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Voting on the Blockchain | Photo by Anthony Garand on Unsplash
Voting is a major potential use case of blockchain technology. In most democracies, there are active debates on topics such as increasing voter turnout, decreasing voter fraud, and increasing public trust in the democratic system. Ironically, the introduction of electronic voting in many countries has prompted underperforming political parties to blame potential hacking or rigging of the electronic system, and to demand a return to completely paper ballots.
Bringing voting to the blockchain would allow for transparency in the system while protecting voter privacy. Election monitors and political parties would have a common, tamper-proof record of all votes that could be audited for fraud quickly.
A Blockchain-Powered Voting System
To submit a vote on the blockchain, an election officer would need to verify a voter’s eligibility to vote. This step would most likely take place off the blockchain (to protect privacy). Once a person’s eligibility to vote is verified, the voter would receive a randomly generated key or token that would allow them to vote. Since each key is unique, the voter would not be able to vote twice (neither in the same voting booth, nor in a different city or state).
A Secure System
On a voting blockchain, a specific number of votes would form a block. The blocks would be chained together using cryptography, so it would be impossible to alter any vote in the chain without also tampering with other votes in the chain. Additionally, the distributed nature of the system would mean any tampered copy would be rejected by the other nodes.
The system would be tamper-proof as long as bad actors did not acquire over 50 percent of the nodes to tamper with the data (and stage a so-called “51 percent attack”). If the blockchain is private, the distribution of nodes (at voting booths) would be overseen by an election authority, and a 51 percent attack would be impossible. If the blockchain is public, the designer would have to take precautions to promote decentralization, and actively monitor against accumulation of massive computing power on the blockchain.
Blockchain-Enabled Voting Efforts Around the World
Japan
Last month, the Japanese city of Tsukuba introduced a blockchain-enabled voting system for its citizens to vote on local social development programs. Voter eligibility was determined by scanning a social security card and entering a password. The vote was generally successful, though several residents were not able to verify their eligibility because they forgot their passwords.
Switzerland
The Swiss region of Zug, which has emerged as a hub for blockchain-enabled solutions, tested blockchain-based voting in July. For the trial, citizens of Zug were asked to vote on a fictitious consultative issue. Each user signed in to vote via an electronic ID system on their smartphone. Though turnout was understandably low, the vote was a success.
United States
West Virginia tested blockchain-based voting for military personnel who cannot vote in person. The test involved a very small group of people casting votes for the May 2018 election primaries via their smartphones. Voter eligibility was first verified remotely through a federal or state ID. Voters were then able to cast votes using their smartphones. West Virginia’s pilot program was conducted in partnership with Voatz, a venture-backed Boston startup offering blockchain voting solutions.
Sierra Leone
In Sierra Leone, a blockchain company ran a small test of its blockchain voting solution during that country’s 2018 presidential election.
Corporate Voting
Since blockchain technology is relatively new, governments are unlikely to adopt it on a large scale until issues of security and scalability are fully addressed.
Instead, corporations are likely to lead the way in the adoption of blockchain voting solutions for corporate votes. In 2016, Nasdaq tested a blockchain-enabled e-voting platform in Estonia, on its Tallinn exchange. Earlier this year, the Spanish bank Santander introduced blockchain-based voting for its annual shareholder meeting. Developing a reliable blockchain voting infrastructure is a priority for many companies and industry organizations.
Blockchain Voting Needs Trustworthy Governance
Initially, blockchain voting is most likely to be successful in the countries that need it the least, such as Switzerland. For several years at least, blockchain voting will not be viable in countries that do not have trustworthy election commissions. Though blockchain solutions aspire to be trustworthy because they are decentralized, they ironically need to be put in place by trustworthy organizations in the early stages of their adoption.
Conclusion
Though voting is an excellent use case for blockchain technology, elections are rightfully a sensitive area for the introduction of a new technology. Blockchain infrastructure is being rapidly developed in many industries and for numerous use cases around the world. Large scale voting on the blockchain will become possible once voting pilots have successfully tackled security and scalability issues and engendered public trust. | https://medium.com/blockstreethq/voting-on-the-blockchain-b49bf8c9e8c | ['Shaan Ray'] | 2019-12-15 07:00:44.343000+00:00 | ['Cryptography', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Bhq Contributors', 'Voting'] |
Cape Town Travel Guide | V&A Waterfront:
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is a commercial area of Cape Town. It is also a working harbor. A flurry of luxury brands will keep you busy & after a tiring day of traveling through stores to stores. There is a food court where you can try some unique dishes. A great place to hangout & shop. The location of the mall is perfect, a raging Atlantic ocean is just a step away from here. There is plenty to do here & you can have a great time visiting this place.
Chapman’s Peak Drive:
One of the most beautiful roads on this planet. Cut through the cliffs provides the perfect view to enjoy driving & also an amazing view of the ocean. The whole scenic route is approx 40 min drive & each curve is much more beautiful & breathtaking than the previous one. No amount of words can describe the beauty of the place; so you need to drive here to witness it. An admission fee of approx 30R for a two-wheeler is applicable. But, the views are worth the fee.
Bo Kaap Museum:
The colorful neighborhood is favorite among the visitors. There are so many pics of this wonderful place. The buildings are covered in solid colors which give perfect backdrop & vibrant feeling. There is no admission fee for this. The area is not that big thus you can cover it in 1 hour with ease. There is a hiking trail from the Bo Kaap which leads to the Signal hill.
Six District Museum:
Cape Town has a dreaded past. The whites dominated the colored people for what reason. This museum is a reflection of the past. What was Cape Town & what all it faced during the past? The museum will take you through the history of the place & why Six districts is an important place in the history of Cape Town. The admission fee of approx R55 per person. There are local people as museum guide who survived this rough period.
Camps Bay & Cliffton Beaches:
Cape Town is not all about mountains & peaks. There is a small portion which has beaches as well. Camps bay is one of the favorite spots for the locals for sun-basking. But, if you are looking for some secluded beaches. Then, Cliffton beaches are your answer. The series of beaches stationed one after the other are the perfect beach place. Surrounded by the lavish mansions the beaches will give you the feeling of a millionaire. Cliffton beach 1 & 4 are by far the best beaches.
Robben Island is an island where the great Nelson Mandela was kept captative for 18 years of 27 years behind the bars, which is the major reason why this place has been transformed into the museum. There is a huge line to visit this place & it is ideal to book tour at least 1 week before visiting the place. There is an admission fee of R550 per person.
Muizenberg:
Muizenberg is a small town near Cape Town approx 1.5 hours drive from the city. Muizenberg trademark is fabulous color huts. Further, it is also one of the popular spots for surfing.
South Africa is famous for its wine & Stellenbosch is one of the havens for the wine lovers. The tour is famous among the locals & the tourists. But, this will eat up half of your day. So, if everything is ticking you can this amazing place.
Aquila safari is recently opened wildlife safari which will take you one step nearer to the wildlife. It boosts to show big 5 of Africa. There are many tours & you can choose as per your choice & time.
One of the most adventurous parts of visiting Cape Town is White Shark Cage Diving. Gansbaai is a place near Cape Town which is a hub for this dangerous sport. There are many providers for this sport. Also, the typical price of this activity from Cape Town is approx R2300. You can check the following link to book a trip. The tour can only be finalized one day before the booked date; as it, all depends on the ocean condition.
Watching a big living creature in the wild is a chilling experience & whales is one of those animals which you should watch in the wild. Whale watching also takes place in Gansbaai, so it is best to move to Gansbaai for a few days & do all these activities. It will save time & money.
Helicopter Rides:
If you are looking for a lavish trip. Don’t miss helicopter ride, a perfect way to witness the beauty of the place with a birds-eye view. The whole city looks fabulous & you can cherish nature & your life. There are many providers you can check this vendor.
Tips To Do Cape Town On Budget?
Traveling can be expensive if not planned well. I went to Cape Town during winter & spend approx 60,000 INR all-inclusive for my trip. Below are some of my tips to help you plan a budget trip to Cape Town.
Stay: I stayed in the hostel Long Street Backpackers which is located on the long street probably one of the most happening streets in Cape Town. I paid approx 500 INR per night & this was a discounted rate as I traveled during winters. In summer which is peak tourist season; assume a basic dorm bed rate to be around 1000 per night. For best offers, you can check this link out.
Food: I cooked most of my food during my trip. There was a facility of kitchen available which was a bonus. It helped me to keep my cost in check. However, if you are not into cooking you can eat a meal at restaurants for approx 30 R onwards (150 INR) for one time. The parties start late in the evening & most of the good clubs will ask for a cover charge after 10 pm. However, if you reach before 10 pm it is free entry. The price of a beer pint starts from 30R inclusive of taxes.
Commutation: The city can be covered on foot. But, it will be time-consuming & also some of the regions are not safe to walk alone. There are few cheap options available. The best is My Citi bus. It runs length to breadth of the city. The only drawback is the frequency. For a single trip, you will have to spend R30. Uber is another popular mode of transport among the tourists. The rates are pretty reasonable & it is safe to use uber here. However, if you are good at driving you can hire a car. The rentals are pretty affordable & it also offers the luxury of traveling at own pace.
City Attractions: Most of the natural attractions like table mountain, lion head, signal hills, etc are free to access. However, for museums & other lavish activities, you will have to spend 30R (150 INR) onwards. Make sure you only try activities you are interested in; else you will be short on time & will spend unknowingly.
How Expensive Is Cape Town?
South Africa currency is South African Rand. During the time of my travel 1 Rand equals to approx 5 Indian Rupee after conversion. So, how expensive is Cape Town? So, Cape Town is a touch on an expensive side if you are from Asian countries. However, if you are from western countries then it won’t budge you at all. Check this link for more details.
Is Cape Town Safe To Travel Solo?
Is Cape Town Safe To Travel Solo? You need to be careful while walking in Cape Town. The people are generally nice out here. However, some dark places might pose a problem. There is a huge disparity among the citizens which is the prime cause for a crime. So, make sure you lock down your valuables at a safe place, know your surroundings & avoid going alone. Walking alone is scary at times here. Check this link for more details.
Best Time To Travel To Cape Town?
No doubt the best time to visit Cape Town is summers. However, winters can be fun if you like a less crowded environment. The prices are cheaper & you can do plenty of activities. Most people visit Cape Town during the summers which is also the peak tourism season. I went during the winters & loved the city.
What To Wear In Cape Town?
It depends on which season are you traveling to Cape Town. During summers it gets hot & in winter it gets chilly. A jacket is a must during the winter.
Handy Resources:
Below are the few resources you should check before making an itinerary.
Cheap Internation Flights: Best place to find cheap international flight tickets.
Best Deals On Hotels: Places to find best deals on hotels.
Amazon: Best place for all your needs. Also, find best travel accessories.
Agoda: Best place to book hotels of your liking. Agoda provides the best solution & great offer while booking a hotel.
Skyscanner: Skyscanner compares various sites & sort the flights based on the rates. A great way to check flight cost. Although the only drawback is that rates are flexible. Hence, the cost might change while you are making the payment.
Jetradar: Jetradar is a comparing site which is just like Skyscanner. But, is much more accurate & much more handy in use.
Booking: Best place to book hostel rooms. There are plenty of options available & with so many properties booking becomes much easier.
Couchsurfing: Best place to find free accommodation. It is as easy as filtering people & messaging. If you will get lucky you will find free accommodation in local resident house.
Travel Insurance: There are numerous options available to get one. So, you can choose anything which suits your requirements. Make sure you read the terms & conditions before buying one.
You can read more stories at http://www.markmyadventure.com/ | https://medium.com/@anandpatel02/cape-town-travel-guide-ae09441f0c2e | ['Anand Patel'] | 2020-01-15 17:28:29.690000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Cape Town', 'Budget Travel', 'Travel Tips', 'Traveling'] |
My DeFi Pet x Kephi Gallery Strategic Partnership | My DeFi Pet’s incredible growth continues to shine on its amazing community! In just 1.5 months of the launch, 850,000 transactions, 30,000 active accounts and over 650,000 pets are present in both KardiaChain and BSC platforms for My DeFi Pet!
With Kephi Gallery’s IDO approaching, My DeFi Pet is proud to announce the formation of a strategic partnership with Kephi Gallery in a new move towards mass adoption of NFTs!
Kephi Gallery is an NFT marketplace where artists from different disciplines can get together and share (and monetize!) their work. From visual arts, to music, from movie clips to even theatre, every artist is welcome to mint their NFT and start trading their pieces of art.
Being a project based in Latin America, which has been extremely supportive of blockchain and crypto development, the partnership will bring a multitude of benefits for both My DeFi Pet and Kephi Gallery!
With both projects being on KardiaChain, a state-of-the-art blockchain, with a scalable, non-invasive interoperable hybrid blockchain platform, the partnership aims to integrate both KPHI and DPET tokens into the other’s ecosystem!
My Defi Pet is extremely excited about the partnership as it is a step towards bringing advancements in the capabilities of cross-chain DeFi and NFT. The path to mass adoption of NFTs is just ahead!
This collaboration agreement will certainly benefit both communities. Kephi Gallery is a project that is growing extremely fast and will be an extremely valuable partner for My DeFi Pet to expand its ecosystem.
Your NFT pets in My DeFi Pet will soon appear on a large range of NFT marketplaces!
Find out more about Kephi here:
Whitepaper: https://storage.googleapis.com/kephi/kephi-content/Kephi_Gallery_Light_Paper_en.pdf
Site: https://www.kephi.io/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kephigallery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KephiGallery/
Telegram: https://t.me/KephiGallery
Medium: https://kephigallery.medium.com/
What are you waiting for, step into the world of My DeFi Pet and become a Pet Master now!
Website: https://www.mydefipet.com/
Telegram: https://t.me/mydefipet
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyDeFiPet
Discord: https://discord.gg/Pxf3EmYA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mydefipet | https://medium.com/@mydefipet/my-defi-pet-x-kephi-gallery-strategic-partnership-b3b1c3ab75c2 | ['My Defi Pet Official'] | 2021-07-01 12:01:39.380000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Defi', 'Marketplaces', 'Kardiachain', 'Games'] |
Before There Was Bernie | Like Jefferson Smith in Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” Bill Meyer was actually a Boy Scout.
Before Bernie Sanders, there was William H. Meyer. A political nobody when he decided to run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 1958, Meyer was a forester who had never run for office before crashing the best laid plans of the Vermont Democratic Party (which had been growing its ranks despite still having little governing power). Panicked that their shot at a Senate seat would be compromised by the upstart Meyer, the party convinced him to run in an unopposed primary for the less glamorous, lone U.S. House seat allocated to Vermont.
The Republican ranks of Vermont were strong, with no Democrat holding elected statewide office since before the Civil War. There was no expectation that a Democrat would defeat a Republican, especially Meyer’s opponent, a former governor. In the triumphant reelection of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1956 election, Republicans gained ground across the country and the election for Vermont’s House seat was not competitive; the Democrat lost by over 35 points. Going into 1958, few predicted the victory that would help spawn the modern progressive movement in Vermont. Meyer won by 3 points in a Democratic wave year that saw low turnout for Republicans, especially in the Northeast. Notably, the “stronger” candidate the Democrats had run for Senate lost by 5 points.
The result wasn’t just a Democrat beating a Republican. During his time in Congress, Meyer advocated for a far-left economic platform, racial justice, and a foreign policy that was friendlier to communist powers around the world. He voted to recognize The People’s Republic of China in the U.N., end the peacetime draft, and reject the military budget both years. He was an adamant anti-nuclear advocate, never failing to speak up even in the face of harsh criticism from his own party.
Meyer was also the House member furthest to the left on economic issues during his time in Congress according to his DW-Nominate score, a metric that measures ideology based on voting record. Meyer, represented below by the large square on the far left, was rated as more liberal than every one of his fellow Democrats on the economy and in line with Northern Democrats on social issues, including a yes vote for the 1960 Civil Rights Act.
In an article for the Harvard Crimson, Frederick Gardner says this about Meyer’s reelection strategy: “His campaign has again been a give-and-take with the voters, wherein he tries to do as much listening as talking. Apparently his major objective is to reach a maximum number of people personally, to counteract the effects of a generally hostile press. The factors working for him are the tremendous degree to which Vermonters believe in his honesty, and the growing acceptance of his views.”
By 1960, the Democratic establishment was done with Meyer and decided to put up a primary challenger against him, who was swiftly put down by over 40 points. However, Meyer lost reelection to a Republican in the general election by a wide margin. His loss wasn’t unique; even with New England Democrat John F. Kennedy at the top of the ticket in the presidential election, down ballot Republicans in the Northeast did well, winning back 5 seats and ultimately controlling 14 out of the 28 seats allocated to New England in the House of Representatives.
Following his defeat, Meyer continued to run for statewide office during the 1960s as a champion of peace, civil liberties, and left-wing economic ideas. After seeing the failures of the Democratic Party to advocate for working class voters and losing those following elections, Meyer set out to start his own party in Vermont.
Meyer, alongside Peter Diamondstone and Richard Clarke, founded the Liberty Union Party in 1970 not to win elections, but to act as a thorn in the side of the two-party system. Meyer wanted Democrats and Republicans challenged from the left in debates and in the public discourse. Candidates garnered just over 5% of the vote consistently, ensuring the Liberty Union “major-party status” in Vermont.
Enter a young Bernie Sanders who, potentially inspired by Meyer, moved to Vermont and quickly fell into the Liberty Union ranks in 1971, running for 4 statewide offices in 4 years under their banner. During the 1970s, Sanders branded himself to left-leaning, anti-establishment voters across the state, but most importantly, in Burlington, where small third parties were beginning to challenge the entrenched Republican-Democrat coalition government.
In Sanders’ last run with the Liberty Union Party, this time for governor in 1976, The Queen City and the rest of vote-rich Chittenden County, came out strong for the Brooklyn-born socialist. About 15% of Sanders’ entire vote in the state came from Burlington at a time when Burlington only constituted about 8.6% of Vermont’s population.
The geographical coalition that would eventually power his statewide success was shaping up. Win the most rural parts of the Green Mountains, win Chittenden County, specifically Burlington, in huge numbers, and remain competitive along the Connecticut River in the east. Sanders’ campaigns with the Liberty Union Party laid the groundwork for his run for Mayor of Burlington in 1980, but also clarified the path to become a statewide elected official in the future. Sanders knew that in such a small state, he could become a fixture in state politics by keeping his name on the ballot and eventually, put up a real, serious challenge to the system. Not as a protest, but to win.
Sanders has never acknowledged Meyer as an inspiration or said that he picked Vermont as the place to start his political career intentionally. When asked why he chose Vermont, Sanders tells a wholesome anecdote about “a fascination with the Green Mountain State born in glossy real estate guides” that developed when he was about 13. If that’s true, it was great luck for the young socialist. Vermont had a burgeoning third-party movement in the state’s biggest city, a clear path to victory for a progressive, and had been perfectly primed for Sanders’ brand of politics by William H. Meyer in the late 1950s and through the 1960s. Whether by chance or by design, Bernie Sanders has William H. Meyer to thank for showing Vermonters that there was a different way than traditional Yankee conservatism. | https://medium.com/after-the-storm/before-there-was-bernie-66e3f28d261b | ['Nick Brown'] | 2021-09-15 16:14:03.635000+00:00 | ['Democratic Party', 'Bernie Sanders', 'Socialism', 'Vermont', 'Congress'] |
ICON Monthly Grant Update — April 2020 | Atomic Wallet, Online Hackathon, Messari Registry, and ICON Vote Monitor
Greetings ICONists,
This is the second monthly grant recap report. In case you missed it, details from the first report can be found here. In the first release, we described the evaluation process in more detail, including the framework we use to make our decisions and the respective timing of each decision. Be sure to check it out!
This month, we’ll leave out those details and instead take a closer look at the grants approved by the Foundation thus far in April. Additionally, we’ll highlight updates to periodic reporting and the respective progress of our previously funded grants.
April 2020
It was another busy month for grants. We’ve approved 4 thus far; 2 for infrastructure, 1 for education, and the other for new service integration. And we expect to approve more in the coming days. Note, we’ll be sure to provide more details on any we miss in next month’s update.
Approvals thus far:
Atomic Wallet is a non-custodial wallet that provides asset management for 20+ blockchains and all ERC20 and BEP2 tokens. As part of the approval process, Atomic Wallet will integrate ICON’s native token, ICX, into its web-based and IOS/Android mobile wallets. Additionally, Atomic Wallet will provide staking and voting capabilities for ICON governance.
Atomic Wallet must submit a Periodic Report by the timeframe below (UTC):
2020/06/16 02:00 AM (UTC)
The Foundation is providing a total of 3 BTC worth of ICX paid in 2 installments based on the Periodic Report. The amount of ICX will be determined and paid according to the price on the day of payment.
2020/04/30 02:00 AM (UTC) — ICX of 1.5 BTC value
2020/06/25 02:00 AM (UTC) — ICX of 1.5 BTC value
As part of the approval, ICON Hyperconnect will host an online ICON hackathon on the largest hackathon platform in the world, Devpost, which has access to an online base of 900K+ developers.
Additionally, as part of this approval, ICON Hyperconnect will accelerate the winners and most promising projects of the hackathon by providing consulting, mentoring, marketing, and networking while also preparing for the next hackathon.
ICON Hyperconnect must submit the Periodic Report by the time frames below (UTC):
2020/04/21 02:00 AM (UTC)
2020/05/21 02:00 AM (UTC)
2020/06/20 02:00 AM (UTC)
The Foundation is providing $32,000 in 3 monthly installments based on the Periodic Report. The amount of ICX will be determined and paid according to the price at 02:00 AM (UTC) on the day of payment.
2020/04/26 02:00 AM (UTC) — $10,666
2020/05/26 02:00 AM (UTC) — $10,666
2020/06/25 02:00 AM (UTC) — $10,667
Messari’s Registry aims to be a single source of truth for basic cryptoasset information. Participating projects voluntarily disclose basic information about their token design, supply details, technology audits, official communication channels, and relevant team members, investors, and advisors.
The Registry is the first open disclosures platform that allows projects to quickly and reliably communicate material updates to their communities and external stakeholders through a single, standardized interface. Messari validates project data and provides free access to disclosures via an open API that allows third-party services to rally around one universal cryptoasset disclosures library.
As part of the approval process, ICON Project will be listed on the disclosure registry. Additionally, ICON Foundation members will participate in several community activities with Messari including:
An announcement press release shared on Messari’s newsfeed & Twitter
Telegram AMA in the Messari dedicated group
Senior Member of ICON Foundation podcast recording with Ryan Selkis to dig into the inner workings of the project
Interactive analyst calls with the Messari Research team and Icon Foundation
Expo booth at our inaugural virtual event, The Mainnet
The ICON Foundation is providing $10,000 to be paid in 2 installments based on the Periodic Report. The timing of payments is still being finalized.
As part of the approval, Everstake is committed to building and improving the ICON Vote Monitor tool that will help track voting and all ICON accounts activity on the ICON network by daily breaks or snapshots. Its functionality will encompass:
Monitoring of all ICON accounts and a feature that targets P-Reps primarily;
Basic historical information about P-Reps and ICON accounts;
Visualization of voting patterns and changes in ranks among all P-Reps.
Track voting activity regarding P-Reps — Voting Analytics Hourly / Daily / Weekly / Monthly (how many votes they received/lost, how many voters they have/lost)
Check voters of any P-Rep, their balance, voting history.
Provide charts and graphs showing a historical change of votes and change in top-22 and other P-reps over time.
Provides the following information about accounts: Address, total balance, P-Reps voted for (with a hash), amount of votes, voting since, previous votes with duration, vote changes
Provides the following information about a P-Rep: Total votes, last updated, balance, productivity/uptime, governance votes, voters (with the amount voted)
Delegates timeline for any ICON account
Everstake must submit the Periodic Report by the timeframes below (UTC):
2020/05/21 02:00 AM (UTC)
The Foundation is providing $6,000 based on the Periodic Report. The amount of ICX will be determined and paid according to the price at 02:00 AM (UTC) on the day of payment.
2020/05/26 02:00 AM (UTC) — $6,000
Periodic Updates
The team has begun preparations for marketing, developer outreach, and organization of the hackathon. Below is an update on the progress of this initiative.
Project Completion Percentage : 25%
: 25% Remaining Time to Completion : 3 months
: 3 months Expected Results for the Next Period: Completed hackathon website (www.iconhyperhack.com), completed promotional materials, updated ICON report, accelerated developer outreach, and marketing efforts.
During the reporting period, the team managed ICON Korean community and database including:
ICONkr.com
Twitter
Kakaotalk
Telegram (Korean official community)
Coinpan
NAVER blog
Project Completion Percentage: 100%
Expected Results for the Next Period: Steadily increase the number of visitors to the ICONkr.com site. Easily explain the IISS 3.0 system. Estimated number of posts for the ICON project:
ICONkr.com website = 50+
Crypto-related website(Coinpan) = 15+
ICON Naver Blog = 30+
In the past month, the FutureICX team completed most of the details concerning the overall app design, the basic functionalities, and the structure of the reward system. Below are some of the improvements made in the reporting period.
UI/UX: The UX/UI team iterated on graphic charts and identities, interface, and user flows. A sample can be found below:
2. Storytelling: Introduced avatars for users.
3. Production: During this period the development team worked on 2 main tasks — we have started to integrate the platform and work on the centralized/static parts of the platform (frontend integration, backend, etc.), while at the same time we had to prepare the creation of the Smart Contract, map the planned processes, plan the SCORE structure, etc.
4. Prototype: Check out the overview here.
5. Reward structure: See below.
Daily prediction — rewards distributed according to the player’s prediction accuracy for a specific day compared to the other players. Rewards 40% of the placed prediction amounts with a max multiplier of 4.5x for the most accurate players.
— rewards distributed according to the player’s prediction accuracy for a specific day compared to the other players. Rewards 40% of the placed prediction amounts with a max multiplier of 4.5x for the most accurate players. Weekly prediction — an alternative to the Daily prediction option for the players that prefer to look at longer trading periods. Identical rewards with 40% rewarded with a 4.5x max multiplier
— an alternative to the Daily prediction option for the players that prefer to look at longer trading periods. Identical rewards with 40% rewarded with a 4.5x max multiplier Bullseye prediction — a weekly prediction type for the more confident/daring players. Offers a steep reward system with 15% of the prediction amounts rewarded but with a strong 7x max multiplier — weekly returns that traders can rarely get even in the most powerful bull runs
— a weekly prediction type for the more confident/daring players. Offers a steep reward system with 15% of the prediction amounts rewarded but with a strong 7x max multiplier — weekly returns that traders can rarely get even in the most powerful bull runs Weekly reward pool — a reward pool, distributed weekly and rewarding the top performers throughout the week
— a reward pool, distributed weekly and rewarding the top performers throughout the week Monthly reward pool — a pool rewarding the top-performing players monthly
DappReview has integrated ICON into its platform. Additionally, joint marketing efforts have been completed.
Data integration:
2. Separate page for each ICON DApp:
3. Marketing and Articles:
4. Industry reports and other media:
Include ICON in our featured 2020 Q1 Dapp Market Report 1 (will have another two quarterly reports and one annual report in 2020)
ICON is ranked at 4th place in the Dapp volume ranking
Next steps: The integration work for the grant application is complete. DappReview will continue to work with ICON Foundation and DApp developers closely in terms of DApp-related marketing/events to add value to the ICON ecosystem. For the future reports and research articles, ICON will be one of the main focus areas on our radar and covered in our data analysis.
ICX Comics completed milestone #2. Over the past month, the ICX Comics team created 3 new comics:
Project Completion Percentage: 60%
Remaining Time to Completion: 4 weeks
Expected Results for the Next Period: The ICX Comics team will develop several comics explaining issues like:
Comic#7 — Why developers should choose ICON Network?
Comic#8 — How to work with ICON Products
Comic#9 — Roadmap and ICON plans
Thank you,
Hyperconnect the World
ICON Foundation
Homepage : https://icon.foundation
Medium (ENG) : https://medium.com/helloiconworld
Brunch (KOR) : https://brunch.co.kr/@helloiconworld
KakaoTalk (KOR) : https://open.kakao.com/o/gMAFhdS
Telegram (ENG) : https://t.me/hello_iconworld
Telegram (KOR) : https://t.me/iconkorea
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/helloicon/
Reddit : https://www.reddit.com/r/helloicon/ | https://medium.com/helloiconworld/icon-monthy-grant-update-april-2020-53e11adec524 | ['Icon Foundation'] | 2020-04-26 23:33:28.496000+00:00 | ['Ecosystem'] |
Esri, Microsoft join UC San Diego teaching practical geospatial data science and deep learning | In April — May 2019, University of California San Diego, Esri and Microsoft joined forces teaching the DSC 170 — Spatial Data Science class on La Jolla campus, led by Dr. Ilya Zaslavsky, Director of Spatial Information Systems Laboratory, San Diego Supercomputer Center.
Practical Deep Learning in GIS
It was a first of its kind opportunity for the students to learn about the concepts, methodologies, real-world applications and use-cases, and, most importantly, gain a hands-on practical experience of using Deep Learning tools with raw geospatial data to come to insights, extract knowledge, and produce valuable information products.
As part of the class, students were provided with access to powerful Azure Cloud virtual machines, equipped with NVDIA Quadro GP100 GPUs, to learn and complete the full-cycle training of a Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) model to detect palm trees and houses in aerial imagery.
In this exercise, students created their own training set using ArcGIS Pro 2.3.2 desktop application, then exported the set into the Pascal VOC format supported by most of the machine learning frameworks. Next, with the help of ArcGIS API for Python 1.6.1, students trained their own SSD convolutional neural network models to detect and classify objects in the input imagery.
Labeling data in ArcGIS Pro is simple and fast.
Students learned about the SSD network architecture, experimented through multiple iterations with the SSD constructor in search for best detection and classification accuracy, figured out an optimal learning rate value, and monitored the training for signs of overfitting.
Training and Validation losses from one of the student submissions.
After the SSD model was successfully trained, students were asked to apply it to a much larger geographic area using the built-in “Detect Objects Using Deep Learning” geoprocessing tool, which allows for efficient tiling and batch inferencing of extremely large rasters.
Students experimented with Non-maximum Suppression post-processing on top of raw detections and were asked to reason about further steps to improve the detection accuracy.
One of the student submissions: using trained Single Shot MultiBox Detector model inside ArcGIS Pro to automatically find thousands of palms and hundreds of buildings in aerial imagery.
The resulting feature layers with palm tree and house detections were published to ArcGIS Online as hosted feature services, and submitted this way for grading . The students’ Jupyter Notebooks with the Single Shot Detector training and validation code were submitted for evaluation via Gradescope.
On average, every student spent about 5–6 hours of GPU time while experimenting, training, and running inference with various Single Shot Detector models.
As a result, we received a strong and positive feedback from the students and faculty, a few solid internship applications, and a request to repeat and extend these practical exercises in the oncoming class offerings.
The importance of “Geospatial” in Machine Learning
In one of the lectures, students worked through a remarkable example of training a scikit-learn Random Forest Regressor predicting child asthma rates using partial census-tract data from Connecticut. The trained Regressor was later used to predict the asthma rates for the census tracts which did not have the rate values populated.
The results with the scikit-learn Random Forest Regressor were not ideal, but still fairly good: the R² on the Test set was at 0.704, with the following importance of the explanatory variables (these were added to the original census-tract data using the ArcGIS Online GeoEnrichment service):
1. Smoked cigarettes in last 12 months: Percent = 34%
2. ACS HHs:Inc at/Above Poverty Level: Percent = 33%
3. 2018 Unemployment Rate = 20%
4. 2018 Median Household Income = 5%
5. 2018 Education: High School Diploma, Percent = 4%
6. 2018 Education: Bachelor`s Degree, Percent = 4%
Then, the set of the above six explanatory variables was expanded to include distance-to-roads, road-density, and pollution proximity rasters establishing geospatial relationship between each census tract and the transportation graph, as well as air pollution sources.
Since scikit-learn Regressor does not work with raster data out of the box, students were demonstrated the results of using the Forest-based Classification and Regression tool from the Spatial Statistics toolbox to train a new ArcGIS Random Forest Regressor. The results were truly impressive — with the additional cost rasters, the ArcGIS Random Forest Regressor was able to achieve the R² of 0.876 on the Test set — more than 17% improvement over the original scikit-learn Regressor which did not rely on geospatial components of the data!
Road density raster used in training ArcGIS Random Forest Regressor to establish geospatial relationship between census tracts and transportation graph.
Here is the explanatory variables importance, according to ArcGIS Forest-based Classification and Regression model:
1. 2018 Median Household Income = 27%
2. ACS HHs: Inc Below Poverty Level: Percent = 22%
3. Smoked cigarettes in last 12 months: Percent = 16%
4. 2018 Unemployment Rate = 8%
5. 2018 Education: Bachelor’s Degree: Percent = 7%
6. ROADDENSITY (raster) = 6%
7. AIRQUALITYEBK (raster) = 4%
8. DISTANCETOAIRTOXICRELEASES (raster) = 4%
9. DISTANCETOPRIMARYSECONDARYROADS (raster) = 3%
10. 2018 Education: High School Diploma: Percent = 3%
The value of geospatial: students were demonstrated a remarkable 17% growth of prediction accuracy, over the original results achieved with non-spatial variables, by adding proximity rasters to the Random Forest Regressor.
<ACK>
Special thanks to John Meza and his team, Microsoft Azure team for working on setting up the virtual machines for UC San Diego students to train the neural networks.
Class Instructors: Ilya Zaslavsky, Dmitry Kudinov
Teaching Assistants: Ashin George, Hammadabdullah Ayyubi | https://medium.com/geoai/esri-microsoft-join-uc-san-diego-teaching-practical-geospatial-data-science-and-deep-learning-3d7e62bd23fb | ['Dmitry Kudinov'] | 2019-06-03 20:30:53.249000+00:00 | ['Image Processing', 'Deep Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'University'] |
A Poem is a Feeling | A poem is a feeling
sentiments stimulating the soul
noetic apprehensions nettling imagination
waiting in the womb of sublime stimulation
until gently landing on receptive sensibilities
and properly primed perception
often no more than a happy accident
but always seeming like more
than the sum of its parts | https://medium.com/weeds-wildflowers/a-poem-is-a-feeling-42a77e29fe33 | ['Rusty Alderson'] | 2020-10-07 05:27:22.691000+00:00 | ['Feelings', 'Sublime', 'Bliss', 'Poetry', 'Imagination'] |
Let’s Do DevOps: Reduce Noise in Terraform Plans | This blog series focuses on presenting complex DevOps projects as simple and approachable via plain language and lots of pictures. You can do it!
Hey all!
I’ve written in the past about my trials and tribulations designing and running a terraform and general CI/CD platform that’s used by 10+ teams to run ~130 terraform pipelines to deploy to 50+ environments across Azure and AWS.
When designing the system, I knew that’d it’d need to scale up and out to a great degree — any pattern and solution we chose would be stressed both by upward growth (running terraform and other deploys hundreds of times per day) and outward (scaling out to hundreds or maybe thousands of pipelines and workflows). Because of that, I’m extremely sensitive to:
Good design patterns that make sense and can scale out ad infinitum
Automating all that can be automated — lower the bar of knowledge that lets a dev or operations engineer take advantage of the system
I’ve also had to train all the users on this system and good patterns, and for every single person, I’ve stressed that they need to read the pull request validation before approving a PR. That pull request validation runs tflint as well as terraform init + validate + plan.
And for every single person I’ve trained, I’ve had to include the caveat that on the “terraform plan” stage there will be dozens and probably HUNDREDS of trash lines that they need to ignore and scroll past to get to the real information — what terraform plan says it’s going to do based on the PR.
In this (heavily redacted) photo you can see the “Refreshing state…” lines. One will be generated for each individual resource managed by terraform, and it can add up to thousands of cruft lines in your output.
I was on a HashiCorp call this past week and floated this problem past them. Would they add a flag to terraform to remove these refresh lines?
They suggested two things, one of which is brilliant. One idea was to filter all the terraform plan output through sed to remove the unwanted lines. That’d work, but I’d have to be careful with regex to make sure I don’t remove anything we’d want later — after all, there’s a large variability in terraform output from n number of pipeline runs as we scale to hundreds of them.
The second idea I loved and immediately implemented — for both the terraform “plan” and “apply” steps, put a step immediately preceding them to do the refresh, then use the existing terraform CLI flag that disables refresh on those steps.
This is brilliant because it changes exactly nothing about how terraform runs, outputs to a file, or logs anywhere (all data is still captured) but changes how the data is presented to the user, and significantly improves the UI. It’s a win all around.
If this was run from your local computer, the previous setup looks like this:
Terraform plan:
terraform plan
The new method which separates the output is:
terraform refresh
terraform plan -refresh=false
And the output, rather than having several hundred lines of “terraform refreshing (path)” you get the information you’re looking for right at the top. In this below photo with no changes, the entire output is only 21 lines, even if you’re managing hundreds or thousands of resources.
Here’s an example code to build the YAML pipeline in Azure DevOps, as well as some AWS VPC build code so you can set this up in your own environment. For more detailed instructions on how to deploy this and where you can see the improved shortened. Here’s the code:
Hope it helps. Good luck out there folks!
kyler
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Follow us on Twitter 🐦 and Facebook 👥 and Instagram 📷 and join our Facebook and Linkedin Groups 💬 | https://medium.com/faun/lets-do-devops-reduce-noise-in-terraform-plans-d37fd57569a3 | ['Kyler Middleton'] | 2020-10-12 17:43:05.470000+00:00 | ['Continuous Integration', 'Azure Devops', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming', 'Terraform'] |
Data2Vis: Automatic Generation of Data Visualizations Using Sequence-to-Sequence Recurrent Neural Networks | What we did
If we then think of visualizations as text specifications, the problem is simplified to generating a bunch of these specifications, given some input data. And so our next task was to explore models that learn the space of a visualization specification format and perhaps can “hallucinate” some new visualizations? We began our initial experiments following notes from Karpathy’s blog — we generated visualization specifications (data + spec), concatenated them and attempted to train an RNN that would generate something plausible.
From this first experimentations, we learned quite a bit about how well character RNNs (LSTMs) perform with respect to learning the structure of data contained within nested structures like a Vega-Lite specification. We found that while character based RNNs work well for the problem (compared to word-based RNNs), their limitations in modeling long sequences and memory requirement for long term sequences made them challenging to train (unintelligible tokens after a few characters, limited learning progress even after thousands of steps, millions of parameters without preprocessing). Also, character RNNs did not provide a concrete mapping between our input and output pairs for training. These challenges motivated us to think of other ways to formulate the problem —approaches that learn the structure of our output space, and generates new data given some input. Essentially translating from source data specification to target visualization specification.
Sequence to Sequence Models
Sequence to sequence models [1,2,3] are capable of doing just that — they take in some input (e.g. text in one language) and generate an output (e.g. same text in a different language). They have been applied with wide success to problems such as language translation, text summarization, image captioning. Variations of sequence to sequence models that utilize encoder decoder architectures have also been explored for translating between formal programming languages, learning domain specific programs and general program synthesis.
We train a sequence to sequence model based on the work of Britz et al 2017. Training data consists of a source token (a single row from a data set) and a target token (a valid Vegalite visualization specification) pair.
Data and Training
First we assembled a training dataset (source and target pairs) based on examples of valid Vega-Lite visualizations. A total of 215k pair samples based on 11 distinct datasets and 4300 Vega-Lite examples were used. Please see the paper for more details on how the data is sampled and pre-processed.
We train a sequence to sequence model using the architecture and sample code provided by Britz et al 2017. The model is an encoder-decoder architecture with attention mechanism (please see the Britz paper for more details on the architecture). We also perform some simple normalization on the dataset to simplify training. We replace string and numeric field names using a short notation — “str” and “num” in the source sequence (dataset). Next, a similar backward transformation (post processing) is replicated in the target sequence to maintain consistency in field names. These transformations help scaffold the learning process by reducing the vocabulary size, and prevents the LSTM from learning field names (learning field names in the training set is not useful to our generation problem). In turn we are able to reduce the overall source and target sequence length, reduce training time and reduce the number of hidden layers which the model needs to converge.
Beam Search Decoding
To explore a variety of generated visualizations, we use beam search decoding algorithm. As opposed to outputting the most likely (highest probability) translation of an input sequence, beam search expands all possible next steps during generation and keeps the k most likely, where k is a user specified parameter known as the beam width. Unlike conventional language translation systems where beam search is applied mainly to improve translation quality by maximizing conditional probabilities of generated sequences, we also explore beam search as a way to generate a diverse set of candidate visualizations by outputting all parallel beam results. With beam search, we observe the model generates diverse plots, exploring combinations of chart types and the use of multiple variables.
Early Results | https://towardsdatascience.com/data2vis-automatic-generation-of-data-visualizations-using-sequence-to-sequence-recurrent-neural-5da8e9d3e43e | ['Victor Dibia'] | 2018-09-11 16:23:21.648000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Recurrent Neural Network', 'Towards Data Science', 'Data Visualization', 'Generative Model'] |
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Charleroi VS Genk
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SPAIN: LaLiga
02:00 PM Mallorca Vs Ath Bilbao
AUSTRIA: 2. Liga
11:30 AM Amstetten VS Vorwarts Steyr
12:10 PM A. Klagenfurt VS A. Lustenau
12:10 PM Austria Vienna II VS Ried
12:10 PM Floridsdorfer AC VS Lafnitz
12:10 PM Horn vs Kapfenberg
BELGIUM: Jupiler League
01:30 PM Charleroi VS Genk
BULGARIA: Parva Liga
09:30 AM Tsarsko Selo VS Lok. Plovdiv
12:00 PM Arda VS Botev Vratsa
CHILE: Primera Division
05:30 PM Huachipato VS Curico Unido
COLOMBIA: Liga Aguila - Clausura
07:30 PM Bucaramanga VS Aguilas
CROATIA: 1. HNL
11:00 AM D. Zagreb VS Istra 1961
CZECH REPUBLIC: 1. Liga
11:00 AM Sigma Olomouc VS Opava
CZECH REPUBLIC: Division 2
11:00 AM Jihlava VS Chrudim
11:00 AM Usti nad Labem VS Sokolov
DENMARK: Superliga
12:00 PM Sonderjyske VS Horsens
ECUADOR: Liga Pro
08:00 PM Dep. Cuenca VS Olmedo
ENGLAND: Championship
01:45 PM Derby VS Cardiff
FINLAND: Veikkausliiga - Relegation Group
10:30 AM HIFK VS KPV Kokkola
10:30 AM SJK VS VPS
FRANCE: Ligue 1
12:00 PM Lille VS Angers
01:45 PM Amiens VS Lyon
FRANCE: Ligue 2
01:00 PM AC Ajaccio VS Orleans
01:00 PM Chambly VS Auxerre
01:00 PM Guingamp VS Nancy
01:00 PM Le Havre VS Paris FC
01:00 PM Niort VS Grenoble
01:00 PM Rodez VS Le Mans
01:00 PM Sochaux VS Valenciennes
01:00 PM Troyes VS Caen
GERMANY: Bundesliga
01:30 PM Dusseldorf VS Wolfsburg
GERMANY: 2. Bundesliga
11:30 AM Greuther Furth VS Wehen
11:30 AM Karlsruher VS Sandhausen
IRELAND: Premier Division
01:45 PM Bohemians VS Waterford
01:45 PM St. Patricks VS UC Dublin
02:00 PM Sligo Rovers VS Finn Harps
ITALY: Serie B
02:00 PM Pordenone VS Spezia
MEXICO: Liga MX - Apertura
07:00 PM Puebla VS Atl. San Luis
09:00 PM Veracruz VS Cruz Azul
09:06 PM Club Tijuana VS U.A.N.L.- Tigres
NETHERLANDS: Eerste Divisie
01:00 PM Breda VS Jong Utrecht
01:00 PM Cambuur VS Helmond
01:00 PM Den Bosch VS Nijmegen
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PERU: Liga 1 - Clausura
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POLAND: Ekstraklasa
11:00 AM Zaglebie VS Plock
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12:45 PM Odra Opole VS Sandecja Nowy S.
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PORTUGAL: Primeira Liga
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SWEDEN: Allsvenskan
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11:00 AM Balikesirspor VS Umraniyespor | https://medium.com/@diffusionendirectdesport/charleroi-vs-genk-diffusion-en-direct-13092019-live-streaming-94ff016fb99f | ["Diffusion En Direct De Sport Aujourd'Hui"] | 2019-09-10 18:43:16.520000+00:00 | ['Football', 'Live', 'Live Streaming', 'Soccer', 'Streaming'] |
BLOCKCHAIN BUILDING BLOCKS IN CLEVELAND WITH BERNIE MORENO | Bernie Moreno on the Speaking of Crypto podcast
“Blockland is a play on the name Cleveland and the idea is that by putting what we identified as the ten critical ingredients to make Cleveland one of the top five most relevant tech cities in the United States that we would do all these 10 things at the exact same time. So, we created ten nodes, everywhere from talent development retention to the entrepreneurial environment to the legal system, the political environment, philanthropy’s engaged, a node that we call place, which is to create the largest tech centre in the world, modelled after Station F in Paris right in downtown Cleveland. How do we build some business applications around what we’re doing already? How do we have thought leadership, so that’s where our conference comes from. And virtually every single day in Cleveland right now there’s a meeting somewhere in Cleveland around blockchain.”
President, Bernie Moreno Companies
From owning and operating 21 car dealerships to launching a city-wide epic-sized blockchain initiative, Bernie Moreno is putting Cleveland or ‘Blockland’ on the map.
https://blocklandcleveland.com/
https://twitter.com/berniemoreno
He wants to make Cleveland a blockchain tech hub, complete with the largest tech centre in the world that would be an innovation incubator with a K-12 school on campus built right in downtown Cleveland.
And this isn’t just one person’s big idea. There’s a plan. Leaders in business and government and members of the community have gathered to discuss the ten nodes in place to help make this Ohio city one of the top five tech cities in the United States.
And while some people looking in from the outside may ask why blockchain and why Cleveland. Well when someone has the kind of drive and enthusiasm for something like this, that Bernie clearly does about blockchain tech and Blockland, it’s contagious.
It started when his son asked him to invest in Bitcoin, which he didn’t, but he did get looking into blockchain technology. And after investing in Votem, he wanted to start his own blockchain companies. But when he realized that Cleveland didn’t have the ideal ingredients to do what he wanted to do, instead of going to another city that had all the tech he could ever want, he decided to stay and help bring all the tech he could ever want to Cleveland.
https://votem.com/
We also talked about the future of cars. Bernie said, “the car changed the world in the turn of the century and the car is going to change the world again.” Not only will they be dramatically safer, but it will change things like people young and old being able to hop in a car with no need for a licence. Insurance companies will have to insure something besides accidents because cars won’t hit each other, and whole city blocks will change because we won’t need huge parking lots anymore.
Bernie also believes that in 15 years there will be more self-driving cars than human driving cars, and in 25 years human driving cars won’t be found on public highways. They’ll be on race tracks for sport or other weekend events.
He talked about where we’re at with blockchain tech right now like the early days of the dot com boom when everyone was starting to get a website, but all you’d see when you got online was a page that said, welcome. And one of the ways he’s getting into the space and helping to legitimize it while also being on the leading edge is to accept Bitcoin at his car dealerships.
Blockland Cleveland is also hosting a conference focussed on government and business applications in order to explore real world use cases for blockchain technology.
Some of the use cases Bernie sees coming soon are birth certificates, land records, real estate transactions, car titles, mobile voting, providence, supply chain, medical records, drug tracking, and as he explains, just like in the early days of the internet, no one could predict where it would lead us, we’re in that same place with blockchain tech now. | https://medium.com/speaking-of-crypto/031-blockchain-building-blocks-in-cleveland-with-bernie-moreno-86fc27d5736 | ['Shannon Grinnell'] | 2018-11-11 21:09:53.502000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Blockland', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Blockchain', 'Cleveland'] |
Interior Design in Nepal | On the lookout for an interior designer or interior designer might be overpowering if you are not sure which design that you require for the extent of your undertaking. Are you renovating really building or moving and need information? Are you really planning to sell your property and maybe not sure about the way to find prepared for your review?
This document gives you answers to frequently asked questions in regards to home design, interior decorating, colour consulting and residence styling.
It makes your individual style in your residence and also eventually will help you locate the proper designer for the interior decorating and design endeavours.
What’s the big difference between interior design and an inner decoration?
After facing a renovation or building project, you might have asked your self this problem. Would I want an interior designer, an interior designer, a color adviser or an interior decoration?
The reply is it is dependent upon the project’s reach.
An interior designer is a professional who is designing colours based on your briefing. The interior designer either modifies what already exists (renovation) or provides an entirely new design to get a distance (new build). Inside this event, the interior designer works closely with the architect and comes in at an early stage of the project. Inside designers perform along with a team in designing firm or on their own.
What’s an interior stylist’s occupation? A stylist is a consultant or a designer in an area subject for varies in notably fashion, style or interior decoration. An inside stylist cultivates or maintains some specific style and in most cases, painters are finders, keepers and collectors of most amazing items.
The inner stylist may help you finding your own style, creating beautiful insides which can be unique and meaningful. This is sometimes accomplished with the easiest items and does not have to become pricey. The one factor you ought to do is keep your eyes open to exquisite objects in nature, architecture, style, museums, artwork, exhibitions, books, fabrics and travel. There’s simply one rule accumulate or obtain items that mean something to you!
Just how does a shade consultation perform?
The shade appointment concentrates on developing a colour palette for space or room along with the house depending on your briefing. An experienced shade consultant can help you with exterior and interior colour schemes.
Before developing a color palette for one of personally the colour consultant should always talk to you concerning the feeling and feeling you would love to accomplish on your own space. He will explain the differences between your paint businesses as well as their products and pick the most suitable product to suit the needs. Following designing the colour scheme you are going to get a written proposal for example brush-outs and also a sheet prepared for your painter out.
Exactly why is it essential to seek advice from the designer when choosing colours?
Colour is the most powerful tool once it regards non-verbal communicating and also the design component which creates a distance come alive. Colour brings individuality in a distance also it’s one among the equipment when acquiring your style, to understand.
Leatrice Eiseman,’’ Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, says in her publication Pantone Guide to Communicating with Color:” Among additional uses, colour arouses and will work synergistically with each one the sensations, signifies abstract concepts and notions, expresses fantasy or desire fulfilment, recalls another time or place plus produces an aesthetic or psychological reaction.”
When selecting a shade for a house or room it is important to take into consideration the feeling and setting you’ll love to realize. Could it be flooded or really a place with natural lighting? What leadership could be room confronting? How would be the proportions? Do you live in some freshly built house with open living areas or a small apartment? When choosing colours for a 12, this should be considered.
If the option of colors available overwhelms you — indeed, you will find a large number on the market — how exactly will you start locating your personal colour scheme?
It is really just a lengthier journey, for many others, it happens more naturally. The most significant thing is to take some time to open your eyes and walk around your home and take away the shade combinations you see. Start amassing. This is sometimes such a thing out of old ceramic, travel souvenirs, photographs, artwork, clothing, tear sheets from magazines, cloth swatches, stationary, and a collection of stones, feathers or glass objects.
And don’t forget nature as inspiration to get a color palette (interior or exterior). In the event you reside near the ocean, shades of blues and greens can be utilised to link your interior. Flowers stones, shells, driftwood are great inspirations for shade approaches.
Once you have accumulated all your cherished treasures in one area, play with the pieces, set them with colours and you will notice a shade palette appear. This” mood board” is really just a fantastic starting place for your interior designer, interior breeder or color consultant that will help you establish an individual and personal distance, a property that reflects that you might be and a position that you simply love coming home to.
Stylist’s trick: just before you get started painting always get a test pot and paint a massive sheet of cardboard or paper (one square-metre ) together with your own colour. Tape it into the walls in the room and examine it for a couple of days. A glance at it in daylight and artificial lighting. This really is crucial as colors alter depending upon the light, the orientation of the place, other colours inside the space and spatial elements such as furniture and artwork for instance.
What is the gap between color and also a styling appointment?
The colour appointment concentrates on creating a colour scheme to get the entire house or space or a room depending on your briefing. A qualified colour adviser can aid you with exterior and interior colour schemes.
The design consultation focuses on developing a specific (Your) personality at home or simply on answering each of your questions about colours, personality, household furniture sourcing and positioning, art sourcing and positioning, exhibits of your selections, accessories, proportions at a space, lights etc.. )
Again, it’s imperative the designer listens to what you’d love to reach (briefing) and makes certain that he knew what you need (debriefing). Do not let the interior designer or interior stylist discuss to something that you really don’t like!
How can I Boost the outcome of my styling consultation?
Are you really planning to redecorate to colour or renew, but do not understand where to get started? Do you have a lot of issues about colour schemes, furniture positioning, the way to display your collections, novels or alternative cherished things? Are you sure whether to redecorate with accessories and your old furniture to renovate and make a fresh appearance? Where you should source furniture and accessories, next hand bits or antiques Would you need inspirations?
In the event you prepare yourself your consultation by means of your stylist properly, you will get replies to all of the questions that you have. Here would be my suggestions to maximise the output signal out of your styling or color consultation:
• Be clear exactly what you’d like the results of the appointment in order to be.
• choose which area or distance you would like to give attention to. Can it be merely one space or perhaps the entire residence?
• Prepare your self using sheets Inside Outside, Belle or Vogue Living Area from interior design magazines like Actual Living. You will find plenty on the current market, therefore, choose the one which talks for you and get started collecting webpages of everything that you like: colour accessories, furniture, accessories, area designs, carpeting, flooring, background, decorative items and everything which speaks to you personally. If you try that to get a couple of weeks you will certainly find out what you find and like your very own personal style.
• Keep the eyes exposed into this attractive thing around you: nature, design, design, museums, art, exhibitions, books, fabrics and travel.
• be certain that your stylist is listening and also explain exactly what you want to achieve together with your styling undertaking, what you would love an area todo to you and also what mood you would really prefer to produce in your room.
And one of the absolute most essential things: Do not let the stylist talk you! You have to reside in the distance and also you want to truly feel at ease and at home! It’s about developing your home screen.
Just how can I discover my own, personal style?
The reply is as simple as this: explore the earth around you and love you discover!
Hold your eyes open as well as your mind stimulated! Learn and appreciate the beauty which surrounds you! Discover inspiration.
One of my favourite books I seen in a museum shop can be known to be the explorer of the world by Keri Smith. However, it says” In any certain moment, wherever you are, there are dozens and dozens of things about you that are both interesting and worth “
A newbie’s hint: generally have a tiny notebook and a pencil beside you to be able to replicate, interrogate and write what you will discover.
Keep all your findings, notes and pictures at folder a folder and keep browsing for four to eight weeks. Start to group matters by also you also may detect what your style will be and theme or colour. And there aren’t any regulations. It’s all about obtaining that which you like!
Could it be required to seek out advice from the stylist when I do need to sell my property?
It is worth investing in a consultation In the event you intend to offer your home. A professional real estate stylist will be able to let you achieve maximum effect when presenting your home to prospective purchasers. A property breeder can help by giving you suggestions for the way best to style your home with the things you’ve got you to find prepared for the inspection. He’ll help you with colour schemes which bring buyers. He’ll additionally information if you need home furniture to style each room depending on its function and also help potential purchasers to rearrange themselves. Property styling is all about developing a wow variable and enable themselves to be envisaged by the purchasers into your own space. Once the styling has been done don’t neglect to book your stylist to receive the actual estate photography shoot to be certain everything appears perfect on this day! | https://medium.com/@elancedipendra/interior-design-in-nepal-41f0356578fd | ['Elance Dipendra'] | 2020-03-11 09:08:50.726000+00:00 | ['Interiordesignnepal', 'Interior', 'Interiordecoration', 'Interiordesigninnepal', 'Interiordesign'] |
Buhari Not Physically, Mentally Sound To Govern Nigeria — Obasanjo | Buhari Not Physically, Mentally Sound To Govern Nigeria — Obasanjo | Sahara Reporters
In the buildup to the 2019 general elections, former President Olusegun Obasanjo warned Nigerians against re-electing Muhammad Buhari.
According to Obasanjo, the President is not physically and mentally sound to lead a country like Nigeria.
In an open letter titled “Point for Concern and Action,” the former President also alleged that Buhari was acting like a former military dictator, Sani Abacha.
The letter dated January 20, 2019, read, “While Nigeria must appreciate Buhari for the little he has done and allow him to depart for home in peace if he allows free, fair, peaceful and credible elections, we must also tell ourselves that Nigeria deserves better at this point than what Buhari is capable of offering. History will note that he has been there. Nigeria now needs a man with better physical and mental soundness, with an active mind and intellect.
“Let me say again that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and exists for the benefit of all Nigerians and non-Nigerians who desire to live or do business in and with Nigeria. The attitude of “it is my turn and I can do what I like” with impunity will not last because God creates Nigeria and it will outlive all evil machinations and designs against the overall interest of Nigeria.
“Before I conclude, let me assert that the security situation has deteriorated with kidnapping everywhere and Boko Haram more in action and nobody should deceive Nigerians about this.
Check here to complete your reading on Sahara Reporters | https://medium.com/@peacefulnews/buhari-not-physically-mentally-sound-to-govern-nigeria-obasanjo-sahara-reporters-b9ed4bae6857 | ['Edime Michael Obaje'] | 2020-12-18 12:56:42.368000+00:00 | ['Buhari', 'Goodluck Jonathan', 'Nigeria', 'Olusegun Obasanjo', 'President'] |
Journal 1 | Do you ever feel lost but you know exactly where you are?
That’s how I feel right now.
The stress with being back at school and being in advanced classes has taken over.
It makes me feel so down the majority of the time.
Everyone says I need to try harder but I was trying my best.
I have no motivation to complete any of my assignments.
I miss when it was Summer.
Not because we had no school. Not because we had no homework. Not because we got to sleep in.
I miss when my only worry was not putting on sunscreen before I went out.
I miss staying up all night having deep conversation with my friends.
I miss playing video games all day and having a absolute blast without feeling bad about the fact that I got nothing productive done that day.
I miss constantly having a smile on my face.
I miss being excited about picking an outfit for the day.
Maybe this feeling is because online school is finally getting to me but I think it’s more school in general.
Since school started things have changed.
My head is constantly in a textbook reading over information that will never be helpful to me in life.
My eyes are constantly glued to the screen of my zoom class and the homework that takes hours on top of hours to do.
I end up getting tired by 6:00 pm.
All my friends are so busy with school that we barely have the time to have our deep conversations and play those video games that we love so much.
They tell me it’s my fault. That I can do better.
I understand where they are coming from but in my position it is easier said then done.
I try so hard to focus on my work and to get my homework in on time and study for all my tests.
But it feels like all the information I hear ends up going out the other ear. All the information I read disappears in a matter of hours.
I procrastinate so much and it shows in my grades.
I can’t bring myself to stop.
I keep telling myself I will do better next time but will I?
From where I see things I said that last marking period and the year before that.
I guess it’s really my own laziness and my own procrastination that got me here.
All I am trying to say here is high school is a lot harder then I thought it would be and I feel so drained already.
All this pressure and the constant need to repeat myself when talking about it with my family and friends is finally getting to me.
I figured that the only person who can get me out of this funk is myself.
At this point screw school screw my grades. I need a break that's why I am so thankful for winter break. This winter break I need to take time for myself. I need to relax and keep my chin up. I need to give myself a goal that I HAVE to reach. It is the only way I can finally feel satisfied with my placement in life right now.
If you feel like this right now as well just remember that it gets better. Things will always get better overtime.
“Life goes on. Lets live on!” -BTS
-Mandy | https://medium.com/@mandy13/journal-1-c704535c6696 | [] | 2020-12-18 22:18:23.819000+00:00 | ['Lost', 'You Are Not Alone', 'Motivation', 'Feelings', 'Journal'] |
Online Forum Tips | Online forum discussions too often feel like busy work, resulting in little learning payoff for time and energy expended. This post offers some strategies, drawn from my observations and experiences as an instructor of online courses, that can help discussions feel more organic and promote tangible learning benefits.
#1 | Make short and focused comments. Concise discussion posts with a single idea, observation, or argument can often be more effective — not to mention easier and more enjoyable to read — than long posts with many ideas.
#2 | Organize your discussion in threads. For example, in Canvas® discussions, “replying” to a discussion prompt starts a new discussion thread. People can either reply in the thread (by responding to the “reply”), or start their own threads (by “replying” to the forum initiator’s original discussion prompt). Treat threads as topical mini-discussions: start new threads with each new idea, topic, or argument, and reply to others’ comments in the appropriate established threads.
#3 | Provide new observations, ideas, or arguments. Discussion posts that simply support or restate the comments of another do little to further the conversation. In contrast, posts that raise new ideas, take a stand or state an argument, or pose interesting questions provoke others’ reactions and encourage dialogue.
#4 | Use multimedia content. A strength of online interactions is the ability to easily bring in other (digital) content. Strengthen your observation, comment, or claim — and make it more engaging at the same time — by embedding a relevant image or figure, video, or audio (e.g. podcast).
#5 | Participate early and (relatively) often. I get it — participating in online forums while also fulfilling other class activities can feel burdensome and quickly result in “discussion fatigue.” Nonetheless, the fewer people that participate, the less engaging discussion forums tend to be, and comments that come at the end of a discussion period are unlikely to be read and leave little time for discussion if they are. The way I approach discussions is to set aside 2–3 short blocks of time during the week exclusively for discussion participation. I enter these into my calendar, and set event reminders to make sure I don’t forget.
#6 | Finally — how you approach discussions is the biggest determining factor of the value you get out of them. If you approach discussions as busy work to be “ticked off” for a grade, you will likely see little return. If, in the other hand, you approach them as opportunities to engage the material, practice critical reasoning and communication, and test the ideas of your peers, they will likely be meaningful additions to your class experience.
Of course, every group has a different dynamic, and every individual a different method, however, practicing these strategies will help you get the most out of online discussion forums. | https://medium.com/policy-process-matters/online-forum-tips-82be6de97de | ['David P. Carter'] | 2020-12-17 18:52:14.718000+00:00 | ['College', 'Online Teaching', 'Discussion Forum', 'University'] |
The Empire Feeds Off The Republic | Regardless of who resides in the White House at any given time, Washington’s duplicitous genocidal wars continue unabated while the public look on seemingly helpless to stop them. In the view of Norton, this depressing state of affairs is symptomatic of the fact that the US and many of its allies are authoritarian oligarchies whose overriding purpose is to suppress democratic human agency.
The democracy illusion
Formal democracies, according to Norton, are shepherded, not according to the democratic needs of the electorate, but in the interests of malevolent national security states’, their intelligence agencies and police forces. The notion that the system is free and democratic and that human agency is an integral part of it, is an illusion. As Norton acknowledges, the reality is human agency actually goes to the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency.
Authoritarian nation states’ that use the cover of democracy to systematically suppress the democratic aspirations of the mass of working class people through violence, are in reality agents of the billionaire oligarch class. These oligarchs control, and thus benefit, from the system, which explains why their wealth continues to grow.
“As long as we are blinded by the illusions that underpin the system, we’re going to continue to buy into the same propaganda that we were fed during the first Cold War and now during the new Cold War. But the more we’re able to puncture that myth and wake up to the reality, then we can actually fight for creating a new system”, says Norton.
Historically embedded
The problem is that structural inequality beneficial to the elites is historically embedded. In the context of the US constitution, for example, the ruling class denied minorities and women not only equal rights, but their humanity. Indigenous people’s were also targeted in the worst genocide in human history which resulted in over 100 million dead. In monarchical Britain, royal family members supported and met with Adolf Hitler because they saw Nazi Germany as a force that would help save them from the threat of Bolshevism, as they saw it.
What this illustrates is that the way the system functions is concomitant to empires which are created to dominate the entire planet. In the context of the US, for instance, the majority of revenue spent by the government does not go to administer domestic affairs but to fund 800 military bases and the waging of dozens of wars around the world, both conventional and unconventional. Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq are just three examples in the middle east. But the US, through AFRICOM has special operations forces operating on almost every single country in Africa and its military bases span every continent.
Feeding off the republic
So the reality is that the US is not only not a democratic system, it was never set out to be a democratic system. It’s an empire. As US scholar Michael Parenti says, “the empire feeds off the republic.” That was equally true for the Roman Empire as it was true for the British Empire whose systems were created to oppress mainly poor, working class and ethnic minority communities.
The oppression continues to this day. For example, in the US, a form of slave labour exists among the country’s disproportionately poor, black and Latino prison inmates. Slavery has been reinstituted in the US prison system, allowed for by an amendment to the constitution that technically abolished chattel slavery. The elites within Western capitalist societies understand that the poorest and weakest, domestically, as well as competing geopolitical powers, internationally, have to be scapegoated for the failures of a neoliberal system at the point of collapse.
Creating bogeymen
In order to maintain stability at home, the elite powers deem it necessary to create enemy ‘bogeymen’ abroad which explains the Russiagate propaganda concocted by the Western political and media establishments, as well as the negative stereotypes of Russian’s in movies and TV shows. “The reality is that the US empire wants to have its cake and eat it, too”, says Norton.
The journalist adds:
“The US empire sees any potential loss of control of a country as an attack on the infallibility, as it sees it, of its empire and its position as unipolar hegemon. Russiagate has helped convince many liberal and left-leaning progressive Americans that in order to oppose the Republican Party, they have to support more war with any country that is seen as an ally of Russia.”
With neoliberal-based societies further hamstrung by politically-motivated responses to Covid-19, the situation looks bleak for millions of working people. Norton argues that the overseeing by the Biden administration of rising unemployment and homelessness is commensurate to the situation in the 1930s which gave rise to not only fascism in Europe, but also to white supremacist terrorist movements like the KKK in the United States.
New nuclear arms race?
The election of Biden has also exacerbated the prospect of a new nuclear arms race. The role nuclear weapons played in interlinking the Wests anti-Putin rhetoric with the media backlash in response to Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to nuclear weapons, was a very important factor in bolstering US exceptionalism in the context of empire.
Norton highlights the hypocrisy that lies at the heart of US-UK foreign policy in this area:
“Rich nations in the global north that have hundreds and thousands of nuclear warheads deign to tell independent countries in the global south that they can’t even consider the possibility of creating a nuclear energy programme”, says Norton.
By denying their official enemies access to nuclear weapons afforded to themselves, the Western imperialist powers are able to command undue geopolitical leverage which effectively allows them to impose mediaeval sanctions and overthrow governments almost at will. This has been demonstrated, most notably, in independent, post-colonial Iraq and Libya.
Watch the full episode now | https://medium.com/@renegadeinc/the-empire-feeds-off-the-republic-803228fb02bc | ['Renegade Inc.'] | 2021-04-09 08:02:51.366000+00:00 | ['Biden', 'Neoliberalism', 'Propaganda', 'Inequality', 'War'] |
Cloudbric Progress Report (8/14 ~ 8/27) | Greetings, from Cloudbric.
Here’s the latest from Cloudbric: for August 14th to August 27th
1.Technology Developments
*Blockchain service development
→ Payment via KLAY & CLBK service launch: 85% complete (estimated time of completion: 2021 3Q)
Technical review completed
Service development in progress
*Cloudbric Labs Threat DB database upgrade (cyber threat information data platform based on blockchain technology)
→ Malicious IP (Hacker IP) DB update: 40% complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 3Q)
Technical review and development scope review complete
Core technology development
→ Phishing URL database upgrade: 10% complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 3Q)
Technical review in progress
→ Hacker wallet database upgrade: 10% complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 3Q)
Technical review in progress
*Cryptobric App Update
→ Version 2.0 for iOS in development : 30% complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 3Q)
Technical review completed
Front-facing user interface planning complete
Service development in progress
→ V3.0 SWG (SMS Phishing detection): 45% complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 4Q)
SMS Phishing detection function planning for technology development
Backend server setup in progress
*Cloudbric CDN Service launch
→ CDN Setting and dashboard development: 20% complete (estimated time of completion: 2021 3Q)
Technical review completed
Frontend UI planning in progress
*Cloudbric WMS launch
→ WAF Managed Service launch: 95% complete (estimated time of completion: 2021 3Q)
Service Development Complete
Functional Test in progress
*AWS Marketplace WAF ruleset development
→ Cloudbric Ruleset for AWS WAF: 95% complete (estimated time of completion: 2021 4Q)
Web attack detection/block rules based on Cloudbric engine
New Malicious IP Block feature based on blockchain technology
WAF ruleset implementation complete
AWS Marketplace registration application submitted
Awaiting confirmation from AWS Marketplace
*Cloudbric RAS (Remote Access Solution)
→ Supported protocols added: 40% complete (estimated time of completion: 2021 4Q)
→ Cloudbric now provides stronger infrastructure security for the service. The updated dashboard and report presents users with usage and service status for a better user experience.
Technical review completed
New system components and coverage reviewed
Frontend UI planning in progress
*VISION (Deep Learning Security Engine) Commercialization
→ Source code analysis for VISION commercial structuring VISION: 45% Complete (estimated time of completion: end of 2021 4Q)
→ Commercial module development: 30% complete(estimated time of completion: end of 2021 4Q)
Revisions for improvements regarding source code and engine.
Review of additional lists to be included in the supervised learning of the Deep Learning Engine.
Ongoing review of different learning strategies by domain.
2. Cloudbric News
Cloudbric provides cloud & edge security to companies around the world. Specifically, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that lack the expertise are often unable to allocate dedicated personnel to cloud and website security even if they want to migrate their infrastructure to the cloud. Cloudbric provides our security services including WAF+ and ADDoS to these companies via our global partners. To provide our services to more customers, Cloudbric recently signed a new partnership deal with Zero Networks in Tokyo. Via our new partner Zero Networks, Cloudbric will now be able to plan, set up, and support more corporate clients in Japan; we thus anticipate increasing our market share in the cloud security vertical.
> Read more about Cloudbric x Zero Networks Partnership (Japanese) (LINK)
3. Security News | https://medium.com/@cloudbric/cloudbric-progress-report-8-14-8-27-45bb7b7e70fb | [] | 2021-08-27 02:59:29.585000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Report', 'Cloudbric', 'Progress', 'Coins'] |
Collisions-Bird Diverter/ Bird Flight Diverter | The discussion on Collisions/Bird Diverter/Bird Flight Diverter comes from years of rigorous studies by topmost researchers worldwide. Each one of them has different theories and assessments to prove the pros and cons of the said subjects, but Bird Diverter is something which is found very often in all these studies. Before we discuss in details about the bird diverter, we should understand the major cause which is known as collisions.
The process during which any avian species strike with any object/ obstacle with great speed is known as collisions. This can often be seen during the migrating period of avian species or while they perform actions like feeding, roosting, nesting, hunting or saving themselves from predators.
Normally collisions take place due to thin wires of power transmission line which are mostly invisible due to bluish/greyish background of the sky and hence are not easily visible by avian species specifically due to their poor frontal vision and leads to collisions. To resolve the said issue line marking devices are well suggested and elaborated by worldwide researchers. Different kinds of line marking devices have been launched from time to time based on requirement and reassessments like- location, weather conditions, temperature, species, powerline towers (height).
Most endorsed marking devices around the globe are:-
Flappers, Spirals, Marker Balls, Stripers, Bird Diverter, Bird Flight Diverter, Bird Flashers, Led Bird Diverter etc. Out of all the above list Bird diverter stand out, due to its outstanding as well as overwhelming results. Marking power transmission lines with bird flight diverter increases the visibility of avian species and accordingly reduces the number of avian collisions with them.
These bird diverters are mostly found in bright colours like white, red, yellow, orange. which make them easily visible to avian species to avoid obstacles from long distance during their flying path.
The Chronicles
Bird Flight diverter was introduced to enhance the visibility for avian species and other birds and accordingly reducing their risk of collision. Yet differences in efficacy between different types of devices are often recorded.
The ability of these bird diverters in reducing collision risk to avian species may vary from device to device.
Multiple research and observations worldwide affirm that the ratio of avian collisions is marvellously reduced on marked powerlines in comparison to non marked one. Other factors like the kind of powerlines as well type of marking device used significantly affects the ratio of avian mortality.
Bird Markers Mortality Performance Chart
Bird Diverters are the only available marker that has shown outstanding results to non — marked powerlines. Bird flight diverter had shown the highest reduction in mortality ratio. Hence maybe the best of all alternative as compared to other commonly used flight diverters in the market.
Many potential and significant measures have been taken as well as implemented by prominent bird life-saving authorities and associations worldwide to ensure the safety of different avian species. | https://medium.com/@birdflightdiverter/collisions-bird-diverter-bird-flight-diverter-bb73fc5b35e1 | ['Bird Flight Diverter'] | 2020-12-05 10:01:20.813000+00:00 | ['Bird Reflector', 'Bird Flight Diverter', 'Birds', 'Bird Deflector', 'Bird Diverter'] |
PC Laptop: Create a Hackintosh → USB Stick | 🙄2. GibMacOS: Grab the OSX
< === Menu
Download and unzip it
gibMacOS.bat:
#######################################################
# gibMacOS #
####################################################### Available Products: ... M. Change Max-OS Version (Currently 10.15)
C. Change Catalog (Currently publicrelease)
I. Only Print URLs (Currently False)
R. Toggle Recovery-Only (Currently Off)
U. Show Catalog URL
Q. Quit Please select an option:
Input: R
#######################################################
# gibMacOS #
####################################################### Available Products: 1. Security Update 2020-006 10.13.6 (17G14042)
- 001-72525 - Added 2020-11-12 19:33:55 - 486.12 MB
2. Security Update 2020-006 10.14.6 (18G6042)
- 001-72538 - Added 2020-11-12 19:33:00 - 482.23 MB
3. macOS Catalina 10.15.7 (19H15)
- 001-68446 - Added 2020-11-11 17:48:09 - 500.66 MB - FULL Install
4. macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Supplemental Update 10.15.7 (19H15)
- 001-73001 - Added 2020-11-05 18:13:06 - 500.66 MB
5. macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update 10.15.7 (19H15)
- 001-57230 - Added 2020-11-05 18:12:55 - 500.66 MB
... M. Change Max-OS Version (Currently 10.15)
C. Change Catalog (Currently publicrelease)
I. Only Print URLs (Currently False)
R. Toggle Recovery-Only (Currently On)
U. Show Catalog URL
Q. Quit Please select an option:
Input: 3
That is the latest version of Catalina. Lucky, you may have the Big Sur version.
#######################################################
# Downloading File 1 of 1 #
####################################################### Downloading RecoveryHDMetaDmg.pkg for 001-68446 - 10.15.7 macOS Catalina... Downloaded 29.36 MB of 500.66 MB (5.86%)
Downloading RecoveryHDMetaDmg.pkg.
#######################################################
# Downloaded 1 of 1 #
####################################################### Succeeded:
RecoveryHDMetaDmg.pkg Failed:
None Files saved to:
D:\Hackintosh\gibMacOS-master\gibMacOS-master\macOS Downloads\publicrelease\001-68446 - 10.15.7 macOS Catalina Press [enter] to return...
Done. Please close the CMD.
MakeInstall.bat:
Insert your USB stick at least 16GB. Mine is 32GB.
#######################################################
# Potential Removable Media #
####################################################### !WARNING! This list includes both Removable AND
!WARNING! Unknown disk types. Be ABSOLUTELY sure
!WARNING! before selecting a disk! 2. USB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device - 30.76 GB (Removable)
0. F: (UBUNTU 20_1) FAT32 - 30.75 GB Q. Quit Usage: [drive number][option (only one allowed)] r[Clover revision (optional)]
(eg. 1B r5092)
Options are as follows with precedence B > E > U > G:
B = Only install the boot manager to the drive's first partition.
O = Use OpenCore instead of Clover.
E = Sets the type of the drive's first partition to EFI.
U = Similar to E, but sets the type to Basic Data (useful for editing).
G = Format as GPT (default is MBR).
D = Used without a drive number, toggles showing all disks (currently DISABLED). Please select a disk or press [enter] with no options to refresh:
(USB drive # + O as OpenCore) Input: 2O
#######################################################
# Erase USB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device #
####################################################### 2. USB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device - 30.76 GB (Removable) If you continue - THIS DISK WILL BE ERASED
ALL DATA WILL BE LOST AND ALL PARTITIONS WILL
BE REMOVED!!!!!!! Continue? (y/n):
Input: y
#######################################################
# Select Recovery Package #
####################################################### 2. USB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device - 30.76 GB (Removable) M. Main Menu
Q. Quit Please paste the recovery update pkg path to extract:
Paste the path:
Please paste the recovery update pkg path to extract: "D:\Hackintosh\gibMacOS-master\gibMacOS-master\macOS Downloads\publicrelease\001-68446 - 10.15.7 macOS Catalina"
Downloading…
#######################################################
# Installing OpenCore #
####################################################### Gathering info...
- Got OpenCore-0.6.3-RELEASE.zip
Downloading...
Downloaded 4.01 MB of 4.01 MB (100.00%)
Extracting OpenCore-0.6.3-RELEASE.zip...
Gathering DUET boot files...
- boot
- boot0
- boot1f32
Copying EFI folder to F:/EFI...
Copying boot to F:/boot...
Updating the MBR with boot0...
Updating the PBR with boot1f32...
Cleaning up... Done. Press [enter] to return to the main menu...
It creates a boot partition and an OS partition. Done! Please close the CMD. | https://medium.com/swlh/pc-laptop-create-a-hackintosh-usb-stick-e11a03ca371f | ['Homan Huang'] | 2020-12-07 07:44:10.623000+00:00 | ['https://github.com/OpenIntelWireless/itlwm/releases/tag/v1.2.0-alpha', 'Hackintosh'] |
Banking’s Digital Moment | Banking’s Digital Moment
Spurred by young users, mobile apps, and pressure from China, the online banking revolution has arrived
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Digital transformation has generally followed three distinct stages. First comes the use of IT to improve the productivity and quality of back- and front-end processes. Distribution is next, leveraging the universal reach and connectivity of the Internet for online transactions and disruption of the industry. Finally, the transformation reaches a tipping point when technologies radically change the business model and user experience, leading to a fundamental disruption of the industry.
While such a digital journey is ultimately inevitable, the pace varies widely across industries. The IT industry has been the most disrupted — often by its own digital creations in a kind of sorcerer’s apprentice scenario. I’ve seen many once-powerful IT companies done in by technology and market changes, and either disappear altogether or become shadows of their former selves.
Beyond IT, few industries have felt the impact of digital forces as much as media. In less than two decades, the global recorded music industry has lost over half its revenue, while the drop in newspaper advertising revenue in the U.S. has been even steeper. Retail has also undergone major changes with the rise of e-commerce, as has telecommunications with the transition to mobile phones. The banking industry, long a leading user of information technologies, has taken a more circuitous route.
Digital Payments Rule
A May 4 issue of The Economist examined digital banking in a special report and claimed that “technology is at last shaking up banking.” Two major forces are driving this shake-up: the dramatic growth of digital payments in China and other Asian countries; and the rise of mobile banking in the West, especially among young digital natives.
In the U.S. and other advance economies, payments for e-commerce, online music and ride-hailing services have been mostly based on widely available credit and debit cards. But, given the relatively low penetration of credit/debit cards in China and other Asian countries, e-commerce, social media, and ride-hailing services have had to bundle digital payments into their apps. Such payment apps are now a way of life for over one billion users in Asia. While linked to banks in the back end, payment app companies control the customer relationship and the vast amounts of data that give them insights into their customers’ preferences and behaviors.
In China, AliPay and WeChat Pay have transformed commerce, social media, and everyday life. Alipay was started in 2004 by Alibaba, with the goal of making online payments easier for its new e-commerce website. Since its inception, Alipay has grown remarkably fast while adding new services like person-to-person payments and the ability to pay for a wide variety of purchases both online and in physical establishments. Renamed Ant Financial in 2014, it’s now one of the world’s biggest financial firms. WeChat Pay, Ant Financial’s main rival, was started in 2013 by WeChat, China’s dominant social-media app.
Together, they’ve made it possible for China to bypass credit and debit cards and leapfrog straight to mobile payments. Their remarkable growth “is both a cause and a consequence of big changes in Chinese life: development, urbanization, and the emergence of a vast middle class ready to spend.” But, it also exemplifies the radical shift that’s been taking place in the provision of financial services since the advent of the iPhone and App Store in 2007, a shift that goes well beyond China’s borders.
In the West, banking has been late to the smartphone age, partly because entrepreneurs have been put off by increasing regulations, and partly because banks have been preoccupied with repairing their balance-sheets and cutting costs since the financial crisis — which incidentally, pretty much coincided with the advent of the smartphone.
But, mobile banking is now reaching critical mass. Nearly half, 49%, of Americans bank on their phones.
In addition, U.S. tech giants might well decide to follow China’s example and integrate digital payments into their apps, as Facebook recently announced with Libra, while relegating incumbent banks to providing back-end financial services.
Though people of every age use mobile phones, the best way to understand the future of banking is through the eyes of smartphone’s most devoted users, digital natives. “The main reason people choose a bank is convenience…For older people that means a nearby branch; for younger ones it means an excellent app.” Fully 85% of American millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996 — use mobile banking, with the share expected to be higher for Generation Z — those born after 1996.
Digital natives are demanding customers, with expectations for speedy, convenient service. They use their mobile phones “to read, chat and play, stream music and videos, hail taxis, order food, and search for dates and jobs.” They’ve cooled on cash. “Half of American millennials use peer-to-peer payment services such as Venmo or Zelle at least once a week… just one in three American millennials has a credit or debit card, a much lower share than for previous generations at the same age.”
Fintechs Move In, Customers Win
Switching banks has long been rare . In a given year, only 8% do so in America and 4% in Britain. But, younger people no longer stay with the same bank as their parents. An increasing number are using mobile-only. Not bearing the cost of branches or the maintenance of legacy systems, neobanks can concentrate ton providing the kind of digital customer experience that their demanding users expect. Innovative financial services from FinTech startups are also adding to the pressure felt by banks.
“The biggest four American banks are spending a total of over $25 billion a year on perfecting better customer applications and learning to mine data more cleverly. Venture-capital firms invested $37 billion in upstart financial firms last year.”
The shake-up of banking should be great for customers. “The benefits of technological change are likely to be vast. Costs should tumble as branches are shut, creaking mainframe systems retired and bureaucracy culled… Rotten service will improve — it is easier to get money to a friend using a chat app than it is to ask your bank to transfer cash. The system will get better at its vital job of allocating capital. Richer data will allow banks to take risks that currently baffle underwriters. Fraud should be easier to spot… A smartphone revolution in finance offers one of the best ways to boost the economy and spread the benefits.”
But change also poses risks. “The implications are profound because banks are not ordinary firms. It is one thing for Blockbuster Video to be wiped out by a technological shift, but quite another if the victim is Bank of America…Because the financial system is embedded in the economy, innovation tends to create turbulence.”
Will incumbent banks embrace the necessary transformations before neobanks and FinTech startups gain scale and distribution? Will we see further concentration as banks become as adept at leveraging data as technology giants, or will technology giants move into banking, as has happened in China and might happen with Facebook ?The digital revolution seems to be finally reaching banking, but there are so many factors at play it’s unclear how it will all turn out. | https://medium.com/mit-initiative-on-the-digital-economy/bankings-digital-moment-df2aebcf590f | ['Mit Ide'] | 2019-07-02 14:29:39.555000+00:00 | ['Mobile Apps', 'Digital Banking', 'Fintech'] |
How to Become a Successful Freelancer | It’s Friday morning, you’ve just arrived at your desk after a long drive, and the boss is already breathing around your neck. You have already thought about this question a thousand times: is it time to take the plunge and start a business?
While many people jump at the opportunity to work from the comfort of their own home, shedding their work clothes for pajamas and swapping an hour for more sleep, it’s not always easy. . Quitting their day job to become a successful freelancer requires serious discipline and motivation, and even experienced people have been discouraged from becoming independent entrepreneurs simply because they didn’t know where to start. Fortunately, the Internet has leveled the playing field. There are even online courses on Udemy.com that teach you how to become a successful freelancer.
In recent years, the popularity of online work platforms, also known as outsourcing platforms, has provided freelancers with the opportunity to find clients and build a reputation. Many sites allow freelancers to bid for jobs posted by paying customers and facilitate a secure way to transfer payments and files. As long as you have an internet connection and a marketable skill, you may be closer to independent living than you think.
Online freelance skills in demand
If you are considering joining an outsourcing platform, first determine exactly what you will offer your potential customers. Now’s the time to be brutally honest — what are the highlights of your CV? Why should a potential customer choose you over someone else?
Differentiating yourself from your competitors can seem difficult. If you’ve been out of work for a while or feel you don’t have the skills, “selling” may seem downright scary.
The good news is that everyone has a type of skill or knowledge that stands out. The goal is to establish your personal brand and make it known that you are an authority in your field. Consider the type of jobs or contracts you are looking for and ask yourself what you have learned from previous jobs that would make you an asset.
You don’t have to be an expert — you just need to demonstrate more knowledge and expertise than the people you compete with. Since many freelancers bid for jobs outside their area of expertise, you have a real opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
Here are some of the most common tasks for which clients need independent contractors:
Creation of websites: Web design is one of the most popular online outsourcing opportunities. If you can design functional and stylish business websites, this could be a lucrative business.
Sales and Marketing: If you are proficient in email marketing, social media marketing, telesales, ad campaigns, web banner ads or print ads, online marketing might be your best bet. You can also purchasing bulk email data supplier.
Translation: Do you speak several languages fluently? Foreign companies often need native speakers to help translate marketing materials, web copying, or incorporation documents when setting up overseas. The translation industry offers room for growth, as evidenced by large translation companies like Day Translations.
Data entry: If you have quick and precise typing skills, this might be the job for you. Data entry has never been a high paying job, but there is a lot of regular work.
Project management: Organizational competence is something that all companies want. With many organizations reducing labor costs, the need for temporary project managers is increasing. If you have experience as a team guide in sales, engineering or marketing, this could be lucrative. Bonus points for experience by avoiding the common project management mistakes described in this infographic from ZOE Talent Solutions.
Software programming and testing: Many customers cannot afford to hire full-time IT staff. Although experienced professionals are required, you may be surprised at the number of jobs available for people with average skills. Works ranging from programming formulas to a spreadsheet and creating a simple database with Microsoft Access are available online.
Writing: The need for content today is unprecedented. Whether you are an expert in writing, blogging, proposals, technical writing, website content or ghosting, there is probably a site that is looking for your expertise. Do you want to learn how to make writing a business? Check out the online course, Earn more writing.
Administrative Support: Are you a good researcher? Do you have word processing and office management skills? Working as a virtual assistant is something you might enjoy.
Editing and proofreading: If you have good grammar and punctuation skills, there may be a future for you in publishing. Editing documents to improve readability is a talent that many organizations appreciate and seek.
Multimedia: Today, almost every business — and every person — is on social media, posting photos, graphics, videos, or animations. If you have basic multimedia editing skills, one of these jobs could be yours.
Web Promotion: Some people choose freelancers so that they can promote their website. For example, a good page in social media or a good ranking of Google in the keywords of your website works better for this, the experts of SEO who also give them projects. Freelancer provide you good services of article submission, press release submission, guest book comments and bookmarking submission. It’s working type of two parts Off-page and On-page I think you better understand.
If your niche is not on this list, don’t panic. Take a look online because you could be more valuable than you think. The more specialized your skill, the more willing customers can be to pay. | https://medium.com/@technicalblog4you/how-to-become-a-successful-freelancer-8a46f1f918ac | ['Technical Blog You'] | 2020-02-20 22:48:08.211000+00:00 | ['Freelancer Life', 'Success Freelancer Tips', 'Freelancer Blogs', 'Freelancers', 'Freelancer Web Designer'] |
Jean & Martin Shafiroff with Aisha Christian & Michael Steifman Host Southampton African American Museum Benefit Party | Jean Shafiroff, Brenda Simmons, Aisha Christian. Credit: Patrick McMullan
The Southampton African American Museum (SAAM) held a summer party chaired by New York philanthropist, author, and TV host Jean Shafiroff, and her husband, Martin Shafiroff, along with Aisha Christian & Michael Steifman in Southampton, NY followed by a post-reception dinner.
The event was the official launch of the museum’s Founder’s Campaign to support its operations and endowment. The museum, a former Black barber shop opened on June 19, 2021, and is the first African American designated landmark in the Village of Southampton. Corporate sponsors included Bloomberg Philanthropies, Weight Watchers and Jet Blue and a silent auction that included Melissa Kaye Jewelry.
Jean Shafiroff, Marilyn Crawford. Credit: Patrick McMullan
Among the many notable guests were: Jean Shafiroff, Martin Shafiroff, Aisha Christian, Michael Steifman, Exective Director — Brenda Simmons, Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, Susan L. Taylor, Loida Lewis, Kherpra Burns, Marilyn Crawford, Elizabeth Shafiroff, Richard Ballard, Greg D’Elia, Dan Gasby, Karen Phillips, Charles Phillips, Anita Farrington, Susan Cushing, Angie Samii, Siamak Samii, Tish Collette, Michael Henry Admans, Bill Pickens, James Banks, Nancy Stevens-Smith, Brenda Stuart-Luke and Stephanie Hill.
Jean Shafiroff and Aisha Christian greeted early arrivals including Susan Davenport Austin, now Chief Financial Officer of the Grace Church School, and her husband, Wallace Foundation Corporate Counsel Kenneth W. Austin, who reminisced about his family’s multi-generational history in East Hampton. A museum tour preceding the benefit was led by executive director and co-founder Brenda Simmons. | https://medium.com/@tjbdaily/jean-martin-shafiroff-with-aisha-christian-michael-steifman-host-southampton-african-american-dd4cb495c014 | ['Tony Bowles', 'Contributing Columnist'] | 2021-08-27 20:10:55.863000+00:00 | ['History', 'Society', 'African American', 'Charity'] |
Finding Happiness | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/spiritual-secrets/finding-happiness-6c63d6303011 | ['Ivette Cruz'] | 2021-02-16 16:18:53.084000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Spirituality', 'Poetry', 'Happiness', 'Spiritual Secrets'] |
She Said Goodbye (Part One) | She said goodbye
and then everything began to float
cars, buildings, trees,
litter and fiery leaves,
hovered three inches off the ground
in the late afternoon sun.
And just like that,
nothing felt real anymore. | https://medium.com/pieces-of-yesterday/she-said-goodbye-part-one-fa6040d91e31 | ['Yaman Nimer'] | 2017-09-13 05:18:25.206000+00:00 | ['Love', 'Poem', 'Life', 'Breakups', 'Poetry'] |
Product Sprint 1: Pivoting Pacts | We wanted to understand how college friend groups usually plan to hang out, the difficulties of planning these events, and how COVID has affected this process. Through speaking with students about their current processes of making plans, we noticed that simply texting within a group chat and waiting for responses from friends was sufficient enough for most people to make plans with their close friends. Many users cited that the most difficult part of making plans was to find a common time between everyone’s busy schedules, but they would not use a specific platform such as When2meet or LettuceMeet as these were usually for student organizations or more professional meetings rather than a casual hangout with friends.
After organizing all of our findings on a Miro board and grouping the responses from our interviews into categories, we realized that our initial target customer base, friend groups wanting to plan events, did not necessarily have a strong pain point with event planning. However, we saw that there was a greater need from student organizations and teams for a more personalized and functional platform for surveying people’s availability and scheduling events. As a result, we decided to pivot our product to remedy the pain points for student organizations rather than friend groups on college campuses. | https://medium.com/@ac2677/product-sprint-1-pivoting-pacts-550dd089d1 | ['Angela Chen'] | 2020-12-15 04:21:54.127000+00:00 | ['User Research', 'Product Design', 'Product Creation', 'Computer Science', 'Product Management'] |
Do BCAAs Deserve The Hype They Get? | What if I told you there was a supplement that could help YOU pack on massive new slabs of muscle, maintain that muscle mass while dieting and doing cardio, and also reduce post-exercise muscular soreness–all without any side-effects or negative health impact. Interested?
Take BCAAs. They’ll change fitness and weight-lifting as you know it.
BCAAs
The branched chain amino acids (BCAA’s) are a group of three essential amino acids: l-leucine, l-valine, and l-isoleucine. An essential amino acid (there are 9 of them in the body) is any amino acid that can’t be manufactured by the body naturally, meaning that they have to come from protein intake. BCAA’s are the only amino acids metabolized inside of the muscle itself (all of the others are metabolized in the liver), and make up about 35% of muscle tissue.
During intense training the BCAA’s serve as a major source of fuel for the body. When your internal BCAA hit empty the body begins to break down precious muscle tissue. Excess BCAAs = protection against muscle breakdown.
BCAA’s also signal the release of insulin, which allows the body to absorb any circulating amino acids and glucose for energy. They’re absolutely critical for the development and maintenance of muscle tissue. I can’t stress that enough.
You’ve probably been ingesting BCAA’s longer than you ever would’ve thought…they’re a part of all foods that have protein. Although the protein you eat throughout the day provides a decent amount of BCAA’s, that’s not nearly enough to get a significant benefit.
I’m talking about supplemental amounts flooding through the blood stream, filling up thirsty muscles that are craving a little BCAA love…I want a BCAA TSUNAMI!
The Benefits:
1. Better Recovery, Less Soreness
No one likes being so sore that they can’t move after a crazy intense workout. Supplementation with Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs) has been proven to significantly reduce muscular soreness and accelerate the growth and recovery process. A recent study from the University of Birmingham tested the impact of BCAA’s on muscle soreness and found that “ratings of muscle soreness in the quadriceps muscle were significantly lower 48 to 72 hours after exercise in the BCAA group.” For that reason BCAA’s are included within a number of pre-workout and intra-workout blends, and are typically used by athletes, bodybuilders, and experts to enable greater workout frequency, which leads to accelerated growth. With that said, they’re perfectly suitable and recommended for the every day lifter, runner, etc.12345
2. Enhanced Protein Synthesis, Bigger Muscle Gains
Protein’s pretty much useless if the body isn’t able to effectively digest, absorb, and synthesize it into muscle/other tissue. When the body’s under immense stress (i.e. during a workout) it calls on BCAA’s to be released for fuel, which stops protein synthesis. By supplementing with BCAA’s, especially during a workout, you can eliminate the need to release BCAA’s from muscle tissue, therefore keeping protein synthesis and muscle growth revved up at a high gear.
3. Even More Muscle Gain…
BCAA’s increase levels of testosterone, HGH, and insulin–all of which are extremely anabolic (they promote the development of new tissue). That means new muscle. HGH and testosterone also shred body fat.
4. Prevent Muscle Breakdown (Catabolism)
Plain and simple, when you supplement with BCAA’s your body doesn’t have to break down muscle tissue for energy. The BCAA’s are a major source of fuel during intense exercise, especially after glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates in the muscles) have been completely emptied. Taking BCAA’s before/during exercise is a great way to ensure that your hard-earned, beefy muscle doesn’t get broken down for fuel.
A lot of people who “cut” (diet and do a lot of cardio to reduce body fat %) typically have tremendous difficulty maintaining muscle mass while losing fat. Supplementing with BCAA’s is a phenomenally effective way to preserve muscle while burning fat, especially if you do long cardio sessions.
5. Boosts Endurance
Once glycogen stores (stored carbohydrates) empty, the body starts to get really weak and fatigues. Fortunately, BCAA’s can be quickly converted into glucose, stored as glycogen, and then used as energy to bang out the last few sets.
Another cool benefit. In the body, BCAA’s and tryptophan fight for the same receptors in the brain. If levels of BCAA’s in the body are low, more tryptophan is able to enter the brain. This is really important because tryptophan is a precursor to seratonin — a neurotransmitter that causes people to feel relaxed, sleepy, and weak. Supplementing with BCAA’s = less tryptophan & serotonin = more awake, alert, and strong.
6. Increased Immunity
Noone likes being sick. BCAA’s can help preserve stored glutamine, an amino acid that’s critical to immune function.
In short…BCAA’s are the key to unlocking BEAST-MODE. Unleash the beast!!!!
How Much and When Should I Take BCAA’s?
BCAA’s are optimal directly pre-workout, during a workout, and/or any time throughout the day. I highly recommended BCAA’s during any workout session that lasts longer than 1 hour, as your body will start breaking down muscle for fuel.
Take 3–10g of BCAA’s split-up throughout the course of the day, in addition to your daily protein requirement. BCAA formulas should always be in the ratio of 2:1:1 (leucine:isoleucine:valine).
I’m currently using Scivation Xtend…it’s a phenomenal product and by far the best BCAA brand I’ve ever used. It tastes fantastic (watermelon’s the best), it’s inexpensive for a BCAA product, and it works stupidly well. It also has l-glutamine, another amino acid that’s really effective for decreasing soreness/enhancing recovery…the BCAA/Glutamine 1–2 punch is potent. | https://medium.com/@mitch.snommis/do-bcaas-deserve-the-hype-they-get-e6c8c24a3650 | [] | 2021-06-17 07:20:44.111000+00:00 | ['Supplement Information', 'Bodybui', 'Weightlifting', 'Bcaas', 'Workout'] |
How I Finally Shut up My Inner Critic During Writing | How I Finally Shut up My Inner Critic During Writing
“The Most Dangerous Writing App” forces you to keep going
Photo by Windows on Unsplash
Even though I love writing, the process can be frustratingly painful. While I’m struggling to get the story out, my inner critic reads along over my shoulder and has an opinion about everything.
That paragraph is too long.
That word looks weird; you should Google for synonyms.
This sentence is too vague? What are you trying to say? Why do you use question marks like that?
You are not convincing anyone with that statement.
I am sure there are another 100 articles about this subject, all better than yours. Maybe you should read all of them, now?
You are going overboard with the alliterations.
You should stop typing until you come up with the best subheading EVER.
That reference is too obscure; no one knows what “thanks, I stole them from the president” means.
This paragraph feels more like a closing paragraph, so why are you writing it after your second paragraph? You need more flesh in the middle!
That is too much flesh. Delete half of it.
My inner critic likes to go on and on like that. And every time they make me question what I’m writing, I lose my flow, and my voice becomes forced.
Always separate writing and editing
I am not the first writer struggling with her inner critic, which is why it is a piece of common advice to separate your editing from your writing.
No first draft is perfect; you need that shitty first draft to get your thoughts on paper and then edit them. Quite early on in my writing journey, I discovered that simultaneously editing and writing waters down my message. My inner critic thinks it is helping me, but instead, it is making my writing worse.
But knowing and doing are two separate things. No matter how many Pomodoro timers I use or how often I tell my inner critic to hold their horses, I can’t resist going back to edit. This usually ends with me with my hands in my hair — or worse, on my mobile phone playing Candy Crush — annoyed with losing my flow of thought and questioning every word I write.
The Most Dangerous Writing App
Last week, I decided it was finally time to try the notorious Most Dangerous Writing App (TMDWA). The concept is simple: this online distraction-free editor deletes your work if you stop typing.
You’ve read that right. If you write two beautiful paragraphs and let your inner critic take you hostage on paragraph #3, you lose it all. Before you start writing, you set a timer. If you keep typing until the timer goes off, your work is safe.
For my first try, I’d set the timer for five minutes, and I immediately felt the pressure and started typing like a mad person. My fingers kept missing keys, so the first couple of lines were nothing more than a random assortment of typos.
The Most Dangerous Writing App doesn’t force you to go fast; it just wants you to keep going. I slowed down, and within a couple of keystrokes, I found my rhythm, and the last three minutes flew by. I didn’t hear my inner critic once because there was no time to pause for its bullshit.
The result? Four paragraphs with a clear point — and the most typos I’ve ever seen in my writing.
For my second round, I set the timer for ten minutes and experienced some of the most effortless writing I’ve ever done. Because the goal is to keep going, I worried less about quality. All I had to do is get the words out and shut out my inner critic.
My inner critic loves The Most Dangerous Writing App
Your inner critic isn’t there to annoy you just for the heck of it; it actually has a function. The goal of your inner critic is to help you prevent making mistakes. A horrible quality while doing creative work, but essential for proper editing.
So I moved my work from TMDWA to Medium and told my inner critic to have a field day with it. They spotted every typo, run-on sentence, inconsistencies in my reasoning, and hyperbole.
Slowly but surely, my inner critic molded the lump of clay from TMDWA into a proper article. My inner critic and I could edit ruthlessly, now that all of the words were out of my system.
Now, every time my inner critic becomes too intrusive, I switch from Medium to TMDWA and write the core of my stories without the constant nagging of my inner critic.
It’s not really that dangerous though
Are you hesitant to use it because you’re afraid you’ll write something brilliant and lose it forever? Don’t worry; I quickly discovered TMDWA offers a free download of a Word document with the text that has just disappeared.
After your text disappears, you see this screen:
Screenshot by author edited in Canva
When you click on Export DOC, you get a Word document with the entire text that has “disappeared.”
So it’s maybe not the Most Dangerous Writing App in the world, but it is definitely really good at shutting up your inner critic. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/how-i-finally-shut-up-my-inner-critic-during-writing-a8212e4390fd | ['Judith Valentijn'] | 2020-12-13 17:22:24.178000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Productivity', 'Writing Tips', 'Self'] |
BK from Home: Humble Passion | we talk about movies, tv shows, k-dramas, animes, and more! | https://medium.com/@kineklub/bk-from-home-humble-passion-9205e7eca961 | ['Kineklub Lfm Itb'] | 2020-12-12 11:37:00.618000+00:00 | ['Bioskop Kampus', 'Documentary', 'Film'] |
September 2020 Burn Report | About the Mechanism
Every booking made on our marketplace triggers a LOC burn equal to 3% of the booking value. These are bought from exchanges and sent to the parking wallet.
When the customer checks in to the hotel, we consider the booking as final and the parking wallet executes the final burn transaction. If the customer cancels the booking, the parking wallet returns the balance into circulation.
Burn Rate
The burn mechanism continuously removes LOC from the circulating supply, which is driven by booking volumes. This factor turns LOC into a deflationary economy as opposed to other coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, where new coins are added to the supply with every block.
In the chart below you can see the rate at which LOC are being destroyed.
September displayed a strong burning performance with 23 LOC being removed from the total supply per day, second only to the record broken in August.
Will we see new highs later this year?
Cumulative Amount
Another fundamental metric is the cumulative amount that has been removed from the circulating supply.
The growth trajectory continues on a healthy track, despite the LOC price having experienced a doubling on exchanges over the past months and the burn rate being dropped from the previous 5% to the current 3% (read more).
Quarterly Overview
While we are preparing the quarterly bookings report with some in-depth data about the nature of bookings, it is worth to take a quick look at the quarterly progression.
The third quarter has been the one with the most burns to date. More than 2,400 LOC have been permanently destroyed in Q3, which is 60% above the previous record set in Q1 (1,500 LOC at that time). More details about bookings will be shared in our upcoming quarterly booking report.
Verify the Numbers
All transactions are publicly verifyable on the blockchain through the two wallets linked below.
Burn Wallet
Parking Wallet
Join our Telegram Community 👇🏼
LockTrip is a blockchain-based travel marketplace that allows users to save up to 60% on their bookings by cutting out middlemen. Every booking burns LOC proportionally to its booking value, continuously reducing its total supply. | https://medium.com/locktrip/september-2020-burn-report-391bfca52336 | ['Locktrip.Com', 'Loc Token', 'Official Blog'] | 2020-10-04 15:01:14.238000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Locktrip', 'Ethereum', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
Smart Updates of 2020 with Smarter Updates of 2021 | Ho ho ho :) Time of magic moments and happy memories is here ;) Our team at SmartMatchApp would love to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Behold we’re truly blessed to have amazing clients like you. This has been a challenging year for all of us, although together, we stood tall and faced the trials of the modern market with unorthodox smart solutions and creative innovative decisions. Let’s take a hot minute now to recapture our marvelous accomplishments this year of 2020 and what’s to come next year of 2021.
What New Features Were Introduced This Amazing Year of 2020
Member portal that allows your clients to review their own suggestions and self match, plus you can now create custom recurring monthly subscription plans for your clients
that allows your clients to review their own suggestions and self match, plus you can now create custom recurring monthly subscription plans for your clients Zapier integration that lets you create complex workflows within more than 2,000 most popular apps, connected application will be able to talk with one another and share data
that lets you create complex workflows within more than 2,000 most popular apps, connected application will be able to talk with one another and share data Custom reports that can be generated in a matter of minutes, reports are based on the information within your database and will reflect exactly what you’d like to see
that can be generated in a matter of minutes, reports are based on the information within your database and will reflect exactly what you’d like to see Twilio integration with ability to call and text from the CRM system, plus you can accept calls and texts directly to the application and keep track of all your communications
with ability to call and text from the CRM system, plus you can accept calls and texts directly to the application and keep track of all your communications Automations that make it possible for you to set up a variety of custom triggers and actions, they can even be adjusted to follow a precise order based on timing preferences
What New Features Are Coming Next Awesome Year of 2021
Partner program that will let you to make money with us, you’ll have a link to refer a person to us and if they become a client you’ll be receiving 10% of all of their spending
that will let you to make money with us, you’ll have a link to refer a person to us and if they become a client you’ll be receiving 10% of all of their spending PayPal integration that allows you to charge your clients via PayPal, easy solution for you and your clients for fast money transfers with the highest security provided
that allows you to charge your clients via PayPal, easy solution for you and your clients for fast money transfers with the highest security provided WhatsApp integration that creates new communication lines between you and your clients, a simple application makes a big difference with loaded smart features
that creates new communication lines between you and your clients, a simple application makes a big difference with loaded smart features Video calls that will be possible between your member portal clients, now your connected clients will be able to see one another and have great time seeing each other
that will be possible between your member portal clients, now your connected clients will be able to see one another and have great time seeing each other Event match with an opportunity for your member portal clients to match on the current ongoing event, they’ll be able to discover a perfect fit for them right on your event
Absolutely the golden age of matchmaking has started and what a wonderful adventure awaits our destinies. We’ll travel this journey side by side and achieve many decisive victories on our path. For the future is bright and the sun will always shine on such hardworking clients like you are, or shall we say smart working, because it takes tons and loads of brains after all to reach that sweet point of success. Anyways… Family and friends time is at hand! Jingle bells, Santa Claus beautiful sleigh pulled by gorgeous reindeers is coming our way! Delicious dinner, sincere smiles, fine holidays that unite us are knocking at our doors!
Our dearest clients, you mean the world to us, God bless you and your houses :)
We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ;) | https://medium.com/@smartmatchapp/smart-updates-of-2020-with-smarter-updates-of-2021-df44b4cce559 | [] | 2020-12-21 10:58:15.887000+00:00 | ['Matching', 'Matchmaking', 'Dating', 'CRM', 'SaaS'] |
Snacking Too Much These Days? | Snacking Too Much These Days?
Creating new habits for new circumstances
Photo by Christina Branco on Unsplash
Fifteen paces. That is how many steps it takes to reach the refrigerator from where I am sitting at my desk. It’s no wonder gaining the COVID 20 is so prevalent.
So many of us are working from home (WFH) now which means all of those crackly packages and crunchy chips are waiting to be consumed — spilling on our computer keyboards while we work.
For those of us who are not in the office anymore, the good news is we are no longer being tempted by the never-ending birthday cakes, chocolate for pretty much every occasion, or the Friday Krispy Kremes people happen to bring in on the way to the office.
Like with so many aspects of our lives, our issues have changed. We’ve traded doughnuts to the fifteen paces of doom. However, we can create good habits that don’t lead to continued weight gain. Bad habits are there to be broken.
Here are some tips if snacking has become your vice in this new WFH environment.
1. Take a walk instead
I went through a period when I was snacking every day at 10:00 a.m. I Initially needed it because I was going through a particularly tough point in my training. I’m a 1500 meter runner, so at times I need more calories to handle my training load.
Eventually, when my training volume decreased, I didn’t need a 10:00 a.m. snack anymore. I knew this because when I ate a snack I wasn’t really hungry and by lunchtime, I wasn’t hungry either.
However, my body and mind were trained to reach for something to munch on at that same time every day.
That time also happens to be the time I need a break from work. Having a snack break can end up being like airline food — no one really wants it, but it breaks up the journey.
One day, just as I was reaching for a bag of chips I decided to take a walk instead. I didn’t have much time, so I just walked around the block once.
When I returned, the munchies were gone and I was ready to work again. From that day forward I made that my new habit. Now when 10:00 a.m. hits, I look forward to the fresh air and stretching my legs. My computer keyboard is much cleaner as well.
2. Eat meals that promote satiety
My 10:00 a.m. munchies were also remedied by adding an egg to my daily toast and black tea.
Margarita J. Cozzan, a Registered Dietitian, stresses the need for choosing meals that promote satiety as a way to curb unnecessary snacking.
Often meals high in carbohydrates satisfy us for a short period of time but don’t sustain us until the next meal, leaving us ravenous and wanting to snack between meals.
Meals that have macronutrients known for promoting satiety include foods with protein and fat, according to Cozzan. Foods with fiber also stay with us longer and help us get through to the next meal without needing cookies or chips to fill us up.
Choosing the right foods at breakfast is especially important since it sets us up for the day.
Cozzan recommends including foods with protein and fat to our morning meal. Some ideas include almonds, avocado, eggs, and yogurt. Ideas for breakfast foods with fiber include whole oats and whole-grain toast.
Margarita advises clients to watch out for breakfast cereals. They are usually highly processed and don’t have the kinds of nutrients to keep us satisfied for long.
3. Identify if it is really hunger
There is nothing wrong with snacking if you really need it. So how do you know if you need it and it isn’t just a case of the munchies?
It can be hard to tell. Sometimes boredom or even dehydration can lead to unnecessary snacking. In my example, snacking was merely a bad habit. If you aren’t hungry, chances are you probably don’t need it.
Snacking is healthy for many people in certain circumstances. For instance, nurses and doctors, who spend all day on their feet, may need snacks to keep energy levels more stable. The same applies to high-level athletes and others who have daily high caloric expenditure.
If you are genuinely hungry between meals, snacks can help get you to the next meal. The key is to choose the right snacks.
4. Choose snacks wisely
Cozzan recommends thinking about what you already eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What types of healthy foods tend to be missing from your meals? These make great snacks.
For instance, if at breakfast you eat eggs and whole-wheat toast, but don’t have fruit, a perfect mid-morning snack might be a banana or an apple. If you don’t have veggies at your regular meals, snacking on celery or carrots may help give you the nutrients you would otherwise be missing.
Cozzan also recommends adding some protein to the snack. So if you choose fruit for your mid-morning snack, adding yogurt can help make the snack last until the next meal.
Nuts make a great snack and can be a great addition to yogurt as well. They are a great source of nutrients and healthy fats. However, Cozzan suggests exercising caution on the portion sizes since nuts are energy-dense.
A serving size of nuts is only a small handful. These can be added to a yogurt or salad, rather than being the main snack if over-snacking on them is a worry.
5. We’ve heard it before — don’t buy it
If you don’t buy junk food and keep it at home, it makes it much harder to snack on the wrong things. This isn’t a new idea. Health articles have written about this for years.
So when you hit the grocery stores, skip the cookie and ice cream aisle. Sure you may crave them and regret it temporarily, but in the long term, you will be thankful.
Our taste buds can be retrained to not crave unhealthy snacks. Trust me, I’m a perfect example. When I was a kid, my diet was shocking. I’ve been curbing my sugar addiction for many years. I can tell you from experience that over time, it gets easier, and those sugar cravings will subside.
Another thought about keeping those cupboards void of unhealthy snacks is we are teaching our kids healthy eating habits as well. Now that so many kids are attending school virtually, keeping those snacks out of the house will keep them from a lifelong struggle with unhealthy eating.
Closing Thoughts
Our new circumstances with sheltering at home, working from home, and having kids at home, means we have new challenges to overcome. Now more than ever we need habits that promote a healthy lifestyle. It is normal to slip into unhealthy habits, but the good news is it is possible for us to replace them with habits that promote our health.
If your snacking habits need to be changed, perhaps some of these strategies will be helpful. Your waistline (and computer keyboard) will thank you.
Amy Wall is currently eating a bag of pretzels while she types. Just kidding. She just got back from her daily walk around the block. She enjoys writing about health and fitness as well as a wide range of topics. You can find more about her at amywallauthor.com | https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/snacking-too-much-these-days-663e539d606c | ['Amy J. Wall'] | 2020-10-12 21:58:50.642000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Nutrition', 'Fitness', 'Lifestyle', 'Life'] |
Why Masks are Important — a Note from MD Alddo Molinar | The Covid-19 pandemic has created a global health emergency that has fundamentally shifted so much about the way we engage in society. Stay at home recommendations and social distancing guidelines have been important components of the global approach to limiting disease transmission. However, inconsistent information has, in part, contributed to confusion around a topic of great importance in this fight — the benefits of wearing masks to control the spread of the virus. I’ve taken some time to summarize some of the most relevant information on this topic to clearly show that — yes — wearing a mask is a key part of fighting this pandemic.
Official recommendations
First, let me address some of the early confusion surrounding mask use and how official recommendations have been updated as more information has become available. In the early days of the pandemic, some official health organizations were not recommending the use of masks. This recommendation, ultimately, stemmed from a lack of information as to how effective masks would be for the general population to combat virus transmission. It was also born out of a desire to ensure frontline medical personnel had access to masks in order to allow them to continue treating patients while minimizing their risk of falling ill.
We now know much more about how this virus spreads, and new recommendations have emerged from health organizations emphasizing the importance of masks in slowing this pandemic. Masks are now required in many public areas and are considered an important part of a cohesive public health strategy alongside other measures such as handwashing and social distancing. Do not be confused by the shift in guidelines as information emerged, health organizations around the world are now in agreement that wearing masks can help slow the spread of Covid-19 and can, therefore, help to save lives.
Mask types
At this point, many people have heard of N95 masks. These masks are recommended for medical workers directly interacting with infected patients. This is because N95 masks are designed to filter out both large and small particles, making them adept at handling filtration in situations where there may be a high concentration of viral particles in the environment. As the name might imply, such masks are designed to filter out 95% of particulates. Some N95 masks are manufactured with a valve that allows unfiltered air to escape the mask upon exhalation. These masks are not considered appropriate by many organizations for slowing the spread of Covid-19 since they do not protect others from an infected individual wearing such a mask.
In most cases, the types of masks recommended for general usage are cloth coverings or face masks made from cloth or similar materials. These masks can be handmade or purchased from retailers, however, they must possess a few characteristics to be considered appropriate for usage to slow virus transmission. Masks must cover both the user’s face and mouth and must be fitted to conform closely to the user’s face. An ill-fitting mask can allow air transmission around its sides, allowing unfiltered air to pass into the environment, defeating the purpose of the device. Correct fit can be achieved through properly tightened straps and a well-tailored mask shape.
How masks work
In the case of Covid-19, one of the primary means of virus transmission is through the air. This type of transmission occurs when viral particles are exhaled by an infected individual and become airborne. Viral particles that are then inhaled by another individual can cause the second person to contract the illness. This process can occur even if the first individual is not showing symptoms. Indeed, some studies have indicated that viral load is highest in a person the day before they show symptoms.
While viral particles are smaller than the holes in a cloth mask, these masks are still effective for helping to stop the spread of the virus. Why’s that? It’s because one of the primary ways that viral particles end up in the air is through exhaled saliva droplets. These droplets, if unimpeded, travel into the air containing a high load of viral particles. When these droplets evaporate, the viral particles are then suspended in the air. A cloth mask can block these droplets as they’re exhaled, keeping them from evaporating into the air and protecting other individuals from inhaling viral particles.
Masks and social distancing
Masks can be especially effective when combined with other practices such as social distancing. As noted above, masks can help stop droplets containing the virus from entering the air and evaporating. They can also help to minimize the distance that such an exhalation might cover. When an unmasked individual exhales, especially a cough, their concentrated breath can carry quite far — upwards of 30 feet by some estimations. The breath of a masked individual, by contrast, is contained to a much smaller area — several inches to 3 feet 7 inches depending on the material the mask is made of. This was recently published in the Journal of Physics and Fluids.
From this information, it is plain to see the sense in social distancing recommendations, which advocate that people stand 6 feet apart from each other. When practiced along with proper mask usage, such guidelines can help to drastically reduce the spread of the virus. Other guidelines such as proper hand washing and stay at home recommendations can also aid in this fight. These guidelines are important whether or not you are showing symptoms since that is no guarantee that you are not a carrier.
The impact of Covid-19 has been felt extensively across the world. In order to slow the spread of this disease, and in the process save lives, we must all take certain precautions recommended by health organizations at many different levels. One important component of this ongoing battle is the need to wear masks when in public. As we’ve seen above, proper mask usage can help to slow the transmission of viral particles into the air and, thus, help to reduce the chances of individuals becoming infected. Wear masks in public, practice social distancing, wash your hands frequently, and limit exposure to others. With these guidelines, we can all do our part to weather this storm together.
More information on Alddo Molinar on Blogwebpedia | https://medium.com/@alddomolinar/why-masks-are-important-md-alddo-molinar-5ac0706d7401 | ['Alddo Molinar'] | 2020-08-07 21:25:38.786000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Covid 19', 'Healthcare', 'Pandemic', 'Medical'] |
An Accidental Atheist | An Accidental Atheist
Atheism is a default, not a practice.
Photo credit: iStock
By Christopher White
I have a feeling I was an atheist long before I could ever say why. In fact, I likely emerged from the womb an inchoate atheist. The budding field of neurotheology suggests that the spiritual and religious faculties are in our genes and are expressed, or not expressed, throughout one’s lifetime. Mathew Alper, the author of The God Part of the Brain, likens these distinct yet related faculties to, say, musical ability and offers the analogy of tone-deafness to describe the relatively few folks who, like me, are unable (not just unwilling) to join the heavenly chorus.
But the question before me is Why I became an atheist? It’s the kind of question not ordinarily asked of one’s genes; it’s a question put to brains.
The first time my brain began to have conscious atheistic thoughts (in other words, to formulate ad hoc reasons for how it was made in the first place) was when I was in the fifth grade.
Somewhere in the curriculum of that year, I was first exposed to the mythologies of people in various places at various times. Predictably, Greek mythology figured prominently in the primer.
After a week of comparative mythology, teacher and students moved on to whatever was next in the lesson plan. I did not. How could we just abandon Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite and the rest? For that matter, how had the Ancient Greeks and all who had passed between them and the America of my youth just abandoned them? They were gods, after all, once worshipped, feared and prayed to. It would be like abandoning, well, God. Then it clicked. Zeus, Apollo, and God (the Father, the Son or Holy Spirit, it doesn’t matter which) had one very important thing in common: they were or are all mythological characters belonging to the dominant morality narrative of their age. And one day the Judeo Christian God might be dismissed as easily as Zeus and all the rest. Hundreds of years from now, the very Creator of the universe might be nothing more than a quaint relic of human history, hardly amusing enough to hold the attention of a classroom of ten-year-olds.
And just like that, I graduated from debunking Santa Claus (who had hitherto borne the brunt of my skeptical fervor) to debunking God, who I soon came to regard as a kind of Santa Claus for adults. As you can imagine, I was not a popular child. And the 43 years that have followed have been scarcely less challenging, for few ideological identifiers are so misunderstood and alienating as atheist.
It’s one thing to take a stand as a pre-teen. And it’s quite another to stick with it throughout adulthood and into middle age. Surely my atheism would require more rigorous defenses as interventions to save my young soul came thick and fast and from all quarters. I became a great consumer of science books. From them, I learned what Napoleon had learned when he asked of the brightest scientist in France, Pierre-Simon Laplace, where God was in the prodigy’s works. Laplace, you may remember, answered famously, “I had no need of that hypothesis.” In college, I took philosophy courses, especially any which included the word religion in their course description. I learned how to deconstruct every classical “proof” of God’s existence and to expose every Christian apology as the work of special pleading. I might have cut a fine, albeit nerdy, figure on the debate circuit, but mostly I deigned to take apart well-meaning but poorly prepared proselytizers who accosted me on the bus or on my porch step, amped up, as they were, on missionary zeal. I never went looking for a fight, but I was glad to take on all comers when they came.
It was at this time that I began to style myself a scientific atheist, mostly in order to distance myself from charges that I was just angry with God, or worse yet, in league with Satan, another supernatural being in whom I had no belief at all. In fact, I discovered somewhere in those years that I had zero belief in any supernatural being of any kind. This extended to supernatural phenomena as well. I believed in the three dimensions of space, and the fourth dimension of time. Full stop. Some have suggested that when I relate my way of taking the world, I come across to them as one who is missing a sense, the sense of spiritual discernment or awareness. If I am, I would have no way of knowing it, for I never had it to lose.
It has been said that there are no atheists in a foxhole. Strictly speaking, very few atheists are ever able to test the proposition. Figuratively speaking, life is pitted with foxholes in which all of us will spend hours, days, and even years in fear and trembling. For some, the better part of life is, as Buddhism reminds us, suffering. For my own part, many have been the day when I wished I were anything but an atheist. In trying times, how I’ve envied the comfort that Christian friends have found in their belief and generously recommended to me. “Just ask God into your heart,” they implored, sincerely failing to realize that for me there was just nobody there to ask into my heart. Nobody there to love. Nobody there to hate. Just a void blacker and emptier than the vacuum of space. A null set. To the devout, as far as I’m able to gather, the notion of there being nobody there is so alien and so repugnant they shudder to think of it. I have even had some friends go so far as to suggest that one like me ought to employ the fake it till you make it approach to conversion. They might as well have asked me to fake having blue eyes rather than brown. No amount of self-deception can alter the genetic expression of the pigment of my irises or the muted condition of my spiritual and religious faculties.
Over the years I have found a multitude of reasons to believe that it is either perfectly acceptable or even preferable to be an atheist. For instance, I have felt that it is noble to live a genuine life free from the feeling of being cowed (or frightened) into accepting spiritual and religious claims on insufficient evidence and specious arguments. Likewise, I have been under no pains to follow those dictates of the Bible, a book written over a millennium and a half ago, that translate poorly to modern life and give license to xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, etc. I have found bracing the sober realization that the world as we find it makes better sense and contains fewer contradictions when viewed as a life-spawning ball of rock under the disinterested sway of physics, geology, and natural selection, without reference to our conceptions of fairness, goodness, and purpose. One of the best things about atheism is that it eliminates all need of awkwardly squaring the evil circle with such sayings as, “God works in mysterious ways,” “God has a plan,” and, “God’s ways are not our ways.” Where there is no God there is no need to explain away His seeming malfeasances.
As much as I have found good reasons for being an atheist, I can admit to having sometimes lamented missing out on what I consider to be valuable coping tools (spirituality and religion) that have established themselves universally for the survival advantage they necessarily confer to both individuals and to societies in which those individuals aggregate. I may not believe in God. But I have at times been tempted to believe in belief in God as a time-tested psychosocial phenomenon with demonstrable utility. Of course, for me, none of this points to the necessity or goodness of God, but rather to the tremendous power of an idea such as Christianity. But unlike Christian atheists (who follow Christ as a moral teacher but do not subscribe to his divinity), I am not hopeful that a Christian ethical system can thrive in the world when released from its supernatural moorings. For most Christians, having the weight of God behind its moral proscriptions is paramount. And so I remain simply a scientific atheist, recognizing the potential for moral progress in the work of both the hard and the soft sciences toward the relief of suffering in the world.
I can’t speak for every atheist, but for me, atheism is not something I am actively formulating or doing. In other words, I do not practice atheism. Atheism is my default when I am being honest with myself and with the world. I did not become an atheist (if I did, it was when my genotype was formed). Rather, I came to accept the atheism with which I was born because it was the honest thing to do.
—
The story was previously published on The Good Men Project. | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/an-accidental-atheist-289c964752cc | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-08-17 12:46:01.293000+00:00 | ['Atheism', 'Life Lessons', 'Intentional Living', 'Ethics', 'Religion'] |
What we developed: Whosewallet — Double check your wallet | The ability of Blockchain to make its users stay anonymous has been widely praised as a great advantage of this technology. But, it is not always great because:
A wallet is not 100% anonymous, it is pseudo-anonymous. Though you might not be able to trace the person behind an address, there are companies that you can hire to do this and the government definitely can.
There are always ways around it, for example you would be able to know that a particular public BTC address belongs to someone particular from whom you might have received BTC in past.
And the most important thing: What if We don’t even need that anonymity? Why do we have to stay anonymous and what is anonymity for?
Scammers are here and there, creating anonymous addresses, taking away people’s property and disappearing without any traces or responsibility. Is this what anonymity for? Your customers and partners are being incredulous and reluctant to send coin to your address, they are doubting: “is this address yours?”. Is this what anonymity for? And even you as a customer doubtfully send coin to an address with the fear of being scammed. This is definitely not what anonymity is for.
So don’t stay anonymous anymore, let’s claim your address on WHOSEWALLET.
What is whosewallet
Whosewallet is a wallet recognition system where you can verify your wallet as well as check who’s the owner of the unspeakable number/alphabet wallet address (public key).
Make your wallet identified to your customers by registering and verifying
Give your customers trust and peace in mind when making transaction to your address.
Prove your organization/company as an authenticated one
Level up the reliability of your organization, attract more customers
Trace the owner’s name (or nickname) behind an wallet address by inputting it in Whosewallet
Find a wallet address owner, track who’s who in the world of crytocurrency with a powerful wallet recognition system
Check a wallet balance and recent transaction
How to Verify Your Address
Create a CAN Account
Whosewallet is a Dapp of CAN — a variant mainet base EOS and a blockchain platform for community. To start verifying your address, you must have a CAN account.
Click here to register. It’ll take just one minute.
Register your wallet
Click here to add your address and your information for verifying.
Double check your wallet
You can check your wallet again by access to Whosewallet homepage, inputting your wallet address in the box. Your account name and transaction will be displayed shortly.
Also, you can check the wallet address of other individuals and organizations with the similar operation. | https://medium.com/leclevietnam/what-we-developed-whosewallet-double-check-your-wallet-14eb3f847a78 | ['Hadu Đặng'] | 2018-10-29 07:21:15.162000+00:00 | ['Lecle Project', 'Eos Dapp', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Whosewallet'] |
Kafka Test Containers with GoLang | We take care to develop applications according to the test-driven development approach in Trendyol. There may also be a need for integration or end-to-end tests to make sure that more than one unit can work together. These enable us to make deployment in the production environment more secure.
In an incident we had a few months ago, it took us quite a while to understand where the error was due to a configuration we forgot to do. We understood the importance of integration testing much more there. In this article, I will talk about test containers that is one of the basic needs in integration test processes. | https://medium.com/trendyol-tech/kafka-test-containers-with-golang-b85e4b2469db | ['Onur Süme'] | 2020-12-21 13:27:49.038000+00:00 | ['Platform', 'Testcontainer', 'Golang', 'Kafka'] |
Importance of Having a Portfolio and How to Create One! | What Is A Portfolio?
A portfolio is an exhibition of revealing what you decide to write on your resume and talk about in an interview. It works on the “show and not just tell” policy, which promotes your expertise to speak for itself.
And when you are in a creative field, it is a must! However, no matter what profession you might be in today’s time, it’s always a great idea to have a portfolio.
What’s Inside A Portfolio?
A portfolio helps your potential employer/client/prospect decide if you are the right person for the job or not. Your portfolio needs to have a detailed introduction of who you are, what are your skills, and what services you can offer. It is exactly like a folder of all your original work, referrals, certificates or diplomas, and even feedback and testimonials. It backs you up with proof of great prior exposure and increases the chances of attracting quality work your way.
What Are The Professions That Demand Portfolios?
A portfolio is a great marketing tool that can help you land your dream job! So if you happen to be in any of these below-mentioned specializations, it’s only your portfolio that can make a deal or simply break it!
- Graphic Designing
— UI/UX Designing
— Animations and VFX
— Video Editing
— Content Writing
— Copywriting
— Architecture
— Modelling
— Make-up Artist
— Art
— Photography
— Coder/Programmer
— Cooking/Baking
Wh at Is The Importance Of Having A Portfolio?
Remember, a portfolio is an extension to your resume or CV which means it isn’t a replacement of those documents. A CV/resume and a cover letter are as crucial as your professional portfolio.
But a portfolio helps showcase your skills in real-time. It instantly proves as evidence of the work you have previously done and the clients you have worked with. It not only is to impress your clients but it helps you keep a track of your achievements. You can keep adding your accomplishments into the folder and make it look more appealing.
How To Create A Portfolio?
It does not matter if you wish to have a physical portfolio or an online portfolio. However, in the era of digitization when everything is easily accessible and digital, it’s always better to have an online presence out there.
It not only makes it transparent for others to have a look at your work instantly at the click of a button. You also do not have to worry about carrying a physical portfolio everytime you appear for an interview.
And to get started there are a lot of websites that provide great free templates for portfolios. These are extremely user friendly and highly customizable. You can choose every major and minor element as per your likes. To name a few we have- wordpress.com, wix.com, canva.com, weebly.com which offers a variety of options to choose from.
Now let’s look at three simple steps to creating your very first professional portfolio!
Step-1: Create A Folder
Have a folder ready on your laptop with all the necessary content you need your portfolio to consist of. It can be your resume/cv, logo, testimonials, samples of your work, about me write-up, contact details, etc. This exercise can be helpful because once you actually get started with building your portfolio, you can have access to all these documents without wasting much time looking for them.
Step-2: Select A Uniform Design
While creating your portfolio make sure the user experience remains uniform throughout. Follow the same colour palettes, text, fonts to make it look related and connected. Keep the consistency alive. If you wish to use a picture of your own as a logo, make sure it’s professional enough. Also, stick to the same picture for a long time as it’s equivalent to a logo of a brand which cannot be changed often.
Step-3: Finalize Everything
Try making your own gifs, posters, and every piece of content that goes in the document. It will reflect your authenticity and will give the clients the confidence to work with you. Go hit that upload button when you place the elements exactly where it belongs!
So there you go, now you have a purpose and the steps to finally have a professional portfolio in place.
Don’t delay it further, go ahead and get started!
Also, do sign up at www.fuzia.com to read more such career-oriented articles! | https://medium.com/@pr-26909/importance-of-having-a-portfolio-and-how-to-create-one-b81fbb07916f | [] | 2020-12-15 11:30:55.200000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Career Advice', 'Portfolio Management', 'Portfolio', 'Career Development'] |
javascript part 3 | Twenty different string methods and some bracket notation.
Lets get bracket notation out of the way and then TWENTY diff string methods.
bracket notation:
We use bracket notation to get a certain character within a string.
Side note javascript doesn't start counting at “1”. It starts at “0,”. which is represented as zero-based indexing.
Here we are setting the variable to firstName and giving it a value of “jonathan.” Now we are using the 0 indexes to get the “j” letter out of the string.
Think it of like this j=0, o=1, n=2, a=3, t=4, h=5, a=6, n=7.
It's also explained below, we could have kept going, but you get the point.
In this bottom example, I showed how to grab things from the end of the array “firstName” dot length — 1.
which is saying I want the length of the string minus the last one or the second or the third and so on. (All you need to know is that this is how you get the last character of the string)
We can not change the individual letter to something else, like the example below. I try to change the “j” to a “b”. But you can easily set the entire value of “firstName” to something totally different. Which I show you in the “variable” section of this whole series.
Now 20 DIFFERENT STRING METHODS!!!!!:
(Some of these might be self-explanatory. But what comes easy for some, isn’t easy for others. Some of these are also used in regex ← highly recommend learning this, it's easy to learn)…
charAt() = This allows you to get any character from a string from certain indexes.
2. charCodeAt() = This returns the Unicode from that particular string (I never used this, but I thought I mention it).
3. concat() =This brings two strings and joins them together. (if you notice there is no space between the two strings, where dance and wee come together. That's because we have no spaces in the strings on either side.)
4.endsWith() = This checks whether a string ends with a specific character and then returns true or false if that specific value is actually at the end. (Make sure to add the parentheses, or it will through an error.)
5. fromCharCode() = This turns Unicode to a single character( which once again, I have never used this one ever!!)
6. includes() = This checks if a certain character is inside the string phrase, which returns true or false if the string does indeed have that character.
7. indexOf() = Returns the position of the first found occurrence of a specific value in a string. Which means it only returns the value of the first thing it finds(so if you have multiple things you want to find, it will return the first ONLY.)
8. lastIndexOf() = It is similar to above, but it returns the last occurrence in a string. If you see even though I put “like,” it returned 11 instead of 3 since it looked for the value we asked for in the string at the end or last.
9. match() = This checks strings to see if there are any matches to the regular expression (regex). that's if you are using regex, it will look at the regular expression and then see if it's inside the string, returning an array of what you looked for.
10. repeat() = Repeat will repeat your string however many times you tell it to repeat. Takes in number argument, We put in 4, so it repeated the phrase four times.
11. replace() = This replaces any regular expression(regex) we search for. then replaces it for another word of our choice. So I will change “we” to “animals.”
12. search() = Search will look for a regular expression(regex) or specified value and return the value index. We put in “cook,” and we got back 10, so now if you count from the front (starting at 0), you would see “cook” starting at index 10
13. slice() = Slice will extract a part of a string and return a new string. The first number we use is where it will start, and the second is where it will end (but will not grab that index you stopped on). Let me explain this one a bit, so if you count the variable “stringOne,” you would start the count at 2 which is which lands you on “L.” then you would have to count to 6 to get all of “love” because if we didn't stop it at 5, we would get “lov” because it stops before the last number you put in.
14. split() = Will split a string into an ARRAY of substrings. When you call on the split method, you pass in how you want to split by (I choose for every empty space).
15. startsWith() = This will return true or false if the value you pass into it, does actually start with that character. We got “true” because “stringTwo” does start with “we”. Then we put “frank”, clearly, we got “false” because it does not start with frank.
16. substr() = It is like slice, but the first number you pass in is still where you start. The second number Is how many characters you want back. If you look at the example you will see that we started with two from the beginning of the string. Then it returned seven characters from there.
17. substring() = This is exactly like slice, the first argument is where we start and the second argument is where we end. (look at the slice for more details ;)
18. toLowerCase() = Will make all the letters in your string to lower case.
19. toUpperCase() = Will make all the letters in your string to upper case.
20. trim() = Lastly trim will remove whitespace from either side of your string.
There you have twenty methods for strings, bracket notation, and possibly all for beginners. Thank you for reading and talk to you soon.
check out some more….
Javascript 1 (link to: variables and data types)
Javascript 2 (link to: numbers and strings)
Javascript 3 (link to: bracket notation and 20 diff string methods)
Javascript 4 (link to: functions and how they work)
Javascript 5 (link to: hoisting, comparison operators, and if-else statements)
Javascript 6 (link to: diff. Equal signs, null, and undefined)
Javascript 7 (link to: logical operator, &&, || and ternary operators)
Javascript 8 (link to: switch statements and arrays)
Javascript 9 (link to: commonly used arrays in javascript)
Javascript 10 (link to: Math. And parseInt Usage) | https://medium.com/@jonbleibdrey/javascript-part-3-135cc6b8d5f | ['Jonathan Bleibdrey'] | 2021-02-16 18:07:24.788000+00:00 | ['Strings', 'String Methods', 'JavaScript', 'Learning To Code', 'Coding'] |
Polystyrene cups: way off base | Polystyrene cups: way off base
Something you should think about as you enjoy your ice cold drink at the stadium.
Courtesy Marc Falardeau, Creative Commons 2.0
It’s baseball season and MLB fans are flocking to the stadium to cheer on their favorite team. If you’re one of them, along with your peanuts and Cracker Jacks, you’ll probably wash down your salty snack with a lemonade or soda. The sugar content in those drinks is as absurdly high as the price, but you don’t think about it, because these are ballgame essentials.
But there is something you should think about as you enjoy your ice cold drink at the stadium: the convenient cup you’re holding it in.
It’s likely that your beverage comes in a plastic or foam cup. When you finish your drink, you’ll find the nearest trash can and toss it. But that’s not the end of this cup’s life cycle.
One of the most commonly-used plastics is polystyrene, better known as styrofoam, though that’s a brand name. It’s in cups, straws, containers and other single-use products.
According to an EPA blog post, the amount of polystyrene that Americans use would circle Earth 426 times every year. What’s more, polystyrene is not biodegradable, meaning it does not break down over time. Instead, polystyrene breaks up into smaller and smaller “microplastic” pieces. These microplastics eventually make their way into our rivers, lakes and oceans, which then endanger wildlife and human health.
Some of the chemical additives that make polystyrene flexible pose serious risks to the human body. These chemicals disrupt and harm our endocrine systems, which control hormones and affect human development, metabolism and even behavior. These endocrine disruptors can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, hormonal imbalances and other developmental disorders.
Maybe the worst aspect of polystyrenes is that they may take hundreds of years to decompose. Since polystyrene has only been around since the 1960s, this is only a best estimate based on observations in labs. Others predict that these microplastics will never disappear. Ninety percent of floating trash in our oceans is composed of polystyrene and other non-biodegradable plastics. This has created “plastic islands” — the largest one, located in the Pacific Ocean, is roughly twice the size of Texas. Other plastic particles will pollute rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
It’s eye-opening to think that the cup you drank from at your very first baseball game is still around today, living in some landfill or contaminating our oceans. It’s even more mind-boggling that the cup you come across this season will outlive you, your kids and your grandkids.
Until we begin taking plastics seriously, by pushing for bans on polystyrenes and other plastic products, this is our reality and our legacy. | https://medium.com/the-public-interest-network/its-baseball-season-and-mlb-fans-are-flocking-to-the-stadium-to-cheer-on-their-favorite-team-fdab444ca99c | ['Rachel Ledon'] | 2018-05-29 22:20:29.614000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Drinks', 'Plastic Pollution', 'Baseball', 'Clean Water'] |
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Former NSA Official Questions the Intelligence Community’s Assessment on the DNC Hack | Bill Binney, former National Security Agency (NSA) Technical Director, became a well-known NSA whistleblower after the September 11th terrorist attack. Binney alleged that the NSA “buried key intelligence that could have prevented 9/11” and that “electronic intelligence gathering is being used for covert law enforcement, political control and industrial espionage.” During Binney’s tenure with the NSA, he was a Russia specialist and his expertise spans intelligence analysis, traffic analysis, systems analysis, etc. According to The Intercept, Binney ultimately resigned from the NSA over a dispute about the use of an expensive tool from a powerful defense company rather than an in-house project. In recent years, he has been a prominent skeptic of the narrative that the 2016 Trump Campaign unlawfully collaborated with Russia to interfere into the election by coordinating the release of confidential DNC emails.
Wikileaks Receives and Publishes the DNC Emails
The core allegation of Russiagate is that Russian state-affiliated hackers conducted a cyberintrusion into the DNC’s servers, provided the compromised emails to Wikileaks for publication during the 2016 election cycle, and did all of this in order to benefit the Trump Campaign. Upon discovering the cyber-intrusion into the DNC’s servers, Perkins Coie, the DNC’s counsel, retained the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike to conduct an assessment. To the public’s knowledge, no government agency has looked at the DNC’s servers. In fact, the DNC “did not allow the FBI to physically inspect its machines, including servers,” according to Rowan Scarborough. The DNC’s refusal to accept assistance from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security prompted numerous questions.
Among those questions was whether or not the DNC was intentionally hiding their information from government investigators. Additionally, Crowdstrike’s connections to former FBI officials close to former FBI Director Robert Mueller raised possible conflicts of interest. Crowdstrike’s CEO Shawn Henry was in charge of the FBI’s cyber division under former Director Mueller.
From a surface level, the DNC’s refusal to give the FBI access to its servers raised serious eyebrows. Given the unprecedented nature of the allegation against the Trump Campaign, one would expect the FBI to follow best practices and “get access to the machines themselves,” as former FBI Director James Comey told Congressman Will Hurd before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
United States government intelligence reporting alleges that Russian state-affiliated hackers conducted a cyberintrusion and leaked the stolen data to Wikileaks. A summary of a U.S. intelligence community reports states that Russia’s President ordered “an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election.” Among Russia’s goals was to “undermine faith in the US democratic process,” as well as demonstrating a clear preference for Trump. It is clear that Russia’s efforts to sow chaos succeeded as both political parties continue to discuss the 2016 election.
Problematically, the Intelligence Community’s assessment provided only “the uncorroborated assertion of intelligence officials to go.” Even The New York Times’s Scott Shane wrote of the Intelligence Community’s assessment, “What is missing from the public report is…hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack…. Instead, the message from the agencies essentially amounts to ‘trust us.’”
The broader topic of Russian interference continues to fester in the media as Attorney General Bill Barr and United States Attorney John Durham investigate the origins of the Russia investigation. Independent thinkers like Bill Binney and the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) continue to question conventional knowledge by providing various possibilities.
Throughout the past few years, Binney has been featured on Fox News and on other networks outlining his analysis. In a recent interview he discussed the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). For the sake of clarity, his argument is broken down into multiple points.
Point 1
Binney’s team analyzed Wikileaks’ data to determine how they received that information. Whomever provided the emails to Wikileaks did so in three batches, all of which “had a last modified time that was rounded off [rounded up] to an even [the next-higher] second, so they all ended up in even [meaning complete or full, not fractional] seconds.” Data files can be modified using File Allocation Table (FAT). FAT is a process whereby “when doing a batch process of data and transferring it to a storage device like a thumb drive or a CD-ROM, it rounds off the last modified time to the nearest even [next-higher] second, so that’s exactly the property we found in all that data posted by Wikileaks.”
Here, Binney’s contention is that the data from the DNC was “downloaded to a storage device a CD-ROM or a thumb drive and physically transported before Wikileaks could post it, so that meant it was not a hack.” This may indicate that the DNC data was likely downloaded and physically transported to Wikileaks rather than a cyberintrusion.
Point 2
Binney and his team of analysts then tested the data transfer speeds using information contained in the DNC Wikileaks files, including file names, numbers of characters in the file, and a timestamp at the end of the file. With this information, his team used a program to calculate the transfer rate of all the data. To calculate the transfer rate, Binney contends, “all you have to do is look at between the two time stamps, the file name and the number of characters in the file, and take the difference between the times [start-time versus end-time], and that’s the transfer rate for that number of characters, so we found that the variations ran from something like 19 to 49.1 megabytes per second.” 19 to 49.1 megabytes per second is roughly 19 to 49 million characters per second; however, the Internet cannot support that rate of transfer “not for anybody who’s just…a hacker coming in across the net.” Binney’s team tested the Internet’s transfer speeds and the highest rate they achieved was “one-fourth the rate, little less than one-fourth the rate necessary to do the transfer at the highest rate that we saw in the Guccifer 2 data, which meant it didn’t go across the net, so, in fact, the file rate transfers couldn’t.”
Point 3
Binney’s team also found evidence that potentially points to Guccifer 2 manipulating the data files with Russian signatures saying the Russians did this. “If you go back to the Vault 7 release from Wikileaks again, from CIA, and you look, they have this Marble framework program that will modify files to look like someone else did the hack, and who were the countries that they had the ability to do that [to], in the in the Marble framework program? Well, one was Russia, the other was China,” said Binney. Combine this possible data tampering with the circumstantial evidence and it led Binney’s team to conclude that all signs point back to the CIA.
Point 4
All of this circumstantial evidence further aligns with Crowdstrike’s assessment of the DNC server. Crowdstrike is the cybersecurity investigator who conducted an investigation on behalf of the DNC. Crowdstrike’s CEO Shawn Henry testified before Congress: “We have indicators that data was exfiltrated. We did not have concrete evidence that data was exfiltrated from the DNC, but we have indicators that it was exfiltrated.” Henry additionally testified “there are times when we can see data exfiltrated, and we can say conclusively. But in this case it appears it was set up to be exfiltrated, but we just don’t have the evidence that says it actually left.”
Conclusion
Binney and his team’s memo should ring alarm bells for civil libertarians, journalists, conservatives, and officials in the Trump Administration. This memo may eventually be found to be without merit; however, it does raise the broader question of why federal agencies never (to our knowledge) required the DNC to provide its servers and as to why there has been little independent investigation into the actual information released by Wikileaks. Our republic is best served when the press acts as a watchdog on government. As The Nation’s Patrick Lawrence writes, “we are urged to accept the word of institutions and senior officials with long records of deception.”
We will eventually be presented more evidence given how much scrutiny the current Department of Justice has focused on the origins of the Russia investigation. If Binney and team’s theory has even a scintilla of truth to it, then we may be looking into the scandal of generation. The possibility of the Central Intelligence Agency interfering into the electoral process on behalf of the incumbent president’s political party is no laughing matter. As United States Attorney John Durham and his investigators interview former CIA Director John Brennan and inevitably reach a final conclusion, we should be prepared to question our prior assumptions. | https://medium.com/discourse/former-nsa-official-questions-the-intelligence-communitys-assessment-on-the-democratic-national-b7e29017030d | ['Mitchell Nemeth'] | 2020-08-26 19:09:34.536000+00:00 | ['Network Security', 'Politics', 'Intelligence', 'Computer Science', 'Technology'] |
Decision Tree Regression and Classification in Machine Learning | What is Decision Tree?
Decision Tree is used to solve Regression and classification problems via Tree based methods using Root nodes,edges, decision node and leaf with different technicques for a given data set.
Decision Tree algoritham is one of the most important algoritham in machine learning which can be used in ensamble technicque especially bagging and boosting technicques.
How Decision Tree will be formed to predict the output?
The following technicques will be used When the data set is given to identify the output of a given Regression or classification problem.
1.Entropy
2.Information gain
3.Gini impurity or Gini Index.
To form a tree the below form of tree will be used
1.Root Node
2.Edge
3.Decision Node
4.Leaf
The below pictorial representaion will explain in simple way to understand the structure of Decision Tree model.
Lets start with a example in order to understand how Decison Tree Model will work to predict ouput of given data set.
I will use the famous example given to students in most of the websites to understand easily. To begin with example, Let me start with what is entropy.
Entropy: Entropy is the first step of identify the purity of data set. Entropy is some what complex logic to identify the purity of the data set because this
ID3 algoritham would use log function to predict the purity of data set.
Data set is pure and Decision Tree is perfect when entropy value is 0 where as Data set is impure and identified Decision tree is invalid.
The below given formula is used to identify Entropy.
Information Gain: Information gain is also used to form a best Decision Tree model along with the Entropy. Information Gain will use entropy
values to find best fit of the Decisoon Tree with reduced entropy values. The below formula and examples would be used to identify the Best deceion node.
Step 1: Calculate entropy of the target.
Step 2: The dataset is then split on the different attributes. The entropy for each branch is calculated. Then it is added proportionally, to get total entropy for the split. The resulting entropy is subtracted from the entropy before the split. The result is the Information Gain, or decrease in entropy.
Step 3: Choose attribute with the largest information gain as the decision node, divide the dataset by its branches and repeat the same process on every branch.
Step 4a: A branch with entropy of 0 is a leaf node.
Step 4b: A branch with entropy more than 0 needs further splitting.
Step 5: The ID3 algorithm is run recursively on the non-leaf branches, until all data is classified.
Gini Impurity: Gini impurity is similar to Entropy.Formula is different to identfy the correct nodes. Gini impurity is better than Entropy because the computational speed is very high. | https://medium.com/@jiyaudeenmeerasa/decision-tree-regression-and-classification-in-machine-learning-4bbcdc10c6b7 | [] | 2021-09-03 17:30:04.298000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Decision Tree', 'Machine Learning Python'] |
Writeup to the Decompetition capture the flag (2020) | dem challenges
I don’t want to discuss all the challenges that I solved, but I do want to discuss some of them and the strategies that I used to work out their solutions.
prime
The first challenge that I want to discuss is the prime binary. Like the name suggests, this little programme generates prime numbers under some number n . There are a number of algorithms to compute prime numbers, with the Sieve of Eratosthenes being the most common one:
# From the Wikipedia entry on the Sieve of Eratosthenes ( 29 Oct., 2020 revision ), note that this algorithm might not be exactly how it's implemented in the prime binary in Decompetition. algorithm Sieve of Eratosthenes is
input: an integer n > 1.
output: all prime numbers from 2 through n.
let A be an array of Boolean values, indexed by integers 2 to n,
initially all set to true.
for i = 2, 3, 4, ..., not exceeding √n do
if A[i] is true
for j = i2, i2+i, i2+2i, i2+3i, ..., not exceeding n do
A[j] := false
return all i such that A[i] is true.
When reversing binaries written in the C or C++ language, I simply used Ghidra’s decompiler. It makes it a lot easier to rewrite the original binary; all I have to do is tweak the output so that it makes sense in context of compilation:
fabulous
Or, when a maths background can be helpful…
Unfortunately, my technique of using Ghidra’s decompiler to work out an approximation for source code didn’t fly with Go or the other languages. I suppose their compilers generate different disassembly patterns that confused Ghidra’s decompiler, so I had to be a little creative.
I took a black-box approach to rewriting the fabulous binary. I ran it without any arguments and got this output:
$ ./fabulous
panic: runtime error: index out of range [1] with length 1 goroutine 1 [running]:
main.main()
/mnt/go/fibl/fibl.go:13 +0x247
Okay, it looks like it needs an argument. Let’s see what happens when I input a 1 :
$ ./fabulous 1
1
Interesting. Now, let’s try a range of numbers for fabulous :
$ for x in range {1..10}; do ./fabulous $x | tr '\r
' ' '; done
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89
Now this is where having a maths background can prove to be helpful. I immediately noticed that this is a Fibonacci sequence, and whipped up a Golang implementation:
baby-go
Or, when a coding background can be helpful…
As with fabulous , I took a black-box approach to reverse engineering baby-go . I started by running it without any arguments:
$ ./baby-go
panic: runtime error: index out of range [1] with length 1 goroutine 1 [running]:
main.main()
/mnt/go/fizzbuzz/interview.go:12 +0x275
Okay, now let’s introduce an argument:
$ ./baby-go 1
1
Now let’s probe the function and see if we can work out a pattern:
$ for x in range {1..50}; do ./baby-go $x | tr ‘\r
’ ‘ ‘; done
Green 1 2 Yellow 4 Blue Yellow 7 8 Yellow Blue 11 Yellow 13 14 Green 16 17 Yellow 19 Blue Yellow 22 23 Yellow Blue 26 Yellow 28 29 Green 31 32 Yellow 34 Blue Yellow 37 38 Yellow Blue 41 Yellow 43 44 Green 46 47 Yellow 49 Blue
Again, this is where the coding background can come in handy. I noticed that this is an implementation of the FizzBuzz challenge used as a litmus test to weed out lousy programmers, and immediately was able to come up with an implementation: | https://medium.com/bugbountywriteup/writeup-to-the-decompetition-capture-the-flag-2020-3a3f14887525 | [] | 2020-11-17 21:03:12.528000+00:00 | ['Hacking', 'Reverse Engineering', 'Ctf', 'Go', 'Cybersecurity'] |
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关宁（雷佳音 饰）为了寻找失踪女儿的下落，接受了屠灵（杨幂 饰）委派的任务 — — 刺杀小说家（董子健 饰）。未曾想到的是，小说家笔下的世界，正在影响着现实世界中众人的命运。奇幻与现实的故事交错展开，又紧紧连在一起……
发布日期: 2021–02–12
运行时间: 0 分钟
类型: 剧情, 动作, 奇幻
明星: Lei Jiayin, Yang Mi, Dong Zijian, Yu Hewei, Tong Liya
导演: Ning Hao, Haiyan Qin, Lu Yang, Lu Yang, Chen Shu
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In 1889, on November 1 in Gotha, Germany Anna Therese Johanne Hoch, who later would be known as Hannah Hoch was born. Being the eldest of five children, the girl was brought up in a comfortable and quiet environment of the small town. Her parents, a supervisor in an insurance company and an amateur painter sent her to Girl’s High school. However, at the age of 15 Hannah had to quit studying for the long six years to take care of her newborn sister. Only in 1912 she continued her education with Harold Bengen in School of Applied Arts, mastering glass design. As the World War I broke up Hannah returned to the native town to work in the Red Cross.
The first years after war the young woman recommenced her studying, getting to know graphic arts. 1915 was highlighted by an acquaintance with an Austrian artist Raoul Hausmann, which grew into the long-lasting romantic relationship and involvement in Berlin Dada movement. For ten years till 1926 Hoch worked in Berlin’s major publisher of newspapers and magazines. Her task was to design embroidering, knitting and crocheting patterns for the booklets.
Being on vacation with her beloved in 1918, Hannah discovered ‘the principle of photomontage in cut-and-paste images that soldiers sent to their families’ (National gallery of Art). This find affected greatly on her artistic production, and she created mass-media photographs comprising the elements of photomontage and handwork patterns, thus combining traditional and modern culture. Her prior preoccupation was to represent the ‘new woman’ of the Weimar Republic with new social role and given freedoms.
Hoch was the only woman in Berlin Dada, who took part in all kinds of events and exhibitions showcasing her socially critical works of art. Till 1931 she participated in exhibitions but with the rise of National Social regime was forbidden to present her creative work. Till her last breath in 1978 Hannah Hoch lived and worked in the outskirts of Berlin-Heiligensee.
The piece of art which is going to be analyzed in this research is ‘The beautiful girl’ designed in 1919–1920. It combines the elements of technology and females. In the middle of the picture one can clearly see a woman dressed in a modern bathing suit with a light bulb on her head which probably serves as a sun umbrella. In the background a large advertisement with a woman’s hair-do on top is presented. Maud Lavin describes strange human as ‘she is part human, part machine, part commodity’ (Lavin). The woman is surrounded by the images of industrialization as tires, gears, signals and BMW logos. A woman’s profile with the cat eyes, untrusting and skeptical, in the upper right corner is eye-catching as well. This unusually large eye symbolizes DADA movement — a monocle, which is present in almost every Hoch’s work. The colour scheme does not offer rich palette of tints, including mostly black, white, orange and red pieces. The photo is surrounded by the BMW circles which add the spots of blue.
An apt description of the piece is given in the book ‘Cut with the Kitchen Knife’ and states that it is ‘a portrait of a modern woman defined by signs of femininity, technology, media and advertising’ (Lavin). In other words Hannah Hoch focused on the woman of the new age, free and keeping up with the fast-moving world. The artist promoted feministic ideas and from her point of view urbanization and modern technologies were meant to give hope to woman to gain equality of genders. With this photomontage she commented on how the woman was expected to combine the role of a wife and mother with the role of a worker in the industrialized world. The light bulb instead of a face shows that women were perceived as unthinking machines which do not question their position and can be turned on or off at any time at man’s will. But at the same time they were to remain attractive to satisfy men’s needs. The watch is viewed as the representation of how quickly women are to adapt to the changes.
In a nutshell, Hoch concentrated on two opposite visions of the modern woman: the one from the television screens — smoking, working, wearing sexy clothes, voting and the real one who remained being a housewife.
The beautiful girl’ is an example of the art within the DADA movement. An artistic and literal current began in 1916 as the reaction to World War I and spread throughout Northern America and Europe. Every single convention was challenged and bourgeois society was scandalized. The Dadaists stated that over-valuing conformity, classism and nationalism among modern cultures led to horrors of the World War I. In other words, they rejected logic and reason and turned to irrationality, chaos and nonsense. The first DADA international Fair was organized in Berlin in 1920 exposing a shocking discontentment with military and German nationalism (Dada. A five minute history).
Hannah Hoch was introduced to the world of DADA by Raoul Hausman who together with Kurt Schwitters, Piet Mondrian and Hans Richter was one of the influential artists in the movement. Hoch became the only German woman who referred to DADA. She managed to follow the general Dadaist aesthetic, but at the same time she surely and steadily incorporated a feminist philosophy. Her aim was to submit female equality within the canvass of other DADA’s conceptions.
Though Hannah Hoch officially was a member of the movement, she never became the true one, because men saw her only as ‘a charming and gifted amateur artist’ (Lavin). Hans Richter, an unofficial spokesperson shared his opinion about the only woman in their community in the following words: ‘the girl who produced sandwiches, beer and coffee on a limited budget’ forgetting that she was among the few members with stable income.
In spite of the gender oppressions, Hannah’s desire to convey her idea was never weakened. Difficulties only strengthened her and made her an outstanding artist. A note with these return words was found among her possessions: ‘None of these men were satisfied with just an ordinary woman. But neither were they included to abandon the (conventional) male/masculine morality toward the woman. Enlightened by Freud, in protest against the older generation. . . they all desired this ‘New Woman’ and her groundbreaking will to freedom. But — they more or less brutally rejected the notion that they, too, had to adopt new attitudes. . . This led to these truly Strinbergian dramas that typified the private lives of these men’ (Maloney).
Hoch’s technique was characterized by fusing male and female parts of the body or bodies of females from different epochs — a ‘traditional’ woman and ‘modern’, liberated and free of sexual stereotypes one. What’s more, combining male and female parts, the female ones were always more distinctive and vibrant, while the male ones took their place in the background. Hannah created unique works of art experimenting with paintings, collages, graphic and photography. Her women were made from bits and pieces from dolls, mannequins of brides or children as these members of the society were not considered as valuable.
Today Hannah Hoch is most associated with her famous photomontage ‘Cut with the kitchen knife DADA through the last Weimer Beer-Belly Cultural epoch of Germany’ (1919–1920). This piece of art highlights social confusion during the era of Weimar Republic, oppositionists and government radicals (Grabner). In spite of never being truly accepted by the rest of her society, this woman with a quiet voice managed to speak out loud her feministic message.
Looking at Hannah Hoch’s art for the first time I found it confusing, because couldn’t comprehend the meaning. It was quite obvious that every single piece and structure is a symbol of the era, its ideas and beliefs. However, after having learned about her life and constant endeavors to declare about female’s right, little by little I started to realize what’s what. As an object for research I chose ‘The beautiful girl’ as, to my mind, its theme and message intersects with the modern tendency: a successful, clever, beautiful and free woman has to become one in no time, cause the world is moving faster and faster. I enjoyed working with this artist as her example is inspiring and is worth following | https://medium.com/@dyalketipung/%E5%9C%A8%E7%BA%BF%E8%A7%82%E7%9C%8B-%E5%88%BA%E6%9D%80%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4%E5%AE%B6-assassin-in-red-%E5%AE%8C%E6%95%B4%E7%89%88-%E5%9C%A8%E7%BA%BF%E5%85%8D%E8%B4%B9-2021-hd-552e59495b43 | ['Dyal Ketipung'] | 2020-12-26 19:15:30.777000+00:00 | ['Assassin In Red', 'Comedy', 'China', 'Full Version', '2021'] |
Irradiation Apparatus Market Trends and Forecast | Irradiation Apparatus Market is expected to value over USD xx billion by 2027 end and register a CAGR of xx% from the forecast period 2020–2027.
FutureWise research has revealed a report that analyzes Irradiation Apparatus Market trends that shall have an effect on the market growth. The report includes elaborated data on SWOT analysis, profit, market share, and regional analysis of this market. This report offers competitive landscape insights on the key market players of this market.
As per the analysis done by our analysts, the Irradiation Apparatus Market is anticipated to attain substantial growth over the forecast period. The report explains that the market is expected to register a remarkable rate of growth by the forecast period. This report provides data associated with valuation that’s presently held by this market in its business and it additionally lists the market segmentation alongside the growth opportunities present in this business vertical.
The report analyzes market segmentation forecast By Type, By Application, By Region, and Irradiation Apparatus Market. This report provides elaborated insights on the profit of the market, in-depth SWOT analysis of market trends, key players in conjunction with regional analysis of this market.
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Regional Analysis
The regional outlook of the Irradiation Apparatus Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world
This report delivers data points regarding the projected rate of growth registered by this market in each region during the forecast period.
Key Market Players:
Some of the key market players of this market are Hitach, Orion, Yxlon, Lite Tech, Biowave Innovations, Ziehm Imaging, Techno Aide and Dexis.
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Phone: UK: +44 1416289353 | US: +1 3477094931 | https://medium.com/@marketinsight92/irradiation-apparatus-market-trends-and-forecast-e1a6cdfd70da | ['Market Insight'] | 2021-12-30 10:20:10.108000+00:00 | ['Market Research Reports', 'Market Size', 'Market Research', 'Market Analysis Reports', 'Irradiation Apparatus'] |
Game Dev in Progress… Day 42 | Photo by airfocus on Unsplash
Hello and welcome to day 42 of my journey to becoming a full fledged software engineer. We are one day away from presenting our finished game to the other interns. I’m very nervous because I suck at presenting but I’ll do my best and not let my team down. Today was spent preparing for that and as well as getting our game published on itch.io. I was also tasked with creating a new baseline and new git set up. I’m planning on pushing my main into my remote repo and having the team make pull requests on that. I’m hoping this method will work but if it doesn’t, I’m thinking of creating a new repo maybe for the project. Other then that, I was also play testing the game and fixing my project to work.
My project has been pretty messy because some of the things don’t work and a lot of merge conflicts. I think this is due to the fact of my earlier debacle of pulling and resolving merge conflicts that screwed with everything. One of the main problems was that my main game scene were missing a couple prefabs that were added in on the last push. I quickly resolved this by replacing the objects that had prefabs and adding missing ones into the hierarchy. With this I now have a working project that can be safely pushed up into my remote repo.
Overall, this week has been really hectic and it not even over yet. I really wish that we’ll do well tomorrow and that everybody will learn something from our presentation. See you all tomorrow!
_
Cristian Aspacio | https://medium.com/@aspacio/game-dev-in-progress-day-42-54c8997179d4 | ['Cristian Aspacio'] | 2020-12-18 02:57:46.785000+00:00 | ['Game Development', 'Intern', 'Unity', 'Coding', 'Games'] |
What Is Important To Look At When Buying Pacifier Clips? | Parents have a lot on their shoulders from the time they hear the news of having a baby to actually have one in their arms. They have more than enough on their plates to keep track of. From significant milestones to minute details, they always have to stay ahead of the game, and it’s not easy I tell you. Continuously losing tiny things such as socks or pacifiers makes everything so much frustrating. It doesn’t matter if you are in your own house or in public. You keep on losing things in your baby bag, in the room, and even in the kitchen.
In fact, that is why we are here to highlight a very handy gadget ever made for The babies — pacifier clip. And if you are one of the mamas or parents who have recently lost their baby’s pacifier, you have come to the right place.
Buy Pacifier clips from here: https://putska.com/collections/pacifier-clips
Pacifiers are just like ponies or rubber bands. It’s really hard to keep track of them because they are really good at hiding. And the last thing you want to do is to search for a lost pacifier while your baby is crying their eyes out. That’s why the baby pacifier clip is designed to keep your baby’s binky close to them. You can tie the pacifier with cars’ seat or with your baby’s clothes with the help of the pacifier holder.
A pacifier holder has two main parts, a holder latch, and a clipper. The ribbon or string holder latch clips onto your teether or pacifier. The other end has a plastic clipper that bites the clothes of the child. Thus, making it easy to have also by your side when needed. No misplaced pacifiers and no hustling through the bags and room when you need it.
Pacifiers with pacifier clip is a necessity when it comes to having a peaceful midnight sleep as your baby waking up at night can instantly find the pacifier and can go back to sleep without waking you up. It is not just functional but convenient for parents as well.
Believe me when I say it is a relief. You may also find your baby happy moods when they get an instant distraction. It is also like an entertaining distraction for the baby. In a few studies, such pacifiers have also helped in maintaining the hand to eye coordination of the baby. Plus, they will already know that this little thing is what they need in distress. You may notice that they treat themselves with the pacifier even if you are not around.
Moreover, babies love to get everything in their mouth out of curiosity. These little souls have this urge to put things in the mouth if they are attracted to them. Having a pacifier always with them may also resolve the problem of getting unhealthy and risky things in their mouths too.
Here is a list of things that you need to consider when buying a pacifier holder for your little one:
1. No more than 5 inches long
While selecting a pacifier clip for your little one, make sure you go for the one that is no more than 5 inches long. A pacifier holder with a long ribbon or string might prove to be dangerous for your baby. The curious little soul might play with the string or ribbon or move around. Thus, it can accidentally wrap around. Which actually increases the chances of strangling them. Of course, safety is the first priority.
2. A one with good quality
Make sure you buy a pacifier clip that is made of a single layer of polyester fabric. The polyester fabric is not just soft but very easy to clean and wash. These are amazingly comfortable for the baby as well, and you can tie it to your baby’s clothes for easy access.
3. Plastic clips
Plastic clips are another addition for comfortable usability. These clips have teeth-like structures that let them latch onto your baby’s clothes without poking in holes or damaging the fabric. They are also very tight on the clothes and the chances of losing them are almost reduced by 90%.
Moreover, such plastic is food-grade safe and a better option than metal clips. Metal clips have a few health hazards and can be uncomfortable for the baby as well.
4. Multifunctional holder
Go for a multifunctional pacifier holder. By multifunctional we mean teether toy or teething ring, drool bib, and of course a pacifier. It is an easy solution for not just the baby but also for parents. Parents do not have to buy and keep track of all baby gears. And parents have already so much on their plate that this multifunctional holder helps in holding many items already for easy access at the right time.
5. Colourful holders
Make sure you buy a pacifier holder that can go with every outfit you want to pair it up with. Many companies give you a wide range of attractive and eye-catching ribbons and strips. These multiple colors and designs of ribbon and clips can be paired up with every outfit your baby owns. For us, this is not just a pacifier, it can become a fashion statement. They will not look awkward while visiting friends or going into public.
In short, easy to get when your child is a bit uneasy, and it will be not awkward at all.
A clip for the pacifier is a necessity to keep your baby’s pacifier close and clean. With these clips, get ready to say goodbye to dropped pacifiers that are never at hand or in sight when you need them the most. You never know that when your baby is uneasy and crying their eyes out whether you are in public or in your own house.
Checkout our other baby products at: https://putska.com/
These clips may help in reducing a little stress and duties as being a Parent! Moreover, they are very safe as well. | https://medium.com/@putska/what-is-important-to-look-at-when-buying-pacifier-clips-654f7d2aa6e1 | ['Lily Nathan'] | 2020-12-20 19:41:21.496000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Baby', 'Baby Essentials', 'Motherhood', 'Baby Care'] |
We supply the fish, you supply the pumpkin spice. Experience fall at a national fish hatchery! | Once you’re done feeding the fish and frolicking on the two miles of nature trails at Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, you can check out the 10,000 gallon aquarium to see rare and unique fish, amphibians and reptiles! Get a close-up look at softshell turtles, pallid sturgeon, giant bullfrogs, sportfish and salamanders!
Gavins Point is one of the many hatcheries across the country that raise and safeguard endangered fish and aquatic species for conservation!
5. Go fishing while you bird! (Or is it birding while you fish?)
Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery — Leavenworth, Washington
Fall colors are lighting up in the Icicle Valley, and wildlife is on the move! Photo courtesy of Andy Jaynes.
Many national fish hatcheries offer great birding and fishing opportunities that are accessible to all ages and abilities. At Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery, the Icicle Creek Nature Trail is a one-mile loop trail that is fully accessible and offers an excellent opportunity to see fish and wildlife in their natural environment. This is a National Recreation Trail and part of the Cascade Loop of the Audubon Society’s Great Washington State Birding Trail. It is an enjoyable non-strenuous walk for families and nature enthusiasts.
A Sign of Good Luck — Dragonfly perches on the tip of a fishing rod. Photo By Peter Padelsk.
Want to learn to fish?
People fish for many reasons: spending time and creating memories with family and friends, enjoying the challenge of catching a fish, being outdoors and near water, or for many, just soaking in some quiet solitude. Whatever your reason, now is a great time to enjoy a fall fishing trip! | https://medium.com/@usfws/we-supply-the-fish-you-supply-the-pumpkin-spice-experience-fall-at-a-national-fish-hatchery-68b546d180c9 | ['U.S. Fish', 'Wildlife Service'] | 2020-11-19 18:19:51.112000+00:00 | ['Fall', 'Fishing And Travel', 'Hiking', 'Fishing', 'Conservation'] |
How to Write Clean Code | Everybody loves clean code, but have you ever wondered what constitutes it? After reading Clean Code: A Handbook for Agile Software Craftsmanship by Robert C. Martin, I have a better picture of clean code.
Why Clean Code
Have you ever rushed to get tasks done, intending to clean up the code later, but those future days never come?
Over time we gradually build the mess. The mess becomes so large driving the team productivity slowdown. Management team step up and plan to have the application redesigned. Now we have two teams in a race, one team maintaining the old system, and the new one building a new system that does everything the old system does and keeping up with the changes. The race might take years and hinder the productivity. In the worst case, the new design becomes another pile of mess and cannot be of use to the company.
Desperate, isn’t it? No one ever wants this. Developers swear having to work on bad code. Management team hates to see the decrease in productivity.
It is therefore fatal to avoid having such a mess and keep the code clean — easy to understand and ready for change
How to Write Clean Code
There is no consensus what are needed for clean code. But, from my experience so far, I believe these points are a must for having clean code.
Meaningful Names
Use the name that expresses its intent, and replace magic numbers by constants with good naming. In the below example, it is hard to reason about what the function does.
public void foo(Account a1, Account a2, double x){
if (a1.b == a2.b) {
a1.x -= x;
a2.x += x;
} else {
a1.x -= x;
a1.x -= 50;
a2.x += x;
}
}
After renaming it appropriately, we know that it is the function to transfer amount between accounts.
public void transfer(Account senderAccount, Account receiverAccount, double amount){
if (senderAccount.branchId == receiverAccount.branchId) {
senderAccount.balance -= amount;
receiverAccount.balance += amount;
} else {
senderAccount.balance -= amount;
senderAccount.balance -= TRANSFERRING_FEE;
receiverAccount.balance += amount;
}
}
Formatting
Formatting is important. Readers can benefit from indentations, blank lines and spaces. Grouping the same concepts together and separating each of them with blank lines also helps.
One example is when writing a test. We can separate into 3 parts: given, when and then.
// Given
Account adamAccount = Account.create("Adam", 5000.00);
Account ernestAccount = Account.create("Ernest", 1500.00); // When
underTest.transfer(adamAccount, ernestAccount, 1000.00) // Then
assert(adamAccount.getBalance() == 4000.00);
assert(ernestAccount.getBalance() == 2500.00);
Consistency
We should have descriptive name and also consistent naming convention. For instance, get functions are normally implemented without side effects. Implementing a get function with side effects makes an application error-prone.
private long branchId;
public long getBranchId() { // without side effects
return branchId
} private long uniqueId;
public long getUniqueId() { // with side effects
return uniqueId++;
}
Having Tests
Tests reflect the ability to change code. Dirty tests imply that we have less ability to change code with confidence that nothing will break, because it is hard to understand what the test tries to verify. It is therefore necessary to have readable and maintainable tests, allowing a team to complete tasks more confidently and quickly.
Single Responsibility
Single responsibility states that a class or module should have one and only one, reason to change
Single responsibility concept encourages clean code. It helps readers understand what it tries to achieve as it does only one thing. It is also easy to change because developers can find with ease where to work on to satisfy the requirement. This concept should be applied to not only class levels, but the following:
Testing — Each test cases should verify only one concept.
Function — Each function should do one thing.
Class — Each class should have one responsibility and has one reason to change.
Although the concept is straightforward, it is hard to identify when it is doing too much. One way to check is to describe in our own words what tests, functions and classes do. The word “and” signals that it is possible to have it refactored.
In our transfer method above, we can make a tiny change to improve readability and maintainability.
public void transfer(Account senderAccount, Account receiverAccount, double amount){
senderAccount.balance -= amount;
senderAccount.balance -= getTransferFee(senderAccount, receiverAccount);
receiverAccount.balance += amount;
} private double getTransferFee(Account acc1, Account acc2) {
if (acc1.branchId == acc2.branchId) {
return SAME_BRANCH_TRANSFERRING_FEE ;
} else {
return DIFFERENT_BRANCH_TRANSFERRING_FEE;
}
}
Isolation from Change
This is similar to Dependency Inversion Principle, which says that our classes should depend upon abstractions, not on concrete details. Codes can change often according to business’s demands. If a client class depending on those concrete details, it is at risk that when the details changed.
In the following example, we define AccountRepository that have findById method. It is unnecessary to know how it is implemented. We need to believe that it can findById correctly. This way we can change how to find an account by id from the repository without affecting the code below.
interface AccountRepository {
Account findById(long accountId);
} private AccountRepository accountRepository; public void closeAccount(long accountId) {
Account account = accountRepository.findById(accountId);
account.close();
}
Don’t Repeat Yourself
Duplication in code discourages maintainability because changes, if any, have to be applied many places instead of one, which to some extent bring bugs to applications. It is advisable to extract common logics into functions and reuse them.
Separate Constructing a System from Using It
The application should have no knowledge of the construction process. The lazy initialization of AccountRepository below should be avoided since it violates Single Responsibility Principle and complicates testing. We might leverage Dependency Injection to separate the process.
public class BankService {
private AccountRepository accountRepository; private AccountRepository getAccountRepository() {
if (accountRepository == null) {
accountRepository = new AccountReposiotory();
}
return accountRepository;
} ... }
How to Achieve Clean Code
Now we have a sense of how clean code looks. It has not been paid much attention to though, as we care more about making it work quickly. Clean code, quite the opposite, requires time and attention.
Plan
When we plan to complete any tasks, the time spared tidying the code should be considered properly.
Refine
Clean code comes with effort. Like writing an email, you have a draft. You read through it, make sure there is no typo and it is understandable by the audience. Writing code has no difference. You have your first draft and you need to polish it until it reads well.
Improve
Leave the campground cleaner than you found it. — Boy Scout Rule
Most of the time you modify existing code instead of writing new one, and that existing code is nothing but clutter. What you can do is to always make it better. For example, Before you change the code, you spend several hours to understand the logic. By making it more readable, other developers (including yourself in the future) that need to read or update the code can learn more easily about the logic, saving them multiple hours. | https://medium.com/@krantharat-k/how-to-write-clean-code-e46d987a6c8a | ['Krantharat Krongsiriwat'] | 2020-12-04 16:09:14.550000+00:00 | ['Clean Code', 'Software Development', 'Software'] |
Abella Danger lesbian sex with niece | Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash
My name is Samantha, I am in my 30’s. I am 5’7” dark hair, large breasts and a cunt that aches for pussy. I had a couple of disastrous relationships with men, they did nothing for me and I have since had some wonderful, sexually exploring, affairs with woman. I am a lesbian without a shadow of a doubt, I have learnt what women like and what I like and I am at last happy with my life.
My niece Sophie is 18. My sister-in-law brought her up single handedly but due to her disastrous relationship with Sophie’s father my idiot of a brother, who has now passed away, she had reared Sophie in a very sheltered environment. Sophie is socially inept, very innocent — not how a teenager should be. She is 5’3”, very petite, blonde, developing budding breasts and I know she has a huge crush on me.
She helps in the summer holidays at my stables, taking care of mine and my clients’ horses. She adores horses and my sister feels this environment is right for her, I feel it is holding her back and she should be socialising with people her own age but I respect my sister-in-law’s wishes.
I am more aware of her attraction towards me particular this summer, I cannot deny I am flattered by her attention and I am also finding myself watching her more and more. She wears tight little t-shirts, no bra and most of the time pink tight jodhpurs which cling to her svelte figure, revealing the most delicious camel toe, but of course she does not have a clue how tempting she is. She’s easy on the eye and I cannot deny I have lain awake at night stroking my pussy thinking of her numerous times but reprimand myself afterwards, reminding myself she is my niece.
I have been away from the yard most of today, carrying out business off site. Sophie has been on the yard all day, she is more than capable and I am happy to trust my business with her. I finally get back to the yard at 6pm, clients have all gone home and Sophie is finishing off and is upstairs tidying the tack room.
Tired from a day of travelling and viewing horses, I climb the stairs and smile to myself as I hear the kettle go on and Sophie asking whether I want tea or coffee, she is such a kind girl. Walking into the room she shrieks and throws herself at me with a hug, showering me with kisses. I do not know what comes over me, whether it’s the kisses to my collar bone, neck and cheeks or her body rubbing up to mine but I am overcome with the urge to go further.
I manoeuvre my mouth over hers and kiss her then push my tongue against hers licking the seam of her lips. Her mouth opens allowing my tongue into her mouth, sweeping inside over her teeth and tangling with hers. We continue kissing for ages, Sophie pushing herself into my body and moaning softly. The kettle whistling brings our closeness to a stop as she breaks away to deal with it.
I move over to one of old stuffed chairs and perch on it trying to contain feelings inside me which are desperate to act but my conscience says no. My belly is fluttering and my pussy throbs with a dull ache. She reaches over me to reach for a new jar of coffee, her t-shirt rides up exposing her midriff and I lean forward and kiss her fair skin. She smells divine, young soft skin and her body scent, I can’t help but explore the area licking and kissing. She stays in that position, no longer interested in the coffee but grasping the shelf as my mouth explores her.
I venture higher, nudging her top up with my nose, over her ribs. Her heart is beating fast, she moans,
“More, please more.” Letting go of the shelf, coming down off her toes and pulling her t-shirt over her head. She stands now in front of me, my face level with her budding small breasts and her eyes gazing intently at me.
“What do you want Sophie?” I ask.
“I..I..I..I…ddddon’t rrrreally know, I jjjjjjust want mmmmmore!” She stammers. My hands stroke her belly, smoothing her skin, leaning forward my lips enclose over one of her nipples, sucking the flesh into my mouth, licking and grazing my teeth over the bud.
The skin tightens in reaction to my attention and her hand goes to the back of my head, pulling me even closer. I move my mouth to her other bud, repeating the action, she is panting now and I can feel her knees shaking against my leg. I move my leg between hers and pull her down to squat on my thigh putting my hands to her hips to hold her steady.
I continue kissing and licking her all over her front as she clutches my shoulders for balance. Returning to her mouth, I kiss her and immediately her lips open to receive me, our kiss becomes more forceful pushing hard against each other. Sophie is grinding her crotch against my thigh, wiggling herself back and forth on me, I can feel her heat through my leg.
Eventually I break this kiss, my conscience gets the better of me, this is my niece, what am I doing? I push her away and stand up to make the coffee. With my back to Sophie, I hear her gasp, I turn round and she is looking down at the crotch of her jodhpurs which has a dark patch. She looks to me red with embarrassment,
“Oh no! I’ve wet myself, how did that happen?” She is visibly embarrassed and without any hesitation she pulls off her boots, socks and wiggles out of her riding trousers.
Now standing in front of me in a pair of pink panties with an extremely damp patch clearly visible, I place my hands on her shoulders and softly tell her,
“Honey, you haven’t wet yourself at all.” Her brow furrows querying my statement and I try to explain,
“You’re ust turned on from our kissing etc.,” She doesn’t understand, I am so annoyed at my sister-in-law for continuing to keep such a lovely young girl so innocent.
I brush two pads of my fingers over the damp patch and bring them up and smell them, definitely not pee, only a beautiful musky smell of her juices. She watches me intently, I put my fingers under her nose,
“See no pee smell there!” She sniffs cautiously and her face relaxes when my actions confirm my statement. My conscience seems to have disappeared now I have smelt her.
“Sweetheart why don’t you take those wet panties off and sit yourself on the trunk and I will take a look at you.” She instantly complies and shimmies out of her underwear and perches her bottom on the trunk.
Gently kneeling down in front of her, I place my hands on her knees, sliding my hands up her thighs pushing her legs apart. My heart is racing, before me is the most beautiful sight. She has a virtually hairless sit with the tiniest blush of downy hair, prising her puffy lips apart with my thumbs, her inner lips are glistening with her juices. I slide my thumbs up her folds, opening the skin up, pushing her inner labia apart and revealing her already swollen clit. Beads of her juices, white and creamy, secrete from her cunt as I stroke her.
She leans back on her hands, her body flushed and her chest rising and falling with her quickened breathing. I look up at her,
“Is this want you want, Baby?” I ask.
“Aunty I still don’t know what happening but I don’t want you to stop!” She confesses. I lean in and lick up her pussy catching her juices on my tongue and drawing it into my mouth to taste her. She moans and gasps,
“Yes…Oh yes……Do it again pleeease!” I repeat the process, she tastes divine, the more I lick her the more her juices push out. I close my mouth over her budding clit, drawing the sensitive flesh into my mouth, sucking and flicking my tongue over it.
She is gasping now, tilting her hips toward my mouth,
“More, more, more, please don’t stop what you’re doing it’s sooo good!”
I continue to suck on her bud, I slide one of my fingers over her lips, coating it in her juices and move it to the entrance of her cunt. Pushing my finger in to first knuckle and then further until it is completely in, her pussy is so tight it confirms my suspicion that she is without doubt a virgin.
Sliding in and out, her pussy clenches against my digit, I insert a second finger stretching her wider, I cannot feel her hymen but it is a common fact that a lot of horse riders, their hymen breaks from all the riding. I turn my fingers palm upwards and start to push them in and out in a pumping action, curling my fingers to stroke her walls. Her hips tilt further into my mouth, as she pants,
“More…..pleeeease don’t stop.”
I can feel her muscles start to tense as she builds to her climax, I continue to suck her clit and fuck her with my fingers, watching her face as she comes with a loud shriek. Her cunt walls milk my fingers as she climaxes and I release the pressure sucking her clit as she peaks and goes over into that special place and continue to gently lick her until her breathing calms.
I lick her juices from her pussy, licking my fingers clean where her cum has pooled in my palm, she watches me intently as I do it. I kneel up higher and kiss her, pulling her to me, her mouth and tongue explore me, tasting her juices.
“Do you taste the same?” She asks, I explain from my experiences everyone is different,
“Do you want to taste me?” I tentatively inquire,
“Yes, please I do.” She responds in an nervous whisper.
Photo by Dainis Graveris on Unsplash
It is now late and my sister-in-law will wonder were Sophie is, I want more, I want to let this girl explore me, I don’t want to stop what has now started.
“Sophie, why don’t you give Mum and ring and ask to stay at mine tonight? You mustn’t mention what we have done, I don’t think she’d like it very much.” I warn, Sophie has stayed at mine before so there is no need for her Mum to be suspicious.
She moves way and I hear her seek permission from her Mum to stay over and she comes back smiling from ear to ear.
“Honey, I know your clothes are wet but put your clothes back on to walk over to the house and I will put them in the machine to be cleaned when we get to there.”
We close up the yard and walk across to my house, Sophie seems distant and I am worried that the moment is broken and she is having second thoughts. At the house, I make us some tea and we eat in silence, I am convinced that my opportunity has passed, afraid to push the situation I fill the dishwasher and tell her I am off to shower, leaving her watching the TV, she knows where the spare room is so I leave her to her own devices, disappointed.
I strip off in my bedroom, throwing my dirty laundry into the basket and walk into the ensuite and turn the shower on. Stepping into the hot pummelling jets of water, I wash the day away, soaping my body, slipping my soapy hands between my legs to rub away my unsatisfied excitement from earlier, my body wants more so I decide to leave it until I am in bed and I can use my vibrator.
Drying off in the bathroom, Sophie comes to the doorway completely naked clutching her dirty clothes,
“Mmmm Aunty? Is it okay if I put these clothes in the washing machine?”
“Oh Baby, I am sorry, yes of course! You know where it is, okay to help yourself?” With that she disappears out of the bedroom.
I finish drying off and leaving just a bedside lamp on, I slip into bed relishing in the cool soft sheets. I switch the TV on and flick through the channels, I am restless, although tired, I am unable to sleep. Sophie appears at my bedside completely naked, I turn to her,
“Can I sleep with you in your bed tonight?” she asks.
“Of course, if you want to.” I reply pulling the sheets back to invite her in.
She gets into the bed laying on her back staring up at the ceiling. Something is very much on her mind but I decide not to push it, she will speak when she’s ready, so I continue to try and watch the TV.
From nowhere in a very quiet voice I hear her say
“I liked what you did to me this afternoon.”
“What did you like about it?” I push her.
“Oh you know…… those things…..”
She is obviously very nervous, my fingers itch to pull her to me, to taste her again. My belly flutters and my cunt itches to be stroked but I must take this slow. So I push further,
“What did you enjoy the most, my mouth on your breasts, my fingers stroking you or my mouth tasting you?”
“Oh all of it, my pussy has been aching ever since and I have to keep going to the bathroom and wiping myself as I keep getting so wet. I’m sorry if I wasn’t good enough for you!” She seemed so wound up and upset as she blurted this out.
“Oh come here, my darling!” I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her young nubile body until it touches mine and she lays on her side with her head on my shoulder, I can feel one of her small nipples moving against my side as she breathes, my skin was on fire being so close to her.
The sheet had moved and now exposed my breasts with her head so close I felt her breath ghost over my nipple, it was taking all my willpower not lose control. I rubbed my hand back and forth across her back her young skin so soft against mine. I continued to lay quietly caressing her, trying desperately to quieten my pumping heart.
Furtively, her small hand crept across my belly and starts to stroke the side of my ribs, tentatively moving higher until it encases my breast. Her hand rubs back and forth over my tightened nipple, her fingers skimming over the sensitive flesh. I exhale and let out a gentle moan to show her I appreciate what she was doing in the hope it encouraged her to do more. She continued to rub my aching flesh and I realised I need to more this forward.
“Pinch my nipple, Sophie. Pinch the flesh and roll it between your finger and thumb. Aahhhh that’s it………. not to hard………ohhhhh just right.”
The pleasure and the pain her movement elicited rippled straight down to my core, my pussy felt hot and wet as my juices pushed out. She moved away from my shoulder, I panicked a bit thinking I had put her off but gasped in delight when her small mouth took my other nipple, sucking and laving it with her tongue. My back arched pushing me further into her mouth and my hand moved to the back of her head and gently encouraged her to continue.
Her teeth rasped over the tight knot of flesh.
“Oh yessss.” I hissed. “Rake your teeth over it, suck it hard…..” She willingly obliged pulling my tit deeper into her mouth, her teeth chafing on the sensitive bud and then her tongue licks smoothing the pain away.
She worked over my breasts for some time, alternating her wonderful mouth and her fingers over each mound. Giving me that pleasure and pain buzz that got me off so badly. Eventuall,y she moved down my stomach and my hand on the back of the head gave her a gentle push to encourage her lower.
Sophie lay with her head on my stomach facing my mound, her fingers lightly exploring my bald slit with a clipped runway strip of pubic hair, I slid my legs open, offering her my fully exposed pussy.
“Touch it sweetheart, pleeeeease. My pussy needs your attention, it aches for you to touch me soooo bad.” For two pins I could have grabbed her by the hair and forced her face into my cunt but I didn’t want to frighten her away, she was so new to all this.
Her fingers tentatively slipped between my outer lips, immediately coated in my copious juices, jeeze I was so turned on it was tracking out of my cunt and dripping onto the sheet!
“That’s it baby!” I gasped as her fingers briefly touched my expanding clit as she explored my folds.
Photo by Timothy Meinberg on Unsplash
“Baby, why don’t you have a taste? I so want to feel your sexy little mouth on my pussy.” I was feeling so frustrated at the slowness of things, I continued to remind myself she was a virgin but my cunt was so turned on it was ruling my mouth too!
Laying on my back, propping myself on my elbows, all I could see was her lovely blonde hair splayed out on my belly. Suddenly she moved from the bed and came around positioning herself between my legs and I could feel her hot breath on my pussy. She looked up at me, looking down on her, her huge blue eyes so full of innocence. I watched her open my pussy lips with her thumbs and gazed fixedly at my juice coated opening, looking back up into my eyes she leaned forward and raked her flattened tongue up my cleft ending at my clit, I could see my creamy juices coating her tongue and she pulled it back into her mouth. Her pupils dilated as she tasted me, savouring my flavour, then she dropped her eyes to my pussy and started to lick fervently.
Her enthusiasm for lapping up my cunt juices had no words, the more she hungrily attacked me, the more turned on I became.
“That’s it baby, lick me, lick all my juice up into you sweet little mouth!”
Her tongue went to my clit, swirling over the engorged bundle of erotic nerves.
“Hey sweetheart? You want to make me cum? You need to suck my clitty, I need it sucked real hard baby.” I reached down with one hand and pulled my inner lips wide open, exposing my swollen button. Placing my finger on it, I rubbed it back and forth.
“See this, this is my clit baby. This is the detonator button, if you treat it right, it will help me cum, you remember me sucking you yesterday and making it all special? I need you to do this for me honey.”
Her dainty mouth closed over my nub and sucked it in. My hips bucked off the bed, she back off a little at my reaction.
“No, no Baby it’s all good, keep sucking, that’s a girl, harder ohhh….harder!” One of my hands fisted the sheet and other kept my pussy lips wide apart as her darling little mouth sucked at my clit, hollowing her cheeks in and out. Her beautiful blue eyes watching my face as the tension built towards orgasm.
“That’s it baby, keeping sucking, don’t stop, don’t stop, you’re gonna make me come real soon!” I arched my hips, the sparks flying behind my eyes, inside my body electric shocks zipping down my legs, building me up until I tipped over the edge, my cunt contracting against nothingness, my legs shaking at the glorious sensations running through my body.
She continued sucking hard, too hard for my body to stand, my clit became too sensitive to cope.
“Whoa baby, not so hard, just gentle licks, just nice gentle licks.” I murmured as my orgasm subsided and my heart stopped racing. She gently licked the cum oozing from my cunt and I reached down to pull her away and on top of me. I kissed her passionately, licking my juices from around and in her mouth, delighting at the taste of myself on her.
“Dddddid I ddddo okkkkay?” she nervously asked.
Photo by Dainis Graveris on Unsplash
“Oh darling, more than okay. That was wonderful.” I kissed her again, holding her against me, her dainty little body skin to skin, I rubbed my hands over her back and down to her perky bottom, kneading her cheeks, pushing lowing stroking her pussy. I felt her breath increase against my neck, moaning softly as I caressed her.
“Hey Baby, why don’t you come kneel over my face, let me take a taste of your cunny now? Mmmm? I’m desperate to have another taste of you my darling girl.” Without hesitation she scrambled above me kneeling either side of my head facing the headboard, her wonderful dainty pink pussy just in reach of my hungry mouth.
“Now…… I want you to hold on to that headboard and you’re not to let go, okay?” I demand.
“Okay.” She immediately responded.
I very slowly pointed my tongue and moved it up and down her slit, up to her clit and back towards her cunt hole. Slow steady licks teasing her clit until it started to swell and push past the hood, she moaned so quietly to start with, until my tongue started to flick over her now swollen button. The faster I moved my tongue the louder her moans became until she pushed her pussy onto my face grinding herself down on me.
I moved my mouth over her clit sucking on it, pulling the flesh and distending it until my tongue could rasp back and forth over it’s tip while I continued to suck. It didn’t take long for my little virgin toy’s legs to start to tremble as she built towards the second orgasm in her life and then she went over the edge, panting and rubbing herself over my face. I let her excitement subside a little before I clamped my mouth again over her engorged button and drew the sensitive flesh hard into my mouth.
“No!” she gasped, “I can’t go again, I just can’t! It’s too much!”
I continued to suck relentlessly, sucking in a steady rhythm, my tongue again rubbing over her little clitty. Again she tensed and I sped up my ministrations, she cried out and she went over into another orgasm, gasping for air and the sensations took over her again. I gently licked her over and over as she calmed.
Before she had a chance to move away, I, for a third time clamped my mouth over her.
“Stop, stop! It’s too much, I’ll pee myself, please no more!” She pleaded with me.
“Come on baby, one more pleeease!” I pushed and returned to sucking on her clit.
I held her hips pinned to my face as I worked her over, it took a while this time, I had to go easy on her, I sucked for a bit and then eased off, letting her calm before I built her up again. Eventually I went for it, sucking her harder and harder, reaching up to tweak her tiny little erect nipples pulling them and twisting them between my fingers.
Her legs started to tense, she was panting hard, looking down at me as my cheeks hollowed in and out slurping on her wetness, I could see in her eyes she was so near, so close, until she closed her eyes and let out a loud cry.
“YEEESSSSS I’m cumming!”
I felt her cunt contract and then she let out a stream of fluid from lips directly into my mouth. Yes! I had me a squirter, what a turn on. The fluid tasted so, so sweet as it dribbled into my mouth and I drank it hungrily, lapping up the drops. Her cunt oozed out her cum and I sucked that into my mouth too, dipping my tongue into her hole, tasting her dainty musky sweetness.
“Oh Baby!” I gasped. “You are an absolute delight. I cannot get enough of you my darling!” I gushed with excitement. I pulled her down onto the bed, stroking her hair as I pulled her close to my body until her breathing slowed and I knew she was asleep. I had exhausted the poor girl for sure! I drifted off to sleep myself with a contented look on my face, after all I was the cat who had found the cream!
I awoke early the next morning, to be greeted by the delightful sight of my innocent playmate suckling my nipple, lapping at the tightened, puckered knot of flesh. Her dainty hand, held my large bosom to her mouth as she explored the flesh with her tongue. Immediately my insatiable cunt started to warm and secrete juices. I lay in my half asleep state watching this young girl, transfixed, as she gave my nipple her undivided attention.
How on earth would I be able to keep this young thing to myself, to teach and to show her all the things that her body could give, and take. On one hand I felt riddled with guilt that I was taking advantage of my niece and on the other hand I tried to squash that doubt with the realisation that she was 18 years old and could and should make her own decisions in life. I so wanted to explore this young thing, to taste more and more of her addictive body.
“Baby? What do you think to turning the horses out for the day and coming back her to play some more?” I gently probed.
She continued suckling on me and looked at me with her huge unblinking blue eyes mumbling,
“Yes.”
“Oh honey, did no one ever tell you, you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full!” I chuckled to her.
“Come on, tear yourself away, we’ll quickly get these horses turned out and then we’ll come back to this.” I pulled my tit from her mouth with a plop and got out of bed, quickly dressing in a pair of jeans and shirt, not bothering with any underwear.
“Hey, I have no clothes dry!” Sophie complained. I realised although she had put her clothes in the washing machine, we had forgotten that they need to be dried too.
“Don’t worry have one of my t-shirts and a pair of shorts, they’ll be a bit big but I’ll lend you a belt to keep them up. That’s for the short time you’ll have them on! I’m not hanging around the yard for too long when I have far more interesting things to do!” I exclaimed as I rummaged in my wardrobe to find her something. I found what I was looking for and placed them on the bed for her and went off into the kitchen to grab a quick coffee.
She soon appeared in the doorway and hopped onto the work surface, I had forgotten she was considerably smaller than myself, the vest top barely covered her small breasts and the shorts although short, gaped at the legs exposing plenty of delightful pussy for my ever hungry view.
“Ooooh! I like these on you!” I sidled up to her, nudging the top material away with my mouth and sucking on a nipple, my fingers venturing up her short leg, as she widened her legs to let me in to stroke at her pussy, rubbing my fingers into her folds.
She giggled, pushing me away.
“Come on horses first, the rest later!” Reluctantly I moved away, cheekily sucking my fingers into my mouth tasting her.
We went out onto the yard and turned all the horses out for the day, Sophie rang her Mum and asked if it was okay to spend another night at mine. Silly woman agreed, if only she knew. Damn my guilty conscience as I pushed it to the back of my mind.
Returning to the house, I suggested we shower, together of course! Sophie immediately skipped through the house to my bedroom, I hastily followed her and we stripped off.
My ensuite bathroom is quite large, a vanity area with double sink, a large circular bath with Jacuzzi jets and a double walk in shower with a bench built in. I turned the shower taps on to heat up the water and pulled Sophie into the shower with me. Grabbing the shampoo and turning her back to me, I lovingly shampooed her hair, massaging the lather into her scalp and rinsed her beautiful locks clean. Taking a massaging mitt and covering it in body wash, I proceeded to wash her all over, taking my time particularly over her tiny breasts, rubbing the rough mitt over her tight little peaks. I moved to kneel down behind her and washed her legs, ending with the mitt between her open legs, massaging her pussy with the slippery suds as I kissed and nibbled her perk little arse cheeks.
She turned around to face me, as the water cascaded down her tiny body, the water catching in rivulets over her pert little tits and down to wash the soap away. Leaning forward, I kissed her belly, moving my mouth lower and kissing and sucking at her little naked v. Encouraging her to lift her left leg onto the bench, the movement exposing her pussy further, for my desperate mouth.
Closing over her pubic mound and pushing my tongue between her lips, I sought out her clit and caressed it with my tongue, her arms flailed as she grabbed for some support until her hands met the shower walls to stabilise her. My fingers lubricated from the water, explored her inner labia, coating them with her flowing juices and I sought out her tight little cunt hole. Pushing my longest finger in, only to the first knuckle, I continued to suck on her tight knot of nerves, allowing her time to accommodate my digit.
Her moaning is audible over the noise of the shower now, as I push my finger deeper into her little cunny. Her vaginal muscles expanding to take the intrusion and then clenching at it hungrily. As I continue to massage her clit with my mouth, I slowly move my finger in and out of her tight but wet cunt as the shower rains down on us,
“Hey, is this okay for you, me fingering your gorgeous tight little cunt baby?” I furtively ask as I look up to her face.
“Oh yes, more give me more. It’s so tight and so sensitive. Ohhh!” As she grinds her little pussy against my finger knuckle deep in her innocent little chasm.
I add another finger, slowly giving her time to adjust to this fullness, then I start to stroke the tips of the buried fingers against her vaginal walls, right where I know her sensitive spot should be.
“Yeeessss!” She hisses in response. “More, do it more!” Once again grinding down on my knuckles, starting to rock in a rhythm to match my fingers pumping into her tight little cunt.
I pump faster and suck on her clit in rhythmical movement, it’s not much to send her over, she is so innocent she needs to build up to last longer, then, her orgasms will be mind-blowing, at the moment she is so new to this. I stand up to support her but leave my fingers in her cunt, enjoying the sensations as her muscles milk my fingers. Once she has got the strength back in her legs, I pull out my fingers and push them into her mouth so she can taste her beautiful self. Her tongue laps at her juices hungrily, sucking the cream clean from my fingers.
“Go out and dry yourself little one.” I usher her out of the shower and finish washing and shampooing my hair, although I am horny as hell, I have other ideas I want to show her and want to save myself.
Drying myself on a large fluffy towel, I wander into the bedroom and find Sophie sitting on the bed patiently waiting for me. I go to the wardrobe and pull out two items from my little ‘collection’. A large vibrator, smooth with a hooked end but with alterable speeds and a much smaller one identical but petite for someone’s special body. I want to use the large ribbed and pimpled one for myself but I want her to use it and the smoother one is easier to manoeuvre once inside me whereas the ribbed one my cunt tends to grasp quite tight and I don’t think her small hands will manage it.
Her eyes widen with curiosity as I turn to face her and walk towards the bed.
“Darling, these are some of my special toys for us to play with. Don’t worry I won’t stretch you with the large one, at least not today!” I wiggle my eyebrows as I smile.
“But first, I am desperate to teach you how to use this rather large dildo on me! To learn how to fuck my cunt with it and make me cum how I really like to.”
I move across to the bed and perch on the edge, open my legs wide so my knees are touching either side on the mattress. I am already wet, walking to the wardrobe to retrieve my toys, thinking about what I can do with her has had my pussy juices already flowing.
“Come kneel down here Baby, between my legs. See how wet you have made me thinking about you?” She kneels obediently, staring intently at my pussy, my juices already tracking down between my legs. She reaches forward with her hand, catching a thick bead of cream on the tip of her finger bringing it to her mouth to taste. There are some really simple things which can be so erotic and this is one of them. This young, naïve and very beautiful young girl sampling the secretions from my cunt is one of them.
Wanting to take things forward, I reach behind me for the larger dildo, twisting the base until is pulses gently and start to rub it over my pussy and up to vibrate against my clit. Sophie continues to sit silently watching me stroke myself coating the vibrator with my juices. Taking her hand I place the base in her palm closing her hand around to grasp it.
“Now, baby. Open my lips with your other hand and with the other push this little buddy into my cunt hole and gently ease it all the way in.” I instruct her.
Doing as I ask, she pushes the vibrating wand, into my accommodating vagina, her eyes like saucers as she pushes it deeper and deeper into me until it is buried to the hilt. I sigh deeply with contentment as my pussy is stretched and hugging the gentle pulsing member.
“Hey, doesn’t it hurt, stretching you like that?” She is so much in awe, her voice is barely audible.
“Oh no honey, it is wonderful! Yours will stretch like that but we need to take it slow with you.” I reassure her. “Now, twist the base halfway round.” Again her eyes huge and round as she feels the dildo vibrating harder in her hand.
“Now, I want you to start rotating your wrist in a screwing type action and at the same time pushing the vibrator in and out…….. Oh that’s it baby, a bit firmer, more twist…… now deeper in and out. Ooooh that’s it!”
She took to this easily, I propped myself up on my elbows, watching my young protégé, fucking my hungry pussy with one of my dildos, such a wonderful sight.
“Now…. Turn the base all the way round until you can’t twist any further. Ohhhhh yeeesssss baby. Now twist and pump faster and harder……that’s it, fuck my cunt honey, fuck it, fuck it!” Without needing to instruct her further she continued to fuck me with the plastic toy but then astounded me by closing her mouth over my clit, drawing it hard into her sucking lips.
I nearly shot off the bed with the sensations, as she fucked me and drew my sensitive nub firmly into her mouth.
“Oh baby, my clever girl! Fuck me……keep pumping that toy in my cunt…….don’t stop………keep going………like that…….harder……fuck it…….suck it……..oh………oh…yeeessss!” I climaxed going over that hill like a freight train, my vagina clamping and sucking on the dildo as my juices pushed past coating her hand.
She eased off of my clit and gently withdrew the vibrator from me, turning it off but bringing it to her mouth to lick my cum from it before laying it on my discarded towel. Then she returned to my pussy, sticking her tongue in my now gaping cunt, drawing the cum into her mouth like a hungry animal. I lay boneless, only capable of watching her as she licked me clean.
Once I had recovered, I sat up and pulled her to standing, kissing her midriff, moving my tongue to her small breasts, smothering the tightening buds with my tongue and grating my teeth over them.
“Come lay down on the bed Baby, it’s my turn to show you what these things can do!”
She scooted up the bed laying in the middle on her back. Grabbing the small dildo, I slid up the bed, sitting by her side and pushed her knees up to her chest and opening her legs so her knees were almost flat on the best, stretching her pussy wide open, her pink gash laid bare for me. She was soaked, she had obviously become so turned on fucking me, her pink lips were covered in her creamy juice.
Not wanting to pass up on an opportunity to show her how much I enjoyed tasting her as much as she did me, I leant in and lapped as her beautiful natural lubricant. Tonguing her cunt, sucking her inner lips into my mouth sliding up and down the folds, flicking my tongue over her swollen, protruding clit, savouring that delicate muskiness I was becoming addicted to. Her small hand moved to clutch the back of my head and push my mouth harder against her as she rocked her pelvis into me, moaning and mumbling my name.
I reached for the slim dildo and twisted it to vibrate gently and held the point against her clit. Her hips bucked at the sensation when the cool plastic vibrating tip met her engorged sensitive nerve. I continued to rub it against her as I watched her pussy secrete more cream out of her cunt hole. I have never seen a girl be so generous at producing pussy juice. It is an obsession I cannot deny, so many lesbian porn flicks turn me off, although beautiful pussies these actresses are so obviously not into it, otherwise their juices would be flowing, there is no better site than watching a string of cream leaving a girl’s pussy as her partner pulls her tongue away. To me it is the sole proof that someone is actually into it and if you don’t enjoy that taste you definitely ain’t into it honey!
She moans softly gyrating her hips, rubbing the vibrating point against her clit. I move the dildo down her slit, twisting and turning it to coat the end in her juices before I splay open her cunt entrance and push the rounded tip into her entrance. Slowly I insert the whole vibrator inside, it slides in surprisingly easy and I twist the base to increase the speed and throb, Sophie is now panting and gripping the sheets tightly in her little clenched fists, her moaning louder.
As I pump the little wand inside her, she tilts her pelvis to meet my thrusts,
“Oh yes, push it in, pleeease…….more…….I want more!” she pleads with me.
“Baby! You greedy thing, this is into the hilt and still you want more?!” I am so surprised by her demands.
“Please…..I want yours inside me, I want to feel what it’s like, to feel full…..please Aunty!” She is now so desperate, she is almost wailing.
I am extremely unsure, my dildo has a fair girth on it and a decent length, I doubt her petite body can take it, especially being a virgin in that respect. I figured I would need time to stretch her to accommodate such a thing. Then again surely she will tell me if it’s too much, I reach for my discarded toy on the towel and coat it in my spit.
Removing the small vibrator, copious more fluid seeps from her hole and trickles down between her bottom cheeks. I stretch her lips wide, I can see into her vagina, the muscles clenching against nothing, making more juices, pushing them outward and I insert the gently buzzing head into her void. I slide it in about an inch and a half, holding it still to give her time to accommodate its thickness. Her hips tilt and she pushes herself against it.
“Steady baby, I don’t want you to rip yourself, give that darling little cunt time to get used to it, be patient.” I tried to slow her down, I was transfixed by the skin at the entrance to her opening, gripping and flexing against the fake cock.
I push it in further, she is panting now, slowly inch by inch, her delicious little cunt accepts the massive intrusion until it is buried to the hilt. I sit by her side, vibrator in one hand, my other hand splayed over her pubic mound holding her steady, I imagine I can feel this thick dildo under her skin buried deep in her tiny hole. I increase the vibrations a little and pull it out a little before pushing it back inside her.
“Is that okay Baby! You feeling sore at all? It’s a big thing to take this inside you.”
“Ahhhh…….yes……..just tight…….soo deep inside me…….I feel so full!” She gasps between pants.
I start to pump the dildo in and out, slow and shallow movements to start. I lean forward and drop a lump of spit from my mouth, watching it land on her exposed clit and massage it onto the button with my thumb. As the circular motion of massaging the bundle of nerves increases, so does the pumping of my hand controlling that large plastic pulsing dick. Her cunt continues to push cream out around the sides of the plastic and allows the vibrator to slide without friction.
Soon I am fucking her cunt hard, corkscrewing and pistoning the vibrator in and out fast, her juices squelching against the pressure. She is panting so fast now, moaning incoherently as her body starts to tighten as her orgasm builds.
“That’s it Baby, take it all, take that big back cock in your tiny cunt, your lips are so stretched, your tits so tight, pull on them, twist those little pebbles between your fingers whilst I fuck you!” I am so lost in the moment, I could not stop if I tried. My own pussy throbs, my nipples tight and aching as I watch my little protégé come undone from my ministrations.
She starts to cry out in a long wail.
“Faster……..unghhhh, unghhhhh, unghhhh…” She bucks into the rampaging dildo driving against it.
“Yeeessss……don’t stop…….I’m there……. Ayyeeee…….I’m cumming Aunty………..oh God!” And over she went, her tummy muscles visibly clenching as she came, bucking and spasming as her body succumbed to her climax.
I immediately removed my thumb from her clit, knowing it would be far too sensitive for her to cope, slowing the pumping of the dildo to a gentle rhythm as the sensations subsided. I was struggling to hold the vibrator as her cum pushed out all over my hand, I couldn’t hold it any longer. I let go and her body pushed it out followed by a river of delicious cum. I so wanted to lick it up but her body would be so strung up from such a climax, it would be almost cruel.
I pulled her limp body against me, cradling her head against my breasts, stroking her body, allowing her to come down from her sexual high. Crooning to her in soft moans, reassuring her that all was okay, as her breathing subsided. Sophie adjusted her position to get closer to me, her legs astride one of my thighs as she hugged me into my neck.
“Oh Aunty, that was soooo good!” She clutched her arms around my neck nuzzling into me.
“Come here baby girl! You are such a turn on.” I turned my face towards her, searching to kiss her. She met my lips instantly, kissing me with such passion, delving into my mouth with her tongue mashing against mine. We kissed and kissed, my hands stroking down her back, rolling her buttocks in my hands, pushing her very wet pussy to slide against my thigh.
Soon she was reciprocating and rubbing herself against me, sliding back and forth against my skin. Her kisses became hungrier, her heart rate speeding up, her hands moved to my chest to seek my nipples, twisting them in her fingers. I was panting too, remaining unsatisfied from watching her come undone, my body aching for attention.
I laid back on the bed, keeping her upright, twisting my body until my pussy came into contact with hers, she sat across me at an angle, one leg kneeling between mine, her other out to one side. I bent one knee and tilted my pelvis towards her.
“Rub on me Baby. Rub that darling pussy against mine. That’s it…..” I grasped her hips, rubbing her backwards and forwards over my exposed clit, her chafing against mine. She soon got the hang of it, grasping my bent knee pulling herself onto me.
Our hungry pussys rubbed against one another, clit to clit, massaging each other, slurping and squelching as we slipped against each others’ juices. Sophie bucked and drove herself into me, her pelvis mashing down to increase the friction.
Laying looking up at her, riding and fucking my clit was the sexiest sight ever, I was pulling and stretching my nipples, revelling in the pleasure and pain as I rocketed towards climax. Our bodies frenzied, twisting to satisfy each other, faster and faster as our bodies tightened in anticipation of the explosion.
“Ungh….ungh……ungh……ungh….!” Sophie grunted as she drove her clit into mine, pushing for her body to cum.
“Fuck that clit, baby. Fuck…fuck….fuck…..nearly……yes, yes…..!” I was panting as my clit finally reached its goal and my body exploded in a raft of spasms and tingles. Sophie came too, her cunt squirting that delicious nectar of fluid all over my pussy, dribbling down and soaking the quilt.
We slowed our clits rubbing together, moving gently whilst our racing hearts calmed, relishing in the euphoria as we came down. I pulled Sophie down onto me, kissing her all over her face and head, lavishing her with praise and affection.
We both drifted off to sleep, soaked in our own and each other’s juices and sweat, both satisfied beyond words.
How on earth was I going to keep this delightful girl to myself????
TO see this video click below link
https://www.bigassqueens.com/abella-danger-lesbian-porn-with-adrina-chechik-xxx/ | https://medium.com/@admin_11261/abella-danger-lesbian-sex-with-niece-ee7d9b2b1d74 | [] | 2020-04-23 18:54:46.563000+00:00 | ['Porn Star', 'Abella Danger', 'Lesbian', 'Lesbian Sex Story', 'Sex'] |
Unlocking China — The Airwallex And Latipay Story | Unlocking China — The Airwallex And Latipay Story
For this event we have the founders of Airwallex and Latipay along to talk about how they navigated the China market, through partnerships, to establish themselves as regional players in the payments sector.
China’s rapid economic expansion has created a range of opportunities for Australian fintech startups. However, unlocking the opportunity has historically been challenging.
At this month’s Next Money meetup we’ll be joined by Jack Zhang, CEO of Airwallex and Leigh Flounders of Latipay to talk about how they forged partnerships in China.
On the night we’ll be discussing:
why entering the China market is such a big opportunity for Aussie fintech startups;
the challenges Aussie fintechs face when entering the Chinese market;
the strategies Airwallex and Latipay used to build their presence in China;
why Asia is still not considered the primary market for Aussiefintech companies; and how this will change; and
how your startup can become ‘China ready’.
Agenda For The Night
6.30pm — 7.00pm: Doors open — networking and drinks
7.00pm — 7.15pm: Rapid fire intros by Latipay and Airwallex
7.15pm — 8.00pm: Panel discussion and audience Q&A
8.00pm — 9.00pm: Drinks and networking
About Airwallex and Latipay
Latipay
Latipay is a first to market, fully compliant payments platform that provides its customers access to the five main Chinese e-wallets WeChat, Alipay, JDPay, BaiduPay, Tenpay and nineteen main Chinese Banks.
If you are a merchant, education provider or exporter, Latipay makes doing business with China seamless.
Airwallex
Airwallex has developed a platform combining low-cost foreign exchange and payments technologies.
It provides small businesses needing to make cross-border payments with a cheaper alternative to the banks, Western Union and Paypal.
Our Partners For The Night
Events like this can only happen with the support of our amazing partners. For this event they are:
RSVP for the event click the link below 👇 | https://medium.com/fintech-victoria-blog/unlocking-china-the-airwallex-and-latipay-story-80398a910fba | ['Fintech Victoria'] | 2017-04-05 03:52:34.093000+00:00 | ['China', 'Airwallex', 'Fintech', 'Fintech Victoria', 'Latipay'] |
the gardener | look closely
she uncurled the petal
gently
how much beauty
is in the delicate
tracing her fingers down
she paused upon
the sturdy green stem
but what of the strength-
is it not magnificent?
she continued until
her pristine fingers
lay upon the dirt
these- roots and soil
the means of sustenance
that allow the majesty
of a garden
no one ever calls them
“pretty”
we are taught
what to find lovely. | https://medium.com/meri-shayari/the-gardener-a59a64e4551f | ['Rebeca Ansar'] | 2020-12-20 16:36:02.610000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Storytelling', 'Poet', 'Poem', 'Life'] |
Blockchain Report — 12/12/2018. Summary: Coinbase Launches “12 Days Of… | Summary: Coinbase Launches “12 Days Of Coinbase” Initiative; Samsung Is Developing A Cryptocurrency Wallet For Bitcoin And Ethereum Tokens; Security Chief Of DTCC Calls Blockchain A “Systemic Risk”
Watch: Latest Episode of Blockchain Report on YouTube
Coinbase Launches “12 Days Of Coinbase” Initiative
According to Coinbase, Coinbase has decided to launch an initiative called “12 days of Coinbase”. The website states that “Each day at noon PST we’ll announce new features, support for new cryptocurrencies, and more.”
The 12 day of Coinbase will go from December 10 to December 21. For the first day, Coinbase announced that users can now purchase electronic giftcards using cryptocurrency. These giftcards are available for a variety of different products, including Uber, Nike, and others.
This was done through a partnership between Coinbase and and the startup WeGift. Customers who buy electronic gift cards will also receive a bonus on the card of up to 10%.
For the second day of Coinbase, the company announced that they are donating $10,000 in Zcash to Venezuelan families in need. The project will give $1 US. dollars worth of Zcash directly to 100 families every day for 3 months. This was done in partnership with GiveCrypto.org, which was created by Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong.
Samsung Is Developing A Cryptocurrency Wallet For Bitcoin And Ethereum Tokens
According to SamMobile, Samsung is developing a cryptocurrency wallet and it is likely that the cryptocurrency wallet will come included with the Galaxy S10. The digital wallet that Samsung is creating will have two separate parts.
The first part of the digital wallet will be a cold wallet for storing cryptocurrency, as well as public and private keys. It will also have a separate wallet for cryptocurrency transfers, allowing you to view account information and transaction history.
Samsung’s cold wallet app will allow users to import their existing wallets from third-party services such as MetaMask or TrustWallet. The wallet will at first provide support for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum tokens but may include support of other types of cryptocurrencies in the future.
The Samsung Bitcoin wallet will require users to enter a PIN and a fingerprint in order to open the wallet. This will provide a stringent security measure to the wallet to ensure that only the wallet’s owner can open the digital wallet.
Security Chief Of DTCC Calls Blockchain A “Systemic Risk”
According to Forbes, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) stated that blockchain technology is a potential threat to global financial infrastructures. This was stated in the company’s annual Systemic Risk Barometer survey.
DTCC processes $1.61 quadrillion in securities annually. What’s interesting is that despite claiming that blockchain is a systemic risk to the financial institutions, DTCC is preparing to create its own blockchain solution.
One fifth of those surveyed for the DTCC report stated that financial technology innovations presented a systemic risk in 2019. Cybsersecurity was the chief concern of respondents, with 69% of respondents stating that cyber risks were a systemic threat.
This isn’t the first time the leader of a prominent financial organization gave a negative viewpoint on cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, stated that investing in cryptocurrency would “pay off in a dystopian future where they are used in rogue and failed states.”
Do you want daily blockchain and cryptocurrency news delivered directly to your inbox or feed? Sign up today for the Blockchain Report athttp://blockchainreport.tv.
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- Telegram 💬: https://t.me/blockchainreportnews | https://medium.com/blockchain-report/blockchain-report-12-11-2018-e534a104cf0c | ['Christopher Durr'] | 2018-12-12 10:49:30.473000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'News', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin'] |
Nice Guy | “Mom, he’s a nice guy. Yes, he has a car but it’s an old clunker his dad gave him. I promise, Mom, he’s really nice and comes from a good family”.
But I knew better. I’d met his father in the backseat of that clunker when we were young ourselves. | https://medium.com/the-bad-influence/nice-guy-b85fb6f7bcbe | ['Christine Graves'] | 2020-10-21 10:50:11.561000+00:00 | ['Youth', 'Microfiction', 'Gravewriter', 'The Bad Influence', '50 Word Stories'] |
Keeping the Heat On | When it comes to emissions and energy use, we have a tendency to point the finger at large companies and governments to make changes, often falling back on the argument that there is no point in us changing until they do.
The importance of individual actions is typically overlooked in the climate conversation but the choices we make in areas like transport, diet and household energy use have enormous impacts. In order to facilitate true societal transformations, individuals need to be at the heart of it.
How we use energy in the home contributes significantly to global emissions. In the UK, 40% of total emissions come from households and around half of household emissions are from electricity and heating.
Although these choices are so important, they remain an area that lags behind. Switching to green energy providers, installing smart meters to monitor consumption, and upgrading current technologies are all ways to reduce our individual footprints.
However, this is easier said than done. Many net-zero plans by towns, cities and countries rely on the assumption that buildings will be retrofitted. A 2015 study in Michigan focused on offering to retrofit 7,000 eligible households. The process was beneficial to energy efficiency and free, yet less than 1% of households accepted the offer. Even after significant efforts to inform households of the benefits and zero costs, acceptance of the offer only increased to 6%.
These results are interesting because they introduce doubt about useful incentives to drive behaviour change. In some circumstances — like subsidies for electric vehicles in Norway — financial benefits act as a useful incentive, but it’s not always the most important factor.
Another US energy efficiency study illustrates this point. Researchers tested the use of different messaging strategies on energy consumption over a year. Some households were sent messages that gave insights into how much money could be saved, others were sent messages about the impact of energy usage on the environment and children’s health.
Those that received messages about monetary benefits consumed the same amount of energy. Meanwhile, households receiving messages about how the pollutants from energy consumption could lead to respiratory illness in kids reduced their consumption by 18 to 30%. Again, this legitimises the view that making climate change a personal and emotional issue helps to facilitate behavioural change.
A similar approach was taken by research in the UK. In 2008, energy performance certificates (EPC) were introduced across the EU whenever a building was built, sold, or rented. Buildings were given grades (A-G) based upon a score between 1–100. Energy efficiency labels followed a colour-coded system that showed the current efficiency compared with potential, as well as the given grade.
When the researchers analysed 16,000 homes, they found that many properties were clustered at the lowest score of certain categories rather than having a normal distribution as expected. For example, they noticed many buildings had a score of 55, the lowest possible score for the D grade. This was especially prominent in homes that had recently been on the market. They concluded that many sellers had made small energy efficiency changes to move from an E grade to a D, with the expectation this would be reflected in higher property value.
In all these studies, it shows that better education is required to understand energy efficiency and this should certainly be a major focus. They also give psychological insights into how incentives drive behaviour. Whether that’s an immediate financial benefit, higher expected returns in the future from selling your house or learning how health can be improved. It’s very useful to know why people make the choices they make and what would entice them to change.
Having said that, it’s especially difficult to influence people’s home energy use. It’s much easier to understand the impact of your behaviour when you drive or fly, or when you eat certain foods, compared with when you heat or cool a building. They are much more tangible. We can see the smoke from car exhaust pipes and the fuel tank being filled when we sit on the runway, and we can touch the foods we eat.
With heating, we flick a switch or turn a dial, and the temperature changes via pipes we almost never see. To improve this, some have suggested providing showrooms to introduce consumers to smart heating, developing a database to show real-world energy performance and creating tools to compare up-front and running costs to better inform the public.
Regardless, we can’t turn our back on individuals as changemakers. The control we have over our habits is enough to make a significant global change. Taking the initiative in these areas could open the door for larger changes at the corporate and government level to follow our lead. | https://medium.com/swlh/keeping-the-heat-on-51d32d79bfdb | ['Marcus Arcanjo'] | 2020-04-05 18:33:30.375000+00:00 | ['Energy', 'World', 'Psychology', 'Climate Change', 'Environment'] |
The importance of political integrity in eradicating corruption in Indonesia | Political corruption and campaign finance
Despite the successes of the KPK, the heavy task of tackling corruption across Indonesia’s political system remains a challenge. Specifically, rooting out corrupt relationships between state officials, public servants, law enforcement and business people should be a priority.
Political parties must also demonstrate greater commitment to transparency and enforcement of anti-corruption measures, and do more to end impunity. To promote transparency, political parties should be open about their political funding.
Keeping big money out of politics is essential to ensuring political decision-making serves the greater public interest. According to the CPI, countries that perform well on the index have strong enforcement of campaign finance regulations, while countries the perform poorly have weaker enforcement.
Transparent contributions from businesses to political campaigns are important in creating a climate of integrity in Indonesia. The implementation of business integrity systems and anti-bribery management for companies are also critical to the anti-corruption movement.
Recommendations
To make real progress against corruption, the Indonesian government must strengthen the integrity of its institutions, ensure efficient use of public services and improve internal supervision and law enforcement, including police, prosecutors and inspectors. The government must also support and protect civil society and media in their efforts to disclose corruption.
This blog is part of our “countries to watch” series from the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). | https://voices.transparency.org/the-importance-of-political-integrity-in-indonesia-36b6daf38e82 | ['Wawan Heru Suyatmiko'] | 2020-02-10 13:11:21.241000+00:00 | ['Campaign Finance', 'Cpi', 'Corruption', 'Indonesia', 'Transparency'] |
“I’m So Angry, I’m Crying” | “I’m So Angry, I’m Crying”
Do you know the feeling when you’re in a heated argument with someone and your eyes begin to water? You do everything you can to keep the tears at bay because you can’t possibly cry in an argument, right? I know that feeling, too, and today we’re going to take a quick look into why some people feel the urge to cry when they’re angry.
Before we begin, let’s talk about what’s so wrong with crying when you’re angry. You could pin it on the societal pressure, that crying would be a sign of weakness and by doing so when you’re angry and in an argument, you’d be handing power over to the other person. You wouldn’t be wrong. If you were in a professional setting, at work, or at school, it would be seen as very unprofessional if you were crying. You would be seen as someone who couldn’t control their emotions.
Though these are all very valid reasons, they aren’t the reason why I hate the fact that I cry when I’m angry. Picture this:
Let’s say that a certain individual, say Emma, is very angry at a loved one (why a loved one? More on this later) and she has all this pent-up anger inside her. She’s the type of person who would bottle up her frustrations whenever someone did something that would tick her off, but right now the bottle blew up. Emma wants to express her anger and she wants to say some very nasty things to express just how angry she is. She wants to get her point across. Emma takes a deep breath… and starts crying. She struggles to say the words that she wants to say through her tears. Emma’s loved one, who was also quite angry, realizes that Emma was crying. They immediately stop feeling angry and go to comfort her. Emma calms down and the two of them make up.
The problem with this is that Emma still hasn’t said to whoever she was arguing with what it was that was making her angry. She got a few words out there, but they probably forgot because the other person was probably fixated on the fact that she was crying. Since the other person probably has a heart, they won’t let Emma just stand there, crying. Even if the other person did remember to ask Emma what was bothering her, she would merely brush it off because she’s cooled down (remember the fact that Emma is the kind of person who likes to bottle up her emotions). Now that’s another issue we’ll have to tackle later. We’ll start with the actual article now.
So why do we cry?
There is still a lot that we don’t know about emotional crying. Charles Darwin thought that emotional tears were meaningless and that they had no evolutionary advantage. Humans are the only animals to cry emotional tears. What we do know is that crying soothes you. It’s the body’s reaction to intense emotions. Other than that fact, the reason why we cry is still up for debate. There are multiple theories competing and we simply don’t know.
One theory suggests that it’s a cry for help (pun unintended). Much like how babies cry for attention, older humans might as well. Humans are one of the most social of animals and that might explain why we have evolved to cry with emotions.
However, there are no clear links suggesting that crying does much long term good for the body. Most articles you can find on crying states that it is good for the mind and body and that holding back tears is bad. The truth is that there isn’t any conclusive research showing that that statement is correct, so feel free to take everything you read here with a grain of salt.
Photo by M. on Unsplash
Crying When You’re Angry or Frustrated
I personally think that people cry more when they’re frustrated than just plain angry. There is more emotion in being frustrated than angry. If you’ve experienced tears when you’re angry, is it frustration? Though the two are related, they aren’t completely the same.
Imagine a child throwing a tantrum. They’re frustrated about something, so much so to the point of tears. Perhaps crying when you’re angry is a more eloquent way of throwing a tantrum. The difference is that adults and young adults, know how to hold in anger and frustration for the most part.
However, sometimes you will feel the urge to cry. Here are some tips to prevent tears from coming:
Try and stop the tears by calming down . If the reason you’re crying is because you’re angry, then you should try to calm yourself down, enough so that you’re not pushed over the edge.
. If the reason you’re crying is because you’re angry, then you should try to calm yourself down, enough so that you’re not pushed over the edge. Tilt your head back. It’s pretty weird but it works. It will stop the tears from falling and also help you focus on breathing and not on the situation.
After a situation has calmed down, address the issue. You need to get your feelings across to prevent future incidents with the same person over the same thing. Holding back tears is all fine and dandy, but you shouldn’t do the same with emotions.
https://time.com/4254089/science-crying/ | https://medium.com/@fedupglobal/im-so-angry-i-m-crying-ef5fecbe1ada | ['Fed Up'] | 2020-12-27 03:36:57.738000+00:00 | ['Youth Development', 'Anger', 'Emotions', 'Mental Health', 'Fedup'] |
Living in a Chroma | Living in a Chroma
Time I was
monochromatic.
Colorless
Clutch charismatic
Pseudo self
Scene emblematic
embracing
my enigmatic
displacing
scornful stigmatic
erasing
ego’s emphatic
replacing
flourish to static
hold fast
young man
times past
young man
loss vast
old man
dies cast
cold man
move fast
bold man
bloom blast
hues man
contrast
views man
contracts
new man
About the images… the first one I took right around the time I lost around 100 pounds. My body image was so negative I know this now to be from the experience of rape that occurred in my childhood. I decided to take a snapshot of my stretch marks and loose skin and not be ashamed anymore hiding behind the guise of eating and covering up my shame of self disdain any longer.
This is an old poem it has an old style beat quality to it but the message is about redefining myself and painting the truth and loving myself again | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/living-in-a-chroma-648670cecb86 | ['Robert Trakofler'] | 2020-12-15 18:47:18.721000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Poetry', 'Life', 'Art', 'Love'] |
The Last Time I Moved Out | NOTE: This is a story about domestic violence. It is explicit, and graphic, and children are involved.
My whole head burned when I woke up.
Dirty light bled through the basement curtains. The season selection screen for Bubble Guppies was on the television, Mister Fucking Grouper leading a pack of ambiguously non-white fish people. I was sprawled on our microfiber, stain proof, modular fucking sofa that was absolute murder on my back. Both my sons were asleep on my arms, faces showing none of the blistering hours that had led to me stumbling down to the basement with them screaming in my arms. They’d slept some. I’d slept…maybe three hours. Three was hellish, but if I admitted I was probably closer to one or zero hours I’d collapse.
Or I might collapse anyway. Bright flashes of the previous night hammered my head. I had no idea how the fight started, and knew exactly how it started. And once it started, I knew exactly how it would end. And it might not have ended yet.
Either way, it was get up o’clock. And if she started hitting me again before the kids were gone I wasn’t going to be able to keep it together. I was past slipping; I was gone, out of work, exhausted, and everything left was going to the kids.
I gritted my teeth against a groan as I rolled upright. The kids stayed asleep. The older was twisted in a pretzel after a full night of thrashing and self stimming, his dark hair a tangled mess. He was 3, heavily autistic and nonverbal, which was just as well this morning. The younger was just asleep. His hair was fair and far too long, tangled in a way only an enthusiastic 1 year old could make it.
They didn’t stir as I eased myself up. The kids always stayed down when I put them to sleep. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that every time I did, she screamed at me till they woke up in a panic. I closed my eyes against the ragged bitterness, and bit the inside of my cheek. I couldn’t think that now, or feel it. I was barely hanging on as it was, and she had at least a half night’s sleep on me. I needed to make up with her. It was just how it was.
I slunk up the stairs of our big, expensive house, up to the hardwood floors of the ground level. It ran from wall length front windows to an open stainless steel kitchen in the back, with the sort of enormous island sink yuppies bought to pretend to be chefs. I pressed my hands into my face before getting the boys’ cereal out and starting a tea kettle.
Two years prior. I’m wearing elbow length sleeves to cover up my right upper arm, which is black and blue from being hit.
Omelette. It couldn’t be fried eggs, she’d yell at me for that. I put a cast iron skillet on a range the size of a refrigerator and sliced butter into it. Omelette, spinach and feta, cracked pepper, yeah, that should work. Hopefully. I poured white tea into a travel mug, sprinkled more feta over the omelette, set all on a breakfast tray, and brought it upstairs.
The stairs were polished and slick as I carefully climbed to the master floor. I’d slipped on them and fallen more than once. Three bedrooms opened out of the upper hallway, along with another bathroom. The boys’ rooms were both messes, blankets and pillows tossed around while I’d scooped both the kids up sometime before midnight.
The master bedroom door at the end of the hallway was locked. It always was. This was the tricky part: I had to get in, or she’d hit me. But there were precious few ways to get in without enraging her anyway. Knocking was a bad idea; that would lead to a fight about whether I could come in and it would all be for nothing. Texting would be even worse. Ideally she would still be asleep, and I could sneak in and leave it. If I could manage that, she usually stayed in the bedroom till the afternoon. But walking in unannounced when she was awake was the worst of all.
A giggle came from downstairs. 3 had woken up, and I was out of time. I took a deep breath, and slipped a latch pin off of the molding above the door. The lock popped open, I took one step into the bedroom, and froze.
My wife at the time was sitting straight up in bed, glaring at me. Her face was sharp under the skylight, and her brown hair fell over her shoulders onto a yellow USC sweatshirt. Two night stands were beside the king sized bed. Mine was almost bare; I didn’t remember the last time I’d slept the night there. Morning light threw a rectangle across the room as I flinched.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she snapped.
I ducked down, setting the tray just inside. “Sorry,” I muttered. I locked the door again and backed out.
3 was definitely walking around in the basement. I hurried downstairs and found him playing in a ball pit I’d made with sofa segments. 1 stirred at the noise, and the day started. I changed 3 first; hard experience had taught me he had a short timer between waking up and putting his diaper to artistic use. Breakfast was easy to autopilot. Any idiot can feed two small humans, and I was the only idiot who ever fed anyone in the house. I dropped them in toddler seats clamped to the kitchen counter and shoved cereal cups in front of them. The coffee grinder made a red slash through my skull, and I started a pot and slumped down with a cereal bowl of my own.
The boys giggled as I wrestled 3 into his school clothes. Just like every morning, he viewed dressing a personal affront. He drew in his knees to stop me from pulling up his pants. Then he popped open his diaper while I scooped up his shirt. His diaper was wet; a change later, and he squirmed into a ball against the whole process starting over again.
Finally, I got him to kick himself into his pants instead of out of them, and noticed my phone was buzzing. My stomach sank as I saw over a dozen text alerts, with a repeated demand at the end:
Her: Bring my purse upstairs now, or I’m coming down and dumping this tray on your head.
I sighed. The bus was going to arrive in twenty minutes. 3 wasn’t even close to ready, and it sounded like 1 was working on yet another fucking diaper. I had to keep it together and get 3 on that bus.
One year prior. I’ve just hit bottom as an alcoholic, and decided not to kill myself because I can’t leave the kids alone with my then-wife.
My thumb shook as I swiped out a reply:
Will: I’m getting 3 ready for school. Get your own fucking purse
I threw my phone into a sofa cushion, and checked 1’s diaper. He was thankfully dry, although he had a look that said that probably wouldn’t last. I stared at the handful of clothes I’d pulled out of both their drawers, or so I’d thought. 3's hand me downs had long since blurred into his current clothes, and the red haze behind my eyes made it really hard to give a fuck which was which.
A door crashed open upstairs. It was probably going to happen. The warning was a distant echo in my head, lost in a knot of exhaustion and concentration and worry.
I shook my head, and tugged a shirt over 1’s head. Either it was fine, or it was slightly big, which was fine. It wasn’t like he was going to school either. 3 threw himself into the ball pit with a cackle.
The footsteps crashing down the stairs sealed it. She had a certain cadence: heavy footfalls on heels, irregular pacing from skipping steps, occasional slipping. There was only one thing that came next when she did that.
I picked up 1, who squealed and touched my beard. He always liked my beard. When I trimmed it he would be perplexed and slightly anxious, and it always made me smile.
She crashed into the bottom of the basement stairs. Her eyes were wild, unfocused. The first time I’d seen that look, the Twin Towers had still been standing. Since then, she’d kicked me in the gut when I had stomach flu, then stomped on me while I tried to crawl the the bathroom to throw up. She’d shattered glass over my head, punched me till I saw white, stabbed me with a seam ripper, and whipped me with an iphone cord.
She’d done it for fourteen years, and I’d last seen that look five hours ago.
“What are you doing?” I sighed, standing up with 1. Hopefully it would be over soon.
She surged forward, ripping the top off the mug. My eyes widened, and I turned, curling over 1 as she dumped it all on the back of my neck.
I clenched my eyes shut as it all splashed down my bare back and onto my sweat pants. It burned. But it wouldn’t leave blisters. It wasn’t boiling, after all. The room was very quiet. Shouts and screams muffled through my head and I needed to get it together, it wasn’t boiling and that was that.
1 was screaming under me. It could be pain. It could be a burn. It wasn’t boiling, but my son was 18 months old and my wife just threw hot tea on me and hit my son and that was not that, that was not fucking that at all.
I leapt to my feet, and ripped the mug out of her hand. It came away instantly. It was sickening, how easy it was to take. I hurled the mug against the wall, denting the dry wall underneath.
My heart pounded in my ears. My son was crying, both my sons were crying. I hadn’t protected them. I’d gone on living for that one reason, and I’d failed.
I shoved her, backwards and down. She crumpled instantly, like collapsing cardboard. A waterfall of memories drowned everything out, every sound. They all bled into each other, all the screaming and crying and laughing.
Six months prior. We’ve bought a new house and are already overextended, and my pay is about to be cut.
Laughing.
She was curled into a ball at my feet, shaking with laughter. The laugh wasn’t wild. It was spiteful, and hateful, and triumphant. I had her shirt in one fist, and my other was pulled back to punch her, and she was giggling at my feet like she’d won at Monopoly.
Screaming.
1 was screaming. No, he was terrified, making sounds I’d never heard a child make. I turned to him, and saw his eyes. Tears were streaking down his face, eyes bulging. He flung his arms out as us, both, either, none, and screamed. 3 had his hands over his ears, screaming in confusion and panic.
My sons I’d watched first breathe were sobbing in fear of me.
Bile leapt into my throat, and my voice shook as I rushed to 1. I choked on tears and puke as I held him close, whispering I was so sorry, so so sorry, it’s over, it’s over now, I’m so fucking sorry.
I stumbled upstairs. Up more stairs. She was behind me somewhere, I didn’t know, she could be close. I staggered into 3’s room and shoved backwards against the door. His room was bare, all distractions removed except for his bed. An alphabet of assorted craft letters hung on the wall. She’d screamed at me while I painted and hung up every one.
1 was still howling. I took a step toward the bed to lay him down, then the door crashed open into my back. “Put him down, you abusive shit head!” she shouted, lunging at me. I turned away from her, then gritted my teeth as she raked nails into my arms and back.
I shoved back with my body, pushing both of us into the hallway. I grabbed her arm and pushed her towards the master bedroom as she flailed at me, clawing at my arm. “Stay away,” I shrieked. “Just stay the fuck away!”
The giggling started again as I slammed the door behind her. “Daddy’s an abusive shithead, 1!” she called in a lilting sing-song. I bit my tongue to stop crying, and tasted blood.
As I started back down the stairs with 1, she burst back out. She didn’t say anything this time, just raked my back over and over. I could already feel blood welling out as she stared at me from the top of the stairs, suddenly silent.
I stopped at the kitchen, panting, and slumped against a column while I soothed 1. When I shoved myself upright, blood stains were on the pale aquamarine something something wall. I scrabbled in the pantry and grabbed a fistful of fruit snacks, tearing one open for 1 as I went back downstairs.
“It’s over,” I whispered to him. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry you saw that, I can’t change that but it’s over now, it’s over, I’m…”
I turned away and closed my eyes till I could breathe without sobbing. I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t do it at all. I had no plan. I didn’t even have a shirt. And if I left, I didn’t know what she’d do to them.
I’d almost beat the face in of the mother of my children five minutes ago.
1 was munching quietly on fruit snacks. “Nacks,” he mumbled through a mouthful.
I nodded. “Yes, nacks,” I said. I took a deep breath, and walked downstairs with him.
3 was back in the ball pit, shrieking in the not-quite-anger he fell into when he was upset and had no words for it. I set 1 down and offered 3 his own snack bag while I rushed through a diaper change, then his clothes.
When I returned to the kitchen for 3's lunch, blood was running down my arms onto my palms. I sighed, and stumbled back down the stairs to the laundry room. I grabbed a yellow collared shirt out of the hamper, blotted off my back and arms with a dirty towel, and shrugged into it.
Finally, I went back out into the main basement. I snatched 3's empty snack wrapper before he could eat it, and found my phone in the cushions. I dismissed all of the new messages and sent one without looking at the history:
Will: I’m leaving. I’m putting 3 on the bus, packing a bag, then leaving and not coming back.
I dropped the phone, already buzzing with more messages. 3 was finally close to presentable, so I pulled his socks and shoes on and got him into his backpack while 1 lumbered around the basement. As I finished buckling 3’s backpack, she came down the stairs, quickly but not quite there again. Yet.
“Give him here, asshole,” she said. I backed away towards the kitchen, raising my hands in the air. She rolled her eyes and flipped me off before bundling 3 out the door.
As soon as the door closed I hurried up the stairs to the master bedroom, which was locked, because of course it was. I popped it open, grabbed a large duffel bag out of the closet, and stuffed all the clothes from my half of the dresser into it. Then I grabbed more from the closet, till the bag was bursting. I slid all my toiletries into a large side pocket.
10 days prior, on the sofa where it began. My ex is cropped out.
She came back into the room as I was finishing up. “What the fuck are you still doing here?” she snarled. “Get out before I call the cops.”
“I am,” I said.
“Fuck you!”
I waited for her to get out of the way, but she remained in front of the doorway, glaring at me. I sighed, and slid around her with my bag.
1 was wandering around the living room as I came to the ground floor. I pulled my shoulder bag down and stuffed my electronics into it. After I found a phone charger, I slumped against the wall again. My phone was vibrating constantly now; she might actually be calling me. I pulled it out and turned it off before pulling open the pantry and stuffing snack food in my duffel bag.
The doorbell rang as I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket. She hurried downstairs, scooping up 1 before rushing to the door and sliding out without opening it all the way.
“Oh, hi!” she said brightly on the other side of the door. “Let’s go around back!” 1 burbled happily on her hip as she bounced down the stairs.
I blinked as I stared at her walking her mom friend and play date out of view of the front windows. Then I glanced down. My shirt was already spotted through with blood, and my arms weren’t scabbed yet. I snorted bitterly. Of course this was her finale, keeping her friend from seeing what she did to me. She was probably telling her friend I’d hit her. I rubbed my eyes again, then shrugged into the bags.
I didn’t look back as I hauled everything out the front door and through the gate. My back was already starting to ache as I walked across the street to the shitty convenience store that sold unstamped cigarettes. That, at least, was easy. The store staff had once chased each other around the entire block screaming about some sort of love triangle, so a white man covered in blood dragging luggage into the store only merited my usual two packs of American Spirit blues.
Rush hour was just starting up on Armitage Avenue. The sun glared in my eyes as I trudged east, lighting a cigarette. I passed a papered over storefront with a sticker about some campaign for head of Puerto Rican parades. My head was hollow except for how much I despised the hipster dickbag capital of the planet I’d bought two homes in. I finished my first smoke just as I passed the Salvation Army on Kimball, which seemed a little on the nose. But it wasn’t like I was done smoking. Another cigarette, and I was at Kedzie, and white Logan Square showed up with trash on the lawns and hybrids with obnoxious magnets.
One more cigarette, and I was at California, and all hope was lost. California and Armitage was everything wrong with Chicago whites rolled into one horrible intersection: strip malls, SUVs, a quirky barber with secondhand furniture, even a Papa fucking John’s. On the other hand, it also had my favorite pie store; after all, I was a hipster dickbag myself. Also, I was technically homeless, bleeding in several places, and had stopped to cry several times along the way. I felt I was owed pie.
The last place my ex-wife drew blood. Latin, “Never again.” Some of the scratches and bruises are still visible.
It was the least I could do before the gates of hell opened.
Five minutes after I turned my phone back on, she texted me demanding I come back and find her keys. | https://medium.com/@willcaskey/the-last-time-i-moved-out-84e9c2468b69 | ['Will Caskey'] | 2021-07-21 05:02:17.391000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Alcoholism', 'Domestic Violence', 'Divorce', 'Abuse'] |
Blockchain: facts, fiction, and its real potential | “Will blockchain change everything or nothing?” — Marek Kirejczyk at TEDxLazarskiUniversity
The blockchain, the term which is nowadays more and more popular, an emerging technology that aims to disrupt a number of industries. How? Why? This is where the message becomes a bit blurry. We will try to separate facts from fiction on this overhyped technology and present a clear vision of what blockchain might become in the upcoming decade.
Disruptive technologies
Firstly, we need to understand what are disruptive technologies and how they transform industries. These might be things that we know very well, i.e. a digital camera which transformed personal camera market, or smartphones which changed forever the way we use mobile phones.
Initially new technologies make little sense to customer. The performance of disruptive technologies — like amount of megapixels for cameras, computing power for smartphones, or intelligence of virtual assistants — is improving over time. Many years ago the resolution of digital cameras was too low to satisfy consumer market and smartphones were barely “smart”, in fact you could do not much more than just reply to emails. However, it is easy to miss the point. In time when suddenly given technology start to make sense to the consumer as these products are becoming more and more attractive. Kodak would miss that point. In consequence, lose the market and eventually bankrupt as he missed the digital camera revolution, by reacting too late.
“The performance of disruptive technologies is improving over time”
As the years goes by, performance get improved to a point that exceeds the sufficient level. If disruptive products have further progress and exceed the level of acceptable consumer interest, people will not be longer interested in buying them. For example: who in the era of smartphones cares about digital cameras megapixels? Almost no one buys personal cameras these days, because there is a bunch of cameras in every mobile phone. Smartphone themselves achieved a level where very little progress is made year to year. The size of the screen is probably the last important attribute customer cares about. It can not go much bigger from what it is today, as it already takes over 90% of available space.
Distributed cryptocurrency
This all leads us to where blockchain is today. The number of people interest of this technology is growing. However, we cannot find many blockchain based products they could use. The reason is being very early in the game. The truth is blockchain does not make a lot of sense to most of the industries. Yet.
Bitcoin
But let’s start from the beginning: Bitcoin, the very first distributed cryptocurrency. Why distributed? Most crucial feature of bitcoin is its decentralization. There is no company, no institution, no person, no group of people, there is no single server controlling the network. And yet some rules have to be followed. One cannot “print” extra bitcoins, spend money that is not his or her nor spend money twice. It is because the power is diversified among its users. Furthermore, the whole infrastructure is “managed” by volunteer coders and run by an open network of dedicated computers spread around the world.
“One easy way to imagine how bitcoin works is to imagine blockchain as a giant spreadsheet”
The gigant spreadsheet
One easy way to imagine how bitcoin works is to imagine blockchain as a giant spreadsheet. Every row represents one transaction. There are three columns: “from”, “to”, and “amount”. In the first and the second column we have public keys or addresses representing peoples or institutions, (respectively ‘from’ and ‘to’), and in the third we have amount of value transferred in a given transaction. And so bitcoin is a ledger, a distributed database, list of all bitcoin transactions that ever happened.
Ethereum — The next chapter for blockchain
As it was already mentioned, bitcoin is just the beginning. The next chapter for the blockchain is written by Ethereum. The idea behind Ethereum is similar to bitcoin spreadsheet. However, now we can create new kind of transaction that will add a piece of computer code to the blockchain. The code is called a smart contract. When we have this piece of software in the blockchain we are able to not only sent transaction from person to person but also do it from smart contract to smart contract, from person to smart contract and vice versa. In smart contract we can also trigger execution of code— again — via transaction.
“The next chapter for the blockchain is written by Ethereum”
Why do I care?
That sounds like a weird piece of technology. So why would you care? Well, just assume you are deploying a smart contract to the blockchain and sending a small amount of money (ethereum’s ether) to this smart contract and the other person is doing the same. Smart contract can be set to transfer all the money randomly to the one person — you or this other person. We have just build the lottery on the blockchain. We can generalize smart contract, so that anyone can participate in this lottery. If the code is correct there is no space to cheat on this system or on each other. And still: there is no third party (group of people, institution, even a server) controlling it.
Imagine a insurance company operating in this environment. Assume that you and a group of people have put some amount of money to the smart contract. As a participant of the insurance company build on the blockchain you have the same rights as other people who signed the contract. Unfortunately, there is a fire in your apartment. But do not worry, due to “the fund” created in smart contract the money can be withdrawn to cover costs of renovating your apartment. Who pays how much? How much is being withdrawn? How do we know fire really happened in the apartment? All these rules can be encoded into a smart contract.
The bubble
It is impossible to talk about blockchain these days and not mention a bubble. We got over $12 bln raised in so-called ICOs crowdfunding on blockchain for blockchain startups. We have over 1500 cryptocurrencies with market cap over $200 bln. Lots of money in unproven technology, right? Well, we all know it is not a first bubble in the IT industry. You might remember the dot-com bubble which burst in early 2000’ making majority of the .com companies went bankrupt. Nevertheless, in these difficult times there were companies that (barely) survived. eBay, Amazon, Netflix, and Google would be a couple of examples. | https://medium.com/ethworks/blockchain-facts-fiction-and-its-real-potential-a7855a80065b | ['Edgar Czop'] | 2018-07-26 12:43:16.189000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Tedx', 'Ethereum'] |
Top Coding Algorithm — Sorting. Merge Sort, Bubble Sort, and Quick Sort | Top Coding Algorithm — Sorting
Merge Sort, Bubble Sort, and Quick Sort
In this post, we will go through some common sorting algorithms and implement them in python (code).
Merge Sort
Merge sort follows:
MergeSort(arr[], l, r)
If r > l
1. Find the middle point to divide the array into two halves:
middle m = (l+r)/2
2. Call mergeSort for first half:
Call mergeSort(arr, l, m)
3. Call mergeSort for second half:
Call mergeSort(arr, m+1, r)
4. Merge the two halves sorted in step 2 and 3:
Call merge(arr, l, m, r)
There are basically 2 subproblems in merge sort,
Divide the array into 2 halves Merge 2 sorted array
Question 1 is simple, let’s try to solve question 2. How to merge 2 sorted array into 1 sorted array?
Suppose we have 2 sorted array:
a = [2, 13, 32]
b = [1, 5, 11, 22]
Design an algorithm to merge them into 1 sorted array.
The problem is solved by using 3 pointers. i, j, k are pointers for left array, right array and result array.
Take the above array as example,
at the beginning, we initialise the result array as [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0] and i = j = k = 0 then at the first loop, a[0] = 2 > b[0] = 1 , so we fill the result[0] = 1 and move the pointer j of array b to the second element, meanwhile increase result index k by 1 at the second loop, a[0] = 2 < b[1] = 5 , so we fill the result[1] = 2 and move pointer i of array a to the next element, and continue to increase result index by 1 repeat the step until one of the array is exhaustive and in the end we fill the rest of result array with the left elements
Solving this problem solves half of the merge sort, next we just need to recursively imbed the code into merge sort.
The first halve, we split the array into 2 and recursively call merge sort, and the second half we merge 2 sorted array into 1.
Bubble Sort
Bubble sort works by repeated iterating through the array and swap the unordered elements.
Example:
First Pass:
( 5 1 4 2 8 ) –> ( 1 5 4 2 8 ), Here, algorithm compares the first two elements, and swaps since 5 > 1.
( 1 5 4 2 8 ) –> ( 1 4 5 2 8 ), Swap since 5 > 4
( 1 4 5 2 8 ) –> ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Swap since 5 > 2
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) –> ( 1 4 2 5 8 ), Now, since these elements are already in order (8 > 5), algorithm does not swap them. Second Pass:
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) –> ( 1 4 2 5 8 )
( 1 4 2 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 ), Swap since 4 > 2
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
Now, the array is already sorted, but our algorithm does not know if it is completed. The algorithm needs one whole pass without any swap to know it is sorted. Third Pass:
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
( 1 2 4 5 8 ) –> ( 1 2 4 5 8 )
So the key subproblem to solve here is:
Implement an algorithm that is able to swap unordered element pairs in an array.
This should be simple. Besides swapping, at the end of the function it also returns an indicator of whether the array is sorted or not.
Now we just need to wrap the swap in a while loop to sort an array:
Quick Sort
Quick sort follows:
Select a pivot point from the array and put elements smaller than the pivot point on its left, and elements larger than pivot point on its right. For each left and right part repeat the process until the sub-left or sub-right array has less or equal than one element.
The problem is divided into solving repeated subproblems, and the key to the subproblem is:
Implement an algorithm that selects a pivot point, and rearrange the array by the selected pivot point, where the left part is smaller than the pivot point and right part is larger than the pivot point.
Consider an array l = [5, 1, 3] , and low = 0, high = 2 , then
in the first loop, l[0] = 5 > 3 = pivot , nothing was done, l = [5, 1, 3] in the second loop, l[1] = 1 < 3 = pivot , the element 1 was swapped with the first element in the list, and l = [1, 5, 3] , and the index of smallest element was moved by 1: i = 1 in the third loop, same as the first one, nothing was done. in the end we swap the last element with the element at the index i , l[2], l[1] = l[1], l[2] , the result became l = [1, 3, 5]
Now quick sort would be to repeat the process above:
Reference
[1] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/merge-sort/
[2] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/bubble-sort/
[3] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/quick-sort/ | https://meatba11.medium.com/top-coding-algorithm-sorting-afb54cc64f8a | ['Jeremy Zhang'] | 2020-05-22 02:26:46.944000+00:00 | ['Sorting Algorithms', 'Towards Data Science'] |
GeeklyHub Reviews 7 Ways to Get Ready for 2021 | GeeklyHub Reviews
You might be wondering about what will the upcoming year bring along as it comes just like we all do. Nevertheless, our restless team at GeeklyHub decided to think over some helpful ideas that will help you to get ready for 2021. Starting from learning a new language to joining a great online course, the opportunities that you have will make it a great start and will make your life feel different. Of course, we all hope that things will be much better in 2021 and that we shall be able to travel and turn to things that we just could not do in 2020. Keeping this fact in mind, we know what it takes to bring all this dreaming to a new level. | https://medium.com/@geeklyhub/geeklyhub-reviews-7-ways-to-get-ready-for-2021-c8054ca8e737 | [] | 2020-12-22 15:36:16.827000+00:00 | ['2021 Prediction', '2021', 'Planning'] |
Top 10 Best Transformational Leadership Books — How To Become An Authentic Leader — Joelbooks | Whether you have been born with innate leadership capabilities or you have trained to become what you are today, there is always room for refinement. Some people are natural born leaders. They lead in the backyard, their streets, their teams and companies. Some others get there through hard work — at this stage, a little education is mandatory to succeed.
On another note, whether you are pushing to become a leader or you already have a leadership position, learning new strategies and ideas will always pay off. It makes no difference what your status is — there is always a way to refine your mindset. All in all, here are some of the best transformational leadership books to hone your skills.
Principles Of Power: The Art & Wisdom Of Badassery, by Eric Schleien
You could have a leadership position or you could aspire for one — this book is made to help you push yourself. In the first part, the book analyzes a few quotes and inspirational words from world renowned leader — such as Seth Godin or Charlie Munger. It researches their thinking and capabilities.
From that point on, the book goes towards other aspects related to leadership, from the actual permission to lead to authentic relationships. A leader leads in more ways — more importantly, you are supposed to provide an environment for people to create and develop themselves.
Finally, you are also taken through the differences between leadership and management. One can be a leader without actually having a leadership position, yet the two different terms are often used interchangeably.
Motivation, by Gilberto Rosas
Gilberto Rosas will teach you essential and step by step strategies to gain a top notch motivation and stick to it. If you are after the best transformational leadership books, you probably know what it feels like — you set big goals, but you never have the drive to chase them.
Lots of people end up in vicious cycles and this book will teach you how to break them by working on your motivation. Instead of giving you random fluff that no one cares about, you gain access to practical techniques to up your game.
The best way to take advantage of this book? Avoid reading it in one go. Simply go one chapter a day, build up your motivation and momentum. Find out what things you can do today, this week and in the long run.
Off-Centered Leadership, by Sam Calagione
What would happen if some of the largest competitors in the world would start working together instead of competing against each other? Imagine the innovation and the results. The same rule applies within a company and this is what the book talks about.
The book brims with lessons and advice from self-made entrepreneurs, mentors and leaders from all over the world. It is all about goals and the possibility to work together. It aims to help competitors and businesses of all sizes work towards a common goal.
While the book is mostly aimed at business owners, it also gives managers and leaders an insight into a completely different scenario — a different idea that could boost the overall productivity and ensure excellent final results.
The Progress Principle, by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer
What makes a manager so special? Generally speaking, a manager will put the right people together, boost the motivation and productivity in order to create positive emotions. On the other hand, bad managers tend to undermine inner work life.
The bad news is that most managers are bad, even if they do have good intentions. Based on diary entries by employees over seven large companies and 12,000 testimonials, this book is a hands on approach on what would happen if managers stop overlooking important aspects.
The book will teach you how to get over obstacles, improve toxic relationships and get rid of meaningless stuff in your work. You will also learn how to set clear goals and motivate employees in order to reach them.
Continue reading this list on Joelbooks | https://medium.com/@joelbooks/top-10-best-transformational-leadership-books-how-to-become-an-authentic-leader-joelbooks-406ce1924718 | [] | 2020-12-27 19:18:48.507000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Leadership Development', 'Transformational Leaders', 'Leadership Coaching', 'Leadership Training'] |
Finally, Sleep for your Baby | Unfortunately, several incorrect sleep training stereotypes exist — from shutting the door on a newborn 8-week-old baby for 12 hours, to eliminating all night time feedings, to surrendering your family values to a sleep trainer who stays overnight at your home for several weeks — we’ve heard it all.
With all the different parenting philosophies and advice, it’s easy to get lost in a whirlwind of information. No matter what sleep preferences you believe in for your baby, read on to learn what sleep training really is, and what it doesn’t have to be.
Here’s what I’ve learned about what sleep training really means, and what actually works for most families.
1. ‘Sleeping through the night’ is a misnomet
“Sleeping through the night” is the single biggest misnomer in the realm of sleep training. In reality, no human goes to sleep and stays asleep all night. Babies and adults alike usually wake up between 3–6 times each night!When a person (baby or adult) is an independent sleeper, that means they are able to put themselves to sleep from these normal nocturnal arousals. However, a child will only know how to put themselves back to sleep throughout the night if they are able to fall asleep 100% on their own for all naps and at bedtime.
2. Babies may still need nighttime feedings
Sleep training does not necessarily equate to baby sleeping through the night without any nighttime feedings — and sleep training certainly does not mean elimination of nighttime feedings if baby is hungry.
Regardless of the information learned from countless baby sleep books, fellow parents and strangers at the grocery store, the fact remains: A child’s parent and pediatrician are most equipped to decide whether or not that child still needs a nighttime feeding(s).
And parents know their baby best. If a baby is waking in the middle of the night due to hunger, a feeding should be given. For the overwhelming majority of babies over the age of 4 months, more than 1–2 nighttime feedings are not necessary. If your child is a healthy weight and their pediatrician has okay ed fewer or no nighttime feedings, parents can rest assured that most or all of baby’s nighttime wake ups are not directly due to being woken up by hunger.
Finally, if a child is truly waking up due to hunger, then they should feed and fall immediately back to sleep, putting them self to sleep through the rest of the night with relative ease.
If a child is still waking repeatedly at night, it is likely that few or none of the feedings are due to hunger and are instead due to the fact that baby is relying on the feeding to be put back to sleep.
3. Sleep consultants don’t normally invade your home all night long
Another common sleep training myth is that hiring a sleep consultant means the consultant stays overnight in your home and gets paid every hour through the night to work their so-called magic, and teach your baby to sleep through the night. This definitely does not have to be the case.
The vast majority of sleep consultants have one in-person or video conference consultation, usually in the light of day, followed by turning back a personalized plan and being available for follow-up support. A good consultant can gather all the information they need about your family from whichever initial questionnaire they have you fill out, combined with the hour long consultation.
The best consultants are available for heavy follow-up support, especially via text and email, so that they can answer questions, spot issues and tweak the plan if needed.
4. Sleep training doesn’t mean crying it out all night
The biggest elephant in the room when we talk about sleep training is crying it out, or the “CIO” method.
No parent wants to hear their baby cry, especially with all the contradicting and often misleading messages regarding the potential harm it may cause for baby.
In my extensive experience working with babies, protesting during sleep training is usually because baby is frustrated they aren’t getting help to fall asleep. In most cases of sleep training for infants and toddlers, some form of checking in and comforting baby during the falling asleep process is possible.
During sleep training, parents usually commit to not physically facilitating their child to fall asleep, but visits and comfort are almost always okay.
Remember that when a baby is given the necessary space to learn what it feels like to take control over their body and allow them self to fall asleep, they will eventually (and usually quickly) learn how to fall asleep on their own.
5. Newborns cannot follow rigid sleep demands
In most cases, it is not advisable to consider sleep training a baby younger than 16 weeks of age.
Sleep training a baby between 4 to 6 months usually yields the fastest results with the least amount of overall crying, but it really is never too late, nor is there any age above 16 weeks in which it is inappropriate, to sleep train a baby.
The reason we avoid sleep training newborns is because newborns are not always cognitively capable of falling asleep without assistance. Even in cases where a very young infant is able to fall asleep unassisted, they are usually not cognitively able to sustain a regular sleep schedule with regular naps. Meaning, even if a 2-month-old can fall asleep without help, they are not usually capable of abiding by the wake times or nap lengths necessary in order to successfully sleep train.
6. Good sleep routines are not about harsh rules
A sleep consultant’s main role is to guide parents in how to help their child learn to fall asleep without assistance.
If techniques or advice recommended by a sleep consultant make mom or dad feel uncomfortable, the sleep consultant should be prepared to make adjustments according to what works best for the family.
In fact, a good sleep consultant should tell you in significant detail exactly what their sleep program is like before they allow you to hire them. Even when I have clients reach out to hire me on the spot, I always call and speak with them first, outlining my methods and going over what they can expect, so that they go into the process with eyes wide open.
If a parent is not comfortable with a certain consultant’s style, they should keep searching until they find someone whose techniques they feel comfortable with and with whom they feel they can develop a good rapport.
No matter how you slice it, sleep training comes down to one thing: helping your child learn to fall asleep wholly unassisted.
That means going down with their eyes wide open, and falling completely asleep without the help of a parent, caretaker, or other prop such as a swaddle, pacifier or moving car.
Sleep training may take dedication and persistence, but the benefits of having a baby who knows how to fall asleep on his own at bedtime and nap times, and fall back asleep when awoken, is the secret ingredient, and the correct definition of sleep training.
With the proper sleep training methods, the phrase “sleep like a baby” takes on a whole new meaning! Zzz’s…
7.When will my newborn finally sleep through the night?
If you find yourself waking several times each night to soothe your crying newborn back to sleep, you’re not alone. That may be small comfort, but it should offer some assurance that this is perfectly normal. While you may not be getting sufficient sleep, your little one is probably doing just fine.
8.How much sleep is your newborn actually getting each day?
The average infant sleeps 16–17 hours per 24-hour day. That may come as a surprise to a mom who’s getting four hours of sleep herself. You would be justified in asking when all this sleeping is taking place. Unlike older babies and adults, newborns sleep in short three to four hour increments scattered throughout the course of the day.
It’s easy to forget all the work those sleepy little bodies are doing. Your baby’s nervous system is rapidly developing as well as her senses. She’s getting bigger and figuring out how her body works. It may not seem like a big deal to a grownup whose body has done all the growing it’s going to do, but it’s exhausting, and she needs a lot of sleep to keep her strong and healthy.
9.Natural sleeping and nursing patterns are similar
During her first weeks, your baby’s body isn’t attuned to the normal day and night cycle, and she spends more time in REM sleep than in deeper non-REM sleep. Over time, she’ll begin to pick up on the cues that indicate when it’s
time to play and when it’s time to rest, but even then, most breastfed babies will wake in the middle of the night for a feeding. That’s not a sign that your baby is malfunctioning. In fact, her natural sleep cycle is very similar to her natural nursing cycle.A newborn should be nursing 8–12 times per day during the first month and 7–9 times per day by one to two months. That’s about every 1½ to 3 hours. In other words, your nursing baby’s daily agenda may resemble a cat’s: one continuous snooze interrupted just long enough for meals. Good for the baby, but exhausting to mom and dad. | https://medium.com/@paswanaman454567/finally-sleep-for-your-baby-2c302dc19d8f | ['Aman Kumar Paswan'] | 2021-03-19 14:25:07.517000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Children', 'Life', 'Traning', 'Sleep'] |
자율주행, 카메라 vs 라이다 (Camera vs LiDAR) | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/dooadex-tech/%EC%9E%90%EC%9C%A8%EC%A3%BC%ED%96%89-camera-vs-lidar-a157f0f5a00b | [] | 2020-12-06 15:05:34.351000+00:00 | ['Automotive', 'Vehicles', 'Autonomous Cars', 'Lidar', 'Self Driving Cars'] |
Advancements in 3D Printing and the Future of Additive Manufacturing | The primary form of additive manufacturing, 3D printing service in india, has revolutionized the way parts are produced and prototyping is done. Manufacturers and product designers have seen a significant improvement in the speed of prototyping, design and production since Vat Polymerization was introduced. There are many technologies available today that provide a wide range of options for both designers and producers. The central question of 3D printing service is ready for production as technology improves.
What is additive manufacturing?
Additive manufacturing or online 3D printing india is a method in which material can be selectively added to create physical parts. This is different from the traditional computer numeric controlled processes (CNC), which selectively remove material to create desired shapes. Although 3D printing has existed since the 1970s it was not popularized until the 2000s when the open-source movement and crowd funding allowed for affordable printers to be made. Some technologies have been made accessible to the masses. You can now buy a decent 3D printer for $200 that meets or exceeds the makers’ standards. Fuse Deposition Modeling, Vat Polymerization, SLA & DLP, Material Jetting and Powder Bed Fusion are the main 3D printing processes. Binder Jetting, Directed Energy Deposition and Sheet Lamination are also available. Each technology has its advantages and disadvantages. It is a good idea to prototype with a service bureau that offers a variety of printing technologies in order to get the best part possible for your application.
Technology Fuse Deposition Modeling: Heated Extruder that melts and disperses plastic filament in a layer-by-layer bed.
Heated Extruder that melts and disperses plastic filament in a layer-by-layer bed. Vat polymerization (SLA/DLP): UV lights selectively cure liquid resin in a tank. Resin is a photosensitive plastic that crosseslinks and hardens under UV exposure.
UV lights selectively cure liquid resin in a tank. Resin is a photosensitive plastic that crosseslinks and hardens under UV exposure. Material Jetting is Material is selectively jitting from a printer head, and then UV light cures all of the bed. The part is moved down one layer, and then additional material is added.
Material is selectively jitting from a printer head, and then UV light cures all of the bed. The part is moved down one layer, and then additional material is added. Powder Bed Fusion A layer of metal or plastic powder is laid on a flat surface in a heated oven. The powder is then sintered by a laser to create a solid part. After the part is cooled, a layer of powder is added to it.
A layer of metal or plastic powder is laid on a flat surface in a heated oven. The powder is then sintered by a laser to create a solid part. After the part is cooled, a layer of powder is added to it. Binder jetting: This is another powder-based system. It uses a similar inkjet printer’s printer head to deposit a binding solution on a powder bed. As in SLS, the part lowers a layer while more powder is added on top.
This is another powder-based system. It uses a similar inkjet printer’s printer head to deposit a binding solution on a powder bed. As in SLS, the part lowers a layer while more powder is added on top. Directed energy deposition: Like the SLS, the plastic powder is heated in a chamber. However, instead of using a laser for fusion, the inkjet array uses an inkjet array that selectively dispenses a fusing ingredient. This heats the powder to its melting point with heat lamps.
Like the SLS, the plastic powder is heated in a chamber. However, instead of using a laser for fusion, the inkjet array uses an inkjet array that selectively dispenses a fusing ingredient. This heats the powder to its melting point with heat lamps. Sheet Laminate:Compressed sheets of sheet material are bonded together in order to form a 3d part.
Are 3D printers ready for production?
3D printing in india has revolutionized prototyping and reduced the time required for product development for decades. Rapid advances in additive manufacturing have led to new materials and processes that are more efficient, reliable, and more durable. The question remains, however, if online 3D printing services are ready to be used in production. Although it will never be able to match the speed and cost-effectiveness of injection-molded parts, the technology can unlock the constraints of traditional manufacturing processes and allow for new products. Today additive manufacturing is happening and there are many examples of 3D-manufactured parts on scale.
Design
This has changed the way we think about design. Engineering students were able to access 3D printers during their education. Now, graduates incorporate additive manufacturing processes into part designs. Metal sheet forming and injection molding are not the only options. This new approach allows multiple machine and molded parts to be combined into a single, more complex, 3D-printed part. It is also cheaper. GE engineers have reduced 20 parts of a fuel injection nozzle to one part, and since then they have mass produced 30,000 units using metal powder bed fusion machines. Software advancements have made it possible to create complex structures that are both efficient in material usage and provide precise performance characteristics.
Operational software
Operational software has also seen significant improvements that have reduced the cost and improved the performance of additive-manufactured parts. A lot of the work involved in creating a buildfile can now be automated. It used to take a lot of skill to pack parts into a 3-dimensional build tray. The task can be done in a few clicks. The slicing algorithms that break down 3-dimensional parts into 2D layers, then create tool paths or instructions to the printer/laser, have been improved to produce reliable and predictable parts. Service bureaus can now charge more for additive manufacturing by using cost analysis as a standard feature.
Quality Control
Up until recently, quality manufacturing and consistency in additive manufacturing were barriers to mass production. Quality management is essential in the automotive and aerospace industries, where lives are at risk. A new set of tools is available to manage quality. Some of these tools are currently being developed by makenica. | https://medium.com/@makenica/advancements-in-3d-printing-and-the-future-of-additive-manufacturing-bb7577f878a | [] | 2021-12-14 12:46:25.518000+00:00 | ['3D Printing', '3d Printing Service', 'Additive Manufacturing', '3d Printing Technology'] |
Producter Glossary: Digital Product Manager | Focus: Coordinates product lifecycles & vision and roadmaps
Future Product Manager Skills: What Do We Need?
Product managers need a variety of skills. It is essential that they have soft skills (such as leadership, communication, and storytelling) and hard skills (like artificial intelligence, data handling, and familiarity with product management and development tools). It is the role of professionals in the field to find the right mix of these two sets of skills.
In LinkedIn’s ‘The Most In-Demand Hard and Soft Skills of 2020’, AI, data, and UX design are the top three hard skills product managers are looking for in the future. The top three soft skills are leadership, communication, and creativity.
The role of product managers is to lead and make strategic decisions about products. There has been a misconception that product managers are “mini CEOs” of the product they manage. Still, it would be more accurate to describe them as product leaders at the intersection of business, technology, and user experience (UX).
The role entails a strong mix of strategic and tactical activities and facilitates important cross-functional collaboration, most notably between engineering, marketing, sales, and support teams.
The key to developing a unique product strategy and delivering real value to our customers is analyzing the market and the competition.
Responsibilities of a product manager;
Establishing a strategy and vision Defining releases Evaluating ideas Prioritizing features Building and sharing strategic roadmaps Analyzing and reporting on progress
Typical time spent by digital product managers
McKinsey & Company reports that almost 80% of product managers are engaged in design activities. The same percentage also takes part in go-to-market decisions, with half of these also working on pricing decisions. A report by the same organization indicates that “60 percent of product managers are proficient in basic analytics, so they can study metrics and draw insights without the assistance of analysts” (Source).
McKinsey Product Management Index
As a Digital Product Manager, you are at the helm of the product. You will be responsible for ensuring the product is on track, and the product vision has been achieved. You will be responsible for influencing cross-functional teams. It’s a lot of responsibility, and you will have to work with many different people. | https://blog.producter.co/producter-glossary-digital-product-manager-c5258704bb92 | ['Samet Özkale'] | 2021-09-07 07:34:35.471000+00:00 | ['Product Management', 'Product Development', 'Product Owner', 'Digital Product Manager', 'Product Manager'] |
A God obedient to Death. | “The thrill I get when my face in yours I see; The Universe loves Itself through Its Twin. That’s why It multiplies” — MFA. I’m a writer. IG: @mfa.phnx #poetry | https://medium.com/@mfawrites/a-god-obedient-to-death-8268a52e3d4 | [] | 2020-12-22 13:12:14.386000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Prose', 'Concise Poetry', 'Poetry', 'Spirituality'] |
Kids With the Greatest Number of Candies | The Solution
If you didn’t fully understand the instructions the first time reading through, don’t worry — I was confused after reading their instructions too. Essentially, for each element in candies, we need to determine whether or not its value can become the maximum value in the array once the amount from extraCandies is added to it. For each value in candies, we need to fill in an array with true or false depending on whether it can be the maximum or not.
We can come to our solution by finding the current maximum number of candies listed in the given candies array, then looping through candies, each time comparing the current element + extraCandies to the maximum number of candy to determine what we’re adding to our result array.
To start, we can create a result array that’s equal to the length of candies and pre-filled with a false value at each index. During each loop, we can change the value at the current index of result to true depending on the value of the current element of candies. Alternatively, we could create an empty result array and then push true or false into the array as we loop through candies.
Next, let’s find determine the maximum element in the candies array and set it to a variable, which we’ll call max. To find this value, we can use the Math.max() function and use a spread operator on the candies array to allow us to compare the values of its elements without requiring a second parameter.
Now that we found our current maximum amount of candies, we can start looping through the candies array to figure out if any kids have the same or more candies than the maximum amount, after adding the extra candies. As we loop, we just need to add the value of the extra candies to the current element of candies and then compare it to max. If it’s greater than or equal to max, we’ll change the current element of result to true from its original value of false. If the value is less than max, we can move onto the next element without making any changes to result, since the current element is already false.
All we need to do now is return our result array and we’re done! Let’s check out our completed solution, with O(n) runtime.
Problem solved!
You can find this problem on LeetCode — feel free to give it a try!
A girl can dream… | https://medium.com/@jenlindner22/kids-with-the-greatest-number-of-candies-7bf5911302ae | ['Jen Lindner'] | 2020-09-03 22:37:10.221000+00:00 | ['Leetcode Easy', 'Algorithms', 'JavaScript', 'Arrays', 'Leetcode Solution'] |
7-step guide to setting up your first Wordpress website | 7-step guide to setting up your first Wordpress website
So you may be thinking the time has come to finally create your own website. Whether you’re an aspiring freelancer, solopreneur, small business owner, journalist, or just someone who sees value in having an online presence, having a website can be a great way to share your ideas, work, products, or services with the world.
When I started my own career consultancy business in 2013, a couple business coaches I will not mention by name said I did NOT need a website to successfully run a service-based business. However, after spending most of my career in brand management & marketing, I didn’t buy that advice for one second.
Having a website creates a stamp of credibility and seriousness in a way a business card alone cannot. If you want to be taken seriously as a legitimate business owner or brand, you need a website. No question. Without my website, my business would have never been possible, and I’ve seen how having a website has helped my clients relaunch their own careers and businesses.
If you want to be taken seriously as a legitimate business owner or brand, you need a website.
Sounds great, but where do I start?
You might find the idea of having a website appealing, but may have no idea where to begin with actually creating it.
How do I get a domain?
How do I get my site online?
How do I decide on a provider for the services I’ll need?
I know how overwhelming it can seem.
Creating my first website took me AGES. Beyond figuring out the actual mechanics, I also had to select from the hundreds of service providers out there. Then, I had to figure out a way to actually build the thing. I spent countless hours on phone support lines, online forums, and email exchanges with my developers.
Here’s the good news. You absolutely CAN do this.
Take it from someone who’s not super technical with web development. However, I eventually figured it out. From all the hundreds of hours I’ve invested tinkering, reading, and researching to educate myself and my clients on how to do this, I’ll break the process down to make it as easy and painless as possible for you.
This article is not meant to be a completely comprehensive, technical guide. Instead, it’s meant to be a practical, plain language roadmap for non-technical types with a clean, simple path toward creating your first website. I’ll also suggest simple platforms and providers robust enough to accommodate your evolving needs.
Setting up a website is sort of like building a home, so I’ll use that metaphor throughout to clarify what’s going on.
Note, I’ve included a few affiliate links below, but I only recommend services and products I select and trust for my own business only after extensively researching and trying out others.
1. Pick a domain name
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when creating your website is the name of your domain. This is a BIG decision because your domain name will be a big part of your brand identity. Like a business name or house name people see or look up in a directory. You will also use this name across social media platforms.
You need to decide on 2 things:
The “second level domain”. The main identifier or “name” of your site. The “top level domain” (TLD). The letters at the end of a web address. The most common TLDs are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. .CO is also gaining in popularity as an alternative to .COM.
For example, with my site josephpliu.com, “josephpliu” is the second level domain, and .com is the TLD.
Your domain name will be a big part of your brand identity.
For personal branding purposes and control, I recommend securing your FirstnameLastname.com, which tends to provide the most versatility and improve your Google search rankings when people search for your name. The beauty is that your name can serve as an umbrella brand no matter what services or products you choose to offer in the future. So I have josephpliu.com as my main site, although my legal company name is ILUMITY.
If you’re trying to build a personal brand, I recommend you secure your FirstnameLastname.com.
You can check whether your desired domain is available using NameCheap, my registrar of choice (more on registrars in the next step). You should also consider whether the second level domain name you’re planning to use is available across other social media networks, something I describe in Social Media User Names & Domain Names You Should Secure.
If your name isn’t available, you can throw a middle initial in there, something I do myself. I’d avoid hyphens, strange spellings, or unnecessary numbers, which tend to look a bit more amateur and dated.
If you decide NOT to use your own name, and you need some help coming up with a site name, here are some useful tools I’ve used:
Domain name generators like Namemesh help you come up with ideas of available domains based on words you want in your name
like Namemesh help you come up with ideas of available domains based on words you want in your name Username checkers like Namechk allow you to quickly see if your domain name is also available across other social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
like Namechk allow you to quickly see if your domain name is also available across other social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Crowdsource your name with Squadhelp or Crowdspring by running a contest describing your business to get input from Creatives around the world.
2. Register your domain
To secure your desired domain name, you need to register it with a domain name registrar. This “reserves” the name for as long as your registration period, during which you are the sole owner of this domain. It makes things official, and prevents someone else from grabbing your desired name. Sort of like officially claiming your address so no one else can use it. If your idea for a domain is available, I’d grab it right away before someone else does.
There are tons of domain registrars out there. I now use Namecheap for all my new domain registrations and recommend it to all my clients because they offer a user-friendly interface, solid customer support, and competitive prices.
Register domain on Namecheap
I used to use GoDaddy. Their first-year promotional registration fees are lower than Namecheap’s. However, their renewal fees are higher than Namecheap’s. Therefore, if you intend to own your domain for more than 1 year, you’ll spend less with Namecheap. Other reasons why I recommend Namecheap:
WHOIS privacy included : Namecheap offers free site privacy for a year that protects your personal information on public domain records. GoDaddy charges.
: Namecheap offers free site privacy for a year that protects your personal information on public domain records. GoDaddy charges. Reliable DNS : To date, Namecheap’s Domain Name Servers have not been hacked, but GoDaddy’s HAVE been hacked.
: To date, Namecheap’s Domain Name Servers have not been hacked, but GoDaddy’s HAVE been hacked. Custom DNS included : Namecheap offers free custom nameservers (if you ever need them). GoDaddy does not.
: Namecheap offers free custom nameservers (if you ever need them). GoDaddy does not. Email forwarding included : Namecheap does not charge for email forwarding. GoDaddy does, unless it happens to be included in an offer bundle.
: Namecheap does not charge for email forwarding. GoDaddy does, unless it happens to be included in an offer bundle. Simplicity : Namecheap’s dashboard is clean and simple. With GoDaddy, I often got lost amidst their complex screens and options.
: Namecheap’s dashboard is clean and simple. With GoDaddy, I often got lost amidst their complex screens and options. Professional brand image : As a branding guy, I care about brand image. Namecheap has a very neutral brand image, so I can proudly recommend it to clients. With GoDaddy, I didn’t love being associated with a brand often associated with Super Bowl ads featuring scantily clad women.
: As a branding guy, I care about brand image. Namecheap has a very neutral brand image, so I can proudly recommend it to clients. With GoDaddy, I didn’t love being associated with a brand often associated with Super Bowl ads featuring scantily clad women. Fantastic customer service: Although they don’t offer a technical support call center like GoDaddy, Namecheap’s 24/7 online chat and support team are phenomenal. Also, I got tired of GoDaddy constantly trying to upsell me every time I called in. And I do me EVERY time.
3. Purchase web hosting
Once you have your domain and CMS platform selected, you need a place to house your content. That means you need a “host” for your domain. The host provides you with online space where you can build and store your website content. Sort of like a plot of land where you can build your house. If you want total control of your website and maximum versatility, purchase web hosting so you can “self-host.”
You don’t HAVE to buy hosting. For example, Wordpress.com is a free 3rd party site where you can create a free blog or website without having to buy hosting. Wordpress.com is like renting your home on the internet, whereas self-hosting is like owning your home. And as is the case when you rent, while you may be able to hang a few photos and bring in your own furniture, you’re not really allowed to paint, modify, or fully customize your home the way you want. When you own, it’s yours. You can do what you want.
Same with hosting. When you self-host, you can do what you want. Wordpress.com doesn’t allow you to add in things like plugins, which really expand the capabilities of your site. If you self-host, you can add plugins. With Wordpress.com, you’re also stuck with “wordpress” in your domain name (e.g., domainname.wordpress.com) unless you get on a paid Wordpress plan anyway. With self-hosting, you can use any custom domain you own.
If you want total control of your website and maximum versatility, purchase web hosting.
If you’re looking for a good hosting provider, I’d recommend A2 Hosting, the host I use myself because of the excellent speeds, customer service, back-up features, user-friendly interface, and green servers. Several developers also recommended them.
See A2 Hosting Plans
I used to use GoDaddy, and I’ve investigated and trialed many others including DreamHost, Host Gator, WP-Engine, Host Papa (the list goes on). A2 just offered the best combination of service, performance, and value all around. I couldn’t be happier with them. Plus, they’re located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where I did my MBA. Go Blue!
4. Point domain to your Host
This is where things got a little tricky for me, so I’m going to break it down for you. You now need to point your domain to your host. Sort of like directing people who look up your address (your domain) to your plot of land (your host) where your new home will be built.
To do this, go to your domain registrar and set the Domain Name Servers (DNS) of your domain to the Nameservers provided by your host.
Whoa! What? Slow down there, Joseph!
Okay, this process is different for each registrar and host. If you Google “DNS servers + [host provider’s name],” you can likely find instructions on this. With Name Cheap and A2 Hosting, it’s super simple to do in 2 steps.
Step 1: Get your DNS settings from your host. You may receive this in a welcome email, or you can easily find it by searching their knowledge base or asking their customer service team. With A2, it’s super simple. I received the DNS settings in my welcome email, but could also easily look them up in their knowledge base.
A2 DNS settings from knowledge base article
Step 2: Add those DNSs into your domain settings with your domain registrar. For example, with NameCheap, it looks like this:
NameCheap DNS settings
The DNS can take about 24–48 to kick in. If you get stuck, you can always turn to your registrar’s or host’s customer service. They should be able to help.
5. Select a Content Management System
Assuming you want the flexibility to control and update your own website content, you’ll need a Content Management System (CMS). For example, you may want to change a picture or write a new blog post without having to turn to a web developer for every single update. Think of it like your own personal interior decorator or architect to help you erect your house and decorate it as you wish.
For my most my business owner clients, I recommend Wordpress.org. It’s the most popular CMS in the world, something I’ve used as an independent business owner, but also the CMS our design and web agencies used when I managed large, multi-national consumer brands. It’s really the industry standard, and you really can’t beat the versatility, flexibility, and user-friendliness of the platform.
I recommend Wordpress as a Content Management System for its versatility, popularity, and control.
In case there’s any confusion, Wordpress.COM is the free 3rd party site where you can create a free site. Wordpress.org is the actual CMS software you install onto a website, after you’ve paid for hosting.
I drifted from Wordpress for a year, using the New Rainmaker Platform, which ended up being a total nightmare for a whole host of reasons, mostly due to lack of control.
I’ve heard good things about Squarespace (which supposedly takes a lot of the guesswork out of the process), but Wordpress gives you more control.
(which supposedly takes a lot of the guesswork out of the process), but Wordpress gives you more control. Avoid platforms like Wix or Weebly too, which may seem attractive on the surface because they claim to simplify the website building process, but the lack of control and versatility may eventually catch up to you.
6. Install CMS onto your site
Assuming you go with Wordpress, you now need to “install” its CMS onto your site. This creates the basic framework and management system you will use to customize and control your site. Think of it like erecting the frame of your house and getting all the building tools and materials into the garage.
There are automatic & manual ways to do this. You can bring them in one piece at a time, or you can drop the entire thing down in one fell swoop. I prefer automatic because, well, it’s just easier. With most reputable hosts, they provide a “1-click” Wordpress Installation via a system called cPanel, where you can control all the inner workings of your site. You can ask your host provider for these instructions (A2 example).
For example, with A2, I do this directly from my cPanel:
A2 cPanel Wordpress Install
You’ll get asked to specify a few things like your site name, description, and login details (these can be adjusted later) Some hosts also provide other enhancements or options. Be sure to note your Admin Account details, which is how you’ll log in to manage your site.
After you install, your site should then be live. Try typing in your domain, and a basic site should appear.
7. Select a theme & start building
Now that your site is up, you can:
Login- typically, your login page will be something like yourwebsite.com/wp-admin, but if that doesn’t work, you can get the login URL from your host provider. Select a theme- Go to Appearance -> Themes in the side menu, then click “add new” at top. You can go with the default Wordpress theme or select from the multitude of themes offered within Wordpress or consider a 3rd party provider like Themeforest. Create your content- Create some Pages and Posts. Wordpress explains the difference here. If you’re just getting started, a Home, About, and Contact can suffice.
Now, you can start building your site!
That’s it! Okay, that’s actually just the beginning. Now that your basic site is set up, you can begin building up your content, customizing your site, and creating your online brand presence.
I hope this guide has been useful for you, and if you have any questions or feedback on how my process worked for you, I’d welcome your comments. Good luck, and enjoy creating your own personal brand!
Download your website setup cheat sheet
For a summary of these steps, recommended providers, and resources, download your free “Website Setup Cheatsheet” that includes a 1-page recap of these steps.
You can also access the Career Change & Personal Branding Resource Hub for other helpful personal branding and career change tools. | https://medium.com/your-brand/7-step-guide-to-setting-up-your-first-wordpress-website-e89204ccdb06 | ['Joseph Liu'] | 2017-01-02 19:16:15.014000+00:00 | ['WordPress', 'CMS', 'Website', 'Web Hosting', 'How To'] |
Not So Much Glitter and Glitz … | Not So Much Glitter and Glitz …
For This Christmas
We have never been big Christmas decorators. A little here and there, a small tree, a few wreaths, some garlands, and some lights on the outside tree.
I have to say that this year I am having a distinct lack of motivation to get anything decorated at all.
We decided against adding lights to the outside tree since all our neighbours have nice displays so our small display is hardly worthwhile. Also, the small tree in question is a very thorny Sea Buckthorn. Not much fun to get lights in it.
So I got a small, pre-lighted tree and put it in the front window. Small, but a valid token. | https://medium.com/weeds-wildflowers/not-so-much-glitter-and-glitz-ac9e670b007f | ['Louise Peacock'] | 2020-12-09 13:49:04.294000+00:00 | ['Decoration', 'Photography', 'Christmas'] |
Doggone World Bingo: Enjoy your dog adventures | Doggone World Bingo: Enjoy your dog adventures
The Bingo game that will make your dog mishaps more fun
Photo credit: Samson Katt/Unsplash
The holidays will come and go. If you’re lucky, maybe you got a new puppy in your collection of gifts. Or, maybe you were one of the social isolating families who decided to foster a dog or adopt a dog earlier in the year to make being at home a little more fun. But now that you have this new pup at home, you realize there’s more to dog ownership than playing Fetch and snuggling up against all that fur.
Click here for more Doggone World Bingo cards and the Caller Card.
No matter how much dog trainers tell you about positive reinforcement, the importance of dog crates and crate training, and regular exercise, there will be days that your dog will just be plain exhausting. Training won’t happen immediately. Every dog food or dog toy you buy won’t be a hit. You’re dealing with an additional personality who wants to be loved, but (s)he also has a wee bit of a rebellious streak. So the next time your dog does something that leaves you stumped or makes you just want to scream and storm out of the door, consider this Doggone World Bingo game.
If you’re a betting (wo)man, make a game of it with the rest of your family. The first one to spot your dog doing this — without cheating — gets you a point. When you declare “Bingo!” (from real-life experiences, or the traditional way to play Bingo by getting a full row horizontally, vertically or diagonally), the winner doesn’t have to pick up the poop on walks, at home and/or the backyard for the rest of the month. Good luck! | https://medium.com/doggone-world/doggone-world-bingo-enjoy-your-dog-adventures-d7ebc87e45f8 | ['Shamontiel L. Vaughn'] | 2020-12-24 20:08:16.968000+00:00 | ['Dogs', 'Pets', 'Dog Owners', 'Dog Training', 'Board Games'] |
Tips to generate quality backlinks | Links play an important factor to every webmaster as they control the web. With the beginning of Google, SEO start its growth to promote a band on this major search engine and for this backlinks becomes the main element of SEO.
Backlinks
Since generating backlinks is a very crucial process of any webmaster, because you have to be more particular about the links that you have generated. You have to make sure that the links you build are from valid sources and here are few techniques that will help you to generate quality backlinks.
Social Media platform: This method is one of the great and best to get quality backlinks. As we know that many websites and social networking sites have high page rank. This factor is the foremost to gain some link popularity. So wisely try this one as you can find sites with high DA and PA that will surely count towards your backlinks.
Social Media
Article Marketing: Though very old method but it has its own importance in the field of generating quality backlinks. If you want to get some benefits from it then make sure only do article marketing on relevant websites. Don’t promote your brand on some irrelevant website as it harms your brand promotion.
Link Exchange: Very old method but still used by many webmasters to get quality backlinks. The only thing that you need in this process is a separate website, so that you can easily put other people’s link on that.
Link Exchange
Guest Blogging: The backlinks that we built through guest blogging are of high quality and high authority. This is because they don’t publish duplicate contents and are trusted by Google. So it is beneficial to do guest blogging to get backlinks that matters.
Blog Commenting: There is a question asked by many of us that whether or not blog commenting can be used to get backlinks. Blog commenting is a great source of building quality backlinks but there is only one thing that you should keep in mind is post your comments on DO-Follow websites because NO-Follow comments are useless.
If you follow the above techniques you can easily get better results and instant improvement in your ranking. Generating quality backlinks can surely lead to better SEO and which in turn means to get more organic traffic. So build backlinks wisely because all links are not equal. | https://medium.com/nookspot/tips-to-generate-quality-backlinks-29047e9f99dd | [] | 2017-08-19 12:30:17.204000+00:00 | ['SEO'] |
5 Tips on How to Use Your Unfinished Blog Posts to Help You Write New ones | 5 Tips on How to Use Your Unfinished Blog Posts to Help You Write New ones
What to do with all the blog posts that you started and never finished
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
My approach to writing is a little bit messier and chaotic than other writers.
I believe in progress over perfection, forward momentum, bouncing between projects and constantly growing and improving. But this approach to writing lends itself to several unfinished posts piling up in the drafts, and that’s fine, I have space for it and it doesn’t hinder my current or future writing.
In fact, it helps it.
If you’re like me, you probably have a stack of unfinished posts laying around too. This post is for you, and to help you answer the question of what to do with all this raw potential. Because that’s what it really is.
Keep reading to find out what I mean.
№01 Combine and turn into a new post
One great way to make use of all the sort-of-started-but-didn’t-finish blog posts you have piling up is to take a couple, or take several, and find ways to combine them.
Sometimes this will work easily, and sometimes it’ll take some effort on your part.
I’ve found several older unfinished posts that perfectly compliment something I’m working on but needed a little something to feel finished, to feel polished. These older pieces are great sources, either in entirety or with key passages, to perfectly fit the dry parts and difficult parts of current work.
More often than not, we writers write on specific themes and ideas. We come back to these same topics over and over, exploring for greater understanding and also to teach more deeply on the subject. This means that all the unfinished posts were likely some kind of attempt to do the same or similar. And if so, then they likely have some good lines, solid passages, or some perfectly fitting contribution to your latest attempt at the same or similar subject.
This is a win-win for writers, and proof that you really shouldn’t delete things in haste. Let your work sit, even if it feels like it fails short, or you just couldn’t find a way to finish the piece. You never know how useful those words might be to some future pieces.
№02 Find their common theme, combine and turn them into one new post
As was mentioned, we writers tend to explore common themes in our work. Sometimes our unfinished pieces will complement each other well enough to come together as one new piece entirely.
When you feel a bit dry on inspiration, or some piece you’re working isn’t quite panning out for whatever reason, take time to hit pause and explore your collection of unfinished work.
You may find something to help finish or carry your current work along, as we discussed in the previous point. Or, and this can be a fun diversion from the frustration of your current work, you may find some unfinished work that can work together.
Here’s what I do:
Copy the first piece, and create a new document, paste the work there. Copy the second, third, and however many others and paste them over as well Be sure to leave plenty of white space between the copy-pastes, you need wiggle room and room to experiment, and find connections Play around with what’s there, copy lines and passages, paste them into the empty spaces, see what can run together, and take a measure of the shape of the whole Work at it until you have something that begins to look more like one piece instead of a sewn together blog post version of Frankenstein’s monster Rinse and repeat
The creative lifestyle is a constant push to stretch your creative barriers, to find new experiments and to not be afraid to try new and different things. And if you followed my steps above, even if the new piece crashes and burns entirely, it’s ultimately just a copy of earlier work, and the earlier work is still safe. No harm, no foul.
№03 Find their theme, turn them into a series
Follow the same steps from the previous point, except this time, look for the theme that connects them and look for ways to make a series.
It’s a simple trick, but sometimes understanding how your work connects can become its own inspiration and driving power in helping you complete individual posts. Seeing these individual pieces as part of a series helps you see the questions that are driving the collection, and understanding these questions helps you see what is left unsaid, unanswered. Finish these pieces then becomes a simple task of saying what’s left unsaid and answering those questions.
Plus, once you have the series finished, you have several pieces on one common theme that tie together instead of the one you originally sat down to write. It’s a solid win for you and your efforts and a great way to stretch yourself and grow into a more capable writer.
What’s more, your confidence grows too, and I have yet to meet a writer who doesn’t, from time to time, need a little boost in their confidence.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
№04 Learn from them
This might seem like the easiest of tasks on this list, but it’s deceptive in its complexity and challenge.
When you come up against your unfinished work, have the courage to ask why you didn’t finish this work. And then with each answer, you come up with, keep asking more questions of yourself. There are few skills more powerful and better able to transform you and your work than that of honest self-reflection.
Explore why you didn’t finish a piece, look for patterns, and gauge where your interest waned. See if you can better understand these things and then take note if you’ve felt or experienced them recently or in current works.
Learn your lessons, apply them, and grow into the writer your work needs and deserves.
№05 Finish them
Sometimes, all your work really needs is time. And some pieces need more time than others.
If you’ve read enough of my work by now, you know I’m a big fan of letting your written work sit for a while before editing or continuing it. I usually do this from one day to the next, but I’ve had some unfinished work that took well into and beyond a month to finally find the missing parts they needed to be carried to completion.
Finishing your unfinished work can be some of the most challenging and difficult work you do. But, it’s also the most rewarding and satisfying. There’s a simple joy in finishing your work. And what’s more, there is no better way to grow as a writer than to finish your writings.
Next Steps
Stop deleting your work, play the long game, invest in the unfinished work you’ve started but couldn’t quite bring to a finish for whatever reason. Every so often, take a look at this collection, find your next piece there, find some inspiration from something you once had great momentum and passion behind, or find several pieces and find a way to combine them.
The point is this: Don’t be so quick to delete, sometimes your work just needs to sit a while longer, and you need more thinking-time to grow and develop these pieces and explore the powerful potential they already have.
My challenge to you is to explore your unfinished work, see what’s there, what you can work with and start breathing new life into it. | https://medium.com/swlh/5-tips-on-how-to-use-your-unfinished-blog-posts-to-help-you-write-new-ones-5fa50833de18 | ['Gregory D. Welch'] | 2020-02-28 05:35:03.477000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Productivity', 'Writing', 'Inspiration', 'Creativity'] |
In Defense of Ghosting | In Defense of Ghosting
by Hadley Weatherly
Recent neuroscience literature suggests that rejection is experienced in the brain similarly to physical pain, and it seems reasonable to ask that people avoid inflicting physical pain on each other, but just because there’s a poetic truth to a comparison, doesn’t mean that we can treat rejection just the same as a deliberate fork to the eye.
Neuroscience also tells us that the perception of pain differs wildly among people. Chronic pain sufferers sometimes have learned to perceive pain so well that normal or very light touch is received as pain. Feeling like someone is holding a fire to your skin when a doctor lightly touches your skin is a real phenomenon, but damage to your body is different from the perception of damage, and there are situations where some discomfort is unavoidable or even helpful to the person suffering pain.
So it is with Ghosting. The sudden unexplained absence of someone is felt like an unresolvable rejection, it is in our nature as social beings to take it personally, but, while other people’s autonomy is a perceived violence, it’s not an actual violence.
Throughout my childhood, I had sporadic contact with my father. He would be there for me on a weekly basis for months, and then I would hear nothing from him for two years. Sometimes the start of a period of silence would be a planned event, where he had claimed he would drive my little self to music lessons or some other child activity, and the problems would not be only emotional ones of abandonment, but logistical ones about how I was going to get where I said I was going to be, or if I was already there, how I was going to get home.
I understand that this type of abandonment is how people feel when someone leaves you behind whom you’ve known for less than a year. But a valid feeling is not the same as a valid cause for public outcry. A man who stands in a hospital and consents to put his surname on a new person’s birth certificate has some sense of obligation, apparently, to that person, but he only has the amount of commitment he feels like giving.
Ghosting is a weird concept to me. The idea as I understand it is that falling in and out of contact with other adults is fine, if and only if there is transparency about why, including an explanation of what went wrong for both parties to consider for their own self improvement. I do not think that this ask has been considered carefully enough.
The thing is, my father did not always disappear with no explanation. Frequently, he told me exactly what the adult issues were that made him abandon me, what specifically about my mother or my birth was embarrassing to him in his social circles. This information was worse than useless to me, it actively did harm. If he had said nothing, I would still know that he was out of my life, which was the only relevant information to me, about his absence.
His reasons were his, they had no bearing on my life. There was no utility in sharing them with me at that time, or, really, ever. If I had asked far after the fact, fair enough, but I had not. Sharing his flawed understanding of the reasons he popped out of my life for long periods was not helpful. The only thing I needed to know was that he was not a reliable father, and I knew that without his weird justifications around that fact. Had he simply disappeared with no explanation, I would have had just as good understanding of what was happening and each of our roles. In some ways, I would have seen it all more clearly.
Ghosting as a concept is different from abandonment, I think in part because writers know that saying their friends and casual dates ‘abandoned’ them would come off as a little desperate and strange. Also, abandonment implies responsibility, while ghosting can occur in either direction, a powerful person abandons a person to whom they have responsibility to help, but frequently the person with less power is the one accused of ghosting, and the one with more power is complaining of being ghosted, for example, an employer being ghosted by their employee. But let’s leave that heavy emotional example behind and look at how we understand ghosting as a word, with counter examples from other similar situations:
There has been a critical wave against using “Friendzone” as a verb. Let me recap the consensus on friend zone:
As a noun, Friend-zone describes the mental categories any person draws, of some people as friends and others as dating partners. But as a verb, as in “she friend zoned me,” the usage isn’t neutral, it’s an accusation. The implied value behind that accusation is that dating is an expected response and that friendship is an insult. Using this analysis, when we hear “why do I keep getting friend zoned!” it is interpreted as a cry of entitlement to romantic attention.
A mountain of think pieces have been written criticizing the entitlement behind anyone whining about being friend zoned. They say, you aren’t entitled to me because we talked, you aren’t entitled to me because you were nice to me, you aren’t entitled to closure to your satisfaction about why I don’t want to date you. But these same writers will villainize anyone who has supposedly “ghosted” anybody.
Ghosting, like friend zoning, is a verb used by someone who wants contact, applied as an accusation to the object of their interest. It is almost always about dating, but as the word ghost suggests, ghosting includes all parts of existence. Ghosting is now used to refer to leaving a job without notice.
Just like ‘friend zoned,’ there is an imbalance of empathy, the feelings of the rejected are more important than the boundaries of the uninterested. But while friendzone was applied to a wide variety of behaviors, ghosting is applied to a range of situations so broad, even subtle and normal behaviors are labeled as ghosting.
One story about the horrors of ghosting includes a screenshot where the supposed ghoster said “I’m actually very busy this month” before the extended silence. The article analyzing this and other ghosters expounds upon the pain of those ghosted, and imagines emotional immaturity in this liar who is not actually busy. Guides of the “never ghost” school of thought provide a script for setting a more opaque boundary, “I don’t have room for you in my life right now” or “I feel like we have to be on different paths” and so on. But this supposed ghoster did provide a believable explanation for not talking. I’m not sure how repeating that explanation with a condescending tone and a bunch of pseudo-therapist jargon would be any clearer.
I like to watch animal rescue TV shows. Every so often they will get a call for neglect, a thin dog chained up in a yard, and the cameras will hear from those concerned neighbors.
“I hate people like that.”
“Who would treat an animal that way?”
“I used to see that guy play with that dog, what happened?“
We get so caught up in judging people, setting a high standard for conduct and jumping on anyone who falls short, that we punish the weak and miss the obvious. In this case, the dog’s owner is dead. That’s why his beautiful dog was starving on its leash, that’s why the neighbors stopped seeing the owner play with the dog. He died of an accident in his home and was not discovered until the police attempted to contact him about the animal welfare complaint.
Some portion of the people accused of ghosting are like that man, maybe not dead, but, something happened to them.
Of course, that’s often a part of the complaint, that the pain of being ghosted involves imagining something terrible happened, that it’s wrong to make someone worry for someone else’s welfare, or worry that they’ve hurt or offended someone. But I would argue that to be fully human, a person gives the impression of the possibility of being harmed or offended, both normal parts of personhood. It’s disturbing that causing a period of worry or reflection by ghosting someone is framed as almost abusive.
Discarding people, drawing boundaries or withholding information might sometimes happen inside of a wider abusive pattern, but accusing people of wrongdoing after needing space from you is far more controlling and ridiculous. It’s also a little disturbing to worry about someone and then become unhappy when it appears the person is doing well.
“You made me worry about you as a real person who could be hurt, and then made me consider that it’s possible that I’m not perfect and that I was in the wrong somehow, and you’re such a mastermind you manipulated me into doubting my ethical perfection without saying anything manipulative at all.”
Sometimes the ghosted party is correct in thinking that there was something between them that was severed. But always, the ghosted party is incorrect in believing that they deserve an explanation for why that potential relationship is no longer being pursued.
Speaking of advice, etiquette and articles, have you ever looked up the advice on exit interviews? For writers of career advice columns, the consensus is, you probably shouldn’t give an exit interview: it’s not confidential, it’s a waste of your time. Think about why you left the job, and then think if you really believe that your feedback will result in a better workplace for others, when it did not have that result when you actually worked there. This advice is nearly universal. Those that do have some advice for someone wanting to do an exit interview also come with specific warnings. One article suggested postponing the exit interview in order to compose answers that would be really helpful for people in your future situation but unlikely to burn bridges. But in the world of relationship bloggers the advice is just the opposite. Postponing or forgoing explanations is a terrible behavior for some reason.
There are a lot of essays advocating that people shouldn’t have to make their partner grow or change during a relationship, but apparently the reverse is true when a person doesn’t want a relationship. After it has ended, the person declining contact apparently has a responsibility to maintain unwanted contact long enough to help the other person grow. You may guess that I have a problem with this on emotional and philosophical terms, but there’s a practical problem as well.
In general usage, ghosting has slid in meaning from “No contact, with no explanation” to “No contact, with an explanation that I don’t believe.” In practice, this is bad news for people who don’t want to share their personal reasons to want space, but it’s very annoying for people who were telling the truth, people who actually are busy, who have organization or memory problems, who had something come up that changed their priorities. At least someone with a genuine dislike has the option of giving in airing that issue (against their better judgement,) but the person with no issue at all is subject to an eternal loop of this conversation:
“Oh, sorry, I was really busy.”
“Am I giving off some bad vibes? Did I do something wrong?”
“Sorry I didn’t see this message, I’m really busy.”
One time, a friend of a friend added me on Facebook, and continuously invited me out on Friday nights. I mention that he is upper middle class, because he was free on the weekends, while at the time, I worked in a service job at a restaurant, which would never give me a Friday or weekend day off unless I requested it months in advance. Each Friday he would invite me out and I would explain that I was working, and then he would suggest several times over the weekend for us to see each other, and each time I would make the “excuse” that I worked very long and disgusting days and didn’t do anything after work, that I was working or commuting to work during the times that he suggested.
His messages became increasingly needy and sad, while mine became more perfunctory and bored. I decided to get candid when it occurred to me that he saw me out on weekends in the past. I explained plainly that those events were things I got time off for, months in advance, but that in general, I would be unavailable on weekends and Fridays. And then he invited me out on a Friday and I said I was busy.
“I hope I’m not giving off some kind of vibe…?”
“Does it bother you that we’re poly?”
“Can you just be honest with me?”
So, if you’re a “never ghost anyone, ever!” true believer, what is your mature reply in this situation? The true reason why I was not hanging out with this man was shared with him, many times. When I told him that we had opposite schedules, he not only did not listen, but transformed everything I said into some debate on his likability, or the ethics of his polyamorous marriage, things about which I have no opinion, things I never brought up, but he imagined I was bringing up constantly. Would his life, or my life, be improved if I told him he was too insecure and inconsiderate to be my friend? If the fiction that he built in his head was so robust against the information that I worked on Fridays, why would it be any better if I shared my amateur psych analysis of the weird things he said to me?
Speaking of the advice of therapists, I uninstalled Facebook for a few months, ghosting him and anyone else who left me a message there during that time. Obviously I did know that he was pretty likely to take this as a personal rejection, since he had taken every shift I worked as a personal rejection. It isn’t that I have no sympathy for this man, it’s also that I had no time or ability to help him. My sympathy only served to prolong the issue. We’re all insecure people and we all read into what people say to us with that insecurity adding layers that may not actually exist for the other person. People are often annoyingly oblivious to differences of economic status and cultural priorities. But I don’t have control over his insecurities. I can trigger them but I cannot resolve them. A post about how I was taking time off of social media for my mental health would surely be more loaded for him than “I am working Friday” had been.
And the above situation is a bit wacky, but about as low stakes and ordinary as it gets. If it was okay for me to ghost this guy, then surely no one owes anyone an explanation for their decision to not continue a conversation — which of course, is my position. In relationships with higher stakes than my economic failure to get coffee with this man, it’s even more important to accept people’s boundaries without explanation or questioning.
Talk begets talk. With our phones in our hands and fast reliable connections, that’s even more true today. A person with a compelling and dangerous reason to distance themselves from you is better off not telling you what that reason is, most of the time.
What do you think would happen if I had a friend and said to them, “I don’t want to hang out with you because this friend of yours is dangerous and obsessed with me.” I can tell you the most likely outcome: they would mention this to their very nice friend and get to the bottom of this thing in the interests of fairness and justice. The only thing you can say to someone if you want them to say nothing, is nothing.
Is there any scenario where it’s safe to tell someone, for instance, “You make me feel physically unsafe?” How about “I blame contact with you a flare up of the stress related symptoms of my chronic illness?”
Those examples may seem extreme, hyperbolic, and maybe cruel or even paranoid or false. But reality is sometimes extreme. And feelings can often be that way, too. Feelings toward other people may be hard to express or wrong to express, they may be logically unfounded or unfair. The example that someone is unsafe, that someone is cruel and just talking to that person is contributing to an illness, could be misguided while still being a good reason not to keep hanging out.
For example, an ordinary decent conversation could cause an emotional reaction because it reminded you of a traumatic dynamic with another person. That emotional perception might be wholly unfair to throw onto another person, but it would be equally unfair to keep trying to hang out with that person and reliving that trauma, if you could both spend your time elsewhere with no problem, perhaps productively processing the trauma rather than reliving it and blaming a friend for that.
The argument goes, that these are special cases, extreme circumstances, and that outside of these, we should be mature and transparent about our feelings. But everyone has a background and a history, a different language and expectation for conduct interpersonally, every human being is a special case.
Emotional transparency can be a part of a mature relationship, but demanding other people become mature on your schedule isn’t healthy, it isn’t kind, and it’s also fairly silly, like yelling at the clouds for being in the sky.
Nobody knows why we click with some people and not others. There’s no science behind why friends fall into and out of the ability to flow and comfortably exchange ideas, and there’s hardly any vocabulary for discussing it. We are so accustomed to stretching the tenets of talk therapy into every second of every day, so addicted to dramatic transparency, that we now require people to share information that is categorically unknowable.
The very idea of ‘ghosting’ is that individuals have a responsibility to have a very rare self knowledge about who they want to talk to and why, and then considers it wrong for the person to keep that information to themselves, even knowing that it’s almost certainly going to offend the person they don’t want to talk to.
I know it hurt when someone suddenly disappeared from your life. But now imagine, prior to that disappearance, you got a text. “Sorry I didn’t reply yesterday. I didn’t want to.” Puzzled, you ask if this is a joke. It is not a joke, and there is a clarifying text, that this person doesn’t want to ever talk to you. Is your problem resolved? Are you any less curious about what happened to your relationship with this person? I think we would all do best to consider that people’s fear of vulnerability is not the problem, that their lack of transparency is not the problem.
Friend zone as a verb also places the agency on the party doing the zoning and not the party who wants to be more than friends. So, while the typical usage is “I asked her out but she said we could be friends” it is also used in situations like “I want to ask her out but she has totally friend zoned me.” In the first case, the wants and behaviors of the two parties are different, one asks for dating and the other declines. But in the second case, both parties have not expressed interest in dating, and then one of them complains about being friend zoned, even though both of them have consistently acted like friends. In that situation the entitlement switches from “I want my affection to be reciprocated” to “I want to be pursued without pursuing.”
Being “ghosted” often happens in exactly the same way. The accuser often made very little attempt to reach or check in on the person, and really both parties are guilty of falling out of contact.
Before people started carrying phones around with them, this language was different, because you had to be in the room with someone to know that you were definitely being ignored. Being snubbed was rude, but there were fewer snubs that could be happening at any given moment. A person could casually fall out of contact with a circle of friends and leave several ongoing conversations hanging, the resulting confusion would be more likely to be along the lines of “What ever happened to him?” If you arranged a hookup with a person you didn’t really know, you hardly expected to keep chatting. But now apps advertise connection where sex pretends to be companionship and companionship lies about having some thrilling connection to sex, now the expectations and the results are all jumbled by the process, and yet we try to adjudicate it by trying the individual as wrong.
Every time someone deletes a blog or uninstalls an app where conversations happen, an act of ghosting happens. And several ongoing conversations, people who thought they could really be friends, who thought they were meaningfully flirting, may also feel they have been ghosted, may take it personally even if it had nothing to do with them. And, the thing is, being ghosted really doesn’t have anything to do with you. If one person gets a creepy vibe off of you, you’ll meet other people who would think that vibe is ridiculous and probably based in a larger societal prejudice, and both of those impressions belong to the people who hold them, and tell more about those people than about you. Even if the person who ghosted you does blame you for something or is withholding a specific narrative about why you can’t talk, it still does not actually have to do with you. You should change and work on yourself based on your own read of the situation, or maybe the advice of a qualified professional, whatever goodbye text you are missing would probably be a very poor guide to handling the pain of disconnection and rejection.
What can you do to stop getting ghosted? Stop making articles with snippets of the text of the last conversations you have had with people. Instead of having villains who ghosted you, have former friends and one night stands. Instead of declaring how you’re entitled to an explanation you’ll accept, say that you just haven’t heard from someone in a while, which is the truth. Accept people’s autonomy, that their good judgements and unfair prejudices aren’t for you to know. Know that closure is about your own decisions about what lessons to create or ignore about this stranger whom you used to know. | https://aninjusticemag.com/in-defense-of-ghosting-fc83f9f625bd | ['Reese Weatherly'] | 2020-12-25 14:14:30.436000+00:00 | ['Ghosting', 'Ethics', 'Dating', 'Friendship', 'Social Media'] |
Well thought out article, thanks for the insight into the nature of the gig economy. | Well thought out article, thanks for the insight into the nature of the gig economy. That of subsidized services on the back of financially indentured workers, who often can’t see the long term economic impact of the gig until it’s too late. It will only get worse as more automation changes the nature of work. There will be more workers than jobs. If you want your basic needs met there will be even more competition driving prices down for workers but up for owners. This will become true for more and more types of work.
Traditionally I’ve been a strong advocate for capitalism and entrepreneurship, but the economic engine of today is for winner take all network effects, and lots of losers. Even Micro-winners get purchase by tech giants, who then consolidate more of the idea/market space or kill the competition. Innovation should be available at all levels of society and rewarded, not just in Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Surely we have the tools today to imagine such a society and then create one.
My thoughts are we need to push for guaranteed income experiments, well educated citizenry, personal data with market choice and compensation, and then work toward direct democracy in all the largest economies. Would these policies stabilize markets, wages and freedom?
Our economic and political systems are young less than a few hundred years old. They are not the only way to structure human society. We need to be open to new ideas, and encourage experimental policies, communities and government structures. Then we can design based on evidence, not just political narratives, or human biases and tribalism. Think about these issues when you vote and inform politics to get long term change.
My discourse is finished, thanks for reading. I’m working on longer articles to expand on these ideas, clap if you want to hear more. | https://medium.com/@dudley_74850/well-thought-out-article-thanks-for-the-insight-into-the-nature-of-the-gig-economy-32a35f851e80 | ['Dudley Fagan'] | 2019-04-12 15:49:28.720000+00:00 | ['Future', 'Tradition', 'Gig Economy', 'Ideas For Change', 'Automation'] |
Investor Perspective: Josh Kopelman (First Round) | Josh Kopelman
It’s been a while since we last discussed lessons learned from top venture investors. Today, we’ll dive into First Round Partner Josh Kopelman‘s investor perspective on all things early-stage startups, discussed on the Dorm Room Tycoon Podcast with William Channer. Kopelman started off as a tech entrepreneur, co-founding Infonautics Corporation, which he took public in 1996; founding Half.com, which was acquired by eBay in 2000; and co-founding TurnTide, which was acquired by Symantec just six months later in mid-2004. That year, he co-founded First Round Capital with the goal of reinventing seed-stage investing. Since then, the firm has invested in over 300 tech startups, making them one of the most active investors in the space. Below are some of the best takeaways that he’s gathered over his nearly three decades in the early-stage tech space.
1. The Best Product Doesn’t Always Win. It is very rare that you have a founder working on something in isolation–more often than not, there are 3–5 different groups of founders working on the same variant of an idea at the same time. While a product may be superior to its competition, it may never make it off the ground due to it not having the right team, customers, or overall strategy. Which brings me to the next point…
2. All About the Founder. When looking at investments, almost all of the focus goes towards the entrepreneur, rather than the product or business plan. Kopelman notes that business plans are just a prediction of the future, and jokes that virtually all of them are “wrong.” What is worth putting a lot of energy into, however, is trying to understand all of the decisions that the founder has made that led them to their current product and business plan. Kopelman focuses on how the entrepreneur adapts to change, and how they act and react. This is not to say that he completely disregards the product; rather, he views it as a lens to understand the decisions that the founder previously made. As such, Kopelman’s investment process is typically a few weeks rather than a few days so that he can get to know the entrepreneur and begin to build a partnership.
3. Introductions. When assessing inbound deal flow, introductions are more than just validations from current connections–in many ways, they indicate the scrappiness of an entrepreneur. From Josh Kopelman’s investor perspective, being a successful entrepreneur is about trying to figure out how to open doors that you don’t know how to open. If you can figure out how to get an introduction to a VC you’re going after, it is more likely that you can find and convince top talent to join you on your journey; that you can figure out how to convince press to write a good story about your startup rather than the thousands of others they see; that you can figure out how to land customers who are being bombarded with other pitches; that you can get financing for the next round. If an entrepreneur fails to find an introduction, it can indicate that he or she may have trouble opening doors for the company down the road.
4. Room for Innovation. Kopelman used the example of PayPal’s early days competing with Wells Fargo and eBay to highlight the opportunity that startups have to compete with incumbents. One of the reasons that PayPal was able to beat out these larger players was because of their ability and mobility to focus solely on the customer, rather than satisfying to various large stakeholders (and lawyers), as was the case with Wells Fargo and eBay. When startups grow organically after a seed round, they have the opportunity to experiment and perhaps take risks that larger players aren’t willing to, increasing their chance of significant disruption.
5. Valuations. Josh Kopelman’s investor perspective is that a company’s valuation is a reflection of two things: the size of the opportunity, and the amount of risk in the opportunity. As a company develops, they de-risk the opportunity by showing that there is a strong team that can execute the plan and make pivots if necessary and that they are able to attract customers and revenue. In turn, the company’s valuation goes up. Additionally, Kopelman recognizes the value of experienced founders: second or third-time founders are able to command a premium versus first-time founders.
Kopelman closed the podcast with a message to founders: with all of the question marks and daily decisions that have to be made, starting a company is extremely lonely. Go out and find a community of peers to help and support you on your entrepreneurial journey. Furthermore, when taking on an investment from a venture firm, you will in many ways join their network–make sure to partner with the right fund for your company. | https://medium.com/@jlissak/investor-perspective-josh-kopelman-first-round-a5f2f75a5ddf | ['Joseph Lissak'] | 2020-02-20 00:20:05.918000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Investors', 'Venture Capital', 'Tech'] |
My Karate Black Belt Essay | I’ve been studying karate for 19 years, and this was written for my second Black Belt promotion. To advance and get a new belt, you have to take a test and write an essay. This essay was rejected because it wasn’t typed and because I wrote it as a comic. They explained to me that if they accepted this essay, then everyone would want to do a comic. | https://medium.com/spiralbound/my-karate-black-belt-essay-8b2db8893fa4 | ['Tom Daly'] | 2018-08-01 13:51:00.883000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Comics', 'Karate', 'Life', 'Tom Daly'] |
Tampa || Miley Cyrus Superbowl Live,Stream Kansas City Chiefs vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers_Today | How to watch Super Bowl 2021: Live stream online without cable, TV channel, time for Chiefs vs. Buccaneers NFL game.
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Super Bowl Sunday 2021 is right around the corner and the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to play in football’s biggest game. NBC Sports has you covered with TV channel information and every live streaming option on Roku, Apple TV and more for Super Bowl LV. Plus, find out where to watch the game for free and options for anyone without cable TV.
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and the 14–2 Kansas City Chiefs are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions after last year’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Mahomes threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions, while Travis Kelce scored one touchdown on six receptions. This year, Mahomes will go up against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to PointsBet, the Buccaneers are favorites over the Chiefs. Click here to bet on the game. Follow ProFootballTalk for more on the 2021 NFL Playoffs as well as game previews, recaps, news, rumors and more leading up to Super Bowl 2021.
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RELATED: Where does Tom Brady rank amongst quarterbacks with the most Super Bowl wins?
The Weeknd will perform this year’s Super Bowl halftime show at around 8:00–8:30 p.m. ET. R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan and country singer Eric Church will perform a duet of the national anthem prior to kickoff, while Grammy-award winning artist H.E.R. will sing “America the Beautiful.”
What channel is the Super Bowl on this year?
CBS will broadcast this year’s Super Bowl with Jim Nantz and Tony Romo announcing the game. Check your local listings to see what TV channel CBS is in your area. For those without access to CBS, you can watch the game for free on your phone or connected devices with the CBS Sports App or on CBSSports.com, as well as with the NFL App and the Yahoo! Sports App. In addition, the Super Bowl can be streamed live other ways with services such as FuboTV, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV and AT&T TV.
According to The Verge, this year’s Super Bowl will not be broadcast in 4K or HDR by CBS.
RELATED: Check out the full 2021 NFL Playoffs schedule including scores, recaps and more here
NBC was originally scheduled to broadcast the 2021 Super Bowl, with CBS airing the 2022 Super Bowl. However, the two networks decided to swap years in order for NBC to have both the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics in 2022.
How to watch Super Bowl LV
When: Sunday, February 7, 2021
Kickoff time: 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT)
Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
TV Channel: CBS
How to watch, live stream: Super Bowl halftime show
Follow along with ProFootballTalk and NBC Sports for Super Bowl news, updates, scores, injuries and more
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What are Super Bowl Squares and how do they work? | https://medium.com/@superbowlfreestreams/tampa-miley-cyrus-superbowl-live-stream-kansas-city-chiefs-vs-tampa-bay-buccaneers-today-b487fcf38b15 | ['Super Bowl Live'] | 2021-02-07 10:10:36.204000+00:00 | ['Free', 'Superbowl', 'Stream', 'Live', 'TV'] |
JavaScript prototype pollution: practice of finding and exploitation | If you follow the reports of researchers who participate in bug bounty programs, you probably know about the category of JavaScript prototype pollution vulnerabilities. And if you do not follow and see this phrase for the first time, then I suggest you to close this gap because this vulnerability can lead to a complete compromise of the server and the client. Chances are that at least one of products you use or develop runs on JavaScript: the client part of the web application, desktop (Electron), server (NodeJS) or mobile application.
This article will help you dive into the topic of prototype pollution. In the sections JavaScript features and What is prototype pollution? you will learn how JavaScript objects and prototypes work and how the specifics of their functioning can lead to vulnerabilities. In the sections Client-side prototype pollution and Server-side prototype pollution you will learn how to search for and exploit this vulnerability in real-world cases. Finally, you will learn how to protect your applications and why the most common method of protection can be easily circumvented.
Before proceeding to the next sections, I suggest that you open the developer tools and try out the examples given with your own hands in the course of the article, in order to gain some practical experience and a deeper understanding of the material.
JavaScript features
The prototype pollution vulnerability is unique to the JavaScript language. Therefore, before dealing with the vulnerability itself, we need to understand the features of JavaScript that lead to it.
Object
How do objects exist in JavaScript? Open the developer tools and create a simple object containing two properties.
We can access the properties of an object in two main ways.
What happens if we try to access a nonexistent property?
We got the value undefined , which means the property is missing. So far so good.
In JavaScript, functions can be treated like normal variables (for more information, refer to first-class functions article), so object methods are defined as properties, and in fact they are. Add the foo() method to the o object and call it.
Let’s call toString() method.
Suddenly, the toString() method is executed, even though the o object doesn't have a toString() method! We can check this using the Object.getOwnPropertyNames() function.
Indeed, there are only three properties: name , surname , and foo . Where did the toString() method come from?
Object prototype
JavaScript is minimalistic in terms of the number of entities. Almost any entity is an object that includes arrays, functions, and even class definition! We’ll stop here more detailed in the classes.
In JavaScript, there are no classes in the common understanding of the most programmers. If you have not previously encountered classes in JavaScript but have experience using classes in other languages, then the first thing I suggest is to forget everything you know about classes.
So, imagine that you have two entities: an object and a primitive (number, string, null , etc.). How can you use them to implement such a convenient feature of the classes as inheritance? You can select a special property that each object will have. It will contain a reference to the parent. Let's call this property [[Prototype]] . Okay, what if we don't want to inherit all the properties and methods from the parent? Let's select a special property from the parent from which the properties and methods will be inherited and call it prototype !
There are several ways to find out the prototype of an object, for example, by using the Object.getPrototypeOf() method.
We returned nothing more than Object.prototype , which is the prototype of almost all objects in JavaScript. Making sure that this is an Object.prototype is easy enough.
When you access an object property via o.name or o['name'] actually does the following:
The JavaScript engine searches for the name property in the o object. If the property is present, it is returned. Otherwise, the prototype of the o object is taken and the property is searched for in it!
So it turns out that the toString() method is actually defined in Object.prototype , but since when creating an object, its prototype is implicitly assigned to Object.prototype , we can call the toString() method for almost everything.
The parent, in turn, can also have a prototype, the parent of the parent, too, and so on. Such a sequence of prototypes from an object to null is called a prototype chain or prototype chain. In this regard, a small remark: when accessing a property, the property is searched for in the entire chain of prototypes.
In the case of object o , the prototype chain is relatively short, with only one prototype.
The same cannot be said about the window object.
By the way, the word “prototype” in JavaScript can refer to at least three different things, depending on the context:
Internal property [[Prototype]] . It is called internal because it lives in the "guts" of the JavaScript engine, we only get access to it through the special functions __proto__ , Object.getPrototypeOf() , and others.
. It is called internal because it lives in the "guts" of the JavaScript engine, we only get access to it through the special functions , , and others. The prototype property: Object.prototype, Function.prototype, and others.
The __proto__ property. A rare and not quite correct use, because technically __proto__ is a getter / setter and only gets a reference to the prototype of the object and returns it.
What is prototype pollution?
The term prototype pollution refers to the situation when the prototype property of fundamental objects is changed.
After executing this code, almost any object will have an age property with the value 42 . The exception is two cases:
If the age property is defined on the object, it will override the same property of the prototype.
property is defined on the object, it will override the same property of the prototype. If the object is not inherited from Object.prototype .
What can prototype pollution look like in the code? Consider the program pp.js .
If an attacker controls the parameters a and v , they can set a to '__proto__ ' and v to an arbitrary string value, thus adding the test property to Object.prototype .
Congratulations, we just found prototype pollution! “But who in their right mind would use such constructions?” — you may ask. Indeed, this example is rarely found in real life. However, there are seemingly harmless constructs that, under certain circumstances, allow us to add or change the properties of Object.prototype . Specific examples will be discussed in the following sections.
Client-side prototype pollution
The client prototype pollution began to be actively explored in mid-2020. At the moment, the vector is well researched when the payload is in the request parameters (after ? ) or in a fragment (after # ). This vulnerability is most often escalated to Reflected XSS.
It is quite possible that the payload can be not only passed in the request parameters or fragment, but also saved on the server. Thus, the payload will work every time and for every user who visits a certain page, regardless of whether he visited a malicious link.
Finding prototype pollution
Let’s try to find prototype pollution on a vulnerable site https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/known.html . The easiest way to do this is to install the PPScan extension for Google Chrome and visit the vulnerable page.
We can see that the counter on the extension equals two now. This means that one of the payloads worked well. If we click on the extension icon, we will see payloads demonstrating the presence of a vulnerability.
PPScan extension in action
Let’s try one of the payloads with our hands: click on the link https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/known.html?__proto__[polluted]=test , open the developer tools and check the result.
Great, the payload worked! Unfortunately, the client prototype pollution itself does not pose a serious danger. You can at best use it to make a client DoS, which is treated by updating the page.
Impact and gadgets
On the client-side, the escalation to XSS is the most interesting. The JavaScript code that can be used to escalate prototype pollution to other vulnerability is called a gadget. Generally we have either a well-known gadget, or we have to search for gadgets on our own. Searching for new gadgets takes quite much time.
Using existing gadgets
First of all, it makes sense to check the existing gadgets in the BlackFan/client-side-prototype-pollution repository or in the Cross-site scripting (XSS) cheat sheet.
There are at least two ways to check known gadgets:
Using the Wappalyzer plugin.
Using a script fingerprint.js.
Let’s use the second method, but first we’ll understand how it works. Usually, the gadget will define specific variables in the global context, by the presence of which you can determine the presence of the gadget. For example, if you use Twitter Ads, you will probably use the Twitter Universal Website Tag, which will define the twq variable. The fingerprint.js mostly checks for specific variables in the global context. I borrowed the gadgets and their corresponding variables from BlackFan/client-side-prototype-pollution.
Copy the script and execute it in the context of the vulnerable page.
fingerprint.js shows that the page has a Twitter Universal Website Tag gadget
It looks like the page has a Twitter Universal Website Tag gadget. We find a description of the gadget in BlackFan/client-side-prototype-pollution, most of all we are interested in the PoC section with a ready-made payload. Trying out a payload on a vulnerable site https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/known.html?__proto__[hif][]=javascript:alert(document.domain) .
Successful operation of prototype pollution with the help of a well-known gadget
After a couple of seconds, the coveted alert () appears, great!
Finding new gadgets
What should we do when there is no gadgets? Let’s go to https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/unknown.html and make sure it's vulnerable to prototype pollution https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/unknown.html?__proto__[polluted]=31337 .
However, this time the fingerprint.js didn’t find the gadgets.
fingerprint.js didn’t find the gadgets
Despite the fact that Wappalyzer reports the presence of jQuery, this is a false positive due to the jquery-deparam library that is used on the site https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/unknown.html .
False positive response from Wappalyzer plugin
There are several approaches to finding new gadgets:
filedescriptor/untrusted-types. At the time of writing, there are two versions of the plugin: main and old . We will use old because it is simpler than main . This plugin was originally developed for DOM XSS search, details can be found in the video Finding DOMXSS with DevTools | Untrusted Types Chrome Extension. pollute.js. How this tool works, as well as what vulnerabilities it allowed you to find, can be read in the article Prototype pollution — and bypassing client-side HTML sanitizers. Search with your hands, using the debugger.
Let’s use the first approach. Install the plugin, open the console and go to https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/unknown.html . By and large, the filedescriptor/untrusted-types extension simply logs all API calls that can lead to DOM XSS.
We use the filedescriptor/untrusted-types plugin to search for new gadgets
In our situation, there are only two cases. Now we need to check each case manually and see if we can use the prototype pollution to change any variable to achieve XSS.
The first is eval with the this argument, which we skip. In the second case, we see that the src attribute of some HTML element is assigned the value https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/hello.js . Go to the stack trace, go to loadContent @ unknown.html:17 and we see the following code.
This code loads the s script. The script source is set by the scriptSource variable. The scriptSource variable, in turn, takes the already existing window.scriptSource value, or the default value "https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/hello.js" .
This is where our gadget lies. With prototype pollution, we can define an arbitrary property on Object.prototype , which of course is a window prototype. We try to add the value Object.prototype.scriptSource = , to do this, go to https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/unknown.html?__proto__[scriptSource]=https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/alert.js .
Successful operation of prototype pollution with a new gadget
And here it is our alert() ! We just found a new gadget for a specific site.
You may say that this is an artificial example and you will not find this in the real world. However, in practice, such cases occur because the construction var v = v || "default" is quite common in JavaScript. For example, the gadget for the leizongmin/js-xss library, which is described in the "XSS" section of the article Prototype pollution - and bypassing client-side HTML sanitizers, just uses this construction.
Edge case
In addition to the usual vectors __proto__[polluted]=1337 and __proto__.polluted=31337 , once I came across a strange case. It was on a one big site. Unfortunately, the report has not been disclosed yet, so no names. My private search plugin prototype pollution reported a vulnerability, but it was not possible to reproduce it using normal vectors. I sat down to sort out what was going on. The vulnerability has already been fixed, but we have a duplicate.
Navigate to https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/bypass.html?__proto__[polluted]=1337&__proto__.polluted=31337 . Open the developer tools and check whether the vulnerability has worked.
It looks like the vulnerability didn’t work, but let’s look a little deeper into the source code.
The already familiar function deparam is called with the argument location.search . Let's look at the function definition.
We immediately understand that we are dealing with minified code, so it will be more difficult. Next, we notice the familiar lines "__proto__" , "constructor" and "prototype" . Most likely, this is a black list of parameters, which means that the developers have already tried to fix the vulnerability. But why did the plugin find a vulnerability? We understand further.
Further understanding of minified source code in statics is extremely difficult, so we put a breakpoint on the line h = h[a] = u < p ? h[a] || (l[u + 1] && isNaN(l[u + 1]) ? {} : []) : o . Set the breakpoint on the line shown below. Why exactly on it? The fact is that the plugin noticed prototype pollution on it, that's why to start with it seems to be most logically. Reload the page and get into the debugger.
Looking for a fix bypass using the debugger
Now we see a construction that can lead to a vulnerability: h = {}; a = "__PROTO__"; h = h[a] = ... . Why the vulnerability doesn’t work? The fact is that __PROTO__ and __proto__ are different identifiers. The next idea was to figure out exactly how the blacklist is applied and try to find a workaround. After a few hours of working with the debugger, I understood the internal logic of the function: toUpperCase() is applied to words from the blacklist, and tried to bypass this operation, but the attempts were unsuccessful.
I decided to look at the bigger picture to deal with the code that I haven’t seen yet. Among anything that could help with the crawl, only one line remained.
At first glance, this string handles arrays (for example, a[0]=31&a[1]=337 is parsed to a = [31, 337] ). If you look closer then ordinary objects (for example, b=42 ) are also processed by this line. Despite the fact that this code does not lead to prototype pollution directly, it does not use a blacklist, which means that this is a hope for circumvention!
I remember a case where prototype pollution was fixed in a similar way (blacklist __proto__ , constructor , prototype ), and another researcher bypassed this and was able to change the properties of the toString type, eventually DoS. My first idea was to change the includes() method to return false . But then I realized that I can only add a string, and when includes is a string and we make a call () on it, an exception occurs ( includes is not a function ) and the script does not work further.
After that, I remembered that arrays in JavaScript are ordinary objects, and therefore array elements can be accessed through square brackets.
Following this, I got the idea that you can first put __proto__ in an array element, and then access this element through the index, thus bypassing the blacklist.
Setting a breakpoint on the line aaa.utils.isArray(i[a]) ... . Trying out the payload https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/bypass.html?v=1337 , get into the debugger, click "Step over next function call". As a result, i[a] = o is executed, we check the value of i .
What happens if you specify __proto__ instead of v ? Trying out payload https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/bypass.html?__proto__=1337 , this time i[a] = [i[a], o] is executed and we check the value of i .
Whoa! The result is a very fancy object, but the most important thing is that this object will be used when parsing the following parameters! How will this help us, you may ask? The answer is literally one step away.
Remove the previous breakpoint and add a breakpoint on the line h = h[a] , on a potentially vulnerable construct. We will also add another parameter to the payload https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/bypass.html?__proto__=1337&o[k]=leet . We get into the debugger and check the value of h[0] .
Suddenly, we have access to Object.prototype ! To understand why this happened, let's remember that (1) array elements in JavaScript can be accessed by using square brackets, and the index can be a string, (2) if the property is not found on the object, the search continues in the prototype chain. So it turns out that when we execute h["0"] , the property "0" , which is not present on the object h , is taken from the prototype h.__proto__ and its value is Object.prototype .
So if we change o to 0 , then we can add a property to Object.prototype ? Disable breakpoints, try https://ctf.nikitastupin.com/pp/bypass.html?__proto__=1337&0[k]=leet and check the result.
I think you’ve already figured it out for yourself.
Server-side prototype pollution
It all started with the Olivier Arteau — Prototype pollution attacks in NodeJS applications , prototype-pollution-nsec18. Oliver discovered the prototype pollution vulnerability in several npm packages, including one of the most popular lodash packages ( CVE-2018–3721). The lodash package is used in many applications and packages of the JavaScript ecosystem. In particular, it is used in the popular Ghost CMS, which, because of this, was vulnerable to remote code execution, no authentication was required to exploit the vulnerability.
Finding prototype pollution
Without source code, this class of vulnerabilities is quite difficult to detect and to exploit. The exception is when you have a CVE and a ready-made payload. But let’s say we have the source code. What places in the code should you pay attention to? Where is this vulnerability most common?
What language constructs are prone to the vulnerability?
Most often, prototype pollution is found in the following constructs / operations:
recursive merging of objects (for example, jonschlinkert/merge-deep)
cloning an object (for example, jonschlinkert/clone-deep)
converting GET parameters to a JavaScript object (for example, AceMetrix/jquery-deparam)
convert .toml or .ini configuration files to a JavaScript object (for example, npm/ini)
We can trace a pattern: those operations that take a complex data structure (for example, .toml ) as input and convert it into a JavaScript object are vulnerable.
Dynamic analysis
Let’s start with dynamic, as it is easier to understand and apply. The algorithm is quite simple and is already implemented in find-vuln:
Download the npm package. Call each function in the package, with a pagelode as an argument. Check whether the vulnerability has worked.
The only drawback of find-vuln.js is that it doesn’t check constructor.prototype and therefore misses some of the vulnerabilities, but this gap is easy enough to fix.
Using a similar algorithm, I discovered CVE-2020-28449, CVE-2020-28450, CVE-2020–28460 and a vulnerability in the merge-deep package. I reported both vulnerabilities via Snyk. With the first one, everything went smoothly, but with the second one, a funny situation came out. After sending the report, the maintainer did not get in touch for a long time, and as a result, GitHub Security Lab found the same vulnerability, managed to reach the maintainer earlier and registered it ( GHSL-2020–160).
In general, making small changes to find-vuln.js even now you can find vulnerabilities in npm packages.
Static analysis
This type of vulnerability is difficult to find with a simple grep, but it can be very successfully searched with CodeQL. Existing CodeQL queries actually find prototype pollution in real packages, although at the moment not all variants of this vulnerability are covered.
Impact
Let’s say we found a library that is vulnerable to prototype pollution. How much damage can this vulnerability cause to the system?
In a NodeJS environment, this is almost always a guaranteed DoS, because you can overwrite a basic function (for example, Object.prototype.toString() ) and all calls to this function will return an exception. Let's look at the example of the popular expressjs/express server.
Install the dependencies and start the server.
And in another tab of the terminal, we send the payload.
As you can see, after sending the payload, the server loses the ability to process even simple GET requests, because express internally uses Object.keys() , which we successfully turned from a function to a number.
In a web application, often you can spin up to remote code execution. Normally, this is done with the template engines. The details of the operation can be found in the articles below.
Mitigation
There are different ways to fix this vulnerability, let’s start with the most popular option.
Field black list
Most often, developers simply add __proto__ to the blacklist and do not copy this field. Even experienced developers do this (for example, the npm/ini case).
This fix is easily circumvented by using constructor.prototype instead of __proto__ .
On the one hand, this method is easy to implement and often enough to fix the vulnerability, on the other hand, it does not eliminate the problem because there is still the possibility of changing Object.prototype and other prototypes.
Object.create(null)
You can use an object without a prototype, then modifying the prototype will not be possible.
The disadvantage is that this object can break some of the functionality further. For example, someone might want to call toString() on this object and get o.toString is not a function in response.
Object.freeze()
Another option is to freeze Object.prototype using the Object.freeze() function. After that, the Object. prototype cannot be modified.
However, there are a few pitfalls:
Dependencies that modify Object.prototype may break.
may break. In general, you will have to freeze Array.prototype and other objects.
JSON schema
You can validate the input data against a predefined JSON schema and discard all other parameters. For example, you can do this using the avj library with the additionalProperties = false parameter.
Conclusion
JavaScript prototype pollution is an extremely dangerous vulnerability, it needs to be studied more both from the point of view of finding new vectors, and from the point of view of finding new gadgets (exploitation). On the client, the vector is not developed at all when the payload is saved on the server, so there is room for further research.
In addition, JavaScript has many other interesting features that can be used for new vulnerabilities, such as DEF CON Safe Mode — Feng Xiao — Discovering Hidden Properties to Attack Node js Ecosystem. Surely there are other subtleties of JavaScript that can lead to equally serious or more serious consequences for the security of applications.
Acknowledgments
First of all, I would like to thank Olivier, Michał Bentkowski, Sergey Bobrov, s1r1us, po6ix, William Bowling for their articles, reports and programs on the topic of prototype pollution, which they shared with everyone. Without them, the study would hardly have begun :)
Sergey Bobrov and Mikhail Egorov for collaboration in the search of vulnerabilities.
For proofreading, feedback and other assistance on the article, thank you to Alyona Manannikova, Anatoly Katyushin, Alexander Barabanov, Denis Makrushin and Dmitry Zheregelya.
References
Examples:
Misc: | https://infosecwriteups.com/javascript-prototype-pollution-practice-of-finding-and-exploitation-f97284333b2 | ['Nikita Stupin'] | 2021-05-23 19:52:50.461000+00:00 | ['Information Security', 'JavaScript', 'Bug Bounty', 'Prototype Pollution'] |
FAQ — Futourist KYC, Whitelisting and Token sale Frequently asked questions | If you’ve been following us for the past few weeks you know that we’ll be holding a token sale in a few days. To make the experience as pleasant and easy as possible for everyone that wants to participate, we’ve prepared a guide to answer some of the most common questions you might have. If you have any other questions we haven’t answered below, please join our Telegram group. In case you haven’t submitted the KYC form yet, you can do that on kyc.futourist.io.
When will the Futourist Token sale start and end?
There will be three stages to our token sale: limited pre-sale, unlimited pre-sale and the crowdsale. First phase will begin on February 20th at 17:00 CEST (16:00 GMT) and the last phase will end on March 20th at 17:00 CEST (16:00 GMT). These dates are now final. In case the hardcap is reached sooner than the end of the last phase, the crowdsale will end early. You can read more about the rules of our token sale in this blog post. The blog post includes overall description of the token distribution, funds distribution, revenue model, KYC and other topics.
Know Your Customer (KYC) and Whitelisting
Due to demands made by regulators, banks and exchanges, the “Know your customer” procedure (KYC) will be obligatory for every investor — for those investing in the pre-sale phases, as well as those investing in the public crowdsale phase. The KYC form is available now: kyc.futourist.io. Read more about the KYC procedure in this blog post.
If you want to check the status of your KYC application, understand where to get the pre-sale ETH address or get other information about the KYC, then read this post.
Do not trust any ETH addresses you might see on Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, Bitcointalk, Instagram, Reddit or other channels. The only place where the real Futourist ETH address will be visible is kyc.futourist.io, once you are successfully verified.
What are the crowdsale threshold and hard cap? What will the price of the token be?
There will be a threshold of €700,000 and a hard cap of €5.6 million.
The price of the FTR token is fixed at 0.016€. ETH price will be set and disclosed right before the pre-sale starts.
Which currency can I contribute?
You can send your contribution in Ether (ETH) only. If you hold any other currencies, you can convert them into Ether on an exchange.
Do not send funds directly from exchanges!!!
Use a private ERC20 enabled wallet like MyEtherWallet, Jaxx, Parity, Mist, or MetaMask to send the funds to the contribution address found on our website. If you send Ether directly from an exchange, your FTR tokens will most likely get lost.
Why can’t I contribute directly from an exchange wallet?
Exchange wallets are unable to receive crowdsale tokens. If you contribute from an exchange, tokens sent to you might get lost! That is why it is important to use a ERC20 compatible wallet.
Hardware wallets like the Ledger Nano S or Trezor are OK. In order to see the FTR tokens on your hardware wallet, you will have to connect your hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor…) to a service like MyEtherWallet. There, you will be able to see and transfer FTR tokens. It’s recommended you connect your hardware wallet to MyEtherWallet straight away.
One of the most common wallets is MyEtherWallet (MEW) so if you don’t have a hardware wallet or other ERC20 wallet yet, you can go to their website and follow the rules on how to create their wallet from scratch.
How and when will I receive my FTR tokens?
Your FTR tokens will be sent to the ETH address instantly upon receiving your ETH contribution in our token sale. Your tokens will be visible on your wallet, but will not be transferable until 20th of March 2018 (see the FAQ question below). Again, don’t send funds from exchanges.
How many FTR tokens will be available for sale?
350 million (35%) of the total token supply (1 billion FTR) tokens will be available in the token sale.
How will the funds and tokens be distributed?
This is the breakdown of our planned token distribution:
- 40% for the community,
- 35% for the crowdsale,
- 17% for the team (27 month vesting period),
- 8% for future projects.
And this is the breakdown of raised funds distribution:
55% for product development and UX,
20% for marketing and PR expenses,
15% for administrative and legal expenses,
10% other, unforeseen expenses.
When can I trade FTR tokens?
Tokens will NOT be transferable out of your wallet straight away. The tokens will become transferable on 20th of March, 2018 (official end date for the token sale). This locked period is there for the exchanges to have time to implement the support for our token.
Futourist team is working very hard to be listed on some exchanges. We will publish the news immediately after it is official. If you subscribe to our newsletter or join our other channels, we’ll let you know when FTR tokens will start trading on exchanges!
Does Futourist have any advisors and experts?
Of course! We partnered up with people who have proven track records and a vast amount of experience:
Tim M. Zagar — CEO of ICONOMI
— CEO of ICONOMI Alexander Vasylchenko — CEO of Sofitto and former CTO of Mycelium,
— CEO of Sofitto and former CTO of Mycelium, Michael Amy — former United Nations WFP AI software consultant,
— former United Nations WFP AI software consultant, Zenel Batagelj — Head of Team strategy at Cofound.it,
— Head of Team strategy at Cofound.it, Primož Kordež — Token model expert.
Our advisors with president of NEM foundation and CEO of Kraken
If you have any additional questions, join our Telegram group and ask away.
You are more than welcome to watch our latest video: https://www.facebook.com/futourist.io/videos/1571602792946696/
Join us on Social Channels:
Webpage
Bitcointalk
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Medium
Youtube | https://medium.com/futourist/faq-futourist-kyc-whitelisting-and-token-sale-frequently-asked-questions-5ca4b00e02f0 | ['Ziga Luksa'] | 2018-02-17 19:36:33.952000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Fundraising', 'Crowdfunding', 'Travel', 'ICO'] |
$DIRTY was listed on CoinMarketCap today. P2PB2B listing announced. Why it will outperform BTC, ETH and BNB | $DIRTY was listed on CoinMarketCap today. P2PB2B listing announced. Why it will outperform BTC, ETH and BNB Dirty Finance Jun 8·2 min read
On a day that finds Bitcoin in the red along with BNB and Etherum, $DIRTY is holding strong and at times 100% up for 24hr. I think the superior increase will be a common occurrence in the future as we gain more listings and exposure. Cmc listing happened after three applications, and a lot of hard work behind the scenes but thankfully was approved today and are celebrating. we have had a lot of interest because of the cmc and volume has gone above $150,000+. In the long run $DIRTY will likely outperform BTC, ETH & BNB in % gains on initial investment at this point of entry, as the market cap for Dirty Finance is under $2,000,000 and the hentai genre (worth billions every year) we have chosen is unrivaled in the NFT market, the potential is huge and we hope to capitalize on that.
Dirty finance is proud to announce its new CEX listing as P2PB2B, it has(as i write this) over 2.5B+ 24hr Volume. $DIRTY will be listed on Friday 11th June and time is yet to be confirmed so make sure you join the telegram https://t.me/DIRTYFIN or Twitter https://twitter.com/financedirty to keep up to date with the news. As we gain more listings the market reach and availability to the common crypto user will increase, and give us more potential investors, and more brand impressions.
Overall it has been a successful week at $DIRTY and next is the staking to be added to the website as discussed in previous articles. This is taking slightly longer than first anticipated and we apologise for the delay. we are working as hard as we can to get it completed as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading and investing.
website: www.dirty.finance
Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/dirtyfinance/
Facebook: Fb.me/dirtyfinance
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCH7mghzzClHuTUSZ8son4Fg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN5SGJlnHMk/?igshid=1v2o7ceaq2vxj
Twitter: https://twitter.com/financedirty
Uniswap: https://info.uniswap.org/token/0x4faB740779C73aA3945a5CF6025bF1b0e7F6349C
Discord: https://discord.gg/vXcMgaHCu3
Telegram: https://t.me/DIRTYFIN
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] | https://medium.com/@dirtyfinance/dirty-was-listed-on-coinmarketcap-today-b90800e78bd9 | ['Dirty Finance'] | 2021-06-08 22:18:42.200000+00:00 | ['Eth', 'Btc', 'Bnb', 'Crypto', 'Listing'] |
Android w/o DI — Update. All about the Flow | Android w/o DI — Update
All about the Flow
Photo by Fabio Bracht on Unsplash
In the original post, I used a BroadcastChannel in my AppStream to send messages between different parts of the application. Since Kotlin 1.4, I would suggest that you use the SharedFlow instead.
I’ve done the switch in my applications due to two reasons.
It is designed to replace the BroadcastChannel completely. Simplifying the code so that everything is a Flow. not forcing developers to know the Channel API.
If you want more reasons, I’d suggest you take a look at this link: https://kotlin.github.io/kotlinx.coroutines/kotlinx-coroutines-core/kotlinx.coroutines.flow/-shared-flow/.
I’ve also updated the example code to use this in a branch named “feat/sharedflow” to reflect those changes.
Here is the updated AppStream, which is the only piece that needs updating for the switch to happen. | https://medium.com/swlh/android-w-o-di-update-58a218f7139b | ['Bob Dahlberg'] | 2020-12-01 15:48:04.569000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Architecture', 'Kotlin'] |
Risk Management for Large Systems | (Part 1 of 3)
The ability of Enterprises to stay current and competitive depends on maintaining the agility of their largest systems over time. Research confirms that systems which have low defects and those that can easily test new changes are much cheaper to support and maintain. Achieving large-system agility then should be a huge win-win!
Making decisions with the so-called “iron triangle” trade-off between cost, speed, and quality is misleading and incompatible with the research showing a quality-first mindset allows simultaneous improvement of all three dimensions.
The key is adopting practices that actively promote modular system architectures, continuous change, and drastically reduce risk via continuous testing and feedback.
“These reductions in schedules and costs, or course, are due to the fact that finding and fixing bugs has been the #1 software cost driver for over 50 years.” -Capers Jones
Modern Software factories adopt practices proven for “continuous change” of applications. As these factory-like practices become more common, the pursuit of speed and agility for larger, more diverse efforts is the next open question.
For Example, How do multiple factories collaborate effectively?
Why do small systems grow into larger systems, but cannot maintain this speed and agility?
Large existing systems become significantly more challenging and costly to improve and manage over time. A major factor in this trend is when a large system grows, the increasing number of complex dependencies and nuance require more and more regression testing to ensure changes do not introduce bugs. This results in systems growing for a time, but eventually becoming stagnant, overly complex, and very hard to enhance in meaningful ways.
Respondents to a 2013 Forrester Research survey of IT leaders at more than 3,700 companies estimated they spent an average of 72% of their budgets on just keeping-the-lights-on functions. According to Gartner, operating costs have continued to increase: from 67 percent of IT budgets in 2013 to 71 percent in 2017. How long will it be before maintenance is all a system can afford to do?
We are already at that point for many US Government systems. In 2016 the US Government Accountability Office found that 5,233 of the government’s almost 7,000 IT projects systems were spending “all of their funds on operations and maintenance”. Clearly this is a strategic issue for a majority of large “systems of systems” today.
As “systems of systems” grow and dependencies rise, the factory approach breaks down at a certain point. This is because the minimal scope of change for such systems grows and the corresponding risk of unintended defects also grows. The success of a brittle system actually becomes it’s achilles heel because defects and outages have a bigger and bigger impact merely due to growth. These risk factors (Increasing Scope of change and Increasing Risk of instability) delay decisions and slow-down change-management.
Manual testing (e.g weeks of regression testing) for risk avoidance is a common symptom of this situation. Delays from the risk factors slow down changes to the system in production which creates a growing tech-debt gap. Tech-debt, in this case is the equivalent of refactoring -adopting more efficient or more appropriate technology and models. This tech-debt gap is usually only noticed by users when they compare the system to successful consumer technology.
The infrequent changes also grow larger because all changes get funneled into fewer changes per year. This creates a vicious cycle leading to slower and larger changes that seem increasingly risky.
This chart shows the phases and options for agility as systems grow and age. On the left, factory-built applications and subsystems can keep up with ecosystem growth for a time, but the rate of change of modules slows down as they get larger and integrated with slow-moving systems.
Factory-built software systems are easily changed. As these systems grow, modern practices allow teams to control the size and structure in order to sustain speed and agility over time. Besides agility benefits, keeping subsystems understandable, with low defects, manageable levels of complexity, and with clearly defined dependencies between subsystems is also necessary to achieve very low operational costs and low cost-to-change.
Faster change is achievable only with a focus on testing (high quality) and modularity(small units of isolated change) to drive lower overall cost-to-change. This is the truth missing from the misguided concept that Cost, Schedule, Quality form an “Iron Triangle”.
Quality, Speed, and Costs become controllable by managing Scope of change and Risk of change.
Improved Testing and Improved modularity is required for the factory model to scale.
Testing reduces the Risk of Change because of increased awareness of defects & quality. Frequent Change limits the growing Scope of Change which reduces Risk further!
Therefore, Quality, Speed and Costs actually improve with continuous testing feedback and frequent change.
In the next article we’ll focus on Coordinating Structures and how coordinated changes keep Developers, Product managers, and Stakeholders grounded in a common understanding of the system. System change coordination and testability can simplify change if we use these techniques to proactively manage the Scope of Change Impact of Change and Risk of Change. | https://matthewegunter.medium.com/managing-scope-risk-of-change-22d669a2f293 | ['Matt Gunter'] | 2020-12-02 14:20:14.488000+00:00 | ['Software Testing', 'Software Architecture', 'Enterprise Technology'] |
Analyzing functional solution to streaming_iterator (?) | The last post and corresponding question brought me the answer from Yandros. I’m trying to understand it.
The code:
#![deny(elided_lifetimes_in_paths)]
struct Pixel<'img> {
value: &'img mut u32,
i: usize,
}
struct Canvas {
imgs: Vec<u32>,
max_i: usize,
}
impl Canvas {
pub
fn iter_mut<'iter> (
self: &'iter mut Self,
) -> impl Iterator<Item = Pixel<'iter>>
{
self.imgs[.. self.max_i]
.iter_mut()
.enumerate()
.map(|(i, value)| Pixel { value, i })
}
}
Let’s start from #![deny(elided_lifetimes_in_paths)] .
deny in new to me, but I somewhat understand: the same as #![feature()] or #![derive()] .
or . elided_lifetimes_in_paths — I can’t find a documentation for it. I asked for explanation. I’ll try to compile this code with no pragma, and see what would change. ..Nothing. I’ll just skip it for now.
Next: structures are exactly like mine.
Next: We implement associated functions for structure ( impl for structure). The function we create — is iter_mut , which is part of the IterMut trait, but we do not implement this trait… Funny, we implement just an associated function which do the same thing. Can I do this with other traits? I believe, it’s important, so I take small sidestep to investigate. Nope, I can’t:
struct X{
x:u32
} impl X{
fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
write!(f, "x: {}", self.x)
}
}
cause the error: the trait `std::fmt::Display` is not implemented for `X`
So, returning to the code, iter_mut is just an associated function, and we call it ‘as usual’, but return value of iter_mut is an iterator. To be honest I though about doing this by chaining iterator from img (Vec), but decided to do it ‘manually’ before getting into chaining. As it appears, ‘manually’ is impossibly hard right now in Rust. Before analyzing the pipe, I want to stare to the function signature:
fn iter_mut<'iter> (
self: &'iter mut Self,
) -> impl Iterator<Item = Pixel<'iter>>
iter_mut takes self as mutable reference with lifetime ‘iter’ and return something that implements Iterator trait with parameter for internal object inside Option to be of the type ‘Pixel’ with the same lifetime as the ‘self’. Hard to read, hard to grasp. In other words, it takes mutable reference to itself and promise to return a type, which has a trait ‘Iterator’, with return value of Option(Pixel), or, precisely, with any return type (the selection of return type is does not matter, as long as it follows the rules defined by associated type of the trait. I still can’t dissolve it to something digestible. I can point to Iterator trait declaration and points that ‘this things goes here’, but I can’t keep all those abstractions in a stack without dropping this stack.
Next, is a body of the function:
self.imgs[.. self.max_i]
.iter_mut()
.enumerate()
.map(|(i, value)| Pixel { value, i })
.. self.max_i is right-exclusive range interval, which used together with Index trait. Index<Range<Vec<u32>>>> in my case. Is it so? Let me to try:
19 | let u:u32 = self.imgs[.. self.max_i];
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ expected u32, found slice
|
= note: expected type `u32`
found type `[u32]`
Nope. It’s a slice. Lesson learned.
That slice is iterated as mutable. Some there is crazy ‘telescopic typing’ stacking (as far as I understand from video lectures), but it’s too hard for me to think about this now. For humble iterator user it looks like a normal piping. Got an iterator, enumerate it, apply a lambda via a map.
The key thing here is that we do not ‘collect’ it, but return ‘as is’ (as iterator).
Just to help myself to get used to it, let’s make it verbose:
let range = .. self.max_i;
let mut slice = self.imgs[range];
let mut_iterator = slice.iter_mut();
let enumerated_iterator = mut_iterator.enumerate();
let pixelizator = |(i, value)| Pixel{value, i};
let pixel_iterator = enumerated_iterator.map(pixelizator);
pixel_iterator
Nope, it’s not the same:
20 | let mut slice = self.imgs[range];
| ^^^^^^^^^ ---------------- help: consider borrowing here: `&self.imgs[range]`
| |
| doesn't have a size known at compile-time
And if we follow advise (with mut ), it works. Full version with verbosity:
fn iter_mut<'iter> (self: &'iter mut Self)
-> impl Iterator<Item = Pixel<'iter>>
{
let range = .. self.max_i;
let mut slice = & mut self.imgs[range];
let mut_iterator = slice.iter_mut();
let enumerated_iterator = mut_iterator.enumerate();
let pixelizator = |(i, value)| Pixel{value, i};
let pixel_iterator = enumerated_iterator.map(pixelizator);
pixel_iterator
}
There is an additional warning about unused ‘i’ in Pixel structure. I’ve tried get rid of it, but got another warning, which is strange to me:
let range = .. self.max_i;
let mut slice = & mut self.imgs[range];
let mut_iterator = slice.iter_mut();
let pixelizator = |value| Pixel{value};
let pixel_iterator = mut_iterator.map(pixelizator);
pixel_iterator
...
warning: variable does not need to be mutable
--> src/main.rs:19:13
|
19 | let mut slice = & mut self.imgs[range];
| ----^^^^^
| |
| help: remove this `mut`
But I do mutate returned value by reference! What’s going on?
I removed ‘ mut ’ here, and my code worked. Now I’m confused. Hah. It’s easy. slice is a reference. The reference itself does not need to to mutate, only data where slice is pointing to, so we write a constant reference to volatile data.
… I hope so, or I’ll become a crazy. | https://medium.com/journey-to-rust/analyzing-functional-solution-to-streaming-iterator-d3e69f8f2e89 | ['George Shuklin'] | 2019-05-06 20:05:56.865000+00:00 | ['Functional Programming', 'Iterators', 'Learning To Code', 'Rust'] |
Vizio V-series 4K UHD TV review: Even entry-level TVs are good these days | Vizio V-series 4K UHD TV review: Even entry-level TVs are good these days Clint Jan 4·5 min read
Vizio’s V-series smart TV (the $300, 50-inch model V505-H19 is reviewed here) is the second 50-inch TV I’ve evaluated recently, the other being the slightly cheaper ($280) Konka U50.
Both are infinitely superior to anything you could’ve found in this price range five years ago. That said, the Vizio provides a bit better processing, backlighting, overall image and experience. But it lacks the Konka’s handy Bluetooth connectivity.
This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best smart TVs, where you’ll find reviews of the competition’s offerings, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.Specs and designThe V505-H19 is a thin-bezel unit whose staid, but classy appearance belies its low price. The 50-inch-class panel delivers 10-bit color, a 60Hz refresh rate, and 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) resolution. It has a full-array LED backlight, so it is not zone dimmable. That means it’s lit from behind with multiple lights, but the lights aren’t dimmed or shut off to decrease light bleed.
The V505-H19 is very light for a 50-inch TV at a mere 21.5 pounds. I had no issues slinging the TV around to put the feet on, sliding it around to reach the cable connections, and so on. That also means there will be little strain on the 200mm x 200mm VESA mount point, the mount, or your wall.
[ Further reading: Do you need a special HDMI cable for 4K and 8K TVs? ]Vizio knows that there’s lots of legacy equipment in this market segment, so the port selection includes composite video input and RCA analog audio input/output. There’s also optical digital (Toslink), coax for cable/satellite TV or an over-the-air antenna, as well as three HDMI 2.1 ports (2160p @ 60Hz, with one supporting ARC output). A USB port is on hand for playback from mass media (thumb drives, etc.).
Vizio Vizio likes to take care of customers with legacy equipment by providing composite video and RCA audio inputs
There’s no Bluetooth, but the Wi-Fi is dual-band 802.11n, which is easily fast enough for streaming most content. If it isn’t, there’s also an ethernet port.
Props to Vizio for including support for HDR10+ in addition to Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG. Not all TVs do that, and not just TVs at this price. The TV also handles DTS surround and Dolby Atmos, offers a low-latency game mode, and supports both Apple AirPlay 2 and Chromecast. The TV is also compliant with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri voice control.
Interface and remoteContent-wise, Vizio’s SmartCast Home is as complete as TV user interfaces come, with all the usual streaming providers, as well as curated free content. SmartCast is also easy to use, and can be controlled using the SmartCast app on your smartphone or tablet if you so desire. My only complaint, a distinctly minor one in this day and age, is that it’s completely reliant upon an internet connection and does not when if your broadband connection is down. You can still use the TV, but with limited functionality.
On the other hand, a repeat quick shoutout (I also noted this in the Vizio OLED review) to the company for fixing the Media Player app. It’s still a plain DOS-like file browser, but now it’s responsive, plays all the media I throw at it, and doesn’t crash.
Vizio The Vizio V505-H19’s remote is simple, if not always the easiest to use.
The remote is simple and easy to use, though I would’ve appreciated dedicated transport controls to make media playback a bit easier. Still, it fits in the hand nicely and is large enough to not disappear forever between the couch cushions. I don’t talk to TVs outside of testing, but the remote’s lack of a mic might bother some. Hey, what can I say? It’s entry-level, and you can use the SmartCast phone app for that purpose, as well as the other supported protocols (Siri, etc.).
PerformanceAs I said in the intro, the V505-H19 reminds me quite a bit of the 50-inch Konka U5-series I just reviewed. It’s a dead ringer as far as the slight blue color skew and backlighting are concerned; however, it suffers a bit less moiré, shimmer, and other artifacts when processing detailed areas in motion.
The V505-H19 offers a bit more color saturation, but because of the heavy blue content of the backlight/filter technology, reds skew slightly orange; greens, slightly lime. Very slightly, I should say. Many users might not even notice. Again, same as the Konka.
Also, forget the advertising about Dynamic Motion Rate 120. If you read the description carefully, nowhere does it say smooth action or no judder. There’s no motion compensation of any kind—same as with the Konka. That said, within its 60Hz/no compensation limits, it’s better than some I’ve seen. And scenes that produce the judder effect, fast pans and large items moving rapidly across screen, are relatively rare.
Vizio Vizio’s V505-H19 delivers a good picture for an entry-level TV. Please note that entry-level is vastly improved over the entry-level of just a few years ago.
While the V505-H19 supports the most popular HDR formats, it doesn’t really have the contrast to do a lot with them. Blacks are slightly better than with the Konka, but it’s still array backlighting with no local dimming. We’re talking charcoal gray more than black. Basically, it handles HDR, but doesn’t lend it the drama that technology can convey with higher-contrast—and more expensive—TVs.
When it comes to sound, the V505-H19 is okay for casual, occasional, listening, but I found it annoyingly muddy. If I were you, I’d hook up something more sonorous in short order. Note that after a firmware update, the sound disappeared and didn’t reappear until I switched to the free curated content. If you experience the same phenomenon, that’s the trick.
The omission of Bluetooth isn’t unexpected at this price point, as it was with the company’s far more expensive OLED, the absence of Bluetooth support does slightly aggravate the weak sound issue. If you want to listen privately on headphones, you’ll need to purchase a separate Bluetooth transmitter ($30 and up) or make other arrangements, although you can use your phone and the SmartCast app to listen using headphones. That’s not an ideal solution in my book.
ConclusionThe V505-H19 is an excellent entry-level TV with a slightly better overall image than the Konka I’ve been comparing it to. If you’re comparing it to higher-end 50-inchers, revise excellent to decent.
Still, entry-level is the not the painful, bereft-of-color viewing experience it was just a few short years ago. Indeed, the $300 V505-H19 compares favorably with $1,500 sets in our first roundup in 2015.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@clint03831109/vizio-v-series-4k-uhd-tv-review-even-entry-level-tvs-are-good-these-days-ee6d2e5ee02b | [] | 2021-01-04 14:12:58.510000+00:00 | ['Lighting', 'Mobile Accessories', 'Chargers', 'Deals'] |
1 year later: what I learned from my UX design bootcamp | Your 20s and 30s are all about growth. Growth in romance, relationships, and a perhaps deeper understanding of sarcasm. One year ago I shifted my career from advertising to user experience design, spearheaded by attending a 10-week design bootcamp at GA. Looking back, now one year later, here are the top things I can tell you about the experience.
Career pivots make for better humans.
Changing your career is not easy: it involves major risk taking, willingness to start from square one again, and an ability to embrace change in radical ways. And most of the strongest, most charismatic, and sincere people embody these characteristics. We tend to label it as having strong agility: the ability to think and understand quickly. People overcome challenges all the time, but the ability to do it over and over again is truly a life lesson. 10 weeks of doing it over and over again makes for stronger, better humans. Happier, more confident bootcamp students go into interviews with the attitude: “I got this, even if I’m still learning every day.”
Designing in a bootcamp environment mimics a real design studio space, minus corporate bureaucracy.
It’s actually the ideal environment where ideas can thrive without boundaries: collaboration, team structure, time-boundaries, and project management come together as just like in the corporate world. And the final client capstone project that my program had, actually mimics what freelance work is like. In 10 weeks you can learn user experience design front to back, and turn it inside and out. Learning design through intensive coursework, paired with strong career support, not only sounds like the future of technical schools, it is the future of education as a whole. (And I graduated with a traditional master’s degree two years before.)
The bootcamp doesn’t end at the 10-week mark
It’s 10 weeks of learning plus 10 weeks of job hunting. A career change is all about transparency and bootcamps should set this expectation for new students. When I described my bootcamp experience to friends, I always included the job hunt, because no doubt about it, it takes 1–2 months at minimum to land a position if you’re hustling hard every day. Students are also forking out thousands of dollars to pay for the course, and being honest about the timeline makes for a better sales pitch.
I slept like normal, but didn’t see friends as often.
The design bootcamp doesn’t hijack your life as some people might expect, but it does take a lot of your time. My friendships had to go on pause for a little while, because my biggest financial priority became the bootcamp and all the work that went along with. I was told early by a graduate that you get what you put into it, and so I did just that: put everything I had into it. Continue to go out on the weekends, just pick one night instead of two.
Sketch should be a prerequisite for taking a design bootcamp.
Everyone should start day one with a basic understanding of Sketch. In my cohort, the students who where already visual designers played those roles when it came to team projects, and students who didn’t have a visual background felt relegated to other roles—which shouldn’t have been the case. Visual designers can always use more research experience, and vice versa. With online courses like Sketchmaster and design templates being so accessible, anyone can be a visual designer as long as they have a basic understanding of Sketch. Some companies may want their designers to be fluent in other software, but Sketch is the universal language that all UX designers communicate in.
Recent hires are an inspiration for current students.
They should be siphoned for their wisdom early. Current students want to know to succeeded in their job hunt and pick up on knowledge that helps them secure their first job out the gate. There’s ample room for a mentoring program to be established where recent grads help mentor new graduates. Bootcamps only succeed in the long-term if students get jobs after paying thousands of dollars to attend them, and new graduates easily facilitate job referrals.
Bootcamp students need apprenticeship opportunities.
Most students spend months job hunting for an entry level position, paid internship, or any opportunity possible for that matter. Apprenticeships give students a little bit of income, real experience, and I’m not the only one to say that recent graduates are happy to work for someone right away without a job guarantee. That experience at an actual company will get them the job they’re looking for. And a rotating group of candidates establishes a strong applicant pool. It’s a win win win. How often does that happen? | https://uxdesign.cc/1-year-later-what-i-learned-from-my-ux-design-bootcamp-54a64538ea46 | ['Julian Jensen'] | 2018-03-19 06:49:23.721000+00:00 | ['Bootcamp', 'User Experience', 'General Assembly', 'Design', 'Tech'] |
Machine Learning with Time Series Data | As with any data science problem, exploring the data is the most important process before stating a solution. The dataset collected had data on Chicago weather, mosquitoes and mosquito traps. I first cleaned the three data sources for any missing or invalid measurements. The next step was to conduct feature engineering on our weather data. This is probably the most important aspect because theres a high correlation on how the mosquitoes develop the virus depending on the time and weather.
Feature Engineering
Our Chicago weather dataset contains measurements from two different stations. To take account for a more generalized weather, I created a new dataset by taking the average of all the data for each day. Now for the fun part, I engineered some features to better quantify how the weather impacts the mosquito population in Chicago. In order to be figure out what kind of features I needed, some research on the subject matter, such as the life cycle of mosquitoes, was done.
The first feature created is to quantify the number of days since it last rained. Ideally, there should be a positive correlation between the number of days since it rained with the number of mosquitoes. The longer it doesn’t rain the more likely we will see a decrease in the number of mosquitoes present in Chicago.
The second feature was for the total time from sunrise to sunset. I wanted to explore whether a longer day or shorter day would have an effect on the virus because mosquitoes tend to be more active during the day compared to at night. It seemed more important to interpret the total time the sun has been up than just the time the sun came up and down.
My last idea created was to get the weather conditions from previous days and see if there was an effect on the number of mosquitoes and the virus. I believe that this is a very important deciding factor. Generally speaking, a mosquito’s life span goes from three to two weeks during the summer, sometimes longer. Weather conditions such as maximum temperature, or total precipitation from previous days play a huge role in the growth and reproduction of the insect. In this case, I decided to include weather conditions from one, three, seven and fourteen days ago because I wanted to cover the spectrum of their life cycle. From the earliest to the latest a mosquito egg can become an adult mosquito. The code block below demonstrates how the feature was engineered by using some handy Pandas features, such as .shift() | https://bencho264.medium.com/machine-learning-with-time-series-data-5daea91cce4e | ['Benjamin Cho'] | 2018-09-30 21:06:57.539000+00:00 | ['Feature Engineering', 'Machine Learning', 'Timeseries', 'Data Science', 'Kaggle'] |
No-Config React With Parcel | No-Config React With Parcel
It’s time to ditch Webpack
When I was starting with React, one thing that bugged me was the complexity of configuration files that came with building React applications. Want to import SVG files? You need to install another dependency and edit your Webpack config file again. For many toy projects, the time required to create and configure a new project made it hard to get started actually making stuff. When I finally learned about Parcel, a no-config bundler for React, I was sold. Here’s a short guide on getting started with Parcel.
At a glance, Parcel just requires you to install one dependency, parcel-bundler and you’re good to go. Let’s start by creating a new folder for our project. You can use NPM, but I prefer to use Yarn as my package manager.
mkdir parcel-playground
cd parcel-playground
yarn init -y
Next, add Parcel and React as project dependencies.
yarn add parcel-bundler --dev
yarn add react react-dom
You’ll need a couple of files to start with, but it mainly boils down to having an entry point ( index.html ) and your React entry point ( index.js )
Add an index.html to the root of the folder and put this in the content of the file:
The meta tag makes your page responsive, so mobile users have a better experience. If you’re new to React, the div element with the root ID is conventionally used to mount the application.
Next, we create the index.js which allows our React application to mount.
Now we just need a way to run the program! Since parcel is only installed as a dependency of this project, we’re only able to use parcel commands when they’re run through a command in the package.json file.
Let’s add a start command that will run the Parcel bundler when we run yarn start :
Now, if you run yarn start , you should see the bundler doing its magic, and your application will be served on localhost:1234 . It’s looking a bit plain right now, so let’s add some more content to it.
Let’s make a new folder, components , in the root folder, then create another folder in it, MyPage , and finally, create an index.js file in that folder. Ideally, we want to separate the mounting of the application from the actual application, so let’s move the content from index.js to components/MyPage/index.js .
You should also notice that if you change the content of MyPage from Hello World! to something else, the bundler will automatically reload the page with the new text. This is a convenience that Parcel brings to you without any configuration. Isn’t that cool?
Let’s add some more content to our page and a little styling. First, save this CSS file as sakura.css and place it in the MyPage folder. This CSS file is a no-config stylesheet — all you need to do is to import it.
The state of the Parcel Playground page right now
Much better! No additional configuration required to handle CSS files, and everything just works — it’s very conducive to a beginner’s learning. Later on, when you need more fine-grained control, you can use Webpack, or other bundlers, to fine-tune your application. As for learning, I believe that using Parcel is the way to go.
I have come to the end of my tutorial. I hope that you’ve learned how to use Parcel to speed up your learning and development. If you’re interested, check out Parcel’s awesome documentation here. | https://medium.com/better-programming/no-config-react-with-parcel-503babdd3992 | ['Gabriel Tan'] | 2020-06-04 11:33:28.307000+00:00 | ['Nodejs', 'JavaScript', 'Programming', 'Reactjs', 'React'] |
Staying home with kids and getting organized in the time of COVID-19 — tips from a professional organizer | Staying home with kids and getting organized in the time of COVID-19 — tips from a professional organizer Mily Follow Oct 1, 2020 · 7 min read
Having enjoyed With The New’s home organizing services ourselves, we wanted to chat with the founder, Katherine Foster, about ways young families can organize and maintain their spaces.
2020 has been a hard year in so many ways and a lot of families with small kids are looking for ways to better manage their space. As a professional organizer, what would you say to families that are desperately trying to make this all work?
First, give yourself a big hug. You’ve made it another day. If you’re like most families, this year has become a daily struggle just to get by. Navigating getting groceries, social distancing when you’re out walking the dog, monitoring your child’s virtual learning programs, all while managing your own life and career. Did your kid remember to put a shirt on before they Zoomed into their virtual classroom? (My nephew did not).
Most of our homes weren’t meant to be used as this bizarre new combination of school/daycare/office/gym. Since we’re all home much more often these days, it’s even more important to exist in a space that feels more like a sanctuary, and less like a disorganized storage unit.
To get there, it often helps to regain some semblance of control and mental clarity, even in the smallest of places. In this pandemic, we’re all left realizing how little control we have, so sometimes it helps to start with something quick and manageable. Organizing at its most basic, granular level is about putting things away in categories and clearing out all the excess. And from there, streamlining your space into a system to better work for you, with all the special considerations you and your family might need.
Day by day, as we’re getting a better idea of what our kids’ days will look like (as well as our own), create a plan for where each member of your family needs to spend their time in your home and what materials they will need to work with. Since most apartments need to be highly transitional spaces, create a storage system for each daily activity so that when it is time to move into the next part of the day, each activity is fully contained and can be put away.
Getting organized is also about caring about your future self. I like knowing where all my things are, and not needing to search high and low for where I left my face mask (I know it’s on the tray in my entryway). When I look around my apartment, I see cleared counters and floors, and my favorite teacup waiting for a fresh pour. My husband doesn’t ask me where I put his baseball hat, because he knows it will always live on the same hook in our coat closet.
The thing about getting organized, is that it tends to expand outwards. Suddenly you have the space, clarity of thought, and freedom to enjoy the things that are important to you, free of visual clutter and distractions.
What are some tips and tricks that families could use to bring even a little bit of sanity into their lives?
Simplify, simplify, simplify. For most of my clients, disorganization usually comes from having too much excess. One benefit from being home more often is that you see what is and isn’t working for you in your space. In order to have a highly functional home, consider that maybe it’s time to let go of what is weighing you down and pave the way for a new system for what you truly need and cherish.
Start with ONE item in a category and ask yourself, do I like/need this item? Does it serve a purpose? Does it make me/my family happy? Is it taking away from my sanity (e.g. loud toys)?
If it is not helping you, it is hurting you. If you don’t enjoy using it, simply let it go.
If it is helping you, celebrate it and find it a home. If it is beautiful and you enjoy looking at it, place it in a prominent place.
Every time you pick up and use an item, you eventually put it down. When you put it down, put it in a designated home instead of needing to pick it up twice to decide where to put it. In the same way that your family will always put spoons, forks and knives away in the same kitchen drawer, the rest of your belongings should also have a designated home that your family all knows and understands.
Something else to consider is to corral your family and get them in on the fun! Believe it or not, kids like to organize too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the lightbulb come on in kids’ minds as they organize with me. They just get it when I explain where each category lives and why. How all their toy cars like to live together in their designated bin so they can drive around together at night. They like hanging their clothes up in color order because it’s like a new game that’s easy to understand.
I’ve lived in NYC for 15 years now and living in the city has a specific charm that I think only true city dwellers can attest to. If you’re one of the lucky families to live at Kin, you’ve seen first-hand the community that NYC can create. Being organized and living with less excess lets us live more freely and enables us to get out and enjoy the city even more.
How did you get into the world of professional organizing?
I was a fashion designer in my previous career, working for a variety of brands, designing everything from luxury sweaters and celebrity lines to children’s clothes you may have bought online or at Nordstrom, Target and Walmart. I’ve always loved making things beautiful, functional and unique, and organizing is something I had always done in order to clear my mind and do my best work.
I started organizing professionally really just as an accidental side hustle, but I came to realize how big of a need there is for it, and that having an eye for design means that you can help people transform their spaces into something not only usable but also stylish and aesthetically pleasing. It helped that I was changing industries right around the time that Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up became really popular and I realized the potential for morphing this kind of hobby into a business. Now with The Home Edit making new waves, I think more and more people are realizing they can simplify and focus on the important things in their life by getting organized.
Do I need to hire a professional organizer?
Everyone can use a little help organizing. Even if you’re a pretty organized person, there are always solutions that can be implemented to streamline any system you might have. Many of my clients have trouble going through their own things because they have a personal attachment to them and need a fresh set of eyes as they work through the editing process. The gift of a professional organizer is also great for a parent or loved one, or that friend that you know could use some help. Many people find it helps to have an organizer come in for a seasonal refresh, to update a vacation or Airbnb property, or to help with life transitions, like moving, making space for a new partner, having a baby, or going through things after a death in the family.
I’m so touched by the heartfelt notes I’ve received from clients (even children) and the tears I sometimes see when we are finished working together because they find the experience liberating and very personal.
You can also find With The New on Instagram @with.the.new and online at withthenew.com. | https://medium.com/kin-families/staying-home-with-kids-and-getting-organized-in-the-time-of-covid-19-tips-from-a-professional-4dd738ee6ead | [] | 2021-04-28 15:45:31.001000+00:00 | ['Home Decor', 'Home Improvement', 'Organization', 'Family', 'Cleaning'] |
Principles of visual design | Principles of visual design
These elements are inherently present in any good layout design
In my last article in the design series, I talked about seven principles of design in general, whether it be a hardware product, a service, an experience, or a software UI. In this one, I am going a step further to emphasize the design principles that are essential for a good ‘visual’ design on a digital or printed platform. Let me start with the famous gestalt principle:
“the whole is other than the sum of the parts — Kurt Koffka”.
In other words, an organized whole is perceived as greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt means form or shape in German. It is a group of visual perception principles developed by German psychologists in the 1920s.
These things sound very simple to understand and they are! But it creates confusion and takes time to master once you start practicing them in combination. Let’s try to understand them through examples.
Proximity, similarity, and continuity
It is all about showing visual spaces to show the relationship between and among the content. Just group similar things together. The elements of the design that are not grouped together, show the lack of relationship. This makes the user’s eyes less strained to understand and filter information if she is in a hurry or quick browsing mode.
Reification and Closure
People can recognize objects even when there are parts of them are missing. This is reification. Closure forces us to see a white square instead of four broken circles in the image in the next topic. Our brain matches what we see with familiar patterns stored in our memory and fills in the gaps.
Figure-ground relationship and relative size
As the name suggests, there is always a layout or ground and there is always a figure over it. The trick is we can interchange the figure and grounds to show the items that we wish. In the second and third images below, some will see the two faces whereas some will see the thin vase. The figure and ground changes as per the viewer. The relative size of the vase or rather the distance between the faces affects the perception. The increasing distance starts enhancing more on the vase instead of faces.
White space
White spaces are not exactly the white-color spaces. They are just the space on the canvas where there is no element. The white spaces, sometimes also called negative spaces, helps designers stress important information and segregate different kinds of information at the same time. White space is one of the most important and key design principles. We will see that ‘how’ towards the end of this article through a video. In the picture below (contrast section), we can see how white spaces declutter the element and give the layout, room to breathe.
Alignment
We have seen the importance of alignment in all facets of our life. Whether, it be architectural structures, clothing, room arrangement, food display, hardware design, or a layout design that we are talking about here. Alignment gives your design a serene look and improves the readability of the page. This also helps logically group the text to emphasize the hierarchy of the elements. The most important and easy way to follow this rule is to be consistent. Equal spaces from each side like done in the image below(contrast section).
Contrast
It means differentiating one item from another. It can be done in multiple ways other than just using contrasting colors. It can be done using completely dissimilar text, using dissimilar sizes, and of course by using contrasting colors. It is mainly done to catch the reader’s eye or create a focus on something important like done with the ‘buy’ button below.
Hierarchy
This is the arrangement of elements (mainly text) in a fashion to catch the reader’s eye on the main elements first and then the less important one and then the lesser important than before. You can easily see that in the above image how the designer has guided the user/reader to read the main heading first and if you think that if of any use for you then continue reading the details or go to the next one.
Repetition
It is a great saying by Muhammad Ali:
It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.
Repetition is another way to become consistent. We can use a color palette to use the colors at all places on our layout. We can also use a particular header or text styles to create a similar type of content. This also makes the reader’s life easier in comprehending the content on your layout.
Summary
To summarize, I would say that the use of white spaces or negative spaces is one of the most important skills to acquire since that drives all other principles that we see here. The video above emphasizes the point in an easily understandable manner. | https://uxdesign.cc/principles-of-visual-design-fb49004f5a67 | ['Deepak Singh'] | 2020-12-27 20:37:54.953000+00:00 | ['Gestalt Principles', 'Design', 'UX', 'UI', 'Visual Design'] |
What I Learned During My Internship @ Cured | Finding the right job is a bit like dating. Each new interaction allows you to learn about the other party, yourself, how you work together, and about being in a relationship. Sometimes, you date someone and you learn a lot about what you don’t want in a relationship. But, occasionally, you are fortunate enough to date somebody that helps you learn exactly what you want.
I came to Cured because I was looking for an internship that would help me explore whether the path my CS degree laid forth was a good career fit for life after graduation. I knew I wanted something technical, hopefully in a role where I could wear a lot of hats, so I could explore and discover what I liked. Something in the healthcare space and in my home state of Colorado would be a bonus. It seemed almost too serendipitous when I discovered Cured’s posting on my school’s job board. The early stage health tech company seemed to check all my needs and wants — and they were hiring!
I was surprised on my first day when my manager, our CTO, Ashmer Aslam, asked me questions about me as a person, rather than launching into my daily responsibilities and my value to the company. He asked me what I cared about, what I wanted to do when I grew up, how the company could help me — help me — get there. These questions were repeated as I met other members of the team — I felt recognized, valued, seen. My first week was a whirlwind of meetings and a Udemy course, learning a new framework — React — in a new language — JavaScript. Here, I was surprised again: Cured was investing in me, training me, and didn’t expect me to produce anything until I understood the technology and its purpose.
Well, perhaps “understood” is being generous — working in a “real world” environment taught me of the limitations of the knowledge I’ve gathered in classes at school. But that’s because I was surrounded by a brilliant team, and I was always learning from them. I was once told to “surround yourself with people who are better than you.” This advice couldn’t be more true in professional development. Perhaps the most valuable part of my internship was in the people I have met. When first meeting my fellow team members, I asked them about their careers, and I heard stories about what happens after undergrad. Amongst my peers, there was the PhD in remote sensing who decided she wanted to code. There was a business undergrad who switched to machine learning engineering. Our CTO majored in neuroscience and economics, followed by a year in med school, spent time as a management consultant, and then decided to pivot and create something at the intersection of healthcare and enterprise cloud technology. All of these individuals are deadly good at their jobs here, building technology. Half the team worked in a field that didn’t match their undergrad degree. And, they were insightful, brilliant people doing meaningful work and enjoying it.
A sketch of a potential Cured Mascot I drew. It was quickly christened the “Avocuredo” in the team’s Slack page.
They were also kind. Within my first month, Cured held its first monthly women’s meeting. I brought up that, in my hiring process, I didn’t get the chance to speak with a female team member. They made note of that and changed it for future interviewees — I was making a difference in the culture! In my second month, a July fraught with racial reckoning, one team member brought up the responsibility to recognize our own biases, and we all took the Harvard Unconscious Bias tests later that week. I never expected to be a part of a workplace where frank discussions about race and gender were not just present, but were a norm. Cured’s culture of introspection and growth made me realize that these cultures do exist, and my experience has helped me realize that I should expect to be a part of a company with this kind of culture.
Cured taught me what it feels like to be respected and trusted. They invested in me from the start, allowed me to pursue my interest within the company’s scope, and did so without micromanaging or working me to the bone. Everyone here cares deeply about the work they are doing, but more importantly, they care deeply about being human and respecting one another and themselves. I’m very grateful for everything that people here have built and taught me.
So, in summary, what did I learn from my internship with Cured that I will carry with me wherever I go next? | https://medium.com/cured-healthcare/what-i-learned-during-my-internship-cured-2b951ad02935 | ['Hannah Cussen'] | 2021-01-07 16:12:44.255000+00:00 | ['College', 'Company Culture', 'Internships', 'Software Internship', 'Company Values'] |
P-value Explained Simply for Data Scientists | P-value Explained Simply for Data Scientists
Without the pretentiousness of Statisticians and with the Coolness of Data Scientists
Recently, I got asked about how to explain p-values in simple terms to a layperson. I found that it is hard to do that.
P-Values are always a headache to explain even to someone who knows about them let alone someone who doesn’t understand statistics.
I went to Wikipedia to find something and here is the definition:
In statistical hypothesis testing, the p-value or probability value is, for a given statistical model, the probability that, when the null hypothesis is true, the statistical summary (such as the sample mean difference between two groups) would be equal to, or more extreme than, the actual observed results.
And my first thought was that might be they have written it like this so that nobody could understand it. The problem here lies with a lot of terminology and language that statisticians enjoy to employ.
This post is about explaining p-values in an easy to understand way without all that pretentiousness of statisticians. | https://towardsdatascience.com/p-value-explained-simply-for-data-scientists-4c0cd7044f14 | ['Rahul Agarwal'] | 2020-09-11 12:02:33.180000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Education', 'Interview', 'Statistics'] |
The Photography Legacy Project Raises Funds Through First Of Its Kind Auction In South Africa | South African photographers have partnered Pan-African counterparts to participate in the first ever African photography auction on the continent.
The auction, initiated by the Photography Legacy Project (PLP), will be hosted by Aspire Art Auctions on 5th November 2020. The PLP is an initiative that aims to ensure significant collections of African photography can remain on the continent and made widely accessible for education and research
A collection of pan-African works, straddling the terrain between historical and contemporary photography, will be on auction this November to support the digitisation of African photographic legacies by the PLP with the aim of raising the profile of African photography globally.
“The under representation of African artists and photographers has contributed to a visceral representation gap of black artists within collections globally. To date, African artists represent less than 1% of the overall market,” say Ruarc Peffers, Managing Director (MD) of Aspire Art Auctions.
“It is through efforts of organisations such as PLP that we are able to grow the value of artists from Africa to be more in-line with their American and European counterparts,”he added
One of the attractions is a portfolio of 12 silver gelatin prints presented by the Ernest Cole Family Trust of Ernest Cole’s, the first black South African freelance photographer. The portfolio, from his seminal 1967 book House of Bondage, is part of Cole’s recovered legacy.
Other photographic luminaries such as David Goldblatt, Alf Kumalo, photographers from South Africa’s popular Drum Magazine including Bob Gosani, G.R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally and Ian Berry, as well as more contemporary internationally acclaimed photographers like Guy Tillim, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Jo Ractliffe, Emmanuelle Andrianjafy, Syowia Kyambi and Mikhael Subotzky share their work with a diverse platform of creative talent.
Significantly, there is also a large group of contemporary emerging photographers from South Africa, several of them graduates of Market Photo Workshop, a South African school of photography, gallery and resource centre.
The auction additionally features photographers based in Sudan, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Namibia and Kenya, including work from Sudanese photographer Ala Kheir’s Revisiting Khartoum series, and recent images by Ghanaian photographer Nipah Dennis.
There is a compelling contribution of vernacular studio and street photography from the project, The Other Camera. Increasingly, this genre of vernacular photography — encapsulated by the iconic images of Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé, two influential photographers from Mali, is becoming rare and collectable. The once ever-present studio or street photographer, so prevalent throughout the continent, is a diminishing practice. The studio portrait that is deeply part of Africa’s photographic history, is being superseded by the quick fix mobile phone or selfie. The auction showcases some of these rare collections by photographers such as Ronald Ngilima and William Matlala.
Amongst the well-known and emerging, are photographers who have been plying their trade for decades. These include award-winning photographers and established names. The auction can also, much like the PLP’s vision, be seen as a vehicle to recover, celebrate, and present hidden and buried work of photographers who have stepped up to share iconic as well as new images.
Proceeds of the fundraiser auction will go towards the PLP and the participating photographers. | https://medium.com/@digitaltimes-2020/the-photography-legacy-project-raises-funds-through-first-of-its-kind-auction-in-south-africa-42648375d159 | ['Digital Times Africa'] | 2020-11-02 16:49:23.287000+00:00 | ['South Africa', 'Technology News', 'Mali', 'Photography', 'Creativity'] |
A Framework for Investing in NFTs | I will try to keep this post short and to the point.
The NFT Art ecosystem is here to stay. It will have its ups and downs, but it is here to stay. And faster than you might expect, it will eclipse the physical art market in terms of capitalization.
This is because the combination of art, extreme liquidity, and financial incentives will fundamentally change what art is (more on this in a later post).
Over the longterm, I believe unprecedented amounts of capital will enter the ecosystem. In the short term however, my biggest concerns are illiquidity and oversupply. This combination could cause hemorrhagic gaps in liquidity as valuations get ahead of the amount of new capital entering the ecosystem.
It’s ok though. Just keep holding!
But, hold what, you might ask. Where should one allocate their capital?
I believe that if you have a good framework for evaluating NFTs you will end up holding pieces you’re very glad you held vs. pieces you’re very sad you held. This is especially important in an environment where capital and attention are being spread thin by oversupply.
Advantages of a Good Framework
A good framework will save you time by allowing you to ignore most projects and concentrate your bets.
To me, a good framework looks like a hierarchy of filters. Filters help systematize one’s approach to predicting what’s going to be valuable so you can filter out everything else. I’ve ordered the filters by how reliable of predictors they are.
Top-most filter → the most reliable predictor of longterm value
Bottom-most filter → the least reliable predictor of longterm value.
And the most important, over-arching filter should always be:
Is the project likely to become a Schelling point in which capital inflows and social proof reinforce themselves over the longterm? e.g. CryptoPunks, Autogylphs, Fidenza, BAYC.
Everything in the framework below will help answer the above question.
Framework
1) Is it a breakthrough project?
In other words, does the project play a major role in the cultural or technological evolution of NFTs? Some prominent examples are Autoglyphs (first on-chain generative art on the Ethereum platform), Fidenza (first breakthrough long-tail generative art), and CryptoPunks (first successful avatar project).
Breakthrough winners in new categories will attract capital and attention over the longterm. Hint: generative art will be a massive category.
2) Does the collection have credibility / legitimacy?
Is there a legendary artist, DAO, or other source of strong credibility behind the collection? (e.g. AB curated, Axie, Deafbeef, etc.)
It’s also important that the person/entity is actively pushing the project forward, building community, and generally increasing the project’s legitimacy. Not just releasing it and abandoning it for another project.
The Chromie Squiggle was the first Art Blocks Curated project, created by Snowfro
Aside: I believe that ArtBlocks (AB) has become a Schelling Point that will experience self-reinforcing inflows of capital and attention. The amount of attention that AB has been able to capture in such a short period of time is truly exceptional. People are “playing” ArtBlocks as intensely and consistently as they play video games. This is a strong signal.
3) Does ownership come with incentives or utility?
As NFTs evolve, creators will find interesting incentives to engineer into their work. One example of this is giving out free drops to existing holders (e.g. all CryptoPunk holders received a free Meebit). Another example is NFTs that provide ownership in a DAO. At some point, pieces in a collection might form a mini economy.
Dmitri Cherniak’s “Eternal Pump”
There are only 50 of Dmitri Cherniak’s Eternal Pumps. Soon, only his holders will have the opportunity to mint his new project, Wrapture. However, if any of them sell, he will immediately flood the supply until it hits 666.
The Punks Comic NFT represents ownership in its DAO
Aside: can someone help me make a spreadsheet of creators/projects that are likely to do this or have already done this for holders?
4) What is the project’s collectibility quotient?
Collectibility is a quality that should be felt at multiple levels — the entire collection, sub-categories within the collection, and individual pieces.
The key here is maximizing versatility while preserving ease of categorization. Lets break these two things down: | https://medium.com/@yeastydough/a-framework-for-investing-in-nfts-b8594c52711b | [] | 2021-08-10 03:59:19.227000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Cryptopunks', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Arfblocks'] |
Now you can suggest new content for Sparrho.com | Now you can suggest new content for Sparrho.com
Can’t find the paper or journal you need? 😱 Let us know what you would like to see (and pin) on Sparrho!
According to a recent study, there are over 2.5 million scientific papers published each year. That’s a lot of content to search through.
Luckily, we are here to help you discover the latest research relevant to you.
Our AI already looks through over 45,000 scientific sources daily, but now we want to hear what publications you think are important for us to reference.
So, we have added a new feature for you to quickly suggest a paper by its DOI or title/authors/year. You can also suggest a journal.
Your suggestions go straight to our user wishlist to help our tech team prioritise the most requested sources for scientific content.
How does it work?
Start a search and if there are no results or they are not relevant, click on the ‘Suggest a paper to be added’ link.
2. Enter as much information as possible (DOI, paper title, authors’ names, journal name) in the text field that pops up.
3. If you want to suggest a specific journal to be searched, either select ‘Follow Search’ or ‘Modify my Search’.
4. Type in the name of the journal in the ‘Include these journals’ field.
5. If you can’t find your desired journal, select the ‘Suggest one’ link above the field and send us your suggested journal title.
Your suggestion will be automatically sent to our wishlist and tell us which are the most in-demand publications to add to Sparrho.
Thanks for helping to make our platform better! 👍 | https://medium.com/sparrho/now-you-can-suggest-content-for-sparrho-8908a93cef5b | [] | 2018-01-04 15:29:12.068000+00:00 | ['Research', 'Science', 'Product', 'Search', 'Business Intelligence'] |
Dairy Farmers’ Economic Future Depends on Exports | To continue to compete and win overseas, we need a level playing field through free-trade agreements.
Working closely with the U.S. Dairy Export Council, we see more than the usual uncertainty on trade these days.
Chinese and U.S. negotiators are grappling with how to reset the world’s biggest bilateral trading relationship, with hopes of an agreement later this month. The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the signature U.S. trade achievement of 2018, has yet to be ratified by Congress. The U.S. Section 301 and 232 tariffs that have invited retaliation against dairy from crucial trade partners — China and Mexico, respectively — remain in place, with no clear way out yet.
Thousands of jobs rely on U.S. dairy exports
The importance of international trade to the U.S. dairy economy is almost impossible to overstate.
Dairy exports support nearly 100,000 jobs and generate another $15 billion in economic output, according to data on the #GotDairyJobs portal.
About one-half of all increased dairy production since 2003 has been soaked up by exports. Last year, despite trade actions that crimped sales to China and Mexico, a record 15.8 percent of U.S. milk production went abroad — a percentage that will need to increase out of necessity as dairy farmers become only more productive.
In 2018, exports were equivalent to a record 15.8 percent of U.S. milk production on a total milk solids basis.
Each trade policy discussion is crucial for dairy, which is ever-more-dependent on global markets to support prices as U.S. production rises to meet global demand growth. Over the past 15 years one-half of U.S. production growth has gone to exports, and the percentage of the U.S. milk supply sent abroad has steadily increased.
Ripple effect of trade deals
The outcome of each trade policy debate, in turn, will shape the direction of other negotiations important to the sector, including potential bilateral talks with Japan, the European Union, and the post-Brexit U.K., and potential negotiations with the Philippines and Vietnam.
As discussions grow more complex — and headlines swing wildly from hopeful to gloomy and back again — it becomes only more important to be mindful of two things:
In our advocacy at NMPF and the work we support with the U.S. Dairy Export Council, we advance dairy’s interests at all times.
When it comes to improving market access, dairy is in it for the long haul, and we will settle for nothing less than the best possible trade terms for our producers.
One example of these principles in action is how we are calling for the immediate approval of USMCA as well as demanding that negotiations on Section 232 tariffs conclude and retaliatory tariffs are lifted. Our job is to support USDEC and to ensure that the U.S. government and Congress pursue policies that benefit producers.
U.S. dairy cannot be collateral damage
To ensure prosperous dairy trade over the long term, an overarching need is for agriculture in the current environment to be excluded from trade disputes that may or may not be justified. Because agriculture is a rare part of the U.S. economy with a trade surplus, it’s a tempting target for trade partners looking to retaliate against actions against them — and that’s a recipe to make our industry collateral damage in any trade war.
While trade agreements that may be past their prime can be legitimately ripe for renegotiation, we then need to strengthen and renew those ties, not limit them in ways that harm U.S. dairy producers.
New agreements needed
We also need to negotiate and pass new trade agreements. The U.S. last successfully completed trade treaties in 2012, when agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea came into force. Meanwhile, competitors continue to conclude new agreements. The Trans-Pacific Partnership sailed without the U.S. last year, as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership completed its journey. And the EU jumps from accord to accord, most recently with Japan.
We need to ensure that negotiators focus on key sectors important to agriculture and not accept any drive for freer trade that puts farmers in the back seat.
That’s why NMPF and USDEC support breaking down trade barriers as a matter of principle, but we can’t simply allow the EU to get away with preserving a status quo that unfairly protects its farmers and hampers U.S. agricultural competitiveness, especially irritants such as the EU’s use of geographical indications to pursue protectionist policies, when it insists on excluding agriculture from any U.S. trade talks. We want trade deals — but not simply for the sake of having them.
Patience and persistence
We will always represent our dairy farmers and processors.
Working closely with USDEC, we have patiently, consistently and effectively worked on behalf of our industry, and our efforts will persist. For example:
We told the U.S. Trade Representative’s office of the importance of including agriculture in any EU negotiations and pointed out a study by USDEC outlining a potential loss of $20 billion farm revenue should the EU view of geographical indications take hold.
USDEC studied how a changed competitive position in Japan could lead to more than $5 billion in losses, as the U.S. may lose market share as other nations implement trade agreements while the U.S. stands still.
We met with officials in the United Kingdom to discuss what post-Brexit dairy trade could look like — and of course, we are no strangers in talking to counterparts in Mexico, Canada and China.
Dairy’s prosperity depends on exports
These efforts take time and energy, with payoffs that are years in the making — and are absolutely critical for our industry’s future.
Such patience is vital as trade developments twist, turn, and frustrate. The fact is, dairy needs greater market access.
Increased dairy shipments abroad are the central reason behind the USDA’s forecast for a mild milk-price recovery forecast in its Agriculture Outlook forecast made in February. Greater access would provide an even greater recovery, one that’s hampered so long as tariffs continue to bite.
When dairy’s prosperity returns, exports will be a big reason behind it. But easing the path for exports must be done right. That’s what we will stand for, and will always stand for, no matter how much the momentary shifts in trade winds may try to blow us off that path. | https://medium.com/dairy-exports-mean-jobs/trade-policy-dairy-farmers-economic-future-depends-on-exports-86228fdecac9 | ['Jim Mulhern'] | 2019-03-21 22:13:56.004000+00:00 | ['Trade', 'Mexico', 'Economics', 'Dairy', 'China'] |
I’ll Meditate My Stress Away | I’ll Meditate My Stress Away
We farm in the Midwest, where Indiana, Ohio and Michigan all come together. It has been a cold and wet spring. Typically we get something planted in April, then it rains for a few weeks and we plant again in May, finishing up around Memorial Day.
This year we saw April come and go, and it was far to cold and wet. The soil warms up slower than the air temperature so you have to take it’s temperature, like you do with people. If soil temperatures are below 50 degrees the seeds won’t germinate and grow. It has to be dry enough too, my tell is the soil is able to support a pick-up truck driving across the field without getting any big dirt clods on the tires. If the soil is too wet, many things can attack our helpless little seeds. Cold and wet soils are not a fun place for them to hang out! Even worse times is when the call comes in that the planter tractor is stuck… yikes what a mess that turns into!
Our front yard had a “new pond” in it about weekly from April 15-June.
We saw May come and go. I’m not sure we had more than two days in a row without rain the entire month! In fact, Ethan, our oldest son cheered on a sunny afternoon, “some free vitamin D!” Usually when the weather is this poor and this many acres not planted, economics comes into play and prices go up. Except this year we have a funny little thing happening to the markets, trade disagreements between US and China, our largest soybean buyer. We export about a fifth of our soybeans and corn in this country. When those markets evaporate, we have less demand, and lower prices for our products. So even with the bad weather, the markets haven’t really responded the way we thought they might. Like the weather, trade disputes are out of our control.
I didn’t realize how stressed I was about not getting anything planted. We bought two farms last year, one was a farm that had been in my husbands family for 149 years. I did not want the 150th year to be the one that saw it barren. I wanted to celebrate the 150 year old farm with a great crop.
Yep, I was stressed. My stress tells are: my scalp gets dry spots, I get cold and can’t get warm, sometimes I get infections or flu, I’m tired but can’t sleep, my elbow and knee joints hurt, and I snap at my kids. Ugh. All of those things were happening to me.
I downloaded the Headspace app and started to listen to that to help me fall asleep. I went on walks and jogged a little, did yoga, did pilates reformer and I read my devotionals on the YouVersion Bible App. It did help calm me; I thought I was handling my stress. My stress tells weren’t going away.
On June 1, we had hail come through like five different times in one day! Hail is never helpful to plants that are growing. Our wheat that we planted in the fall was about 3 feet tall and the hail knocked off parts of the heads (the part that has the grain in it). I was trying to hide any concerns I had from Ryan, my husband, who I could tell was stressed out, too.
See the white dots, that is hail. I took a photo on the second storm, but it hailed several times that day!
It was June 3, it was the last week of school and we had not been in the field yet. The later you plant your crop, the lower the yield, which means less ability to pay the bills. I was laying in bed that morning and I had a little conversation with God. It is my check in time and it helps ground myself and lets me get a few things aired out. This morning I went straight to my list of questions about farming. I asked Him if we were going to get a crop in. He didn’t give me a yes or no answer. What I heard was, “Carrie, don’t worry. I’ve got this. It will be OK. You don’t need to worry.” I heard don’t worry twice and then it was reinforced that morning as both of my devotionals said the same thing. Wow! Talk about a message! Don’t worry, God is in charge.
That was a turning point for me. I started talking to others. I kept up my stress relieving practices and added to it being with other people and drinking more water. I’m not sure why, but my stress began to lessen.
We were able to plant Aunt Mary’s farm, the now 150 year-old family farm, that Friday afternoon. On Saturday, driving around the county checking to see if we had any more dry fields, it was so encouraging to see so many other farmers in the field. As the boys and I drove around, we waved at every tractor driver, we smiled so much you would think we had just won the Olympics, it was so exciting to know that others were able to plant a crop, too!
Saturday, June 8th we finished planting Aunt Mary’s. The plants you see growing is the rye cover crop. The cover crop is not harvested for any cash or feed value, we plant it in the fall to keep our soil covered during the winter and decrease chances for erosion.
It rained all day Sunday and again on Monday; we are probably finished planting this year. The latest we’ve ever planted. Some claim it is the wettest 12 month period on record since they started tracking precipitation in the 1800’s. I woke up this morning with some lagging stress affects, yep they don’t go away just because I stop worrying. But I felt refreshed for the first time in a long time. My sense of calm has reached past my brain and is beginning to impact the rest of me.
I’m glad God and I had our talk. I need to remember to not hide my worrying from Him nor from Ryan. My stress tells are evident — do you know your stress tells? I tried to do all sorts of things on my own. It wasn’t until I heard the reassurance to not worry, that I truly began to relax.
I’m trying to figure out a way to speed up the process of getting to the not worry for the next time I’m stressed. For now, the memory of my “talk” is so fresh I can’t forget. Maybe I need to capture those words on a card or a piece of wall art where I can read the message often. I will continue to use Headspace or Calm apps for the sleep stories, I’ll keep exercising for lots of reasons and I’ll read my devotionals. I work in a home office and I think being with others helped too. We are social creatures and when stressed out, it is not healthy to be alone.
Stress will always be present in our lives, but it is our job to be aware of it and process it in a way that helps us. People deal with stress differently. My hope for you is when you encounter overwhelming stress, you find a way to react that is healthy for you and those around you. For me, as a Christian, I need to talk with God. Dealing with stress on my own, didn’t seem to cut the mustard, I needed to pray to help get me through. I don’t think prayer alone is enough either though. We need to do our part to help ourselves. If exercise, devotionals or meditation/sleep apps aren’t enough for you, there are lots of other strategies to help with stress that can be healthy. Here are some positive actions people have mentioned to me: talking with others*, painting, cleaning, getting rid of clutter, keeping your hands busy like by washing dishes or folding clothes, eliminating the news from your morning routine, playing a board game with your family, listening to music, playing with your dog/cat, writing… Please share your suggestions!
*If you are in the US, and you want to talk to someone else, there is a farmer hotline that connects you with someone to talk with about the stress you are going through. https://farmcrisis.nfu.org/ has lots of resources including a phone line, 800.273.TALK. | https://medium.com/@carrie4stars/ill-meditate-my-stress-away-478558b91251 | ['Carrie Vollmer-Sanders'] | 2019-06-17 22:26:42.383000+00:00 | ['Farmers', 'Agriculture', 'Prayer', 'Family', 'Stress'] |
Docker, Tensorflow, GUI, matplotlib | In the previous post, we discussed about using tensorflow on a dockerized container. With that, we can work on tensorflow environment. But, how will we do visualization of results? Copy the data to local computer and view it separetely? We can do that.. but, is there a better way? Yes. We can enable docker with GUI capabilities and display contents from docker itself.
First enable docker to use the display. We will do this by ‘xhost’ command as below
xhost +
Next, we need to run the docker with display settings.
docker run -it --gpus=all --name <name> -v <algo folder>:/algo -v <data folder>:/data --net=host --env="DISPLAY" --volume="$HOME/.Xauthority:/root/.Xauthority:rw" tensorflow/tensorflow:1.15.2-gpu-py3 /bin/bash
Inside the docker container, install python3-tk.
apt install -y python3-tk
Install matplotlib using pip
pip install matplotlib
For easy editing in python, we can have ipython. Installing ipython can be done as below
pip install ipython
The below code is taken from matplotlib website.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
= 5
= (20, 35, 30, 35, 27)
= (25, 32, 34, 20, 25)
= (2, 3, 4, 1, 2)
= (3, 5, 2, 3, 3)
ind = np.arange(
= 0.35 # the width of the bars: can also be len(x) sequence
p1 = plt.bar(ind, menMeans,
p2 = plt.bar(ind, womenMeans, width,
bottom=
('Scores')
('Scores by group and gender')
plt.xticks(
plt.yticks(
((
() N = 5 menMeans = (20, 35, 30, 35, 27) womenMeans = (25, 32, 34, 20, 25) menStd = (2, 3, 4, 1, 2) womenStd = (3, 5, 2, 3, 3) N ) # the x locations for the groups width = 0.35 # the width of the bars: can also be len(x) sequence width , yerr= menStd bottom= menMeans , yerr= womenStd plt.ylabel ('Scores') plt.title ('Scores by group and gender') ind , ('G1', 'G2', 'G3', 'G4', 'G5')) np.arange (0, 81, 10)) plt.legend (( p1 [0], p2 [0]), ('Men', 'Women')) plt.show ()
Copy the above code and paste it in ipython environment and run it. You will be able to see the display on your host machine. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/docker-tensorflow-gui-matplotlib-6cdd327d4a0f | ['Lijo Jose'] | 2020-03-18 12:08:01.548000+00:00 | ['TensorFlow', 'Docker', 'Matplotlib'] |
Spreading awareness for the prevention of Thalassemia | Spreading awareness for the prevention of Thalassemia
“GIVE BLOOD.. SAVE A THALASSEMIA LIFE”
Thalassemia is a blood disorder passed down through families(inherited) in which the body makes an abnormal form or inadequate amount of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The disorder results in large number of red blood cells being destroyed, which leads to anemia . This is caused by mutations in the DNA of cells that make hemoglobin.
Thalassemia, are of two types, alpha and beta thalassemia. The most common in Pakistan is beta thalassemia, that occurs when gene for beta globin chains of the hemoglobin molecule is defective. There are two genes in all of us for beta globin chain. If one is defective, the condition is called Thalassemia Minor and this is a benign state with no symptoms or problems in the individuals. If both genes are defective, then it is known to cause homozygous state i.e. Thalassemia Major.
Thalassemia Major is a severe disorder, wherein, the child is healthy until about 6 to 8 months of life. After which he/she develops anemia, enlargement of liver and spleen, hemolytic fascia(changes in the facial bones) and requires red blood cell transfusion to sustain life.
For the diagnosis following tests are being done. 1) Blood test called HPLC(high pressure liquid chromatography) in child as well as in parent. 2) Raised Fetal hemoglobin and elevated HbA2 levels in parents. 3) Genetic/molecular testing also can be done to identify the exact mutation in gene.
People with thalassemia are said to be immunocompromised, which means that some of the body’s defenses against infection are not working. When you are immunocompromised, it is easier for you to get infections and you sometimes need extra protection, like flu shots and other vaccines.
There is too much misery and suffering for a child born with thalassemia major. The blood transfusion has to start even before the child turns a year old. Babies are subjected to severe pain for four or five hours while being injected for blood transfusion. It is not easy for parents to see their child with needle pricks month after month for life. And, this is not the end. There are other major problems that show up. Girls often do not get their menstruation, or boys do not grow fully leading to other complications and hardships.
Risk of getting thalassemia: An individual is at risk of having thalassemia major if both the parents are carriers or thalassemia minors.
I
In each pregnancy there is one in four(25%) chance that their child will have normal blood, a two in four(50%) chance that the child will have thalassemia minor or a one in four(25%) chances that the child will have thalassemia major.
A simple health check for the Thalassemia carrier status before starting a family can save your child from becoming a patient of Thalassemia Major, unending cycle of infections, suffering and misery.
Birth of thalassemia major children can only be prevented by knowing the thalassemia status of parents before child is conceived. If both parents are tested positive for the carrier state, they need to be counselled for prenatal diagnosis in first trimester of pregnancy to know whether the index fetus is affected or not . If affected, medical termination is advised to the couple. Your doctor may recommend a hemoglobin electrophoresis test to determine if you have a disorder that causes the production of abnormal hemoglobin, or any family history of inherited anemias such as thalassemia to screen for these genetic disorders before having children.
Many people with thalassemia requires life long blood transfusion, maintaining an adequate blood supply is of considerate importance in thalassemia community . Almost 6000–8000 thalassemia patients born per year in our country. They rely on blood transfusions and iron chelation. People usually conduct blood drives and blood camps to help collect blood donations .But Now as covid19 spread has increased to that extent that it has started affecting the Thalassemia patients as blood camps and blood drives are not being conducted to avoid gatherings and spread of covid19 virus.
I as an individual and as a team have come up with the solutions to overcome this problem on commercial scale.
We will provide public awareness on prenatal diagnosis of disease in order to prevent the increase in number of thalassemia patients. We will conduct social media campaigns to motivate people to volunteer for blood donation. And will provide awareness on importance of blood donation for a thalassemia patient.
3. We will collaborate with NGOs, that are working for collection of blood. Many NGOs like Fatimed Foundation and Sundas Foundation, they are working as a blood banks.
Sundas foundation is an NGO working as a Blood Transfusion Center for Thalassemia, hemophilia and blood cancer patients free of cost. We will collaborate with this foundation and provide them volunteers. | https://medium.com/@maryam-khalid173/spreading-awareness-for-the-prevention-of-thalassemia-1a661882cf94 | ['Maryam Khalid'] | 2020-12-25 18:06:23.117000+00:00 | ['Thalassemia', 'Awareness', 'Blood Donation'] |
Donald Trump Has Become His Own Undoing. | Donald Trump Has Become His Own Undoing.
The President’s electoral prospects are currently collapsing, but will it last?
Photo by Donald Teel on Unsplash
Before the culmination of events that have happened over the course of just a few months, I never would have imagined Joe Biden had a shot against Donald Trump and I’m sure I’m not alone. The former Vice President is about as empty of a suit that the democratic party could find, with a legislative background comparable to a moderate republican and an awe inspiring inability to even appear remotely sorry or take any responsibility for the damage he has caused. Considering that nearly every single other candidate on the crowded democratic debate stage when the primary first began was running because they knew that Joe Biden might not be able to handle the rigors of the primary let alone a general election or the office of the Presidency, skepticism towards him is certainly warranted.
Ultimately however, it appears as though after years of political ambition and decades of waiting for this moment, Mr. Biden — luckily for him — is up against a man who’s ineptitude and tendency to bungle might even outpace his own.
Donald Trump’s incredible ability to market himself got him to where he is today, and his mortal fear of looking like a failure will be his downfall. When we take a second to consider everything that’s happened over the past few months, the rapid spiral out of control — while Trump was certainly not solely responsible for it — experienced an undeniable acceleration due to his own personal demons. Demons that have plagued him long before he ever got in to office.
The Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is the ultimate testament to just how deeply the fear of failure runs within the current occupant of the White House. I’m not sure there is anything that currently terrifies Trump more than the thought of losing this upcoming election. So can we really be surprised that in his infinitely small and deeply uncurious mind, he was more concerned about scaring the markets ahead of the election if he took action to prepare for what he knew was coming than he was about what it would mean for the public if he didn’t? Can we really be surprised when for weeks, every indication was that Trump didn’t even want widespread testing purely because he was afraid that would show the public the extent of the outbreak, and thus hurt his re-election chances?
Long before he even entered politics, Trump’s marketing skills have relied on his ability to lie. But while he’ll always have a certain segment of voters who will support him no matter what, that number begins to shrink when loved ones are dying alone in hospital beds, drowning in their own fluids. The lie gets a bit more difficult to maintain when people hear of loved ones getting sick in their homes with fevers, coughing continuously some even to the point of vomiting, and still unable to get tested because there just weren’t enough to go around.
Of course, that deep fear of failure within him extends far beyond Covid-19 and how it would affect his re-election chances. Just days ago, angry that he was being seen as weak for retreating to his bunker in the midst of the civil rights protests outside the White House, Donald Trump tear gassed peaceful protestors so that he could step outside and relay the message that he would not hesitate to use the weapons of the military against the public. His deep-seated fear of not just electoral failure but the perception of weakness sparked impulsive actions so dangerous that even his own former secretary of defense called him a threat to the constitution.
Now, it appears there’s no denying that Donald Trump has rapidly devolved in to his own undoing, with recent poll numbers showing that he’s not even reaching a forty percent approval rating. If the American people weren’t feeling the direct consequences, I would almost find it amusing that it was his mortal fear of failure that’s proven itself to be the ultimate contributor pushing him down the very path he fears most. That being said, as good as things are looking for Joe Biden in this moment it’s still a long way to go, and the energy of Donald Trump’s core base should still not be underestimated, nor should the presumptive democratic nominee’s ability to bungle these chances himself. Whether this will be a long term trend remains to be seen, but it’s going to be fascinating to see how the President responds. | https://xlauren-mx.medium.com/donald-trump-has-become-his-own-undoing-1088a25cdcef | ['Lauren Elizabeth'] | 2020-06-13 14:40:24.594000+00:00 | ['Election 2020', 'Elections', 'Politics', 'Trump', 'Government'] |
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