Telecom & Mobile Services. “Key players in the mobile (gaming) ecosystem — including developers, publishers, ad tech firms, and app stores — all need to adapt to these new changes and the challenges they present.”
“Yet, the mobile market has led some of the biggest and brightest evolutions in gaming, and we are confident that the mobile market will continue to thrive under the new privacy norm.” What else is happening in the mobile market? Download this free report to find out.
2021 Esports Market Highlights
Gaming goes far beyond playing and social engagement. Viewership is also an essential part of the pastime. To that end, the esports and live-streaming markets have seen massive success in 2021.
And there are more esports fans in 2021 than ever before:
465.1 million people watch esports (up +6.7% year on year).
235.5 million of these are occasional viewers (watch less once a month).
The remaining 229.6 million are esports enthusiasts (once a month or more).
Many of these fans — especially the enthusiasts — can’t wait to return to physical esports events after the market moving to digital-only during the pandemic.
“The return to in-person events adds back one of the most thrilling factors for esports, the crowd arenas,” says Hugo Tristão, our Market Lead for Esports. “A live audience allows brands to connect to the fans more intimately, attracting more sponsorships; therefore, bringing more future revenue to the industry. Audiences have had a small taste of in-person events again this year, and they can’t wait for arena play to become the norm again.”
The market’s strong engagement has trickled into revenues, which grew despite in-person events not fully returning. Esports will generate more than $1.0 billion this year, driven mainly through sponsorship revenues:
Raising investments remains a vital part of the business model for teams and organizations. A milestone for esports was when FaZe Clan announced it would go public via SPAC at a $1 billion valuation, the first time an esports organization raised capital from the public market. Meanwhile, 100 Thieves raised $60 million in a Series C round. The company is now valued at $460 million.
Looking to rely less on raising capital, esports organizations are looking to diversify their revenue streams. Many are doing this via blockchain tech. We’ve seen many teams and organizers diving into NFTs to monetize esports’ increasing engagement further. One recent example includes FaZe Clan partnering with MoonPay for NFTs and crypto.
While the trajectory is unclear, NFTs may play a big part in esports’ future as teams continue to diversify their revenue streams. The technology is even more present within the metaverse:
“As 3D avatars will likely serve as one’s digital identity into virtual worlds, an alternate economy is likely to emerge,” says Mihai.” Instead of serving consumers (D2C), businesses and individuals will primarily cater to digital avatars (D2A — Direct-to-Avatar).”
Bringing things back to today, esports games are continuing to use smart strategies to grow their viewership numbers. A recent example includes Halo Infinite’s HCS. The base HCS prize pool will be $3 million but will be pushed further by crowdfunding (a small share of every Halo Infinite purchase will get added to the prize pool).
What’s more, the game’s publisher, 343, allows streamers (more on them shortly) to co-stream esports events. 343 has also leveraged Twitch drops (rewards for fans who watch a HCS stream). Halo esports has enjoyed a huge resurgence due to these tactics and the successful release of Halo Infinite.
Our esports data also shows that League of Legends and Free Fire amassed record-breaking viewership across their world championships, showcasing strong viewership for both longstanding esports titles and newer mobile ones. Game viewing, however, expands beyond professional competition. Looking at the general game-streaming audience numbers is even more impressive.
Game Live-Streaming Engagement in 2021
We are quickly closing in on 1 billion people watching live-streamed gaming content. 2021 marked a landmark year for live streaming, which broke all viewership records set the year before. Again, 2020 was a particularly big year for streaming due to the pandemic. But the audience continued to grow, +12.7% year on year to 747 million people in 2021.
Looking at each platform:
Twitch generated 23.3 billion hours of live viewership so far in 2021, an all-time high for the platform.
YouTube generated 4.5 billion hours so far in 2021.
Facebook Gaming, which we started tracking in April 2021, generated 3.5 billion hours from then until now.
One of the main takeaways from our 2021 live-streaming data and Consumer Insights is that many people who started watching streams during the early pandemic have stuck around. This helped the biggest platforms enjoy massive viewership boosts in 2021. But smaller platforms are also benefiting:
“Some viewers are shifting from big, established platforms towards smaller alternatives,” says Luca Chiovato, a Market Analyst at Newzoo focusing on the live streaming market. “Often, these smaller platforms put a heavier emphasis on localization, pushed by brand injections and activations. These services are tailored around specific gaming experiences (e.g., mobile gaming) and are designed to work best on those devices.”
Simply put, engagement is through the roof, and there is more competition in streaming than ever before, creating a better ecosystem for viewers and streamers alike.
As Senior Market Analyst Jordan Fragen puts it, “The platform wars have reignited with a vengeance. YouTube is attracting many Twitch streamers, as Google’s platform requires fewer hours of streaming per month, giving creators a better work/life balance and more opportunities to build their brand outside of streaming.”
In terms of hours watched, Twitch remains the clear market leader in the West and continues to innovate beyond games. Across the board, more creators have partnered with sports leagues and brands to bring even more users to Twitch. For example, Brazilian streamer Gaules partnered with the NBA to stream basketball games to his followers.
And this is just the beginning. The coming months and years will bring even more innovation:
“Going into the next year, we expect the engagement with live-streaming platforms to keep growing as creators and platforms continue to connect to and resonate with their communities. Weare excited to see in which new ways the market will take shape,” said Luca. Want to learn more about esports and streaming. Hugo, Jordan, and Luca are always working hard on our Global Esports Market & Live Streaming Report subscription, which some of the biggest brands and games companies are using to navigate both markets.
What’s Next for Games and Esports?
In the end, games, esports, and streaming had a great 2021. But the future’s even brighter.
In 2024:
The global games market will generate revenues of $218.8 billion.
Mobile games alone will generate $116.4 billion via consumer spending.
Cloud gaming will generate $6.5 billion.
Esports will generate $1.6 billion.
And engagement across all these sectors will continue to grow.
But what about the trends powering the revenues and engagement? We’ll be publishing 2022 Trends to Watch articles for these markets in the coming weeks and months. For now, reach out to [email protected] if you’d like us to help you navigate (mobile) games, streaming, or esports. | https://medium.com/@newzoohq/the-games-market-and-beyond-in-2021-the-year-in-numbers-38206842216 | [] | 2021-12-28 14:27:41.543000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Esport', 'Videogames', 'Gamer', 'Games'] |
You are not alone! (TW sexual assault) | In March of this past year my boyfriend at the time sexually assaulted me. We had only been dating for less than a mouth but I trusted him, I trusted that everything would be ok when his sister left for 30 minutes and we were alone at his house. I was wrong everything was not ok. We were in his living room watching music videos seeing as we both loved music when all of the sudden his dog bandit started barking from his room where he stayed because he didn’t get along with the other two dogs. I looked at my boyfriend and he asked if I would come with him to calm him down I agreed because I loved his dogs and loved seeing them. We got up and let the other two outside then I followed him to his room and sat down in front of bandit talking to him and petting him calming him down then I got a notification on my phone so I sat down on his bed, and this was where I’m assuming he thought it was an invitation to touch my body. I paid him no mind when he sat down next to me and kept getting closer until he was kissing my neck and when I moved away telling him that I “wasn’t in the mood” he stopped then a few seconds later pushed me on my stomach and started feeling up the back of my thighs and I thought to myself why isn’t he listening, I thought he would just stop there and be done but I was wrong yet again. I was so uncomfortable but I didn’t want to make it obvious or make him feel bad so I was frozen and I pretended to be on my phone until I heard him moving behind me. He had pulled down his pants and taken his penis out then roughly and abruptly started pulling my pants down then my underwear while I was still laying on my stomach. It finally clicked in my head what was about to happen so I told him no I don’t want to do anything i told him stop I told him it wasn’t ok and more while trying to move away from him but at this point he had sat on the back of my thighs and put his hand on my shoulders while rubbing himself on me. This when on for what felt like forever and I never stopped telling him to stop I was crying. I finally kicked him off me and pulled my underwear and pants back up and went into his bathroom and locked the door and cried until he came into the bathroom from another entrance I didn’t know about and argued with me yelling at me for how I acted towards him telling me I was a tease. I was wearing a baggy t-shirt and jeans that were not even tight NOT THAT MY CHOICE OF CLOTHS MATTER! Please tell me how was I a tease? Tell me what made you think I wanted to have sex with you? Was it because I came over to your house? Was it because I sat by you on your couch? Was it because I said your sister could leave us alone for 30 minutes? Was it because I gave you an innocent heart felt kiss? Was it because I went to your room to see your dog? Was it because I sat on your bed? Could you not hear me crying underneath you? Could you not understand me clearly when I said no? Here let me make it more clear for you NO MEANS NO. STOP MEANS STOP. It is my body and it is my choice it yours you don’t get to decide when I have sex or when you can touch me that is mine and my choice only.
He ended the relationship about two weeks later, yeah I stayed after that because I thought it was an accident I didn’t understand what happened. I didn’t think that was sexual assault. I thought he loved me. I was so naive and I look back and I just want to scream at myself for feeling like it was my fault because it wasn’t. And it’s no one else’s fault who has experienced something like this. No one deserves this. See I got lucky, and I got away before he could take anything that I couldn’t get back. Sure he took my trust in boys and my hope for a good relationship and the want to be touched by someone he took that all away but I got it back slowly over time I got through it and I healed, and you can to.
Thank you so much for reading my story I felt like I was ready to share and why not to millions of people on the internet right? Haha. Please tell someone that you trust if this has happened to you, talk to someone you trust it’ll help you get through it faster if you have a support system.
Follow for more!❤️ | https://medium.com/@zbafghc/you-are-not-alone-tw-sexual-assault-1474de71637c | ['Maddy Campbell'] | 2020-12-18 08:23:06.616000+00:00 | ['Youre Not Alone', 'Mental Health', 'Sexual Assault', 'Toxic Relationships', 'Teenagers'] |
“Dad Did a Horrible Thing… but Dad’s been forgiven” | Life after murder for Manson Family killer Tex Watson
On September 11th, Charles ‘Tex’ Watson lost his fight against extradition and was flown to Los Angeles. Immediately upon landing in California, Tex refused to eat. He claimed that the guards beat him for his hunger strike, but he kept at it. On September 18th, during the trial for Manson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, Tex was brought into court so that one of the witnesses, biker Danny DeCarlo, could identify Watson.
Charles Watson during his hunger strike
“Watson had finally been returned to California… after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black refused to grant him a further stay of extradition. Sergeants Sartuchi and Gutierrez, who accompanied Watson on the flight, said he spoke little, mostly staring vacantly into space. He had lost about thirty pounds during his confinement, most of it during the last two months, when it became obvious his return to Los Angeles was imminent.” — Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry ©1974 W.W. Norton & Company
Tex continued his hunger strike, dwindling to 110 pounds. Someone intervened and he was force-fed, by tube. Nearly a year later, on August 24, 1971, he was finally brought to trial. Bugliosi was again lead prosecutor.
“In an obvious attempt to project a college-boy image, Watson dressed very conservatively in court — short hair, shirt and tie, blue blazer, slacks. But he still looked strange. His eyes were glassy, and never seemed to focus. He reacted not at all to the damning testimony of such witnesses as Linda Kasabian, Paul Watkins, Brooks Poston, and Dianne Lake. And his mouth was always slightly gaping, giving him the appearance of being mentally retarded. Taking the stand on direct examination by the defense, Tex played the part of Manson’s abject slave. He admitted shooting or stabbing six of the Tate-LaBianca victims but denied stabbing Sharon Tate. Everything which showed either premeditation or deliberation he put on Manson or the girls. My cross-examination so shook Tex that he often forgot he was supposed to be playing the idiot. By the time I’d finished, it was obvious to the jury that he was in complete command of his mental faculties and probably always had been.” — Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry ©1974 W.W. Norton & Company
Watson on his way into court
Eventually, Bugliosi got Watson to admit that he stabbed Sharon. But he was also asked by Leslie’s counsel to tell the truth about her actions — that she stabbed Rosemary LaBianca after Tex killed the woman, only because he ordered her to do so. Watson refused to answer. In prison, he allegedly told a fellow inmate,
“If I brought that kind of attention down on me, I’d never get out. No way am I going to blow my chance to get out just to testify in Leslie Van Houten’s behalf.” — Charles “Chet” Starkey quoted in Headquarters Detective magazine ©March 1978
On October 12th, 1971, Charles ‘Tex’ Watson was convicted for the murders of the LaBianca’s, for Sharon Tate, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring and Stephen Parent. He was sentenced to death and sent to the same place as Charles Manson, San Quentin. That death sentence was overturned just months later, when the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty, converting the sentences of Watson and the other convicted members of the Manson Family, to life in prison — with the possibility of parole.
Watson was then moved to the California Men’s Colony, in San Luis Obispo. With little to occupy his time other than his thoughts, he turned to books. One very familiar book, in fact:
“In 1974, the book Helter Skelter arrived at the prison library. As I read about Wilfred Parent going to the morgue to identify his son Steve and returning home, his wife in hysterics, both putting their three kids in bed with them, holding each other and crying themselves to sleep, I broke. I could have turned to a psychiatrist or to drugs with the pain, but the Lord had Christians coming from all directions to reach out to me. They didn’t know what was troubling me, but God did, and He sent them to comfort me.” — Manson’s Right Hand Man by Charles Watson ©2003 Abounding Love Publishers
His need for salvation then drove him to read the Bible.
“I started reading the Bible my mother had sent — sometimes the Psalms, sometimes verses I’d memorized long ago as a child in the Copeville Methodist Church. Often I’d just open the black book at random. I understood very little of what I read, but that didn’t seem to matter. The words washed over me like soothing water; they made me feel at peace. They were the place of stillness in my world of constant light and noise… as I read now, the stories became something more than fairy tales about men in bathrobes. It was nothing I could put words to, hardly even a feeling, far less than belief…Perhaps the name for it was hope.” — Will You Die For Me? by Charles Watson and Chaplain Ray ©1978 Fleming H. Revell
Charles Watson’s faith led him to start a prison ministry, and then to co-author his first book, a memoir about his life with the Manson Family and the murders he committed. The book ended with an explanation that Watson had surrendered to Jesus Christ, whom he believed had redeemed him. A 20-year old Norwegian woman living in San Luis Obispo was impressed with Charles’ story and began writing to him. Watson married that woman, Kristen Svege, in September 1979.
Watson’s wedding day in 1979
According to his website,
“He rejects ‘legalistic Christianity,’ where people are led to believe they can earn their salvation through their own good works, because right-standing with God is possible only through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. He lives every day reaching out to unbelievers with the grace of God and prays with believers to understand their awesome inheritance obtained through their union with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.” — Abounding Love Ministries
Watson later told a parole board,
“My children… wanted to know why I was here… I put it to them in a way that a six-year-old could understand, that dad did a horrible thing in the late ’60s and that he’s now suffering the consequences… but daddy’s been forgiven by God, you know, through Christ” — Charles Watson, from his 2016 parole hearing
Yet, he has never admitted his role in the murder of Donald ‘Shorty’ Shea. Watson acknowledges killing the Tate/LaBianca victims but not Shea’s death, and he has alternately blamed Charlie, drugs, and Satan himself, for his motives. It’s probably easier than admitting that Charles Watson is just a bad, bad dude. Remember: Tex had at least three years of being a shitty frat asshole, petty thief, drug dealer and scam artist long before he met Manson.
Tex and his wife were permitted conjugal visits in the early years of their marriage, allowing Mrs. Watson to conceive four children (the eldest, a daughter, was born in 1989). Conjugal visits were a particularly sore subject with Doris Tate. She emerged from her years-long freefall into depression following the deaths of her daughter and unborn grandson, to become an outspoken victims’ rights activist.
Doris showed up to parole hearings and demanded justice for her family and the families of other Manson Family victims. She also successfully lobbied the Governor’s office to rescind conjugal rights for those serving life for murder.
In 1986, Suzan LaBerge, daughter of Rosemary LaBianca, anonymously wrote to Watson. She’d had a nervous breakdown after the murders of her parents. Now married with children, she credited her recovery to Christ — she, too, was born-again. After corresponding secretly for a year, Suzan visited Tex at the California Men’s Colony, near San Luis Obispo. It didn’t take long for her to become convinced of Watson’s remorse, whereby she told him who she really was. Suzan vowed to help his parole efforts. She informed the parole board in 1990 that,
“During our visit, I shared the forgiveness I felt toward him and I felt very certain that Charles was deeply remorseful for what he had done.” — Suzan LaBerge, quoted in “The Long, Chilling Shadow of Manson” by Richard C. Paddock, © August 06, 1994 Los Angeles Times
When Doris Tate saw Suzan show up at Watson’s parole hearing and defend the sonofabitch, she tore into her. Doris reportedly walked out of that hearing and in the parking lot, within the hearing of several witnesses, yelled to LaBerge, “You are one STUPID SHIT!”
Doris Tate holds a photograph of her daughter Sharon, murdered by Charles Watson
Charles Watson’s behavior in prison continues to be self-serving and manipulative. He and his wife ran a decades-long scam for state benefits (feeding his children at the expense of California taxpayers), making erroneous fiduciary claims on tax returns, and running a prison ministry that isolated Watson from the brunt of what should be his life-in-prison experience.
Manson may have manipulated and controlled the women who killed on his behalf, but Tex Watson was never under Charlie’s spell or his control. If Charles ‘Tex’ Watson said he was the Devil at Cielo Drive, it’s because he wanted to be the Devil. What he did, he did of his own free will.
In 1993, Watson was transferred from the Men’s Colony to Mule Creek State Prison, in Ione, California near Sacramento. Officials at the Men’s Colony were upset at the way that Watson had commandeered the warden’s office for his personal ministry. In the early 90’s while at Mule Creek, psychiatric reports for Watson deemed him ‘a walking time bomb’ and claimed he had a lot of repressed hostility and was still a threat to society.
A recent mugshot of Watson
In 2013, the public learned that the LAPD had obtained audio tapes of Watson describing his crimes to his attorney ahead of his 1971 trial. The tapes were confiscated during bankruptcy proceedings for Watson’s former attorney, Bill Boyd. Boyd died in 2009 and the tapes were held at his Fort Worth law firm. When the firm went bankrupt in 2012, the tapes were acquired by the trustee. The LAPD’s Homicide Division appealed to the court to gain access to those tapes.
In April 2013, a U.S. District judge ruled in the LAPD’s favor. The tapes were flown to California, where they were transcribed. Eventually, the associated Press broke the story. The LAPD were quoted but refused to comment on what was said in the recordings.
After the article came out, the LAPD called Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra, and Jay Sebring’s nephew, Anthony DiMaria. They told Tate and DiMaria about the existence of the tapes and said they wanted to share what was recorded on them. But at a closed door meeting at LAPD headquarters, Tate and DiMaria were informed that nothing relevant was on the recordings. Nothing implicating the Manson Family in other murders or told a different story than the one Watson had told for the past four-plus decades. Nor would the victims’ families be permitted to hear the tapes.
But at the end of that meeting, Debra told the DDA that she might file a Public Records Act request, and that’s when the LAPD dropped a bomb:
“There was, in fact, something new on the tapes, they were told, something that might ‘jeopardize’ the convictions of several Family members… they finally conceded that Watson ‘minimized the involvement’ of the women in the murders.” — “The Tale of the Manson Tapes” by Tom O’Neill ©September 2014 Medium.com
Debra Tate never filed that record request, but in the fall of 2013, the AP and Los Angeles Times both did and were denied. The reason given was that the tapes are exempt from disclosure, because they were part of some ongoing investigation. We have no idea what that might mean.
This author has no way of knowing what is on those recordings, or why attorneys for Leslie Van Houten were also unsuccessful in gaining access to the tapes on behalf of their client. It is unclear what they think might be in those recordings. But there’s been speculation that Watson might have talked about just how much the women were under Manson’s control — which could weigh favorably upon Van Houten’s chances of parole. Yet, the attempt by her legal team to obtain those recordings only impeded her parole process — the 2016 board complained that if she were really remorseful, she wouldn’t still be trying to ‘blame’ Manson or anyone else.
In 2003, Kristen Watson divorced her husband (she left him for a man she met at church). She had homeschooled their children, to protect them from the public. Kristen continues to live in California, now remarried. Their kids are grown, and little is known about them. They are of college age, and at least one has served time in the U.S. military.
When asked about his future plans, Charles Watson has stated that he wants to move to Texas and become a televangelist. His prison ministry still exists although he has no formal office anymore. Today, the Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego where he has served since 2017 has assigned Tex a more appropriate role as a janitor.
It’s a damn good deal for a man that brutally slaughtered several innocent human beings and still hasn’t told the whole truth.
Charles Watson’s next parole hearing is scheduled for 2021. | https://medium.com/@themansonfamily-mtts/dad-did-a-horrible-thing-but-dads-been-forgiven-a89ebcfc7b55 | ['H. Allegra Lansing'] | 2020-11-30 20:31:06.150000+00:00 | ['Prison', 'Manson Murders', 'True Crime', 'Christianity'] |
About Bitcoin — Steemit. Satoshi Nakamoto released a whitepaper… | Satoshi Nakamoto released a whitepaper (a document issued with new blockchain projects) Bitcoin: a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System in 2008. Nakamoto’s true identity is still unknown but he described a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.
Peer-to-Peer, also known as P2P is computers acting as a network. The Blockchain technology and Bitcoin are two different things. Blockchain developed over the last decade into one of the biggest technologies and have the potential to impact every industry like Finance, Real Estate, and even the Banking Sector.
In 2009, shortly after Nakamoto’s whitepaper was published, it was offered to the open source community. Open source refers to a computer program in which the source code is available to the public for use of the modification and designing of the program, in this case, the Blockchain and Bitcoin. The programmers can improve upon the source code and share it with each other. In Bitcoin’s case the program source code was made available for any parties for modification and also freely available to users.
Open source in cryptocurrency is essential for building trust and safety into blockchain networks,it is transparent and decentralized.
Bitcoins are generated by a process of mining as a reward by the network. Miners are individuals which enter the Bitcoin economy. Mining creates Bitcoins through a competitive and decentralized process. These individuals are then rewarded by Bitcoins which they then can exchange for other currencies, products, and services.
Bitcoin is a big electronic system which is on the blockchain. Transactions are recorded and verified. The Bitcoin system is considered the first blockchain. People believe it will revolutionize money, government and beyond. Anyone can join Bitcoin — this is for the public.
In time of writing Bitcoin is now trading for $9 303,81 (17.06.2019)
About the Author
Pieter Lategan is the founder of Techno Magazine. He also blogs for the Free Online Magazine. He focuses on the business side of blockchain technology. He writes about businesses which will improve with blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and dApps. | https://medium.com/@Cryptoc69307391/about-bitcoin-steemit-dc3a2a1c6842 | ['Techno Magazine'] | 2019-06-17 15:44:09.880000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin Wallet', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoincash', 'Bitcoin Mining'] |
Floating in Space (#1) | Floating in Space (#1)
I should start recording my interesting thoughts when I’m high on here, instead of on my personal Samsung notes like I recently started about a month ago. My last poem “brb.” was actually just one of my thoughts that I formatted and fixed up a little bit. | https://medium.com/@loverboyinspace/floating-in-space-1-73748d2f93d0 | ['Lover Boy In Space'] | 2021-01-17 21:48:39.991000+00:00 | ['Weed', 'Man On The Moon', 'Journal', 'Curiosity', 'Marijuana'] |
「洋蔥韓國」再讀感(下) - 大財團小總統 | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/rabbitfin/onion-korea-69211313df58 | [] | 2018-08-08 06:36:49.982000+00:00 | ['韓國財團', '韓國調薪', 'Reading', '吳祥輝', 'Medium'] |
Mike Montgomery’s Long Road to Kansas City | Mike Montgomery’s Long Road to Kansas City
Eight years after being part of the “best prospect class” ever, Mike Montgomery is back with the Royals and hoping to lead the next generation of Kansas City prospects Nick Kappel Follow Sep 14, 2019 · 6 min read
This story is featured in Issue 6 of Royals Baseball Insider and is available for free to all fans who attend any game during the homestand at Kauffman Stadium from Sept. 13–15, 2019.
It was in 2011 when Baseball America dubbed the Royals’ farm system “the best prospect class anyone has ever seen.” The group was headlined by a record-setting nine Royals prospects in the publication’s annual top-100 list.
Position players Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Wil Myers all ranked among the top-10 prospects in baseball, but the Royals also boasted an embarrassment of young pitching prospects, including Mike Montgomery, Danny Duffy and Jake Odorizzi, among others.
The future in Kansas City was bright.
Three years later, the Royals revived baseball in Kansas City with a stunning playoff run that led to their first American League pennant since 1985. They returned to the World Series the following season, and won their second championship in franchise history.
Montgomery watched the title-clinching game at home.
Once thought to be a key cog on the next contending team in Kansas City, Montgomery was traded to Tampa Bay following the 2012 season in a deal that was widely regarded as the turning point for the franchise.
One of the players he was traded for was Wade Davis, who recorded the final out in the championship-clinching game in 2015. Montgomery recalls the bittersweet feeling that came over him as he watched Davis embrace with his former teammates.
“Why wasn’t that me?” he thought.
By way of trade to Seattle earlier that season, Montgomery made his Major League debut in 2015. He threw back-to-back shutouts in his fifth and sixth career starts, the first of which came vs. Kansas City, but he ended the season in the minors.
Meanwhile, his former Royals teammates — Hosmer, Moustakas and Duffy among them — were celebrating the game’s ultimate achievement.
“I was super thrilled for those guys,” he said. “I never thought I’d be experiencing the same thing a year later.”
But that’s exactly what happened, thanks to another trade — the third of his career. This time, it was the Chicago Cubs requesting his services. He joined the National League Central-leading Cubs in late July and posted a 2.82 ERA in 17 regular season appearances.
On November 2, exactly one year and one day after the Royals won the World Series, Montgomery got to play the part of Wade Davis, recording the final out in Game 7 of one of the most thrilling World Series in recent memory.
It clinched the Cubs’ first World Series in 108 years, captivating a baseball-hungry city with a title that several generations of fans had long awaited.
Montgomery admits now that, while winning the World Series was the most exciting moment of his career, he didn’t recognize the full scale of what had been accomplished.
“I didn’t know much about The Curse or the history of the team,” he said. “I was just happy to be there. I had a good stretch run in the playoffs, and then afterward you realize the significance of it.”
Montgomery settled in with the Cubs the following season, posting a 3.38 ERA in a career-high 130.2 innings between 30 relief appearances and 14 starts. He pitched effectively again in 2018, especially after moving to the starting rotation in late May, pitching to a 3.65 ERA over his last 20 outings, a career-high 19 of which were starts.
Despite his strong showing as a starter, he began this season in the bullpen, where he struggled before a stint on the Injured List sidelined him for more than a month. He returned in May, all the while expressing his desire to pitch in a starting role. But the Cubs kept him in the bullpen.
Following a Cubs loss in mid-July, manager Joe Maddon called Montgomery into his office. More than a decade after he was drafted, the now-30-year-old was being traded back to Kansas City.
“There was a lot of emotion because I was [with the Cubs] three and a half years and had a lot of success,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about ever coming back [to Kansas City]. But when I did hear the news of it, that little excitement came back. I know a lot of people here. You know when you’re drafted by a team, it’s always a special place for you.”
Part of that excitement was in being reunited with some of his former teammates, including Duffy, who Montgomery called shortly after he found out about the trade. Duffy was drafted by the Royals one year before Montgomery, and the two advanced throughout the minors together prior to the 2012 trade with Tampa Bay.
“I always thought we were going to pitch in the show together,” Duffy said. “I just didn’t think it would be a decade after I would’ve thought.”
The trade was a great fit for Montgomery and the Royals in a baseball sense, as the club can provide him an opportunity to pitch in a starting role.
After pitching to a 5.67 ERA in 20 relief appearances with the Cubs this season, the Royals implemented a plan to stretch him out upon his arrival to Kansas City. He threw just 45 pitches in his first start at Cleveland, and allowed five runs in 2.0 innings.
But as Montgomery’s pitch count rose over his next five starts, he began to show the talent Kansas City saw in him when they selected him out of Santa Clarita, California’s William S. Hart High School in 2008.
The left hander posted a 2.30 ERA over those five starts, including a career-high 12 strikeouts over 7.0 scoreless innings on August 10 in Detroit. He allowed just four hits and walked none in a 7–0 win, becoming just the third Royal to record 12 strikeouts and no walks in a game, joining Zack Greinke and Luke Hochevar.
The win was his first as a Royal, 11 years after he was drafted by the organization.
“I probably wouldn’t have believe it would take this long,” Montgomery said after that game. “I’ve had a lot of different experiences since I was last a Royal. To get my first win for the Royals feels good, and to do it this way with a career-high in strikeouts makes it even sweeter.”
Montgomery remains under team control for two seasons after this one, and hopes to continue to solidify his position in the Royals’ starting rotation.
Duffy, who is under contract through the 2021 season, has set his sights even higher.
“[Montgomery] was able to do something that literally every young pitcher dreams about doing, that’s throwing the last pitch of the World Series,” he said. “I hope that we can have something similar to that in the not too distant future.” | https://royals.mlblogs.com/mike-montgomerys-long-road-to-kansas-city-ba86b229689f | ['Nick Kappel'] | 2019-09-14 17:10:30.957000+00:00 | ['Kansas City Royals', 'Sports', 'Royals Baseball Insider', 'MLB', 'Mike Montgomery'] |
Outrage Fatigue Is the Strategy | Outrage Fatigue Is the Strategy
Let’s not acquiesce by exhaustion
All rights © Aarón Blanco Tejedor. Utö, Finland.
The Democrats say the Republicans no longer have a platform. But if there’s one thing the Trump administration and the Trump family consistently excel at it’s outrage fatigue. Outrage is their strategy and their 2020 platform. Our society has a famously short attention span but the news cycle has shortened and accelerated even more.
Remember that famous episode of I Love Lucy? With the chocolates speeding up on the assembly line?
2020 is like that. But instead of bite-sized chocolates, it’s crises. We just can’t keep up.
Every talk show, every pundit panel and all of print media could’ve spent Tuesday night through Friday morning deconstructing the debate — the flagrant untruths, the old-school bullying, the boorish disregard for parliamentary procedure and basic turn-taking, and the unconscionable mocking of Biden’s deceased son only to move on his son recovering from addiction.
This was no town hall between two great orators.
As one commenter stammered afterward, “that was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”
But the crises come at us too fast to process each one. Hurtling through 2020 allows precious little time to stop and contemplate each episode in the chaotic spectacle of disaster entertainment — half-schadenfreude, part echo chamber— all-American harbinger of our own implosion.
Empires always fail.
Like throwing a firecracker out a car window you forgot to roll down first, I don’t know if we’re the firecracker, the car or the Darwin Award nominee. But one thing’s for sure — we’re all losing.
In the movie Hereafter, Cécile de France’s character almost dies in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Suddenly we are underwater with her. Cars and trees and people and tables whoosh around her as the current hurtles every tangled thing farther inland. As she is pulled with the raging waters she rests against a downed telephone pole only to have a wayward floating car slam into her and knock her unconscious.
That’s what 2020 feels like. We’ve been swirling underwater while kitchen sinks and cars and awnings and debris hurtle around us. We are hypervigilant. We are constantly dodging random chaos because at any moment we could get knocked out by a bistro table or a cow or a lamppost. Any ridiculous absurdity is possible. And the long-distance sprint keeps us perpetually distracted and exhausted.
It’s like running through the airport when you find out your departure changed to another terminal. An hour earlier. To another airline altogether. Nothing makes sense but there’s no time to complain before we’re confronted with the next crisis.
Just run.
Because the Trumps can cram more clowns into one single clown car than anyone. Believe me. You’ve never seen so many clowns in a clown car.
In the same week that Eric accidentally came out, or something, Donald’s tax returns were finally released, revealing both that the “billionaire” has had no clothes on and that he had paid less in taxes in ten years than many Americans do every month.
Then the end-of-the-week slip-in we’ve come to count on. But this time it was the bombshell we simultaneously knew was inevitable but somehow also weren’t expecting to ever become public knowledge.
The President and the First Lady both tested positive for Covid. The internet immediately surged with speculation.
He’s faking it only to come back out days from now, easily cured of the no-big-deal flu the libtards have been exaggerating just to tank the economy.
Or, he’s downplaying it, jeopardizing the safety of everyone around him, just so he doesn’t have to fall on his sword.
Within days we are no longer talking about the President of the United States committing decades of tax fraud, unbolting mailboxes, voter suppression, police brutality, Breonna Taylor’s killers going unpunished or the forest fires raging up and down the West Coast.
“Yesterday, after an 18-month investigation, the NYT revealed the President of the United States committed hundreds of millions of dollars of tax fraud- possibly one of the biggest scandals in the history of the Presidency — and 24 hours later we’re no longer talking about it.” — Scott Gilmore
The strategy is overwhelm. If we’re outraged about everything we can’t be effective about anything. He’s crop-dusting us with trauma every televised opportunity he can. And when he’s not on camera he’s shitstigating on Twitter.
After six months of downplaying the coronavirus, ridiculing anyone who took the contagion seriously and deliberately sowing disinformation and discord, he brought a deadly disease into an enclosed space and yelled for almost two hours.
If he is actually infected, he knew he could infect his opponent and everyone else on the production crew. But the impunity is the point. “I’m-above-the-rules” reinforces his insatiable need for superiority.
Exploiting the power differential of an abusive parent or partner and the relentless entitlement of a spoiled child, he is wearing us down.
Acquiescence by exhaustion is not a noble campaign strategy. It kicks integrity out of the moving vehicle, it lacks political savvy or import. But we are mere mortals, afraid of losing our jobs, many have already lost their jobs, 44 million Americans do not have health insurance, 38 million more have inadequate insurance¹ — in a country where the single greatest cause of personal bankruptcy is an unforeseen medical crisis.
The strategy is to use each crisis to distract us from the last. Let’s hope this flaming carousel of horrors isn’t working.
Vote. | https://medium.com/with-liberty/outrage-fatigue-is-the-strategy-46122432e112 | ['Heather M. Edwards'] | 2020-12-11 19:55:59.910000+00:00 | ['Medium', 'Politics', 'Culture', 'Campaign', 'Elections'] |
Fantastic article. | Fantastic article. It strikes me as tragic that we have come to reward a company for selling products at no profit. This isn’t competition. Its the very worst form of predatory corporate behavior that ruins innovation by making everyone subservient to a no profit retail platform — after all you simply can’t run companies at a loss like Amazon has. At the same time — if we are going to allow Amazon to corrupt American commerce then they deserve a Shopify/FedEx competitor. Shopify could easily lure merchants over by giving them slightly better terms if they LEAVE Amazon (similar to Amazon forbidding merchants from shipping using FedEx) and offering a proof that they will never compete against any seller on their platform with Shopify made product. This would rapidly induce merchants to abandon Amazon, secure their product and put crushing pressure on a pernicious firm that has exploited every loophole in the anti-trust playbook. May SHOP and FedEx merge amicably and give Amazon a run for their money [literally!]. | https://medium.com/@lost-in-translation/fantastic-article-d03d1506139d | [] | 2020-12-25 01:28:26.908000+00:00 | ['Antitrust', 'Investing', 'Fedex', 'Amazon', 'Shopify'] |
Migrating from Backbone.js to React.js without losing it | In this article I will share our experience as a team of migrating from old code and libraries to something new and more effective.
Enough said.
My name is Oleksandr Heiets and I’m a FE developer at Preply.com.
Contents:
Our story ❤
Developing a business mindset. Literally.
Migrating to React.js
How does it technically work
Life’s a b**** (Problems)
Key takeaways
Our story ❤
Back in the early 2013, when we’ve started a project that is now known as Preply.com, Backbone.js was one of the most popular frameworks.
Low entrance barrier and simplicity were the key factors for initial decision to go with Backbone.js. The main benefit it’s brought to Preply, however, was the MVC pattern structure as well as the possibility to avoid the so-called “spaghetti code” often produced by teams that only work with vanilla JS and JQuery.
As you can see from Google Trends analysis below, Backbone.js was even more popular then Angular and React (clearly, ’cause they weren’t yet invented in 2013).
But, as time went by, less and less websites were supporting it and obviously the job market for Backbone developers has completely shrunk. 😐
There’s been only one engineer working on our initial Backbone.js code that has quickly turned into legacy.
When we started analyzing whether to stick with Backbone or choose a different framework, we have found a few issues we were not happy about from the technical point of view:
DOM updates are hard: A common pattern in Backbone is to listen to a variety of DOM events (click, change, etc.) and when fired, manually update the DOM using jQuery to hide and show different elements. Views aren’t reusable: compared to React.js component, Backbone Views are much harder to reuse. They sometimes become “zombies” and often rely on rendering engines (e.g. Underscore or Mustache) which may constraint the functionality. Performance considerations: in complex views Backbone.js wasn’t able to update parts of the DOM compared to “shadow DOM” concept implemented in React. React, on the other hand, could provide great performance as well as a fully manage rendering lifecycle for the components;
Suddenly, React.js became the new rising star ⭐️ :
Developing a business mindset. Literally.
One of the reasons for choosing a different framework was the fact that Backbone.js code wasn’t reusable, unlike the React.js components. With React.js we could create one universal components with approved design and use it in many places on our website. This would drastically decrease the developing time for our future business tasks.
Backbone.js is really hard to scale and maintain, with no possibility of test coverage that was making the business suffer from continuous code mistakes.
From the hiring side we’ve also noticed that in the dynamic FE world it is rather hard to find good Backbone developers who want to grow as Backbone developers in the age of React/Vue hype. As we planned to grow our technical team, recruiting was very important part of decision making process.
Another factor was a strong ecosystem that includes integration with GraphQL via Apollo, Storybook, ability to experiment with cross-platform using React Native and other awesome things.
New technologies certainly attract talent to join the company since they allow to get creative with new approaches and use the latest programming tools.
Truth be told, our aim is to stop using Backbone.js and jQuery but the question is: how to do it in the smoothest way?
Migrating to React.js
Rewriting all the web pages from the scratch is an extremely time-consuming decision that would negatively affect the entire business since less time would be spend on developing new features and discovering profit frontiers.
With this in mind, we decided to write all the new features on React.js and try to import them into our Backbone code. Sometimes there’s time to rewrite the existing components to React.js but it, frankly speaking, it doesn’t happen very often ‘cause we do focus on business in the first place.
Imported React components into Backbone environment
As soon as we took the decision to begin the process of migrating from Backbone.js, we started improving lots of other things along our way.
Style-wise we have transitioned from less to styled components. We indeed did have some problems with Less code: our Less files contained thousands lines of code, therefore they were really hard to read. Another problem was that our Less files had a global CSS rules scope and sometimes we had to place !important in order to override single CSS rule. Styled components allowed to create global ones that are simple and easy to use and work well with Preply design system that comes with strict rules regarding colors, spaces, fonts etc.
We’ve also switched from Javascript to Typescript because it brings so many new useful features, prevents bugs and makes the code simple to read, understand and develop according to strict type rules.
In addition to the above, we have started using GraphQL in all of our features because apollo client made the communication between front-end and back-end so much easier. We used Redux for storing our server data but now it’s only used for UI global state.
Sounds pretty optimistic, doesn’t it?
How does it technically work
Currently, we’ve got 2 separate folders for javascript code in our codebase, js and js-webpack:
List of folders
“js” folder includes old javascript (ES5) built by gulp, while “js-webpack” folder is built by webpack. At the time of writing this article, we have 73% of javascript code in old js folder and 27% in new js folder.
There is a list of our front-end libraries which include Backbone.js, jQuery, Moment.js, Underscore and, of course, React.
Our libraries and frameworks according to wappalyzer
As you can see, we have a clear seperation of the new and old code by folders. It seem like there is no option to use React.js in the old code folder. But not everything is what it seems though: a React component is actually just a function that can be set as a first argument in ReactDOM.render with dom element as second argument.
This is how it actually works: we export new components as functions to create React components, import them in some specific Backbone code and use ReactDOM.render to render it!
Lets consider “view course button” component. We use this component in each single lead (bunch tutor/student). Components code is separated from a single bundle. Have a look:
Here’s a component code:
Here we call ReactDOM.render with React.createElement (view course component, props) and DOM element as second argument:
We use Backbone model and import specific fields into React environment as properties and get our React components in Backbone code.
Life is a b**** (Problems)
It sounds pretty simple but actually there are so many subtleties here. The first problem can be a memory leak: we use ReactDOM.render very often and if we forget to clean DOM and memory, the user might feel it stronger than us.
Here’s the rule of thumb:
keep your DOM tree tidy and use ReactDOM.unmountComponentAtNode every time before rendering components to avoid memory leak and some unexpected situations
We had a case when React component was imported to the wrong place in Backbone.js and did server request to fetch flags every time the user message is rendered. If the user with huge amount of messages enters the messaging page, there were just too many requests.
Check this out:
‘/chat/flags/’ called every time before react element was imported into backbone code to render
Scary, right? No worries, we’ve fixed this immediately. Lesson learned:
keep your code clean and consider all the possible scenarios.
Keep your codebase tidy even if it is legacy
One more interesting thing is that if you use new technology for your feature, you still need to invent some other ways to get some information from your new BE inside your old code. Here is an example of GraphQl request in ES5. As you can see, it is just a post request with some specific body so you can use GraphQl in ES5 even without React and Apollo client.
Some good voodoo magic
Key takeaways
We are still in the process of migrating, of course, and the finish line is pretty far away, though the best thing about this is the amount of things we have already learned and continue learning day by day.
Here are our key takeaways:
You can start writing 0 Backbone.js and 100% React code for new features
Pay attention to place, where you render React components, unmount it when you have to and try not to overcomplicate the process
Double check everything, write tests for each component to prevent possible issues
Process aligned with the business attracts new awesome talent
more to come… :) Stay tuned! | https://medium.com/preply-engineering/migrating-from-backbone-js-to-react-js-without-losing-it-a8b383a102fe | ['Oleksandr Heiets'] | 2018-09-19 11:54:03.229000+00:00 | ['Migration', 'React', 'Frontend', 'Webpack', 'Backbonejs'] |
We’ve been here: Selections from 6+ years of anti-racist internet reading | Recognizing and responding to racism is a journey. If you find yourself in a dramatically different place from where you were in 2014, or 2016, or 2 months ago — ready now to grapple with more ideas and activisms — you might have missed some of the best writing on race and racism.
(By “Best” I mean, subjectively, writing that was meaningful to me. Writing that taught me things I needed to know, or helped me understand what I already knew, or was real Art in the sense of communicating reality by bringing me to a new emotional place). | https://medium.com/on-race-isms/weve-been-here-selections-from-6-years-of-anti-racist-internet-reading-f5f204bc1b5a | ['Jess Brooks'] | 2020-06-20 09:23:47.079000+00:00 | ['Activism', 'Racism'] |
America is in the Mind; Philippines is in the Heart | 01 Generational friction
“Dad, what do you think it means to be a Filipino American man?”
I’m not sure what prompted me to text my dad this question. But around the time I asked it, I had moved from Greenwich, CT, where 70% of the population is White and 7%, Asian to Baltimore, MD where 62% of the population is Black or African American and 3%, Asian.
“For me, the concept of a Filipino American is an amorphous one. As you are aware the United States except for the American Indian at some point all came from different countries. Distinguishing your origin, appreciating and respecting it is very commendable. However, I think that the more important thing to realize and determine is what it is to be a true American. I find that being a true American means espousing and reflecting our society’s value of hard work, pursuing our dream of a better life, honesty, freedom, seek success, educate ourselves, to be family-centered, to care for other individuals and most importantly to pursue God’s work and make this whole world a better place to live. Hence, I do not look at myself as a Filipino American but as a true American because to me these are values that I pursue as a man, as a father, as a citizen and as a believer.”
My dad came to the U.S. from the Philippines at 21 with $400 in his pocket. Over a few decades, he went from folding people’s underwear to working in finance in New York. I can’t knock his hustle. Nor would I invalidate how he chooses to identify. He had to work hard, keep his head down but distinguish himself simultaneously. Not an easy feat.
As a result, it made him think that being a Filipino American is different than being a “true” American. For me, it’s not. I acknowledge that I’m able to say that because of the sacrifices he made.
Today, our shared values aren’t what makes us “true” Americans. It is the respect, love, acceptance and tension between different traditions & beliefs that make us Americans. I forged this belief through the iron of my experiences.
To understand how I got here, let me take you back to 1996. | https://medium.com/@benliongson/america-is-in-the-mind-philippines-is-in-the-heart-30f654b0f9be | ['Ben Liongson'] | 2020-03-02 03:33:56.579000+00:00 | ['America', 'Philippines', 'Millenials', 'Identity', 'Reflections'] |
Repeat the Lie Often Enough and it Becomes the Truth | Repeat the Lie Often Enough and it Becomes the Truth
Has social media led us down a path of sloppy thinking?
Marketers have led themselves down a repetitious path of untruths, creating the belief that hyper-targeted ads, brand purpose and influencers are key to brand growth.[1] Sloppy thinking, repeated-ad nauseam by digital thought leaders and marketers selling their latest suite of services bound tightly to the digital de jure have, to quote Les Binet and Sarah Carter, allowed us to “mask false assumptions about how marketing works.” [2]
The tall tale we have told ourselves in higher ed is that social media — the channel reserved for our most “authentic storytelling” — is free from most marketing rigor. We post photos of dogs, the same slow motion pan of the most historic part of our campus, turn our Presidents on to social media and report any increase in vanity metrics as improving brand equity. And while these aren’t inherently bad, they are most often practiced because it is what makes our content optimized to fit a framework developed to serve only the platforms themselves or an imagined audience waiting patiently for our next post.
A recent Inside Higher Ed article, titled Rethinking How We Measure Social ROI, challenged the presumption that social media should be completely bound by business objectives. The author wrote, “ROI has taken over the social media world. Consequently, it’s too late to dislodge ROI from social media. But dislodging fiscal dogma from social media ROI, that’s a battle we can still win.”
The battle isn’t dislodging fiscal dogma from social media, it’s dislodging the belief that because it’s on social media, we don’t apply the same level of scrutiny we apply to other channels. We follow the dominate narrative that most of our social media activity should be filed under “social PR” or “non-transactional” marketing goals, often measured in short-term intermediate metrics, and then connect it to some obfuscated content strategy or an incorrectly applied measure like share of voice. It always sounds nice on paper but rarely attached to long-term goals.
Engagement: Metrics for Whose Vanity
Engagement metrics have been a farce from the beginning.[3][4][5] We have assumed they provide a real-time test of our content strategy as well as markers for business objectives. In many cases, these beliefs are reinforced by content marketing service providers as well as social media management platforms. This has led us to optimize all creativity out of videos, oversell reach and create an over reliance on tactics. Remember, Facebook once claimed to reach 41 million Millennials in the U.S. when there are only 31 million and claimed they didn’t consider whether or not organic posts actually appeared on a screen to count as an impression.[6][7] Without getting into fraudulent traffic, quality of impressions and the loyalty fallacy, vanity metrics only get so far — even removed from ROI measures. You cannot discount the need to make vanity metrics relevant and, at the same time, make the claim they strengthen brand equity. In that case, the numbers just don’t add up.[8] [9][10]
To Have and Have Not: Non Transactional and Social PR
Similarly, we find ourselves mired in the belief that these metrics are excused from rigor and simply considered relational goals that are valid metrics for brand equity and customer relations — a sentiment, once again, that continues to be reinforced by marketing service providers.
For example, the article extended a quote made by a writer at the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), “These non-transactional goals (as opposed to business goals) mirror the relational goals of a social PR campaign. Hochuli [CMI writer] notes that social efforts strengthen brand equity and customer relationships over time.”
If we are going to marry public relations and social media, then we need to marry our collection of data and hold it to the same accountability. By definition, the function of public relations is to influence perception and behavior, manage stakeholder relations and build brand reputation. However, we cannot continue to develop the perception that shares, likes and share of voice (the correct term: social share of voice) have the direct effect we believe them to have. We often forget that social media engagement is a non-representative sample of people exhibiting non-representative behavior.[11]
The Return: An Integrated Approached
Somewhere along the way we lost the value of truly integrating our marketing and communications efforts. Yes, we can wax poetic about storytelling across channels, repurposing content and extending messages but in most cases, it’s through the lens of continual short-term assessment.
As noted in the Long and the Short of It, “Sadly there appears to be little progress in the world of digital metrics, narrowly concerned as they often are with very short-term responses and questionable metrics such as social media ‘likes’, often bought with short-term incentives….much work remains to be done to reliably link these to business performance and the focus of attention appears to lie elsewhere.”[12]
What we do know is that there is power in closely aligning social and digital with traditional marketing efforts. As the IPA Databank continues to show, “campaigns which include owned online media are 13 percent more likely to report very large business effects than those that don’t. Within that, there is some indication that branded content (e.g. social media feeds or videos hosted online) is more effective than other owned assets (e.g. microsites or apps).” The same databank shows us that non-video display ads in social media increase integrated campaign effectiveness by 7 percent.[13]
At the end of the day, our job as marketers is not just exposure but also shaping preference and influencing behavior. The dogma that social media should be free of rigor and driven to influence non transactional goals and social PR has led us chasing the wrong intermediate metrics. We are optimizing for efficiency and not effectiveness. To bring credibility and to operate under evidence-based based approaches is to be realistic with social media and to apply the same level of scrutiny as we do with other marketing channels.
As Peter Drucker wrote, “Long-term results cannot be achieved by piling short-term results on short-term results.”[14]
[1] Sharp, B. How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know. Oxford University Press. 2010
[2] Binet, L and Carter, S. How not to plan: 66 ways to screw it up. APG, 2018.
[3] Ries, E. Why vanity metrics are dangerous. 2009.
[4] https://marketingland.com/heres-itemized-list-facebooks-measurement-errors-date-200663
[5] https://www.marketingweek.com/2011/04/06/when-it-comes-to-social-media-coke-is-it/
[6] Binet, L and Carter, S. How not to plan: 66 ways to screw it up. APG. 2018.
[7] https://marketingland.com/facebook-discloses-new-measurement-errors-continues-hone-math-200416
[8] John, L. K, Mochon, D., Emrich, O and Schwartz, J. What’s the Value of a Like? Harvard Business Review. 108–115. 2017
[9] Ritson. M. Marketers are clueless about media effectiveness — here’s the proof. Marketing Week. 2018. https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/03/07/mark-ritson-marketers-perceptions-media-effectiveness/
[10] Sharp, B. How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know. Oxford University Press. 2010.
[11] Poynter, R., Cassidy, F. and Duckworth, S. Measuring Not Counting: Evaluating Social Marketing Communications. IPA. 2014.
[12] Binet, L. and Field, P. The Long and the Short of It: Balancing Short and Long-Term Marketing Strategies. IPA. 2016
[13] Binet, L. and Field, P. Media in Focus: Marketing Effectiveness in the Digital Era. IPA. 2017.
[14] Drucker, P. Post Capitalist Society. Butterworth-Heinemann. 1993. | https://medium.com/chris-huebner/repeat-the-lie-often-enough-and-it-becomes-the-truth-db5b93af99de | ['Chris Huebner'] | 2018-12-04 19:24:59.483000+00:00 | ['Advertising', 'Higher Education', 'Social Media', 'Marketing'] |
Reconciliation and Apology work. | We are humans and we invariably have conflict in our most intimate relationships. We each are unique and have a strong requisite for how we will enable our worlds.
Each wants a happy route but the transport that will take us on the route differs for each.
In that we often end up getting hurt and hurting others.
This juncture is a delicate point in every relationship.
How we show up in this moment of despair determines if we will 'make up' or 'break up'.
People go to great lengths to avoid confrontation, to avoid a conflict that will hurt which may require mending.
Have we learned the Art of Mending and Repair?
If we have, we will have deep relationships that are long lasting.
If not, our relationships will not survive the wear and tear and will tear.
How do we mend? How do we repair?
How do we apologise and bring that genuine moment that makes the fabric of a relationship?
How do we mend that tear that may leave one strand with us and may take another far away from us?
To understand our own repair strategy, we need to trace our own childhood patterns and newly evolving belief structure along with media trends, movies we watch and conversations we have within and with our world.
Childhood emotional atmosphere.
We all remember the stern 'Hold your ears and say sorry to each other!'
We heard this from our parents
We heard this from our teachers
We were made to say sorry to 'end the matter' whether or not we reached our end of the realisation that we indeed were in error.
When we did hurt each other, we knew, we each played a role in starting, continuing and sometimes going non stop feuding for life!
The fight created an uneasy atmosphere.
At home, at school, at the playground.
It hindered smooth functioning and so we were asked to end it by saying sorry whether we meant it or not.
We mouthed it.
Did we believe it?
We often carried our resentment further and waited to have a crack when we would get a chance to get even.
What do we carry from that experience?
Did we learn to simply mouth a sorry to end the confrontation even now, in our relationships?
Is this short cut behaviour our VIP pass to err and simply worm our way out of messy situations?
We got few messages back then.
*Uncomfortable atmosphere is not acceptable.
*Whether one likes it or not, one must end it with a gesture called 'Hold your ears' 'Mouth the sorry'
*Sorry is a submission in the moment but requires no modification of behaviour or attitude on our part.
Family emotional states
In the four walls of the house, interactions happen daily. Children learn through observation and internalisation.
They observe the severe tension that builds up. They observe who is blamed, who takes the blame, how the blame is accorded and how things are mended and who generally mends!
Depending on which parent the child identifies or fears, sometimes the child internalises the whole of attitude and sentences, often carrying into adulthood these impressions and behaviour patterns.
In most families one can observe few patterns.
A wrong is perceived, a conflict builds up. A confrontation happens, a full dramatic explosion ensues with accusations, explanations, tears, unspoken screamed out in these moments of 'all out’, air clears a lot, fresh wounds are created! One takes the blame. One apologises. All withdraw in hurt silence for few hours. Then they carry on as if nothing untoward happened and all is hunky dory until next time.
In some households, things are dragged even when a conflict is brewing. People hint, sulk, say nothing directly and one fine day there is explosion. Hurtful exchanges happen but none takes the blame, none apologises. Each withdraws and the silence hangs for a long long time. Sometimes for months, sometimes for years.
Observe your childhood conflict resolution scenarios closely and see what you picked up by way of observation and internalisation.
Media influences.
Our mending is coloured by what we consume in the media by way of movies, webseries or articles and books.
We generally in India see the men offer comic apologies, profuse with helpless submission, to the lady in question.
No romantic scenes show them discuss their feelings and expectations authentically. True it is make believe, there are cinematic liberties taken! Naturally so! However, the gullible consumer subliminally picks up the popular belief and again tenders a playful apology but one that is not guaranteeing a behaviour change that is permanent.
Lately the literature on forgiveness too has created confusion.
The thought extended is 'It is noble to forgive, it is easier to move on this way!'
One feels elevated at having done the noble deed but does one move on truly?
This situation is akin to the childhood 'Hold your ears and say Sorry!' and we do it for an elder says it and we don’t wish to disobey or be petty! The feuds continued back then.
So do the wounds fester now after all the 'I forgive you' routines are done. People often helplessly own up to 'I will forgive but not forget'
The hurtful memory then stays alive, raising its pointed head, now and again.
Authentic Apology work
This is a process one needs to learn and role model too.
In exceptional cases of violent physical abuse, you may be able to point to one source that is creating the hurt and damage.
Most human situations however are not that cut and dried. Each person owns their part in the woundology that transpires.
Often the accusations are levelled on the basis of percentage distribution of the ownership. The more and less part of ownership of the problem. However true apology work begins when all involved own their part.
Each needs to take a step back and first ask
'How important is this relationship here for me?' 'What part I played in this conflict?'
If you are honest with yourself, you would know.
You contributed by slinging a bitter sentence, by an agreement through silence, by taking offence at a statement, by omitting certain fact, by coming on with arm twisting methods, by passive aggressive means, purposely misinterpreting, delaying, not divulging details. You jumped to conclusions perhaps or expected your way to be the correct way to be implemented.
Take a step back and truly have this inner dialogue with yourself.
'What makes it difficult to own your part?' 'Are you afraid of appearing the weaker or vulnerable one?'
Go back to your childhood Frameworks and bring back analysis for current behaviour.
Did you have a parent forever apologising and you don't want to be like them?
Or do you have a parent who never apologised and you find out that your toolkit has no references to apology?
Is it a superficial need to end the discomfort ruling the situation?
Apology work is a process.
Own up your contribution.
Offer a genuine apology of only your part.
'I m sorry I have caused you this hurt!'
Then allow the other to take the time to process and integrate.
We often expect everything to come back to normal and discomfort to cease.
Do not rush the process.
Reassure with your behaviour that the erring part is under repair and is being mended, bit by bit.
Do not expect miracle turn arounds in seconds.
Forgiveness is an abstract concept. If it does not resonate, let it not be the part of your vocabulary.
This is essential part of the 'Restructuring inner landscape!'
If you are being apologised to, accept it at your pace and request your required time to process and integrate. Remember the other person too is coming from their learned behaviours and will take time to unlearn. Specify behaviours that will bring you reassurance for the hurt caused.
Conflicts in human interaction will always be there.
Hurt as a byproduct will never cease.
The bandaging and repair however is possible with a genuine understanding of the value of apology work and restructuring that within you which takes you towards reconciliation in an authentic way!
To expect never to be hurt is not possible
To repair and Amend, is always a possibility with endless hope and potential.
By Sonnal Pardiwala.
Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.
Listen to my podcast
Look up my ebook Get Hold of Panic on Amazon. The link is here
Write back to me with your concerns and observations. | https://medium.com/@sonnal.p74/reconciliation-and-apology-work-b5aca4ad4ff0 | ['Sonnal Pardiwala', 'Shrinkology'] | 2020-12-13 20:22:07.405000+00:00 | ['Therapy', 'Apology', 'Mental Health', 'Counseling'] |
Civil Rights Activist Bayard Rustin (1912–1987) | The 1940s
In 1940, he joined the Young Communists League (YCL) as a youth organizer. He soon quit after the Communist Party ordered him to stop protesting racial segregation in the US armed forces. Between the Winter of 1940 and Spring of 1941, he worked with A Philip Randolph to organize a March on Washington Movement against racial discrimination in defense industries. In June of 1941, when FDR banned discrimination in war-related industries and established the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to monitor compliance, the March was canceled.
Rustin worked as Race Relations Secretary for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) while organizing the march with Randolph. In 1942 he was sent to California by (FOR) and (AFSC) to help protect the property of more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans imprisoned in internment camps. That same year, Bayard sat in a second-row seat while traveling on a bus from Louisville to Nashville. He was arrested and beaten for not moving to the back. This would be the first of twenty-four arrests over Rustin’s lifetime.
He refused to enter the draft or perform alternate service, so in 1944 he was arrested and spent the next three years of his life in a federal prison. Rustin was released after twenty-six months. Just a short time after his release, in April 1947, Bayard and fifteen others set off on a tour of southern states to test a recent Supreme Court ruling on discrimination during interstate travel. On April 13, Rustin was arrested for disorderly conduct in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for refusing to move to the back of the bus when asked. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld his conviction, and in March — April 1949 Rustin spent twenty-two days on a prison chain gang.
After his release, Rustin wrote an article that was published in several newspapers. It documented his experience and led to the reform of prison chain gangs.
His grandmother’s influence could be seen in Rustin’s belief in an intensely non-violent protest. Mahatma Gandhi had a huge impact on him for the same reason, and Bayard planned to travel to India to meet and learn from the man himself in 1948. Unfortunately, in January of that year, Gandhi was assassinated. Rustin still traveled to India that year, and for seven weeks, learned Gandhi’s philosophies of non-violence from family members and other associates of the recently assassinated man. | https://mattreicher.medium.com/civil-rights-activist-bayard-rustin-1912-1987-4f81f82f5787 | ['Matt Reicher'] | 2020-10-05 14:54:46.938000+00:00 | ['Civil Rights', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'History', 'LGBTQ', 'Equality'] |
You Are Going To Make It Part 2 | You Are Going To Make It Part 2
Photo by Alexis Fauvet on Unsplash
You have been through so many trials and tribulations. You have fantasied, dreamed, cried, screamed, you have felt every known negative emotion via your nervous system, and here you are…
Still walking, running, and standing in your territory, loving Yourself unconditionally.
Continue to take care of yourself first.
Your brain and mind are close knit partners.
The brain and body stand as physical elements forming functional organs upholding life.
Sensory-motor reflexes together with programmed movements, from basal ganglia, represent the majority of brain operational control
over body movement.
The superior advanced development of the cerebral cortex and thalamus has induced an emergent property of the active brain ”The Mind”.
The flowing out of the Mind from sensory inputs defines self with memories and emotions, stimulates cognition forming brackets of understanding, and makes decisions for initiating motor actions expressing behavior and speech content.
I will expound on these happy hormones produced by the brain next time.
Dopamine
serotonin
oxytocin
endorphin
You can do all things through the Creator of the Universe.
Continue practicing and experiencing the actions below.
Plan your day. Schedule breaks each day instead of waiting for things to slow down. Your mind and body need ongoing rest.
Give generously. Thinking about others makes us feel less burdened. Do
something to make your spouse or a stranger smile.
Consider your purpose. Any task is more bearable when you remember the reasons behind it. Ask yourself what you like about your work.
Protect your career and take care of your health by giving yourself enough downtime to refresh and recharge. When a vacation is out of the question, treat yourself to some rest and relaxation wherever you find yourself.
Conclusion
Remember, treat yourself kindly, nurturing, fairly, and continue to explore, expand, learn and grow; especially in unconditional love for You!
Happiness & Happiness with Rachel
www.rachelleewhite.com | https://medium.com/@rachel-white-89035/you-are-going-to-make-it-part-2-6236d98144e1 | ['Rachel Lee White'] | 2020-12-09 03:16:14.453000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Healthy Lifestyle', 'Brain Body', 'Mind'] |
Lenny Dykstra claims he hired PI’s and blackmailed umpires | Former ballplayer Lenny Dykstra dropped a bombshell on Colin Cowherd’s show on FOX Sports 1. Dykstra claims he spent half a million dollars during his playing days to hire private investigators to dig up dirt on umpires, which he use to his advantage.
He said it explains why he suddenly start dreading the league in walks. Dykstra said some umpires were into women, some into men, and some into gambling. He said he would turn to an umpire and ask them if they covered the spread last night… And suddenly the strike zone would shrink. | https://medium.com/sportsraid/lenny-dykstra-claims-he-hired-pis-and-blackmailed-umpires-1e4d86607ce3 | ['Paul Dughi'] | 2016-05-28 22:59:19.300000+00:00 | ['Dykstra', 'Colin Cowherd', 'Blackmail'] |
5 Concerns about SARS-CoV2 Biology: A Call to Pause, Deliberate, and Revise Policy | This article is a scientific review addressing the current circumstances in a manner both parents and policy makers can understand written by two well-informed and concerned parents. This review is intended both as a basic resource and to initiate an open and critical dialog about SARS-CoV2 biology.
JJC is grateful to Piper L. Stover for co-authoring this work.
5 Concerns about SARS-CoV2 Biology: A Call to Pause, Deliberate and Revise Policy
Jonathan J. Couey and Piper L. Stover
We have reached a crossroads in the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Considering the risks of non-sterilizing immunization as a preventative measure, the precariousness of the current global situation cannot be underestimated. This review is intended to serve as a simple resource to help all people — from policy makers to families — better understand the biology of SARS-CoV2 and the potential ramifications of non-sterilizing immunization and offers recommendations and a call to action to protect all human health over the long term — in particular the developing immune systems of children and young adults.
From the start of the pandemic in 2020, immunization has been promoted by health agencies as the primary tool by which this pandemic should end. The decisions made to date have been made amid a crisis to address a crisis. Considering the number of cases and deaths in the United States and globally, it is understandable that there was a perceived immediate need to turn to vaccines as the most efficient human intervention option to contain and suppress the pandemic.
In the context of an ongoing crisis, however, there is also a need to regularly assess and recalibrate decisions going forward as scientists learn and the situation evolves. This is a new virus with new immunization technologies and evolving therapeutic discoveries. While decisiveness is critical, at the same time there is a need for an openness to shift course, depending on what we are learning, especially regarding treatment of severe COVID-19. This requires open paradigms for information sharing and discussion, integrity, and open public assessments of the core epidemiological aspects (beyond case numbers) of the pandemic to keep the public adequately informed. While we are acting to address short term tragedy in a crisis, we also should be proactive, as our decisions will have lasting and long-term ramifications. Fortunately, science offers us the ability to continually ask, test and answer questions about the potential benefits and costs of current recommendations to help re-evaluate and adjust responding policies for the rest of 2021 and beyond.
At this crossroads, the most vulnerable populations have been vaccinated using non-sterilizing immunization technology currently under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The EUA was granted to help reduce the incidence of severe COVID-19 disease and death, but while non-sterilizing immunizations can effectively protect vulnerable populations, such immunizations applied to an entire population for SARS-CoV2 are problematic. Already, we are seeing increasing reported variants in places like Brazil, the UK, and India. Assumptions have been made in the press that new variants emerge only from SARS-CoV2-infected masses, so by reducing the number of infections through immunization, variants will disappear. Evidence and growing scientific consensus suggest the contrary: variants are emerging in quasi-immunized individuals (e.g., only one shot) or fully immunized populations as either “breakthrough infections” — asymptomatic and symptomatic infections — in which more dangerous variants are creeping undetected within the immunized population. In many instances, with cases increasing in proportion to increased immunizations, and societies reopening and then closing again, authorities like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) do not always have one clear control variable to understand what is driving certain phenomena. The possibility that asymptomatic and symptomatic transmission of stronger and more dangerous escape variants is already occurring among immunized individuals must be considered and new reporting systems to monitor such transmission should be established, especially if this transmission is spreading among healthy immunized individuals with stronger innate immunity to begin with1.
As such, now is the time to open the aperture of data collection and analysis to reassess whether the risks of non-sterilizing immunization beyond vulnerable populations is advisable policy moving forward. The potential consequences of biologically inappropriate immunizations are discussed in answers to five basic questions below:
What is non-sterilizing immunity and why do asymptomatic infections in immunized populations increase the risks of the current non-sterilizing immunization campaigns?
First, the biological difference between sterilizing and non-sterilizing immunity in relation to the development of dangerous “escape variants” of viruses should be understood by everyone. Sterilizing immunity — whether through vaccine or recovery from natural infection — creates an immune memory strong enough to prevent a virus from infecting previously infected individuals or others, as the virus no longer replicates sufficiently to be contagious. Non-sterilizing immunizations, on the other hand, reduce or prevent symptoms of disease, but they do not prevent viral infection. This difference under certain circumstances can result in unwanted evolutionary pressure on the virus and ample opportunity to strengthen, in effect creating (selecting for) viral virulence — stronger variants — and severe disease2–4. The difference between these two immunological states can be illustrated with a simple hypothetical example. Two nurses with the same health history, “Vicky” and “Carol”, are infected with a more virulent strain of SARS-CoV2 while on shift. At the start of the pandemic, both nurses would have stayed home sick with severe symptoms and missed two weeks of work. In this case, Vicky was recently EUA- immunized and shows no symptoms to a silent infection and therefore takes no time off, while Carol, unvaccinated, remains home for two weeks with symptoms. Two weeks later, Vicky has potentially infected hundreds with this more virulent strain, while Carol stayed at home and infected only her daughter, who recovered in a few days. At the global population level, these hypothetical dynamics would be dangerous and not supportive of a blanket immunization policy. Although the biology of human immunity is incredibly complex, it is relatively well understood for certain viruses — polio, measles, mumps, and chicken pox — that generate sterilizing immunity after infection. The term “vaccination” traditionally refers to the life-long sterilizing immunity that is generated after immunization to a virus like measles.
Sterilizing versus non-sterilizing immunity. A. Sterilizing immunity developed after vaccination against measles virus. Multiple targets (epitopes) are the basis for lifelong immunity. B. Natural non-sterilizing immunity to coronaviruses and EUA immunization to SARS-CoV2 spike protein are shown. Natural immunity to SARS-CoV2 recognizes targets (blue circles) other than the spike protein (red triangles)10. Immunization to the spike protein alone selects for variants from future infections that can escape spike protein antibodies. Because spike protein biology is key to severe COVID-19, enriching for spike protein variants could be potentially catastrophic.
Sterilizing immunity is based on the recognition of a diverse set of molecular targets associated with the pathogen. The primary reason vaccinations create sterilizing immunity for e.g. measles virus is that like natural infection, immunization against a weakened/dead measles virus produces immune memory to multiple unrelated molecular targets (Fig. 1A)5,6. The same is not true for other RNA viruses like influenza, making inoculation against influenza imperfect at best7,8. The biology of coronaviruses offers human immune systems an even less diverse set of molecular targets than the measles example (Fig. 1B)9,10 Reinfection from these viruses is expected more often than for influenza, and sterilizing immunization against coronaviruses remains impossible. There is strong evidence, however, that natural infection builds immunity to a broader set of targets that crucially also includes non-spike proteins present in coronaviruses11. Unlike natural infection, infection after non-sterilizing immunization may be producing variants of concern (VOCs), all of which have their relevant mutations within the coronavirus spike protein.
Fortunately, the consequences of non-sterilizing immunization on viral evolution have been observable in livestock for decades. One pertinent example of how non-sterilizing immunization can lead to quiet but dangerous escape variants in chickens is evident in Marek’s disease12,13. In this example, what started out as a mild disease that rarely led to death has evolved after years of blanket non-sterilizing immunization into a disease that causes wide-spread lymphoma and near 100% mortality in unimmunized birds. Similar case examples include infectious bursal disease virus in poultry14 and feline calicivirus15. In no uncertain terms, non-sterilizing immunizations are expected to cause an increase in asymptomatic transmission of stronger, more dangerous, viral variants over time. In the current case of SARS-CoV2, these stronger variants would be the strains that escape neutralization by spike protein-targeting antibodies, which is already unfolding globally: Geographies with significant immunization are starting to allow for more virulent breakthrough strains16. Logically, prevalent breakthrough infections among immunized individuals (as recently reported17,18) also render a health COVID-19 vaccine passport program meaningless. In effect, applying the biology of non-sterilizing immunization to human populations is creating a generation of more dangerous variants — not because of the sheer number of global infections, but because non-sterilizing immunization programs encourage the virus to evolve in this extremely undesirable direction heading into 2022.
Currently, the public understands the EUA for immunization against SARS-CoV2 was granted with the knowledge that non-sterilizing immunity was the only expected outcome. The public remains relatively unaware of the extent of potential breakthrough infection risks, and not enough effort has been made to date to collect and assess to what extent immunized individuals can be infected and contagiously shed active virus. Therefore, an assessment by public health authorities should commence immediately to quantify the scope and duration of both asymptomatic and symptomatic infections of immunized individuals. If even only a small fraction of immunized individuals can be infected and spread the virus with less severe disease manifestation (as can be inferred from recent data)19,20, these individuals are a primary potential source for more dangerous new variants (VOCs) of SARS-CoV2. If there is any significant asymptomatic infection of vaccinated individuals, continued immunization beyond vulnerable populations should stop immediately; otherwise, the list of VOCs will continue to grow unabated21.
2. Why does the SARS-CoV2 origin and unique “spike” protein biology matter to developing effective pandemic solutions?
To be precise, it is not the entire SARS-CoV2 virus that is novel. Rather, it is the spike protein of SARS-CoV2 and its binding strength (affinity) for its target receptor — the human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) protein — that is novel and mysterious22. The spike protein is a glycoprotein (sugar coated protein) that protrudes from the SARS-CoV2 membrane and facilitates entry to host cells by binding to surface receptors. Not coincidentally, the SARS-CoV2 spike protein’s unique biology is implicated in many aspects of severe pathologies seen in COVID-19 disease, including heart failure, pulmonary edema, encephalopathy, ischemia, and myalgia. The ACE2 protein is not only a cellular receptor, but also acts as an enzyme in circulation whose expression is tightly linked to blood vessel permeability and fluid regulation throughout the body. As such, ACE2 protein is expressed in a host of tissues, and importantly, ACE2 expression changes drastically throughout the body during severe COVID-19 infection. Unfortunately, how SARS-CoV2 spike protein’s interaction with ACE2 causes this imbalance and how it manifests is not yet fully understood. By comparing human and mouse data from two prominent American labs, we can see why the field remains confused. In a powerful study done in 2020 by the Oak Ridge Laboratories, the knock-on consequences of system wide upregulation of ACE2 expression (identified as gene expression changes in human patients) is sufficient to explain all the symptoms of severe COVID-1923. Contrastingly, the Salk Institute recently released a report detailing a downregulation of ACE2 expression as identified in mouse models of infection in severe COVID-1924. These observations have two important implications:
1) Severe COVID-19 infection is a complex interaction between typical viral infection immune response symptoms (fever, inflammation, etc.) and those caused by the novel effects derived from the spike protein’s physiological interactions with ACE2 and other proteins.
2) Researchers must better understand the mysterious biology of the SARS-CoV2 spike protein on human ACE2 and other human proteins.
Numerous recent reports of unexplained immunization associated events may be linked to the same poorly understood biology of this spike protein. To further complicate matters, most of these interactions seem to be significant only in cases of severe infection associated with chronic inflammation, obesity, etc., and this crucial connection is missing from any animal model of COVID-19 infection. Such connections (contradictions and complications) also are missing in the main-stream public health discussion.
Additionally, it has come to light that there appears to have been years of intensive gain-of-function (GOF) coronavirus research worldwide, or biological research in laboratories increasing the virulence and lethality of pathogens and viruses using natural or manufactured biological mutation. This research included the collection25, recombination, and serial passage of SARS-like coronaviruses26, as well as laboratory leaks of SARS-like coronaviruses previously in China and elsewhere27–30, but with no significant data indicative of a recent natural zoonotic event ever reported. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization recently concluded that SARS-CoV2 was a zoonotic event, but left tea leaves for further analysis31. From the onset of the pandemic, the extraordinary affinity of the SARS-CoV2 spike for the human ACE2 protein has been cited as compelling evidence for a laboratory origin of the virus related to gain-of-function (GOF) experiments32,33, but also paradoxically as evidence for why it could have emerged directly from wildlife34. While still under investigation by U.S. Congress and numerous other international authorities, the possibility remains that the perplexing biology of SARS-CoV2 is the result of laboratory experiments involving intentional introduction of specific functional elements to wild type viruses, chimeric recombination of wild type viruses35,36, and/or serial passage of wild type and/or laboratory viruses on a laboratory background of human ACE2 as host receptor specificity (human lung epithelial cultures37, animal models with similar ACE2 proteins38, and/or transgenic mice with human ACE2 protein substituted for their own).
Non-sterilizing immunization of low-risk populations to this unusual spike protein may put unwanted evolutionary pressure on it to change in a yet unexpected direction. In other words, immunizing healthy individuals to the spike protein of 2020 will challenge Mother Nature to find ways to change this protein to adapt to and escape the pressure from immunization. When this happens, it will be the weakest of the immunized who are put in danger all over again. The unknown origin and unique spike protein biology of the SARS-CoV2 must be better understood before continuing large scale immunization in healthy, non-vulnerable citizens.
3. How does the SARS-CoV2’s binding strength for ACE2 protein relate to antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) in humans and why does this matter to immunization policy?
The spike protein of SARS-CoV2 and the ACE2 protein physically interact like a pair of complicated 3D magnetic puzzle pieces. Because this fit is optimized, not only can it explain the many novel disease mechanisms of COVID-19 as described above, but it is also expected to provide more potential for autoimmunity issues and antibody dependent enhancement (ADE), or antibody activity that makes a viral infection even worse. ADE in viral infection is thought to be dependent on maladaptive antibody sequences formed after immunization that can lead to novel severe disease upon subsequent infection in the future. While ADE can occur as a result of follow-on natural viral infections, the likelihood of ADE after natural COVID-19 infection is minimized because natural infection evokes a broader immunity response based on a wider range of molecular targets, as discussed earlier, including non-spike protein targets11,39,40 (see below). Previous data from Dengue Fever virus immunizations indicate that vaccinated individuals may also be more vulnerable to ADE upon exposure to future variants, even just one or many more years in the future41. Historically, immunization against the spike protein of SARS-1 and other coronaviruses in animal models has led to ADE42. In the case of SARS-CoV2, the unique shape and biology of the spike protein presents a molecular target with a high potential for the generation of autoimmune response and ADE43. Several scientific papers published in 2020 discuss the risks of ADE, including specific response to coronaviruses. While vaccine developers reassure the public that vaccines are developed to avoid ADE risk, such risks can take time to emerge and may not be apparent during clinical trials, especially considering the perplexing relationship between this SARS-CoV2 spike protein and ACE2. Researchers can and should be looking for potential signs of ADE risk, and if necessary, recalibrating immunization and therapy approaches.
4. Why could this first EUA immunization present a risk to a child’s developing immune system?
As stated earlier, coronaviruses do not offer multiple strong targets for our immune systems to remember. However, a wealth of data demonstrates that SARS-CoV2 infection does provoke a robust immune response in comparison to EUA immunizations11,39,40. While the differences between traditional vaccination approaches and the current suite of immunization methodologies are beyond the scope of this brief, the current EUA immunizations have an additional compounding shortcoming in common: Their intended molecular target is a stabilized version of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV2 variant from 2020. In other words, whereas natural infection gives the body an opportunity to build immunity to any number of molecular targets, EUA immunization offers only a stabilized version of the poorly understood SARS-CoV2 spike protein.
This shortcoming is particularly risky for children in the context of known immunological mechanisms of life-long memory (research ‘original antigenic sin’ to learn more). In brief, early immune challenges initiate cascades of native and adaptive immune responses that lead to immunological memory that lasts a child’s lifetime. Subsequent related immunological challenges refine the existing molecular memories, and early infections remain a foundation for all subsequent pathogen exposures. This is complicated by the immune system’s tendency to modify existing memories, rather than make all new ones, an inertia that increases with age. The danger to immunizing healthy children for SARS-CoV2 is therefore acute: Immunization against this specific viral protein could permanently bias a child’s immune system for a lifetime to a limited focus on a single subset of molecular targets from this one mysterious spike protein44,45. All considerations and/or trials to begin immunizing healthy children against SARS-CoV2 spike protein should be paused, and policymakers should consider the risks to children of continuing mass non-sterilizing immunization programs.
5. What are “viral swarms” and why do they impact collective (herd) immunity and a path to end this pandemic?
The data demonstrates that natural COVID-19 infection provokes a vigorous and broader immune response than the protection offered by EUA immunizations46. This outcome was expected, considering current knowledge about genetic swarm phenomena, a concept rarely discussed in the context of SARS-CoV2. Viral quasi-species and mutant swarms are relatively old concepts in evolutionary biology, but thanks to a multidisciplinary merging of physics, advanced A.I. and machine learning, scientists have come to understand how populations can evolve as a swarm of related genetic variants47,48. The concept of a genetic swarm is important to understand how both individual and collective immunity are achieved and how this pandemic can end.
When a coronavirus infects a cell, it replicates. Few if any of these virus copies are perfect, but most go on to infect and reproduce in both nearby and remote tissues. A truer representation of the genome of a viral infection is that of a viral swarm: during infection, a swarm of imperfectly copied but closely related viral particles is responsible for infection. It is from this swarm of related but different variations of the virus that new dominant strains emerge in both individuals and populations. Even as a strain moves from person to person, it is a new swarm of nearly genetically identical viruses that causes the new infection. As a result of this phenomenon, different viral sequences can be found in the gut versus lungs during viral infections49. Crucially, a natural infection represents an immune response to an entire genetic viral swarm, in contrast to an immunization responding to a single spike protein taken from a single 2020 viral sequence.
The sum total of all molecular targets available for a single infected patient’s immune system to remember will be significantly higher than that of an immunized individual because each natural infection is a contemporary reaction to a current and existing viral genetic swarm. More molecular targets mean natural infection will result in more durable long-term immunity for every recovered individual than immunization to the spike protein alone could produce50. Across the global population, fully recovered COVID-19 patients51, using a range of archetypal and innovative therapies, candidate antiviral drugs (e.g. Ivermectin52 and others), will contribute more to lasting collective/herd immunity than EUA immunized patients whose immune memory is biased to the 2020 spike protein.
Recommendations for an independent and public call to action:
Significant portions of the population remain at risk for severe disease, even after immunization. Using global data available, the key vulnerability factors that define at-risk populations should be identified, reported, and referenced to guide where remaining immunization interventions should be focused to prevent COVID-19 disease upon infection. It is likely that some age groups, without specific comorbidities, are at essentially minimal risk53,54. At the same time, recommendations should be made to encourage behavioral changes among the otherwise healthy population to minimize susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease55. By applying EUA immunizations only to vulnerable populations and continuing to promote and develop a suite of disease recovery therapies, a robust and effective collective/herd immunity can be maintained going forward to end to the pandemic.
Society responded quickly to address tragedy during a crisis, and the time has come to ask, test and answer questions about emerging data and new discoveries about the virus. In the current climate, evaluating public health policies without political or financial conflicts-of-interest related to vaccine discoveries or digital health data collection schemes (e.g., digital vaccine passport or location tracking databases affiliated with business entities) seems nearly impossible. This can and should change to regain public trust. The extent to which we understand the current pandemic is largely due to crowdsourced independent investigation of the history and use of global gain-of-function viral research. Without the decentralized reporting efforts of citizens and academics such as those from the ad hoc research group D.R.A.S.T.I.C.56 among others57 who share analysis on platforms such as Twitter and Substack, the public would remain unaware of the extent to which such research on viruses in China and around the world has increased public health risks.
Additionally, ensuring the integrity and accountability of global health, science, and technology review boards is critical. U.S. President Biden recently held a new 46-person scientific integrity task force meeting on May 14 in an effort to review past practices and remove partisanship from evidence-based policymaking in the U.S. government. Certainly, this effort should apply to pandemic management to improve public trust and strengthen government accountability.
The following recommendations may be considered by this new task force, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (considering recently revised COVID-19 breakthrough case protocols58), and other policy makers worldwide as part of their mandate:
i. Require accurate and transparent quantification and disclosure of significant asymptomatic infections of immunized individuals. If such cases are discovered, EUA immunization beyond the most vulnerable populations should discontinue.
ii. Invest in research to identify previously infected adult healthy individuals, as well as those with significant overlapping innate immunity from previous coronavirus infections to assess the extent to which EUA immunizations are beneficial to this segment, or whether it is prudent to defer vaccination to preserve natural immunity acquired through infection.
iii. Invest in convalescent plasma therapy research to capitalize on the diversity of molecular targets (swarms) identified by natural infections every day around the world.
iv. Quantify the mutation rate of SARS-CoV2 relative to other known human coronaviruses to assess its genetic stability and extent to which variants are emerging from non-sterilizing EUA immunizations compared to natural case number.
v. Investigate and understand better the novel biology of the SARS-CoV2 spike protein and possible side effects of off-target expression during EUA immunizations before continuing to promote mass immunization on healthy, non-vulnerable citizens.
vi. Investigate global GOF research methodologies currently in use to identify unacceptable risk levels; apply precautionary principles (measures to be taken to prevent harm in several risk categories e.g., rules of choice or procedural requirements) to GOF research, as well as for cell lines and transgenic animal models with the potential to induce bias into laboratory virus experiments, intentionally or by happenstance.
vii. Identify and promote a broader suite of prophylactic health measures and medical therapy solutions as part of a balanced, economically viable pandemic recovery portfolio, e.g., use of candidate off label antiviral treatments like Ivermectin52, humanized monoclonal antibody treatments like Leronlimab59,60, nutrition adjustments, lifestyle changes, and weight loss.
Conclusion:
In the challenge to make decisions and adjust direction in time of crisis, the global community is still learning about the virus and the ramifications of human intervention. In this environment, access to information, analysis, and approaches are paramount. Decisions today have long term consequences for global health. While it is tempting to look to EUA immunizations as a single foolproof solution, there are personal and broader risks that are not yet well appreciated. Moreover, a multilayered approach that considers the full range of tools and options available will ensure greater resilience and success beyond 2021.
Authors: J.Jay Couey, Ph.D. is the father of three children under the age of 12, and also a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Neurobiology) whose work has been published in Science, PNAS, and Nature Neuroscience. Piper L. Stover is the mother of two teenagers and Managing Director of Red Trillium, LLC advising multinational companies and officials on the challenges of operating in China.
Sterilizing versus Non-Sterilizing Immunity
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60. Patterson B (2020) CCR5 inhibition in critical COVID-19 patients decreases inflammatory cytokines, increases CD8 T-cells, and decreases SARS-CoV2 RNA in plasma by day 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.10.101 | https://medium.com/gigaohm-biological/5-concerns-about-sars-cov2-biology-a-call-to-pause-deliberate-and-revise-policy-493d18bdd826 | ['J Jay Couey'] | 2021-05-21 15:26:02.508000+00:00 | ['Covid', 'Immune System', 'Biology', 'Immunity', 'Sars Cov2'] |
Korea Blockchain Week에 함께해 주셔서 감사합니다! | in Eudaimonia and Co | https://medium.com/tradeemx/korea-blockchain-week%EC%97%90-%ED%95%A8%EA%BB%98%ED%95%B4-%EC%A3%BC%EC%85%94%EC%84%9C-%EA%B0%90%EC%82%AC%ED%95%A9%EB%8B%88%EB%8B%A4-62a505259cbf | ['The Emx Team'] | 2018-07-27 15:14:08.616000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Korean', 'Futures Trading', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Recession Winner Or Loser: Which One Will Your Company Be? | This tale of two companies dealing with a recession is a stark, but very realistic, comparison. It is based on the research mentioned earlier by Bain, McKinsey, Harvard, and MIT.
They studied approximately 5,000 companies, looking in detail at what they did — before, during, and after the past 3 recessions. Then, they looked at how these companies fared, during the recession and in the following three years.
If recessions are like economic hurricanes, then the recovery effort by companies feel like marathons. They are long, painful, draining — and not everyone makes it across the finish line.
Based on the research, we can make some educated guesses about how companies will fare. In their marathon efforts to recover from the next recession, here’s what’s likely to happen.
About 75% of companies will just manage to survive the recession, the equivalent of a marathoner just limping across the finish line.
Another 15% of companies won’t make it anywhere near the finish line: they will either go bankrupt or be acquired by another, stronger company.
But about 10% of companies will achieve something quite spectacular. They will actually benefit from the next recession. They will emerge stronger, with higher sales and higher profit margins than they had going into the downturn.
Specifically, the winners will increase revenues during the entire recession, growing at roughly a 17% per year. The losers will see zero revenue growth.
And once the recession is over, the winners will keep on winning. They will grow at an average 13% in the years after the downturn, while the losers will barely manage 1% annual growth.
(Keep in mind, that the “losers” here were still in business when the recession ended. The capital L-losers went bankrupt or were acquired).
For companies, this means that the endurance race keeps getting longer and harder. It went from a marathon to an Ironman to, who knows, maybe one of those crazy 50–50–50 races.
So what separated the winners from the losers? It certainly wasn’t luck.
Yes, a small percentage of companies will manage to survive the next recession thanks to a lucky break.
Think of Amazon or PayPal in 2000, just before the tech bubble burst. In early 2000, right before the crash, Amazon.com sold $672 million in convertible bonds to strengthen its financial position. At almost exactly the same time, PayPal closed a $100 million funding round. A few days later, the bubble burst.
What if the crash had happened a little earlier? Amazon might have survived but PayPal probably would not have. According to David Sacks (PayPal’s COO in 1999), the company “would have died” (as quoted in Emily Chang’s book Brotopia).
Peter Thiel made his fortune and reputation via PayPal. It’s questionable whether his name and status as a role model for entrepreneurs would be what is it today had it not been for lucky timing.
If not luck, what explains the wildly divergent outcomes for the winners and losers?
Despite their somewhat different methods, researchers came to very similar conclusions. This adds to the robustness of their results. They collectively found about winning 25 strategies, which I’ve clustered into 10 themes.
1. Make a plan (or three).
Winning companies did scenario planning, taking a cold, hard look at what “best” and “worst” looked like. This helped them decide how to prepare.
2. Nail your “must have” value proposition.
The recession will separate the “must have” from the “nice to have” value propositions. You want to be selling the former.
3. Raise cash and cut debt.
Give yourself maximum flexibility during the recession. If you’re a startup, close that next funding round ASAP.
4. Trim the operational fat.
Audit business processes and supply chains. Look for ways to cut “the fat” but not “the muscle.”
5. Increase your financial discipline.
Stop dreaming about exponential, but unprofitable, growth. Unit economics are your new best friend: metrics like customer success, revenue churn, and customer lifetime value.
6. Choose operating efficiencies over layoffs.
Laying people off is lazy. Do the hard of work of detecting and fixing inefficiencies. Your people will work harder during the recession knowing that you’ve got their backs. Morale won’t suffer like at other companies that slash and burn.
Companies that only use layoffs as a last resort during recessions are 3x more likely to outperform during — and after — the recession.
7. Involve more of the organization in decision making.
An economic crisis is no time for centralized management. Leaders need to keep their ear to the proverbial ground and this means engaging regularly with your front-line employees. They are your early warning (and opportunity detection) system.
8. Reinvest cost savings and asset sale cash into technology and R&D.
When other companies were slashing innovation spending, the winners were investing — selectively. This paid off because it made these companies stand out during the recession — and for years after.
9. Plan a careful mix of offensive and defense plays.
This goes back to having a playbook. Companies that did the best were ready to pounce when they saw opportunities such as coveted assets or talented staff discarded by other companies.
10. Stay engaged with your partners, suppliers, and community.
This is an easy one to forget. Companies often get tunnel vision during times of crisis. But the winning companies never forgot that they were part of a larger community. They did things like sponsoring charity events and got a much higher ROI because other companies backed out to conserve cash. | https://medium.com/swlh/recession-winner-or-loser-which-one-will-your-company-be-dd199acaf7c3 | ['Mark Mccarvill'] | 2019-09-19 14:17:36.918000+00:00 | ['Economy', 'Recession', 'Strategy', 'Business', 'Startup'] |
Top 5 Easy to Use Self-Defense Tools | This world is an unexpected place and you never know when you can become a victim of an attack. Many of us frequently hear that we are at risk of being victimized. Have you ever thought about what can be your best asset in such a situation? Do you know how to successfully defend yourself? Make sure to have a personal defense plan and get yourself ready for any circumstances.
1 Tactical Knife
A tactical knife is certainly one of the best personal-defense weapons you can conveniently carry. Within approximately 20 feet, a knife proves to be more lethal and effective than a gun. In addition to self-defense, it can help you with multiple indoor and outdoor chores. I recommend you to look for a knife that is long enough to help in defending yourself. Also, it should be lightweight to be easily carried around. Though make sure not to compromise on quality. Your one-time investment should serve you in the long run.
2 Pepper Spray
Among the most user-friendly self-defense items, pepper spray has received immense popularity. Not only they are easy to use but create serious irritation to the skin and eyes of the assailant. One important thing to remember is that the chemicals will not completely stop the attacker, it will slow down them. It’s a simple distracting weapon to help you run away and protect yourself.
3 Tactical Pen
One of the cleverest selections when choosing personal-defense gear! It is surprising to know that a simple everyday object is a practical option when you need to defend yourself against any potential attacker. It works like an ordinary pen and can take the hell out of the opponent with a concealed blade. If you are comfortable with carrying a blade, the pen certainly makes an excellent choice.
4 Personal Alarm
Self-defense gear is available in many forms and at times we need to depend on others for help. To let others know that you are in trouble, there should be something to alert them. For this purpose, a personal alarm is a reliable selection that immediately alert others to help you. You can choose a compact alarm that can be easily secured to the keys for quick access. The most important thing you should ensure that the alarm must be loud enough. I would consider it as a secondary personal protection item.
5 PANIK Application
It won’t be exaggerating to say that your smartphone can also work as a self-defense tool. Apart from just using the phone to contact the police, you will find many applications available both for Android and iPhone and here I would recommend PANIK. It’s a personal assault alarm that instantly activates a loud siren with turning on torchlight and multi-colored screen lights. Further, it requires a PIN password to close the app. What’s more interesting about it? The app can integrate your social media for the alarm and automatically alert people on your social media accounts whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or both. Again I would call it a secondary self-defense tool and you can always accompany it with primary protection gear. | https://medium.com/@jj6573565/top-5-easy-to-use-self-defense-tools-6f606c8e1e5b | ['Jessica Jones'] | 2020-05-14 11:51:18.878000+00:00 | ['Self Defense', 'Protection', 'Gear', 'Everyday Life'] |
What is a Safe Score to Post in ODIs? | What is a Safe Score to Post in ODIs?
Exploring what makes up a safe first innings score & building a model to quantitatively guide the assessment mid-game
Back in the 90s, 250 used to be considered a par first innings ODI score. In the late 90s and a large part of the 2000s, this became a 280. 300 was still considered to be a sure-shot victory. I vividly remember India chasing down 315 against Pakistan at Dhaka in the Independence Cup in the late 1990s, the highest chase at the time, and it was considered to be heroic. It was heroic.
Recently, we have seen some seemingly crazy totals being set, and chased down in the World Cup 2019 warm ups and some pre-world cup games.
Fig. 1: Successfully Chased Down Total Over the Years. (90th percentile indicates that the top 10% of chases were between this line and the max line)
Yes, that huge spike at 434 in 2006 is the incredible Herschelle Gibbs led heist by South Africa against the Aussies.
We are in an age where no total seems unassailable. At the same time, we have also seen a bunch of matches in the recently concluded CWC2019, where even a 240 produced a close contest. “Seems” isn’t enough though. Let’s see if we can quantify this, figure out what a safe first innings total is, and explore some of the factors that affect it.
Starting Simple & Stupid
Let’s start by being very naive and figure out, given a target, what the likelihood of it being chased down is. Since every single target possible hasn’t been achieved multiple times for us to calculate a statistical aggregation, we can bucket the targets into bins.
Fig. 2: Chasing Outcomes Based on Binned Targets Regardless of Context
While there still aren’t too many matches at very low and very high scores, maybe it is acceptable for us to not have a good estimate in these ranges; since, for these scores, the question of whether a target is chase-able may not arise. But then, when it does arise, these are the ranges where answering the question accurately, would be most critical.
However, the score alone couldn’t possibly be the only consideration. A 300 against an Australia on a flat wicket surely can’t provide the same level of assurance as a 180 against a Canada on a green top. When we start slicing the above by more and more factors (e.g. the chasing team), we don’t have a lot of matches to give signal to our model. Consider this: India & Australia are arguably two of the most active (play a lot of games) teams on the circuit. But, before World Cup 2019 and since 2011, both have played just 2 games at Lord’s. Australia last played at Lord’s in 2015.
Context Matters
Before we talk about the sparsity of scenarios further, let’s think about factors apart from the target itself that could be interesting? The conditions at the ground are the first thing that come to mind. Since I don’t have data available on pitch conditions, we will look at chased totals by ground.
A lot of the visuals in this piece use box-plots to represent distributions. Here is a good primer of box-plots. The gist is that the solid rectangle represents the meat of the data distribution and the lines or whiskers represent the extent of the extreme values.
Fig. 3: Chasing Results on Grounds w/ Most Matches Played Since 2011
We see here, that identifying the ground that a game is being played at, determines the confidence with which we can say whether a chase will be successful or not. Think about the overlap in distributions for winning and losing as an indication of uncertainty. Given the lack of an overlap in the distributions for victories and defeats while chasing, for grounds like Bulawayo & Colombo, we can be much more confident about setting a target if we were the team batting first. On the other hand, if we were playing at the Oval, we would be far less confident about setting a target in the 300 range since the overlap between the two distributions is significant, suggesting that the game could go either way if the target is in that range.
Another factor that should determine a successful chase is the chasing team itself.
Fig. 4: Chasing Results by Chasing Team
Again, overlapping distributions in victory and defeat suggest uncertainty of success, given a target in the overlapping range. As a team setting a target, one would be much more confident in setting Pakistan or West Indies a target, than they would against Australia, South Africa or Bangladesh, since there is a clear separation between the meats of the distributions for Pakistan & West Indies. Note, that the ideal safe score would also be different between these teams, because the distributions are centered at different scores and the separation between the distributions happens at a different score.
A Short Digression on The Goodness of Chasing Teams
When we talk about teams that chase well, it isn’t just the total that they chase down, but also how consistently they do it. Since 2011, Australia, England & India have been the best chasers, but Australia have won less consistently when chasing huge totals as evident in the larger overlap in their winning and losing distributions while chasing. Fig. 5 shows this more intuitively. Here, on the X-axis, we are looking at the 80th percentile score chased down for each team, implying that for all the targets chased down, 20% were above this score. The Y-axis shows the proportion of successes when posed a target above the 80th percentile score i.e. how consistently teams chase down these large targets.
Fig. 5: Chasing Capacity & Consistency of Teams Since 2011
Collapses Are Costly
In addition to the venue itself, another indicator of the pitch and conditions is also how the team batting first got to their total. Let’s look at the number of wickets that teams lose in the first innings and how that affects the success of a chase. (In a later piece, I intend to take a more nuanced look at how the first innings progressed, to get an indication of whether the pitch was slowing down or becoming flatter and drier towards the end.) Intuitively, we would expect that teams that lose a lot of wickets, have their premier batsmen spending less time at the crease, and so are unable to get to really high scores. This is illustrated by the data. The lower the set target, the more wickets the team batting first is likely to have lost.
Fig. 6: Wickets Lost Per Target Bin By Chasing Result
However, we see that the correlation to wickets lost in the first innings goes even further. Especially for higher totals, even within a given score range, when the chasing team wins, the team batting first usually loses more wickets than they do when the chasing team is unsuccessful. Note that this isn’t directly causal; it doesn’t imply that you have to conserve wickets if you get to higher totals in order to win. This may indicate that the pitches on which these higher scores are achieved are playing true throughout the day and the team batting first was unable to set a higher total due to a collapse, thus not having a safe score on the board.
Time to Touch Base & Re-Orient
At this point, we have a few different factors that we believe affect the probability of a first innings score being safe enough to secure victory. We have:
The score posted itself The ground on which the match is being played, giving us a signal on ground size, outfield, and pitch quality The number of wickets lost by the team batting first in posting the total, indicating how the conditions are on that particular day The team chasing
These are all things that we would know at the innings break. If we now build a model that uses all of these factors, we should get a good indication on whether the team batting first has achieved a safe score. We could also use the same model during the first innings itself to determine what a safe score to post would be.
Handling The Sparsity Elephant
Let’s briefly go back to the sparsity issue that we touched upon earlier. Since we don’t have all possible scenarios played out for us enough times to base our judgement on, we will stick to a few key signals and refrain from pretending that we know a lot when we don’t. For example, we know about how well a particular team chases and how successful chasing teams are at a particular venue. But we don’t have a lot of signal on how well a given team chases at a given venue. One way to address this would be to identify similarities between teams and venues and cross-pollinate information across teams and/or venues weighted by similarity. However, we won’t go there in this piece.
To address the sparsity issue in the choice of a model, I decided to use a Bayesian approach. This allows us to use partial information that we may have in a given situation. For example, if a certain team hasn’t set a given total before or played on the ground in question before, we can still make a reasonable prediction using the model by using information on how the team has done in general and how the other teams have done on the ground. We do this by assuming that the factors that we are considering are independent of each other. So, if we consider the target and the ground we will assume that the target isn’t dependent on the chasing team or the ground and that it could have been the target regardless of which team was doing the chasing. From Fig. 3, we see that this isn’t such a bad assumption. While some grounds do see more high scoring or low scoring games than others, overall, targets have spanned a wide range on most grounds.
Additionally, it allows us to incorporate any prior beliefs that we may have regarding the situation at hand e.g. if we have reason to believe that the chasing team has an unequal chance of success. We will see how this can be useful in the section on pressure games later in this piece.
Win the Toss, Bat First?
While there are several opinions in pop discussions on whether batting first or chasing is a good idea in ODIs, the data (463 wins, 446 losses, 12 ties, 11 no results since 2011) suggests that almost exactly half of all games are won by the chasing team. So, given no additional information, both teams have an equal chance of winning. This tells us that the toss is important given the context of the match, not in isolation; which is a good thing for the game. This 50:50 win-loss ratio is what we will use as a prior assumption for our model.
So, How Well Does This Work?
We will let the model learn from matches played between Jan 2011 and the beginning of World Cup 2019. We will then see how well the model does on the matches in the World Cup.
While it is harder to visualize how the model works across factors, here is how it works for just the target score dimension.
Fig. 7: Model Predictions Overlaid on Actual Data
Fig. 7 shows how adding the contextual signals on conditions and chasing team help to differentiate likelihood of a successful chase for the same target.
Now, let us look at how the model works for matches from CWC2019 that were not used in building the model. This is akin to having had the model built at the beginning of CWC2019 and evaluating each match at the innings break.
Fig. 8: Predicted Probability Distributions By Actual Match Result
Overall, we see very good results where the bulk of the predicted probabilities of the target being chased down are in line with the actual outcome of the match. Note, that the focus here is not on doing a black/white prediction on the outcome of the match, but instead, on assessing the safety net provided by the posted total.
We do see that the lower tail of the distribution where the chasing team pulled off a victory goes down below 0.2 (20% probability). This suggests that there were matches for which our model would have given a false sense of security as far as the safety net provided by the target was concerned. There were four matches where the predicted probability was below 40% and yet, the team batting second won.
Bangladesh pulled off an emphatic win against the West Indies riding on the brilliance of Shakib Al Hassan & Litton Das on the smallish county ground at Taunton. The 321 total posted by the West Indies, was deemed 40–50 short by Jason Holder, but note that Taunton hasn’t hosted an international ODI in a long time and so we don’t have a lot of signal on the ground, West Indies lost 8 wickets getting to the 321 themselves (which in this case was due to poor batting, but could have been due to a changing wicket), and Bangladesh’s highest successful chase since 2011 had been a 318; all of which don’t exactly align with the manner in which Bangladesh executed the chase.
Two of the other matches in these 4, were in Birmingham which hasn’t seen too many high scoring games, with a highest successful chase of 277 since 2011.
The predicted probability for the India vs Sri Lanka game at Leeds may be a bit of a surprise in the context of the tournament, but Leeds has seen 3 victories and 4 losses by chasing teams since 2011 including a loss for India when chasing 294 against England in 2014 in the only game they have played at the ground. Besides, a 65% probability should, by no means, have lured any team into a sense of safety.
The Big Three Pressure Games
Finally, let’s look at the knockout games that decided the tournament. These are particularly interesting because the targets for each of these games were similar and so their assessment truly gives us an indication of how other factors play into the elasticity of that safety net for the team batting first. Our model predicted a probability of India chasing down the 239 in the first semi-final at 80%. England had it easier at 94% against Australia at Edgbaston and somewhat harder in the final at 67%. These outcomes are not surprising and they show how good New Zealand were against India at Old Trafford. It also puts England’s dominance at Edgbaston in perspective, despite them chasing a similar target. But, it truly helps us understand how close that final was set up to be even before England had played a single ball in the second innings. This was definitely not the popular perspective during the innings break at the fan zone in Trafalgar square where I happened to catch the game.
Let’s add some more color to this by considering that these being high pressure games, the chasing team were always going to be under additional pressure. If we factor this in by changing our prior assumption of a 50:50 chance of victory for each team to a 60:40 in favor of the team batting first, our model’s output for the probability of a successful chase changes to 66%, 94% & 47% for SF1, SF2, and the Final, respectively. This makes New Zealand’s semi-final win look a bit less like an upset than it was popularly perceived to be (maybe because India are always unbeatable when it comes to being popular favourites), and speaks to how Ravi Jadeja & Dhoni lit up that chase under pressure to get India so close, after a top order collapse that must have left that probability number reeling. This new set of outputs also makes the tied final a likely event! Both of these, would have been extremely valuable & insightful pieces of information to have at the innings break for each of those matches.
As it turns out, this 60:40 assumption isn’t unreasonable. In fact, it may be a bit conservative. Only 14 of the 43 matches with results before the knockouts at CWC2019 were won by the chasing team. So, the prior, in hindsight, should have been 67.5:32.5. Using this would give us predicted probabilities of 52%, 94%, 31% for the two Semi-Finals and the Final respectively. Note, how England were such overwhelming favourites at Edgbaston for the second Semi-Final, that the prior assumptions hardly change the guidance for that game.
The Final
Kane Williamson has spoken of having thought that a 240 would be a good total when he was batting with Ross Taylor in the Semi-Final against India. And that turned out to be just enough after India were 24/4 in the first 10. But you can’t expect that kind of a top order collapse every time you go out to bowl, and sure enough, England struggled early in the final, but didn’t lose too many wickets and got a few boundaries in as well. Our model shows that New Zealand were actually better off at the innings break against England than they were against India. The question is: what would have been a winning total to set for New Zealand in the finals without being over-optimistic about their bowling line-up?
Fig. 9: Safe Score Under Different Scenarios For the CWC2019 Final
The answer lies in the Fig. 9. Here, we use our model to look at the probability of England chasing different targets down for different scenarios of wickets lost in the first innings. Remember, we are using wickets lost as an indicator of the conditions, and of whether the team batting first were able to have their top batters utilize those conditions to achieve a target to their full potential.
Note, how the lines in Fig. 9 are slightly wider at lower scores than they are at higher ones. This makes sense because the wickets lost is only an indicator of whether a higher score could have been achieved. However, intuitively, the lines should be much closer or convergent at very higher totals. Since we are using wickets lost and scores achieved as independent factors, the model doesn’t pick this up. The catch is, that using them together would have sparse data that our model would have to interpolate from. Replacing wickets lost with an innings progression metric and adding actual information on conditions are likely to help this.
The further up you go on the Y-axis, the less safe your total is. I would think that New Zealand would have felt comfortable being at about 2:1 odds of winning or at a probability of about 0.33 (33%) for England to chase the total down. This would put them at about a 260. Sounds about right in hindsight, doesn’t it? | https://medium.com/boundary-line/what-is-a-safe-score-to-post-in-odis-db615680382d | ['Amol Desai'] | 2020-05-30 16:06:50.152000+00:00 | ['Cricket', 'Data Science', 'Analytics', 'Sports Analytics'] |
Logistic Regression | Understanding the Logistic Regression
Regression analysis is a set of statistical methods used to estimate the relationships between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. It can be used to assess the strength of the relationship between variables and to model the future relationship between them. There are many different regression models but linear and logistic regression is the most basic type of regression algorithm. The regression model is built upon the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in the dataset.
Introduction:
In this blog, we will discuss about the basic concepts of Logistic Regression. The logistic regression machine learning method is one of the simplest and simplest algorithms for sorting problems. Some examples of online trading fraud classification are malignant tumors and email spam classification. In logistic retrieval, the sigmoid logistic function is used to modify the output to return a probability value. Thus, the logistic return algorithm can be said to be a predictive analysis algorithm based on the concept of probability. Logistic retrieval is used to find the outcome of an event in binary values that may represent true or false. The result can be classified as 0 or 1, which represents failure or success, respectively.
Logistic Regression:
It is used for the classification problems, it can predictive analysis algorithm and based on the concept of probability.
logistic regression is statistical technique for analyzing a data set which can predicts the probability of an outcome that can only have two values.
Types of Logistic Regression:
Binary logistic regression
Binary logistics regression is used to predict the potential of being values on independent variables.
Multinomial logistic regression
It is used to guess the nominal dependent variable given one or more independent variables.
Advantages of Logistic Regression:
The probability of an event occurring depending on the values of the independent variables, which can be categorical or numerical.
It will estimate the probability that an event occurs for a randomly selected observation against the probability that the event does not occur.
predict the effect of the series of variables on a binary response variable.
Limitations:
Binary data does not have a normal distribution, which is a condition needed for most other types of regression.
Predict values of dependent variable can be beyond 0 an 1,which violates the definition of probability.
In logistic regression the predicted values has to be between 0 to 1.
Conclusion:
Logistic regression is a powerful tool, especially in epidemiological studies, allowing the simultaneous study of several interpretive variables, while minimizing the impact of confounders. However, researchers need to pay attention to the construction of the model, avoid feeding the software with only raw data and continue with the results. Some difficult decisions in construction models will depend entirely on the researcher’s experience in the field. | https://medium.com/@arbaj-khan/logistic-regression-922cc18d1cc7 | ['Arbaj Khan'] | 2020-12-22 15:03:34.505000+00:00 | ['Logistic Regression'] |
7 Mezcal Cocktails for Summer | From decadent, creamy cocktails to dry drinks on the rocks, these are the seven best Mezcal cocktails to try.
Mezcal is seeing unprecedented popularity at the moment; it’s being listed in the most exclusive bars worldwide, and for a good reason. The agave spirit is as noble as spirits get, and each bottle has a deep-rooted history in Mexico’s culture.
Unlike Tequila, which is exclusively made with blue agave, producers throughout Mexico can produce Mezcal with a wide variety of spiny agaves, some of them only grown in the wild! Just like wine tastes different depending on the grape used to make it, each bottle of Mezcal has a unique personality depending on the cactus used, making each bottle individual in its right.
It comes without saying Mezcal’s quality is a given, the spirit is protected by law to ensure it’s always up to the highest standards. It’s quite rare, too, so expect to pay a premium for the most exclusive labels.
The only question is, how to mix Mezcal cocktails? Here are seven fantastic ideas to inspire you, from old-fashioned dry drinks to tropical concoctions. Choose your favorite and join the Mezcal craze!
1. Tamarind Mezcal Margarita
Starting with a tropical drink with an irresistible sweetness balanced by the most enticing acidity, here’s the Tamarind Mezcal Margarita.
The secret is the tamarind concentrate, which you can find in any Mexican specialty store. It is used to make sweet Aguas Frescas, or Mexican soft drinks, that go great with the country’s cuisine.
We’re also using the silver medalist at the USA Spirits Ratings, Dos Hombres Espadin Mezcal for its charming smokiness. Espadin is the most common agave variety and it’s known for its mild flavor.
How to:
In a blender, add 1.5 ounces of Mezcal, 1 ounce of tamarind concentrate, 0.5 ounces of lime juice, and a cup of ice. Blend until smooth and serve in a cocktail glass with a chili pepper crust.
2. Mezcal Old-Fashioned
This short cocktail takes inspiration from the classic drink, which also leads the cocktail’s popularity list every year — the Old Fashioned.
Mezcal’s smokiness gives this robust drink a contemplative personality and it’s best enjoyed sipped with a cigar in hand. Yes, Mezcal is a sipping spirit, so if you want to bottoms-up a shot, go with Tequila!
How to:
In a thick-bottomed low glass, place a sugar cube, pour in a few dashes of Angostura bitters, and muddle. Add two large ice cubes and top with 2 ounces of Convite ‘Esencial’ Mezcal. Gently stir and garnish with an orange peel.
3. Mezcal White Russian
Creamy drinks are trending, and it’s easy to see why. What’s not to love about a palate-coating creamy and boozy drink? We’re using Tejano Import’s Mezcal Veras for this one, a bronze medalist at the 2020 Bartender Spirit Awards and the American Somrus Coffee Cream Liqueur.
How to:
In a low-ball glass with two large ice cubes, pour 1 ounce of half & half, 1.5 ounces of Mezcal, and 1 ounce of coffee cream liqueur. Stir and garnish with grated chocolate.
4. Mezcal Manhattan
Another classic cocktail comes to life with the Mezcal’s vibrant agave flavors for a drink that’s as pretty as it is tasty. Did you know the authentic Manhattan Cocktail was created in the early 1880s?
We’re using Dos Hombres Mezcal and gold medalist at the 2020 Bartender Spirit Awards, Rockwell Sweet Vermouth, for this three-ingredient delight.
How to:
In a mixing glass filled with ice, pour 2 ounces of Mezcal, 1 ounce of sweet vermouth, and a dash of bitters. Stir for thirty seconds and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
Continue reading here: https://losangelesdrinksguide.com/en/blog/what-to-drink-94/cocktails-103/7-mezcal-cocktails-for-summer-169.htm | https://medium.com/@globaldrinksguide/7-mezcal-cocktails-for-summer-7d7b011742c7 | ['Global Drinks Guide'] | 2021-04-13 06:25:08.043000+00:00 | ['Mezcal', 'Cocktails', 'Summer', 'Drinks', 'Los Angeles'] |
M vs Microsoft: Episode 19 | Can AI understand emotions related to justice?
What is happening here?
Nurse Nic Nevin, pictured here, is trying to advocate for the patients that she takes care of in the free clinic that she runs. The free clinic is part of a bigger corporate hospital that is trying to cut funding to the free clinic in order to maximize their profit margins. Most of the patients that go into the free clinic are uninsured, so the hospital must take on the burden of their care.
Nic is angered by the fact that hospital management cares more about money than the patients’ health and ultimate survival. Arguing with the CEO of the hospital, she is disgusted by the fact that he, who used to be a distinguished surgeon himself, could turn away sick patients just because of their inability to pay for treatment and feel no responsibility towards the health of these patients. She has a lower status in the hospital than the CEO but feels like she cares more about its patients than he does (as the ultimate goal of hospital care staff should be). This may cause her to feel contemptuous towards him.
M vs Microsoft Analysis
Project M is able to capture the overwhelming feeling of anger felt by Nic as her primary emotion. It is also able to identify disgust and contempt (similar but not exactly the same emotions) as being equal secondary emotions. Disgust and Contempt are emotions that begin with the same roots (dislike & hatred) but contempt is associated with disdain toward others, whereas disgust is a more internal feeling. This shows M’s nuanced ability to not only capture but also differentiate between the range of human emotion.
On the other hand, Microsoft Azure identifies this emotionally charged image as primarily neutral, with a secondary emotion of happiness. Knowing the context behind this image, neutral and happiness are clearly out of the realm of emotions Nic is experiencing. Project M, in fact, does not identify ANY neutral or happy emotions.
Now it is up to you, our reader, to decide based on what you know of the facial image shown, what the correct interpretation of emotion is.
We at Project M believe the ability of emotional artificial intelligence platforms to identify and understand negative emotions has great potential to optimize humans’ emotional well being.
Try Project M at https://projectm.ipmdinc.com for free.
Follow us on our social media to stay updated for our next episode!
(AP)
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*As of November 1, 2019, the Project M team has devoted 72,000 hours to the AI platform, M. The sample input data we are using is the pure testing data that is completely new to M and Microsoft (assumed) and has never been used to train M, so this comparison is a fair trial between M and Microsoft. We appreciate Microsoft, the leader of the industry and emotional AI sector, for allowing the general public to test their testing site for identifying human emotions based on facial expressions. | https://medium.com/@projectm-info-ai/m-vs-microsoft-episode-19-43e39808982d | ['Project M'] | 2020-12-21 03:52:30.297000+00:00 | ['Microsoft', 'Biotechnology', 'Justice', 'Emotional Ai', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
NBA Rumors: James Harden Adds Celtics to List of ‘Preferred Destinations | As the old saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
For disgruntled NBA superstar James Harden, one of the teams where the grass is greener… is now the Green Team.
As the former MVP tries to force his way out of Houston, he has reportedly added Boston to his list of “preferred destinations” according to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Kelly Iko. The Trail Blazers are another recent addition to the list, which also includes some of the C’s biggest Eastern Conference rivals: the Nets, 76ers, Heat, and Bucks.
Just because Boston is now on Harden’s list doesn’t mean Celtics fans should expect a trade anytime soon, however. According to the report, “the viability of a possible deal with the Celtics or Trail Blazers is unclear at this time.”
While the Celtics have reportedly had exploratory talks with the Rockets about Harden, the 31-year-old comes with a heavy price tag in many ways: his contract, the cost to acquire him… and his off-the-court drama.
First, the contract: Harden still has two years and over $85 million left on his existing deal, plus a $47.3 million player option for the 2022–23 season. Then there’s the cost. Any potential package for the three-time scoring champ would include a treasure trove of assets, from established players like Jaylen Brown and Marcus to future first-round draft picks.
Finally, the off-the-court drama. Where do we even start? He’s currently quarantining for four days after attending a private party which allegedly took place at a strip club, violating the league’s health and safety protocols. He was fined $50,000 for his actions and the Rockets’ season-opener against the Thunder was postponed. And that’s not all. Harden also had a heated exchange with rookie Jae’Sean Tate at practice this week, throwing a ball in the rookie’s direction.
All of those aforementioned reasons make Harden ending up in Boston seem unlikely — but there’s no denying his talent. Harden is an eight-time All-Star who has averaged 33.7 points per game over the last three seasons.
But even though the Celtics are among his “preferred destinations,” that doesn’t mean Danny Ainge would prefer to do everything it would take to bring Harden to Boston. | https://medium.com/@fanjiramdan11/nba-rumors-james-harden-adds-celtics-to-list-of-preferred-destinations-699806a4b468 | [] | 2020-12-25 07:16:31.745000+00:00 | ['NBA', 'Sports', 'Startup', 'Rumors', 'James Harden'] |
Deploy Your First Rails App With Heroku | If you are starting to learn this beautiful framework, you will be interested in taking your first project, demo or task to production, which is what really matters when developing. Also, you can do it for free!
Why Heroku?
Heroku helps you forget about the infrastructure aspect that exists behind as well as the security aspects and also manages all this for you in the cloud. In other words, you only worry about your application working and having your Config Vars set correctly.
Requirements
Make sure you have this ready before you start:
A hosted repository on GitHub.
A free Heroku account.
Ruby 2.3.5 version or higher installed locally.
Bundler installed locally.
Heroku CLI.
If you want to start without any previous repository, you can download one from here or just clone it from the terminal:
$ git clone [email protected]:lnivin/rails-crud-app.git
Deploying Process
We’ll use Heroku CLI in order to streamline our process. For static pages, you just need to follow this few steps:
Login
At this step, you will be redirect to a login page from Heroku. All you need to do is to push your credentials as usual.
$ heroku login
2. Create App
Add a name to your App so that you will recognize it when it is published on the Internet. Make you are stand on the root of your project.
$ heroku create my_test_app_name
If you regretted about the name you gave to your App, don’t worry, use this command as many times as you like:
$ heroku apps:rename another_name_for_my_app
3. Push on Heroku
In this case we are deploying the ‘‘main’’ branch of our project. But in your case, you can decide what other branch you want to deploy, just replacing it.
$ git push heroku main
4. Open your website
Running this command, automatically will open your deployed project on the browser.
$ heroku open
You finished! But, maybe you want to use any database to use CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) operations in your App. In this case, you need to know that Heroku no longer supports “SQLite” as a production database, which is the default database for Rails.
A way to solve this is to add a production environment configuration in your Gemfile, like this:
Setup Environment Configuration for Rails
In my case, I added PostgreSQL gem for my production database and keep the default database for the development environment. Then, run bundler without consider your production environment:
$ bundle --without production
Almost you finished, just need to update your code on your remote repository and then run the database migrations for the production environment:
$ heroku run rake db:migrate
You are done! Now, open again your browser to see changes.
As final words, I suggest to you to keep learning Rails if you are starting on this. You will really notice the time you save building websites in comparison with another technologies available on the market. | https://medium.com/@liannivin/deploy-your-first-rails-app-with-heroku-30a04c8f19a | ['Lian Nivin'] | 2020-12-04 19:29:26.073000+00:00 | ['Ruby', 'Heroku', 'Deploy', 'Rails', 'Web Development'] |
Startup Series: How to Think about Startup Ideas? | Photo by Frank Vessia on Unsplash
Why is it hard to find a good idea or does the dichotomy of good and bad ideas even exist? Do bad ideas exist? And if yes how to go around them to find a good idea for a start-up.
So, the first mistake most of the people make is to wait for an amazing idea to start off with. A moment of Eureka. They believe that the key to a start-up success is a brilliant billion-dollar idea. It is easy to think like that when you see tech giants such as Facebook, Google and such, and to think that they only grew based on some ground-breaking revelation. But believe me when I tell you this, Facebook was the 20th social networking site among top names like Myspace such at the time of its infancy. Much like Google was the 20th search engine.
So, the next mistake would be jumping onto first idea you get into your head. Rather you should look for the problems and most preferably the problems around you. Because you don’t need perfect idea for a start-up. You just need a starting point. The reason is that a lot of the startup usually evolved through their initial idea. for example, take Airbnb, it was initially just a website for renting air beds at other people’s houses. Now through trial and testing, it has evolved into a million dollar all vacation rental service. How did this actually happen though? Like turning from just a starting point to a full fledge market approved idea. This is done using the lean startup strategy which I will explain in another blog.
Another mistake would be to start with solutions rather than problems. Like coming up with Uber for builders. It is a solution that is in search for a problem. Like the problem could be the difficult in finding builders or construction workers. Starting from the problem itself could have worked well for you as you might have been able to provide a better solution than rather just being an uber for builders.
One of the common mistakes I see especially in Pakistan is that founders don’t like to start their startups in the space where there is competition. This is much better and safer than going with a completely different idea, because founders would usually find out that the reason there are no competitors is because nobody wants the product. A better version of your idea would be a market with existing competitors but positioning your startup on one/two metrics different than them on the loopholes that you might have spotted in their ideas. Dropbox is one of the example as there were a lot of other file storage solutions but they were better than their competitors and got to beat them all.
So, a good approach after having a good starting would be to test out the startup idea. You could do this by creating a google form and asking them questions like “do you face this problem? If yes, you can ask about its frequency and if the person has found any viable solutions beforehand”. This would give you some hope that your idea could have some potential users.
Thanks to Abdullah Khurram for reading and editing drafts of this. | https://medium.com/@hamza566/startup-series-how-to-think-about-startup-ideas-3326290b86a7 | ['Hamza Iqbal'] | 2020-12-22 16:39:28.855000+00:00 | ['Startup Life', 'Startup', 'Startup Lessons', 'Ideas', 'Ideas To Execution'] |
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I’m a T1D cyborg — and proud of it. | I’m a T1D cyborg — and proud of it.
The graph of a blood glucose wave over the course of 24 hours. The graph is mainly in it’s ideal range, between 80 and 170 mg/dl. It also shows several Super Micro Boluses (SMBs) after regular meal boluses.
T1D stands for Type 1 Diabetes. That means that my pancreas doesn’t produce / produces way too little insulin. Insulin is required for metabolism to make energy available to any cells in your body. 100 years ago, I would have died from this disease. Today, the state of medicine is quite good.
Diabetes is a chronic irreversible disease. That means a person with diabetes will need to treat their condition as long as they live. And learn how to adapt to live with the treatment. Diabetes always with you. It doesn’t appear in seizures, or waves of pain, like other chronic diseases. And you can’t take pills and things get better for a period of time.
As said, the state of treatment is good. But not as good as it could be. Let me tell you why.
It is important to understand what it takes a T1D to treat diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes need to control their blood glucose (sugar) level manually. They need to be aware of the amount of carbohydrates (starch and all kinds of sugar: dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose) and fats they are going to eat. And they have to inject insulin, depending on their therapy, per pen or insulin pump. These essentials, in the truest sense if the word, make people with diabetes decide to do crazy things. They hide it, to not get stigmatised, or hurt other people’s feelings or get anxious.
They decide not to eat.
They decide to always — always — eat the same.
They decide to not treat their disease.
They decide to hide away the injection areas of their skin.
They decide to not participate in social events.
They decide to cloak their disease.
While none of these behaviours make sense, people with diabetes still do them. To avoid stigmatisation, mostly. They don’t want to look different, get treated differently, make others anxious, or not get that job because they have a disability. Type 1 diabetes is an invisible disability, like so many other disabilities. (Statistics show, that only 25% of people with a severe disability are using assistive devices. Worldwide, 1 out of 10 has a severe disability. https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/. You can ground check your own filter bubble: do you know 1 person with disability for every 10 persons you know?)
For a very long time, 21 out of 23 years of living with diabetes, I also decided to not go public with my T1D. I cloaked it, even to my mother, for several years. (The relationship with her broke up during the time of diagnosis, and after we reestablished contact two years later, I couldn’t tell her. As I thought she might associate it to what had happened between us. Diabetes has always a trigger. You’re predisposed to developing T1D. But there’s something triggering the “outbreak” sooner or later in life. And the consumption of sugar is never a reason for developing T1D.)
I mistreated myself with too little blood glucose monitoring (only once a day, if at all, instead of 3–4 times a day). I wildly guessed carbohydrates, didn’t calculate meals, let myself slip into low sugar conditions to eat sweets. I missed out on quarterly appointments with diabetes health care. I didn’t even have a dedicated diabetes health care team (i.e. a diabetologist). And I didn’t talk to anyone about it. I just pretended to myself that this is the normal thing to do.
I’ve been stupid, all the way up and down. And I’m lucky to still be alive.
The change of mind came with my professional work, where I decided to invest myself also in matters of D&I (diversity & inclusion). I work at a Tech company, a bigger one, as you might have seen from my profile, and I was already working there, when a massive shift in culture took place. This top-down shift dealt with D&I a lot, and addressed one of the main problems of the Tech Industry: leaving out on so many opportunities for qualified professionals, women, people of color, LGBTQI+ people, and people with disabilities. To put it brief, I learned a lot. And one of my learnings was that it is everyone’s responsibility to take care of enlightenment. As that solves several issues where they are rooted.
So I decided to put my own disability to public. I posted it to my Twitter profile, I took it to my D&I talks as a personal story, and I stopped cloaking it in many daily opportunities. I talked to people, but still with a certain reservation. Not calling it a real disability. Diminishing T1D to be an easily manageable disease. I think I still did a lot of things wrong.
Today, I’m a proud T1D cyborg. This means I have closed the loop of the treatment of diabetes. I have an insulin pump, a sensor that constantly measures my blood glucose level and transmits that data to the cloud, a self-built device that draws that information from the cloud and lets an algorithm decide on whether to administer insulin to my body or not and instruct the insulin pump to do so or to reduce the basal rate. My blood glucose wave has improved (“flattened”) since I started closing the loop a few weeks ago. I replaced the malfunctioning part of my body with a technical device, hence the cyborg. And putting it that way, it’s kind of cool. I can be special in a way that is desirable. Kind of. At least it sounds cool, and I can motivate others, hopefully, to do the same.
Because my treatment has improved drastically in the last weeks. But that’s not due to the health care system in Germany. Not because I took better care of myself. It wasn’t because my M.D. told me to change my treatment.
It was because some very smart people started to talk about their disease. With others. In an open and unfearful way. Those persons founded the open source project #OpenAPS (Open Artificial Pancreas System) and started the #WeAreNotWaiting movement (https://openaps.org/). All of this would not have happened if they cloaked away their T1D to only happen in private. It wouldn’t have happened if these people, instead of striving for improving the treatment, developed behaviours to go with the standard and think it’s enough. These smart people improved the life of hundreds, maybe thousands of others, who are taking care of their condition themselves as well, maybe finally also not hiding their disease and decide to contribute and donate their data. And these smart people founded a community of contributors to sustainably and collaboratively work on the underlying algorithm oref0 and take it to a next level of treatment with its successor oref1.
Dear community of smart and open T1Ds, I want to thank you. Not only for improving my condition, but for the learning that publicly speaking about a condition improves the situation. Not only for a single individual. You rock! | https://medium.com/@jansche/im-a-t1d-cyborg-and-proud-of-it-d50689bd7f30 | ['Jan Schenk'] | 2018-12-17 11:38:17.062000+00:00 | ['Diabetes'] |
How 🤷♂️ a web server 🖥 works? | Request
Method Host/IP Request Headers Body Path Query Params HTTP Version Scheme
1. Method
Assume it as the operation you want to perform. If you want to fetch/get some posts from the server, then you use GET method for that, likewise for deleting a post, the DELETE method. Here is a list of methods we use most often.
GET, PUT, POST, PATCH, DELETE
2. Host/IP
Basically when you get a server from hosting providers like Digital Ocean, Linode etc., they don’t give you something like fayaz.com, but they can give you only the IP address of the server, something like 104.54.74.5 🖥 which holds connection to the server, it’s your task to get a domain from DNS(Domain Name Server) providers like GoDaddy, NameCheap etc., and then make mapping to the server. (You can find detailed instructions from the hosting provider’s website, we will discuss deeply about this later).
3. Headers
Headers are like informative key-value pairs, which will introduce the API request to the server. Didn’t get an idea? Think about something like a phone call, whenever someone call you, their phone number is visible on your screen which makes easy for you to understand who is calling you, from which country… Here you’ll something similar, just look at common request headers below.
Common Request headers:
Authorization
Content-Length
Content-Type
Accept
Let’s consider an Authorization header, generally in OAuth 2.0 protocol we use this header in two ways, one to access(Bearer) the API and other to refresh our token(Basic). Take a look at below example which demonstrates how we use headers and tokens in OAuth 2.0,
OAuth 2.0 using Tokens and accessing API using Tokens
Here, I am using the JSON, content type to exchange data so we should add the headers:
Content-Type: application/json to tell the server how to read the values as json, Accept: application/json to tell the server send response as json
4. Body
This is the place where a server and client exchange the actual data. Consider the above example, in the first request there we are sending username and password in json format. And in the third request, we are getting user details in the same json format. We can send data in any format, developers also used to send data as plain text, xml before.
5. Path
As the name of it, it’s quite the same thing. The path where we want to communicate with the server. Consider a sample API which has two paths configured, users and posts respectively.
We make requests to respective paths to get the correct data. When we call the users path, it will return us the users data available in db and posts will return posts available in the db. We’ll consider the example at the end of this section.
6. Query
This is similar to body, but key-value pairs which are directly send in the request url. Consider example at the end of this section.
7. Params
This is similar to query field, but without any key and sent along the path following a slash(/). Consider example at the end of this section.
8. HTTP Version
We don’t have to worry much about this as a beginner, generally most of the API’s run on HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2. This will be considered during the configuration of the web server.
9. Scheme
This is related to the Transport layer security, if we don’t have an SSL certificate, our scheme will be HTTP and if we have SSL, then it will be HTTPS. It is recommended to use https scheme in production level API as it provides end-to-end encryption and decryption. Feel free to get more information about SSL on the internet.
Request showing usage of path params
Here we are trying to make a request to the server, which should return the user’s data whose id is 37ded9815cb3. The API path ends as api/v1/user but the id which we sent as considered as param and the server configuration will be something like this api/v1/user/:userId . If the server is configured as the above way, then it identifies the id which we sent as userId for the above request. They are considered as path-params.
Request showing query params | https://medium.com/@bister999/how-%EF%B8%8F-a-web-server-works-a3667dfff1c0 | ['Watch Online Free Tv Boxing'] | 2020-12-16 09:44:31.876000+00:00 | ['Database', 'Rest Api', 'Servers', 'System Design Project', 'Https'] |
The Forgotten Siege of Rainbow Farm | The Forgotten Siege of Rainbow Farm
Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm’s farm was a symbol of freedom and they were willing to die for it.
Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm-Source: rainbowfarmcamp.com
In 1990, Tom Crosslin met Rollie Rohm and felt something different. The man known for his promiscuity was in love. Rohm, a 17-year-old single father, eventually ceded to Tom’s charm and the two began a relationship.
Crosslin was a country boy who wasn’t afraid to fight if necessary and even was in a biker gang earlier in his life. Rohm was quiet and calm. He loved to play soccer and listen to rock music which was partially showcased by his long blond hair.
In 1993, Crosslin purchased a 35-acre farm outside of Vandalia, MI. The old farmhouse was unlivable, but Crosslin saw the beauty in the land and wanted to make a home for himself, Rohm, and Rohm’s young son Robert.
Crosslin, Rohm, and friends immediately started to renovate the house. After taking a break from a long day of working, Crosslin and Rohm were sitting atop a hill on the property when they saw a rainbow. It happened a couple more times that week so they christened it Rainbow Farm.
On the Fourth of July, they held a cookout. They expected about 100 people and 250 showed up. Crosslin loved the communal atmosphere, but he was also a businessman who thought about the profit he could make if he had a cover charge.
Crosslin wasn’t super-rich, though he did own and rent a lot of properties. He always had the rentals as assets and they provided income that could help him make improvements and additions to the farm. Maintaining those properties was often an annoyance and Crosslin hoped to make a living off the farm.
Ideology
When Crosslin purchased the land he envisioned a libertarian paradise. While not completely a libertarian himself, Crosslin’s beliefs came down to freedom of choice. People should be able to do with their bodies as they pleased which for Crosslin and Rohm meant the right to smoke weed.
Like millions of other Americans, Crosslin and Rohm believed that the prohibition of marijuana needed to end, not just for people who liked to smoke, but also because of the many uses provided by hemp. Being a farm boy himself, Crosslin knew about the industrial and environmental benefits of hemp cultivation.
Aside from the choices of free will, Crosslin strongly believed in property rights and how the government shouldn’t impede on a citizen’s private property.
From Dean Kuipers’ book Burning Rainbow Farm: How A Stoner Utopia Went Up In Smoke, on the day the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed in Oklahoma City; Crosslin, Rohm, and Robert went to get burgers at a nearby bar. Crosslin was in a bad mood. Then he started drinking and was going to let his opinion be known. He was horrified that the attack was a result of the government assaults on Ruby Ridge and Waco.
“Fuck the government…long live David Koresh! They ought to know better than to come down on citizens of this country that way. When people are pissed, they’re gonna fight back. This Oklahoma shit is just the beginning. You wait. The people are gonna rebel against the government!”-Tom Crosslin from Burning Rainbow Farm
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City-Source: Wiki Commons
Revenge against the government is exactly what Timothy McVeigh sought when he parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Murrah Federal Building. In the back of the truck was 5,000 pounds of explosives that he detonated early in the morning of April 19, 1995. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured 684 others.
Tom Crosslin’s intuition about the motive behind the bombing had been correct.
McVeigh’s radicalization began after the Ruby Ridge siege in 1992, where federal marshalls attempted to apprehend the property’s owner Randy Weaver after he failed to appear in court on firearms charges. Weaver believed there was a government conspiracy against him and wouldn’t surrender.
His immediate family and a friend also refused and an 11-day siege took place. Weaver’s 14-year old son and wife were shot dead during the standoff. A U.S. Marshall also died. At the end of the 11 days; Weaver, his friend, and Weaver’s three daughters all surrendered to authorities.
Then there was the government’s siege of the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas in 1993. The ATF suspected the group of hoarding and selling illegal weapons and attempted to serve a search warrant for the compound and to arrest the sect’s leader David Koresh. A shootout erupted where four ATF agents were killed as well as six Branch Davidians.
The result was a 51-day siege. On the final day, the FBI launched a tear gas assault in an attempt to force the members out of the ranch. Moments later, the entire building went up in flames killing 76 Branch Davidians, 25 of them children.
Branch Davidians’ compound-Source: Wiki Commons
The events that took place in Waco were disputed by many. The Justice Department determined that the fire was started by the group members, but some believed that the government agents were responsible for setting the building on fire and ultimately killing 76 people.
Spectators had gathered outside the Branch Davidians compound during the standoff to protest the government’s motive for the intervention. Timothy McVeigh happened to be one of them, passing out pro-gun rights literature and bumper stickers.
Tom Crosslin was by no means in support of McVeigh’s terrorism but knew that more of these atrocities could happen if incidents like Ruby Ridge and Waco became commonplace.
The Beginning
Crosslin’s views of private property rights strengthened after he bought the farm. Ideas swirled around his head on the potential of the land.
The thought of holding a festival initially came to Crosslin during that first cookout at the farm when he underestimated the number of attendees. Yes, Crosslin was a businessman, but he also had his hippy beliefs of community. A big part of Crosslin’s community was the pro-marijuana faction.
Kuipers details in his book how events like Weedstock often had problems with law enforcement and patrons getting busted. One instance of this was in 1996 when 3,000 people were in attendance at a Weedstock in Sparta, Wisconsin, and 100 were arrested for either possession or sales. Crosslin recognized the issues with festivals like this and consulted a lawyer on how they could ensure their events weren’t filled with arrests.
The festivals at Rainbow Farm would be on private property and all drug sales were strictly forbidden. Crosslin and Rohm knew that any sales that could be tied to them could possibly result in them losing the farm. Growing and selling weed are felonies, but smoking was only a misdemeanor.
There was still the risk of a possession charge as festival-goers could be pulled over by police on the way to the property. But once they were inside the gates, they would be fine as law enforcement couldn’t come onto the property to give out misdemeanor smoking tickets.
Crosslin was hoping that by abiding by these rules they could reduce tensions between their attendees and the police. They wanted to avoid the in-your-face tactics of other marijuana events and display the peaceful nature of the plant.
The vibe of Rainbow Farm-Source: screenshot from Steven Hager on YouTube
Crosslin established the farm as a campground. People who lived alternative lifestyles, people who were gay, and people who loved to smoke pot could set up a tent and feel safe on the property. It was also very family-oriented and community-friendly.
Once they had the campground set to go, Crosslin and his crew built the infrastructure of their festivals. What they did was impressive and progressive.
They hired local workers and small family-owned businesses for almost everything. For food, they had vendors who sold locally raised pork and also had vegan stands. They kept the familial atmosphere by having Robert driving around on a golf cart and helping out when needed.
Crosslin had a shower room built, a general store, a head-shop, a coffee shop, and also a stand for hemp made items. One of the more interesting features was a coin laundry that was said to be the best in town.
A stage was built that was supplied with professional sound and lighting equipment for the musical acts. They of course wanted bands to perform, but they also targeted prominent figures in the marijuana movement.
Rainbow Farm-Source: screenshot from therealjamesbud on YouTube
With promises of appearance fees, plane tickets, and other amenities being paid for, Crosslin was able to get acts that would give Rainbow Farm notoriety.
Festivals
Their two main events were Hemp Aid held on Memorial Day weekend and Roach Roast on Labor Day weekend with smaller gatherings in between. Before the festivals got off the ground the state police made sure that Crosslin and Rohm knew they were being closely watched, often through intimidation.
“I can’t believe they haven’t killed you boys already”-Merle Haggard from Burning Rainbow Farm
Undeterred, the Rainbow Farm crew reminded the police of their rights on private property, and the initial festivals went on without too many problems.
The attraction of one of the first events was Jack Herer, a prominent marijuana rights activist and author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a popular book about the history and uses of cannabis.
Editor of High Times magazine Steve Hager also made an appearance and subsequently started writing about the crusaders of Rainbow Farm. This type of publicity in the largest marijuana publication helped make the farm one of High Times' top marijuana destinations in the world.
After a couple of years of hard work by everyone involved, they landed the king of stoners. Tommy Chong’s appearance was another giant step towards national notoriety. Chong performed with his family band and loved the farm for what it was trying to achieve.
Tommy Chong-Source: Wiki Commons
“Rainbow Farm was what I envisioned America to be, a lot of tents with people selling headbands and tie-dyed stuff and pipes. Nomads and gypsies traveling. Bands playing on the stages. And people camping out. It was Utopia.”-Tommy Chong from Burning Rainbow Farm
But as the new Millenium came, the number of problems that Crosslin, Rohm, and their crew faced steadily grew. They were spending tons of money doing things like adding bathroom facilities and mounting large video screens to the stage. They also booked the most famous musician that would ever perform at Rainbow Farm.
According to Kuipers, when Merle Haggard stepped off his tour bus to meet Crosslin and Rohm he shook their hands and said, “I can’t believe they haven’t killed you boys already.”
Unfortunately by then, there was so much heat from law enforcement that only 500 people showed. Haggard and his band still gave the crowd a great performance then hung around afterward drinking with the farm crew. Haggard’s comment to Crosslin and Rohm was becoming more of a possibility with the police doing everything they could to shut the place down.
The Opposition
Timing is everything and the opening of Rainbow Farm happened to coincide with their biggest nemesis, Scott Teter, being elected as Cass County prosecutor. Teter was your typical law and order official who didn’t operate in any grey areas, everything was black and white, legal or illegal.
Nobody could argue against his stance, he was hired to uphold the law and keep Cass County safe, but Teter was overzealous when it came to dealing with Rainbow Farm. He allowed some grey areas for finding evidence to support his cause and wasn’t going to play fair.
In the beginning, police would show up to the farm and act like they had free rein over the place. Crosslin would remind them that they were impeding on private property and needed to leave.
While the events continued, law enforcement would park on the roads that led to Rainbow Farm to make sure that everyone associated with the farm knew they were being watched. When Crosslin and Rohm were in the community cops would make intimidating statements or gestures towards them.
Teter and law enforcement sent informants and undercover cops to the farm during their events. Some of the farm staff told Kuipers in interviews that they were aware of who the narcs were and tried to reiterate to employees and attendees that all drug sales were strictly forbidden. They couldn’t have complete control over thousands of people though.
The Incident
Teter claimed that during Rainbow Farm events, his agents were able to score any drug they wanted except heroin. He insisted that at one festival, Crosslin was driving in a golf cart yelling out to the crowd where to buy their dope from. There never seemed to be concrete evidence of this and none of the sales could be directly traced back to Crosslin or Rohm.
Then on April 21, 2001, a 17-year-old high school student named Konrad Hornack ran a stop sign and crashed into a bus. The impact killed Hornack and also tipped the bus over, injuring the driver and six kids.
Hornack was wearing a Rainbow Farm wristband indicating he was possibly at the farm’s event the night before. His friend told detectives that they had smoked weed and took LSD at Rainbow Farm.
Teter had enough and began working on a warrant for Rainbow Farm. Oddly, Teter decided to go after the farm for their taxes, working on a tip from an informant who said all employees were paid under the table. Kuipers reports that they would never find anything wrong with the taxes. The property to be seized was all financial and payroll records, there was no mention of marijuana anywhere in the document.
He also put together a case for forfeiture of the property with nothing to do with taxes or any campground business. It solely revolved around drugs. As Kuipers states;
Teter needed just one score from that house. Not too many prosecutors are going to have a massive forfeiture document ready just in case they find drugs on a tax case. Nor is a tax case usually resolved by a massive tactical raid. He already knew what he would find there.
State authorities rolled into Rainbow Farm and took over with an unnecessary amount of tactical force to execute a tax warrant. With guns drawn, the police rounded up campers and employees demanding to know where the drugs were. They dragged Crosslin and Rohm out of the house. Crosslin couldn’t contain his contempt and let his feelings be known for what was being done to him. Rohm remained quiet as he was led to a squad car.
The police found a joint in one of the buildings and proudly declared the impending arrests to farm staff. What they would discover in the basement was far more damaging to Crosslin and Rohm.
They uncovered a fairly sophisticated grow room and around 300 plants, all for personal use. It was the biggest mistake Crosslin and Rohm could make as they knew they were putting their farm on the line. This gamble would be their undoing.
The End
The authorities were able to secure a drug warrant. They gathered as much evidence as possible while Crosslin and Rohm sat in the back of a cop car. Teter and attorney general at the time, Jennifer Granholm, who would later become governor of Michigan, pulled into the farm to gloat from the comfort of their vehicle.
Besides the marijuana, cops found a couple of shotguns and a pistol, fairly standard stuff for a rural Michigan household, but it was an issue for Tom as he was a convicted felon. Crosslin was charged with manufacturing marijuana, felony firearm possession, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and maintaining a drug house. Rohm received the same except for the gun charges.
Robert was taken into custody by child protective services. Days after the bust, Crosslin, and Rohm posted bail and returned home. When they realized how much money it would cost to mount a proper defense they ran out of hope. They felt defeated but weren’t going to let the government take their farm.
Crosslin had become defiant while Rohm seemed scared that he would lose custody of Robert permanently. Late in August 2001, the pair were scheduled to be in court and failed to show. Teter ordered their arrest and had police ready to go to Rainbow Farm to apprehend Crosslin and Rohm.
The men weren’t going anywhere. On August 31, 2001, Crosslin started to tell employees, campers, and neighbors that they needed to leave and stay away from the farm. They gave away many of their possessions and made a last-minute will leaving everything else to Robert.
Crosslin and Rohm filled their buildings with straw and began setting them on fire. Neighbors called 911 after the first blaze. News cameras descended onto the farm and helicopters hovered above. Thinking that they were law enforcement, Crosslin shot at the helicopters. He would later have a middleman apologize for him.
On Monday, September 3, Crosslin and a farm supporter walked over to a neighbor’s house to gather some supplies. When they got back and realized they forgot to grab a coffee pot, the two of them made another trip. Carrying a gun, Crosslin heard rustling in the woods, stopped walking, and raised his gun. The agents promptly shot him dead. The farm supporter walking with Crosslin was not killed.
Early in the morning on Tuesday, September 4, Rohm demanded to speak to Robert in person and then he would surrender. Hours before that meeting was supposed to happen, Rohm set the house on fire. He hid behind a tree on the property and when he saw a couple of police officers approaching he reportedly raised his gun and was killed.
Aftermath
The news coverage during the siege was short-lived because it happened a week before 9/11, leaving most of America unaware of the Rainbow Farm story.
Source: screenshot from therealjamesbud on YouTube
Scott Teter now works for the attorney general in their financial crimes division.
Robert has a family of his own and works as a pastor for his local church. The campground stayed open for a couple of years but now belongs to private owners.
In 2008, Michigan became the 13th state in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana. Ten years later, recreational use was legalized. Tom Crosslin, Rollie Rohm, and Rainbow Farm were crucial figures in the movement to change the laws in the state of Michigan.
Through their activism, they found themselves in the government’s crosshairs and once that happens there is not much a person can do. The search warrant for their house was bogus, but it allowed the police to find what they were looking for. The threats and actions of law enforcement left these two men desperate. Their deaths should have been avoided instead of them becoming another casualty in the war on drugs. | https://medium.com/crimebeat/the-forgotten-siege-of-rainbow-farm-a28cbb2640f9 | ['Aj Wiseman'] | 2020-12-01 00:06:59.060000+00:00 | ['True Crime', 'Politics', 'Society', 'History', 'Culture'] |
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6 Things Both People Do When They Really Like Each Other | 6 Things Both People Do When They Really Like Each Other
The best way to tell if it’s really working out is to see if your relationship is reciprocal.
Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash
When I was younger, I spent years agonizing over whether or not a guy was into me. If a boyfriend had stopped liking me or if that guy at the shop was just being polite.
Then I met my husband, and it all became clear.
I realized is that the telltale signs were right there in the things I was doing myself. When someone acts the way that you do when you like them, that means something is right.
So if you want to know if you should commit or if the person you’re with is committed, here are some things that you both might be doing if it’s right. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/6-things-both-people-do-when-they-really-like-each-other-d0d9b4d67a33 | ['Erin King'] | 2020-11-26 12:56:09.536000+00:00 | ['Dating', 'Relationships', 'Psychology', 'Self', 'Love'] |
Jupiter and Saturn will be closest in 400 years in the Earth’s sky Monday night | Normally, Patrick Wiggins would be excited to have people come to the Stansbury Park Observatory in Tooele County to see a cosmic event.
However, coronavirus has ruined yet another opportunity.
“We haven’t done anything for the public at the observatory all year,” said Wiggins.
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No star parties. No comet viewings. Nothing.
“We’ve had star parties every year until this year,” said Wiggins, who is also NASA’s solar system ambassador to Utah. “It’s really unfortunate. But on the upside, you don’t need a telescope to see this,” he said, referring to a cosmic event that can be seen by the naked eye.
For the past few months, near the moon at night, Jupiter and Saturn have been getting closer.
This Monday they’ll appear closer than they have in nearly 400 years.
“It’s a rare event. I’ve been cautioning people don’t expect a really flashy event,” Wiggins said. “But it’s something that doesn’t happen that often. The last time was in 1623.”
Since the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, as Wiggins calls it, is happening so close to Christmas, many people are calling this event the “Christmas Star.”
That’s also why Wiggins is trying to caution expectations.
“It’s going to be fairly bright, but it’s not going to be like what people think of in biblical terms,” he said.
The conjunction will happen in the southwest part of the sky.
However, it could be tricky to see for those who are near western mountains because it’ll be low along the horizon.
“There’s already people I know I’ve heard from and they’re planning on going out to the Salt Flats because they get a nice flat horizon out there,” said Wiggins.
If you miss this one, the next conjunction of these two planets will be about 60 years from now, which means some people could see it twice in their lifetime.
“If you take your kid out to look at this event, have them draw a picture or something and keep it because they’re probably going to be around in 60 years,” said Wiggins. “They’ll be able to bring out this little paper that they drew when they were a little kid back in 2020 and say. ‘Hey, look what I did way back then and you’re getting to see it now.”
Wiggins loves talking about astronomy.
He also enjoys the feeling you get when looking at something in the sky that doesn’t happen very often.
“It’s a rare event. And how often can you go out and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking at something that no one alive today has ever seen before,” he said. | https://medium.com/@fikbragd/jupiter-and-saturn-will-be-closest-in-400-years-in-the-earths-sky-monday-night-666ebf17b56d | [] | 2020-12-22 16:19:20.441000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'SEO', 'Jupiter', 'Saturn'] |
Let’s Make A Dill | Although — I admit it — I use my dehydrator more for beef jerky than for anything else, I do use it for other things, such as drying the unused half of an onion or making apple chips or banana chips.
Home-dehydrated apple and banana chips are quite different from their storebought cousins. Look at the ingredient list for store-bought apple chips or banana chips, and you’ll be startled at how much fat they contain. I’m not sure of all the reasons for this, but I have a couple of theories — a thin coating of oil helps any seasonings to adhere to the chip, such as just a touch of cinnamon for apple chips. Also, while I’ve never needed or tried to preserve my banana or apple chips long-term, it may be that they tend to re-absorb moisture and lose their crispiness. A thin film of oil may serve as a moisture barrier.
I like the fact that my homemade apple and banana chips have no added fat, however.
I bring this up because of the news this week that the corporation behind Vlasic pickles, ConAgra, is preparing to start making pickle chips.
By “pickle chips,” I do not mean pickle-flavorted potato chips, which are already a common item. I mean chips made from actual dill pickles.
According to the stories I’ve been reading, the chips will be “vacuum-fried,” which I suspect must be the same or a similar process used for those store-bought apple and banana chips.
I was intrigued by the idea, and wondered if I could just dehydrate some pickle chips in my home dehydrator. I looked online, and there are already multiple how-to recipes for dehydrating pickle chips, such as this one.
I tried the recipe using a small jar of hamburger pickle chips. They are, as you might guess, very salty, but the flavor was good. I did not let them drain for two hours as called for in the recipe; that might have helped with the salt, although I’m not sure how much more liquid would have drained out. If you wanted to cut the salt, you might even be able to rinse the slices in a colander before drying them.
After 10 hours in the dehydrator, they weren’t quite as crisp as I was hoping, although I could probably have let them go longer.
I finished that first batch pretty quickly — as you might expect, there’s so much water in pickles that once you remove it, you have a much smaller weight and volume of product.
I wanted to try again. At first, I was going to buy another jar of hamburger chips, but then I remembered the jar of whole pickles in my fridge. If I used my cheapo, probably-unsafe home slicer (sort of a toy version of the mandoline used by real chefs), I could probably make thinner slices, which would turn out crispier and lighter.
That turned out to be correct, although the thinner slices drew up a little bit — they were very small once dried, the type of snack where you just naturally grab two or three at a time instead of one. I had actually anticipated this and tried slicing the pickles on the bias to make a larger, oval-shaped slice. But it was difficult to hold the pickle correctly on the slicer if I was holding it at an angle. But they were light and crispy, and there wasn’t as much salt in each bite, although I guess all of the salt was still there in the pile.
Anyway, I liked the result and will continue my experiments. What if I rinse before drying? What if I add pepper flake or hot sauce? What if I try sweet pickles? Sweet pickles will probably never get perfectly crisp because of the hygroscopic (water-absorbing) properties of the sugar. But a sweet-and-spicy pickle might have a fantastic favor dried.
We’ll see where this goes. By the time the Vlasic product gets here, I may have no need for it whatsoever. | https://johnicarney.medium.com/lets-make-a-dill-5c5fbdce3800 | ['John I. Carney'] | 2019-04-20 03:14:40.565000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Dehydrator', 'Food Dehydrator', 'Pickles', 'Dill Pickles'] |
Part 1: How to Build a Blockchain Application in Javascript | Motivation
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency are burgeoning tech fields that you should know about as a developer in the modern age. But where do you begin? I find it’s always best to acquaint myself with new technologies by doing and learning along the way. In this series, I will show you how to create a simple cryptocurrency application in NodeJS that can be used to return data about the blockchain.
This app could be further extended to create a blockchain explorer, wallet, among other use-cases. If you build something cool, let me know in the comments below.
To review this project’s code, check out the GitHub page.
Pre-requisites
Before moving forward, ensure that you have met the following pre-requisites first:
Node version 8.9.0+
NPM version 6.9.0+
Postman 7.1.1+
Setup
Create a new project or fork mine. For this example, I’ll use node-rpc-tutorial as my project name.
For this tutorial, we will be using Divi Project’s Divi Core blockchain.
Mac, Windows, Linux
Download the latest version of Divi for your operating system.
ARM-based machines
If you’re using ARM architecture, download this version. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/part-1-how-to-build-a-simple-blockchain-application-in-javascript-ab0aa4f2c582 | ['Nick Saponaro'] | 2019-07-13 23:04:19.010000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Nodejs', 'Bitcoin'] |
Happy 42nd Birthday to the Quiet Hero of the American Household | WIC-approved items are clearly marked at many grocery stores; if you’ve never used WIC, you probably never noticed. Image via Wikimedia Commons
Happy 42nd Birthday to the Quiet Hero of the American Household
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children serves more than half of American infants. So why do Republicans keep trying to cut it?
My mother’s pocketbook was always massive. In addition to carrying checks, it was also stuffed with receipts, change, and numerous forms of payment for groceries.
Specifically, the green sheet of stamps and the little slips for big cans of juice, opened with a churchkey, and big bricks of The Good Cheese. While we climbed on enormous bags of Kibbles ‘N Bits stacked at the front of the store (“go play in the dog food” she’d say, just trying to get us out of the way long enough to ensure she would pay for everything), Mom would sort through everything on the conveyor belt, one item and voucher at at a time.
It wasn’t until I worked at a grocery store as a teen that I understood how cumbersome the process was. In Oregon, where we lived, shoppers had to collect and organize their various systems of assistance and savings—cards, coupons, vouchers—as well as group their items by mode of purchase. Mothers (because it was always mothers) with children in tow would separate their goods into piles, tucking the required method of payment alongside each.
Not only was it a handful to sort each piece of the purchase, it was also, often, heaped with shame. Selecting the wrong product or size from the shelf, not knowing the quantity permitted, or forgetting that benefits had been reduced due to an aging kid could all result in an awkward dance of cash, checks, or ultimately, inability to pay.
Still, most mothers were more than willing to put up with the unpleasantness to get those staples—the big juice, the cereal, the milk, the cheese.
The process has been streamlined some now, thanks electronic benefits loaded to cards, but since 1975, those slips of paper have been a consistent lifeline to children and families across the nation.
Though “food stamps” and “government cheese” have become interchangeable shorthand for the kinds of assistance programs available to lower-income folks in the United States (and, often, for the ways that poor people are gifted food items they don’t deserve), they technically referring to two different programs with two different origin stories. The first, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides qualified lower-income individuals and families with a specified amount of money to be spent on food items at authorized retailers. Actual paper “stamps” were phased out decades ago in place of electronic cards that are loaded each month.
The second tends to refer to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, which expressly provides subsidies for nutritional staples to pregnant and breastfeeding parents, as well as families with kids up to age five.
Though it rarely gets discussed—lawmakers who attack “welfare” spending never check it by name—WIC is as much at risk as any other social program in the event that large-scale cuts are levied against government spending. President Donald Trump’s “skinny budget” sought to reduce spending on WIC by at least $150M, if not more.
It’s also a massively popular, hugely influential program. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the governing body which runs both SNAP and WIC, WIC “serves 53 percent of all infants born in the United States.”
And, despite bipartisan support among voters and even lawmakers (more on that in a minute), a similar program wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s Congress.
Image: “woman and baby meeting with WIC counselor,” undated, via the USDA.
How we got WIC
In the 1960s, lawmakers became keenly interested in passing legislation that directly addressed the welfare of children. The charge was lead, in part, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who had taught high school earlier in his life. In his remarks upon signing the the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, he explained that he “[knew] what it is to teach children who are listless and tired because they are hungry-and realize the difference a decent meal can make in the lives and attitudes of school children.”
“It can be a heartbreaking and a frustrating experience, if there is nowhere to turn for help when your child is hungry,” he stated. “This was just one more situation that I saw when I was a very young man, and that I have been trying to do something about, and have determined to do something about ever since.”
It was under a Republican, not a Democrat, that nutrition and anti-hunger programs were widely expanded beyond school lunches. In his 1969 address to Congress, President Richard Nixon called it “embarrassing and intolerable” that “hunger and malnutrition should persist in a land such as ours.”
Elsewhere in the address, Nixon indicted the private sector and called on food manufacturers to step up—almost unheard of in today’s conservative rhetoric.
Our private food industry has made great advances in food processing and packaging, and has served the great majority of us very well. But these advances have placed great burdens on those who are less well off and less sophisticated in the ways of the modern marketplace. We must therefore work to make the private food market serve these citizens as well, by making nutritious foods widely available in popular forms.
Rather than supply food directly from the government or non-profits, like food banks, Nixon’s plan was to help people in need shop at regular stores and buy regular (albeit prescribed) items, thus bolstering the local economy and ensuring proper nutrition through education and guidelines.
However, because this was a new idea, there had been a few hurdles that needed to be ironed out.
To tackle the logistical issues, Nixon called for an influx of cash and innovation, directing “a substantial portion of the Fiscal Year 1970 budget for this program be used to establish pilot programs that make use of the private food market.”
“Under these programs, needy pregnant women and mothers of infants will be issued vouchers, redeemable at food and drug stores for infant formulas and other highly nutritious special foods. If such a program seems workable, and the administrative problems are resolved, the program will be expanded later on the basis of that experience.”
A 1977 WIC brochure showing approved foods, via USDA
Following Nixon’s call, in 1972, a Democratic Senator from Minnesota sponsored the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a two-year pilot program designed to supplement school lunches. The program would focus on those whose nutritional needs were not met by school meals: Woman, infants, and children.
As part of the pilot, children under the age of four (later extended to five) could receive the same nutrient-dense foods at home (like eggs, milk, and peanut butter) as their older siblings might at school. Additionally, pregnant and nursing mothers would be able to purchase the items they needed to keep their children—born or otherwise—alive.
By the end of the pilot, in 1974, WIC was operating in almost every states and was clearly a success. On October 7, 1975, the Democratic Congress (under another Republican President, Gerald Ford) passed P.L. 94–105, which determined that the program become a permanent part of the country’s safety net. The amendment reads:
Congress finds that substantial numbers of pregnant women, infants, and young children are at special risk in respect to their physical and mental health by reason of poor or inadequate nutrition or health care, or both. It is, therefore, the purpose of the program authorized by this section to provide supplemental nutritious food as an adjunct to good health during such critical times of growth and development in order to prevent the occurrence of health problems.
Since that time, WIC’s definitions and eligibility requirements have changed some—mostly to contain costs—as have the services which are covered under the program.
Nutrition education and counseling at WIC clinics, breastfeeding support and assistance, and immunization incentives have all been added since the program’s founding. Elligibility was expanded to children up to five years old, and to nonbreastfeeding mothers up to a year after the birth of their last child. Recipients are able to shop at local farmer’s markets and other small businesses, and, by October of 2020, all states have been mandated to move from complicated paper vouchers to easier EBT cards.
However, the bones of the program remain the same: Help people in need cover their staples when they do their grocery shopping. In total, between 8 and 9 million people—at least six million of whom are children or infants—receive services or food from the WIC program annually.
WIC at 42
The benefits of WIC go far beyond the obvious—that children are being born to more well-fed mothers and continue to have access to enough food on a daily baises.
Researchers in 2012 found that WIC was increasing access to healthy foods and reduces food deserts. Additionally, 2015 study from UNC linked a decline in childhood obesity to a change in the WIC guidelines which added fresh produce to the list of foods covered. Demand for WIC-approved items has prompted bodegas and other corner stores to carry more nutrient-dense foods, like produce, nuts, beans, and yogurt, making them more widely available to people whether they’re partaking in the program or not.
The program remains popular among likely voters of all stripes, too, though it doesn’t have the name recognition of many more maligned social programs. In a 2012 survey, the majority of respondents said they viewed WIC favorably, regardless of political affiliation.
Of course, WIC also has its critics. The relative nature of what’s a “healthy” food and the restrictions places on what families can buy can be difficult to follow, particularly for consumers from marginalized communities who may be used to cooking with different ingredients. WIC’s emphasis on dairy as a healthy food and its lack of vegan options are both a holdover from earlier eras (think: the Food Pyramid) and a sign of the control that industries like the dairy lobby and potato farmers still have over lawmaking.
Additionally, WIC’s emphasis on women, mothers, and breastfeeding has the potential to be exclusive; many trans and nonconforming individuals may get pregnant, have children, chestfeed, and need WIC’s services without indentifying as women. The USDA seems to have risen to the challenge, though; a change to their nondiscrimination regulations in 2014 helped strengthened the program’s ability to help everyone in need, regardless of gender identity.
It’s not those critiques which fuel talk of cuts to the program, though. Despite the program’s wide-reaching benefits and considerable popularity, Republicans in Congress have been looking for ways to trim or shift its funding, though they rarely call it out the way they do with other assistance programs.
Instead of rolling it in with other “entitlements” or “welfare” programs—because, unlike “food stamps,” which absolutely do benefit pregnant women and children, WIC’s emphasis on children has made it somewhat precious—cuts to the program are often proposed quietly and in an attempt to appease constituents hoping for lower taxes and debt reduction.
In 2011, for example, House Republicans attempted to cut billions from WIC, stating that proposed funding reductions would only trim from excess money in the coffers; however, when the Center for Budget and Policy ran the numbers, they found that “the use of all contingency funds, as well as use of the carryover funds from fiscal year 2011, to close funding shortfalls — and the funding level would nevertheless result in the estimated participation cutback of 700,000 women and children.”
More cuts were proposed as a kind of bargaining chip in 2014 when the threat of government shutdown loomed.
In 2015, Republicans tried a different approach, instead pitching the idea of shifting SNAP and other benefits (presumably WIC) from Federal programs into “block grants,” which would give states greater control and lead to greater unpredictability. It would also potentially lead to a devaluation of the program over time, just as the Troubled Assets for Needy Families (TANF) program has. Despite its popularity among the GOP, block granting has proven to be an unsuccessful method of providing resources and services to lower-income people.
In spite of multiple attempts to whittle away at the program, WIC funding was largely left intact since 1997, when it was fully-funded to serve all eligible applicants. However, the new administration means all previous bets are off—and it means that any expansions, additions, or improvements are highly improbable.
The future of WIC and programs like it
As Puerto Ricans attempt to survive unconscionable conditions and residents of Houston and Florida fight with FEMA for basic assistance, the mantra of the right continues to be “cut, cut, cut.” Adding new or supplemental programs, particularly those which aid the very poor, has become the sole purview of the Democratic party.
Under President Donald Trump’s budget, for example, WIC would likely “tread water,” seeing noticeable, but not catastrophic, cuts. But the National WIC Association has said that they’re concerned about other, peripheral cuts, and how they might impact recipients.
“Outside of USDA, we are also concerned about the cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and others,” writes NWICA. “The budget blueprint eliminates funding for regional water cleanup efforts, ends grants for ozone pollution cleanup and infrastructure assistance…Cuts to air quality and water quality programs will have implications for the health and well-being of young children, including childhood asthma rates and lead poisoning — think Flint, MI.”
Comparing the anti-poverty approaches of the 115th and the 94th Congress presents two very different approaches to anti-poverty programs: One that looks to whittle away programs in any way possible with little regard for the safety net they create and one that looked to provide missing links to keep the net intact. The idea that any conservative budget must slash and nip and trim in any possible place, that social programs and climate measures and regulations operate independently of each other, is unique and relatively new.
Even small-government Republicans, like Nixon, recognized that people in need could not be helped without spending a little to figure out the most logical way to do it. And, as a result, tens of millions of children and adults have been raised on a program that has endured for at least two, if not three, generations.
Refrigerators that might otherwise have been solely occupied by have been stocked with condiments are instead stocked with eggs, yogurt, produce, and beans, purchased from local retailers and bagged by local courtesy clerks.
Instead of removing people from the employment rolls, the program has them working, functioning as a supplement to the wages that families already bring home. In this way, WIC bucks many of the stereotypes surrounding “welfare,” and illustrates what can be achieved when the government spends a little money at the front-end.
Forty years later, the passage of WIC is an example of the ways that legislation can help millions when permitted to do so. | https://hannabrooksolsen.medium.com/happy-42nd-birthday-to-the-quiet-hero-of-the-american-household-63e45225c878 | ['Hanna Brooks Olsen'] | 2017-10-06 18:17:59.425000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Poverty', 'Congress', 'History', 'Economics'] |
Combatting the Rise of Anti-Vaxxers: Why Faith in Science is Necessary for a New Normal | I remember earlier this year, Dr. Fauci had noted that vaccines would be essential for dampening the effects of COVID-19. I have seen people claim that COVID-19 has a 99% survival rate, so why would I need a vaccine? I realize that the answer may not be as clear to the layperson who lacks a scientific background.
From case studies, it can be noted that although individuals with mild symptoms may survive from COVID-19, the long-term effects are unknown. Patients can develop medical complications that can directly target some of our most important organs like the lungs, heart, and brain. So, yes, of course, there is evidence that shows that the average young, healthy, and fit person will survive COVID-19 — perhaps they may be asymptomatic as well. However, can we say that there is enough evidence that surviving from COVID-19 would not translate into problems in the future? No, of course not. To understand the long-term effects, COVID-19 will have to be examined longitudinally for the next few decades. Hence, I thoroughly believe that without proper research studies, we cannot claim that simply surviving COVID-19 indicates that we will be okay in the future.
This brings me to my next point: herd immunity. Now, the concept of herd immunity is simple, yet I understand why there may be misunderstanding surrounding it due to mainstream media. Herd immunity is the resistance of a group to an attack by a disease to which a large proportion of the group is immune. Many individuals suggest that herd immunity can be established by people intermixing with one another and getting infected with COVID-19. However, this is not ideal. For one, populations are made up of individuals who are immunocompromised, older, or have other co-morbidities. We know that being part of this group, alongside having COVID-19, is an increased risk factor for poor outcomes, often which includes death. Additionally, research studies have shown that immunity towards COVID-19 re-infection seems to last approximately six months. This is definitely not indicative of having a protective effect, hence why vaccines come into play.
Herd immunity is often established with the use of vaccines. Vaccines create immunity without causing illnesses or resulting in complications. With herd immunity, we are able to protect the population from diseases, including those who cannot be vaccinated. In the past, vaccines have successfully controlled smallpox, polio, rubella, among many others. Experts anticipate that around 70% of the total US population, or 200 million, need to be infected with COVID-19 for herd immunity to be achieved. Now, if 200 million individuals were infected with COVID-19, this would drastically put a strain on our healthcare system. Thus, with vaccines, herd immunity can occur without overwhelming hospitals and severe health complications, which could otherwise occur with natural infection. | https://medium.com/@eshitagarg/combatting-the-rise-of-anti-vaxxers-why-faith-in-science-is-necessary-for-a-new-normal-a9015d5d7ddf | ['Eshita Garg'] | 2020-12-26 22:34:41.051000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Coronavirus', 'Vaccines', 'Science'] |
Trust • | Trust •
I know I need to trust you, I just don’t know how. I do! I have to if I want this to work! I trust you, I trust you love me just as much as I love you… I trust you miss me just as much as I miss you, and I trust I am on your mind just as much as you wonder mine. | https://medium.com/@sunkissedmiss002/trust-1be0f7f25d41 | ['The Little Things'] | 2020-12-25 06:07:16.127000+00:00 | ['Love', 'Relationships', 'Trust', 'Relationships Love Dating'] |
9 seater, 12 seater, 15 seater Tempo Traveller Rental in Gurgaon | tempo traveller
Nowadays, it is very difficult to visit anywhere easily because there is huge traffic on the roads. So, if you want to avoid this traffic and hassle, you need to book a private tourist vehicle on rent. Car Yatri is the best Tempo Traveller on Rent service provider in Gurgaon that operates Tour and Travels service for a long time and has made a good reputation in the Travel industry. We offer our vehicle hire service not only for sightseeing but also provide Tempo Traveller booking in Gurgaon. There are many benefits to hire minibus as you can Travel easily without any problem, no worry about driving, enjoy a wonderful journey, etc.
There are many Tour and Travels Company in Delhi that provides tourist vehicle rental service. Car Yatri is one of them and has made a reliable name in the travel industry to provide 9 seater Tempo Traveller on Rent service in Gurgaon. We are providing a vehicle rental service from the last many years to all local and international customers. Our main motive is to satisfy our customers to provide them the best service according to their requirements and budget. So, if you are thinking to travel with a large group together, you need to book a 9 seater Tempo Traveller in Gurgaon to avoid all traffic and hassle from your journey and make it happier as you want.
Car Yatri is the best option to hire a 12 seater Tempo Traveller on Rent if you want to go outstation with your friend’s group. We provide bus rental service at a reasonable price for a small amount of your time. We charge from our respective client’s economical rent and offer them a wonderful Tour and Travel service. You can book easily our 12 seater Tempo Traveller in Gurgaon just make complete some steps. You can call us directly or make an inquiry about your tour package. We will respond to you as soon as possible and provide you the best price for our bus rental service. Our all representatives are specialists in providing a good deal for rental services.
Car Yatri plays an important role in Tour and Travels to providing various types of tourist vehicles like Tempo Traveller, Toyota Innova Car, Volvo bus coach, etc. We provide 15 seater Tempo Traveller on Rent From Gurgaon to outstation that is the best option to explore any tourist destination or weekend getaways in India. You can easily reach to hire our 15 seater Tempo Traveller in Gurgaon at your destinations without any hassle. Our all chauffeurs are well educated, friendly behavior and treatment with you as a Travel guide. We ensure you that you will get a memorable moment and a wonderful ride during our Travel service that will be one of the best trips of your life. Our tourist vehicle is the best option for a comfortable and safe journey for your family group traveling. | https://medium.com/@tempotravellergurgaon/9-seater-12-seater-15-seater-tempo-traveller-rental-in-gurgaon-9f3ca5ab3415 | ['Tempo Traveller Gurgaon'] | 2020-02-21 09:09:57.875000+00:00 | ['Travel Writing', 'Travel', 'Tourism', 'Travel Tips', 'Traveling'] |
Veganizing Holiday Traditions | Look out for these ingredients in items in your everyday life.
Keywords: vegan, vegan Christmas, Christmas, veganism, vegan friendly, cruelty free, vegan food
The holidays are coming up, and no matter who’s part of yours, many families are all about traditions when it comes to Christmas. Though these may differ from family to family, chosen or otherwise, many of them most likely surround food.
It can be tough for vegans during the holiday season since most holiday feasts heavily feature animal products, especially if they’re new to the lifestyle. But considering the growing popularity of veganism, now is the best time to welcome some new vegan-friendly traditions this year.
Here’s how you can veganize some holiday traditions or welcome new vegan ones altogether!
Christmas Cookies
Decorating cookies is one of the best ways to get into the holiday spirit. But since they’re generally butter-laden confections, they’re not the greatest option for vegans. Luckily, there are a number of terrific vegan sugar cookie recipes available, including this one from Minimalist Baker. There are also many butter alternatives that you can purchase at your local grocery store to veganize non-vegan recipes. When decorating your cookies, be sure to double check that your sprinkles are 100% vegan. Some use non-vegan dyes and are coated with non-vegan waxes.
This can also be an opportunity to sneak some vegan chocolate chip cookies to Santa while you’re at it, and pair it with a glass of non-dairy milk!
Advent calendar
This nordic tradition has been widely adopted by North America. There are a number of variations of advent calendars, with many companies — from chocolatiers to ones that make jams and preserves — coming out with their own version for sale.
Many vegan brands are also offering vegan-friendly advent calendars during the holiday season to help you celebrate. Making your own advent calendar is another option, which means you can include all of your favourite vegan snacks and treats to enjoy throughout the month
Gingerbread houses
An activity that’s fun for both the young and the old, building gingerbread houses with your loved ones is one of the most festive activities. Though the gingerbread house kits that are available in grocery stores aren’t vegan, gingerbread house recipes can easily be veganized, and some are even unintentionally veganized.
Gift ideas
Gift-giving is a big part of the holidays. This Christmas, considering giving your family and friends cruelty-free gifts — and don’t limit yourself in the types of gifts you can give! In addition to vegan cookbooks and food items, gift cards to your favourite vegan restaurants (which may need a bit of extra love this year), a donation to an animal sanctuary, or sponsoring an animal are great gift options as well.
Gifting experiences is another great gift idea, as it helps to reduce waste and limit consumerism during a season marked by that. Treat a loved one to vegan cooking classes, a day at the spa that uses cruelty-free products, or an annual membership to your favourite museum. Get creative — these memorable experiences will last a lifetime!
Host (virtual) Christmas dinner
Food is the ultimate love language, and there’s no greater expression of this than hosting a Christmas dinner. While this year might be a virtual dinner instead of in-person, you can still do it! When you’re hosting, you can veganize all the classic dishes and win over your loved ones with new traditions. Stacy Homemaker has a fantastic holiday dinner feast that’s 100% vegan. Since these types of gatherings can be stressful for vegans — especially new ones. Taking control of the menu can help alleviate that stress while making new believers out of those who aren’t vegan! A prepared dinner can be made in advance and portioned into boxes for each of your friends and family.
Christmas is about gathering with your family and friends, so don’t forget to carry that spirit with you when you celebrate this year. While those around you may not be as steadfast in their plant-based practice, it’s important to acknowledge their efforts, especially if they’re hoping to make you feel more comfortable.
Most importantly, though, be sure to enjoy yourself! From all of us at Planted Meals, we hope you and your loved ones enjoy a warm, memorable, and healthy holiday season. | https://medium.com/@plantedmeals/veganizing-holiday-traditions-18d2b6e2c02a | ['Planted Meals'] | 2020-12-24 12:34:02.453000+00:00 | ['Plant Based', 'Vegan', 'Veganism', 'Christmas', 'Veganfood'] |
Nearshore, Onshore OR Offshore services? | In the business world it is possible to see an urgent need for digital implementation and evolution, which makes major investment decisions more complex. Addressing the IT world in particular, there is a pressure on these organizations to access the best profiles and talent, with an exponential increase in demand for high quality software engineers, surpassing the current market supply.
Due to this incessant demand, there was the need to create and develop different software development solutions, which allow organizations of any kind of industry, access to the technological innovation needed for their products/services. But what will be the best solution for your company? Outsourcing, Offshore or Nearshore ?
Companies tend to prefer the Nearshore model because it is a new, high impact approach to remote software development. Our experience here at Hexis Technology Hub as a partner is that we can offer the best talent combined with a visible reduction in fixed costs.
But let’s go by parts:
What is the difference between Offshore, Onshore and Nearshore in IT outsourcing?
In the difficulty of a recruitment process for a developer, there are other options to consider to build a software development team. Time wasted, too much money invested, or accumulated stress will not be a problem if you choose to outsource software development. There are different models, each with its own benefits and downsides:
Onshore outsourcing: practice of hiring services to help your company from the same country. Onshore outsourcing is the model that will be closest to your headquarters, bringing advantages of short distance travel and working with a qualified software engineer in your own country. However, this option will bring higher cost ranges due to the common unavailability of profiles and high maintenance when these developers do not have projects assigned.
practice of hiring services to help your company from the same country. Onshore outsourcing is the model that will be closest to your headquarters, bringing advantages of short distance travel and working with a qualified software engineer in your own country. However, this option will bring higher cost ranges due to the common unavailability of profiles and high maintenance when these developers do not have projects assigned. Offshore outsourcing: practice of contracting services located anywhere in the world, usually referring to countries like India, China, Ukraine or Poland. Although the cost of work is low, there are some drawbacks such as different time zones and language barriers that make communication extremely difficult, and cultural differences can easily increase costs. In practice, there may also be problems with trade laws, intellectual property and data protection due to differences in management and country policy. However, if reduced costs are the company’s immediate priority, this model may be the best option.
What is Nearshore Outsourcing?
By definition, Nearshore Outsourcing is the practice of service/product development by experts in similar time zones and geographic proximity. The Nearshore model provides cost-effective access to the most advanced and modern technologies as well as the agility to increase software production capabilities while maintaining or even reducing business costs. With effective communication, daily meetings, more frequent visits to the remote teams and access to cost-effective rate cards, organizations have the opportunity to solve their IT problems.
For our European clients, the benefits of Nearshore compared to Offshoring is the close relationship between their country and Portugal, as for example clients from the UK choose Portugal (GMT+0) due to the same time zone and cultural compatibility.
Is Nearshore a way to outsource software development?
In a way, yes, but the model offers more than just outsourcing. IT outsourcing is the use of external service providers to effectively deliver business processes, application services and IT infrastructure solutions. The benefits of Nearshoring go far beyond technology outsourcing: we help clients develop the right strategies and vision, structure the best possible contracts, and manage business for sustainable win-win relationships with external vendors.
Nearshoring can enable companies to reduce costs, accelerate time to market, and take advantage of external expertise, assets and/or intellectual property.
Which companies use the Nearshore model?
Hexis, from Lisbon, has helped clients across Europe to solve their complex digital problems by taking on the full technological side of their projects and delivering custom software solutions. Recently, we have had the opportunity to:
Partnering with global FMCG brands based in Germany, in order to get a vision of their customers’ behavior and add a competitive advantage to their products with IoT, Big Data and AI ;
based in Germany, in order to get a vision of their customers’ behavior and add a competitive advantage to their products with ; We support British Fintech and Blockchain companies with applications and MVPs in the gaming, retail and education markets
companies with applications and in the gaming, retail and education markets Partnerships with dedicated team extensions remotely controlled by the client, working with internal developers, with vision aligned and commitment to project and client objectives, such as online retail giants, in order to enable regular software innovation.
remotely controlled by the client, working with internal developers, with vision aligned and commitment to project and client objectives, such as online retail giants, in order to enable regular software innovation. Providing advice, with new perspectives and ideas to our clients, such as start-ups from all kinds of industries, to incubate new ideas in our technology center that drive digital disruption for market change and transformation.
But does traditional offshoring lead to cheaper and faster software?
We know that the offshore model can be an attractive option due to the low cost, scalability of the teams with flexibility that can generate benefits to the end customer. However, the main problem with most offshore IT is the low commitment and lack of motivation of staff: with a high turnover, the exit of staff from projects leads to team instability and loss of knowledge and work already done. The compound effect of these issues has a negative impact on projects in terms of time and money.
However, as a Portuguese company, Hexis is culturally aligned with our European clients, ensuring high quality software from autonomous and reliable teams. We address all the shortcomings of the traditional offshore IT outsourcing model, and share the same time zone that supports regular communication and relationship with our clients. They have full confidence in our work and gaining their trust is the key to our relationships.
Conclusion
Nearshore development offers a mix of onshore and offshore benefits: it lowers fixed costs while still providing you with some of the advantages of onshore outsourcing, such as regular communication during working hours. In price, rates cards tend to be higher than offshore rates, but you will save money again through more efficient communication and lower travel costs.
However, before you begin to consider hiring a software development company, you must first determine your priorities: high quality profiles, the best price, more cultural security, or a mix of everything?
At the end, we can ensure that at Hexis we not only facilitate a rapid and sustainable increase in the scale of the engineering teams but also ensure a knowledge management team that guarantees the security of our clients’ intellectual property. | https://medium.com/@hexishub/nearshore-onshore-or-offshore-services-a64796fefeb9 | ['Hexis Technology Hub'] | 2020-12-10 11:09:48.481000+00:00 | ['Benefits', 'Information Technology', 'Outsourcing', 'Offshore Development', 'Nearshore'] |
Every Bad Thing Dolce & Gabbana Has Done | Every Bad Thing Dolce & Gabbana Has Done
The #DGTheGreatShow ad that sparked the most recent boycott of the brand.
Accountability has never been the fashion industry’s strong suit.
It decries photographers like Mario Testino and Bruce Webber as sexual predators one day, and hires them to shoot celebrity portraits and magazine spreads the next. The Council of Fashion Designers of America sets the age limit for models at 16, and next season NYFW’s biggest designers cast 15-year-old Hailey Clauson.
Bad behavior just doesn’t seem to stick in this business. And why would it when there have never been any real repercussions for designers who are overtly racist, anti-semitic, homophobic, transphobic, fatphobic, and misogynistic. In fact, it’s often the industry’s biggest bullies that end up becoming the most successful.
Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this dynamic is Dolce & Gabbana. A brand that‘s been “canceled” as often as it appeared on the Grammys red carpet last weekend — a truly shocking amount.
So in the hopes of providing some moral clarity to those continuing to work with, buy, and celebrate the brand, I’ve compiled a list of all of the bad things Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have done over the years.
#DGTheGreatShow
In November 2018, Dolce & Gabbana posted a video to Weibo and Instagram to promote their 500-look #DGTheGreatShow runway spectacular taking place in Shanghai. In the short film, a Chinese model attempts to eat various Italian foods with chopsticks while a Chinese voiceover narration makes sexual innuendos about the food being too big for her. The video was taken down less than 24 hours later after commenters accused the label of racism.
Industry watchdog Diet Prada then posted a series of screenshots of direct messages between Stefano Gabbana and another user in which the designer defended the video as “a tribute,” branding the accusations of racism “fake news,” and calling the people of China an “Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” who eat dogs.
Gabbana then claimed his account had been hacked, subsequently deleting it altogether. The brand’s official account seconded Gabbana’s story, writing “Our Instagram account has been hacked. So has the account of Stefano Gabbana. Our legal office is urgently investigating. We are very sorry for any distress caused by these unauthorized posts, comments, and direct messages. We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China.”
Regardless, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Shanghai canceled the show and many of the influencers and models slated to walk in it spoke out against the brand.
Following this event, consumers posted videos of themselves burning and destroying their Dolce products on social media and multiple storefronts were defaced with “Not me” posters mocking Gabbana’s initial response to the scandal.
They’ve also been removed from numerous Chinese shopping websites, including Alibaba’s TMall, jd.com, secoo.com, and department store Lane Crawford, which told the New York Times that customers had been returning the brand’s products.
The two designers eventually responded by sharing a formal apology video on their YouTube channel.
The IVF Comments
“I am not convinced by those I call children of chemicals, synthetic children: Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog,” Domenico Dolce told Italian magazine Panorama in March 2015. “The family is not a fad. In it, there is a supernatural sense of belonging. You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be.”
Elton John called for a boycott of the brand in response to these statements and many celebrities followed suit, throwing their support behind the musician. In response, Gabbana accused the boycotters of being “racist dictators” who were attacking him because his opinion is “different,” calling John a “fascist” and urging his followers to boycott the singer in turn.
The following week, Gabbana posted on Instagram, “We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it. We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people’s choices.”
Dolce wrote in a separate statement: “I’m Sicilian and I grew up in a traditional family, made up of a mother, a father, and children. I am very well aware of the fact that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I’ve known. But in my personal experience, family had a different configuration.”
In August of that year, Dolce walked back all of the above, telling Vogue, “I’ve done some soul-searching. I’ve talked to Stefano a lot about this. I’ve realized that my words were inappropriate, and I apologize. They are just kids. You don’t need labels, baby labels. I think everybody chooses for themselves. I don’t know everything about IVF, but I love it when people are happy. It’s like medicine. Science has been put on the table to help people.”
Tax Evasion
In 2010, Dolce & Gabbana were indicted for alleged tax fraud and convicted by two separate Italian courts of using the Luxembourg holding company Gado to avoid paying almost $540 million worth of taxes to authorities.
The pair were sentenced to 20 months in prison but ultimately did not have to serve any time. In a separate proceeding in April 2013, they were also fined 343.4 million euros plus interest by Italy’s Tax Commission.
However, in 2014 Italy’s high court overturned the two lower courts’ rulings, and, in January 2016, the duo was cleared of all charges by Milan’s Court of Appeals. Dolce and Gabbana have always maintained their innocence.
Selena Gomez
In June 2018, Gabbana left a comment on an Instagram photo collage of Selena Gomez posted by The Catwalk Italia, writing, “è proprio brutta” — which roughly translates to “she’s so ugly.”
Gomez’s “13 Reasons Why” co-star Tommy Dorfman came to the pop star’s defense, responding, “You’re tired and over. Your homophobic, misogynistic, body-shaming existence will not thrive in 2018. It is no longer tolerable or chic. Please take many seats.”
Miley Cyrus also commented on the photo, “Well what that dick head said (if it’s true) is fucking false and total bullshit. She’s fine as fuck.”
In response, Gabbana wrote on his own Instagram account, “MY NAME IS SELENA!!! #saysorrytome” and “Omfg #pleasesaysorrytoselena.”
Miley Cyrus
A screenshot of Miley Cyrus’s Instagram post
Cyrus previously had her own run-in with Gabbana in 2017. The singer shared a photo of her brother Braison on Instagram walking in the brand’s show, writing that while she was proud of him, “D&G, I STRONGLY disagree with your politics….but I do support your company’s effort to celebrate young artists & give them the platform to shine their light for all to see!”
Gabbana responded by reposting the pop star’s photo and writing, “We are Italian and we don’t care about politics and mostly neither about the American one! We make dresses and if you think about doing politics with a post it’s simply ignorant. We don’t need your posts or comments so next time please ignore us!! #boycottdolcegabbana”
He also commented “Ignorant!!!” on Cyrus’s original post and left a string of thumbs-down emojis on her screenshot of Paper Magazine’s tweet about Braison, commenting, “For your stupid comment never more work with him.”
Chiara Ferragni
Following her wedding ceremony in September 2018, the Italian fashion blogger posted a photo of her gown designed by Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri. The image was re-shared by Harper’s Bazaar UK’s Instagram account where Gabbana felt compelled to comment, “cheap.”
The Kardashians
A screenshot of Diet Prada’s Instagram Story.
The Kardashians may be some of Dolce & Gabbana’s biggest fans, but Gabbana made it clear that the feeling isn’t mutual. In July 2018, the designer once again slid into the comment section of a fan account calling the reality star siblings, “the most cheap people in the world.”
Victoria Beckham
Beckham and Gabbana may have been close friends in the early aughts, but the designer’s three thumbs-down emojis on a Vogue Brazil post wishing the Spice Girl a happy 44th birthday effectively conveyed that’s no longer the case.
Perhaps the two had a falling out because of the statement Gabbana made to The Telegraph in 2014 where he said, “She’s a friend. She make a good job but…for us, she don’t make the same way like a fashion designer. She’s a fashion designer but it’s another… it’s different. John Galliano is a designer… Alexander McQueen.”
Dolce also compared her brand to the likes of Zara and H&M.
Kate Moss
A screenshot of TheCatWalkItalia’s Instagram post.
But Gabbana’s ire isn’t strictly reserved for reality stars, pop idols, and fashion bloggers. Even a bonafide supermodel can find themselves on the receiving end of one of the designer’s catty comments. In June 2018, Instagram account TheCatWalkItalia shared two photos of Moss wearing a plunging Saint Laurent romper, asking fans if the look was a hit or a miss. The designer simply responded, “no.”
#BoycottDolceGabbana
In June 2017, the brand debuted a $245 “#BoycottDolceGabbana” T-shirt after being criticized for dressing First Lady Melania Trump. Gabbana shared several photos of the FLOTUS on his Instagram thanking her for wearing his designs, branding her a #DGWoman, and writing, “Haters!!!! Remember #boycottdolcegabbana please.”
“Thin and Gorgeous” Sneakers
A screenshot of Stefano Gabbana’s Instagram account
In April 2017, the brand advertised their new sneakers on Instagram with the words “I’m Thin & Gorgeous” written across the side. Many on social media were outraged by the message, including Claire Mysko, CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, who told Yahoo Style, “Though there may be an element of cheeky humor at play in the design of these sneakers, equating thinness and beauty with success and status is a message that hurts everyone. When the prevailing message is thin is good, gorgeous is good, that becomes our priority, often at the expense of our health and well-being.”
Gabbana eventually caught wind of the controversy, responding on his favorite platform, “When idiocy distorts reality!!! incredibile!!!! [sic] Next time we’ll write LOVE TO BE FAT AND FULL OF CHOLESTEROL. The most stupid post ever.”
Spring/Summer 2016 “Slave” Sandals
A screenshot of the brand’s website
In March 2016, the label began selling a $2,395 pair of shoes on their website listed as “slave sandals.” After an enormous social media backlash, D&G eventually changed the shoe’s name to the more innocuous “decorative flat sandal.”
Spring/Summer 2012 Blackamoor earrings
A white version of the earrings sold on 1stDibs
For the brand’s Spring 2012 collection, the designers said they drew inspiration from their homeland of Sicily. They also appear to have drawn inspiration from colonialism, sending Blackamoor earrings down the runway. As The Guardian so aptly put it at the time, “There’s nothing cute about two white men selling minstrel earrings to a majority non-black audience. There wasn’t a single black model in Dolce & Gabbana’s show, and it’s hard not to be appalled by the transparent exoticism in sending the only black faces down the runway in the form of earrings.”
Banning Press
If you needed any further proof that Dolce & Gabbana can dish it out but can’t take it, the New York Times has not been invited to a Dolce show for over a decade, and Women’s Wear Daily, W magazine, Italian Vogue and Vanity Fair have all been denied access at various times.
How many chances is Dolce & Gabbana going to get? | https://aninjusticemag.com/every-bad-thing-dolce-gabbana-has-done-fb66661bdd84 | ['Emily Kirkpatrick'] | 2020-02-03 19:53:05.373000+00:00 | ['Brands', 'Fashion Week', 'Fashion', 'Luxury', 'Fashion Designer'] |
FTB Guwap | FTB Guwap
He was born in the Punjab region of India and moved to the United States in 2007. Moving to a different country was hard since he had to adapt to a whole new culture and came without any money. In 2020 he dropped his first song “Shotta S*it” which was just the beginning. He’s planning to go all out 2021 and hopefully become a well known name. | https://medium.com/@singh2123/ftb-guwap-a62351d13f28 | ['Ftb Guwap'] | 2020-12-20 02:25:26.921000+00:00 | ['Rap', 'Trap'] |
DXY Finance Launched 5 Staking Pools With Amazing Rewards | DXY Finance Launched 5 Staking Pools With Amazing Rewards
We introduced DXY Finance in our introductory post as a decentralized finance project which built its use case around the most current decentralized finance use case called yield farming. we explained at lengths of the characteristics of the governance token (DXY ) of the DXY Finance ecosystem and how it would be the utility token of the ecosystem to be used as the basis of yield farming rewards as well as other use cases that will spring up within the DXY Finance ecosystem in the future.
We stressed the fact that the DXY finance doesn’t fall into the realm of other yield farming protocol in existence because the algorithm of the DXY Finance is built to accommodate other decentralized finance projects with different use cases has parts of it reward pools, this concept is further proven with plans to integrate two big projects Fireball token (a deflationary protocol) and Popcorn token (also a deflationary protocol) as part of its proposed reward pools, these two pools in addition to three other pools form the DXY yield farming ecosystem.
Available Pools Within DXY Finance Ecosystem
Although we have explained that having Fireball token and the Popcorn token been integrated as farming pools within DXY finance is part of the plan to make DXY finance the yield farming protocol that houses all other decentralized finance protocol, it doesn’t mean that DXY finance does not have other regular pools, in our first article we explained that there are five standard tools within the DXY finance which are summarised below:
· DXY Staking Pool: Here DXY tokens are staked and rewards are paid out in DXY token for the time tokens are staked.
· DXY/ETH Liquidity provision pool: In this pool, participants are rewarded with DXY tokens for staking their liquidity tokens after providing liquidity via the liquidity provision model on Uniswap.
· FIRE Staking Pool: This pool allows holders of Fireball token to stake it within DXY farming ecosystem and earn rewards in DXY tokens.
· CORN staking pool: Within this pool holders of popcorn token can stake it and earn rewards in the DXY tokens.
· UNI pool: In this pool, participants can stake their UNI tokens and earn DXY tokens as a reward for doing so over a period of time.
Reward Allocation within DXY Finance Pools
Recall that the governance token of DXY Finance has half of the total supply(15,000 DXY tokens) locked up to be minted as a reward within the different pools in its ecosystem, each pool has allocated to it a certain percentage of this set aside token which have been summarized below:
· DXY Staking Pool: This pool holds the highest allocation with 30% of the DXY tokens for reward (4,500 DXY tokens) available in this pool, it is said to be the pool for the platform native token.
· DXY/ETH Liquidity Provision Pool: Every project needs liquidity to give more value to its native talking there for the DXY/ETH liquidity pool is set up to meet that need and therefore has 15% (2,250 DXY tokens) of the reward tokens are allocated to it.
· FIRE Staking Pool: This is the staking pool for Fireball token holders, it holds 20% (3,000 DXY tokens) of the tokens set aside for rewards.
· CORN Staking Pool: In this pool can token holders get to share in 3,000 DXY tokens which are 20% of the reward tokens.
· UNI Pool: 15% (2,250 DXY tokens) of the DXY tokens set aside for rewards are reserved in this pool.
Launch of DXY finance Farming Pools
Since the yield farming pools are the main use case of DXY Finance, we have decided to launch all of them immediately so that participants can start benefiting from using any of the pools. The pools within the DXY Finance ecosystem are subjected to setting APY offerings and which are dynamic in value, what this means is that the APY offerings for each change as the DXY algorithm deem it fit
Currently, all pools within DXY ecosystem operate between 1200% to 2000% APY offering.
Pools APY and daily Rewards
DXY Pool: This pool has 1500% APY with a daily reward of 4.2%
DXY/ETH (Liquidity) Pool: This pool has the highest APY among all DXY Finance pools. The pool has 2000% APY with a daily reward of 5.5%
FIRE Pool: This pool has been given an APY of 1200% with a daily reward of 3.3%
CORN Pool: This pool has an APY of 1200% with a daily reward of 3.3%
UNI Pool: This is a top DeFi project (UNI) pool with an APY of 1500% with a daily reward of 4.2%
DXY.FINANCE STAKING POOLS APY
Steps to Start Farming on DXY Finance Pools
1. Visit the DXY staking dashboard via the link with your Web3 enabled browser: https://dxy.finance/dashboard
2. Click on the pool you wish to participate in, there are currently five available pools to choose from.
3. Click “Approve” to synchronize your wallet with the DXY finance farming contract.
4. After transaction confirmation from step 3 above, input the number of tokens you wish to stake and click on the “stake” button
5. Unstaking can be done by inputting the amount of token you wish to unstake and click on the “Unstake” button
6. To claim rewards, click on the “Claim” button.
Important things to take note of while farming within DXY finance pools
1. Gas fee is required to undergo any transaction within DXY Finance farming pool.
2. You will need a Web3 enabled browser, we recommended Metamask, Trust Wallet, Imtoken and Coinbase
3. Each pool has a timeframe for unstaking:
· DXY/ETH (Liquidity) Pool is 24 hours
· All other pools is 48 hours
Where to buy DXY Token?
Uniswap: https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap?inputCurrency=0x39Fa206c1648944f92E8F7B626e1CBdf78d7E9dB
Find DXY Finance Online
Website: https://dxy.finance
Telegram: https://t.me/dxyfinance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dxyfinance
Medium: https://medium.com/@dxyfinance | https://medium.com/@dxyfinance/dxy-finance-launched-5-staking-pools-with-amazing-rewards-130f43429770 | [] | 2020-10-14 09:27:11.504000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Business', 'Money', 'Ethereum', 'Investors'] |
How Swift API Availability Works Internally | Type Refinement Contexts for AST Nodes
Naturally, checking if a symbol you’re calling is available for usage falls into that phase. The compiler does it by building Type Refinement Contexts, which are special structures that can hold any relevant additional information that a scope should have. Currently, this is only used for the very symbol availability we’re interested in.
The process starts when the compiler wants to type-check a statement that contains an availability check. Let’s take this one as an example:
if #available(iOS 14.0, *) { } else { }
At this phase, the purpose of the compiler is to search for any availability conditions and build a proper refinement context if needed. For every condition, the compiler will extract the currently-being-built platform from the condition and attempt to build a range of available version numbers. In this case, the range will simply be minimumTarget...iOS 14 , while the else branch will keep whatever its parent refinement context was unless your condition is checking for something lower than the current context (which would reduce it instead).
The main refinement context allows you to freely use anything up to your app's minimum deployment target, which is why you don't need to bother with these checks when you have a sufficiently high deployment target.
if #available(iOS 14.0, *) {
// Symbol Availability: minimumTarget...iOS 14
} else {
// Symbol Availability: 0...minimumTarget (The default)
}
The fact that it works with ranges makes it possible for it to locate potentially useless checks. If a condition’s range is completely contained by the current context, the compiler will ignore it and display a warning:
When the refinement contexts for each scope are determined, the compiler will associate it with the current statement’s AST node and use it for any future availability checks. The refinement contexts are built like trees (where a context has a pointer to its parent), but they are used as a stack. As the compiler traverses your code, these refinement contexts will get pushed and popped as needed:
While the outer else scope will make no changes to availability, the inner else scope will keep the increased iOS 9 availability, as that was the current refinement context at the time. Here’s a visual example of how this works in practice:
Everything shown here also applies to guard statements, except in that case, the positive availability changes are applied to what's left of the current scope.
guard #available(iOS 14, *) else {
// Symbol Availability: 0...minimumTarget (The default)
return
}
// Symbol Availability: minimumTarget...iOS 14
This process involving refinement contexts is precisely why you can’t use availability conditions outside of statements like this: | https://medium.com/better-programming/how-swift-api-availability-works-internally-a0bd8ebbefcf | ['Bruno Rocha'] | 2020-10-01 16:24:31.596000+00:00 | ['iOS', 'Xcode', 'Swift', 'Programming', 'Mobile'] |
“The Real Master of the Country is the Villager” | “The Real Master of the Country is the Villager”
Turkey has been the land of agriculture since as early as 10,000 BC. Many recent researches show that cultivation and agriculture first started in Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor). Cybele was a strong figurine of Anatolian Mother Goddess, who was also known as the Earth Goddess, representing the fertility of the earth and women since Neolithic age. Modern Turkey has inherited the wisdom of Anatolia’s early farmers and still stands today as a country of agriculture. However, the sector is also facing some challenges such as productivity, efficiency and food inflation. What is expected of Turkey’s agriculture sector in the coming years?
Cybele, Anatolian Mother/Earth Goddess
The world is on the edge of an agricultural crisis today. Investments and technological innovations have surely boosted productivity in the last decades but food security and agricultural sustainability are threatened by population growth, rapid urbanization, food loss and waste, climate change and depletion of natural resources. Productivity growth is also hampered by the loss of biodiversity and spread of transboundary pests and diseases, some of which are becoming resistant to antimicrobials. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, some 800 million people suffer from hunger despite significant progress in reducing hunger and poverty. Business-as-usual is not seen as an option anymore. FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva cautions that “planetary boundaries may well be surpassed, if current trends continue”.
Turkey suffers from similar problems though it has its unique challenges too. A major concern today is high inflation which has largely been driven by rapidly rising food prices and currency depreciation. Food price inflation was 30% in March 2019 compared to the same month in 2018. It has been a subject of political dispute, too. Earlier this year, the authorities referred to the ones who are accused of keeping the prices artificially high as “food terrorists”. To bring prices down, the government has taken some measures including selling vegetables at around 50% of prices via municipalities.
2018 and 2019 have been particularly difficult due to storms in Turkey’s farming regions. According to expert reports, climatic challenges which are expected to intensify include temperature increases everywhere in all seasons, decreases in annual precipitation amounts in the southern parts, more precipitation events increasing the risks of flooding and increased intensity of droughts.
Leaving the climatic and currency challenges to one side, Turkey has also been suffering from some structural problems in its agricultural sector. Economic liberalization and falling tariffs since 1980s coupled with higher production costs (i.e. fertilizers, pesticides, fodder, fuel) have taken a toll on the livelihood of farmers. Small and divided lands, middle-men reaping the majority of profits and limited use of technology have contributed to the problem. In the last four decades many people in rural areas have moved to cities. Higher income through the industrial and service sectors made farming and husbandry less attractive for the villagers. The share of population employed in agriculture has fallen from 35% in 2002 to 19% in 2018.
It’s not all bad that the share of people working in higher value-added industrial/manufacturing sectors has increased while agricultural population has decreased. It’s a sign of modernization and industrialization. However, it would have been more sustainable if this pattern happened alongside increased productivity, efficiency and competitiveness in agriculture.
Despite challenges, Turkey still remains as the world’s 7th largest agricultural producer overall. It’s the world leader in production of hazelnuts, sultanas/raisins, dried figs and apricots; and largest exporter in many products including tomatoes (9th) and lemon and lime (4th). Turkey is also a leading exporter of the flour of wheat, tangerines, oranges, grapes, pasta and chicken meat. Organic farming and aquaculture have grown rapidly and Turkey now exports many organic and aquaculture products thanks to the government’s support and incentives.
Does Turkey only export tomatoes and tangerines? Not really. The country is also the world’s 5th largest olive oil producer. It’s not surprising that the wild olive tree is said to have originated in Asia Minor. Among the most well-known olives in the world may come i.e. Kalamata olives of Greece. The Spanish or Italian olive oils may carry a higher price tag but Turkey’s olives should not be ignored either. A visitor of the country may notice that a typical Turkish breakfast’s king and queen are cheese and olives. It’s the main reason why no Turk can easily settle for a piece of croissant or doughnut for breakfast. Dubbed liquid gold by the Greek poet Homer, olive oil is widely produced in the Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. The special cold-dish “zeytinyagli” (means “with olive oil”) is a stable in restaurants serving Mediterranean or traditional Turkish food. Turkish olive oil is exported to many countries including the U.S. and there are brands which are increasingly competing in international contests.
Other agricultural delicacies of Turkey which are increasingly in high demand include wild honey, ancient wheat types such as Siyez, tea, wine and cheese. Turkey is the second largest honey producer in the world with its rich flora for the bees. Anzer honey (produced in Rize) is sold for as high as $200 per kilogram due to its nutritional and medicinal qualities. The white tea produced in Rize, Turkey’s tea producing capital in the Black Sea region, is now marketed all over the world. Siyez wheat, a genetically unmodified ancient grain oft Anatolia which dates back nearly 10,000 years, is treated as the golden wheat in a world filled with genetically modified grains which are increasingly found as a cause for many health disorders. Turkish wines made with native grapes such as Okuzgozu (bull’s eye), Bogazkere (throat burner), Kalecik Karasi (Kalecik black), Narince (delicately) and Emir (ruler) receive awards from international wine contests. Not sure if there is any record of early settlers in Anatolia having enjoyed their wine with cheese but surely Turkey also has an extremely rich cheese culture with around 200 known types from goatskin cheese to Kars gruyere.
Turkish producers are trying to increase and diversify export markets from the most refined to the least. The government is helping them with various incentives and has recently pledged a project of National Unity of Agriculture which covers measures ranging from increased use of technological greenhouses to increasing animal stocks. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has a strategy to address problems around food safety, crop and animal production, plant& animal health and rural development. Increasing R&D and incentives are part of the strategy too. Turkey is hungry and ripe enough for new technologies and a new generation of young farmers using these technologies. The introduction of the wholesale market law soon would also help prevent the middlemen and improve food price stability. To achieve ambitious goals in agriculture, the institutional capacity building, coordination with related public and private institutions, a long-term strategy and political commitment are all vital.
How about the U.S.-Turkey trade in agricultural products? Currently the U.S exports soybeans, animal feed, walnuts and cotton to Turkey while Turkey mainly exports olive oil, tobacco and dried fruits according to the U.S. Turkey’s Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan. Upon her return from the U.S. trip she met with American business people together with the accompanying Turkish business delegation, who said they would work hard to reach $75bn total trade target as was agreed between President Erdogan and President Trump. The lion’s share in bilateral trade, in terms of value, would continue to consist of industrial goods but agricultural products’ share could easily increase too. Overall better relations between the two countries would be reflected on the food, the most important aspect of people’s lives and wellbeing. As Thomas Jefferson said “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness”.
*Title Quote by Ataturk | https://medium.com/meddah-a-u-s-turkey-storytelling-project/the-real-master-of-the-country-is-the-villager-3112584b978b | ['Turkish Heritage Organization'] | 2019-05-17 20:09:05.474000+00:00 | ['Trade', 'Us Turkey Relations', 'Agriculture'] |
How I Learned About Sex From Stephen King | It has three sex scenes, one of which, the child orgy, is famously icky. Grady Hendrix calls it “the heart of the book” while also saying that “good taste and Stephen King have never really been on speaking terms.” King himself finds it “fascinating” that there is so much furor over that scene “and so little about the multiple child murders.”
Ickiness aside, the scene didn’t do much for me. How could I learn from a bunch of eleven-year-olds patty-caking their way through intercourse?
More instructive were two scenes that take place in 1985, when the Losers, all grown up, are summoned to their hometown of Derry to face Pennywise, the monster they thought they defeated in 1958.
Beverly is married to Tom, an abusive creep. When she forgets Tom’s loathing of cigarettes and lights up in his car, he smashes her across the jaw.
Later, she sleeps with him. It is tempting to say she does it out of fear or obligation, but she seems genuinely turned on, moaning at his touch, grabbing his hand to “thrust it between her legs.”
(Middle School Me imagined his hand just above her knees, clenched like a tennis ball in a relay race.)
King focuses on Tom’s perspective: what he sees (Beverly’s flushed face), feels (her nails in his back, her teeth in his shoulder), and hears (her scream at the end). This was useful imagery; it helped me picture what happened.
King can be coarse, referring to Beverly’s “ass” and “tits,” but he is also lyrical, as in this line:
“Sliding into her was like sliding into some exquisite oil.”
A lot is tucked into this line. “Oil” doesn’t mean Valvoline but something like frankincense, smooth and luxurious. How could something that soothing make Beverly bite and scratch? I didn’t know, but it suggested sex was multifarious, sometimes confusing, and an assault on the senses. All are true, as I would eventually discover.
In the second scene (page 888 in my Signet paperback, still dog-eared), Beverly is in Derry with Bill, another Loser. After an evening of reminiscing, the two have sex. This time, King shows he can write from a woman’s perspective:
“Beverly felt her climax coming. She moved toward it, working for it, never doubting it would come. Her body suddenly stuttered and seemed to leap upward . . . pleasure so great it was nearly agony spilled out of unsuspected floodgates.”
I’ve never liked the clinical-sounding “climaxed,” and the rest of the passage is too vague. What does it mean that Beverly’s body “stuttered”? At age fifteen, I needed an operations manual, not a prose poem. Yet the scene is warm and affirming, exactly what I needed to calm my fear.
(For a repressed preacher’s kid in adolescence, a hundred killer clowns aren’t as terrifying as intimacy with a woman.) | https://medium.com/sexography/modern-sex-stephen-king-80444a26f38c | ['Anthony Aycock'] | 2020-08-25 21:02:07.636000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Sex', 'Education', 'Parenting', 'Books'] |
The Future of Higher Ed: the Smart Campus | We’re living in an ever-connected world thanks to the Internet; however, thanks to smart gadgets, we live in a world of continuous improvement. Smart gadgets linked to the Internet monitor many things from heart-rates to electricity consumption, or even when a package is delivered. This is the area of the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart technology changed the way we live our lives as information and entertainment is available 24/7. What we do with that type of information is key. We already see the rise of smart cities, in which urban areas use IoT devices and sensors to collect data from citizens and devices. This information is then analyzed to monitor and manage things like transportation, power, water, waste management, crime, and other community services.
Yet, the adoption rate of smart cities is pretty slow due to the fact that cities have a very niche constituent base with specific needs and concerns. But campuses don’t have that type of limitation. In fact, the number of smart campuses is growing faster than smart cities as digital native students will expect to have online connectivity in their learning environment.
Benefits of a smart campus
Garnter defines smart campus is defined as “…a physical or digital environment in which humans and technology-enabled systems interact in increasingly open, connected, coordinated and intelligent ecosystems. Multiple elements, including people, processes, services and things, come together to create a more immersive, interactive and automated experience for students, staff, faculty and stakeholders of a university or college.”
The benefits of a smart campus are shown through the reduction of operational costs and increased efficiency through smart lighting, security, transportation, and smart utilities. This includes reduced energy and water consumption, less traffic and parking issues, and better utilized space. These benefits result in both campus community satisfaction and real financial savings. For example, the University of Central Florida (UCF), will start scanning license plates of cars coming or going from campus to eliminate the need for parking passes and to check against police databases. In addition to their policing function, the university’s statement said the cameras would eventually eliminate the need for parking decals or hangtags, as drivers’ license plates “will act as parking permits.”
Less obvious benefits result from a more connected campus culture. With new learning models and smart campus technology, every student has access to conferencing tools and can jump in on collaborative sessions within seconds. Screen casting and application sharing also enables students to work collaboratively without being physically in the same place. In that same sense of collaboration, digital signage, facial recognition, and smart cards can enhance students’ ability to move around the campus with ease, making it easier to accomplish routine tasks and transactions. And students do feel connected as a survey from TrouDigital found that 95% of students and recent graduates thought that ‘digital displays are beneficial for student communication’. “In many respects, digital signage is a mouthpiece for smart campuses,” explained TrouDigital’s Marketing Manager, Lee Gannon, “providing a unique physical platform that keeps the student body informed and feeling connected to their university.”
An example of IoT use in matriculation can be seen from Arizona State University (ASU). ASU launched a pilot project to see if using IoT to take attendance could help advisers reach out to students.The university offers an introductory course called ASU 101 for first-time freshmen. “We know that students who fail to attend that course on a regular basis have a very high probability of failing to persist,” said CIO Gordon Wishon. “So we have a vested interest in understanding which students are attending that course on a regular basis and those who are not.” But with section sizes of up to 300 students, faculty members have no time to take attendance. With the approval of the institutional review board, the provost’s office is sponsoring a pilot project asking the students to opt in to allowing ASU to track their location using a virtual beacon when they enter the classroom. Wishon said the data would not go to the faculty member but could help the institution identify which students might be at risk because they are failing to attend.
How to make your campus smart
Universities should follow Amazon’s lead and streamline the consumer journey. How? Implement the most effective technology that has the greatest chance of improving the student journey. A prime example of implementing a plan to rehaul technology and applications can be seen at Oral Roberts University (ORU). ORU saw an all-time high in student retention, freshman fall-to-spring retention was 95.5 percent and sophomore fall-to-spring retention was 93.1 percent. ORU also saw an all-time high 99.4 percent placement of graduates. ORU followed this smart-campus approach and measured success by:
Did the students receive direct value from what was integrated? Did we successfully white-label the technology and focus on the outcome of the overall system design, rather than the product name itself? Did we innovatively do something with the vendor product that their own development team did not think about doing?
Bringing it all in
Smart campus implementation can improve three key areas of campus life: the experience, efficiency, and education. Increasing interconnectivity between technology products will continue this trend by enabling students do more with their time while using fewer resources. It will also reshape how students interact with an institution by providing a connected student experience. It can be the tipping point for digital transformation that will address the future of learning and work. By leveraging the benefits of a smart campus, universities can easily modernize while remaining sustainable and relevant to their students, staff, and faculty, as well as the surrounding community they serve today. | https://medium.com/processmaker/the-future-of-higher-ed-the-smart-campus-1e06fe5120a6 | ['Matthieu Mcclintock'] | 2019-07-19 15:56:35.246000+00:00 | ['Smart Cities', 'Internet of Things', 'Higher Education', 'Technology', 'Edtech'] |
Consensus and truth | What we are trying to achieve with our social media tools is ‘consensus’ at the cost of ‘truth’. Whether we are in a friends and family group in Whatsapp or a group in Slack at office or in discussion forums like HN or , beyond trying to establish ‘what we want us to be seen by others as’ even though we may not be that in most cases, sharing Web grabs that try to represent who we think we are.
Even before social media or the Web, humans have lived in groups and groups within groups. Even though there are differing opinions on every topic, we all try to see how best we can converge. There is an innate desire to come together and come to an agreement.
Managers at companies try to do this all the time. Dissonance is seen as a hindrance to productive work or progress. So they huddle in a conference room as soon as they sense dissonance among team members and try to bring some consensus to move forward.
Yes, we like to move forward and not hang on to something when we are in groups. As individuals it is a different matter. We can be hanging onto something without the push or need to move forward for a very long time.
You may be wondering about this life and why we exist until you die. You may find various answers to it and yet you are not in a hurry to come to a conclusion and move forward.
Truth is open ended. For convenience and the need to move forward, we have short-term truths where we all agree on something. Like Gravity is a force or a space-time curvature or is it like everything is simply in a free fall and they are temporarily finding themselves circling one another.
All our life we are forced to agree with others. If you are a pursuer of truth you will end up in conflicts with everyone on everything. So, we have politics, religion, diplomacy etc. to bring down our ever questioning minds to the ground and carry on with our lives. Almost like people pushing you ahead while you are waiting in a queue to die. ‘keep moving’ , ‘agree and keep moving’ are the words that come to my mind.
Social media has exacerbated this phenomenon. Everyone tries hard to fight for their opinion only to find a short-term truth to latch on. Is Trump good or bad ? Is Covid dangerous or a joke ? Everyone has their opinion and then there are multiple truths that emerge and everyone finds their pockets to join and carry on.
Consensus kills a lot of possibilities at once like a Schrodinger’s cat. All our lives we have to agree with a lot of people on various things whether we like it or not. Over time, this erodes the need to find who we really are. We may be a collage of various group thoughts getting ready to be exploited by corporates or politicians or your neighbor.
Consensus breeds mediocrity. The conclusions we arrive at by agreement is always a temporary solace to ‘carry on’. While this may help us run our lives (literally), to achieve deeper truth on anything you need to be individualistic without getting drowned by noise.
It takes courage to be an individual in pursuit of truth. Even if you agree, you know it is temporary for ‘moving on’ and you are all eyes and ears fixated on truth. | https://medium.com/@thallukrish/consensus-and-truth-6de5712f4b43 | ['Thalapathy Krishnamurthy'] | 2020-12-15 00:20:27.118000+00:00 | ['Truth', 'Consensus'] |
Choses Que Je Ne Savais Pas Aimé | I didn’t know that I loved the smell of lilac in April air. The way
cobblestones feel underfoot, sounds of spoons against cups.
I didn’t know how I loved the sound of Edith Piaf
while walking along the Seine. The way I would drag my
index finger along the ragged edge of Pont Neuf until a drop of blood
seeped from freshly broken skin.
I didn’t know that I love the way French men kiss
my thighs. The way his lips felt against my Monday
morning skin.
I didn’t know how good he would taste
after eating croissants, espresso-stained tongue. The way
he sauntered away on the platform, boarding a train to Bretagne,
as I took a drag from my slender cigarette.
I didn’t know I loved the sound of the accordion
playing, as the sun paints itself across Sacré Coeur.
I didn’t know I could ever love my own company so fully.
I didn’t know I loved alone, like
lilac alone in the atmosphere. | https://medium.com/the-pom/choses-que-je-ne-savais-pas-aim%C3%A9-7b52a183a47b | ['Tyler A. Donohue'] | 2020-12-19 06:38:42.804000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Creative Writing', 'Poetry Writing', 'Poetry', 'Paris'] |
Async Await in Swift | Async Await in Swift
In this article, we will explore the basics of async/await, the heart of the new concurrency system in Swift 5.5 Arman Abkar Sep 8·5 min read
Async Await in Swift
async/await was one of the biggest changes introduced in Swift 5.5 during WWDC 2021. Concurrency means allowing multiple pieces of code to run at the same time. This simple definition should give you an idea of how important concurrency is for the performance of the applications. With the new async methods and await statements, we can define methods running asynchronously. Besides that, async/await will simplify our complex asynchronous code and as a result, make it easier to read.
In this article, we will explore the basics of async/await. It should be noted that while async/await are not the only concurrency options, Apple’s SDKs are starting to make use of them, and there is no doubt that third-party libraries will start making use of it as well. If you have been writing callback-based concurrency, keep in mind that the implementation for async/await is completely different from anything you have seen before in Apple’s technologies and legacy codes.
What is Async?
Async (abbreviation for asynchronous) is a method attribute to tell the compiler when a piece of code is asynchronous. To mark a function as async , simply put the async keyword after the function’s closing parenthesis and before the arrow:
func downloadProfilePicture(id: Int) async -> UIImage? { }
Or:
func downloadProfilePicture(id: Int) async throws -> UIImage? { }
The method above is defined as async throwing, which means that the method would return an image if everything went well or throws an error if something went wrong.
async code can only run in concurrent contexts. It means within other async functions or when manually dispatched via Task {} .
Awaiting async
Await is the keyword to be used for calling async methods. Whenever the program finds the await keywords, it has the option of suspending the function. If the program suspends the function, await will return control. The program will then use the thread to perform other work until the suspended function is done and the statements below await will not be executed until it has finished. In other words, the program decides what’s important to execute and it will return control to you after it sees the await function has finished. So every call to an async function must be marked as await :
do {
let image = try await downloadProfilePicture ()
} catch {
print("Fetching image failed with an error \(error)")
}
In the example above, await keyword tells our program to await a result from the downloadProfilePicture method and only continue after a result arrived. This could either be an image or an error if anything went wrong while fetching the image.
By using async/await, methods are linearly executed without going back and forth as they would with closures and there would be no callback hell or completion closures anymore:
do {
let image = try await downloadProfilePicture ()
let resizedImage = try await resizeImage(image)
} catch {
print("Fetching image failed with an error \(error)")
}
As you can see, the order of execution is linear and therefore easy to follow and easy to reason. In this way, understanding asynchronous code will be easier while we’re still performing complex asynchronous tasks.
It’s important to note that it’s not guaranteed the same thread that executed the code above it, is the same one that will execute the code below it. This is crucial when working with UI. If you use await in a context that needs the main thread such as a ViewController, make sure you mark the async functions with the @MainActor attribute or add the attribute to the entire class declaration. We will discuss the Actors in another article.
Async methods in synchronous worlds
Consider the following piece of code:
func fetchImage() {
do {
try await downloadProfilePicture ()
} catch { }
}
This issue is common for the first time use of async/await. The compiler will protect us from erroneously running this, showing the following error:
‘async’ call in a function that does not support concurrency. Add ‘async’ to function ‘downloadProfilePicture()’ to make it asynchronous.
This error occurs when we try to call an asynchronous method from a synchronous calling context that does not support concurrency. The compiler suggests we mark downloadProfilePicture method as async:
func fetchImage() async {
do {
try await downloadProfilePicture ()
} catch { }
}
But this is not always possible. What if downloadProfilePicture method is in a view controller or in another place that can’t give you an asynchronous context?
To fix this problem, we can bridge this synchronous function to the asynchronous world using Task {} :
func fetchImage() {
Task.init {
do {
let image = try await downloadProfilePicture ()
} catch { }
}
}
We are explicitly creating an asynchronous context here, and it will behave as such. We can now call fetchImage method from any synchronous context without any problem.
The future of the Result type
In the examples above, We’ve seen that async methods can replace asynchronous methods that make use of closure callbacks. It seems that we won’t need the Result type anymore, as we can use try-catch statements in combination with async/await. But it’s not completely true yet.
The Result type won’t disappear anytime soon as it’s still being used in many places throughout Swift projects and many legacy codes. However, as more developers start to use async/await and their adoption rates get higher, the Result type will probably get deprecated and you can completely replace it with async/await.
Conclusion | https://medium.com/@armanabkar/async-await-in-swift-21fd09774055 | ['Arman Abkar'] | 2021-09-08 15:58:26.767000+00:00 | ['Asynchronous', 'Concurrency', 'Async Await', 'iOS', 'Swift'] |
Home | Hurting feet tumble
Down a path hardly beaten,
As lost eyes gently sway
Over trees lining the horizon.
Shadows creep up behind me,
Condescending as if God-sent;
Paranormal, in a sense,
Terrifying in another.
But lead me into peril they will,
And pull me into the abyss,
As I walk under a punishing sun,
Stumbling and falling,
But never retiring.
The wind rustles the trees,
As the Earth under me shifts;
I am an outcast,
A welt on the face of the world.
I need to be home,
More than ever
But in its path lies
What can’t be defined.
But this is my quest
Over the ridges, I flee,
On the dunes, I roll,
Never losing myself, never tiring.
I will reach my home —
Soon, I will.
My home is waiting for me,
Wagging its tail,
Sporting flattened ears.
And when I touch it,
I will have fulfilled
My dire need to do so,
And my peace with God
Made in a tick.
For it gives me hope
To pilfer from the vile,
Inspiration to head back out
On another day,
Into peril. | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/home-f6876d59142f | ['Anto Rin'] | 2019-07-19 10:31:01.092000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Poem', 'Dogs', 'Life', 'Inspiration'] |
The Rhetoric of Love on Valentine’s Day | The journey toward true love. (Image courtesy of Pixabay)
This Valentine’s Day found me reading Plato’s Symposium for the umpteenth time. Actually, I spent the day surrounded by my books. That’s not unlike most days, except for the actual choice of books which walled around my desk. Why are you spending Valentine’s Day reading? a friend just asked. Well, I harbour grave misgivings about Valentine’s Day. It seems like an excuse to sell cards and hoodwink gullible women under the cover of a hypocritical sentimentalism. It doesn’t seem like any of it is really done for love.
It might actually be my least favourite ‘traditional’ holiday. I find it difficult to do anything more than half-hearted in the name of St Hallmark, but even so I participate in good faith, as best I can. I try to be a good sport. In any case, the closest I can get to participating in all the love-talk in good conscience is gorging myself on talk about love in a more engaged and probing way than the card companies encourage— in other words, the closest I can get is reading about love, to mark the occasion. Despite my misgivings, I really was looking for a good enough reason to celebrate. Whatever I may be, I’m not a contrarian for contrarianism’s sake.
So, that’s why yesterday afternoon, my copies of Plato and Marsilio Ficino rubbed shoulders with Ovid, Tibullus and Catullus; and even, by tangential relation, with Lucretius. Nor should I forget Shakespeare. I was reading what the important thinkers — and feelers — of the canon had to say about love.
Given the preponderance of ancient authors, this seems to imply that I think the Ancients have better things to say about the subject than the Moderns. For the most part, that implication is correct. Only in discussions of chivalry can we say for sure that the Moderns come out ahead, and that’s only because chivalry isn’t really ‘a thing’ until the Middle Ages. Such a notion as chivalry would have caused genuine puzzlement, even amusement, to the Ancients. In Latin elegiac verse in particular, love often seems more of a diversion than a devotion, a pastime appropriate for an idle young literary man of the leisure class. Nevertheless, in Love-as-Eros, we can barely touch them.
I’m more sympathetic to ‘their’ view than to ‘ours’.
Let me be clear: Valentine’s Day is an aberration. We can’t even say with confidence why we really celebrate it, let alone establish its origins to our satisfaction. The only reason it’s still popular is because it’s Good Business.
Now — back to books.
Finding the Rhetoric of Love
I singled out Plato’s Symposium because it’s an acknowledged starting-point in the Western canon. It’s a work ostensibly about the nature of love plain and simple. There’s much more to it than that, of course, as the speech by Socrates and the conclusion of the dialogue shows. Actually, although interpreters of Plato tend to focus on this speech and what comes after it, we see signs of the subtext long before this, going all the way to the start of the action.
The Symposium is an invitation to enjoyment of an elevated kind. I’m actually not a big fan of re-reading Plato’s dialogues, although he had a talent for staging philosophical discussions which have inflected Western thought with a genre of rational dialogues unknown outside of our civilisation. Even amid such a prestigious corpus, the Symposium stands out from the rest.
It’s a speaking contest, belonging to the realm of rhetoric. Now, while Logic as we know it today proceeds by means of successive operations, like mathematics, Rhetoric proceeds by means of continuous performance. Despite the unkind treatment Plato gives to the art of rhetoric in Gorgias, the Sophist and elsewhere — including even the Symposium itself — he partakes of the rhetorician’s craft.
This might seem strange from a strict Platonist’s perspective, but it’s entirely in-keeping with the tradition of European love literature. Dante found love to be the proper attitude towards the gentilissima donna (‘most gentle lady’) Philosophy and rhetoric to be the proper means of its cultivation. Among the first generation of humanists, along with Petrarch and Boccaccio, Dante’s interest in philosophy was first awakened by literary love. This is a fairly uncontroversial attitude in pre-modern literature.
Love literature always has multiple layers and readings, of which Ovid’s love elegies are only the most famous example. These works are really about something else, without ceasing to be about love. This something else is so important, despite often going unuttered, that it’s what makes reading these works an experience. It can best be identified, at this point, as expression. Of course, love and expression go hand-in-hand, so like I said, this doesn’t mean such works cease to be about love, as we’ll see below.
The Symposium in a Sprint
Plato’s Symposium is an example of this literature, albeit an unusual one. It’s also unusual for a Platonic dialogue. In this case, the immediate difference is that Plato is more flexible than usual with his chosen format. This, and other details, change how we experience the text. The Symposium a Platonic dialogue that actually involves less dialogue as such than it does showy speechifying. It’s framed as a story told third-hand by Apollodorus, set during the second day of a two-or-three-day bender on the vino, and we immediately find the drunken revellers — most notably Socrates, also — bored and somewhere between residually drunk and actively hungover. The party is hosted at the villa of the tragic poet Agathon, who is celebrating his victory in the tragedy competition the previous night.
Amor and Psyche (1589) by Florentine painter Jacopo Zucchi. (Image in the public domain)
Being ancient Greek men, the attendees make the unanimous choice to enjoy themselves with that favourite Hellenic pastime of conversation. Since heads are too sore for ornate political dialogue, they decide to shake the cobwebs loose with something a little more easygoing. So, naturally, they decide to engage in a light-hearted oratorical competition, much like that won by Agathon before the dialogue’s action starts. The main difference in this case is the intimacy of the company and environment, the fact that the contest is celebratory and private. It might help the modern reader to think of it as their version of inviting the boys over to ‘get lit AF’ and play Super Smash Bros. In any case, they decide to take turns giving speeches in praise of Eros or love, with Dionysus, the god of wine, to judge the winner (which turns out to be effected via his proxy, the outrageously drunken Alcibiades). Each participant, even Socrates, seizes upon the opportunity to excel in showmanship. Plato coyly conceals the fact that the work is as much about the speeches given as about love itself.
“Love sounds suspiciously like rhetoric”
After reading the succession of speeches, culminating in that by Socrates, we’re compelled to draw one over-arching conclusion about love. Love is that mediating force which spurs us towards all the qualities celebrated by the previous speakers: in no particular order, philandering, pederasty, romance, self-sacrifice, civic virtue, truth and Beauty. The higher conception of Love ( — I’ll switch to rendering it with a capital-L now — ) brings us to the ultimate goods via their earthly representations. We may join Alcibiades, the assembled speakers and Plato himself in according Socrates undisputed victory, the crowning achievement of the night’s revels, but we needn’t discard the rest. The Symposium is best read as an unfolding process, which yields overall a rose-like rhetoric of love, of which the night’s perspectives are some of the many petals. They each carry the fragrance of something genuine to some extent or other. In the Symposium, as a matter of fact, love sounds suspiciously like rhetoric in the best sense of the word.
Seeing the light of reality on the other side of the apparent is the major aim of Platonic philosophy. (Image courtesy of Pixabay)
The work also convinces us to conceive of Love as having a chiefly vertical character, whose whispered intimations encourage us onward and upward. This way of describing it is to establish contradistinction from the horizontal, which we might describe as drifting unwittingly from one indulgence to another on the same level. Instead, the way to Love is a promising mountain path along which we may steadily ascend to the highest delights of the soul. What’s to be condemned in such a concept?
A Dialogue with the Hallmark Casanovas
I n the present day, we’ve certainly lost the thread on this conception of love. Once a year, on St Valentine’s feast day, this becomes painfully obvious. I repeat for emphasis, Saint Valentine’s Day — an indication of the formerly sacred character of love.
In fact, the contemporary ‘celebration’ of Valentine’s Day contributes to the misunderstanding. It feels more like an unfunny version of the Feast of Fools, as do most other holidays these days. The rampant commercialism of this Hallmark holiday possibly even marks a rung below the lower, carnal level of Eros which Pausanias mentions only to condemn. The paths to love we’re sold with greetings cards, Lindt chocolates, scentless roses and flavoured condoms lead us only deeper into a labyrinth of lies.
Valentine’s Day has always struck me as off-the-rack romance rechauffé year upon year. Now, of course, this is incredibly convenient for me. I’m truly terrible at Valentine’s Day in the presently accepted form, as a wife and a string of former girlfriends can readily attest. I have exactly one ex who could get me to consistently celebrate Valentine’s Day as anything resembling a holiday, including the giving-theoretically-romantic-gifts rigmarole, and all that was because she had an impish way of making it fun and mysterious, with various surprises and gift boxes scattered throughout the day. Barring some miraculous change in the future, I regard this as a fluke.
Whatever Valentine’s Day may be, it’s not inherently loving. It’s display, neediness, avarice and platitudes, none of which requires love.
Even in an evolutionary sense, according to the handicap hypothesis, this romantic credulity is deleterious. In signalling theory, signals which have a fitness cost for the bearer get around the possibility of bluffing and therefore accurately signal desirability to potential mates. What handicap signalling eliminates, to a large extent, is the possibility that we’re deceived into bad matches by desirable traits which can be faked. The whole repertoire of Valentine’s Day, by contrast, is nothing but a set of such bluffs. Indeed, the holiday is a shameless celebration of deceptive signalling.
Valentine’s is the consumerism equivalent of gut-sucking.
Again, none of this proves or requires the involvement of love. The only thing close to love which is demonstrably involved is the love-of-money, which is a kind of love in name only. Actually, Valentine’s Day is a surreptitious encouragement to all of the Seven Deadly Sins to some degree or another.
The Valentine’s swindle has all the downsides of our hyper-commercialised Coca-Cola Christmas, without any of the midwinter rituals or the binding power of family which ground the latter. Instead, it’s little more than nigh-bare lust feigning modesty and devotion behind the fig-leaf of fraud. Its female role models range from the treacherous Delilah and brazen Jezebel to the vengeful Medea; its male ones variations of the vile blackmailer Scarpia from Sadou’s La Tosca (later adapted to opera by Puccini).
Valentine’s Day belongs to homo economicus, not homo rhetoricus, to our detriment. It’s the celebration of commerce, not Cupid.
“Going ahead means recovering what we left behind”
I don’t pretend to fully understand the innermost esoterica of Love, but to riff on Socrates himself, at least I know that we know nothing of it, if Valentine’s Day is any indication; I can’t tell you exactly what it is that we lost, but we’ve lost something. Now, something comparably wonderful might even lie ahead, but I don’t think we’ll find it by disregarding inherited wisdom. I’d rather find new treasure by the old byways and folkways than leave it to dumb luck. Going ahead means recovering what we left behind.
We’re thinking without a bannister, as Hannah Arendt put it; proceeding in ignorance, without the benefit of a living tradition of thought to suggest how we might correctly understand love. Moreover, we’re loving without a bannister. Rhetoric has given way to lifeless marketing. There’s no longer any via dolce to discipline the heart and mind of the lover. The art of proper speaking, which once showed hidden connections and paths, which enticed the minds of our ancestors out of the gutter, has given way to the science of the gutter itself.
Grasping Ariadne’s Thread
So, yes, while I’m terrible at Valentine’s Day, I don’t want to be good at it, not secretly, not even a tiny bit. Rather, I want to get better at expressing to those I love the higher reality of that love and, in the process of expressing it, finding it myself.
When we reveal the light of our love, we articulate the deepest truths of our own souls, our inner music. When we each play our inner music with another, we may find its harmony in theirs — that is, genuine and meaningful connection. All stable and enduring meanings come from connections anyway, both in linguistics and in our own lives. Connections between differentiated phenomena, inflected by their particularity, illuminate relationships which our forebears called magic; even more so connections between people. It’s from sensing these connections that we get the literary sensibility best stated by the Roman dramatist Terence, who avers that
Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto
or
I am a human being, so, I think, nothing human is alien to me
We reach out to make these connections, we conjecture out beyond ourselves. This is personally meaningful to me. It’s why I write. My goal in literary composition is not simply to speak or write in vacuo, but to communicate and connect.
It’s connection — our participation in the Love that moves through all — that makes it all worthwhile, that makes the world spin. This is in many ways the central message of Dante’s Divine Comedy, which he expressed when he wrote
l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle
or
It’s love that moves the Sun and the other stars
and he was right. Love is the heat which makes the fire burn and the light which makes the brilliance shine. It’s the Alchemist’s One-in-All, suggested by the symbol ☉ for the Sun.
Finding the thread woven rhetorically can lead us back to such forgotten truths, back to magic. Figurative language conveys us dreamily into the realm of Love. It must be so, as loving is one of the most problematic verbs, despite being self-evident. In this sense, Eros belongs to the realm of Nous, that which we know because we know it. We know it by experiencing it, living within it.
This doesn’t take us into the realm of the irrational, but it does go beyond the strictly rational. Reason can’t discover its first principles, since it operates by derivation, while first principles are underived. It must derive from something pre-established, pre-agreed. This means that the rational must come after the pre-rational.
“Finding the thread woven rhetorically can lead us back to magic”
Love belongs to the realm of first principles, to transcendence. In its primordial form, this speaks to us as purely intuitive poetry, with a number of its tropes going back as far as original (proto-)Indo-European verse, suggested by poetical-rhetorical features common across Indo-European languages: for example, Love’s arrow is a rhetorical image known not only in Western European languages, as in the mythology of Cupid, but as far East and as far back as in ancient Vedic scripture. Poetry speaks to nous from nous, in immediate concepts rather than derived ones. Figurative language and vivid imagery is the means to convey such meanings into our visible world and, in turn, to convey us into their invisible world. Once developed, this common body of figurative language gives us the clear art of rhetoric as well.
The discovery of metaphor, the power to move from one meaning to another in a single word and to fix figurative meanings in the minds of one’s audience, is the beginning of poetry and the precursor to rhetoric. For the same reason, it also leads to love-language.
Finding Love
The way back to Love, I think, is through reclaiming the rhetoric of love, its poetry and its narratives. We enrich our own story by reintegrating, within it, Love’s story. Rhetoric is the art which best reveals Love, because Love is the divine motion through which we attract and are attracted, while rhetoric moves us and impresses upon us similar feelings, illuminating what is attractive.
So, while I may not find the final answer I’m looking for in Plato’s Symposium, the Latin poets, Dante’s La Vita Nuova, or Ficino’s De Amore, I’m at least confident that I’ll find something more beneficial to myself. I also do my small bit to starve Mammon on one of his annual feasts. At last, I think I’ve found the thread to lead me out of this labyrinth. Instead of wasting my efforts on decadent display, I consecrate myself to finding something transcendent.
That much, at least, I can do in the name of Love. | https://medium.com/@sjirving1987/the-rhetoric-of-love-on-valentines-day-a47c8f35a589 | ['Scott Irving'] | 2019-02-17 23:41:28.348000+00:00 | ['Love', 'Valentines Day', 'Consumerism', 'Classics', 'Spirituality'] |
Superior Simon G wedding bands offers at Kevin’s Fine Jewelry | Superior Simon G wedding bands offers at Kevin’s Fine Jewelry
One of the most important needs today to make the birthday parties or the weddings or the festival celebrations to be grandeur is nothing but the precious jewelry that we choose to buy for decorating the members of the family who are part of the celebrations. The culture is not only limited to some parts of the world in Asia, but also being in practice in many other parts of the world today. That is the reason why there is huge demand for the best jewels and accessories today around the world.
Moreover, the prime advantage here compared to any other type of investments that you make or anything that you choose purchase like the clothing and materials is the value for money on the long term. You can sell these jewels for even far higher prices later on. Therefore, it is nothing but a choice of investing your valuable money in some precious jewelry.
At the end of the day, what we want is the value for our money and that is assured in the Top class john hardy deals available at Kevin’s Fine Jewelry. See what is in store at the highest designer engagement rings digital outlet. Look at the options in the astounding fine jewelry digital store. There are no peers of equivalent standards today when you compare with the laudable Simon g wedding bands suppliers. It is not expenditure at all. That said, there are no limitations for us to invest in any top class jewelry today from the premium stores online here, now
Orders are placed from so many countries with the Mind boggling john hardy supplies on Kevin’s Fine Jewelry. They see the value in the jewelry when they browse through the appreciable designer engagement rings lounge. It is surely worth consideration to look at the intriguing fine jewelry gallery online. You can save money with the startling Simon g wedding bands at this jewelry store. At the same time, you can get quality with the all-time john hardy online sellers now as well.
Remember the value for the jewels that you buy today from any of the online store out there like Kevin’s Fine Jewelry, can be far higher if and only if the jewels that you have purchased are of the original quality and the durability standards on the long run. Designs and models do have a key role to play here as well. Ask the expert professional at this jewelry store. They are sure to offer you suggestions about the durable designs when it comes to buying some of the golden ornaments and the silver ornaments in particular. | https://medium.com/@georgiiosuellison/superior-simon-g-wedding-bands-offers-at-kevins-fine-jewelry-bf708b0d3bd3 | ['Georgia Ellison'] | 2016-10-14 12:11:05.472000+00:00 | ['Jewelry', 'Diamonds'] |
For All Who Read My Words | I become so uncomfortable when you call me a warrior, or brave. I feel uncomfortable when you send me love and hugs, or pray for me. I don’t feel special. I don’t feel brave. I don’t think I did anything to deserve your love. Praying for me freaks me out!
I’m a woman healing from a lifetime of trauma. I have spent more of my life being abused, than being safe and loved. I have neve felt that surviving was a choice. Except maybe when I was 13 and wanted to kill myself. It was a choice then. Not now though. I almost feel compelled. This is what I know I must do. For myself, my ancestors, my children, their children. This is my soul’s work. This is what I am here for. Not just for me, for all of us. For the ones who have no voice, to help the children who are currently being abused, the women or men in abusive relationships. I use my voice for all of us. So that everyone will understand.
And I couldn’t do this alone, my support network is the most amazing ever. Filled with women who love me, who support me, who don’t want to fix me, who want to cheer me on. Women that I in turn cheer on. And not for any other reason than because they are my friends and that’s what friends do.
I don’t want pity, I don’t want any sort of acclaim. I want to be heard. I want to make sure any other victims who see my words, know they aren’t alone. I want to make sure that anyone who hasn’t been abused, knows what we’ve been through, so they feel compelled to stand up, the same way I do.
Share the words that come straight from my soul. Share my pain. Share my joys. Share my realizations. Share it all! Please, whatever you do, don’t just feel pity for me and move on. Believe that you can make a difference. Because it’s true, you can make a difference. If you see abuse, call it out! If you see a child who can not protect themselves, protect them.
I’m not being ungrateful, every word of encouragement, all the love, the hugs and even the prayers you send to me, matter. Even if it makes me feel wierd! I appreciate every single one. If I can ask a favor? Share what I write. Stand up for those who can’t stand up for themselves. Dont’ look the other way. I know it’s horrific. I know it’s hard to believe abuse is happening all around you. But you are strong enough to fight it. You are strong enough for those that have no voice.
With gratitude and love,
Cary | https://medium.com/@cary.bach/for-all-who-read-my-words-5b6a45c2ca1f | ['Cary Bach Donahou'] | 2019-08-22 03:33:58.221000+00:00 | ['Sexual Abuse', 'Childhood Sexual Abuse', 'Metoo', 'Trauma Recovery', 'PTSD'] |
I love writing and reading. Do you from my small age books are my best friends. My favourite author is Ms. SUDHA MURTY. She is really a awesome author for children as well as adults. I have bought… | She is really a awesome author for children as well as adults.
I have bought tthree of her books.
https://akshayavarshini2020.blogspot.com | https://medium.com/@akshayavarahi10/hello-all-today-i-am-going-to-share-my-first-story-creation-story-1664c83a206b | [] | 2020-12-19 07:56:32.848000+00:00 | ['Books And Authors', 'Book Recommendations', 'Sudha Murthy', 'Favourite Book', 'Last But Not List'] |
Three Questions to Ask Yourself as the Year Draws to a Close | Three Questions to Ask Yourself as the Year Draws to a Close
Understanding the Value of Self Reflection
Photo Credits: Adhitya Andanu
2020 is winding down like an old music box, so long sad-girl-summer. It’s winter now, and all the trees are preparing for the long haul while we humans continue to fumble our way through life haphazardly. It has been a sad year filled with controversy and opposition, and in others, it has been a year filled with opportunity.
But, what makes 2020 an opportunistic year for some, and a year from hell for others? The answer is far more straightforward than we make it out to be — it is all circumstance. Possibly happenstance as well. While we’re at it, let’s call it providence.
No, not Rhode Island, though it is a quaint little state. Before you start rolling your eyes (hey, I saw that!), I’ll let you in on a bit of the secret to personal success. Your circumstance does not define the role you ought to play in this world. As Shakespeare once wrote, “The world’s a stage.” But you, my friend, have a bigger role in this performance, and it starts with asking yourself three simple questions.
Who are you?
Yeah, you. Who are you, and what are you adding to the world around you? Before you can conquer some great zoom meeting or the hike up your neighborhood mountain, you must first know your worth. You can go about this in several ways; many people have mantras, positive affirmations, and post-it notes from hell with encouragement. The path you choose is up to you, but regardless of your approach, be sure to work on understanding your wants and needs before you climb that mountain. Maybe, you need a moment of complete honesty with yourself, don’t be afraid to ugly cry while you’re at it.
What are you doing in my swamp?!? Just Kidding
What do you promise to be?
As a kid, what did you aspire to be, and how has that changed over the years? Maybe you wanted to be an artist but realized you didn’t quite have the finesse or skills to go that route. That’s alright. A part of growing older is learning to judge your skills without embellishment or false belief accurately. The promise you made to yourself as a child or in your adulthood doesn’t have to be about a specific career; it could be a simple phrase like, “I will help others, or I will make a million dollars.” Perhaps, you never made a promise to yourself, now could be a great time to reflect on who you are and what you aspire to be.
How will you express that promise?
It is shameful to admit that I have often broken the promises I made to myself due to fear and self-doubt. But, if I do not dare to be honest with myself, how could I possibly move forward. How will you take the beliefs and talent you have to cultivate your character in order to achieve your goals? If you want to make people happy, you could become a clown, a comedian, a chef, a nurse, a teacher, an astronaut, or a firefighter. Your possibilities are endless, just as the promise you made has unlimited potential to change the world.
Self Reflection
If you are willing to take the time to ask yourself these three questions, then you are ready to start fulfilling the promises you made to yourself. It takes great courage, to be honest with yourself about what you want in life and great sacrifice to achieve it.
Before I go, I would like to ask you three more questions.
What are you doing in life?
Why are you doing it?
How will it help others?
Take all the time; you need to have an honest and raw discussion with yourself. It’s okay if you don’t like the answers; keep going until you do. Improving one’s character and standing in the world is a journey rather than a short walk to the shore of life’s uncertainties. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/three-questions-to-ask-yourself-as-the-year-draws-to-a-close-554f769ae28 | ['Joy Nibbs'] | 2020-12-20 22:32:57.656000+00:00 | ['Personal Promises', 'Self Reflection', 'Self-awareness', 'Personal Questions', 'Personal Goals'] |
Through the Screen | In the pitch darkness, the only sources of light come from a fifteen-inch square screen and keyboard-light. The only sounds heard is the whirr of an old air conditioner, a faint music from somebody’s party which still rolls on into the early morning hours, and my hands typing on the keyboard as fast as I can without making any typo.
Done. A bit messy, could have done better, but it is the best that I can do at 3 AM.
Submitted.
Feeling a bit relieved, I close my eyes for a second. However, seconds later a dull ring of notification interrupts my peace. I turn around to get my phone, squinting at the too-bright screen. A short notice from my landlord, announcing the rent price of my cramped apartment has increased significantly. My heart suddenly stops. In times like these, any small increase can tip the delicate balance of my income and expenses. I have not worked my part-time job as a waiter in a small pizza place since the pandemic hit last year. Now, my income only comes from a bit of commission if someone hire me to write their essays. It is not enough.
Everything still feels unreal now. It is my first year of college, yet I have never set my foot in the campus and meet my friends in real life. Only through the screen of my laptop, I can have a college experience. Of course, it is a little bit different than what I expected. The mixed sound of footsteps and chatters echoing a hall become the distant buzz in a quiet video meeting. The smell of old books in the library become the same old musty smell of my small apartment. People’s faces are shown in pixels, sometimes becoming distorted due to bad signals.
There was this one time where my dream started to take a strange format. Instead of a normal dream where I meet people and do things, screens took over it. Chat bubbles with emojis, talking to a guy I have admired in the class. Squares of video conference. A blank page on Microsoft Word, along with the frustration of not having any idea. When I woke up, I knew that I cannot categorize sequences of that dream as weird anymore. When something appears on your dream, it means that it has been fully internalized in your brain as your reality. Since then, I rarely dreamed. But when I did, the screens always came back.
It is half past 4 AM now. I spent the last hour and a half watching a bread-making documentary mindlessly, trying to not think about anything. Still, it failed. I shut down the screen, laying in the dark again. When I close my eyes, it feels darker than before, even if I do not know if that is possible. Something is here, feeling familiar like an old friend visit.
Only one word comes up as I listen to the silence. Loneliness.
Loneliness is a weird friend to have. Most people do not like it, so they try to avoid it by making actual friends. Others still feel lonely even when they have friends. And there’s people like me, who is trying to befriend loneliness. It does work wonders, especially since my world has been reduced to a bunch of screens. As I feel it ebbs and flows, I try to not fight it. Being as it is, drowned in the alone-ness. Letting the pain sit in me. Until I finally drift off…
It is almost 9 AM when I finally wake up and jump right back to the screens. Once again, loneliness is nowhere to be seen. But it always finds a way back. | https://medium.com/@aurizza/through-the-screen-6ac0be87e1e0 | ['Aurizza Amanda'] | 2021-07-06 04:37:24.841000+00:00 | ['Pandemic', 'Loneliness', 'Isolation', 'Virtual', 'College Life'] |
On Making A Multilingual Search Engine | I am taking these components for doing the POC
Model — Multilingual Universal Sentence Encoder Vector search — FAISS Data — Quora question pair from kaggle
You can read more about USE in this paper. It supports 16 languages.
STEP 1. LOAD DATA
Let’s first read the data. Because the quora dataset is huge and takes a lot of time, we will take only 1% of the data. This will take around 3 minutes for encoding and indexing. It will have 4000 questions.
STEP 2. CREATE ENCODER
Let’s make encoder classes that load the model and have an encode method. I have created classes for different models which you can use. All models work with English and only USE multilingual works with other languages.
USE encodes text in a fixed vector of size 512.
I am using TFHub for USE and Flair for BERT for loading the models.
STEP 3. CREATE INDEXER
Now we will create FAISS indexer class which will store all embeddings efficiently for fast vector search.
STEP 4. ENCODE AND INDEX
Let's create embeddings for all the questions and store them in FAISS. We define a search method which shows us the top k similar results given a query.
STEP 5. SEARCH
Below we can see the results of the model. We first write a question in English and it gives expected results. Then we convert the query to other languages using google translate and the results are great again. Even though I have made a spelling mistake of writing ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’, the model understands it as it works on the subword level and is contextual.
As you can see, the results are so impressive that the model is worth putting in production. | https://medium.com/modern-nlp/on-making-a-multilingual-search-engine-9472a7c0dfa7 | ['Pratik Bhavsar'] | 2020-04-01 18:14:28.451000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Programming', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science'] |
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