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Boost Jetpack Day 2 | JavaScript Data Types
There are many data types in JavaScript which are divided into two categories ‘Primitive Types’ and ‘Reference Types’.
Primitive type are stored in a fix state if later part you overwrite it won’t do any process in previous values it will create new state and save it as new data in back hood of JavaScript
Reference types are like connected value. When you assign a value to some variable it will create some reference variable in the back hood. So if you overwrite that value actually that value will assign into that back hood reference variable. So in the code wherever that reference variable is linked the overwrote value will change.
Expressions
Expression means some code that expect some values. It is going to be some values, as an example if we say console.log(“Arman’’) then it's gonna print some value so it's and expression.
Checking Type
If you want check type of some values there is very simple way to do that . You just have to console and need to type: typeof(“Arman”) then it's going to return “string”.
Try Catch
It doesn't matter how much expert you are in JavaScript but you are going to do mistake or there will be some error maybe it can be done by you or some misunderstood input . So if you want to solve those errors you need see where and how that error is happening. So instead of dying page you can trigger those errors by try…catch method
Try Catch Syntax
First of it's going to execute the code inside try block if there is some error it's going to pass the error as exception to catch block then catch block will have a parameter by that parameter you can trigger and solve your problem.
JavaScript Coding Style
In function, you can't type spaces between function name and parentheses and between parentheses and parameter, there need to 2 space indentation ,Curly brace should be in the same line with a space, Semicolon ; in the end of every statement, else keyword should be in same line with a space. In loops spaces between operators. An empty line between logic blocks.
Instead of writing long horizontal string values it should write in template string.
Comments In JavaScript
For human-readable code we must write comments in special expressions or statements. But you can't type comments in every statement of code. You write comment in single line with // and write multiple line comment with /* */
Caching
Caching means to store the same used data in store. It means like if in website there is same req we are doing a lot of time then we can store those data in cache and instead of request same data many times it will automatically load from cache store.
Cross Browser Testing
They're a lot of browsers in the internet world almost all browsers have the same functionality. But there is a difference between every browser engine so your code can run you testing browser what if it doesn't run in other browsers, so we have to do cross browser testing to check our code runs in almost every browser
Functions with Default Parameter Values
Suppose you have written a function that takes two parameters and then when you call that function you are passing one parameter. So it's going to show error for the expected parameter of that function. In that case you have to make that function as optional you have to write that function like ‘function foo(a , b= “”){ //statement }’ then if you pass that parameter or not it really doesn't matter | https://medium.com/@armanhossen591/boost-jetpack-day-2-9d494c29a9bc | ['Arman Hossen'] | 2020-11-07 10:10:52.963000+00:00 | ['Javascript Tips', 'JavaScript', 'Javascript Frameworks', 'Javascript Development'] |
Reflection on Amal Totkay | The five tips of the Amal Totkay were derived from the concepts of growth mindset that we have been studying and following up from almost the start of the fellowship. Growth mindset also plays an important role in entrepreneurship, so the concepts of entrepreneurship also lead to the development of Amal Totkay.
The Five Tips:
Self Talk Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Create New Habits Ask People Help Fake It Till You Make It
Takeaways:
Stop telling yourself that you can’t do it. Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. Incorporate good and strong habits into yourself and practice them on a regular basis. Remember that slow and steady wins the race. Get feedback and seek help from the people that are trustworthy. Act like you are really good at it and doing really well, ultimately you will.
Implementation:
The first step of implementation started already is developing a growth mindset which involves breaking the stereotype idea of knowing it all and being good at something and starting with the concept that I need more knowledge. Always keep the doors open to the room of improvement.
Developing a Growth Mindset:
Beginning from today, from right now, a growth mindset can be developed by keeping in mind that I will learn something new every minute or every hour. I observe the things and people around me and see what new I can find and indulge myself in a new learning experience.
Favorite Tip:
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone. | https://medium.com/@jareer.ahmed202/reflection-on-amal-totkay-1d90b7e4c842 | ['Jareer Ahmed'] | 2021-08-20 10:34:26.917000+00:00 | ['Amal Fellowship', 'Amal Totkay', 'Amal Academy', '2021'] |
Social Experiment | This is a fun post that serves the purpose of analyzing a few of the most popular social experiments undertaken. I will be looking at 5 social experiments and what the results actually mean. Stay tuned and enjoy.
The “Violinist in the Metro” Experiment
Image by Niek Verlaan from Pixabay
In 2007, an acclaimed violinist who sold out a concert with an average ticket price of $100 decided to pose as a street musician for an experiment. He played sweet melodies with his $3.5 million handcrafted violin. Most people totally ignored him and quickly passed.
This proves how much human beings are impressed by appearances. We’ve seen many cliche movies where a rich person pretends to be poor just to see if someone has genuine feelings for him or her. It is sad that we judge books by their covers but that is just the reality. That is why most people groom themselves and look presentable. More favour is attracted to you if you do that. The Carlsberg social experiment and the Halo Effect Experiment provided a similar result.
2. The “Marshmallow Test” Experiment
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a psychologist named Walter Mischel led a series of experiments on delayed gratification. He was interested in learning whether the ability to delay gratification might be a predictor of future life success.
In the experiments, children between the ages of 3 and 5 were placed in a room with a treat (often a marshmallow or cookie). Before leaving the room, the experimenter told each child that they would receive a second treat if the first treat was still on the table after 15 minutes. 3 Follow-up studies conducted years later found that the children who were able to delay gratification did better in a variety of areas, including academically. Those who had been able to wait the 15 minutes for the second treat tended to have higher SAT scores and more academic success (according to parent surveys).
This is very interesting because I get an investment and plan for the future vibe from this. Every successful person has had to sacrifice pleasures and comfort for a better future. If some kids were able to get through this test correctly then that might mean that they are better wired for success? You be the judge.
3. A Class Divided Social Experiment
Image by stokpic from Pixabay
Jane Elliott’s famous experiment was inspired by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the inspirational life that he led. The third grade teacher developed an exercise to help her Caucasian students understand the effects of racism and prejudice. This was a rather harsh experiment however, it needed to be done.
Elliott divided her class into two separate groups: blue-eyed students and brown-eyed students. On the first day, she labeled the blue-eyed group as the superior group and from that point forward they had extra privileges, leaving the brown-eyed children to represent the minority group. She discouraged the groups from interacting and singled out individual students to stress the negative characteristics of the children in the minority group. What this exercise showed was that the children’s behavior changed almost instantaneously. The group of blue-eyed students performed better academically and even began bullying their brown-eyed classmates. The brown-eyed group experienced lower self-confidence and worse academic performance. The next day, she reversed the roles of the two groups and the blue-eyed students became the minority group.
At the end the kids were relieved that it was over. This proves how much society can shape the kids. If you want a long lasting effective change then you must start by educating the kids properly and teaching them valuable lessons.
4. Ross’ False Consensus Study
Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
Lee Ross conducted an experiment in 1977 that, in lay terms, focuses on how people can incorrectly conclude that others think the same way they do about the beliefs and preferences of others.
In the first part of the study, participants were asked to read about situations in which a conflict occurred and then were told two alternative ways of responding to the situation. They were asked to do three things:
Guess which option other people would choose
Say which option they themselves would choose
Describe the attributes of the person who would likely choose each of the two options
What the study showed was that most of the subjects believed that other people would do the same as them, regardless of which of the two responses they actually chose themselves. This phenomenon is referred to as the false consensus effect, where an individual thinks that other people think the same way they do when they may not. The second observation coming from this important study is that when participants were asked to describe the attributes of the people who will likely make the choice opposite of their own, they made bold and sometimes negative predictions about the personalities of those who did not share their choice.
This experiment is relevant to this day. It is so evident in social media. You see people berate others because they do not share the same opinion instead of trying to understand where the other person is coming from. People believe what they believe to be the right thing I guess, that is just human nature.
5. YouTube Social Experiments
Image by Kaufdex from Pixabay
For the bonus social experiment, I’ll refer you to YouTube. It is one of the most used websites in the world and there are many popular channels which undertake various interesting social experiments. YouTube content creators such as Angry Picnic, The Impractical Jokers, Big Daws TV, and Juan among many others go round interacting with other human beings under unique circumstances just to record their reactions. It could be in the form of asking girls awkward questions or listening to loud music in a library or creating an awkward situation just to see how people react. Each of those tests is met with a variety of answers which provide interesting information about humans and how we think. I encourage you to check such channels out if you have not. Lots of interesting content there. | https://medium.com/@ric-a/social-experiment-c9b500ff691c | [] | 2020-07-21 09:07:38.441000+00:00 | ['Human Behavior', 'Life Choices', 'Psychology', 'Human Nature', 'Social Experiment'] |
Painting and Ideas for watercolor painting | Hey, so happy to see you here to how to Painting and Ideas for watercolor painting.
Have you ever wondered how to make your watercolor painting look more two-dimensional so it looks more interesting?
Because In today’s video I’m going to show you a fun technique you can try out that does exactly that. I’ll walk you through step by step while using two different examples. And by the way, if you’re completely new to watercolors, or just simply have questions about it, I create a free guide to watercolor supplies where I talk about everything that you need to know about watercolor paint, paper, and brushes, so, you can instantly get better at your art. You can find more of this in the Cool Drawing Idea.
To make sure you don’t add too much water to your painting, you can use tissue paper or a paper towel to soak up some of the excess water from your brush. Now, to create depth I went ahead and used my ochre color from the beginning and applied it right to the edges around the circled and blended it slightly into the yellow colors. You just want to create this transition between super light in the center and make dark colors around the edges. I find this wet on wet technique works the best on 100% cotton paper because it’s so sturdy and it just simply can handle the water so much better than regular watercolor paper, made out of cellulose. Again, if you want to learn more about it, make sure to download the free guide that I made just for you.
Here I’m going to use another shade of brown so I have a little bit of a contrast. So load up your brush with paint and draw a thin line upwards where you simply dab your brush to the sides to create these little dots to create the shapes in the leaf. And continue that with a few more leaves. Here it’s important again that the paper and the paint are still wet, so you want to work quickly. If the paper is already too dry, the paint will just sit on top without blending in. Next, I use even more of the brown color and repeated the steps. This time you want to create another row, but this time a lot shorter. So, start at the very bottom and paint the lines upwards, while changing up their height again. So, I added some very thin lines, some that are a little bit thicker, and make sure that they all have different heights. I also sometimes just dab on some paint to create subtle leaves that look through with the background. You also want to leave out some areas so you don’t simply color everything darker. The other row should still look through. And to make it look more interesting, you can also make the leaves look in different directions.
Next, I use red paint and mixed a little bit of yellow, so it turns into orange and then blended it upwards, starting slightly below the yellow color. Now, this going to be the base for the sunset. Clean your brush, dab off the excess water, and start adding another layer of yellow paint, the same way to intensify the color. As you can see, I now have a very bright yellow on top that turns into orange. Now we can work in even redder to intensify everything again. Here I started at the center and I blended the red color by moving upwards into the yellow color. Again, you want to make sure you don’t add too much water with your brush. So, dab it off on a piece of tissue paper so you have more paint than water on your brush.
Now to create the sun that’s actually setting, we’re going to use an easy trick. For that you only need a piece of tissue paper to use to cover the end of a pen that should be flat. Or you can also use a small coin. And then wrap the end of the pen or the coin with the tissue paper. Now, you only have to press it down above the purple paint to soak up the wet paint and then you will reveal the white paper below, once you remove it. I also use my clean, damp brush to lightly blend out the edges. This way we get this glory effect around the sun. All right, now for the lower part of the painting, I’m going to use a very bright mixture of green-colored paint and apply it to the white space. Here we’re going to paint another wheat field, but this time it’s going to be green. And then I mixed a slightly darker version of that green, using a little bit more blue, and repeated the same steps as in the first painting. I simply added different lines here and there, making sure they’ll look in different directions. I also apply them around the horizon and in the field itself. I also apply a little bit of yellow paint on top just to create the yellow crops, growing from these green leaves.
Next, I mixed an even darker green and applied it to the lower part of the painting to create even more depth. Again, don’t freak out, everything should just blend into each other. And to make sure you don’t create a pool of paint, always dab off excess water on a tissue paper. Here I add the green lines to create shadows around the crops leaning towards the right, but of course, you can paint it however you like. Also, as you can see, since the sky is already dryer than the field you’re currently working on, the wet paint started to push away the dry paint. This is one of the versions of the typical cauliflower effect or background. This is why it’s important to work quickly and keep the paper wet. I just took way too long to paint the field and it went back to the horizon, so the water kind of buildup. But don’t panic if that happens to you, you can always blend it out later. All right, while this is drying let’s go back to the first painting. As you can see, since we painted wet on wet, everything we worked on looks rather blurry. And that’s exactly what we wanted.
Repeat the steps with a few more leaves here and there. To make everything look a little bit more delicate, I also used tissue paper to soak up some of the paint, but only in a few areas, so some lines are still darker than the rest. From here you can really play around and add even lighter or darker lines, whenever you feel like it’s a little too empty. But you don’t want to add too much or you’ll cover everything that we just worked so hard on. All right, let’s move on to the second painting.
The first thing I did, I painted the circle yellow, and so the sun doesn’t look so white. And then I blend out the weird, hard edge upwards and downwards so everything is slightly more seamless again. And to make sure that the backgrounds won’t happen again, I use the glazing technique to add a thin layer of yellow paint to the lower half of the painting and to also make the green look a little bit warmer. And because I reactivate the paint a little bit, I could use that to add more details to the sky to create clouds and its shadows. And now we can add a few more details and you’re done. This time I used an even darker shade of my brown color and added a few more leaves here and there to create another row in the field. And repeat the same with the second painting.
Here I painted different types of leaves and branches. And to make everything look slightly more magical, I also used white gouache and sprinkled it all over the painting to create this white shimmer. And if you want, you can also mix the white gouache with your watercolors to make them opaque. Here I did that with my green and yellow color and created a few highlights in the field. And this is how it looks. Don’t forget to download your free guide about watercolor supplies, using the link down below. And for more ideas on what you can paint to improve your art, check out the videos right here. I really hope it was helpful, thank you so much for watching, have a wonderful day and I will see you in the next video. Bye. | https://medium.com/@drawingforkidsblog/painting-and-ideas-for-watercolor-painting-e4bc757773b9 | ['Drawing For Kids Blog'] | 2020-11-24 08:20:11.194000+00:00 | ['Drawing', 'Ideas', 'Sketch', 'Watercolor', 'Painting'] |
“Anxiety likes a blank canvas…” | As a clinician in private practice, one of the phrases that I hear myself repeating often is “Anxiety likes a blank canvas.” This emphasizes several aspects of anxiety:
Anxiety is about a possible future that has not happened yet.
Anxiety explores options, especially dangerous-feeling “what ifs”.
And when there is a lot of blank canvas, there is ample room to paint.
Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash
Anxiety is about a possible future.
The blank canvas is full of possibilities. We can paint happy trees or scary monsters. The future is open to us!
But the physical feelings of anxiety are very present. In this present, you may feel your muscles tighten, your heart rate increase, that “itchiness” in your abdomen, the changes in breathing so that your breath becomes shallow and short instead of long and relaxed. Yet in our minds, our thoughts are generally consumed with the future. As I have noted before, anxiety likes to “time travel” to a possible future.
Because this future is unwritten (or unpainted), our wonderfully imaginative brains can fill in lots of gaps as to what MIGHT happen, eventually creating such a detailed picture that it feels as if this imagined outcome IS actually happening.
Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash
Remember that your brain is trying to protect you.
We can spend a lot of time being frustrated with an anxious brain, or we can see it for what it is: our armor. Generally, those of us who have more anxiety have had an event (or multiple events) that involved a lower-grade threat to a potentially life-threatening catastrophe. But no matter the intensity or duration of the anxiety-producing event, our present brain wants to make sure that we do not go through that again. So our brain becomes a sort of sentry, a protector, a lookout for danger.
And this is where having a “blank canvas” future is challenging. The anxious “lookout” brain begins to see all sorts of “what ifs” in the blank space of the canvas.
What if I didn’t turn off the oven?
What if that noise is someone in my apartment?
What if my child is still doing this when they are an adult?
What if I lose my job?
Remember that the “what ifs” are about a possible future that has not happened yet, whether that future is something that could happen in the next hour (an anticipated “disastrous” meeting) or in several decades (dying alone).
That future has not happened yet, even though it may feel as if it is. This is just how our brains work.
Photo by Alice Achterhof on Unsplash
So what do we do with a blank canvas? We start to choose how to fill it in instead of letting our “anxious” brain do it for us.
So we pause, take a deep breath, remind ourselves to be in this present moment. Then from that calmer place, we can acknowledge the possible anxiety-producing outcome. Once we have acknowledged it (not fought it) we can look for other possible futures, not only the ones from which our brain is attempting to protect us.
We may paint using reminders about past good outcomes. Remember back to when this scenario went “just OK” or even when everything worked out well!
We may paint with some research that shows us that statistically, our chances of getting attacked by a shark are pretty low. That anxious part of your brain is typically not interested in statistics, but the calmer, more present part of us can better acknowledge what is a real risk and what is not.
We may paint with the colors of our present as a way of filling in the space on the canvas. This way our “protector” doesn’t have room to imagine all the potential nightmares.
Above all, remember to be kind to yourself. That also means being kind to that part of your self that worries. Be gentle with events that have happened in your past. They have shaped you and made you aware of dangers that might happen, that did happen at one time. But then come back to the present, look at that blank canvas, and choose what you paint next.
Hmm, maybe some happy trees? | https://medium.com/whenanxietystrikes/anxiety-likes-a-blank-canvas-9b34ca3f2304 | ['Jason B. Hobbs Lcsw'] | 2019-08-23 00:30:10.890000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Self', 'Psychology', 'Anxiety', 'Therapy'] |
Khyaal Rakhya Kaar Song Lyrics | Khyaal Rakhya Kar is the new punjabi song released by Desi Music Factory. This brand new song featuring Neha kakkar & Rohanpreet Singh.The music is given by Rajat Nagpal. Khyaal Rakhya Kar song lyrics penned down by Babbu .The song is directed by Azeem- Agam Mann. | https://medium.com/@kuldharanabhi/khyaal-rakhya-kaar-song-lyrics-deed432d46ee | ['Lyrics Point'] | 2020-12-25 16:15:00.960000+00:00 | ['Trends', 'Neha Kakkar', 'Song Lyrics', 'Lyrics', 'Punjabi Song'] |
Do You Speak Millennial? A Modern Acronym Guide | TFW…you have no idea what anyone is saying. Shorthand is becoming commonplace, especially among Millennials. If you’ve found yourself shaking your head trying to figure out what “SMH” or “TBH” means, you’re not alone.
Gone are the days of full sentences, perfect grammar, and AP Style (*tear*). Of course, formal writing will always have its place in business and will continue to be taught in school (let’s hope). However, it’s also becoming critical to understand the abbreviations of the millennial generation. In no particular order, here’s a guide to help de-code modern acronyms and speak “Millennial” (or at least understand it). Because apparently it’s just too exhausting to write out full words.
OMG = Oh My God
LOL = Laugh Out Loud
LMAO = Laughing My A** Off
JK = Just Kidding
BRB = Be Right Back
NVM = Never Mind
TTYL = Talk to You Later
NBD = No Big Deal
TBH = To Be Honest
JOMO = Joy of Missing Out (opposite of FOMO)
BAE = Before Anyone Else
TFW = That Feeling When
TMW = That Moment When
SMH = Shaking My Head
V = Very (“I’m v excited”)
P = Pretty (“I’m p excited”)
WYD = What (Are) You Doing
MCM = Man Candy Monday
WCW = Woman Crush Wednesday
RN = Right Now
TN = Tonight
BC = Because
Thx = Thanks
@ = At (but used in a sentence, not in an email address)
L8 = Late
OMW = On My Way
Bye = Get Out of Town (girl, bye)
OOTD = Outfit of the Day (akin to SOTD, Shoes of the Day and POTD, Photo of the Day)
FTW = For The Win
HBU = How About You
WBU = What About You
FWIW = For What It’s Worth
YOLO = You Only Live Once
BTW = By The Way
ICYMI = In Case You Missed It
TY = Thank You
YW = You’re Welcome
IDC = I Don’t Care
FB = Facebook
IG = Instagram
SM = Social Media
DM = Direct Message (like on Twitter: “dm me”)
TBT = Throwback Thursday
FBF = Flashback Friday
NSFW = Not Safe For Work
LMK = Let Me Know
HMU = Hit Me Up
RT = Retweet
IRL = In Real Life
TIL = Today I Learned
IMO or IMHO = In My Opinion or In My Humble Opinion
A favorite commercial of mine pokes fun at the evolving shorthand language, produced by AT&T / Cingular. For your viewing pleasure, watch it here.
There, now you speak Millennial. YW. | https://medium.com/stronger-content/do-you-speak-millennial-a-modern-acronym-guide-da45c367b8e3 | ['Brooks Wallace'] | 2016-07-15 18:57:16.141000+00:00 | ['Millennials', 'Public Relations', 'Social Media'] |
QuickBook support line | QuickBooks plays a very important role when the user uses the payroll on-demand on the service of the customer around the world.QuickBooks provides the service technical support number when the user has any queries of the customer . our expert is friendly accommodating when you have to use the QuickBooks software. QuickBooks software is so competitive, advance and end to end the point.QuickBooks support also provides the customer support free number and toll-free number for the user when they have any issue related to the payment online or software related issue. Our support line provides the service at 24*7 users can call us at any time when they have any queries related to QuickBooks online. if you need to fly your business into a new position then maintain your pay budget.QuickBooks technical support resolves the queries related to tech error. when the user uses any software then errors are a common thing with software applications and chances are that programs face some functionality problems when used on a PC, Mac, Smartphone or Tablet. | https://medium.com/@anjalikushwaha475/quickbook-support-line-a3824b9b3dc4 | ['Anjali Kushwaha'] | 2019-11-28 09:09:47.032000+00:00 | ['Customer Service', 'Accounting', 'Business Strategy'] |
An Architectural Deep-Dive into AMD’s TeraScale, GCN & RDNA GPU Architectures | With an overview of AMD’s GPUs and supporting prerequisite information behind us, it’s time to delve into TeraScale, GCN and RDNA’s architectural depths…
This post has been split into a two-part series, please find Part 1, An Overview of AMD’s GPU Architectures, here:
1. TeraScale
Let’s start within TeraScale’s core and build our way out:
A processor is a complex ensemble of fetch, decode & execute logic coupled with storage registers and cache all working in tandem to carry out whatever number-crunching is required, and these execution blocks are themselves built-up of simpler foundational blocks.
With TeraScale, as with all of AMD’s GPUs today, this most fundamental execution block is the Stream Processor or SP. An SP is what AMD chooses to call an Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) in the context of their GPUs; ALUs, as their name suggests, specialize in executing mathematical operations.
In TeraScale, several SPs and a branch control unit along with storage registers all come together to make up a single Stream Processing Unit, or SPU.
Further up, several SPUs along with more control units and storage registers together make up a single SIMD core. Several SIMD cores and even more control hardware ultimately come together to make a complete TeraScale GPU.
Of course, a pictorial representation will do a far better job of getting all this across:
Several Stream Processors along with registers & control logic comprise a single Stream Processing Unit (SPU), while several SPUs along with more control hardware & registers comprise a single SIMD core…
…And several SIMD cores together with additional logic & cache build a complete TeraScale chip!
Above we see 10 SIMD cores coming together to make a RV770, or Radeon HD 4870 GPU
It goes without saying that the complete GPU is more complex than what’s seen here, but this gives you a fair idea as well as a glimpse into the heart of this now defunct beast.
Let’s now see how it all comes together to process those vectors we spoke of earlier:
A VLIW Heart
TeraScale happens to be what’s called a VLIW chip.
VLIW stands for Very Long Instruction Word and is another type of Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). Recall from earlier that an ISA comprises the set of instructions that a chip can understand and therefore act on, and that ISAs can be of different types: x86–64 is a CISC type ISA while ARM is a RISC type ISA. Similarly, AMD’s TeraScale GPUs were a VLIW-type ISA.
Simply put, VLIW is another attempt at speeding up chips. While the obvious approaches involve simply building faster cores that churn through more instructions per clock cycle, another is to simply do more stuff at once. This latter approach necessitates multiple processing cores in a single system which explains the many-core CPUs of today with even cellphones now boasting of 8-core CPUs.
Having multiple cores is one thing, utilizing them effectively is quite another. When you run a program, it creates a system process (visible in the task manager) which in-turn spawns one or more “threads”. A thread is a self-sufficient bunch of instructions awaiting the CPU’s attention for execution (self-sufficient as they contain all the data and state information necessary for their execution). A thread is thus the smallest sequence of instructions that can be scheduled for execution by a scheduler.
A simple approach to utilizing more cores then would be to have them execute several independent threads in parallel. Indeed, this approach is used by CPUs and is called Thread Level Parallelism (TLP).
Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP) is an alternate take on parallel processing: with ILP several threads from a process are packed into a single, large thread giving us what’s called a Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW). This VLIW thread is then sent off to the processor, where it’s unpacked at execution time and the resulting threads executed by available processing cores.
Both ILP and TLP approaches share a common critical requirement though: operations executing in parallel must be independent of each other, be they disparate threads or the instructions from within a VLIW thread. This makes sense: if an operation relies on the output of another it’ll simply have to await those results before it can itself execute.
Consider a very simple example:
A + B = C
X + Y = Z
C * Z = R
While the first two are entirely independent of the other instructions, the third relies on the preceding two and will thus have to await their execution.
This might appear as a subtle difference but raises a very important question, that of whose job is it to identify such independent data for parallel execution? With TLP, that burden is shared by the application programmer and the hardware: while the programmer is responsible for writing thread-aware code takes advantage of multiple processing cores, the processor itself ultimately schedules threads for parallel execution at run-time, maximizing utilization. TLP thus follows a dynamic, run-time approach to scheduling wherein the processor itself acts as the scheduler.
With an ILP approach things are not as simple: the calling process must itself identify independent threads to be packaged into a single VLIW thread. This leaves the entire burden of scheduling on the software and more specifically, on the compiler. In software parlance, a compiler is a special program that converts code written in a near-English (and thus high-level) language such as Java or C/C++ into low-level machine code based on the processor’s ISA, thus acting as an intermediary translator.
While the compiler gets the advantage of a full view of the program and could therefore be expected to schedule intelligently, there are conditions the compiler remains blind to as some outcomes remain unknown until actual execution time. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that scheduling set by the compiler cannot be altered at run-time by the processor leaving us with a static, compile-time approach to scheduling in stark contrast to TLP.
So ILP is a static scheduling approach that complicates the design of the compiler and leaves compute resources inevitably idle at times, why ever use it then? Because graphics is a highly parallelizable application domain that can utilize an ILP approach arguably well. Further, when combined with TLP as done on TeraScale (surprise!) ILP can lead to some very impressive performance figures.
So how did AMD utilize ILP and further combine it with TLP on their VLIW-based TeraScale architecture? Let’s look down the compute lane:
TeraScale at Work: TLP + VLIW ILP on a SIMD Core
Recall that a GPU fetches several datapoints or pixels at once in a grouping called a “vector” along with a corresponding instruction in accordance with its SIMD nature. AMD likes to refer to these vectors as “wavefronts” and with TeraScale, 64 VLIW threads of pixel values or datapoints are grouped into a wavefront and dispatched to a SIMD core for processing. With 16 SPUs per SIMD core, the full 64-wide wavefront is executed in four cycles.
With the 16 SPUs of a SIMD core each processing a VLIW thread every clock cycle, we see thread level parallelism or TLP in action as 16 VLIW threads are processed at any given time.
Instruction level parallelism (ILP) comes in next as each VLIW thread is dissected for its constituent datapoints which are then executed individually by the stream processors within the SPU.
And with 16 VLIW thread executing against the same instruction at any given time, a SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) architecture is in play throughout.
Utilization remains a big concern though, for both the SPUs and the SPs within them: not only must the compiler do its best to identify 5 independent datapoints for each VLIW thread, but so must 64 VLIW threads be packed together within each wavefront. Further, the 64 items in a wavefront should all execute against the same instruction; imagine a scenario wherein one thread executes against an entirely different instruction from the other 63! Opportunities for additional clock cycles & poor utilization thus abound and the compiler must do it’s best to schedule around them.
With 5 SPs in each SPU, attaining 100% utilization necessitates five datapoints per VLIW thread. That’s the best case; in the worst case an entire thread is comprised of just a single datapoint resulting in an abysmal 20% utilization as 4 SPs simply engage in idle chit-chat. Extremities aside, AMD noted an average utilization of 68% or 3.4 SPs per clock cycle. A diagram from AnandTech’s GCN preview article depicts this scenario, and it’s a good time to borrow it here:
Some cycles see 100% utilization of the SPs as others see just 20% utilization with only one SP engaged. On average, AMD notes 68% utilization per cycle, or 3.4 SPs.
TeraScale over Three Generations: Optimizing ILP until the End
TeraScale evolved three generations over its lifetime starting with Gen1 on the Radeon HD 2xxx series and finally culminating with the Gen3 based Radeon HD 69xx series. Three primary enhancements sum up the changes over this period: more SIMD cores, smaller process nodes and a more optimized SPU.
The Radeon HD 2900 XT served as TeraScale’s debut flagship: manufactured on TSMC’s 80nm process with just 4 SIMD cores, it puts into perspective how far we’ve come today!
The HD3000 series followed with similar specs albeit on TSMC’s newer 55nm process and like its predecessor, proved underwhelming against Nvidia’s offerings at the time. Things really did turn in AMD’s favor with the HD4000 series as the flagship HD 4870 dramatically upped SIMD core count straight up to ten in addition to adopting newer GDDR5 VRAM netting 1.5x gains in memory bandwidth.
While the HD 4000 series were good, the HD 5000 series would usher in TeraScale’s heyday: debuting the TeraScale2 architecture on a brand new 40nm process, the Radeon HD 5000 family of GPUs remain arguably AMD’s best to date and are in-fact so well regarded that AMD’s newest RDNA-based RX 5000 of cards are named in honor of this GPU family! With the HD 5870, AMD once again doubled the number of SIMD cores now on the flagship Radeon HD 5870 GPU along with the L2 cache & VRAM.
TeraScale 3 would feature only on the Radeon HD 6900 series with a significant change: reducing the number of stream processors per SPU from five to four. This was AMD responding to their observation of SP utilization averaging around 3.4 SPs per SPU every clock cycle. This reduction would aid utilization & efficiency as well as leave silicon for additional SIMD cores. Indeed, the flagship Radeon HD 6970 GPU modestly increased SIMD core count to 24.
The HD 6900 series would serve as the last of the flagship TeraScale GPUs, even as TeraScale based cards continued to release until October of 2013. As compute applications began to take center-stage for GPU acceleration, games too evolved. The next generation of graphics API’s such as DirectX 10 brought along complex shaders that made the VLIW-centric design of TeraScale ever more inefficient and impractically difficult to schedule for. The Radeon HD 7000 series would accordingly usher in the GCN architecture, TeraScale’s inevitable successor that would abandon VLIW and ILP entirely and in doing so cement AMD’s focus on GPU compute going forward.
2. GCN — Graphics Core Next
With a mission to end Nvidia’s dominance in the GPU compute space, GCN set out with big goals. To do so would require AMD to free their GPUs of VLIW’s shackles & its accompanying instruction-centric approach to parallelism, building a new GPU architecture from the ground-up. New architectures are never easy, and with this transition necessitating major changes & complete overhauls, it would be no mean feat.
Why though? Why go through all this fuss? Simply put, because AMD really had no choice in the matter:
You see, the enterprise & high-performance compute (HPC) space are some of the highest margin customers hardware companies appeal to and the compute potential of GPUs happens to be of great value to these folk, a target audience who’s potential Nvidia had recognized first and addressed with Fermi, their first-ever compute-centric architecture. Nvidia complimented Fermi’s development with heavy investments in the surrounding software ecosystem resulting in the creation of the CUDA ecosystem, which continues to dominate the GPU compute space even today.
If you’re wondering what’s the point here, it’s all in the numbers: Fermi released in October of 2010 and by the third quarter of 2011, Nvidia was already enjoying the spoils: Q3’11 saw Nvidia declare a net income of $146M from a total $644M in gaming revenue while during the same period, profits from the professional market amounted to $95M from a total revenue of just $230M: that’s equivalent to 65% of the gaming profit from just 35% of the sales revenue; talk about healthy, healthy margins!
And so with both finances and the evolving software & gaming ecosystem demanding it and nearly two years late, GCN was to be AMD’s Fermi moment boldly announcing their arrival on the GPU compute playground. What changed & how did AMD’s take on a thread parallel GPU shape up? Let’s dive right in:
Recall that with TeraScale, the stream processor (SP) forms the foundational compute execution block. “Stream Processor” is another term for an ALU and TeraScale houses five SPs (four with TeraScale 3) in a single Stream Processing Unit (SPU) with 16 SPUs coming together to make a single SIMD core, several of which build a complete chip.
In the case of GCN this layering is shifted up a stage: individual stream processors still form the foundational blocks, but now 16 of them come together directly to build a single SIMD core. Further, four SIMD cores together build a single Compute Unit, or CU with several CUs finally coming together to build a single GCN chip.
Diagrams once again:
A SIMD core in GCN comprises of sixteen Stream Processors (SPs) rather than sixteen Stream Processing Units (SPUs) which themselves each comprise of five or four SPs
And four SIMD cores now come together in a single Compute Unit (CU), which a GCN GPU contains several of. Also illustrated above are the Scalar ALU, the branch & fetch/decode logic and the registers/cache that form part of the CU.
Let’s look at work distribution in GCN:
With VLIW and ILP out the window, GCN is a pure SIMD architecture: wavefronts are no longer comprised of VLIW threads but rather of 64 individual datapoints which are executed by the 16 SPs within SIMD cores. Wavefronts remain 64-wide, necessitating the same four cycles to churn through. Further, each compute unit contains four SIMD cores & each of these may work on separate wavefronts so at any time, a CU may be processing up-to four different wavefronts.
All this brings along a massive benefit: that of the software no longer having to identify and schedule independent data into VLIW threads, greatly simplifying the design of compilers. Independent threads are instead dynamically scheduled by the hardware at runtime resulting in a much simpler approach to scheduling. All this lends itself very favorably to compute applications as well as to modern games.
New to GCN & specifically for the scheduling of compute workloads across CUs are the Asynchronous Compute Engines, or ACE which preside over resource allocation, context switching & task priorities. As GCN is built to concurrently work on multiple tasks, ACEs independently schedule wavefronts across CUs. A GCN GPU may carry multiple ACEs.
The Graphics Command Processor (GCP) serves as the graphics counterpart to the ACE & makes a return from TeraScale. The GCP works to schedule activities across the graphics subsystem, primarily involving scheduling across the “primitive” pipelines: complex surfaces & objects in games are built up of simpler geometrical shapes, called primitives, bunched together in large numbers. Triangles are the dominant choice here as their position in 3D-space can be entirely determined by just three points. This process of building up complex objects, shapes & surfaces from simpler data is referred to as Tessellation. The primitive pipelines are responsible for this tessellation in addition to other geometry & high-order surface processing & the GCP is responsible for scheduling work over these pipelines.
Do notice the Scalar ALU within the CU: this is a special ALU dedicated to any “one-off” mathematical and transcendental (i.e. logarithmic, sin/cosine etc.) operations. The very meaning of a SIMD core implies vector processing and that involves applying an instruction to a group of values (a vector) rather than to a single value (a scalar). A scalar or a one-off operation disrupts this flow, and a separate Scalar ALU alleviates this by keeping these operations out of the SIMD cores.
So where was this with TeraScale? Unfortunately, within the SPUs: in the case of the TeraScale Gen1 & 2 the 5th SP in each SPU served as the Special Function Unit, or SFU. Gen3 bunched 3 of the 4 SPs within a SPU together for this. This resulted in a severe latency for scalar operations as they had to be scheduled within a wavefront: the HD 6900 series had a nasty 44-cycle latency for scalar operations. With the separation of the Scalar ALU from the SIMD core entirely, GCN brings this down to one cycle.
GCN Through the Years & Today
The first GPUs featuring GCN debuted on the 9th January 2012 with the Radeon HD 7950 & HD 7970 GPUs. On the 7th of January 2019, AMD announced the Radeon VII: the last GCN GPU. That’s a good seven years, practically eons in the compute world. GCN wasn’t a stagnant architecture over this duration, instead evolving with a mix of typical incremental upgrades in addition to other, more significant enhancements. Let’s peek at GCN’s journey:
First & Second Generation GCN:
While Gen1 GCN entirely abandoned VLIW in favor of a pure SIMD architecture, Gen2 brought along incremental upgrades with more functional units, higher memory bandwidth & better power management. New compute centric instructions in GCN’s ISA accompanied these, along with support for a greater number of ACEs with the R9 290X flagship sporting 8 where Gen1 had a hard limit of 2.
Bridgeless Crossfire was introduced here as well: Crossfire enables the use of multiple Radeon GPUs in a system & previously necessitated a hardware bridge to connect these GPUs. Bandwidth limitations over the bridge would require the CPU to mediate exchange over the PCIe bus, invoking a frametime penalty. Dedicated hardware in the form of the XDMA Crossfire engine would now control this & the much higher bandwidth of the PCIe bus meant a dedicated bridge was no longer necessary.
In terms of raw numbers, the Gen2 flagship R9 290X came baring 44 CUs, up from 32 CUs on the Gen1 HD 7970 & R9 280X, along with a wider memory bus (512-bit vs 384-bit) & an additional gig of VRAM.
Third Generation GCN:
Debuting in the September of 2014, Gen3 GCN bought along two major features to the compute side: GPU pre-emption & support for FP16 arithmetic. Pre-emption is the act of interrupting the execution of a task for another higher-priority task, without its consent with the intention of resuming it later. This is a big deal as GPUs have always been poor at context switching.
WRT FP16 ops, GPUs deal almost explicitly with floating point numbers (non-integer decimals/fractions) which typically occupy 32-bits in computer memory and are thus referred to as FP32 numbers, or single-precision numbers. Not every application requires as much precision with many compute applications adequately addressed by half-precision numbers which occupy half the space in memory with just 16-bits. These are referred to as FP16 numbers & lead to significant memory savings.
On the graphics side AMD introduced lossless delta color compression for the transfer of large textures. The use of compression for textures is not new, though with this AMD claimed a massive 40% gain in memory bandwidth efficiency.
Lastly, FreeSync & HBM were introduced here as well. FreeSync is AMD’s implementation of adaptive refresh-rate technology, allowing the monitor to change its refresh rate on-the-fly to match the frame output rate of the GPU, eliminating stutter when the framerate falls below the refresh rate and screen tearing conversely. HBM or High Bandwidth Memory is a memory standard that places the VRAM and GPU core on the same large slice of silicon, dubbed an ‘interposer’, as opposed to soldering memory chips separately onto the PCB. HBM allows for much higher bandwidth, lower latency as well as reduced power consumption. The trade off? Much higher cost.
The flagship Fury X increased CU count to 64 while HBM enabled a colossal 8-fold increase in memory bus width to 4096-bits from 512-bits on the R9 290X, resulting in a 60% increase in memory bandwidth to 512GB/s from 320GB/s. The Fury cards were the first GPUs to use HBM, which makes a comeback on GCN Gen5 which uses HBM2 exclusively.
Fourth Generation GCN: Polaris
Gen4 GCN debuted on the Polaris RX 400 series of GPUs in the June of 2016. With the flagship RX 480 squarely a mid-tier card with just 36 CUs, Polaris represented a big shift in AMD’s GPU strategy as they set out to the mainstream market first, differing the launch of high-end GPUs to a hitherto-undisclosed date. This speaks volumes of the extent of GCN’s success, or lack thereof, in the high-end space but we’ll differ that discussion for a while, instead maintaining focus on new features Gen4 GCN brought along.
Polaris aimed to make big improvements in the domain of power consumption, an area where GCN had fared poorly so far with several flagships running hot & loud while happily chugging on the power lines.
In addition, Polaris brings along support for instruction pre-fetching, a predictive process wherein processors guess the instructions they’ll be executing next based on the current execution state & then fetch those instructions. Correct pre-fetching leads to significant performance gains as the processor need not wait for data to be read in from memory, which is magnitudes slower. Incorrectly pre-fetched instructions are discarded, degrading efficiency though pre-fetching techniques are constantly refined to minimize this. Either ways, GCN Gen4 GPUs could now pre-fetch instructions, something prior GCN GPUs simply could not do. A larger instruction buffer obviously accompanies this.
On the graphics side, AMD added the Primitive Discard Accelerator. As surfaces & complex shapes are ‘tessellated’, i.e. made up of many smaller & simpler polygons (typically triangles), the primitive discard accelerator culls visually insignificant triangles (hidden or too small) for increased performance.
The RX 500 series launched a year later, bringing improvements to clockspeeds & reductions in power consumption. While the RX400 series were AMD’s first cards on the 14nm process, the RX 590 launched on a more refined 12nm process mildly improving clockspeeds & power efficiency.
GCN Gen4 remains the only GPU family from AMD lacking a high-end flagship member.
Fifth Generation GCN: Vega
While an entire article can be written on Vega’s release shenanigans, we’ll refrain from going down that path here. Baring a little context, we’ll retain focus on the notable new features Vega brought along.
Vega launched on Monday the 14th of August 2017 as the Vega 56 and Vega 64 GPUs, with those numbers denoting the number of compute units in those respective GPUs. The high CU count marked AMD’s return to the high-end space after a two-year absence. AMD’s recently launched Ryzen CPUs had delivered on value & performance far beyond expectations, cementing hopes for Vega to do the same in the GPU space. This would prove to be flawed chain-reasoning causing expectations & excitement to spiral out of control prior to launch: at one-point enthusiasts were offering to privately fund the overseas travel of knowledgeable YouTubers such as Buildzoid to have them analyze AMD’s Vega events! Though I really blame AMD’s mix of dramatic & drip-feed marketing for this, I’ll refrain from talking further about it here.
The GPU landscape wasn’t favorable for AMD either: they barely held 25% of desktop GPU market share at this point so it would be very hard to get game developers to support any new Vega-centric gaming features as they’d benefit very few. Further exacerbating this situation was Nvidia’s dominance of the entire GPU landscape with their Pascal architecture, one of their best ever architectures now legendry for refinement, efficiency & raw performance.
Regardless, AMD’s engineers did consider Vega to be their largest architectural overhaul in five years even actively distancing themselves from the GCN tag & referring to this as the ‘Vega’ architecture instead. This is still very much GCN though, so naming conventions aside let’s peek into the changes:
This biggest change comes to GCN’s FP16 compute capabilities: while Gen3 introduced FP16, the operations themselves didn’t execute any faster as each individual stream processors could still handle only one operation at a time, be it FP16 or FP32. Vega changes that significantly: each SP can now handle two FP16 operations in place of a single FP32 op, a feature AMD dubbed ‘Rapid Packed Math’.
The next big change comes to the memory subsystem with the adoption of HBM2 and the introduction of the High Bandwidth Cache Controller. More relevant as a compute feature, HBCC extends the GPU VRAM’s reach to the system RAM & secondary storage device for datasets too large for the VRAM alone.
Next are improvements to the graphics engines with the introduction of primitive shaders which allow for high-speed discarding of primitives, i.e. visually insignificant polygons (hidden or very small triangles) along with the Draw Stream Binning Rasterizer to further aid in this regard. This continued emphasis on culling helps prevent the clogging of render pipelines & frees the GPU of useless work, reducing memory access and saving memory bandwidth while reducing power consumption.
Lastly, we have better load balancing across the geometry/shader engines resulting in a 2x speedup in geometry throughput. While geometry performance hadn’t been poor on GCN, this helps squeeze out any potential bottlenecks.
Built on the 14nm process, the Vega 56 & 64 GPUs packed 8GB of HBM2 each. While HBM2 was to double the bandwidth over HBM1, it missed that target by a bit affording Vega 484GB/s in bandwidth over its 2048-bit wide bus, where the Fury cards enjoyed 512GB/s over their 4096-bit wide bus.
The Radeon VII would rectify that: released on the 7th of February 2019, the “world’s first 7nm gaming GPU” and the last GCN GPU carries 60CUs and a whooping 16GB of HBM2 memory over a full 4096-bit wide bus unleashing a mindboggling 1TB/s in memory bandwidth! Slightly anti-climatically though, it cost and performed nearly the same as the mighty GTX 1080 Ti, the then two-year older Pascal flagship which also carried a 45W lower TDP.
Overall, the Vega cards lacked appeal against Nvidia’s highly refined & efficient Pascal-based GTX 10x series which not only offered similar performance at similar price points but had also been on the shelfs for a while already. The use of expensive HBM2 memory also hindered AMD’s ability to price the cards more aggressively, and these factors together sadly crippled Vega’s success as a gaming architecture.
GCN: Conclusion
While AMD did lose significant GPU market share with their GCN architecture at the helm, GCN did have its moments: the HD 7970 and R9 290X are remembered as formidable flagships that held the performance crown in their day, GCN did see AMD make inroads into the compute space, Vega gave us some great Ryzen APUs & cards like the RX470 and Vega 56 have done well for AMD. GCN is also in all the consoles, from the PlayStation 4 to the Xbox and even on the Nintendo Wii U.
Notably, GCN did well in the low-power envelopes of mid-range and embedded graphics products such as the consoles and APUs while it did suffer at the high-end: the R9 290X ran hot and loud, the R9 Fury cards still cause their past owners to break into random bouts of sweating and worse of all, the Vega cards consumed the power equivalent of Nvidia GPUs from a tier above. Indeed, it appeared that the flagship cards worsened in respects to power draw and efficiency as GCN matured and clearly, something needed to change.
RDNA seems set to rectify all that GCN did wrong, especially in the domain of power consumption and efficiency. While it’s barely out the door and therefore too early to judge, it’s enjoyed some large wins in the enterprise space spanning the cloud, supercomputer and low-power envelope spaces. Indeed, RDNA seems set to answer every enthusiast’s call for a new GPU architecture from AMD, but does it ultimately fare well and what does it change? Let’s dig in.
3. RDNA: Radeon Re-defined
RDNA arrives to make significant changes to the core of GCN, or as AMD prefers to put it more organically: to the very DNA of the Radeon architecture. While not as major a redesign as the move away from VLIW, RDNA does bring along a complete reworking of AMD’s approach to thread level parallelism on its GPUs. Accordingly, we get three major changes manifesting as updates to the compute units (CUs), the addition of a new caching layer and accompanying improvements to power efficiency.
Beginning at the heart of the matter, the fundamental SIMD cores see a major change once again, now beefing up to twice the size of GCN’s SIMD cores, doubling the number of steam processors (SPs) & the register space:
TeraScale ushered in the 16-wide SIMD design, which GCN followed despite the move away from VLIW by simply replacing TeraScale’s 16 SPUs (each of which housed 4 or 5 SPs) with the fundamental stream processors themselves. RDNA continues shaking things up for the SIMD core.
This in turn alters the compute unit itself:
As we see, significant changes to the compute unit abound with RDNA. Most notably, the four SIMD cores of GCN are now merged into two, each twice as wide doubling both the number of SPs as well as the register space. Each SIMD core now also gets its own scheduler, as opposed to GCN’s approach of deploying a single scheduler across the entire CU.
Further on we see that while GCN equips it’s CUs with a single scalar unit, RDNA’s carries two Scalar ALUs in a CU, one per SIMD core. Recall that the SALU is dedicated to one-off operations which would otherwise bog down the SIMD cores, wasting their parallel compute capabilities.
Further changes alter resource sharing across CUs: RDNA pairs two CUs into a single Work Group Processor, or WGP with the scalar data & instruction cache shared across the WGP along with the Local Data Share (LDS). GCN on the other hand shared its scalar cache across four adjacent CUs while maintaining a dedicated LDS per CU.
While such merging of SIMD cores and changes to sharing across CUs may appear as trivial changes, they’re anything but and have far reaching implications on how work is distributed and executed by the GPU: recall that work is distributed to the CUs in a fundamental grouping called a wavefront, with 64 pixels or datapoints in each wavefront. Ideally, these datapoints hold no inter-dependencies and await execution against the same instruction making them ideal for parallel execution via the SIMD cores which had been 16-wide with both GCN & TeraScale, thus processing a wavefront every 4 cycles.
RDNA changes this four-cycle execution model entirely: with the SIMD cores doubled up to 32 SPs, the wavefronts too are slashed in half to 32 elements per wavefront. The implication is obvious: a wavefront is executed every cycle resulting in a 4x speedup in wavefront execution times!
The reduction in wavefront size helps tremendously: identifying 64 independent datapoints for each wavefront can prove challenging even for highly parallelizable applications like graphics and GPU compute tasks. This challenge often necessitates additional cycles where some datapoints execute against different instructions from the others, also resulting in poor utilization. With just half the datapoints required per wavefront, this situation is greatly eased.
So RDNA’s Compute Units can execute wavefronts four times faster than their predecessor, this necessitates keeping the CUs well fed with data: a new caching layer is thus introduced. Notice the CU block diagram above wherein GCNs’ local L1 cache is changed in nomenclature to the ‘L0’ cache. But that’s all that it is: a change in nomenclature. The real change comes at the next step: RDNA now adds a new L1 layer that’s shared across 10 Compute Units (5 GCPs) which in-turn interacts with the L2 cache by the memory controllers. On the other hand, the L1 cache in the CUs of GCN interacts directly with this L2 cache, with no intermediate caching layer.
Caching layers have a significant impact on performance, lowering execution times & upping efficiency further: when data isn’t found in the caching layers there’s no choice but to look for it in the VRAM, which isn’t just many magnitudes slower (on the scale of thousands of times slower as compared to the caches close to the cores), it’s also significantly more energy intensive.
All put together, that’s a 4x speedup in wavefront execution times coupled with smaller wavefronts and additional caching, improving both performance & efficiency. The results reflect this: RDNA’s mid-range 5700XT GPU performs in the same ballpark as the Radeon VII GPU, which represents the very best of GCN. Built on the same 7nm process, the R7 carries 3840 SPs and a 295W TDP. For RDNA to match that with 33% fewer SPs and a 25% lower TDP is very good progress indeed: the 5700XT carries 2560 SPs and a 225W TDP with the most impressive reduction being the $400 USD price tag against the Radeon VII’s $700 USD MSRP!
One thing is clear: AMD has made significant strides with RDNA, and that’s great news for the GPU market. Hopefully, RDNA signals AMD’s long overdue return to competitiveness in the GPU space.
RDNA: Additional New Features
Two significant enhancements accompany the design reworks described above, chief among them being the shift to GDDR6 memory. First introduced on Nvidia’s RTX 2000 GPUs in 2018, GDDR6 brings along a 1.75x speedup over GDDR5, affording the 5700XT with 448GB/s in memory bandwidth over the same 256-bit wide bus as the RX 580, which merely enjoys 256GB/s.
Next up is the shift to the PCIe Gen4 standard with 32GB/s in bandwidth over 16 PCIe lanes, doubling bandwidth over Gen3’s 16GB/s. Though GPUs today struggle to saturate Gen3’s bandwidth, the move to Gen4 aids with the exploding popularity of NVMe SSDs, which utilize PCIe’s much higher bandwidth to attain read/write speeds unattainable by typical drives over SATA. Since a GPU can now be adequately fed over 8 Gen4 lanes, more lanes remain available for these SSDs.
RDNA: Looking Forward
For now, the best we have with RDNA is the 5700XT and with 40 CUs, 4 Asynchronous Compute Engines and a 256-bit wide memory bus, it’s clearly a mid-range part. “Big Navi” remains due at an undisclosed date, with rumors of AMD referring to this part as the “Nvidia killer” internally. It would be nice for this rumor to be true: Team Green’s domination over the past few years has been absolute, resulting in their complete stagnation on price/performance improvements, so a shakedown is definitely overdue.
One thing is for certain: efficiency will play a major role in dictating RDNA’s success much more than raw performance alone. While the 5700XT seems to be doing okay, if Big Navi pops out sporting maxed out voltages and bursting along the clock speed limits like Vega did, then all hope is truly lost for a formidable AMD challenger.
Things with RDNA do look very promising for now though many definitive products remain due: beyond just high-end enthusiast class graphics cards, it’s the APUs, console SoCs and compute GPUs that RDNA spawns that’ll ultimately dictate its success. For now, I dare say it would be safe to remain cautiously optimistic!
4. Conclusion & Looking Forward
Over the course of this article, we’ve looked at AMD’s GPUs and observed the constant & significant transformation they’ve undergone over the past 13 years, from aggressively scaling up and optimizing VLIW to abandoning it entirely for a more compute-centric architectural layout. While TeraScale made significant impact on the gaming market, GCN has made in-roads into the GPU computing and heterogenous system landscape over the past decade. Today, RDNA arrives to take over with significant changes aggressively rectifying GCN’s shortcomings in a focused effort to dominate the GPU landscape. Indeed, RDNA’s many early wins firmly lay out this path.
With just three new cards out for now, it’s clear that RDNA’s story has just begun. While AMD seems to have big plans for RDNA and are already enjoying several large wins across the spectrum, a few more generations will be necessary to effectively gauge RDNA’s impact. This sure seems like the architecture that restores AMD’s technology lead while cementing their mindshare, though. Indeed, only time (and a few more releases) will tell the complete tale.
Please find Part 1, An Overview of AMD’s GPU Architectures, here: | https://medium.com/high-tech-accessible/an-architectural-deep-dive-into-amds-terascale-gcn-rdna-gpu-architectures-c4a212d0eb9 | ['Abheek Gulati'] | 2019-11-11 11:58:47.392000+00:00 | ['Hardware', 'Gpu', 'Gaming', 'Amd', 'Graphics'] |
Vodafone’s Get the Flow app: tackling stuttering with a rap | Vodafone’s Get the Flow app: tackling stuttering with a rap
Original publication date: Mar 21, 2018
Vodafone is tackling stuttering among Dutch children with a ‘rap app’.
Background
5% of all Dutch children stutter, and as a result, many of them become victims of bullying. This causes low self-esteem. Therefore, they choose to communicate via their mobile phone, rather than practise their speech in public. When Vodafone asked DDB & Tribal to create a ‘Powerful Connections’ campaign to convince people that mobile technology connects people and can make a positive difference to their lives, the Dutch agency tapped into the issue and developed the Get The Flow app.
Strategy
DDB & Tribal were keen to prove that mobile technology really can make a difference by giving children who stutter a chance to practise their speech in a fun but effective way — through rap. The app allows users to connect with other children who stutter, practise together and share their tracks, boosting their confidence in the process.
Process
The agency collaborated with famous Dutch rappers, singer songwriter Miss Montreal (who stutters herself) and the Dutch Stutter Federation. The rappers wrote special rap lyrics for every exercise, using tongue twisters and alliterations, especially hard to pronounce for children who stutter. A custom-built timing system automatically detects when the child does not stutter. And the app also allows them to monitor their improvements throughout.
Visually the app is inspired by the period when hip hop began to develop: the 1970s in the Bronx, NY. Using primary colors, graffiti typography and hand-drawn illustrations, giving children a cool hip hop experience, throwing in some fun, bold animations too.
Outcome
The campaign, consisting of a launch event, a social video and a social media campaign, generated an earned media value of €5.3m and reached 66% of the Dutch population. It has given people a positive feeling towards mobile technology and the Vodafone brand.
Two out of three children in The Netherlands who stutter have used and loved the app, and it is now used as an official stutter therapy.
All of this makes the Get The Flow campaign Vodafone’s most successful ‘Powerful Connections’ campaign to date, winning several major awards along the way, including: Cannes Lions’ Bronze for Media, PR, Entertainment for Music and Sound Design, a Eurobest Silver for Entertainment and Gold for Healthcare/PR, 4x bronze and the grand prix in Healthcare Promo & Activation and the FWA Site of the Day.
This case was brought to you by the Dutch Digital Design collective. | https://medium.com/@DutchDigital/vodafones-get-the-flow-app-tackling-stuttering-with-a-rap-8b2c5a191b94 | ['Dutch Digital Design'] | 2020-12-16 10:00:08.038000+00:00 | ['Creative', 'Marketing', 'Ditigal', 'Mobile', 'Dutch'] |
Top 10 Most Weight-Loss-Friendly Foods on The Planet | Top 10 Most Weight-Loss-Friendly Foods on The Planet
No single food has the ability to soften the pounds, yet there are a lot of sound choices that can uphold your weight reduction endeavors when included as a component of a solid eating regimen. As well as being scrumptious increments to suppers and tidbits, practically every one of the 10 of these food sources contain fiber or protein (or both!) — supplements that convey with regards to keeping us more full longer. Counting them consistently during the week is a straightforward method for making
-1-Chia seeds
Imagined Recipe: Blueberry-Almond Chia Pudding
With regards to weight reduction, fiber is above all else. It’s satisfying in light of the fact that it eases back processing and keeps us feeling more full longer. This is really significant when we’re scaling back calories, a typical way to deal with weight reduction. Devouring a serving of chia seeds, around 2 tablespoons, fulfills an incredible 40% of every day fiber needs. Also they’re not difficult to join into dinners, particularly breakfast and bites, with food sources like breakfast pudding, berry jam and energy balls. Reward — chia seeds are perhaps the best food to assist you with going No.
2. Greasy Fish
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests devouring two servings of fish every week since it contains fundamental unsaturated fats that we can just overcome our eating regimen. As well as supporting heart and cerebrum wellbeing, omega-3 unsaturated fats found in fish like salmon, sardines and fish might assist with lessening muscle versus fat. Fish is additionally high in protein to assist with checking hunger, keeping us full for a really long time. New fish is incredible, however can be pricy to buy consistently. Consider frozen fish filets or shrimp, which will quite often be more affordable, and don’t neglect canned fish to prepare simple salmon patties, fast sardine toast or an exemplary niçoise salad.
READ MORE | https://medium.com/@intersttingvideo1988/top-10-most-weight-loss-friendly-foods-on-the-planet-e2c78279e66b | ['Rizwan Ali'] | 2021-12-30 11:15:22.006000+00:00 | ['Healthcare', 'Fitnessmotivation', 'Fitness Tips', 'Wieght Loss', 'Wieght Loss Tips'] |
Who Would Be the Tea Sponsor for Today? — आज कसको चिया खुवाउने पालो हो? | InfoDevelopers, the first organization I worked professionally and the company that nurtured me from a fledgling into a professional, had a great culture of Tea Sponsorship in occasions. A colleague sponsors tea for whole the department on his/her occasion and the occasion gets celebrated with the sip of tea and cheers. Such culture, which I believe was brought by Ismaran Duwadi in our block, not only provided fun but also strengthened the relationship between colleagues.
In AI/Python department, at some point of time, there were eleven people, with me included. We had planned to make an order in which tea sponsorship was to be made daily as the occasions started to become rare. Once the order is complete, the order can either be reset or can be continued cyclically. As the first employee of the department and one of the senior members of the team, I took some part of leadership in bringing fun to the team and sharing knowledge. I had always something to share on mathematics, programming and artificial intelligence to the team.
Coding was fun. Solving problems was delighting. Teamwork was excellent. Management was understanding. Above everything, one thing there refreshed me each and every day. It was just an inquiry someone made everyday.
आज कसको चिया खुवाउने पालो हो?
English translation: Who would be the tea sponsor for today?
When I reflect on the journey of InfoDevelopers, such small things make me smile. With the smile the memory has mirrored, I am wondering about the order of the tea sponsorship. No one wanted to be first in the order nevertheless everyone had to go through the order only once. I also did not want to be first in the order. Human behavior!
The order selection is done randomly. Suppose I make my favorable order and bet at least one of the person is positioned as per my favorable order. If I do such bet with my colleagues, is my bet foolish? I came to think this thing.
If I had done such bet, I would not be foolish. I worked the mathematics of probability and found that it is 63.21% probable that I would win. In 100 bets I make, I am highly likely to win around 63 bets. However counter-intuitive it seems, it is mathematically true. Period!
To see validity of this statement, we should work through inclusion-exclusion principle of probability and apply it to our problem. It is actually a case of Montmort’s Problem. Readers interested in its mathematics are strongly advised to go through the link. The probability that my bet wins in the group of n people is given by:
Probability = 1 — (!n)/(n!),
where !n is subfactorial of n or number of derangements of a set with n elements.
We can calculate the probability with the below Python one-liner once you enter the value of n.
Run the Python code, enter the value of n as 11 and the probability would be printed as 0.6321.
सजित: आज कसको चिया खुवाउने पालो हो?
राजन: अरुण भाइको होला आज त!
गौरव: मलाई चाहिँ कोल्ड लेमोन है।
दकिंग: आज भाइले मलाई कोल्ड कफी खुवाउछ :P
अरुण: दाईले भने पछि कसरी नाइँ भनु म :D
सुरज: मलाई नि कोल्ड लेमोन नै हो कि अरुण?
रुपेश: मलाई जे भए नि हुन्छ केटाहो!
विशाल: (मुस्कुराउदै) गर न कोल्ड लेमोन मलाई नि।
नितेश: लेखम न त कसलाई केके चाहिने हो।
दिपेश: म त सधै कोल्ड लेमोन हो है।चिया खान हुन्न मैले … (खुलेर हास्छ)
संदेश: (गौरवतिर फर्कदै) जिग्री, तिमी के हो, चिया कि कोल्ड लेमोन? | https://medium.com/@surajregmi/who-would-be-the-tea-sponsor-for-today-%E0%A4%86%E0%A4%9C-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B-%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%96%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%89%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%87-%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8B-%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%8B-82a3c1a9b397 | ['Suraj Regmi'] | 2019-01-11 17:26:17.321000+00:00 | ['Tea', 'Diary', 'Math', 'Probability'] |
In Photos: Pope Francis Visits the White House | President Obama, the First Lady, the Vice President, and Dr. Biden welcomed His Holiness Pope Francis this week during his first official trip to the United States. On Tuesday, they greeted him as he landed in the United States. And on Wednesday, they welcomed him to the White House in the largest State Arrival Ceremony since President Obama took office. Check out the Pope’s visit in photos:
Shepherd One with Pope Francis aboard lands at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sept. 22, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
Pope Francis disembarks Shepherd One. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sasha and Malia arrive to greet Pope Francis during the Welcome Ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
President Obama and the First Family greet Pope Francis as he steps off Shephard One. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Malia shakes hands with Pope Francis. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Vice President Joe Biden greets the Pope. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Pope Francis greets Catholic school children. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President and First Family escort Pope Francis from the tarmac. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Pope Francis prepares to depart following his Arrival Ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President and First Lady wave to Pope Francis at the conclusion of the ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Preparations are made for the State Arrival Ceremony for Pope Francis on the South Lawn, Sept. 23, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Vice President Biden talks with Cardinal Donald Wuerl and Cardinal Pietro Parolin before the ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
A guest holds up the American flag, the Vatican City flag, and a cross. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama and the First Lady wait to greet Pope Francis as he arrives. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Guests watch as the Pope arrives. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama and the First Lady greet Pope Francis upon arrival for the State Arrival Ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President and First Lady walk with Pope Francis at the start of the ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and Mrs. Obama escort the Pope to the stage. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
President Obama and Pope Francis listen to the national anthem of the Holy See. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Guests watch and take photos. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
President Obama talks to Pope Francis as the Army Fife and Drum Corps march. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama delivers remarks. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
The President welcomes Pope Francis to the podium to speak. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
Pope Francis delivers remarks. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama speaks to Pope Francis on stage. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President and Mrs. Obama escort the Pope into the White House. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
The Pope waves from the Blue Room Balcony with the President and First Lady. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
The Pope waves from the Blue Room Balcony with the President and First Lady. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The First Lady introduces Pope Francis to their family pets Bo and Sunny following the ceremony. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama introduces Pope Francis to Ethel Kennedy. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and Pope Francis walk along the Colonnade. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama and Pope Francis talk before a meeting in the Oval Office. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama meets with the Pope. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President and Pope Francis conclude their meeting. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
President Obama introduces Pope Francis to his Personal Aide Ferial Govashiri. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The President walks Pope Francis to his motorcade on the South Lawn. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
The President bids the Pope farewell. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) | https://medium.com/@ObamaWhiteHouse/in-photos-pope-francis-visits-the-white-house-e9dfb62eb6bc | ['The Obama White House'] | 2016-05-27 22:30:44.834000+00:00 | ['White House', 'Climate Change', 'Photos'] |
From Personality Cults to Collective Intelligence: The Democratization of Education Online | There’s a major shift occurring in the world of small business education, coaching, and training.
One group of bloggers, content marketers, and educators have gone on to start self-funded software companies. Another group has moved toward building agencies and practices that deliver precise execution and hands-on support.
A third group is saying, “It’s just not working anymore.”
Those that say “it’s not working” are largely those who have relied on personality-driven brands and the development of the online course market. This market developed out of a desire for education to be accessible to the masses. Unfortunately, what was envisioned and sold as a democratization of business education has become anything but. The premium personality brands peddle their wares with the help of mobs of fawning affiliates while aspiring personalities aim to get a small piece of the pie.
This third group has employed the “gatekeeper model” — which thrives by sequestering “the good stuff” behind a paywall. The reason they’re experiencing diminishing returns is simple…
The rest of the market has already moved away from gatekeepers and towards the Access Economy.
We have access to people’s spare rooms when we’re on vacation. We have access to restaurant reservations at the touch of a button. We have access to a taxis in our pockets.
We have access to flexible labor that we can contract to do just about anything. We have access to time-saving technology that allows us to do things we only dreamed about 5 years ago. We have access to amazing amounts of data that we can use to learn more about our customers than we thought possible.
And, we have access to unprecedented amounts of information.
In the Greek and Roman Empires, access to information was limited to the town square and local gossip. In the 1400s, the printing press revolutionized people’s ability to access ideas and information — but only for the few who were literate and rich enough to afford books. In the early 1900s, radio and then television brought news, entertainment, and information to the masses.
Of course, the 1990s brought the internet and completely changed the game. With access to IMDB, Genius, Quora, and, of course, Google, you can find the most minute piece of information quickly — and cheat at your local pub trivia night. Even high-value education — Ivy League schools and specialized technology programs — have entered the Access Economy.
The democratization of education is here — and it’s a key part of the Access Economy.
Yet, when it comes to our businesses, we’re still relying on gatekeepers.
The gatekeeper model starts with developing a popular personality brand (and, often, cults of personality), moves on to creating DIY online learning courses, and finally sells them to us for thousands of dollars. Information is delivered in videos, articles, or audios and the “learning” is done in worksheets or small homework assignments with no collaboration or oversight from an instructor or learning community.
This is less education and more information regurgitation.
The gatekeeper model offers the bare minimum in terms of access for the most amount of money. True access to learning — and not mere information — includes access to a dynamic, collaborative learning environment full of people who are invested in helping themselves while they help you. That’s what is so valuable about traditional learning environments like universities.
This is where the small business gatekeeper model fails so miserably. It’s what has let you down time and time again.
So while some will worry this opportunity is crumbling…
I believe we’re seeing a much needed rebalancing of what people value and how they invest in what’s useful that happens to be in line with the direction of every other market in today’s consumer economy.
I first felt this rebalancing in early 2016. My team and I were working to create a more immersive experience for a group coaching program we had sold for the last 4 years while at the same time trying to automate it for those who couldn’t invest at a higher level. It did not go well.
First, my heart wasn’t in it. Second, we divided our focus. Third, we didn’t clearly define the value of either option.
It ended up being our best sales campaign to date… but it was also a flop.
That’s when I really started to rethink things. I have been passionate about collaborative learning and coaching since the beginning. Yet, I had started to abandon that approach in favor of what seemed like an easier sell and a more profitable offer.
Not a smart move.
I was at risk of missing a much bigger opportunity.
The gatekeeper model has missed the big opportunity — and left us in the cold.
Look inside the inboxes of most small business owners and you’ll find a myriad of emails all pitching some $2000 course about Facebook ads, project management, social media, selling on webinars, or writing copy. Many of these classes are very good. Some are exceptional. Others are not.
There are many savvy, successful, experienced small business gatekeepers. It’s not that the courses that are priced at a thousand dollars or more aren’t “worth it.”
I’ve bought them, I’ve enjoyed them, I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth.
However, no $2000 course has made growing my business much easier. A course can even out our journeys, level our learning curves a bit, or answer a particular question. What a course can’t do for us is support us in the daily ups and downs that running and growing a small business entails. It can’t help us evaluate ideas, get feedback on something we’ve created, or make a personalized recommendation. It can’t offer truth-telling, constructive encouragement, or even cheerleading.
An expensive course certainly can’t give us that on-demand access that we’ve come to expect from AirBnB, Lyft, and OpenTable.
Ask any successful small business owner (I’ve talked to hundreds over the years) and they’ll tell you that long-term, sustainable success comes not from nailing a particular formula or following a particular set of instructions but simply having the fortitude to show up every day with the desire to make things more efficient, reach more people, and take action on their strategy.
In other words, the key to business success is access, not learning. Learning happens, yes. But it’s not the truly valuable deliverable, it’s a side effect. We need access to encouragement, honest conversations, real feedback, and — we need access to people who are on a similar journey to ours.
This kind of access allows us to synthesize, integrate, systematize, optimize, and perfect what we do already know. No course — even the best — is made to do that.
The gatekeeper model got the opportunity wrong. The big opportunity isn’t in selling information. The opportunity is to create, nurture, and sell an environment where real growth can happen. Of course, that’s a much bigger challenge than packaging what you know into an online course. It requires a bigger investment and an intentional approach to culture development.
Imagine a world where access to good information, constructive encouragement, and honest conversations about your business were as accessible as an Uber ride.
If you had a question about how the Facebook algorithm might affect your social media strategy, you’d know exactly where you go for help. If you had a cash flow challenge, you’d know exactly who to talk to for some creative fundraising ideas. If you had a difficult conversation you needed to have with a team member, you’d know exactly the people to lean on for support.
The answers to your questions would always be personalized — instead of the anonymity of a Google search. The creative ideas would always be contextualized — instead of the one-size-fits-all approach of a blog post. The support would be from people who care about you — instead of the faceless detachment of an Instagram meme.
In this world, action is prioritized over more learning.
You do more because you’re not constantly experiencing FOMO at what you should be learning to keep up with everyone else in the personality cult. You ask questions that help you move on to the next task or clarify your action plan instead of learning things that don’t matter for your strategy.
In this world, you call the shots — and ask the questions.
The gatekeeper model relies on control to maintain its position in the market. Those that use it need to be able to influence the questions you ask and the problems you consider worth solving.
Your strategy might not depend on learning how to sell from webinars, build your list from Facebook ads, or sell high-ticket consulting proposals but they will insist it does. They’re not necessarily trying to manipulate you — they’re just very good at casting their nets for prospective customers. When you have access, you have a much bigger chance of staying on track, maintaining your focus, and sticking with your strategy.
Your questions are your own, not a gatekeeper’s.
In this world, you cover all the bases.
Gatekeepers are human, too. They don’t have all the answers and they can’t help with every problem. Sure, they’ll send you to another gatekeeper when they can’t answer your question… but then you’re back at square one.
When you have access to a network of people who have experienced scads of business challenges and successes, as well as have talents and skill sets in a variety of areas, you don’t have to worry about going elsewhere.
You can rely on the distributed expertise of the network instead of the siloed expertise of the gatekeeper.
In this world, you never worry about obsolescence.
New information is always emerging. New techniques, tactics, and strategies make their way to the mainstream. Technology changes fast and the market changes faster. With gatekeepers, you have to worry that what they’re peddling could become obsolete at any moment.
With access, the conversation goes with the flow of information, technology, and the market. When a new idea emerges, the network will evaluate it.
This is the world of collective intelligence.
We believe in a world where you can prioritize action over learning, call your own shots, ask your own questions, cover all the bases, and stay up-to-date. We believe the reason so many in the small business space are worried “it’s not working anymore” is because the gatekeeper model has finally given way to the deep desire to tap into collective intelligence and finally realize the promise of democratized education.
What’s more: we believe building a system for collective intelligence in the small business space is more than possible and that access to it should be a part of every small business owner’s arsenal of tools.
The market isn’t crumbling — it’s just getting started. | https://medium.com/help-yourself/from-personality-cults-to-collective-intelligence-the-democratization-of-the-small-business-space-1a4dc43635e3 | ['Tara Mcmullin'] | 2017-10-31 18:41:40.305000+00:00 | ['Online Courses', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Education', 'Small Business', 'Freelancing'] |
Can You Trust Your Heart? | Our hatred for evil is different from our hatred for something good.
Our hatred for all evil things stem from our natural desire for goodness. It is supported by our conscience and our sense of justice. It is remedied by compassion and mercy for our fellowmen who fall.
But our hatred for goodness is warped and unnatural. It is a form of envy and makes us lie to ourselves, to who we are supposed to be. What remedy is there to satisfy those who hate good men when the only desire of that will is to see good men fall?
Some good men may indeed fall. But by God’s grace they can rise again. Goodness always has a way to triumph in the end.
Let us therefore examine our hearts and pray that God may purify our thoughts and our desires. We are weak and sinful. But with God’s mercy, we can be healed. We can be whole. We can rise again!
The heart is deceitful above all things
and it is exceedingly corrupt.
Who can know it?
“I, the LORD, search the mind.
I try the heart,
even to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings.”
— Jeremiah 17, WEBBE | https://medium.com/the-catholic-refuge/can-you-trust-your-heart-fc30f6d1cc58 | ['Jocelyn Soriano'] | 2020-12-08 08:31:25.897000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Christianity', 'Life', 'Religion', 'Catholic'] |
7 ways to stay active and fit during a winter lockdown | Photo by rishikesh yogpeeth on Unsplash
It’s wintertime. You’re stuck at home. Not (only) because you hate being in snow, you also hate the prospect of bringing COVID-19 into your home. So you’re doing the right thing and trying to stay at home as much as you can.
Props to you!
But you want to keep staying active, albeit being indoors. How can this be possible?
Most gyms are closed and group workouts suspended. Your usual routine that involves walking, cycling, and catching public transportation are momentarily put on hold. Add to the mix work-from-home arrangements, remote learning and having everyone in the family at home. Is there any way to incorporate a little more movements into your everyday life?
Fortunately, it is possible to stay active and fit despite the current circumstances.
Here are some ways you can stay on top of your workout regimen, safe and warm in your home.
Start small and break down your workout
According to James Clear in his book “Atomic Habits,” start with an incredibly small habit. James says: [1]
Solve this problem by picking a new habit that is easy enough that you don’t need motivation to do it. Rather than starting with 50 pushups per day, start with 5 pushups per day. Rather than trying to meditate for 10 minutes per day, start by meditating for one minute per day. Make it easy enough that you can get it done without motivation.
Applied to your lockdown workout lifestyle, set goals that you can easily smash. Maybe start with 10-minute daily stretching exercises, gradually increasing the duration to 15 and eventually 30 minutes. Perhaps start with activities you enjoy doing like dancing or yoga. If you struggle with long and arduous workouts, try breaking them down into 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes at lunchtime and/or 15 minutes at night. Before you know it, you’ll be doing an hour of yoga and find yourself enjoying the entire session. You’ll be glad you started.
To quote zen habit master Leo Babauta, “make it so easy you can’t say no.”
Consider household chores
Want to kill two birds with one stone? Then get out of the couch and start doing active household cleaning. While you’re at it, pull out your favorite Spotify playlist and blast some feel good music around the house.
Perhaps it’s about time to repot your indoor plants.
Dust gathering on top of your cupboard or under your furniture? It’s time to bring out the vacuum and do a thorough clean of the carpet.
Clean your windows and those dusty blinds.
Believe it or not, cleaning the whole house can be equivalent to running miles!
Set up a gym at home
The silver lining to this whole lockdown thing is finally getting the chance to set up your own gym at home. Maybe part of item #2 (house cleaning) is decluttering your garage and turning it into your workout space.
You don’t even need a massive space. Even that tiny nook in your bedroom or living room can turn into a makeshift gym, thanks to a couple of dumbbells and those pull-up bars you can easily buy from Ebay. A lot of people attending yoga on Zoom are setting up their mats in the lounge room or along the hallway. There are many ways to establish a workout space (and eventually a routine) at home. You just need to get all your equipment and accessories in one place to help with organizing them and psyching yourself up in the process.
If you have a tiny space, don’t fret! Sometimes, you do not need any equipment at all. You can try bodyweight exercises like burpees, air squats and push-ups. Search Google for an appropriate rep regime for you and take advantage of your own bodyweight in the absence of any equipment and workout accessories!
Take advantage of (free) online workouts, apps and videos on YouTube
Once you’ve got your gym or workout nook ready to go, set up your computer and other devices for those live or recorded sessions. Pro tip: if you’re working from home and also have your own personal devices, set up these multiple screens to provide your instructor with various angles. Especially for live online classes, some yoga or Pilates instructors provide tips and corrections for students’ poses.
Most gyms and yoga classes have moved online now. Some are offering free classes while others are providing live sessions at discounted prices. You can also go to the ever-reliable YouTube for free at-your-own-pace workout videos. There are many workout apps available for either Apple or Android devices.
To aid your workout and give you an extra boost, consider some hydration energy support.
Run around your backyard (or around the block if possible)
If you have a backyard, why not walk around and achieve a certain number of steps a day. And if it’s allowed in your city, squeeze in a walk around the block. Just make sure you are observing social distancing and regularly sanitizing your hands.
Have a pet? Walk your dog with you. Or play with them in the backyard and around the house. You’ll be burning calories while having fun.
Shift positions regularly
Sometimes, physical activity can be as simple as changing positions every 20 minutes or so. If you’re working remotely, do the Pomodoro and take a break every 40 minutes of deep work. Stand up and walk around the house. Prepare snacks or cook a meal in between tasks. Use a standing desk (or request one from work) so you can shift from sitting and standing every now and then.
Block a specific time for physical activity every day
Set your morning walk around the block before clocking in. Sign up for regular HIIT or yoga sessions twice or thrice (or more) a week, after work. Squeeze in an online session during your lunch break (one of the benefits of working from home.) The key to incorporating a healthy habit into your lifestyle is to block a specific time and constantly committing to this schedule.
Conclusion
Quarantine and staying at home don’t have to mean a sedentary lifestyle. Treat this extraordinary, unprecedented moment as the perfect opportunity to use spare time at home developing an active and fit lifestyle. There’s no better time than now to maintain such healthy habits. In such a stressful time, all the happy hormones from working out (endorphins) will help in combatting anxiety and life stressors, all while boosting the immune system and reducing risks of chronic diseases.
As you do your workouts, help yourself with some electrolyte salts that can help with energy boost, recovery and endurance. Try VALI Electrolyte Salts for hydration energy support.
Sources
[1] https://jamesclear.com/habit-guide | https://medium.com/@valinutrition/7-ways-to-stay-active-and-fit-during-a-winter-lockdown-13c91f50d7ad | ['Vali Nutrition'] | 2020-12-22 05:07:54.477000+00:00 | ['Workout', 'Lockdown', 'Quarantine', 'Wellness'] |
How a 6 Year Old Learned Her Father to Nourish His Inner Child | How a 6 Year Old Learned Her Father to Nourish His Inner Child
Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash | Logo by Today I Lived
“Dad!” The little girl yelled. “Will come and play hide and seek with me?” She ran towards her dad and stopped right in front of him. Waiting for him to put down the paper. She didn’t get a response. “Dad?” She asked again.
“I don’t want to. Go on and find some friends to play with. Don’t you have any new friends around here?” Her dad said. They were on a holiday. Visiting the beautiful country of Italy. Although the girl had made loads of friends, all around the campsite, she now wanted to play with her dad.
The girl stayed. Just looking at her dad. “Why aren’t you going away?” Her dad had a grumpy voice. For a small second, he puts down the paper, looks at the girl, and then continues to read. “Daddy? Can I read the paper with you?” The little girl asks.
“No you can’t this is grown-up stuff. Besides you won’t like it either.” Her dad replied stubbornly. The girl was sad. “Do you like reading the paper dad?” She asked.
“No I don’t, but it keeps me up to date with the world, which is important. Now leave me alone. I want to read.” Her dad said. The girl didn’t care. “But dad why would you read the newspaper if you don’t even like reading it?” She asked. Her dad sighs. The girl knew he wanted her to leave. “Dad?” She asked one final time. “Why would you do anything that you don’t like doing?” The little girl asked.
Anyone’s heart would have melted seeing the effort that this little girl put into this. Trying to get her dad to play hide and seek was hard work for the little girl. | https://byrslf.co/how-a-6-year-old-learned-her-father-to-nourish-his-inner-child-ba3493059ea0 | ['Daan Uijterwaal'] | 2021-09-12 14:26:52.471000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Beyourself', 'Happiness', 'Spirituality', 'Spiritual Growth'] |
RChilli JD Parser 3.1 ensures job description looks clear & compelling | It is disheartening, isn’t it?
Candidates apply for a job if they understand the job description well. It not only helps in providing an excellent candidate experience but helps recruiters to quickly close jobs.
How can you ensure that your job description looks clear and compelling?
RChilli JD parser 3.1 is a perfect solution to this challenge. It extracts data from a job description and saves it in pre-defined attributes. The final output will help you to find better matches by using it against the candidates’ profiles.
This latest version of our JD parser offers many exciting features.
It now offers multi-lingual support .
. Another new addition is the implementation of Taxonomy 3.0 in JD parser that facilitates a better search and match of resumes to jobs and jobs to resumes.
in JD parser that facilitates a better search and match of resumes to jobs and jobs to resumes. Certain new fields related to language, related skills, and ontology.
related to language, related skills, and ontology. Improved accuracy of fields with the implementation of deep learning technology .
Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Use RChilli JD Parser 3.1
The processing of job descriptions in real-time offers several benefits to recruiters and HR professionals.
Close Jobs Quickly- A structured job description will bring more traffic to your website and help recruiters to use it against the profiles of candidates. This will help in the faster closing of jobs. Enhanced Candidate Conversion- A well-defined job description will bring more traffic to your website, resulting in more candidate engagement and conversion. Easily Import Multiple Job Descriptions in One Go- With bulk upload, you can extract data from multiple job descriptions or job feeds at once. Enhance Your Search & Match Capabilities- The users can enhance their resume/job searching capability through skills/jobs alias. Time-Saving- JD parser will streamline and simplify your recruitment process, helping recruiters and HR managers to save their time and efforts.
Are you curious to learn more about JD parser 3.1?
If yes, feel free to schedule a call with us. We will be happy to explain the incredible features of our latest version. You can also sign up for a free trial . | https://medium.com/@rchilli-parse-match-enrich/rchilli-jd-parser-3-1-ensures-job-description-looks-clear-compelling-d61cb8166989 | [] | 2020-11-18 06:39:26.013000+00:00 | ['Recruitment', 'Taxonomy', 'Technology', 'Jd Parser', 'Deep Learning'] |
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Film, also called movie, motion picture or moving picture, is a visual art-form used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound, and more rarely, other sensory stimulations.[7] The word “cinema”, short for cinematography, is ofMTV used to refer to filmmaking and the film Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, and to the art form that is the result of it.
❏ STREAMING MEDIA ❏
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider. The verb to stream refers to the process of delivering or obtaining media in this manner.[clarification needed] Streaming refers to the delivery method of the medium, rather than the medium itself. Distinguishing delivery method from the media distributed applies specifically to telecommunications networks, as most of the delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, audio CDs). There are challenges with streaming conMTVt on the Internet. For example, users whose Internet connection lacks sufficient bandwidth may experience stops, lags, or slow buffering of the conMTVt. And users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain conMTVt.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet conMTVt in real-time much as live television broadcasts conMTVt over the airwaves via a television signal. Live internet streaming requires a form of source media (e.g. a video camera, an audio interface, screen capture software), an encoder to digitize the conMTVt, a media publisher, and a conMTVt delivery network to distribute and deliver the conMTVt. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the origination point, although it frequently is.
Streaming is an alternative to file downloading, a process in which the end-user obtains the entire file for the conMTVt before watching or lisMTVing to it. Through streaming, an end-user can use their media player to start playing digital video or digital audio conMTVt before the entire file has been transmitted. The term “streaming media” can apply to media other than video and audio, such as live closed captioning, ticker tape, and real-time text, which are all considered “streaming text”.
❏ COPYRIGHT CONMTVT ❏
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[7][7][7][7][7] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is inMTVded to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[7][7][7] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is ofMTV shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][7][4][4][4] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[4]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not exMTVd beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsisMTVt.[4]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 4 to 7 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[7] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[4]
❏ GOODS OF SERVICES ❏
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[7] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and exMTVsible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[7] Credit is exMTVded by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.
‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ Challenges Asian Americans in Hollywood to Overcome ‘Impossible Duality’ MTVween China, U.S.
MTV’s live-action “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” was supposed to be a huge win for under-represented groups in Hollywood. The $7 million-budgeted film is among the most expensive ever directed by a woman, and it features an all-Asian cast — a first for productions of such scale.
Despite well-inMTVtioned ambitions, however, the film has exposed the difficulties of representation in a world of complex geopolitics. MTV primarily cast Asian rather than Asian American stars in lead roles to appeal to Chinese consumers, yet Chinese viewers rejected the movie as inauthentic and American. Then, politics ensnared the production as stars Liu Yifei, who plays Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, and Donnie Yen professed support for Hong Kong police during the brutal crackdown on protesters in 477. Later, MTV issued “special thanks” in the credits to government bodies in China’s Xinjiang region that are directly involved in perpetrating major human rights abuses against the minority Uighur population.
“Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” inadverMTVtly reveals why it’s so difficult to create multicultural conMTVt with global appeal in 2020. It highlights the vast disconnect MTVween Asian Americans in Hollywood and Chinese nationals in China, as well as the exMTVt to which Hollywood fails to acknowledge the difference MTVween their aesthetics, tastes and politics. It also underscores the limits of the American conversation on representation in a global world.
In conversations with seJersey Shore: Family Vacationl Asian-American creatives, Variety found that many feel caught MTVween fighting against underrepresentation in Hollywood and being accidentally complicit in China’s authoritarian politics, with no easy answers for how to deal with the moral questions “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” poses.
“When do we care about representation versus fundamental civil rights? This is not a simple question,” says Bing Chen, co-founder of Gold House, a collective that mobilizes the Asian American community to help diverse films, including “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation,” achieve opening weekend box office success via its #GoldOpen movement. “An impossible duality faces us. We absolutely acknowledge the terrible and unacceptable nature of what’s going on over there [in China] politically, but we also understand what’s at stake on the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation side.”
The film leaves the Asian American community at “the intersection of choosing MTVween surface-level representation — faces that look like ours — versus values and other cultural nuances that don’t reflect ours,” says Lulu Wang, director of “The Farewell.”
In a business in which past box office success determines what future projects are bankrolled, those with their eyes squarely on the prize of increasing opportunities for Asian Americans say they feel a responsibility to support “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” no matter what. That support is ofMTV very personal amid the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’s close-knit community of Asian Americans, where people don’t want to tear down the hard work of peers and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
Others say they wouldn’t have given MTV their $4 if they’d known about the controversial end credits.
“‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ is actually the first film where the Asian American community is really split,” says sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, who examines racism in Hollywood. “For people who are more global and consume more global news, maybe they’re thinking, ‘We shouldn’t sell our soul in order to get affirmation from Hollywood.’ But we have this scarcity mentality.
“I felt like I couldn’t completely lambast ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ because I personally felt solidarity with the Asian American actors,” Yuen continues. “I wanted to see them do well. But at what cost?”
This scarcity mentality is particularly acute for Asian American actors, who find roles few and far MTVween. Lulu Wang notes that many “have built their career on a film like ‘Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’ and other crossovers, because they might not speak the native language — Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Hindi — to actually do a role overseas, but there’s no role being writMTV for them in America.”
Certainly, the actors in “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation,” who have seen major career breakthroughs tainted by the film’s political backlash, feel this acutely. “You have to understand the tough position that we are in here as the cast, and that MTV is in too,” says actor Chen Tang, who plays Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’s army buddy Yao.
There’s not much he can do except keep trying to nail the roles he lands in hopes of paving the way for others. “The more I can do great work, the more likely there’s going to be somebody like me [for kids to look at and say], ‘Maybe someday that could be me.’”
Part of the problem is that what’s happening in China feels very distant to Americans. “The Chinese-speaking market is impenetrable to people in the West; they don’t know what’s going on or what those people are saying,” says Daniel York Loh of British East Asians and South East Asians in Theatre and Screen (BEATS), a U.K. nonprofit seeking greater on-screen Asian representation.
York Loh offers a provocative comparison to illustrate the West’s milquetoast reaction to “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” principal Liu’s pro-police comments. “The equivalent would be, say, someone like Emma Roberts going, ‘Yeah, the cops in Portland should beat those protesters.’ That would be huge — there’d be no getting around that.”
Some of the disconnect is understandable: With information overload at home, it’s hard to muster the energy to care about faraway problems. But part of it is a broader failure to grasp the real lack of overlap MTVween issues that matter to the mainland’s majority Han Chinese versus minority Chinese Americans. They may look similar, but they have been shaped in diametrically different political and social contexts.
“China’s nationalist pride is very different from the Asian American pride, which is one of overcoming racism and inequality. It’s hard for Chinese to relate to that,” Yuen says.
Beijing-born Wang points out she ofMTV has more in common with first-generation Muslim Americans, Jamaican Americans or other immigrants than with Chinese nationals who’ve always lived in China and never left.
If the “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation” debacle has taught us anything, in a world where we’re still too quick to equate “American” with “white,” it’s that “we definitely have to separate out the Asian American perspective from the Asian one,” says Wang. “We have to separate race, nationality and culture. We have to talk about these things separately. True representation is about capturing specificities.”
She ran up against the Jersey Shore: Family Vacation’s inability to make these distinctions while creating “The Farewell.” Americans felt it was a Chinese film because of its subtitles, Chinese cast and location, while Chinese producers considered it an American film because it wasn’t fully Chinese. The endeavor to simply tell a personal family story became a “political fight to claim a space that doesn’t yet exist.”
In the search for authentic storytelling, “the key is to lean into the in-MTVweenness,” she said. “More and more, people won’t fit into these neat boxes, so in-MTVweenness is exactly what we need.”
However, it may prove harder for Chinese Americans to carve out a space for their “in-MTVweenness” than for other minority groups, given China’s growing economic clout.
Notes author and writer-producer Charles Yu, whose latest novel about Asian representation in Hollywood, “Interior Chinatown,” is a National Book Award finalist, “As Asian Americans continue on what I feel is a little bit of an island over here, the world is changing over in Asia; in some ways the center of gravity is shifting over there and away from here, economically and culturally.”
With the Chinese film market set to surpass the US as the world’s largest this year, the question thus arises: “Will the cumulative impact of Asian American audiences be such a small drop in the bucket compared to the China market that it’ll just be overwhelmed, in terms of what gets made or financed?”
As with “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation,” more parochial, American conversations on race will inevitably run up against other global issues as U.S. studios continue to target China. Some say Asian American creators should be prepared to meet Jersey Shore: Family Vacation by broadening their outlook.
“Most people in this Jersey Shore: Family Vacation think, ‘I’d love for there to be Hollywood-China co-productions if it meant a job for me. I believe in free speech, and censorship is terrible, but it’s not my battle. I just want to get my pilot sold,’” says actor-producer Brian Yang (“Hawaii Five-0,” “Linsanity”), who’s worked for more than a decade MTVween the two countries. “But the world’s getting smaller. Streamers make shows for the world now. For anyone that works in this business, it would behoove them to study and understand Jersey Shore: Family Vacations that are happening in and [among] other countries.”
Gold House’s Chen agrees. “We need to speak even more thoughtfully and try to understand how the world does not function as it does in our zip code,” he says. “We still have so much soft power coming from the U.S. What we say matters. This is not the problem and burden any of us as Asian Americans asked for, but this is on us, unfortunately. We just have to fight harder. And every step we take, we’re going to be right and we’re going to be wrong.”
☆ ALL ABOUT THE SERIES ☆
is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[7] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and exMTVsible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[7] Credit is exMTVded by a creditor, also known as a lender, to a debtor, also known as a borrower.
‘Hausen’ Challenges Asian Americans in Hollywood to Overcome ‘Impossible Duality’ MTVween China, U.S. | https://medium.com/jersey-shore-family-vacation-series-4-episode-7/s4-e7-jersey-shore-family-vacation-series-4-episode-7-online-1080p-hd-ead25faa3614 | ['Jade Harvey'] | 2020-12-25 20:51:53.506000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Lifestyle', 'Coronavirus', 'TV Series'] |
Wallet Security Newsletter # 4: QR code scams | Wallet Security Newsletter # 4: QR code scams imToken Follow Sep 13 · 4 min read
Welcome to the fourth version of the security newsletter in which we dissect scams found by our security team. We hope to bring you some insight and more protection against common scams.
In August, our security team marked 6 tokens, 55 DApps and 295 addresses as risky.
Read our earlier newsletters below:
#1 Fake websites and wallets
#2 Exchange customer service scams
#3 Crypto wallet scams: Fake Apps, texts and Mnemonics
In this one, we’ll explain how phishing websites and ‘approve’ scams work so that you can recognize and avoid these scams.
Phishing websites
When visiting websites, you may not pay much attention to the address bar of the browser. But if you look a little closer, you will see a security icon such as 🔒 or 🛡️ in front of the address bar.
This icon matters a lot to the security of your assets, and if you don’t see 🔒 or 🛡️ when visiting a wallet website, then you’re probably visiting a phishing website that attempts to trick you into installing a fake wallet.
Take MetaMask for example. MetaMask is a popular wallet that customers use when they interact with DApps on their computers. If a newbie wants to add MetaMask to his browser, the first step he will do is probably Google MetaMask and install it.
However, the search results may lead you to a phishing website such as the one below. If the newbie doesn’t realize the warning icon ⚠️ in the address bar, then he may download a fake App and generate a mnemonic phrase that has already been compromised.
Fake Website
So search engines like Google are not reliable. We explained the reason in #1 Fake websites and wallets that scammers paid ads on Google to promote their fake websites.
So how to identify whether the website you are visiting is real or not? The most reliable way is to bookmark the websites of commonly used wallets.
imToken: https://token.im
MathWallet: https://mathwallet.org
TokenPocket: https://www.tokenpocket.pro
MetaMask: https://metamask.io
What’s more, you should make sure there is a security icon 🔒 or 🛡️ to the left of the url when visiting.
Real Website
The icon 🔒 or 🛡️ suggests reliability, and if you click the address bar twice, you can see https:// in the url indicating this website is secured.
Real Website
What is HTTPS?
In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web, proposed the Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) which defines the format of communication between a client and a server.
When we enter a URL in a browser, it retrieves information from the server based on that URL and returns it to the client. However, this information can be intercepted and tampered with by hackers on the way from the server to the client.
In order to enhance security, HTTPS was born, and S stands for Secure, which ensures that information can be securely transferred from the server to our computer.
So when visiting websites, you need to pay attention to whether it has https in its url.
QR code approval scam
Making payment via QR codes is extremely common these days because it is much quicker compared to other modes of payment. However, convenience can also bring some problems. By scanning a QR code your assets may be stolen.
How can this happen? You kept your mnemonic phrase in a secure place, but you still lost your assets.
This is how the scam usually happens: You scan a QR code, which opens a scam website mimicking the transfer page of your wallet app. The site takes you through an imitation of the familiar transfer interface. Instead of the transaction confirmation, a window for approving unlimited token balance shows.
The token approval allows the scammer to manage the full balance of the specified token in your wallet. This way they can move your funds to their own wallets without knowing your mnemonic or password.
In any case — such as scanning a payment QR code — there a few steps that help you to stay safe:
Check whether the QR opens a legit transfer Check whether you are giving unlimited token allowance You can also ask for the text version of the recipient’s address. It’s a little inconvenient, but it’s much safer.
End
Stay tuned, stay alert. Read more on how to stay secure:
If you recognize any risky DApps or tokens, please report to us via [email protected] to help more users avoid being deceived. | https://medium.com/imtoken/wallet-security-newsletter-4-qr-code-scams-cba2b4d21794 | [] | 2021-09-13 11:57:09.579000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Wallet', 'Security'] |
Failure As A Creative Starting Point | As designers we are obsessed with failure. The thought itself hovers over anyone who has ever decided to use their creative ability for a purpose beyond personal satisfaction. In many ways failure is unavoidable. While it’s a prospect that we try our hardest to steer clear of I don’t personally know of a designer or creative that has not experienced failure; whether it appears in the form of a bad pitch, a failed project, a missed deadline, losing a job, or failing a module in grad school.
“…but consider this: failure is easy to understand. No explanation for its existence is required. It’s easier not to shoulder a burden. It’s easier to put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today, and drown the upcoming months and years in today’s cheap pleasures.”
I began outlining this article precisely four months ago directly after what I considered to be a massive personal and professional failure. However, instead of crumbling up and letting my creative energy die I decided to write a post where I would share the sense of hope I held onto. Hope that I could turn things around, learn from my failure and use my negative perception of reality as fuel towards something productive, something good. That didn’t happen, at least not right away.
“It is far more likely that a given individual has just decided to reject the path upward because of its difficulty. Perhaps that should even be your default assumption, when faced with such a situation…”
Failure often forces us to determine our next steps from a position that is at times harsh and unforgiving. That does not mean to say that experiencing failure is completely pointless. We can learn and gain as much from our failures as we choose to. It’s not about the singular event that happened or the thing that threw us off, it’s about what we do in the aftermath of that experience that really matters.
“If we start aiming at something different — something like “I want my life to be better” — our minds will start presenting us with new information, derived from the previously hidden world, to aid us in that pursuit.”
I planned on going over some stories of renowned designers and creatives who managed to overcome their personal demons and professional failures to go on and do great, amazing things with their talent despite the awful things life threw at them. However I realised this isn’t about them and their story, this is about mine. This is about how I’m finally starting to make peace with my failures and reframe the narrative into something good. Something I hope will give me the courage I so desperately need to chart my own path and produce work I’m genuinely proud of. Here’s to looking forward and using failure as a creative starting point. | https://medium.com/@essentialomar/failure-as-a-creative-starting-point-8465a5a5dec7 | ['Omar Faruq Raed'] | 2020-12-22 17:11:35.559000+00:00 | ['Failure', 'Change', 'Life', 'Design', 'Creativity'] |
Twitter US Airline Sentiment | Using Sentiment analysis to understand user feedback
Motivation:
The digital connectivity bestows immense power to the customers in terms of vocalizing their thoughts, opinions, and reviews on a brand. The customer views expressed on Twitter, Facebook, and other online forums are forming the base of customer strategy for brands worldwide.
Airlines can use Sentiment analysis or Opinion Mining of the posts shared on various social media platform to gain user insights and strategize their brands.
Problem :
In current data set (which can be found here on Kaggle), we have tweets for 6 US airlines.
We need to analyze how travelers in February 2015 expressed their feelings on Twitter i.e. whether the tweets are positive, negative or neutral.
Data Processing:
Initial Cleaning
After cleaning out non unique columns and columns with more than 90% missing values, we’ll have below columns:
tweet_id
airline_sentiment
airline_sentiment_confidence
negativereason
negativereason_confidence
airline
name
retweet_count
text
tweet_created
tweet_location
user_timezone
Let’s look at how our data set looks like:
dataset
Exploratory Data Analysis
Let’s look at distribution of positive, neutral and negative tweets across our dataset.
pie chart for positive, negative and neutral tweets.
Note, that more than 60% of the tweets are negative.
Below is the distribution of airlines across tweets:
pie chart for airlines in dataset
A trend on positive, neutral and negative tweets across airlines:
bar chart: positive, neutral and negative tweets vs airlines
From above graph we can see that
1. United, US Airways and American have substantially negative tweets, these also have got over all more tweets
2. Virgin America, Delta and Southwest have fairly balanced tweets
Now, let’s see the trend of number of negative tweets vs dates:
bar plot trend of number of negative tweets vs dates grouped by airlines
It should be noted that American started getting tweets from 22-Feb-2015 onwards.
Let’s look into negative reason’s marked by customers in their feedback:
bar plot trend of number of negative tweets vs dates grouped by airlines
As seen majority tweets have said the reason as
Customer service issue Late flight
Let us now, analyze the frequency of words appearing in negative tweets using WordCloud:
wordcloud for frequency of words appearing in negative tweets
Observe that flight, hour, help, time, hold, bag, plane are present more frequently in negative statements.
Similarly, let’s analyze the frequency of words appearing in positive tweets:
wordcloud for frequency of words appearing in positive tweets
Observe, that thank, flight, great, will, awesome and love are present more frequently in positive statements
Let us now start analyzing the tweets
We’ll now clean up the text data, for this we’ll follow the below steps:
Remove all the special characters convert all letters to lower case filter out English stop words stemmer / lemmetization (optional)
Next, we’ll vectorize tweet text using TF-IDF, which is a the measure to evaluate how important a word is to a document in a corpus.
vectorize using TF-IDF
We’ll now apply following models to predict sentiments from tweet text data:
LogisticRegression MultinomialNB DecisionTreeClassifier RandomForestClassifier KNeighborsClassifier
Accuracy score for each model:
LogisticRegression Accuracy Score : with accuar79.1%
precision recall f1-score support negative 0.93 0.81 0.87 3232
neutral 0.48 0.66 0.56 648
positive 0.60 0.81 0.69 512 accuracy 0.79 4392
macro avg 0.67 0.76 0.71 4392
weighted avg 0.83 0.79 0.80 4392MultinomialNB Accuracy Score : 69.69%
precision recall f1-score support negative 0.99 0.69 0.81 4081
neutral 0.15 0.78 0.26 174
positive 0.18 0.93 0.31 137 accuracy 0.70 4392
macro avg 0.44 0.80 0.46 4392
weighted avg 0.94 0.70 0.77 4392DecisionTreeClassifier Accuracy Score : 67.42%
precision recall f1-score support negative 0.79 0.78 0.79 2841
neutral 0.40 0.41 0.40 879
positive 0.55 0.57 0.56 672 accuracy 0.67 4392
macro avg 0.58 0.58 0.58 4392
weighted avg 0.68 0.67 0.67 4392RandomForestClassifier Accuracy Score : 76.78%
precision recall f1-score support negative 0.94 0.79 0.86 3378
neutral 0.38 0.63 0.48 535
positive 0.54 0.79 0.64 479 accuracy 0.77 4392
macro avg 0.62 0.74 0.66 4392
weighted avg 0.83 0.77 0.79 4392KNeighborsClassifier Accuracy Score : 69.83%
precision recall f1-score support negative 0.82 0.80 0.81 2866
neutral 0.46 0.42 0.44 960
positive 0.53 0.65 0.58 566 accuracy 0.70 4392
macro avg 0.60 0.62 0.61 4392weighted avg 0.70 0.70 0.70 4392
Plot for each model vs accuracy score:
comparative plot for model vs accuracy scores
Conclusion
Logistic regression is better model for predicting the results with accuracy of 79.1%
Click here to view my python notebook on Kaggle, and here to view on Linkedin article. | https://medium.com/@codeserra810/twitter-us-airline-sentiment-c331f494f381 | [] | 2020-12-19 13:46:53.601000+00:00 | ['Naturallanguageprocessing', 'Sentiment Analysis', 'Machine Learning', 'NLP', 'Classification Algorithms'] |
Simple iOS carousel image slideshow — Swift 5 | Hi guys,
I had a task to build simple carousel, full screen, image slideshow, that acts on swipe and displays the current photo “1 of 5”.
I have tried CollectionView for the image carousel slideshow, but it didn’t work out for me. I didn’t like the hackish ways I had to do to make it show images in one row and I also didn’t like the fact that it cannot return the active image (there is some workaround here as well, but they don’t seem reliable). So, naturally, I ended up building a custom slideshow carousel for my purpose. I will share the code here, so hopefully, it can help(or at least guide someone) with a similar problem.
NOTE: My carousel is full width, singleImagePerScreen carousel, with a swipe recognizer to swipe through images and delegate function that is triggered when an image is active(I use it to display active image — “1 of 5”).
TESTED ON: SWIFT 5, XCode 12.2, iOS 14.2 | https://medium.com/@ivanstepanovic/simple-ios-carousel-image-slideshow-swift-5-b30175fc853b | [] | 2020-12-23 19:14:33.851000+00:00 | ['iOS App Development', 'Development', 'Swift', 'Xcode'] |
If He Lived… | Veit Hammer for Unsplash
If He Lived…
Writing My Own Ending to Our Love Story
My dream ending to the love story probably would have been more like a nightmare. His death was the final nail in the coffin that was our love. As sad as the ending was, it was likely what I needed to get him out of my head for good.
It was a year after I saw him last when he called me from the hospital to tell me he had end-stage cirrhosis. He sounded accusatory, as if his condition was somehow my fault.
He felt he had no other choice but to move in with his alcoholic brother following the loss of his job. He wanted to move into my house, but between his drinking problem, sharing two homes with my my ex husband, and my two grown sons still at home this was not a workable option.
He couldn’t understand why our love wouldn’t make it work. It was a passionate late middle age affair. I couldn’t imagine bringing an alcoholic with his life’s possessions into my home to live with me and my sons.
So I flatly refused to let him move in even if he had been sober for two months after he got fired from his 30 year career job.
My question to him as he was packing up to go live with his brother was whether his brother was going to get sober or was he going to relapse after he moved in with him?
I knew the answer. After carrying on with him for a year and a half, I’d concluded he was a hopeless case. His stint at a world class hospital to detox followed by a few weeks in a rehab program did nothing to convince me otherwise.
Being madly in love with him didn’t blind me to the reality of the situation.
I could see he was white-knuckling his way through sobriety. Of course it wasn’t sustainable. He had been drinking steadily since he was twelve years old.
I saw the relapse first hand when I went to visit him in the midwest. He made a feeble attempt to keep his drinking hidden behind my back.
I clearly laid things out for him at this point that my presence in his life was conditional on his sobriety. I knew he was finished. Being in love couldn’t save him from his addiction.
I was sad to know his life was over when I flew home. We kept in touch briefly until I could no longer cope with his erratic behavior.
I told him we were finished and cancelled our upcoming travel plans. It was heart breaking for us both.
There was a faint glimmer of hope that he could at least save his own life. I knew I would eventually meet someone else and carry on a healthier relationship.
His brother called with the news of his death days before Thanksgiving in 2017.
I acutely felt the tragedy of his too-short life ending so soon. My heart was broken again. | https://medium.com/narrative/if-he-lived-b7895a14f7ef | ['Victoria Ponte'] | 2020-10-15 22:52:34.183000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Love', 'Alcoholism', 'Death'] |
Need a reason to start reading? | Start here
Photo by Lilly Rum on Unsplash
It’s common to see people guided by their thoughts over a quote they saw on Facebook or even on the news from social media, instead of using our own principles and values. Because at the end of the day, who has time to question something?
“Common sense is not so common.” Voltaire (philosopher)
I have read in many blogs and studies that with reading comes a ton of advantages with it. Based on my research, I’d like to present my four top reasons why people should read.
Critical Thinking
Let’s take, for instance, the case of science fiction books.
Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
Science fiction makes you concentrate hard enough to understand the book’s atmosphere and the feelings and thoughts of its characters. This demands a critical focus from the reader to keep up with the book.
This will help you because reading this kind of books (e.g., Isaac Asimov, The End of Eternity) will make you apply this reasoning in your daily life; you will question your beliefs and others well. If well developed, this is a skill that can be used at work, school, relationships, and even yourself.
Empathy
Reading helps us with empathy because we must understand the emotions, ideas, and the place where the events are unfolding to fully enjoy a book. A recent study from the University of Toronto, made by Doctor Raymond Mar, shows how reading increases empathy.
This study has kids between 4 to 6 years old exposed to different stories to measure their ability to feel what other people think or feel.
Raymond proved that while the child could read more fiction stories, they tended to get better grades in the empathy tests than those who didn’t. Afterward, the doctor believes that the better our ability to feel empathy, the better our relationship with others.
Lexicon
To fully understand a good novel, it is necessary to know the meaning of the words or the general idea that the author is trying to communicate. The more we look up for these strange words, the more we will know, and they will come unconsciously in our work, school, or any other place we usually use to socialize.
Photo by Mimi Thian on Unsplash
Communicating correctly can lead to more advantages that you could think of. A diligent lexicon can lead to a boost in confidence, consequently takes an increment in your self-esteem.
Self-esteem
A study conducted by Dr. Josie Willington at the University of Liverpool found that people that read for 30 minutes each day have 20% more probabilities of reporting a more satisfactory life that does who didn’t. Besides, they have 21% fewer chances of reporting depression symptoms and are 10% more likely to have greater self-esteem than those who don’t.
“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Sticker.
Reading like any other habit is something that requires discipline and perseverance. Requires focus and is a solitary hobby. It is not easy to cultivate a healthy habit, especially when we don’t have an interest in it. However, it pays up, and it pays up quite well. | https://medium.com/writers-blokke/need-a-reason-to-start-reading-987385d3bf4d | ['David Torres'] | 2020-10-27 01:57:22.638000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life', 'Fiction', 'Books', 'Reading'] |
Inaugural Battlerite Pro League coming to Twitch this April | Twitch is partnering with Nexon and Stunlock Studios to bring you the inaugural season of Battlerite Pro League, Battlerite’s official competitive circuit. Battlerite Pro League, Season 1 will feature a showdown of the best-of-the-best in Europe, North America, South America, and Korea with sign-ups beginning today and the competition starting on April 12th.
In Battlerite Pro League, teams will compete for a piece of the $80,000 prize pool, including more than $25,000 in the LAN finale prize pool. Twitch is the exclusive live streaming partner for the league with the first three seasons being broadcast on twitch.tv/battlerite, while Nexon is handling production and distribution for the league in Korea.
How to join the qualifiers
Battlerite Pro League open qualifiers for each region begin next week. The regions will consist of 8 teams each duking it out over the course of 5 weeks to see which teams get to stay for the next season, which teams will be relegated and which 2 teams will make it to the LAN finale to represent their region.
There will be 4 qualifiers for each region with 2 teams qualifying each day to make up the 8 representatives of each region.
Teams of three Battlerite players can sign up for the qualifiers before April 11 at: https://smash.gg/tournament/battlerite-pro-league | https://medium.com/twitch-news/inaugural-battlerite-pro-league-coming-to-twitch-this-april-6793c59107e8 | ['Jason Maestas'] | 2018-04-05 17:53:55.511000+00:00 | ['Events', 'Esports'] |
I Almost Left Tech Today, Here’s Why | Today I read an article on why so many women leave engineering, and wanted to share it with my colleagues.
I am the only woman on a team of 9 (5 male developers, 1 male scrum master, 1 male product owner and 1 male functional consultant and me). Although I have been working for 10 years, I only recently became a developer and this is one of my first professional experiences. I had studied women in tech for two years as part of my master’s in Sociology degree, I knew sexism was rampant, but I persisted, I still chose to become a developer. But studying it from afar and actually experiencing it are two very different things. Today the latter hit me hard.
In response to the article I shared on our team’s Slack channel, the scrum master posted a video of a popular French song, the title of which can be translated to
We don’t give a fuck.
It surprised me! It was a very aggressive message, and actually proved the point of the article: tech’s hostile culture towards women drives them out. What’s worse was the reactions from the other men in the team. One reacted with a laughing emoji, one with a thumbs up, check mark and a-ok emojis. One even said
If women didn’t take things so seriously, there wouldn’t be as much sexism.
At that point, tears just started bursting out.
A few days before we had a pretty bad sprint review and the whole team went out for a beer to drown our sorrows. The department’s director was there for the review and joined us at the bar. I had been warned that the man was a misogynist. A developer who recently quit told me this director didn’t believe she could code and stuck her in a functional position she didn’t want for years. When this director arrived, we were all seating around a large table, on 2 benches. The first thing he said was
Move over, I need room for my big dick
The tone was set.
It has been discussed at length that managers behavior highly influences their subordinates. The less power you have, the more likely you are to mirror powerful people, and the attitude of managers shape that of the whole team.
I witnessed my colleagues, who are not usually overtly sexist say things they would have never said if this director wasn’t there. One of them said
Our app is huge, like my dick.
When one guy was leaving, saying he had a nice meal waiting at home, the director said
Do you have call girls?
Later that night, he also said that women had a smaller brain. That’s when I couldn’t take it anymore and left.
With this experience fresh in my mind, today’s comments felt all the more hurtful. It enraged me that they thought it was okay to say such things. I started to zone out and felt paralyzed. Colleagues were trying to talk to me but I couldn’t answer.
All I could think was :
What the FUCK is wrong with this industry, that thinks it can destroy people like this?
I am very familiar with the violence women face in French and American societies. I have worked for nonprofits helping victims of rape and sexual assault. I know that these daily micro and not so micro aggressions are deeply connected to patriarchal physical violence and I just couldn’t take it anymore.
I only have 2 more weeks before I finish this contract, but I wanted TO LEAVE, right then and there, without looking back. How ironic is that?
I shared an article saying women leave tech because of a hostile environment and the hostile environment gives me the urge to leave. It seems silly to have to repeat that but women are human beings. A natural instinct in a hostile situation is to leave and protect yourself, this is precisely what women do.
The scrum master who posted the “we don’t give a fuck” video quickly apologized, but only privately via email. The colleague who enjoyed the video and made the sexist comment, and has done so many times before, never did — Edit: he apologized three days later saying he saw it affected me. I feel so enraged tonight I needed to share this, even if it’s just to add on to the already long list of bullshit women have reported in this field.
This experience shook me and made me want to run back to nonprofits where — even if I was making little to no money — I always felt safe and was never attacked in such a way. But then I remembered why I chose to become a developer:
I love coding.
I love the feeling of fixing a bug or creating a feature, of contributing to something that people will use and that could make their lives easier. Time flies when I’m writing code all day.
When this contract ends, I will go to the famous school (at least in France) 42 in Paris, where I’ve been admitted, and learn even more. When I feel I’ve studied enough (42 is a very different school and you can leave anytime), I will be searching for a new job. I will be looking for a more inviting environment and hope never to feel like I did today again. Because coding is what I want to do everyday and I have so much to contribute.
We won’t let them grind us down.
Update: my contract is now over and on my last day I told the director’s boss about my experience. He said he was surprised and sad that I experienced that and that he will act swiftly to change that. | https://code.likeagirl.io/i-almost-left-tech-today-heres-why-6d146a2f7cf2 | ['Clémentine Pirlot'] | 2017-09-11 18:00:27.757000+00:00 | ['Sexism', 'Codelikeagirl', 'Women In Tech', 'Paris', 'Tech'] |
10 Interesting facts about Space | Space is very interesting to know. It contains a lot of secrets in it. Here are some interesting facts about space.
Jupiter attracts most of the asteroid moving towards earth with its high gravitational force that why its called dumping ground of earth.
Mars has only 1 % atmosphere as compare to earth because of it the sun set at mars is blue. You cant use pen in space as it has not gravity. Light takes only 1.3 seconds to reach from moon to earth. Milky way is known as Silver river. Coca-cola is the first soft drink which was drunk in space. Space is completely silent as sound needs medium to travel. In 2016, our scientist get a signal which comes from 5 billion light year away, this mean when is started earth did not existed. We can only see one side of the moon. International Space Station takes only 92 minutes for a single revolution around earth. As moon has no atmosphere, the foot print of Neil Armstrong is still exist at moon.
For more amazing facts in hindi
For more facts about space in Hindi :
Source : Factoon | https://medium.com/@igauravvaishnav/10-interesting-facts-about-space-b0a5ea77ae5a | [] | 2020-10-17 08:52:58.286000+00:00 | ['Universe', 'Space', 'Mars', 'Space Facts', 'Earth'] |
Crypto Market Analysis: TOP-5 Coins Overview | Cryptocurrency market is extremely volatile and incredibly hard to predict. There are over 2 thousand different digital currencies being traded on exchanges up to date and their quotes tend to move up and down depending on a number of different factors. Still, there is something more or less stable in this market — we can point out several definitely leading digital coins in terms of market cap. And these coins play crucial role as over 80% of total cryptocurrency market cap is divided between only 5 coins while the rest 2K+ coins have less than 20% of the market. Let’s compare the TOP-5 coins list for today with the one dated a year ago:
TOP-5 coins by market capitalization
As we can see, four out of five coins remained in this list after a year. Bitcoin dominance has slightly decreased. Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash have lost their positions while XRP showed a significant growth. Litecoin has left the chart and currently takes the 7th line having given its place to Stellar. And now let’s take a closer look at the coins from the list.
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Market cap: $78,4 billion
Max supply: 21 million
Circulating supply: 17,4 million
Trading: April 2013 ($135,3)
Price: $4543,64
ROI: >3200%
Bitcoin is the first ever cryptocurrency and a payment system often referred to as a digital gold. Its open-source software was released in 2009. Bitcoin is a mined cryptocurrency with a limited issue and using PoW algorithm. Its market dominance has never fallen down below 30% and it remains the evident leader of the space.
2. Ripple (XRP)
Market cap: $17,8 billion
Max supply: 100 billion
Circulating supply: 99,99 billion
Trading: August 2013 ($0,006)
Price: $0,44
ROI: >7200%
Ripple is a blockchain-based platform for global payments providing connectivity across payment networks with instant, on-demand settlement and real-time traceability of funds at low cost. Ripple introduces several cutting edge solutions in the field. It has significantly strengthened its positions lately and has taken the 2nd place in terms of market cap.
3. Ethereum (ETH)
Market cap: $13,8 billion
Max supply: not limited
Circulating supply: 103,3 million
Trading: August 2015 ($2,83)
Price: $133,47
ROI: >4600%
Ethereum was the first platform of its kind allowing to run smart contracts and meant for building DApps. The project has been a great success from the very beginning. It was the second popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and it was taking the second position by market cap for over a year, but last week it moved to the 3rd giving its place to Ripple.
4. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Market cap: $4,1 billion
Max supply: 21 million
Circulating supply: 17,5 million
Trading: July, 2017 ($555,89)
Price: $235,39
ROI: -58%
Bitcoin Cash is a hard forked version of Bitcoin with upgraded consensus rules. It is similar to Bitcoin in terms of maximum supply, block times and reward system. Though, comparing to BTC, Bitcoin Cash has increased limit of block size, it enables more transactions per second, and therefore faster payments and lower fees. It is the only currency in TOP-5 with negative ROI.
5. Stellar (XLM)
Market cap: $3,9 billion
Max supply: not limited
Circulating supply: 19,1 billion
Trading: August 2014 ($0,003)
Price: $0,2
ROI: >6500%
Stellar is a blockchain-based financial platform connecting banks, payment systems and people and expanding access to low-cost financial services around the globe. Lumen (XLM) is the native asset of the Stellar network. The number of XLM coins created at genesis was 100 billion, new tokens are added to the network at the rate of 1% each year. | https://medium.com/kriptapp/crypto-market-analysis-top-5-coins-overview-5732a132570f | ['Kript Team'] | 2018-11-21 09:15:33.011000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Landing Your First Programming Job | Software development continues to be an incredibly popular career choice, and it’s not hard to see why. In addition to being a challenging, dynamic profession, software developers make a median salary of around $100,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports. Job satisfaction in software development is generally good, according to U.S. News and World Report, with software development ranking second among best technology jobs.
All this might lead you to believe that it’s difficult to get a job in programming, but the good news is that the field is growing quickly. Career growth for software development is much faster than average, according to the BLS. This doesn’t mean you can expect to walk into a high-paying programming job right away; there are some things to keep in mind when you’re looking for your first programming job.
Building Your Skill Set
The right skill set is important, but it may not mean what you think it means. Any software developer needs to know how to code. Learning languages like Java, Python, .NET/C# or any of the others listed on the TIOBE Index is a good start, but there’s more to being a developer than simply knowing how to program.
Useful Skills
A good developer has a combination of hard and soft skills. Knowing the programming languages that your employer needs is key, but so is knowing how to write, how to collaborate with other developers and how to work with existing code. Learning a programming language can teach you the basics of what you’re going to be doing on a day-to-day basis, but there are quite a few valuable skills that programming classes simply don’t teach you.
Knowing how to work with version control systems, how to effectively comment your code, how to use regular expressions and how to program with the real world and real people in mind are all vital in any live working situation. Most programmers don’t work in isolation either; knowing how to work with a team is necessary, because even skilled programmers are unlikely to advance if they can’t effectively work with and support their coworkers.
Standing Out From the Competition
It’s true that programming jobs are growing more common, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to get those jobs. There may be high demand, but the supply is large too. So how does a junior developer stand out?
As with many jobs, it’s often about small details. Do you have referrals from the right people? Do you carry yourself well? Do you dress professionally? Can you speak with authority? Contacting a hiring manager directly can be a useful tactic, and it’s important to ensure that you emphasize accomplishments rather than skills. A skill is a theoretical competency, while an accomplishment is proof of that competency.
How to Prepare for Your First Programming Job
Once you’ve got the right skills under your belt and have paid attention to the details, the question becomes: How do you present yourself to a potential employer? Hiring managers and employers often hire for comfort; skills being roughly equal, the job will go to the person who makes the best impression.
Preparing a Resume
As was mentioned previously, showcase your achievements. If you have credentials or projects under your belt, put them on your resume. In addition to your programming skills, soft skills are incredibly important to employers, but employers aren’t looking for a list of skills. Instead, find ways to tell employers a concise story of how you’d be valuable to them.
From a visual perspective, ensuring that your resume is clean, attractive and guides the reader’s eye where you want it to go is important. Hiring managers scan numerous resumes during an employee search, and making their job as easy as possible helps distinguish you from less considerate candidates. To that end, make it easy for bots to crawl your resume. Use popular keywords where possible, even if it means replacing something on your resume with a synonym. Including the right keywords on your resume can help you get through job search engines or get noticed on sites like Dice.com.
Handling the Interview
Giving a good job interview is a subtle skill, and there are a number of things hiring managers want out of an interviewee. Show up early, but not too early; 10 minutes is good, because showing up too early can put pressure on hiring managers to interrupt what they’re doing and can annoy them. Talk about your skills and accomplishments, but do so through stories. Telling stories about things you’ve actually done is much more illustrative of your abilities and also gives hiring managers a taste of your personality.
Be authentic. Be honest. Be as objective as you can be about your accomplishments and skills, and be enthusiastic about what you do and what you want to do for the company. An interview is not an informal chat, so be professional in your dress, behavior and speech, but don’t be afraid to be funny and friendly. A big part of a hiring manager’s job is to ensure that you’ll fit into the company’s culture, and letting some of your personality show through helps the employer decide whether or not you’re right for the company.
Always thank your interviewers for their time, and sending a hand-written thank-you note after the interview can be a great way to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Finding the Right Company
Targeting a specific company or companies to work for — rather than applying on job boards — gives you an 80 percent likelihood of landing a job, LinkedIn says. Because you’re targeting a company that interests you, it can lead to a much better culture fit too. When you’re looking for your first programming job, do some research on employers in the area you want to work. Find out what you can about them, meet people who work for those companies, and do what you can to narrow your search to a small number of companies. If you know people at these companies, it can make getting the interview that much easier.
When you’re looking for a job with the right corporate culture for you, there are a number of tools at your disposal. LinkedIn and Glassdoor are useful for finding out what employees think of the company, and the company’s website can say a lot about what kind of place it is to work. Talking to actual employees is the most effective way to learn about a company’s culture and has the side benefit of getting people inside the company invested in you.
Follow through on this research in the interview. Companies tend to take notice of interviewees who seem to know a lot about them, and an interview can be an excellent opportunity to learn more about corporate culture and demonstrate your ability to fit in.
Enrolling in a Bootcamp
A coding bootcamp can be a great way to build skills you might need for a job at a particular company. Here at The Software Guild, an apprentice can learn a programming language in a relatively short (12-week) period of time, with a strong focus on practical and soft skills.
Coding bootcamps can also be fantastic places to build your network. Fellow students, instructors and the employer network you are able to access through the bootcamp can help you find your first programming job.
What to Expect
If you’ve done your research on the company, you’ll know a lot of what to expect when you start work. As a junior developer, be willing to ask questions and learn. Be receptive to your teammates. Believe in your ability to get the job done, but ask for help when you aren’t sure what’s expected of you or if you’re not sure how to accomplish a task. It’s crucial, though, not to ask questions or ask for the same help too often; coworkers don’t usually mind helping a new hire, but someone who doesn’t seem to learn is likely to become a nuisance quickly.
This thread on StackExchange is full of excellent advice for first-time programmers.
Learning the Skills You Need
A coding bootcamp can be an invaluable resource if you’re looking to get your first programming job. Regardless of whether you choose to learn Java or C#/.NET, The Software Guild’s coding bootcamp can help. The Guild offers a 12-week full-time program or a ten-month online program as a part-time option, so you can learn your first programming language with the help of skilled instructors at a pace that works for your life. Upon completion, you’ll be prepared for junior developer positions in either Java or C#/.NET. Apply to our coding bootcamp today. | https://medium.com/the-software-guild-blog/landing-your-first-programming-job-bc5bf5b558aa | ['The Software Guild'] | 2017-05-12 18:57:35.326000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Java', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming', 'Coding'] |
Skycoin Rewards Levels | Skycoin Rewards Levels
( This document was last updated on the 26th of June 2019)
The team behind the Skycoin Rewards Program are building a levelling system to gamify participation, and incite some healthy competition and bragging rights among the Skyfleet!
This article is a working document following the development and eventual launch of what’s becoming known as the SkyCred system.
Now, this isn’t just for fun… although it certainly has been fun for us to brainstorm and start creating! Apart from extravagant and sometimes silly names for banners, you’ll also work your way up a personal rewards ladder containing prizes such as Skycoin, hardware and emotional prizes like a date with Daken (Joking!! Unless you’re into it…?)
Work your way off Moronic Acid (Level 1) all the way to a Zany Gogmagog (Level 33) whatever that is… Yes, we had a little bit too much fun naming these (And possibly one too many beers) But it’s supposed to be fun, not serious!
The underlying reasons behind why blockchain technology, Bitcoin and Skycoin came about was to ‘stick it to the man’ and their hierarchical society. So… When it came to a discussion of adding “Ranks” we decided ‘Nah let’s award people a Smutty Flying Buttocks instead! (Before becoming Smutty, it was actually a real animal… No joke, look it up!)
Ok, I’ll reach into my backpack and put on my serious face for a moment!
We’re leaving it up to all you talented artists to create these banners!
In return, you’ll be awarded upto 20 tickets per banner, with an additional 20 added if we select your banner for the program.
Successful submissions MUST follow these guidelines:
Use the templates
Use the level names as inspiration
Include Some form of Skycoin branding
Add the banner number using roman numerals (XI etc.)
Post the banner on Twitter with #SkycoinRewards then /submit the link in the Skycoin Rewards Telegram room
Finally, the source file sent to @MacSkyver or @ProfessorKubyashi on Telegram. (Preferably .psd or .ai)
Content must be your own, no plagiarised artwork!
DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATES HERE:
This document will be updated monthly with which levels are required and which have been completed, so make sure to bookmark the page.
Level 26: Limpid Cyclops (Example)
Levels Required:
Tier 1: Molecular / Cellular:
9: Foolish Neuron
Neuron 10: Beefy Protein
Protein 11: Erotic Acid
Tier 2: Creatures
12: Smutty Flying Buttocks
Flying Buttocks 13: Glamorous Tasselled Wobbegong
Tasselled Wobbegong 14: Self-Conscious Red-Lipped Batfish
Red-Lipped Batfish 15: Fabulous Sparklemuffin
Tier 3: Mythical Creatures
24: Spasmodic Troll
Troll 25: Minatory Minotaur
Minotaur 26: Limpid Cyclops
Cyclops 27: Callous Chimera
Chimera 28: Nefarious Cerberus
Cerberus 29: Insidious Ouroboros
Ouroboros 30: Cataclysmic Kraken
Kraken 31: Draconian Camazotz
Camazotz 32: Erratic Erymanthian Boar
Erymanthian Boar 33: Zany Gogmagog
DOWNLOAD THE TEMPLATES HERE:
JOIN HERE FOR MORE INFO:
Completed Levels:
Tier 1: Molecular / Cellular: | https://medium.com/skyfleet-captains-log/skycoin-rewards-levels-caf0ae11be77 | [] | 2019-08-05 11:17:13.820000+00:00 | ['Skycoin', 'Art', 'Competition', 'Blockchain', 'Community Engagement'] |
Secure Java KeyStores in Azure based WSO2 Product Deployments | Before proceeding with this tutorial, we recommend you to first dig into WSO2 product official documentation which contains in-depth details of asymmetric key encryption involvement including,
Usage scenarios
Default key stores and certificate trust store
How to customize the default key stores and trust store
Recommended best practices for a production grade deployment
Why do we need to involve a more secure option like Azure Key Vault?
Photo by Victoriano Izquierdo on Unsplash
Most importantly, a secure, centralized location to store the resource files outside of the deployment environment (which could be a VM based environment or a container based environment like Kubernetes).
You may consider storing these resources in a private GitHub repository.
Anyone who has access to the stored repository will be able to clone the resources, hence making them available in one’s local machine.
From there onward, anything is possible!!!
It also suggests that we are maintaining deployment resources, especially resources as important as security resources, outside of one’s Azure account.
If you have evaluated the section on recommended best practices on maintaining resources for asymmetric encryption, you may have encountered the recommendations to maintain a key store per the specific purpose.
Thus, higher the effort you need to invest compared to maintaining a single key store, for all purposes.
Maintenance of resource versions
Azure Key Vault maintains the history of versions of each resource stored.
This feature will come in handy when you are required to rollback to an older version of the key stores, you had stored (e.g. for debugging purposes).
Photo by Davide Cantelli on Unsplash
What Azure Key Vault features are we going to use?
Azure Key Vault primarily supports storage of three types of objects, namely, Keys, Secrets and Certificates.
Out of these,
We will use Certificate resource storage service to store the required key stores.
When exporting the stored, key store object from the Key Vault, we are required to export it as a Secret resource since, we are required to obtain both private and public keys to load the original key store, to be used alongside the product.
Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash
Complications you may face
Storing the key stores used for a WSO2 product deployment at the Azure Key Vault is not a mere walk in the park.
Photo by Sebastian Herrmann on Unsplash
Incompatible key store formats
WSO2 products support key stores of the Java KeyStore (JKS) format, only.
But, the Azure Key Vault Certificate service does not support importing key stores of JKS format. Instead, it only supports uploading certificate resources and key stores in the form of PEM and PFX (i.e. PKCS12) files.
With PEM format, it was noticed that the public-private key pairs reside outside of the protection of a key store/repository. Furthermore, the back and forth conversions between JKS and PFX formats are pretty easy.
Thus, we recommend using the PKCS12 format.
When a key store resource file (in PKCS12 format) is imported to the Certificate service, the original key store and key pair passwords get stripped off.
Thus, once exported from the Azure Key Vault, the key store and key pair passwords were observed to be empty strings.
Hence, we need to reset the original key store and key pair passwords, prior to usage alongside the product.
Basic steps for generating a key store and storing it at Key Vault
Let us go through the steps involved in this procedure.
Generate a key store of PKCS12 format
keytool -genkey -alias <KEY_PAIR_ALIAS> \
-validity 10950 -keyalg RSA -keysize 4096 \
-keypass <KEY_PAIR_PASSWORD> \
-dname "CN=<IDENTITY_SERVICE_HOSTNAME>,OU=Dev,O=WSO2 Inc,L=SL,S=WS,C=LK" \
-storetype PKCS12 \
-keystore keyStore.pfx \
-storepass <KEY_STORE_PASSWORD>
The following is a sample key store generated based on the above keytool command.
Generate a key store of PKCS12 format
The above command generates a new key store of PKCS12 format (with .pfx file extension and defined using the storetype argument) which will contain a public-private key entry with the alias wso2carbon (protected by a password defined using the keypass argument). The key store itself, is protected by a password defined using the argument storepass .
You may refer to the official Oracle documentation on the Java keytool for more advanced options available with the command.
Plus, the official WSO2 documentation provides instructions for numerous use cases associated with constructing key stores.
Import the generated key store to Key Vault as a Certificate resource
You may follow the official Azure documentation for this purpose.
Note:
At the time of publishing this article, the above documentation fails to define the minimum permissions required for the attempted task.
In a Key Vault instance using Azure RBAC, for granting permissions for the data plane of the Key Vault to the user, we can use Key Vault Certificates Officer predefined role.
In a Key Vault instance using Access Policies, to grant permissions, you need permissions for Certificate Management actions Get , List and Import .
Key Store file generated in the previous step being uploaded to the Key Vault
Uploaded key store file as an imported Certificate entry
The initial, uploaded version corresponding to the current version of the Certificate entry
You can upload a new version of the key store, under the same Certificate entry as per your preference. The most recent upload will be marked as the current version while, you will also be able to see the history of versions you have maintained.
After uploading a new version of the same key store
Basic steps for using the uploaded key store in a WSO2 product deployment
Let us go through the steps for downloading the key store resource and preparing it for usage in a WSO2 product deployment.
Export the stored key store from Key Vault Certificates, in the form of its mapping Secret
You may follow the official Azure documentation for this purpose.
Note:
In a Key Vault instance using Azure RBAC, for granting permissions for the data plane of the Key Vault to the user, we can use Key Vault Secrets User predefined role.
In a Key Vault instance using Access Policies, to grant permissions, you need permissions only for Secret Management Get action.
The following screenshot shows the download action of the previously uploaded key store instance.
Downloaded key store resource file
Convert the downloaded key store file from PKCS12 format to JKS format
You can use the Java keytool for this purpose as follows:
keytool -importkeystore -srckeystore keyStore.pfx \
-srcstoretype PKCS12 \
-srcstorepass "" \
-srcalias <KEY_PAIR_ALIAS> \
-srckeypass "" \
-destkeystore keyStore.jks \
-deststoretype JKS \
-deststorepass <KEY_PAIR_PASSWORD> \
-destalias <KEY_PAIR_ALIAS> \
-destkeypass <KEY_STORE_PASSWORD>
As you may have noticed, the key store and key pair passwords of the source PKCS12 key store are empty strings. This is due to the drawback which was highlighted in the previous section Complications you may face.
Converted key store in JKS format
You may refer to the official Oracle documentation on the Java keytool for more advanced options available with the command.
Now, you can use the prepped key store resource in a WSO2 product deployment, based on your requirements. For example in a Kubernetes based product deployment, you may create a Kubernetes Secret packaging the above key store resource file.
A few suggestions…
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash
We recommend you to use native Azure features such as, DevOps Pipelines for managing production grade, WSO2 product deployments in Azure.
Using Pipelines, you can perform the same steps as in the aforementioned Basic steps for using the uploaded key store in a WSO2 product deployment section, without having to download the resource into your local machine.
section, without having to download the resource into your local machine. You may choose to store the key store and key pair credentials at the Azure Key Vault in the form of Secret resources.
You may choose to use Azure DevOps Pipeline predefined task for Azure Key Vault for secure resource retrieval, to use the key store credentials in order to load and prep the key stores.
You may prepare the product public key trust store in the Pipeline, by loading the public keys of the key pairs (contained in the key stores stored at the Azure Key Vault).
Detailed steps for these suggestions are beyond the scope of this article.
Winding up…
WSO2 products use Java KeyStores for securely storing asymmetric key pairs used by the products.
In Microsoft Azure based WSO2 product deployments, we recommend you to use the Azure Key Vault service to securely store, the used key stores and associated sensitive data such as, key store and key pair credentials.
This article is a concise guide for storing the key stores in Azure Key Vault.
Plus, it could be used as a generic guide for storing Java KeyStore resources in Azure Key Vault, as Certificate resources.
Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash
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Follow us on Twitter 🐦 and Facebook 👥 and Instagram 📷 and join our Facebook and Linkedin Groups 💬 | https://faun.pub/secure-java-keystores-in-azure-based-wso2-product-deployments-b445fcfb95c4 | ['Chiranga Alwis'] | 2020-12-25 09:18:07.735000+00:00 | ['Wso2', 'Azure Key Vault', 'Java', 'Cryptography', 'Azure'] |
Results of JGN’s Top 10 NFT Competition 💪🦁🏆 | At Juggernaut, we asked creators if they had what it took to become a JGN NFT Top Creator, and they answered! 💪
The Top 10 NFT Competition lasted one month, and it had a pool of 5,000 JGN in prizes! 😱😱😱
We really want to thank the community for all their support since we started, and especially creators on JuggerWORLD, because they made our NFT Exchange come to life! 🦁
If you want to learn more about the rules: https://medium.com/juggernaut-defi/jgnnft-com-top-10-nft-creators-competition-get-your-share-of-5-000-jgn-in-prizes-c189763033ef
Let’s explore the Results!
🥇 Gold Medal
In the first spot, we have a great project that has been building really cool stuff since the beginning of JuggerWORLD: Salsa Valley.
With their fun approach to NFTs, they nominated their “Chili Pepper” NFT. Apparently, Chili Pepper lives by the principle of “Get fun & be pepper!” 🔥
Congratulations on the first spot. They’ll receive 1806 JGN as reward!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/SalsaValley
🥈 Silver Medal
In the second spot, we have a great creator with a pretty cool space-inspired NFT, called “To Da Moon & Beyond”.
Thanks for the participation, and maybe it won’t be the moon, but he’ll get 1111 JGN as reward!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/risk22_
🥉 Bronze Medal
In the third spot, we have “Astronaut Meditation”. In the crypto space, it is always a good idea to relax and meditate before heading directly to the moon!
He’ll receive 694 JGN as reward!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/dekhunters
🏅 Fourth Spot
In the fourth spot, we have a creator that makes 3d NFTs of other crypto projects. Maybe he could do some inspired JGN NFTs 👀
“PantherSwap Token Silver”.
Pretty cool design, congratulations on the 417 JGN prize!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/Dean_Kezan
🏅 Fifth Spot
In number 5, we have an NFT created by a little girl, and the father even got the consent to make the artwork into an NFT on JuggerWORLD!
“Raising the Flag”.
Great drawing, told her that the JGN team will always look forward to her new creations. Congrats on the 278 JGN prize!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/LIMCW4
🏅 Sixth Spot
Number 6th is an interesting concept. The World’s first company for sale as an NFT. What does it mean? We don’t know, but congrats on the 139 JGN prize.
“HLY by HOLYMAR”
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/HLY_holymar
🏅 Seventh Spot
The winner number 7th created what it seems like an ode to the motorcycle! Congrats on the 139 JGN prize. Maybe it’s the first step towards a new vehicle? 🛵
“Two wheels move the soul”.
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/mad_lexone
🏅 Eighth Spot
On the 8th spot, we have “The Airdrop”, a tribute to the 30th anniversary of Point Break!
Congrats on the 139 JGN as reward!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/DerilPana
🏅 Ninth Spot
In the 9th spot, we have “Wonderful evening”.
Congrats on the 139 JGN prize!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/shudhanshu_k
🏅 Tenth Spot
In the 10th spot we have one of the coins that seems to be quite popular, because they are always at the top of JuggerWORLD! 😂
“2018 silver american eagle”.
Congrats on the 139 JGN!
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/Osa_Cryptomer | https://medium.com/@juggernautdefi/results-of-jgns-top-10-nft-competition-a9d37edd98b2 | ['Juggernaut', 'Jgn'] | 2021-08-10 21:35:12.971000+00:00 | ['Nft Marketplace', 'Binance Smart Chain', 'Nft', 'Defi', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
The renovation revolution — why we invested in Plank | Emma Biasiolo led our recent investment in Plank Hardware — in this article, Emma takes a look at why we believe this is such a compelling brand, with an opportunity to tap into the millennial DIY boom.
Tom Revill and Annie Aveyard, co-founders of Plank Hardware
Over the past two decades, we’ve worked alongside many successful entrepreneurs building the consumer brands of the future. From the Vinader sisters to Taymoor Atighetchi, founder of Papier, these founders bring together a passion for products with operational expertise and a vision for the future of retail.
When we met Tom Revill and Annie Aveyard, founders of Plank Hardware — the latest consumer addition to our U.K. portfolio — it was clear that we’d met two entrepreneurs with the passion, expertise, and vision to build a direct-to-consumer success story.
In this article, I’ve laid out a few thoughts on why we believe that Plank Hardware has the potential to harness the renovation revolution.
Bringing DIY to the Instagram generation
Plank Hardware provides the finishing touches to DIY projects in the home. Its range of handles, knobs, rails, and knockers offer high-quality, design-led hardware that is the final touch for a home renovation project.
Over the past few years, many millennials have turned their hand to DIY, particularly during the pandemic. However, these consumers — many of whom document their renovation projects on Instagram — expect a seamless digital experience that many traditional retailers simply cannot provide.
Plank Hardware solves this problem in several ways. First, its range of products are trend-led, shifting much more rapidly than legacy competitors to adapt to the latest trends on Instagram and Pinterest, where many millennials and Gen Z consumers are taking inspiration to become their own interior designers.
Plank Hardware’s designs for rails, handles, and door knobs adapt quickly to online trends
Second, it’s worth understanding that these pieces of hardware are often the final and crucial elements to a renovation project. Consumers need to be able to engage with a visual product that is available rapidly and Plank Hardware’s online platform ensures that products are highly visual, whilst its direct-to-consumer model ensures that customers are not left with an agonising wait for that final finishing touch.
Last, we know that consumers are now far more willing to purchase home interiors without seeing them in person. Many rapidly growing D2C brands such as Lick, COAT, Swyft and now Plank Hardware are tapping into this opportunity. From our own portfolio, MYCS — the European online furniture retailer — has shown the willingness of consumers to purchase premium interiors online.
Tapping into a boom in home renovations
Demand for home improvement projects has rapidly grown in the past two years, particularly due to the shift towards remote working. Research found more than 50 per cent of the UK population had embarked on home improvement projects since March 2020, while 36 per cent of those surveyed felt they would continue to focus on renovation projects as we emerge from the pandemic.
Plank’s products tap into growing demand for DIY projects
Whether it’s first-time buyers or those who can’t afford an interiors overhaul, a lick of paint and new hardware can make a huge difference, particularly for consumers who are operating on a budget. And these consumers are a significant proportion of the market — the average kitchen costs £8,000, while a recent report by Rated People found that 68% of Brits set out to tackle a kitchen renovation with a budget of under £4,000.
We believe Plank Hardware is strongly positioned to inspire a touch of creativity in the home regardless of whether you have a vast budget to spend. And it has clearly resonated with customers — although Plank were early in their journey the reviews they had showed that customers loved what they were doing and were very happy with product quality and service. For us this is a key window into how much a consumer product resonates with customers and a chance to see if they’re willing to come back — whether it’s Instagram comments or TrustPilot reviews!
Backing a driven duo with a clear vision
The business began life — as you might have guessed from the name — as planks of wood. Tom was making shelves and furniture from recycled scaffolding boards and really enjoyed the creative process around it. As time went on, he focused on the component parts and began developing the hardware range.
These are two co-founders that bring an ideal balance of industry experience, operational expertise, and entrepreneurial vision, as Annie was previously Head of Finance at Swoon, one of the first movers in bringing home interiors online.
This is a business with a compelling proposition and plenty of opportunity for growth. While it was only founded in 2019 and it has been bootstrapped to date, a lean operation and clear focus on providing an exceptional experience to their consumers has ensured that Annie and Tom have built a business with the potential to become the go-to brand for home hardware, and we’re incredibly excited to be part of the journey. | https://medium.com/beringea/the-renovation-revolution-why-we-invested-in-plank-4d22c63272bb | ['Emma Biasiolo'] | 2021-12-21 17:58:01.474000+00:00 | ['Retail', 'Brands', 'D2c', 'Beringea Insights', 'Home Decor'] |
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🦋 TELEVISION 🦋
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 191s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 1950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[1] during the 1915s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 150s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (531i, with 909093 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3451513, 3451513 and 3334. Since 115, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, HBO Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 113, 39% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[3] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 1990s. Most TV sets sold during the 150s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-115s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 115s.[1][3][8] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 3.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 115s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 150s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 150s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 115s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
🦋 OVERVIEW 🦋
A subgenre that joins the sentiment type with parody, zeroing in on at least two people since they find and endeavor to deal with their sentimental love, attractions to each other. The cliché plot line follows the “kid gets-young lady”, “kid loses-young lady”, “kid gets young lady back once more” grouping. Normally, there are multitudinous variations to this plot (and new curves, for example, switching the sex parts in the story), and far of the by and large happy parody lies in the social cooperations and sexual strain between your characters, who every now and again either won’t concede they are pulled in to each other or must deal with others’ interfering inside their issues.
Regularly carefully thought as an artistic sort or structure, however utilized it is additionally found in the realistic and performing expressions. In parody, human or individual indecencies, indiscretions, misuses, or deficiencies are composed to rebuff by methods for scorn, disparagement, vaudeville, incongruity, or different strategies, preferably with the plan to impact an aftereffect of progress. Parody is by and large intended to be interesting, yet its motivation isn’t generally humor as an assault on something the essayist objects to, utilizing mind. A typical, nearly characterizing highlight of parody is its solid vein of incongruity or mockery, yet spoof, vaudeville, distortion, juxtaposition, correlation, similarity, and risqué statement all regularly show up in ironical discourse and composing. The key point, is that “in parody, incongruity is aggressor.” This “assailant incongruity” (or mockery) frequently claims to favor (or if nothing else acknowledge as common) the very things the humorist really wishes to assault.
In the wake of calling Zed and his Blackblood confidants to spare His Dark Materials, Talon winds up sold out by her own sort and battles to accommodate her human companions and her Blackblood legacy. With the satanic Lu Qiri giving the muscle to uphold Zed’s ground breaking strategy, His Dark Materials’s human occupants are subjugated as excavators looking for a baffling substance to illuminate a dull conundrum. As Talon finds more about her lost family from Yavalla, she should sort out the certainties from the falsehoods, and explain the riddle of her legacy and an overlooked force, before the world becomes subjugated to another force that could devour each living being.
Claw is the solitary overcomer of a race called Blackbloods. A long time after her whole town is annihilated by a pack of merciless hired soldiers, Talon goes to an untamed post on the edge of the enlightened world, as she tracks the huggers of her family. On her excursion to this station, Talon finds she has a strange heavenly force that she should figure out how to control so as to spare herself, and guard the world against an over the top strict tyrant. | https://medium.com/@his-dark-materials-s2-ep3/exclusive-his-dark-materials-season-2-eps-3-full-series-3d2ee6d6424f | ['His Dark Materials'] | 2020-11-21 03:52:37.720000+00:00 | ['TV Series', 'Adventure', 'Startup', 'Family', 'Drama'] |
Standard Template Library (STL) in C++ | Standard Template Library (STL) in C++ | Vectors
Getting started with STL in C++
Photo by Maxwell Nelson on Unsplash
The Standard Template Library (STL) in C++ is nothing but a set of template classes which provides us with the widely used data structures such as lists, stacks, maps, etc. along with iterators, functions and algorithms in order to play around with the data elements.
A. Main Components of STL
Containers
Containers are nothing but holder objects which stores other objects i.e. it’s elements. A container does the memory management for its elements and provides us with member functions or iterators in order to interact with it’s data elements.
2. Algorithms
Algorithms, defined under the header <algorithm>, are nothing but a collection of several functions which are designed in order to used on any sequence of elements that can be accessed using iterators or pointers. One thing to note about algorithms is that they do not change the way a data structure is organised in any way. They merely deal with the elements within the structure.
3. Iterators
Iterators are something which is used to point at the memory addresses of STL containers’ elements. Thus providing a means to access the data stored within the container. They can be simply thought of as pointers. More about them can be read here.
Now with that being said we are good to go ahead and have a look at our very first container Vector. | https://medium.com/swlh/standard-template-library-stl-in-c-vectors-b5436b35492d | ['Tanishq Vyas'] | 2020-06-19 12:51:45.787000+00:00 | ['Standard Template Library', 'Cplusplus', 'Vectors', 'Stl', 'Containers'] |
RealFevr’s First Edition Drop packs sale details | Buy our video NFT packs from RealFevr’s First Edition Drop and start your collection.
We wish to extend our gratitude to the committed and passionate community members who have made this release possible. Our strenuous efforts have been worthwhile because of your vigorous support. Now that the time-consuming process of minting has finally reached its conclusion, we are excited to officially announce the date and time for RealFevr’s first NFT edition packs sale.
First Edition Drop Details: Date: August 12th
Time: 2 PM UTC
Number of Packs: 56,401 Basic; 15,002 Rare and 4,998 Super Rare
Price in FEVR: $10 Basic; $40 Rare and $70 Super Rare Players that will be displayed: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fsBKm6-qhzUAov0CF0cqmP31bMAsyqhTNnuZADmdKQE/edit#gid=0
All packs can only be purchased with $FEVR and for that reason we recommend holding a minimum of 0.15 BNB in your wallet during the transaction process in order to cover the cost of gas fees.
We simply cannot understate the significance of our first drop. Whether the collectible is a baseball card or an antique automobile, history has shown that it is invariably the earliest editions which obtain the greatest value due to their relative scarcity. Since our NFT video moments have IP exclusivity, they will never be repeated in any NFT marketplace, including our own. We believe that our Unique, first edition #1 of #1 release of Bruno Fernandes’ sublime goal, as well as the 50 copies of Cristiano Ronaldo’s second career goal and first official header will hold a vaunted place among rare NFT collectibles.
#JoinTheFEVR! | https://medium.com/@crisance/realfevrs-first-edition-drop-packs-sale-details-3c4f4a8343c0 | [] | 2021-08-10 15:48:30.105000+00:00 | ['Nft', 'Crypto', 'Football'] |
Optimising PCR protocol with a primer recommendation system using neural network | Optimising PCR protocol with a primer recommendation system using neural network
While I was an intern at a pathological lab four years ago, my work consisted primarily of sequencing DNA samples. While this was a fairly simple technique to master, for a second-year undergraduate, it gave me a roller-coaster experience of wet-lab research. Nevertheless, aside from the routine pipetting and centrifuging and mixing solutions, I noticed one could methodically automate and optimise the initial step of the protocol, namely the primer selection step.
Sequencing in the nutshell
DNA is double-stranded structure composed of 4 nucleic acid bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T); such that a base on one strand will generally bind in a complementary (i.e. exclusive) manner to another base on the other strand (i.e. A will bind to T, whereas C will bind to G). When mutation arises, this exclusivity is broken, and can result in changes in the amino acid sequence and affect subsequent protein translation process. We can interrogate the genetic composition by a process of sequencing (also known as genotyping).
To perform DNA sequencing, we need to first amplify the region of interest through a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR), whereby changing the temperature, the double stranded structure is separated and annealed. It is through this cycles of “hot-again-cold-again”, the DNA replication is facilitated via polymerase enzymes, and repeated until a sufficient number of DNA segments is acquired.
Similar to PCR, sequencing also relies on the rising and dropping the temperature and of the polymerase enzyme. The main difference between the two is in their use of nucleic bases. In the PCR solution, the nucleic bases used are composed of exclusively deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP), whereas in the sequencing solution, the nucleic bases used are composed of both dNTP and di-dNTP (ddNTP). The only difference between the ddNTP and dNTP is that the ddNTP does not allow further addition of bases beyond it during the replication process, whereas dNTP does. You can then imagine after the sequencing process, you get multiple DNA segments of different sizes, some will be of only 10 bases, whereas some will be of 20 or 30. Additionally, if you put some sort of signal on the ddNTP, so that they can give off colour when are put under a light, you can know what nucleotide is at the 10th, or 20th or 30th position. Doing this enough times, you can get the full nucleic composition of the gene of interest.
Primer selection
Primer is a short DNA segments of several base pairs. Primer generally has complimentary bases to the DNA segment where one wants to initiate the DNA replication process and without it, the polymerase cannot bind to the DNA strand.
As a rule of thumb, one can choose the primer based on its length and melting temperature (Tm). However, doing so by hand doesn’t allow one to easily visualise the secondary structure stability and possible occurrence of the primer hairpins (these are cases when the primers do not bind to the region of interest, but rather bind to themselves). Therefore, one can resort to publicly available softwares such as this one by Thermofischer. However, as often the case in academia, one software does not contain all the features, and different softwares can give differing results. As such the purpose of this project is to amalgamate these softwares and potentially create an automated primer recommendation system.
Method and game plan
Melting temperature calculation
Quick search shows that research into thermodynamics of nucleotide hybridisation is fairly vast, with different groups giving different ways of calculating Tm. Some formulae are fairly basic, which require only the number of bases for each nucleotide, while other such as the one in equation 1 are more advanced, which require the experimental value of nucleotide pairing enthalpy and entropy. But it is not exactly rocket science to figure out how to plug different values into a formula, and with enough literature review you can get the table 1.
Equation 1. Provided by SantaLucia et al. (1996)
Table 1. Unified oligonucleotide dH and dS parameters in 1 M NaCl at 37C
Visualisation
One of the missing features in many existing software is the visualisation of the hybridisation between the primer and the DNA region. One way we could hardcode it into the program is by assigning a “shift-by” value to each of the nucleotides on one strand, that corresponds to the position of its complementary base on the other strand.
Figure 2. Visual representation of the algorithm to calculate stability and visualise secondary structures
In the figure 2A, for each nucleotide in primer 5’- CCAAGGGTAGTAATGTATATGTGAG-3’, the computer code assigns a shift-by value, which corresponds to the position of its complementary bases within its reverse sequence (or in the case of primer dimer, the other primer’s reverse sequence) in 3’-5’ direction. For instance, the last base, G, in 5’-3’ direction, has shift-by values of -1 and 0, because counting from that position in 3’-5’ direction, there are two complementary bases, one at the same position (0), and another at the previous position (-1). In the figure 2B, by extracting the same shift-by value across all nucleotides, one can subsequently visualise all hybridisation events occurring in a secondary structure. For example, by positioning the 5’-3’ primer 6 positions to the right against its reverse sequence, one can construct a self-dimer structure with 6 bonds. In figure 2C, using the same shift-by value, one can also delineate a hairpin structure, where the size of its loop, formed between the innermost two bonds, must always be greater than or equal to three nucleotides. Moreover, thermodynamic values for any secondary structure are calculated as the sum of energy required for each bond formation.
In python, the shift-by value list can be hardcoded with a few lines of list comprehension as such:
and from then we can draw boxes and sticks to visualise the hybridisation events:
Primer selection recommendation system:
Another quick literature review gives us the following criteria for primer selection:
Table 2. Criteria for good primers
While we can just hardcode the criteria to our programme, and have it outputs whether our selected primer satisfies all the criteria, we can go a step further and create a recommendation system, that scans across all possible primer in a given gene of interest, and rank them according to their suitability.
To do this, we can first build a database of primers, and then train a model to classify a model as good or bad, or assign them with a suitability score. In this case, I have opted for the classification model. Here, I have generated a set of 78 206 unique primer pairs of varying lengths between 8 and 41 bases. They were randomly generated by the computer from three different genes. From that dataset, 12 600 random combinations were labelled as “Good” or “Bad”. The “Bad” primers are defined as those that have abnormal value in one of the 9 features in Table 2. To achieve total homogenous distribution across all reference points, the “Bad” primers set was consisted of 9 uniform classes of features, each with 700 pairs.
Model training
The labelled dataset was divided into training set (70%), cross-validation set (20%) and test set (10%). Here, I utilised R neural-net package to optimise calculation and visualisation of ANN models, and adopted the resilient back-propagation with weight backtracking (rprop+) method, where the learning rate variated between 0.5(-) and 1.2(+) according to the sign of the partial derivative.
Figure 3. The trained ANN model
My first GUI
One problem I noticed with existing software is their disjointed features, and lack of transparency when displaying the results. Utilising the tkinter library in Python I have created an interface with the following features: 1) Customisable input, 2) Live result visualisation and calcuation, and 3) Organised output.
Figure 4. The interface with help
Figure 5. Live visualisation of the results
Figure 6. Organised output with transparent results
Relative importance
Once the weights have been assigned to each of the 9 features after the training process. We can see which of the features are the most determining of the suitability of the primer selection.
Figure 7. Ranking of the weights by the ANN model
As suspected, differences in the Tm and Length play the most important role, followed by GC content and other secondary structures. Finally, we can hardcode such weights into our program and can get label for each primer as either good or bad.
Conclusion
This was an interesting exercise, where I learnt how to create a GUI from scratch and implement a simple ML model to everyday, routine wet-lab work. In reality, this will not likely make a whole lot difference, as in most cases, even a slightly bad primer will likely to work fairly well in a PCR experiment. Secondary structure hybridisation do occur, however, that will only be a problem when one is using a very long primer of more than 50 bp, and when that does occur, there are other optimising chemical element in the PCR solution to counter that problem. Nevertheless, if you would like to try out this GUI, you can find it below.
References | https://towardsdatascience.com/optimising-pcr-with-automated-primer-selection-using-neural-network-f6b15d209808 | ['Hai Le'] | 2021-06-27 22:04:27.965000+00:00 | ['Pcr', 'Machine Learning', 'Genetics', 'Pcr Test'] |
Sociology of outer space? | One of my small joys in life is to watch people blink slowly when I tell them that one of my areas of study is sociology of outer space. “Cool” or “Can you really do that?” are the most common responses so far. I agree — it is not something one comes across daily. I could probably name everyone who ever wrote anything remotely sociological on anything remotely related to outer space, as there aren’t many.
It is hard to define what sociology of outer space is. Not many social scientists are interested in space exploration, and those who do tend to cross disciplinary boundaries. As a sociologist myself, I interpret their work through sociological framework, although some of them might self-identify as social geographers, anthropologists, communication scholars, or social historians. Thus, instead of a strict definition, I use sociology of outer space as a working title for this fuzzy cluster of social science research.
Before I go further, let’s address the elephant in the room — is sociology of outer space a real deal? If you were to google sociology of outer space or astrosociology, you will most likely land in a flashy website that seems to predate myspace.
Astrosociology.org is a website owned by Dr. Jim Pass, a self-proclaimed founder of astrosociology, a field that studies everything human-and-space related. He bought the domain and registered astrosociology as a trademark in mid 2000s — a move that was not well received by mainstream sociologists. The overarching argument was that astrosociology is nothing but a catchy name with no theoretical substance behind it. In the end, Pass declared that astrosociology is not a sub-discipline of sociology anymore, but an interdisciplinary field of social sciences, humanities, and art (read: everything but STEM) that addresses all the questions related to humanity and outer space.
It is too easy to dismiss astrosociologists as a collective of eccentrics whose work resembles space advocacy more than actual science. But we should not through the baby out with the bathwater and regard everyone who studies social aspects of space exploration as lesser social scientists.
Sociologists have means to make informed predictions that can lead to deliberate and intelligent decisions. Governmental space programs, private space entrepreneurs, and space advocacy movements can be better understood only if we know what social forces drive them. A critical assessment of inequalities within space programs is the first step towards fixing them. Finally, sociological research on organizations and decision making processes can explain and help prevent deadly disasters, such as the Challenger or Columbia, in a very risky environment. And there is sociological research on that.
Social knowledge is crucial to prepare for the multi-planetary future. For example, lessons learned from Polynesian migration through the Pacific ocean some 10,000 years ago, could help to prepare for future spaceflights and outer space settlements. Studies of groups wintering in Antarctic research stations can show how a micro society with its own rules and norms evolve — something that we should know before establishing our first settlement in outer space.
Sociology provides tools to understand and improve experiences of groups of people during spaceflight; it can explain what drives people to stars; and what social problems lies ahead once a space colony is established.
Contrary to space activists, sociologists do not approach space exploration with rose colored glasses. Some have argued that space race is just a playground for rich and famous since the very beginning of the Apollo program. Profit is the main force that drives capitalists to outer space. Capitalism needs unlimited resources for its continuous growth. Rhetoric of science, freedom, spirituality, and global benefits is just a screen used to justify costly and dangerous space programs.
Others point out that this is not the whole picture. They argue that space entrepreneurs and space advocates all share beliefs of a utopian society established in the far frontiers of outer space. This belief system is reminiscent of Western colonialism and libertarian individualistic ideology; and only by understanding these beliefs we can explain what drives people to devote their lives to space activism.
Other social scientists study space organizations. These organizations talk about spaceflights as if it was a completely routine activity in order to distract public from actual risks and costs of spaceflight. Space programs produce science, which becomes a commodity of itself that helps justify high costs and to secure more funding. And despite the rhetoric of space being a place for humanity as a whole, space programs are still very much a masculine domain. Gendered assumptions are built into space programs, which hinders women’s opportunities and even impacts the way we research and try to address this issue.
This rough sketch shows ways in which space programs can benefit from sociological knowledge. Vice versa, outer space offers limitless possibilities for sociological theory building — whether by studying organizations in a high risk and low return environment or by exploring emotion management during long term spaceflight, sociologists can use new scopes to learn more about societies back home.
In the following weeks I will publish a series of posts that review current stage of sociology of outer space. It is quite nebulous, but evolving field. These posts are a work in progress towards a more coherent review article, so feel free to post your feedback in the comments or email me directly.
View all posts by Inga Popovaite | https://medium.com/@inga.popovaite/sociology-of-outer-space-2fcd1ee116bd | ['Inga Popovaite'] | 2019-02-13 21:10:22.881000+00:00 | ['Outer Space', 'Space', 'Sociology'] |
Growing Dreams Into Sprouting Nightmares — Beyond Senses Known | She spoke out one too many times. Robyn’s inquisitions about the relationship between the moon and the earth infuriated Mr. Cavendish. When Ms. Edwards, the science teacher, finished her presentation on our solar system and left the classroom, Mr. Cavendish tensed then frowned at Robyn.
“Ms. Mwezi, see me after class! You will be on detention until further notice.” His loud words dripped with unkind and unpleasant portent.
Robyn’s confusion moistened her eyes, but before a tear fell, she recovered her composure and said, “Yes, Mr. Cavendish.”
“That’s yes, Sir from you, young lady,” Mr. Cavendish said.
“Yes, Sir,” Robyn said back with a snap and irritation. Mr. Cavendish pretended not to notice, but the reply scared him. She had an unexpected firm and confident tone that sent chills trembling along Jim Cavendish’s spine.
After class, Robyn approached her teacher’s desk, and he ignored her for 5 minutes while he organized his class tests and assignments. Her silent, dead stare disturbed Mr. Cavendish, but he didn’t betray his unease.
Finally, he jolted out of his seat and said, “Come to the board now. You will write, ‘I will be quiet and listen,’ 100 times before you can walk home.” Then, he grabbed Robyn’s hand and pulled her close.
“You will not speak in my class unless you’re spoken to from now on. Do you understand me?”
Robyn felt his hot breath on her forehead. She focused her eyes into a fierce glare and yanked her hand from his. Robyn’s Mom showed her how to break a strong grip. She twisted in a fast jerk and pulled with all her energy while turning her hips and stomping on the floor.
Robyn slammed her foot on Jim Cavendish’s toe. Her heel felt like it went right through his patent leather shoes and pierced the tile underneath. Mr. Cavendish screamed in pain.
He grabbed her by the hips, stood, and pushed Robyn to the marker board. His body pressed against hers. Her anger overcame the sick, nauseous thought of him touching her. It was more than wrong, and Mr. Cavendish was assaulting her. Robyn remembered the school safety meeting about predators.
Before he left her at the marker board, he whispered in her ear, “I’ll be watching you until you’re finished, so don’t think about running away.”
Mr. Cavendish turned and tripped over his desk chair. He fell on the floor, and his nose slammed into the tile. But, he didn’t say anything and dabbed at his blood, then placed the soiled cloth on his desk.
The elementary school vice principal knocked at their classroom glass door, and Mr. Cavendish met with her in the hall. Robyn grabbed Mr. Cavendish’s bloodied cloth and stuffed it in her backpack. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/growing-dreams-into-sprouting-nightmares-beyond-senses-known-6a12db4db313 | ['Greg Prince'] | 2020-10-21 01:59:08.532000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Creative Writing', 'Fiction', 'Short Story', 'Horror'] |
Parenting Without Gender Expectations Means Accepting All Outcomes | Parenting Without Gender Expectations Means Accepting All Outcomes
Aly Windsor realizes that “He’s all boy” is OK with her.
Photo Credit: Ben White on Unsplash
By Aly Windsor
Recently, I took my two-and-a-half-year-old, Avie, to a Toddler Music and Movement class that, thanks to him, devolved into something more like Toddler Music and Mosh Pit. Most of the other kids were girls who twirled or held hands in groups of three or four and happily, dreamily, skipped around in circles while music played. Avie stomped, put his hands on the floor and kicked one foot up in his classic “trick” pose, ran around in his own circles wind-milling his arms, and finally, purposefully, crashed into one of the girl groups and knocked them down. Too far away to intervene in time, I watched in horror as I recognized the following flicker of cognition in Avie’s eyes. He saw the girl pile on the floor as a perfect opportunity for a pile-on. So, without further ado, he flopped right on top. You can imagine how well this went over with the girls and their mothers.
I want to preface the rest of this by saying that I’m a parenting agnostic. After three years of poring over “expert” opinions, searching online forums, reading mommy blogs, chatting tentatively with other parents in real life, joining and fleeing a parenting cult or two, engaging in fierce Facebook battles, and amassing thousands of hours of personal experience, I’m done. For me, there is no right way and no infallible guru or philosophy. There are plenty of theories and plenty of critics. Every day I realize more and more how much of what I do as a parent is experimental. What worked yesterday might not work today or next week. I’ve got my guiding principles but, otherwise, it’s all improv, and sometimes, oftentimes, a whole lot of flailing.
One of the guiding principles my partner and I are committed to is raising our kids with as few gender limits as possible. Our intent is not to make them genderless or feminine. We only hope that by giving Avie and his little brother, Izzy, the space and support to grow and explore who they are or want to be without oppressive expectations, gender and otherwise, we will promote a foundation of emotional health for them. (This does not mean we’re raising them without any expectations, just that we’re trying to refrain from imposing those that we believe to be oppressive.)
Most of the critical work lies ahead of us when our boys begin to absorb our culture’s pervasive rigid gender messaging at school and beyond. In the meantime, their drawers are full of colorful clothes and their toy boxes overflow with musical instruments, play kitchen gear, vehicles, Cabbage Patch dolls from my own childhood, every sort of ball, and carefully selected children’s books. When our boys get hurt or feel sad, we validate their tears and offer lots of hugs. We’re also cautious about the language we use to describe them, employing words like tough and brave sparingly, but generously calling them determined, creative, funny, and gooses. (Who knows what kind of harm that last one will do.)
So, I was a little rattled when around Avie’s 2nd birthday, a parent friend described Avie to me as “all boy,” implying that Avie was even more boy than his own son. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard someone refer to him this way but it was the first time it came from someone I trusted and who knew Avie fairly well.
I still thought of Avie as my baby then, my sweet, sometimes irascible but cuddly, little buster baby. He wasn’t even a boy to me, yet. And he definitely wasn’t more boy than other boys. But a real live masculine man and parent of another boy thought he was. And anyway, why did this bother me?
Not long after, on an extended-family vacation, Avie tumbled around with his older-but-not-much-bigger cousin, Seth, in a week-long dominance struggle. “Where’s Seth?” he asked once, holding a large metal flashlight. When asked why he wanted to know, he replied, “I want to hit him.” The family members present didn’t take him seriously until they heard Seth’s cries minutes later.
Then Avie saw the movie Puss and Boots and fixated on threatening others with “sharp things” like sticks and broom handles. Later, we joined a playgroup where I discovered that Avie was consistently the most likely to induce tears and/or injury, usually unintentionally, among the other friendly boys and girls. Then we arrived at the toddler mosh pit experience.
I began to see what my friend saw. Avie is a physical kid. He has a lot of energy, a strong will, and little fear. I love these things about him. But as I’ve watched him grow and repeatedly menace our cat with heavy objects, growl at kids on the playground, and belly-flop on girl piles, a fear that I had failed in my pursuit to nurture compassion in my older son grew too. (Briefly, I also worried that I’d born a sociopath.) I had been so convinced that, if given a compassionate family environment, boys can be just as empathetic and thoughtful and calm as girls are perceived to be.
And okay, I admit it: I was harboring a little internalized misandry. I half-consciously believed that “all boys” were only like that because they were fed steady diets of macho BS. Well, a funny thing happened. Our special aforementioned guiding principle efforts led us straight to this: a roaring, hitting, sharp thing-wielding, playground tornado, bear of a boy child (in purple pants).
And then I realized there’s nothing wrong with that.
He’s only (almost) three and a lot of kids his age, girls included, can act like wild beasts regardless of their home environments. Besides, at least one part of my failure was perception. Avie is all of the above but he is also affectionate, considerate, and sensitive. He was an early talker and sits in rapt attention for books and movies. He tells me that he loves me often, and hugs and kisses me and Izzy and his Duda (my partner) all of the time. When Avie’s feelings get hurt (and they do, easily), he’ll sit in another room and hang his head until I find him to talk it out. He picks me flowers, sings songs, tells elaborate stories, and cannot go to sleep without cuddling with one of us. I see now that most of this softer side of Avie emerges at home. Out in the world, he’s still learning how to relate to others (Heck, at 32, so am I!) and for whatever reason, be it nature or nurture or neither, he just feels most comfortable being “all boy” in public.
That realization made me feel better. But this next one knocked me for a loop. When I bristled over Avie being labeled “all boy,” it was because I was only giving him the latitude to be himself if he was who I wanted him to be. By intending to shield him from oppressive cultural standards for maleness, I was inadvertently limiting him to being anything but “all-boy” (even if only in my mind and facial expressions). But if I’m truly committed to raising our boys without gender expectations, that means accepting and valuing all outcomes, “all-boy” included.
When I shared the toddler mosh pit story on Facebook, a friend and comrade in attempting to parent outside the gender binary joked that we should come over “so Avie can hunt some game in the backyard while [her daughter] tries on dresses and bakes cookies.” I laughed and cringed, and I “liked” it.
—
This story was originally published on the author's blog and republished on The Good Men Project. | https://goodmenproject.medium.com/parenting-without-gender-expectations-means-accepting-all-outcomes-99865423d815 | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-11-07 15:03:08.615000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Children', 'Family', 'Gender', 'Parenting'] |
Leakage | Leakage
Johnson here for John who is
not! in the home/garage office:
There is a liquid leakage in buildings
A, B, C . . . X, Y, and Z.
Jackson here for Jack of all solid/gaseous trades
who! pushed the PAUSE button:
Jack is momentarily stuck in the elevator
and will be on it in
1718 seconds, minutes, hours . . . | https://medium.com/@martinklvana/leakage-a2bd4ceff28b | [] | 2020-12-21 21:18:35.746000+00:00 | ['Machine', 'Cocoa', 'Coffee', 'Poetry', 'Leakage'] |
Leaving His Body: | The Impossibility of the American Dream in The Best We Could Do
Thi Bui in The Best We Could Do uses the form of a graphic novel to describe her family’s journey as refugees of the Vietnam War and their adjustments with life in the U.S. in their newfound Vietnamese-American bodies. Perhaps less explicitly stated in the graphic novel is the discourse on the expected American Dream, the journey towards achieving that dream and its implications, and a radical uproot of that dream through the narrative of refugees. Bui shares as she begins the memoir: “My parents escaped Vietnam on a boat so their children could grow up in freedom” (Bui 30). It’s a sentiment of liberation, gratitude, and the promise of a better tomorrow that is known all too well for many refugees and migrants. In chapter three “Feeling Asian/American: Ambivalent Attachments in Asia Diasporic Narratives” of Racial Feelings, Jeffrey Santa Ana analyzes different cultural forms, such as fiction, graphic narrative, film, and advertising to examine the negative impact of the aspirational U.S. capitalism and multiculturalism. He asserts that the American Dream that arises from upward mobility and economic success is a desire that is rooted in wanting to “feel normal, a yearning to belong in neoliberal America without regard to race, ethnicity, and national origin” (Santa Ana 129). Thus, Santa Ana argues that the pursuit of this very American Dream calls for refugees to “negate origins and forget the past” to be as connected to American culture as possible (Santa Ana 148). Jeffrey Santa Ana’s analysis of the American Dream lends itself well to an interpretation of Thi Bui’s graphic memoir — that despite moving away to distant land in hopes of “making [their own way” (Bui 292), it is nearly impossible for Bui and her family members to erase the homeland and all sentiments connected with it, further denouncing the unrealistic American Dream.
The American Dream has long been associated with freedom, happiness, and a sense of home and belonging. It remains constitutive of the Asian American experience — what it means to lead a life with wealth, well-being, and comfort. To get there, the Asian American individual must embrace U.S. liberal democracy, have deep faith in the promises of “equality and equivalence under citizenship — faith in the normative aspiration to belong as ordinary Americans” (Santa Ana 125). However, as Jeffrey Santa Ana notes, there exists a certain “tension between accommodating the ideal of belonging as an ordinary person in America’s color-blind society and maintaining attachments to ethnic identity, [resulting in] the Asian American subject’s ambivalence” (Santa Ana 126). Consequently, when this ambivalence becomes much to endure, the subject chooses one identity over the other. The fine balancing act that seems so fundamental to being an Asian individual in America becomes the active erasure of one’s past — the trauma, the joy, the tradition, and all the moments in-between. Santa Ana reflects that this causes the “immobility” of Asian Americans and proves the American Dream to be a myth, an impossibility that cannot be achieved in a racialized America (Santa Ana 128).
Members of the Asian American diaspora experience this failure of the American Dream differently. In the particular narrative of the Vietnamese diasporic subjects, it can be easy to mark them as embodiments of the neoliberal ideology of assimilation that function through a willful forgetting of the violence that brought them to American shores in the first place. Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do, however, affectively allows the readers to interpret the contrary. She intervenes in the impossible narrative of the American Dream by highlighting how the pressures that amass differently impact Vietnamese men, women, and children during and after relocation and resettlement. As she states in the beginning of the graphic novel: “I keep looking toward the past, tracing our journey in reverse over the ocean, through the war, seeking an origin story” (Bui 38–41). The memoir itself can be perceived as an act of defiance against the imagined state of the American Dream. To showcase the impossible nature of the American Dream that demands a letting go of the past, Bui closely details the stories of herself and her family, whose experiences are not used as promotions to fit within narratives of U.S. citizenship and history, but rather as complex subjects laced with loss, trauma, and hope. In particular, Bui’s father, or as she lovingly calls him, Bố, is the most salient example of the impossibility of the American Dream. While her mother, or Má’s, life has been marked with wealth and prestige since a young age and a great sense of sacrifice and ambition that continues even through her stay in the United States, her father’s life is riddled with despair and brokenness. He is unassimilable to the American Dream standards because his past is written all over him. His standoffishness is evidence of childhood trauma, and a lack of family ties leaves him a subject of Bui’s fear and curiosity throughout the memoir.
Once in the United States and released from daily life in Vietnam, Bui’s father becomes paranoid and depressed. The narrative of Bố “leaving his body” at night in his sleep shows his projection pointing toward Vietnam, his roots, something that he was supposed to forget but could not do so (Bui 85). One splash page substitutes Nam’s boyhood silhouette for the coastline of Vietnam, centering his profile on the page as if drifting in the churning waters of the Pacific Ocean (Bui 85). Bui writes that Bố has spirits who possess him at night, and when these moments of recurring trauma are not in his head, he manifests them through the way he spends time with Bui and her brother in their youth. As she describes, he used to smoke, lash out at them, or play with them on occasions as he was at home taking care of them. No matter what he is doing, his physical presence seems to be there, but his mind is elsewhere. He is drawn wearing a white t-shirt with cigarette smoke coming from his mouth. He sits all day, watching as the children interact with one another. His hair is disheveled, and his eyes are aloof yet focused, as if he is always in his head thinking about something (Bui 72). The only time Bố comes alive is when he tells scary stories to Bui and her brother. He transforms into somebody animate, with hand motions leading and adding to his stories (Bui 73). These stories become one of Bố’s only modes of reconnecting with his Vietnamese roots, his own special way of escaping the present and leaning into the past.
Through the narrative of Bui’s father, the American Dream is refuted, continuing to be an impossibility that no one can reach. While Bố stands out as the epitome of the far-reaching nature of the American Dream, it is not to say that Má, the author, or any of her siblings are perfectly assimilable and immune to their past. For each character throughout the graphic novel, their trauma manifests differently; no matter how far they might travel, home will always find a way to haunt them. But what happens when memory is on the run, demanding to be compiled neatly and pushed back? Bui demonstrates this craving to run away from the past through the story of her family’s adjustment to the new house in California. With their own apartment and slow habits built over time to make their integration easier, Bui remarks that they have finally “built a bubble… a home” for themselves (Bui 294). Interestingly, as the family constructs what seems to be a perfect new beginning for themselves, they are making an active effort to destroy all that was of them, keeping “sparse records of [their] existence” (Bui 296). In a brown file folder, they have their most important possessions there — their birth certificates, green cards, and Social Security cards. This convenient rendering of their identity is a way to assemble their lives neatly, disregarding the messes that still hold true of them but are not revered in American society and simplifying their experiences to be more palatable for a white America. In other words, this small brown folder that constitutes their Vietnamese identity is an attempt to live the American Dream, pushing away past self and memories and trying to take a step forward.
Despite vehement efforts to stay on the run and disregard the past, it is not possible for Bui nor her family members to detach nor divorce themselves from their identity. One way or another, where each family member came from — the messes, the trauma, the joys, the gratitude — lingers, leaving it once again impossible to keep up with the American Dream. When Bui’s family house is lit on fire due to the old couple downstairs lighting up cigarettes and falling asleep, the family runs, leaving almost all their possessions behind but taking with them that small brown folder of who they truly are. The identity that they skillfully compressed, and ultimately suppressed, is the same identity that they cannot run away from. The brown folder, no matter how small it is, will be in their hands, running with them through fires, across the oceans and seas, and in life. This is further made clear when Bui uses the term “refugee reflex” to describe her family’s reaction to the fire (Bui 305). This term explains her instinct to flee at the face of danger, something that developed naturally being a refugee who should be ready to face any sort of atrocities at any point of time. The refugee reflex implies a haunting, a scarring from past experiences that one can never recover from and will continue to pass on through generations.
Such language around roots passed through generations and scarring that knows no boundaries of space and time can be discouraging, especially when it comes to reaching for that American Dream that many refugees and migrants are yearning for in a new land. It is not to say, however, that it is impossible to disconnect with the roots and break the chain. At the same time that Bui herself experiences a refugee reflex, she is conscious as to raise her son in a way that prioritizes freedom from the burden of the past. As she reflects at the end of the graphic novel: “What becomes of us after we die? Do we live on in what we leave to our children? How much of ME is my own, and how much is stamped into my blood and bone, predestined?” (Bui 324). Perhaps the self-awareness of the possibility of a past that defines her will help her break free from that past. But this very discourse on Thi Bui’s ethnic memory and history itself further allows readers to interpret The Best We Could Do as a paramount link to Santa Ana’s discourse on the impossibility of the American Dream. For Bui, it is not a matter of whether the roots live within her or not — that is a given; rather, it is a matter of how she handles the knowledge and feelings possessed through those roots. The American Dream, the promise of economic and social prosperity and uplift, proves to be out of reach for Bui and many other Vietnamese-American refugees, who cannot deny their past selves. The narratives of Bố leaving his body and Bui’s family reaction to the fire in The Best We Could Do show that the American Dream might not be the end goal of these journeys of mobility. Even when their feet are constantly shifting, they are paralyzed, stuck in the past. But even when their soul is leaving their body to try to tap into the past, they could still keep trying — doing the best they could do. | https://medium.com/@nguyen_tram/leaving-his-body-4cc477181a69 | ['Ngọc Trâm Nguyễn'] | 2021-12-20 22:12:26.645000+00:00 | ['American Dream', 'Refugees', 'War', 'Vietnam', 'Migrants'] |
CI/CD with Jenkins pipeline & Nodejs into K8S (Part-1) | CI/CD — DevOps
This is a series on how to CI/CD a Nodejs application using Jenkins as an integration server locally on a personal computer
We’re going to see how to continuously deploy a Node.js application with Jenkins based on changes made to a GitHub repository. So let’s figure out the plan here. We’re going to build a Node.js app and upload it to Github. When changes are made to this repository, Jenkins will build the application and deploy or run the application.
In this part, we will see what is CI/CD, build a simple NodeJs application, build a docker image, and push it to DockerHub and deploy it manually into Minikube
Prerequisite:
NodeJs 8+
Docker installed locally(docker desktop or docker toolbox on windows)
Minikube
What is CI/CD?
Continuous Integration (CI) is a development practice that requires developers to integrate code into a shared repository several times a day. Each check-in is then verified by an automated build, allowing teams to detect problems early. By integrating regularly, you can detect errors quickly, and locate them more easily. Continuous delivery (CD) is an extension of continuous integration to make sure that you can release new changes to your customers quickly in a sustainable way. This means that on top of having automated your testing, you also have automated your release process and you can deploy your application at any point of time by clicking on a button.
Let's start building a simple node app to deliver a “Hello world” message.
Create a folder and run the npm init command to initialize a package.json file.
//package.json
{
"name": "hello-world",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "server.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"author": "sampath",
"license": "ISC",
}
2.Install express module
npm i express --save
Now the packag.json looks like
{
"name": "hello-world",
"version": "1.0.0",
"description": "",
"main": "server.js",
"scripts": {
"test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
},
"author": "sampath",
"license": "ISC",
"dependencies": {
"express": "^4.17.1"
}
}
3.Create a file named server.js and put the following code
const express = require('express');
const PORT = 8000;
const app = express();
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello Guys!!');
});
app.listen(PORT);
console.log(`Running on ${PORT}`);
Run the code using command node server.js
This should give output as “ Hello Guys!! ”
Now we have an application ready let’s create a docker file to build a docker image
4. Create a Dockerfile
The dockerfile consists of a sequence of steps to build a docker image
FROM node:12
WORKDIR /usr/src/app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
EXPOSE 8000
CMD [ "node", "server.js" ]
Each step creates a layer in the docker image. Let’s see what each step does
1. with FROM keyword, we are telling Docker to use this image as the base image. 12 is the version of node
2. WORKDIR, tells docker the working directory of our image (Here, it is usr/src/app). CMD or RUN commands execute in this folder
3. Here, we are copying the package.json file into the current directory.
4. RUN executes a command on the working directory that’s defined above. The npm install command installs required dependencies defined in the package.json, which we’ve just copied to /app directory
5. Now, we copy the files in the root directory to /app directory where we’re using all the commands.
6. EXPOSE 8000, here it informs the user container (using this image) that it needs to open port 8000.
7. CMD stands for command, and here we’re running node server.js as we had seen a little while ago in this article to start the NodeJS server or run file
create a dockerignore file in the same directory as your Dockerfile and write the following content.
node_modules
This will prevent your local modules from being copied onto your Docker image and possibly overwriting modules installed within your image.
5.Build a Docker image
Go to the directory that has your Dockerfile and run the following command to build the Docker image. The -t flag lets you tag your image so it's easier to find later using the docker images command:
docker build -t <your username>/nodejs-helloworld .
Now check your image using docker images command:
6. Run the Image
Running your image with -d runs the container in detached mode, leaving the container running in the background. The -p flag redirects a public port to a private port inside the container. Run the image you previously built:
docker run -p 8000:8000 -d <your username>/nodejs-helloworld
TO check if it is running go to browser and type URL:
<your_docker_ipaddress>:8000
You should see the output as Hello Guys !!
7.Push to DockerHub Registry
Login to your docker hub through the command line. To push to your registry the username must be the same..
docker push <your username>/nodejs-helloworld
This pushes to your registry and attaches the latest tag to it by default.
8.Create a deployment file
To deploy it into Kubernetes let us write a deployment.yaml file .
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: nodejs-deployment
labels:
app: helloworld
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: helloworld
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: helloworld
spec:
containers:
- name: helloworld
image: <your-username>/node-helloworld
ports:
- containerPort: 8000 --- apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: nodejs-service
labels:
app: helloworld
spec:
type: NodePort
ports:
- port: 8000
protocol: TCP
targetPort: 8000
nodePort: 32121
selector:
app: helloworld
Breakdown of yaml file
Describe which API version you’re using to create this object i.e., deployment — we’re using apps/v1 What kind of object you’re creating. In our case, it’s Deployment. In the second part of YAML file it is Service Metadata is used to organize the object. The name of our Deployment is nodejs-deployment Spec is used to define the specification of the object.
How many pods you want to deploy in the cluster under this Deployment. In our case, we want to deploy one pod running containers from our image.
selector field defines how the Deployment finds which Pods to manage. In this case, you simply select a label that is defined in the Pod template
The template field contains the following sub-fields:
field contains the following sub-fields: The Pods are labeled app: helloworld using the .metadata.labels field.
using the field. Create one container and name it helloworld using the .spec.template.spec.containers[0].name field.
using the field. The Pod template’s specification, or .template.spec field indicates that the Pods run one container, helloworld which runs the image we specified from DockerHub
5. Then we write Service to expose the deployment.
In the spec.type we specify nodeport. This helps to expose our pod.
The targetPort has to match the container port in the deployment part.
We can specify the nodeport manually between 30000 to 32767.Else it will automatically assign within the range.
9. Start the Minikube
use Kubectl command to apply the yaml file.
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
The output is
This creates a Pod with 1 replica and a service file. For the first time it takes some time.
To see the output of the pod run command minikube service nodejs-service
This opens up the url in the browser. Here you see the output as “Hello Guys!!”
10. Push it to your Git Repository
Wrapping It up
Now, we have created a NodeJs app and created a docker image and pushed it to docker repo and deployed the image in the Kubernetes.
In the next part, we will see what is Jenkins and how to write a pipeline to automate the CI/CD upon changes in GitHub.
You can find the sourcecode here.
Hope you understood it well…
ThankYou !! | https://medium.com/@sampath5898ch/ci-cd-with-jenkins-pipeline-nodejs-into-k8s-part-1-fd816c63b733 | [] | 2021-04-10 16:38:01.757000+00:00 | ['Jenkins', 'Jenkins Pipeline', 'Nodejs', 'Continuous Delivery', 'Continuous Integration'] |
COVID versus World War II | COVID versus World War II
It tends to a get a bad rap these days. But we recently challenged ourselves to try and use Twitter for a better and higher purpose than has often been the case recently. In particular, we’re attempting to tackle the thorny issue of the sacrifices we have all been asked to make in the face of the implacable enemy of COVID19.
We started with the idea of how what we are being asked to do compares to the sacrifices made by other generations when faced with similar, global calamaties. World War II was the first thing which came to mind both in terms of its impact and it’s scale. However, to avoid a comparison of the two conflicts — which is comparing two really incomparable events — we chose to focus on the progress of the disasters on a day-by-day basis and the impact to ordinary citizens.
We finally settled on the idea of a Twitter feed called COVID versus World War II which has an incredibly simple premise: what day are we at in relation to when the global pandemic was declared (March 11th, 2020) and what happened in World War II on the same day in relation to the start of conflict (September 1st, 1939). With each tweet — there’s typically only one per day — we provide a link to a newspaper article from that day in World War II — all links furnished by Newspapers.com. That’s it. We don’t try and spin the article in any particular way. We leave the interpretation of these tweets to the reader.
Given our locale, we are for the most part linking Canadian newspapers from the period but will occasionally feature articles from US- and UK-based publications. Note that we are not attempting to cover the big, earth-shattering developments of World War II (@RealTimeWWII already does an excellent job along these lines) but rather to find the stories of ordinary citizens being asked — and being willing — to make sacrifices for the greater good.
Beyond that angle, we provide these links without comment with the hope that readers will simply be given pause to think about whatever they’re being asked to do with respect to COVID19 and compare it to what our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents did in the past. We encourage you to reach your own conclusions.
We invite you to follow @COVIDvWorldWar2 and let us know how we did. | https://medium.com/the-intellog-blog/covid-versus-world-war-ii-c14e9db45a63 | ['Intellog Inc.'] | 2020-12-12 21:40:03.108000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Social Media', 'World War II'] |
Why Writing Online Is Different | I published my first article in November 2014. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun. Ironically, the only way to keep this fun around long-term was to consider writing the most serious job I’ve ever had. So I committed.
Now, over four years later, nothing is the same. Except that part. The fun’s still here. I even have a slightly better idea of what I’m doing. But writing online is different from anything I’d ever imagined or associated with that word.
Here are 3 lessons I rarely see others mention, but that helped me get to now.
1. People aren’t waiting to change their perspective. You have to do it for them.
No none walks around saying: “I wish someone changed my mind about productivity.” That’s not how humans work. We’re intensely focused on our day, ourselves, our next task at hand, zipping through everyday life with tunnel vision. Browsing the web and reading online are no different.
If anything, we hope to bump into ideas that confirm our worldview, not challenge it. This onus lies entirely on you, the writer. People don’t just underestimate it but, often, abandon this challenge altogether, going the easier route of telling people what they know they’ll want to hear.
This works for a while, especially when you’re just beginning, but it gets old really quick. Readers don’t know they’re driven by these biases, but from feeding them, even subconsciously, they still get bored. And that’s a feeling they know. So they move on.
What they might not know they want — but need — is an idea that cracks their perspective. A tiny fracture, just big enough for them to raise their eyebrows. To blink twice. To scroll up again. Presenting this idea is what I try to do in most of my headlines. The article is just the fulfillment center.
The line between offending people and making them think is infinitely small. But learning to dance on it is one of the most important skills you’ll ever learn.
2. The only agenda that works is to have no agenda.
That sounds weird. Of course I have an agenda. Everyone does. I want dollars. Followers. Views. However, the single greatest way to maximize all of those in the long run is to not care when you’ll get them and in what order.
Because that’s the only way you’ll be free to overwhelm the platforms you write on with generosity, consistency, and genuine care. It’s not about you. Great work never is. The sooner you can act that out, the earlier you’ll take off.
What does the host want? What do readers want? What does the platform want for its readers and what do readers expect for giving their invaluable time and attention to this place? Notice how absent you are from all these important questions. I know it’s counterintuitive, but it’s also liberating.
No one cares about what you want, but then you also don’t have to care about your own mess-ups. You can just try again. Whatever you do, if you start from integrity and maintain it above all else, you’ll never be in a rush to get yours.
Because you’ll know it’s coming to you. Maybe not tomorrow and definitely not today. But it’s coming — and you’ll know what to do with it once it does.
3. Change before you need to or you’ll adapt too late.
If you were to browse through my entire history of articles, you’d think it’s a collection of writing from at least five different people. Everything changes, all the time. Style. Voice. Content. Vocabulary. Structure. Formatting.
Sometimes, it’s me reaching the next level. Sometimes, it’s me adopting a trend early. Most of the time, however, it’s me experimenting on purpose. Changing for the sake of change. To set trends, rather than wait for them.
At first sight, this is a stupid strategy. Why give up what’s working? Why mess with a winning team? It means I’m alienating my fans. Or forcing them to grow with me. I’ll lose the people who just got here and I might not win over those who are about to. But it also means I’m staying true to myself.
Who wants to be one-dimensional? Who actually is? No one. Consistency of character is a myth. Just like content that confirms our views, it’s attractive on the surface, but boring and inauthentic underneath.
If you embrace your contradictions and allow them to flow freely, you still won’t get every shift in context right each time, but you’ll learn to keep an open mind. It’ll be easier to write more game changers (see #1) and reduce friction when you have to adapt (see #2). Most of all, it’ll keep writing fun.
And isn’t that what we truly want? | https://ngoeke.medium.com/3-lessons-from-4-years-of-writing-eff24b1b6d78 | ['Niklas Göke'] | 2019-04-05 06:46:33.957000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Creativity', 'Art', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing'] |
Employee emporwerment in the workplace: the secret weapon | Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
Most people are aware or at least know the basic concept of empowerment at work, which could be described as the process of giving employees authority, resources and freedom to make important decisions to solve problems. But do you really know why it is so important and how beneficial it can be?
The objective of empowerment is to enhance and train employees at work. To make this happen, the company should evaluate employees individually and define specific roles and skills in order to provide them with the required tools, such as training and information, as this will be the key to achieve the company’s objectives.
The principles which define empowerment are the following:
Authority & Responsibility - Assign authority and responsibility over tasks.
- Assign authority and responsibility over tasks. Candid Feedback - Provide timely feedback on the performance of the members of the process and recognize achievements in a timely manner.
- Provide timely feedback on the performance of the members of the process and recognize achievements in a timely manner. Trust - Trust your team and treat employees with respect.
- Trust your team and treat employees with respect. Training & Information- Provide the necessary training, information and any other tools to achieve the objectives and goals.
Once you have the basis and principles, you need to apply them accurately. Empowering is no longer a one-day process, but a step-by-step process. It is important to implement it progressively and continuously. To make this strategic tool work, you might need a change in the organization’s work culture. You should replace the hierarchical model of issuing orders from the highest level of the company. Teamwork should be strategically promoted, as it allows greater human and professional performance.There must be an environment of mutual trust as well as a united team spirit.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.”
So, what are the benefits of empowerment?
Improvement in teamwork performance .
. Higher level of productivity and production .
. Promotes quick decision making .
. Motivates employees to be taken into account and considered as an important part of the tasks.
At the same time, it brings positive results to the person as an individual, since it allows them to carry out a greater variety of activities; they are able to recognize their accomplishments, accept their mistakes and work on their improvements.
Nowadays, a job is no longer seen as a “ place to make money “. Now it has become embedded in our lifestyles and thus micromanagement is no longer seen as the correct course of action. As soon as we understand employees are not only hired to meet deadlines, but also to surpass expectations and to be part of the decision making process in order to improve the business, we will make sure empowerment is a profitable process for everyone. | https://medium.com/arionkoder/employee-emporwerment-in-the-workplace-the-secret-weapon-bc3a64626c8f | [] | 2020-11-19 13:15:54.286000+00:00 | ['Empowerment', 'Empowering Employees', 'People And Culture', 'Employees', 'Software Development'] |
Tracifier joined the Oracle For StartUp Acceleration Program! | Tracifier.com
🔔 Partnership NEWS:
We are glad to announce that Tracifier is officially part of Oracle for Startup acceleration program. At Tracifier, we use Hyperledger Fabrik at the Oracle Cloud, #Oracle Blockchain Platform, and an assist from Oracle for startups to tackle product and certification fraud.
#Blockchain allows for accurate and transparent records of each step of the certification process, making forgery nearly impossible.
‘’Having a technology partner like Oracle means a lot for us. One of the biggest advantages is the great mentorship. #Oracle has given us so much support and help with introduction to companies and with our strategy. They also bring such a high level of trust when we talk to customers or go to raise funds”- Mina Kordi co-founder of #Tracifier
Listen to meet the startup podcast provided by oracle for startups to learn more about Tracifier.
https://soundcloud.com/user-454088293/a-startup-is-the-real-thing-in-food-certification
Learn more: https://tracifier.com/2020/12/tracifier-joined-the-oracle-for-startup-acceleration-program/
#tracifier #oracle #oracleforstarups #sponsorship #blockchaintechnology #blockchainstartup #hamburgstartup #foodtraceability #minakordi #jakokordi | https://medium.com/@tracifier/tracifier-joined-the-oracle-for-startup-acceleration-program-7f01c77b9162 | [] | 2020-12-05 16:44:39.763000+00:00 | ['Tracifier', 'Oracle Cloud', 'Blockchain Startup', 'Oracle', 'Oracle For Startups'] |
Interview: Nature Writer Isaac Yuen of Ekostories | I was refreshing my memory on an Ursula K. Le Guin book last December when I stumbled upon Isaac Yuen’s writing through a Google search. The book was The Left Hand of Darkness, and it ended up being part of an essay I wrote about climate fiction. Isaac had written about The Left Hand of Darkness well before me, and after browsing around on his site a little bit more, I realized he’d written about several other works that had a big impact on me—namely Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker.
After reading several of Isaac’s pieces, I found the contact form on his website and sent an admittedly impulsive email. I was still in the early stages of doing Stories for Earth, and I thought it would be great to invite Isaac to be my first interview guest. It didn’t work out, but Isaac was very kind in his reply and we exchanged a couple more emails about Ursula K. Le Guin.
Nearly a year later, and Isaac and I finally made that interview happen. It’s weird to think now that I originally talked to Isaac in September, but I don’t need to tell you what a time warp 2020 has been. Isaac currently lives in Vancouver, Canada on unceded Coast Salish territory, but he spoke with me from Berlin, Germany.
We talked about Isaac’s background as a writer, how the two cities he’s called home—Hong Kong and Vancouver—shaped his perception of nature, diversity in the nature writing space, and more. Isaac was also kind enough to read two short stories, his most recently published “El Lugar de Los Sueños” in The Willowherb Review and “Journeys to HYRULE_” in Newfound.
It was extremely gracious of Isaac to share some of his time with me. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and be sure to read Isaac’s work at the links below.
→ Visit Ekostories
→ Read “El Lugar de Los Sueños” in The Willowherb Review
→ Read “Journeys to HYRULE_” in Newfound | https://medium.com/stories-for-earth/interview-nature-writer-isaac-yuen-of-ekostories-feb87e0c0faa | ['Forrest Brown'] | 2020-12-21 11:03:04.693000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Interview', 'Creative Non Fiction', 'Blog', 'Podcast'] |
Politics is never for the betterment of society. | Politics is never for the betterment of society. It is like a drama — leaders are playing the roles of humanity savers, and the voters are the spectators, cheering the leaders, despite knowing that the leaders are not what they are pretending. * Inspired by a story — “The Poison In Politics” by Floyd Mori. You may also read my story — “Telling Lies is an Easy Tool in Politics.” Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn. — Debesh Choudhury. | https://medium.com/our-own-story/politics-is-never-for-the-betterment-of-society-907176612305 | ['Debesh Choudhury'] | 2020-12-11 19:13:05.399000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Humanity', 'Human Right Abuses', 'Sociaty', 'Civil Rights'] |
The Diner Waitress | The Diner Waitress
A Narrative Poem
Photo by Thao Ho on Unsplash
She can be found
by day
chiseling level-words on a sharp razor
serving cold lattes for a living
shimmying to the chance shingle of loose coins
laughing in accidental chemical spills
strip-bared to her crooked, halogen-shined teeth
Echoes of faux soul-searching with a stranger
loom in the bathroom stall
as she navigates her contorting will
pinned to a peeling, threadbare wall
She can be found
by night
dancing to the tunes of rock ballads
swaying her spread-eagled arms
by the friendly moon’s pallid light
sometimes stopping
to count her metallic blessings
filtered in her lap as the promise
of front-row tickets to an implausible fairy-tale ending
where the girl gets to keep her big curls and bigger dreams
sometimes stopping
to stare at her lost inventory of unfurling wings
A fallen angel
making mortal choices, buckled and tumbling. | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/the-diner-waitress-b08ab04eaf13 | ['Shalini C'] | 2020-10-09 10:06:01.876000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Women', 'Narrative', 'A Cornered Gurl', 'Feminism'] |
EVENTUALLY (Aphorisms) | 1
‘And so castles made of sand
Slips into the sea
Eventually’
— Jimi Hendrix, Axis: Bold as Love —
2
People tend to (or at least wants to) based their action on wisdom. Wisdom for some people is the best they can do to ensure a good life. Wisdom even is the basis for philosophy’s etymology which everyone uses as an answer to the question ‘What is philosophy?’ (Which their answers are that philosophy is a love for wisdom) which is very misleading for what philosophy really is.
People romanticize wisdom without considering other life’s incalculable variables that influence how one’s future is going to turns out. They practice prudent because it is wise, not because prudent in itself. Wisdom is not something you do, and wisdom is not an action. In contrast, it is a benchmark on the values of your actions and choices. You don’t put that benchmark by yourself, other people do. Just like the oracles of Delphi puts the benchmark on the wisest man of all Athens to Socrates.
3
Care and a thought for the future, prudent they called. To see everything fits like a puzzle. ‘No worry, we’re all set’. But to see nothing of the future, how about that? I am sailing away in a rotting boat of prudent in oceans of sands. Doesn’t it seem unnecessary when we’re falling headfirst down a well of nothingness, meaninglessness, valuelessness? When we‘re searching for meaning down there, all we can find is drought.
Hence father if today the kingdom come, I wouldn’t really know what to do, and I really wouldn’t want something to do. Noon after noons I’ve wasted sleeping and killing myself slowly. Trees cut, animals gutted, children spoilt. I met Caligula the other day in my dreams. He despaired and cried ‘Oh the blood I’ve drained. How it drifts so fast tumbling away from the thing I truly and only care!’
4
I see up here from the tower. That wicked Sheppard and his herd of sheep he led. Meadows so wide, I’m not really sure what’s he looking for. For some time he stops and picked one of his sheep, unsheathe his dagger, and slits a neck to drain the sheep’s blood.
That night he feasts. A feast so grand, God grant him a goodnight sleep. The next morning he wakes up. He went and relieves himself. ’67 sheep I had, 46 burdens I have’. He then continues a walk of a long and unending walk, just like Moses and his 2 million Jews.
46 days has gone by, 46 necks has gone by. 67 days of walking with no purpose whatsoever. He found himself a giant oak tree to lean on. ‘How I killed all my sheeps, how I soon realize this insanity.’ a man can survive 3 days without water. and so he survive, and so his agony awaits.
‘what difference does it make? what difference does it make dying here under this oak tree or to die in a comfortable bed 10 years from now?’
5
It’s humiliating how every time I’m sad I pick up a cigarette and light it. The chemical tastes that burn my tongue, the eye-drying smoke that confines in my room for hours and hours ventilating through my dried lungs. Feels like I could collapse anytime now. No more smoke inside my coffin, no more cracked walls of my home, no more puzzling feelings of mine.
Now and then I kept my cigarette’s ash as long as i can until it crumples on its own. Some sticks last a lifetime while some sticks felt as fast as high school goes. Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me. I’m not sleepy and there is no place I’m going to. | https://medium.com/@matthew-tanu/eventually-aphorisms-290f37156d53 | ['Sad Tractatus'] | 2020-12-30 20:13:56.294000+00:00 | ['Pessimism', 'Socrates', 'Bible', 'Schopenhauer', 'Philosophy'] |
Inequality In America Has Been A Boon For The Rest Of The World | Inequality In America Has Been A Boon For The Rest Of The World
American innovation is built on the back of inequality but trickles-down to lift everyone’s living standards
America has the most powerful economy the world has ever seen — which at ~$21 trillion is larger than the second and third largest (Chinese and Japanese) economies combined!
It is a world leader in innovation — taking the #1 spot in both patent activity and share of high tech companies.
The result of this innovation is an uplift in standards for everyone across the globe. When America births an iPhone, an Amazon, or a Netflix — we, the citizens of the world over benefit.
Not equally of course. Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs would have a much healthier bank account than you dear reader. However — we do benefit some.
A lot of this innovation can be attributed to the American cultural attitude and bias toward entrepreneurship. Low taxes, agile labour practices, and forgiving bankruptcy laws.
There is an ugly side-effect to all this though: inequality.
America has one of the worst income inequality in the OECD || Source: oecd.org
T he Inequality Side-Effect
Low taxes mean fewer receipts for the government to use to fund social services such as universal healthcare, or cheap tertiary and vocational education to uplift society’s weakest. The corollary to this is of course that the wealthiest in society get to keep more of the money they earn thereby further widening the gap between rich and poor.
Agile labour laws (agile here is a euphemism for exploitative) such as at-will employment, low levels of unionisation, and a pitiful minimum wage means that those in possession of capital can exercise disproportionate power over the working class. This results in economic rent, with the wealthy accruing “more than their fair share” of profits from an economic endeavour.
If you combine this with other elements of American society such as the position of illegal immigrants, systematic racism against African-Americans, and those caught in the cross-hares of the criminal justice system — then you find a steady pool of workers who will bend over backwards to get and keep a job — even an exploitative one. Because, well, in a society without safety nets — the alternative is even worse.
Can Things Be Different?
So it goes — that we, the residents of the world benefit from America doing what it does. American innovation, built on the backs of the weakest members of their society, has been a boon to us all.
It doesn’t have to be that way, however.
America can evolve to make it's economy a more inclusive one.
The onus should not be completely with the US though. The impetus for change doesn’t always need to come from within their borders.
We in the rest of the world too can look at increasing innovation closer to home.
Some of this will happen organically as developing countries like China and India and Botswana grow — they will mature capabilities in technological output.
In developed nations, we too can do our share by focusing on niches that play to our comparative advantage. Just as Germany is well known for its automotive capabilities, South Korea for its electronics, and Switzerland for its pharmaceuticals — the other OECD countries can do the same.
We can move away from a unipolar world with an Innovation Superpower (being America), to a multi-polar one. One where all countries of the world play to their own strengths. | https://medium.com/discourse/inequality-in-america-has-been-a-boon-for-the-rest-of-the-world-15675721ab2d | ['Kesh Anand'] | 2020-11-11 23:09:59.083000+00:00 | ['Economics', 'Innovation', 'Inequality', 'World', 'USA'] |
Tutorial to convert Lightning Network BTC balance to BTC balance (via Coinkit or any LN wallets) | Tutorial to convert Lightning Network BTC balance to BTC balance (via Coinkit or any LN wallets) Macovei Claudiu Feb 29, 2020·3 min read
We will discuss in this article how to change your LightningNetwork BTC BALANCE to BTC BALANCE.
You will need a BITFINEX EXCHANGE account which you can setup for free if you do not own one, where you will convert LN to BTC.
*If you do not know what Lightning Network is, please head to lightning.network to get familiarized*
Let’s start
First of all you have to deposit your LN satoshis balance that you want to convert to BTC balance into BITFINEX account you created earlier.
WALLET -> DEPOSIT
Click on Wallet -> Deposit as you see above and after that you will see the deposit page as you see on left.
Here on deposit page, search in CRYPTOCURRENCIES for Lightning Network and you will find :
BITCOIN (Lightning Network)
Select it and you will be moved to LN deposit page
On the deposit page you will be asked following :
For our example we will found Exchange Wallet with 1000 satoshi ( 0.00001000 BTC )
Generate the invoice for deposit and you will have a LN invoice generated :
Now it’s time to pay the invoice we just created.
You can use Wallet of Satoshi or BlueWallet or any other LN services that allows you to pay invoices.
I will use tipbot Coinkit_ which have integrated LN services. to pay this invoice.
I will copy the invoice from BITFINEX and from TWITTER @Coinkit_ DM I will use 2 commands:
1./changecoin BTC
2./withdraw <invoice> <amount> ;
Our example will be :
<invoice> -replace this with your invoice you generated on BITFINEX : lnbc10u1p095uydpp57tapt559df8cpwmpqfkdleusew7qhxe7r89ff9eu6z0pusvgth7qdp5vdjrvwf3vgurge3nv5mnzwpevdnrjwfsvvurycfsvfskgdm9xs6qcqzpgxqzjcsp5mugan9z0c9ltecyz7vwhc3xy74amjg9r2ajzy8vp8dsxtckg53vq9qy9qsqpek6e0p3wqcmpran4dhjdzp9h5fctauyk37j9004hk2ze4vl53jxyz9h7kt6ac0shdm0znkduzd8jt7kjsw5gzn9kpy7safr57g5mzcqs20h4q
<amount> -replace this with the amount you will pay : 1000 SATOSHI
This command will pay the invoice from BITFINEX :
Perfect !!
Now we have 1000 LightningNetwork satoshis ( LNX ) on exchange and it’s time to convert from LNX to BTC
For converting your 1000 LNX you need to go to Wallet -> Wallets:
From here look for CURRENCY CONVERSIONS:
So if we want to change our 0.00001000 LNX -> 0.00001000 BTC we will use following convert details there:
Click on CONVERT and your LNX will be transformed into BTC:
As you can see my 1000 SATOSHI from LNX transformed into BTC.
( I had 100 satoshi from initial testing that’s why balance is 0.00001100 BTC )
And that’s all , now if you want , you can use your fresh BTC BALANCE to trade on BITFINEX EXCHANGE :
Hope that you like this tutorial and that you learned how to change LN BALANCE to BTC BALANCE. | https://medium.com/@claudiu20042002/tutorial-to-convert-lightning-network-btc-balance-to-btc-balance-via-coinkit-or-any-ln-wallets-6084f3365cf7 | ['Macovei Claudiu'] | 2020-02-29 15:14:22.613000+00:00 | ['Exchange', 'Lightning Network', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain'] |
3 Taboos You Must Integrate in Order to Sell Yourself Effectively | There’s no way around it: selling is sleazy.
It immediately invokes power dynamics with unsavory images. Hunters stalking prey. Greasy, pressure-y men with bad teeth and bad breath, cornering you in a tacky office full of stale air. Malignant advertising think-tanks, plotting to perfectly twang on the heartstrings and manipulate your impulses.
Yes, selling is seen as so evil that the Devil Himself is a salesman, always looking to get the better end of the bargain.
Selling is sleazy because it requires confronting some pervasive social taboos. To sell well, you have to be willing to do things that most people find uncomfortable. You must:
face your animal nature;
clearly ask for what you want; and,
withhold what you have from those who want it until they meet your demands.
Confronting the need to sell is of absolute importance when stepping into the world of entrepreneurship, business, or any self-supporting endeavor. And yet, the Salesperson archetype is one of the most challenging: the urge to turn away from it and avoid it is strong.
So — what’s a hungry girl to do?
Let's confront the taboo realities of selling to shed some light on this shadowy, dimly-lit, hush-hush territory.
You Must Eat.
“Never get so attached to a poem you forget truth that lacks lyricism. Never draw so close to the heat that you forget that you must eat.” — Joanna Newsom
Let us begin by remembering the most terrible of facts: we are all animals. We are animals who must eat — and therefore destroy — other life-forms.
Much as we would like to avoid this fact, and are helped in this avoidance by modern civilization’s extreme phobia of animal-ness, it remains true and incontrovertible.
Let that sink in:
In order for you to continue to live, you must DAILY consume the life-force of other beings.
So very many of us are focused on the good we wish to do in the world — the poetic truths we hold dear, the ideals we champion — and so hyper-aware of the harm and greed caused daily on our behalf, that it is tempting to disassociate from the reality of yourself as a primal animal, in need of animal sustenances.
Don’t do that.
Stay with me.
We need to stay present with ourselves as animals-who-need-to-be-fed for two reasons:
If we forget this ourselves, we are liable to give overly-much without ensuring our own nourishment in the process. If we allow others to dull us into unawareness, we become dependent on others and easily frightened by our own bodies, and — interestingly — that much more susceptible to the sleaziest of sales tactics.
So — remember. You must eat.
We can be grateful that we are sheltered from the bloodiest truths of our animal nature by the clean and slick medium of money — and yet, we must never forget that we sell in order to live.
Like a lean mama wolf out on a cold clear night, her senses sharp and alert, we bring home rabbits in order to keep the flame of life alive in ourselves and those we love.
You Must Ask.
So much of what we despise in the salesperson archetype is their bold willingness to ask for what they want.
Clear, concise communications of desire are, in many ways, taboo in our culture.
We are more used to manipulation, passive aggression, and indirect requests.
More to the point, we are often completely unsure of what we want. So unsure, that the thought of explicitly asking for it is unthinkable.
We feel frightened of salespeople because when we don’t know what we want — when we are unsure of our own desire — the salesperson’s desire, their offer, can feel like a manipulation or seductive irresistible stand-in for our own missing desire energy.
This has all kinds of sexual-archetypal implications and accounts for the greasy patina we often psychically feel around sales interactions.
Most importantly, this discomfort with knowing our desire is the knot that must be unraveled in order to both sell effectively and be sold to without yucks.
To be an excellent salesperson, one must be able to ask with the confidence and respect of a lover fluent in the language of consent.
Clear requests and offers are made, objections are heard without reaction, negotiations are entered into until both parties are comfortable.
This is ideal. Open communication of desire between two people.
Very sexy.
You Must Know Your Worth.
The final taboo that smears on layers of fetid trashy stink is a salesperson’s willingness to represent their goods as valuable.
How audacious. So upsetting to narratives of smallness that many people have swallowed.
Even more revolting, the salesperson withholds their excellent, desirable, much-needed product until they get what they want.
They violate the most basic kindergarten laws of kindness — they don’t share, or bring enough for everyone (unless everyone can pay…).
And yet, given that the salesperson must eat — what other choice is there?
There will always be a tension of withholding until the score is settled.
It is here where the shadow of the buyer emerges most strongly in the archetype of the victim, or the beggar, or the down-on-his-luck, sure-could-use-a-hand type of guy who believes he deserves something for nothing.
The interplay between this beggar character (who secretly believes he deserves nothing) and the salesperson doesn’t last long if the salesperson is experienced: they lose interest.
How can a salesperson sell to a person who believes they deserve nothing, and therefore desire nothing, and are willing to offer nothing of themselves?
The willingness to cut ties quickly with this type of situation, knowing that they have valuable things to offer, adds a calculating callousness to the greasy sleaze of the Salesperson Archetype.
To Win at Selling is to Reconcile the Taboo.
In order to sell effectively, you must find acceptance for these things in yourself.
You Must Eat : to ask a price, to exact payment, is embedded in the natural order. Don’t feel bad about it, hide from it, or disguise it.
: to ask a price, to exact payment, is embedded in the natural order. Don’t feel bad about it, hide from it, or disguise it. You Must Ask : know what you want, know what you’re offering, and know what you can and can’t do to be flexible and close the deal. Clear communication is a blessing we need more of it.
: know what you want, know what you’re offering, and know what you can and can’t do to be flexible and close the deal. Clear communication is a blessing we need more of it. You Must Know Your Worth: and own it. No one deserves to consume you without supporting you in return unless you decide to let them. Having boundaries is not taboo, it’s hot.
You will know you have accepted these things in yourself when you encounter the Salesperson archetype in others, and instead of being skeezed out by the sleazy slime — you see a fellow artist of desire, working their magic. | https://medium.com/psychologically/3-taboos-you-must-integrate-in-order-to-sell-effectively-1ced9403e71 | ['Laila M Bernhardt'] | 2020-12-09 18:50:56.349000+00:00 | ['Professional Development', 'Psychology', 'Sales', 'Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Stumbling Blue | Standing on a timeless dream
I’m lost in the
Im lost in cloud of heavenly scent.
And here, we go back.
To this timeless moment(s)
Ones where running wasn’t hard
Where I lay underneath the heat
& allow you to bathe me with you.
Go forward, go forward
Fast foward…
I lay under, we lay under a blue sky
With pure white stars
Exotic sweeetnesss
Here, here
A magical time.
Feels like, feels like
Im lost in a dream, Am I lost?
Am I discovering you(?)
-m.j.h. | https://medium.com/@millerrlitee/stumbling-blue-746109720d9b | ['Millie Hernandez'] | 2020-11-27 19:48:11.169000+00:00 | ['Creative Writing', 'Dreams', 'Writers On Medium', 'Heavenly', 'Poetry On Medium'] |
Have No Time to Write? | Time management
It seems obvious, I know. But time management is actually how I find time to write. When I am faced with what feels like 101 things to do in a day, I always revert back to the ABC Prioritisation method.
The ABC method is a psychological method that was popular in the 1970s. It involves categorising everything on your to-do list into three categories:
Item’s A are of most importance, B second importance and C least importance.
Of course, you have to be careful when categorising tasks. A lot of people fall into the trap of wrongfully categorising tasks they don’t like in to list C as an attempt to avoid doing them, even if they are important. So when categorising tasks, make sure to answer honestly, rather than picking tasks you enjoy.
Most days, for part-time writers who have a lot of other things going on, writing will fall on the C list, given the overabundance of important day to day tasks taking priority on the A list. Here, writing is supererogatory, it’s great if you can get all your other more important tasks done in the day and still have the time to write, but it’s not required.
If I’m being honest, it’s on very few occasions that I will write when it falls on my C list, when something is at the bottom of the pile I very rarely get to it.
Instead, the time to write is when the task falls on your A list. These are days where you have few or no other important tasks to do, weekends, days off, holidays. Here, writing can have your undivided attention and will allow you to produce your best work. No distractions, just time to sit and work.
A common response to this is usually “those are my days off, I want to relax!”
Perhaps you are right, but part-time writing ought not to be a chore. You should enjoy writing and want to prioritise it above lazy days off. And if you don’t wish too, then perhaps you are not cut out to be a part-time writer, or perhaps you ought to change what you write about or the way you go about it so that you do.
The best thing about the ABC model is that it ensures that you make the most of each day, preventing procrastination and only taking time off when you are satisfied that you have fulfilled your full potential. | https://medium.com/swlh/have-no-time-to-write-6b0cbe845191 | ['Jon Hawkins'] | 2020-06-05 13:26:28.480000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Productivity', 'Work', 'Success', 'Writing'] |
Gorgeous Girl At The Library. An Erotic Story | She wasn’t putting on any panties
We were at the library
She was reading a thick book
There weren’t many people there at the time
Just 5 or 6 people I guess
She was having glasses on
She was into the book she was reading
I was curious to know
Cus she was so damn gorgeous
I don’t think anyone had noticed she didn’t have panties on
But am sure she knew I had found out
I lost focus on what I was doing and was staring at her
She knew it, she’d set the trap, and it had caught a good fish
It hooked me, such a beautiful thick camel toe she had
Her pussy was pink and looked thirsty
I had to calm myself down and not think too much about it
But as I was watching her and thinking my cock kept on getting swollen.
I gulped some water from the bottled water I was holding
Distracted myself a little with my phone
A few minutes later I summoned enough courage
Walked up to her and sat beside her
Said hi
She responded like she’s been waiting for me
With a grin on her face
Light introduction, small talk
I told her she had a beautiful pussy
She said it was thirsty for a dick
I suggested I can quench her thirst
And ask how about we go to the library’s restroom
We excused ourselves and left for the restroom
Restroom
She’s on her knees sucking my gigantic cock
Locking my fat balls
I pull her hair
She is looking at me while she’s sucking
Then she gets up
Bends over to the washbasin
I fuck her mercilessly
Pounding her ass as hard as I can
She’s moaning but just within her
So no one hears there’s action inside
I slap her ass, she gasps
Then I spread her ass cheeks
Pull her hair the more and fuck her like a wild beast
Minutes later I cum right inside her
Breathing deeply, we rest
We get out of there
like nothing ever happened | https://medium.com/lusty-stuff/gorgeous-girl-at-the-library-ff6597e21cb8 | ['K. Love'] | 2020-08-22 16:22:56.828000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Sex', 'Romance', 'Sexuality', 'Love'] |
How to Walk Away From Problems You Can’t Fix | We’ve all heard the serenity prayer.
God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and
wisdom to know the difference. -Reinhold Niebuhr
Unfortunately, many of us put ourselves through agony before taking our problems to God and asking him for help.
Today, I want to look at the last part of the prayer.
and wisdom to know the difference
Recently, a situation occurred within my family of origin and it seemed like everyone involved had a different idea for how to handle it. Having some professional insight into the legalities of the situation, I threw my hat in the ring and was surprised to find that no one seemed to care.
One evening after a particularly stressful phone call, I started processing (ranting about) the situation to my poor unassuming husband who had just lain down on the couch for a nap. He listened as a rambled for ten minutes before calmly telling me there were only three available options for moving forward.
He then pitched the options to me one at a time. I stood like a batter at the ready and knocked each option back to him with an emotionally-based reason why each suggestion couldn’t work.
The tell-tale signs you are in a no-win situation
I would love to say that my husband’s suggestions weren’t valid, but he was spot on with his analysis.
Most situations can be solved by taking one of two actions or walking away.
In my case, neither of the three options left me with a warm fuzzy feeling.
No matter which course of action I decided upon there would be consequences.
Letting go
I was at a crossroads. I could decide to keep spinning my wheels or I could admit that the situation was beyond my control and hand it over to God.
As human beings, we have a natural inclination to try to maintain control. This need for control can lead to pathological consequences.
Eating disorders provide a clear and concise example of pathological control, eating disorders often stem from a person’s feeling out of balance. Maybe their relationship is suffering or they have lost their job, they can’t control those things, but they can control their calories.
I was trying to maintain control of the situation by ruminating on the possible outcomes. In my mind, I thought if I mulled the situation over long enough the perfect solution would present itself. My husband helped me to take a step back and realize that I was in a no-win situation.
Let God
Jesus says in Matthew 11:28:
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
How is that for a promise? We don’t have to carry our burdens alone. We can hand them over to our savior and his will will be done.
Next time you find yourself in a situation similar to the one I have described, look at your options, is this a situation you can change or influence? If the answer isn’t clear, take time to pray and ask God for wisdom to know which course of action to take. | https://medium.com/koinonia/how-to-walk-away-from-problems-you-cant-fix-167a0dac3630 | ['Sarah Lyall-Neal'] | 2020-12-03 22:05:29.113000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Christianity', 'Serenity Prayer', 'Health', 'Decision Making'] |
IV. Deploy a Poloniex trading bot | 0 — Importing librairies and loading data
The very first step is to import the necessary librairies, and (re-)define the constants which we used along the construction of this trading bot. This includes the stoploss, the takeprofit, the period of candles, but also the pair which we trade — as referred to on the Poloniex API and website (e.g. USDT_BTC for Bitcoin trading) and the amount in dollar which we want to invest for each trade. Furthermore, we also set our threshold probability min_threshold from which we may follow our model during bullish predictions. By default it is set to 0.5 (i.e. we follow the model everytime it is bullish) but we can set a higher threshold to generate a more selective trading strategy (see article III — [1]). One should also pay attention to modifying the path on line 14 according to his directories structure.
We also import a custom library called Deployment_functions that will be described in section II of this article.
The initialization code is given below :
Figure 1: Initialization code for deployment
I — Initializing Poloniex API connection
Once we have imported the librairies, we can initialize the connection to the Poloniex API by inputing our API keys and secret. These hexadecimal codes are unique to each account, and allow the user to take trades directly from Python. More information regarding the API and how to get your keys can be found at [2]. With our program, you just need to set yours at lines 62 & 63 in Deployment_functions.py (next paragraph).
Furthermore, the code the initialize the connection is as simple as this :
Figure 2: Initialize Poloniex API private connection
II — Defining buy and sell functions, computing variables
As presented earlier, to lighten the trading script I decided to store all functions inside a custom library called Deployment_functions.py. This file contains previously introduced functions such as the computation of predictive variables (see article I — [3]). It also contains two very important functions, that are the buy_asset() and sell_asset() functions. These functions enables us to buy/sell a given amount at the best possible price available in the market, and are completed only if the entire amount is bought/sold. These functions are important to define well and clearly, in order to avoid pending orders which would falsen the real-life trading. The underlying idea is to make the code as performant as possible, in order to obtain real-life results that are as close as possible to the backtested results (see article III — [1]).
The code for these functions is given below, where as specified before you should change lines 62 & 63 :
Figure 3: Define trading functions
III — One trade at a time (1TAAT) trading bot
Now that we have built and defined all of our tools, time is now to create the trading loop. In our case (1TAAT), we simply repeat a sequential process over and over. We wait for the candle’s data to be delivered, then we apply these 3 tasks : Request the recent data, compute predictions by computing the variables and applying the model, then finally if our bullish criterion is reached (see article II [4] for how we define our min and max) we enter the trade and track it. When we enter into the trade, first we buy the predefined amount of the pair, then we wait until the price reaches either the stoploss or the takeprofit. When it finally reaches a limit, we sell our asset. And we repeat this process over and over.
The code was made to display some monitoring information in the console (Figure 4) and to store the characteristics of each transaction made (Figures 5 & 6). NB : The Poloniex website stores all trades’ information anyhow.
The console looks like this when a trade in progress, i.e. when we are waiting for the price to reach either the stoploss or the takeprofit:
Figure 4: Console when a trade is being monitored
Figure 5: Data stored during a Buy action (entry point of the trade)
Figure 6: Data stored during a Sell action (exit point of the trade)
The trading loop is quite refined, and it fits in 26 lines which makes it clear to understand :
Figure 7: Trading loop
IV — Conclusion
First we can recall that the entire project, along with the code, is available in a dedicated GitHub repository [5].
This project is a great accomplishment, as we managed to display how to build a profitable trading bot from scratch. The pipeline is easily adaptable and can fit various financial markets. Also, the required input data is limited, so that the access to historical data should not be an issue.
We showed that the pipeline was yielding robust and profitable trading strategies on backtested simulations (article III) and we exposed in this very last article how to implement the principle of a trading bot in a simple Python script.
We may also recall that the purpose of this series of articles was to make this notion accessible to everyone, and that obviously one can enhance the proposed pipeline by multiple means. In particular, one could think about adding some more predictive variables, increasing the number of layers in the Deep Learning architecture, or even ameliorate the implementation loop. It is also quite feasible to adapt the trading loop in order to take and monitor multiple trades (possibly over multiple markets) at the same time.
To give an overview of some possibilities, I can invite the interested reader to look at academic papers, especially MSc and PhD thesis. At an other level, I wrote a report concerning my construction of such advanced trading bot, available at [6].
Don’t hesitate to leave any feedback/questions/clap or to contact me for more information.
04/01/2021 : There a are a couple of bugs in the buy/sell functions. Looking forward to correct them asap. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/iv-deploy-a-poloniex-trading-bot-c3af87eba48c | ['Sébastien Cararo'] | 2021-01-04 18:55:14.166000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Machine Learning', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Deep Learning'] |
Dan Kennedy’s Ultimate Sales Letter System and Copywriting Strategies | Dan Kennedy is the duke of direct response. 👑
He knows exactly how to deliver marketing messages that get people to take action.
His inspiring, compelling, and clear copy is what makes him one of the highest-paid copywriters in the world!
That and his iconic handlebar mustache.
Dan has earned a place in the copywriting hall of fame amongst icons like Gary Halbert, John Carlton, Joe Sugarman, and Gary Bencivinga.
And what better way to learn copywriting than from a master himself?
This blog post is for copywriters of all levels who want to inspire more action in their readers using Dan Kennedy’s ultimate sales letter formula.
“How you deal with failure determines whether or not you ever get the opportunity to deal with success.” Dan Kennedy
How you approach copy is everything — your mindset
Dan Kennedy does not have a college degree.
He never worked in a mailroom for an ad agency and had no desire to work his way up the corporate ladder. (just like you!)
He got his first paid copywriting gig in high school and opened up his own agency two years later.
By devouring books, using intuition, learning how to sell, and building idea files you too can become a professional copywriter without any degrees.
“I am convinced that just about anybody can learn to craft very effective sales letters.” Dan Kennedy
Read this quick start guide or below for more information.
Four mindsets to successful copy
Don’t be intimidated by the idea or process or writing.
Recognize the value and power of your unique understanding of business, products, services, and customers.
Develop a selling mentality.
Avoid perfectionism, you don’t need to be perfect to get results.
Combine the mindsets with these key habits
Build a Reference File : a file where you answer the question: “What I know about our customer, products and business?”
: a file where you answer the question: “What I know about our customer, products and business?” Build a Swipe File : a file of ads, articles and ideas that are organized to help you draw inspiration from.
: a file of ads, articles and ideas that are organized to help you draw inspiration from. Write copy: put into practice your newly acquired skills. Even if you don’t have a client.
Before you write a single word
Ever had writer’s block? Do you fear the blank page? (Then read this guide on 10 writer’s block cures)
Pay attention to what Dan has found the cure to be… getting “into” the Customer with the goal of understanding.
“You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them” James Van Praagh
You need to understand your customers on an intimate level. Uncover their desires, identities, fears, and motivators.
To persuade or motivate a person you need to understand that person.
This comes down to research.
This is one of the most important steps in writing copy because there are no possibilities for corrective feedback like in sales. You have to be able to anticipate roadblock and sneak past them!
Figure out why they won’t respond.
Then, get into the offer.
Equally as important to overcome the blank page syndrome is studying the product.
What Dan recommends doing is demonstrating the product as if you were a salesman. Play with the product yourself if possible.
Brainstorm all the exciting features and benefits you could get out of this product.
Approach the product as if you were the customer combining the above to form a full perspective of how the product will be used.
Remember that features tell, benefits are what sell! Learn more about features vs benefits here.
Every product has flaws too.
Dan Kennedy believes in embracing the downsides of a product!
Acknowledge product flaws and force yourself to address the potential questions, concerns, and objections in your copy.
Take competitive disadvantages and turn them into good fun selling stories.
Make the bad work for you to build trust. 🤝
The Dan Kennedy system for motivating action
The main differentiator between copy and content is ACTION. (This is what makes copy successful or not!)
Copy persuades a reader, viewer or visitor to take a specific action. Otherwise, it bores people to death and leaves you with an empty wallet. 👎
Dan Kennedy is a master at getting readers to take action.
In 2015 alone he wrote ads that brought in $100 Million in sales just that year!
Here are 5 Foolproof Ways mentioned in The Ultimate Sales Letter that will get your readers to take decisive action:
Using intimidation to motivate action
While copy is usually friendly and conversational, a little intimidation never hurts anyone.
Humans are more responsive to people of power and motivated by fear.
Power comes in many different forms.
For instance, people who are wealthy, attractive, intelligent, talented, incredibly charming, physically big, or occupy a position of authority can be considered powerful.
They have influence over others.
As a salesman/saleswoman you have the solution to a desperate problem your prospect is facing. What that does is allow you to shift the power dynamic in your favor when it is time for action.
So how can you effectively use intimidation in your copy?
Limited inventory or availability
What is scarce is more valued! Take this sneaker example:
These are ‘Shattered Backboard’ Air Jordan 1s with a backwards Swoosh (a product defect)!
A pair of Air Jordans recently turned up with the same factory defect and sold for a whopping $96,000. 👟
People are willing to take action on things that won’t last in order to not miss out!
Harnessing the bandwagon effect
Simply put, the bandwagon effect is when people do something because other people are doing it. They do it regardless of their own beliefs. This is to do with the psychological principles of herd mentality.
A few examples would be Black Friday, the Banting Diet, TikTok trending videos, investing in Tesla, and every Apple campaign ever…
When you can leverage social trends and everyone without your product has FOMO, you’re going to have a great launch/campaign. 👍
Use social proof like testimonials, case studies, and real-life examples to create fear of missing out.
Harnessing the snob effect
To use this strategy, you challenge the reader’s ego.
Make the product seem like only a certain type of individual can fully appreciate it. (Try creating the image of prestige, status, and power.)
For example, higher price tag makes people desire a product more and attribute quality to it.
You get people to buy into the illusion that they are more important, sophisticated, or better than others when they buy your product.
Luxury brands do a very good job at harnessing the snob effect.
You can only buy if…
This strategy qualifies the reader and challenges them.
Your sales letter will present certain criteria that the reader must meet for him to be eligible to purchase your product.
Make readers go through self-qualification. Convince themselves that the product is the best fit for their problem.
The more hurdles your prospect jumps through willingly, the more likely they are to take action.
Only some can qualify…
This strategy is used when you appeal to a person’s desire to be part of an elite group for approval and recognition.
Again, the more hurdles that qualify your prospect, the more you likely they are to take action.
Show readers something interesting, appealing, or desirable then snatch it away from them and play hard to get.
For instance, you might say that “Only serious marketers can qualify to take this online course.”
It makes the product (an online course in this case) seem more alluring since there’s limited access.
Demonstrate ROI and sell money at a discount
People hate uncertainty.
Why? Because uncertainty = danger or risk!
So, how can you ease your reader’s mind and make sure they don’t jump to negative conclusions?
Give them certainty.
Minimize the risk by demonstrating how your products have gotten the result that you are promising. Define clear benefits for both the customer and the company.
You can demonstrate this through case studies, testimonials and free trials.
Look how Evernote uses a testimonial and logo bar to build trust with users:
Another example is the ClickFunnels home page.
Note how it displays how many users are on the platform along with the revenue they’ve processed — $8.8 billion! 🤑
What this signals to customers is that the company gets results. If other businesses can do it, so can they.
This is especially important for business products and services. The one thing on customer’s minds is the return on investment.
Appealing to the ego
Nobody cares unless there’s something in it for them.
We call this The What’s in It for Me (WIIFM) Principle.
Dan asks the question, “How can you make what you are selling appeal to the innate desires of your market?”
How can your product make them feel more important?
How can you satisfy the ego need they are chasing after?
For instance, imagine buying an expensive watch like Tag Heuer. ⌚
You could love the look, but you got it mostly to show that you are important and that your time is worth a lot!
Your product is convincingly portrayed as a status symbol. The sales copy should be positioned as such to maximize response.
Create a strong guarantee
The best way to bridge the gap between expectations and product delivery is with a strong guarantee.
After all, guarantees boost response (see what Neil Patel has to say!)
Done right, guarantees effectively deal with skepticism, cynicism, and fear in your customers. It inspires decisiveness and feelings of no/lower risk purchase.
The most basic and effective way to implement this strategy is with a money-back guarantee. This helps customers feel at ease as they can get their money back.
Look at this guarantee for one of Carmine’s online courses:
Other guarantees to consider include:
Lowest price guarantee
Free trial guarantee
Lifetime warranty
Satisfaction guarantee
Another strong approach is offering bonuses that customers can keep if they refund their money. This is what Dan calls “Refund but keep the premium.”
Bonuses are a staple in advertising and copywriting as they add extra incentive and value for purchasing.
If someone can keep them if they aren’t satisfied, they can’t lose!
Say it, say it again, and say it once more
Redundancy means repeating information and contrary to the usual definition, redundancy in copy is good!
The more you repeat things, the more you hit home!
You want to repeat crucial promises and guarantees to put ease and confidence in the minds of your customers.
Repeating sharpens the image you are trying to place in your customer’s mind whether it be positive or negative.
This way by the time they reach the end of a sales letter, they don’t forget the most important parts of the offer.
I also recommend summarizing the features, benefits, offer, and bonuses near the end so they have a neatly organized pitch.
Reduce friction with free trials
Free trials greatly reduce the need for aggressive selling
A product or service practically sells itself if prospective customers are able to extensively explore what you’re offering on their own.
This low-pressure environment encourages action.
Once the trial is up, prospects will determine if your offering is a beneficial one, which then they will proceed to payment.
It also creates a sense of urgency and scarcity since they may have loved the product but don’t have access to it any longer.
Check out the social media marketing platform Buffer for illustration:
They offer a 14-day free trial which allows users to test-drive the software. No strings attached.
Be a storyteller
Humans are hardwired for stories.
The more you can harness the power of engaging and compelling stories in your copy, the more persuasive you become.
Stories affect the brain in many different ways.
This includes connecting different regions, releasing oxytocin/dopamine, and more.
Read Carmine’s full guide on storytelling in copywriting.
Advanced Dan Kennedy copywriting strategies to take your copy to the next level
These are copywriting strategies that Dan Kennedy would commonly use with his million-dollar campaigns.
#1 — “Enter the conversation already occurring in the customer’s mind” — Robert Collier
What will your customers be thinking or talking about the day they see your sales copy?
What pain points are they experiencing?
What emotions are they feeling?
Think of copywriting as continuing the conversation that’s already started in the customer’s mind.
Gradually transition the sales copy into the product and offer as a solution.
Dan Kennedy says that understanding your customer’s situation when they are going to engage with your advert is crucial for this reason.
It helps them harmonize with the advertisement and understand they are in the right place.
#2 — The hidden benefit
Every product has several benefits. However, there is always one that stands out from the rest.
And, this is the benefit that customers are truly after.
Dan Kennedy gives the example in his book The Ultimate Sales Letter of a professional conference.
People weren’t just attending this conference to be a better entrepreneur, but to have more free time to golf. 🏌️♂️
Naturally, Dan positioned advertisements for the conference to present the benefit of being able to golf more with time they’d save from its content.
This had a drastically better response.
Think deep about your prospect.
What keeps them up at night?
What are their hobbies, demographics, and values?
Listen in on their conversations.
You may find something out of left field that could make an effective benefit to focus on.
#3 — Use magic words
Every word has a meaning, emotion, and picture attached to it.
That’s why you must carefully craft every word in your advertisements to create a very specific experience.
For example, if I say the word “Miami,” what comes to mind?
Probably palm trees and the beach, right? 🌴
How about “Italy?” Perhaps you think of wine, pasta, and the great Colosseum. 🍷
Dan Kennedy urges copywriters to use persuasive, emotional, and powerful words to generate a greater response.
Here are 380 persuasive words to use in your copy!
#4 — Flag the reader and appeal to them personally
Every advertisement should be written by a small segment of people.
This is what we call a buyer persona or ideal customer profile.
It’s not made for everyone. Just a tiny group of customers.
Targeting everyone is a surefire way to drain budget and see little results.
You can grab attention of the right people by “flagging” them.
This is done by addressing them in the headline and throughout the body of sales copy.
“Attention Freelance Writers” in the sales letter for the copywriting course WiseCopy speaks directly to a certain group of people for example.
#5 — Pain, agitate, solve
One of the most tried and true copywriting formulas is pain, agitate, solve.
This is applied by first addressing the pain point of the reader.
Then, you agitate it by talking about the symptoms.
Finally, a product or service is positioned as the solution.
The goal of this formula is to get relevant emotions boiling so people want to learn more about how to solve them.
Learn more about this technique here.
#6 — Masquerade an ad as something else
People see ads. Lots of ‘em.
This has created something known as advertisement fatigue.
Consumers are less likely to engage with an ad and responsd to it as they are tired of seeing them very often.
One way to circumvent this and increase response is by positioning the ad to not look like one.
The best way to do this through an advertorial which s a max between an advertisement and editorial.
Think of it like an article that educates the reader on a relevant topic while subtly plugging a certain product or business.
Final thoughts on Dan Kennedy’s Ultimate Sales letter system
Dan Kennedy is one of the best copywriters of all time.
His book The Ultimate Sales Letter needs to be on the shelf of every copywriter. No questions asked.
Here are some of the main takeaways from today’s article:
Copywriting begins with your mindset. Educate yourself, don’t be a perfectionist, and learn how to sell. Build a swipe file, reference file, and write copy on a regular basis. Intimidate readers to take action through low inventory, the bandwagon effect, and other strategies discussed. Clearly communicate the return on investment of a product to “sell money at a discount.” Appeal to the customer’s ego to be better, wealthier, more powerful, etc. Offer a strong guarantee to overcome objections and uncertainty. Repeat the main offer in an advertisement so customers don’t forget. Offer free trials to get people trying the product and wanting more. Use storytelling to deeply connect with readers emotions.
This article was originally published at https://carminemastropierro.com/dan-kennedy-the-ultimate-sales-letter/ | https://medium.com/@carminemastro/dan-kennedys-ultimate-sales-letter-system-and-copywriting-strategies-5d022d665c46 | ['Carmine Mastropierro'] | 2020-11-11 14:21:25.525000+00:00 | ['Copywriter', 'Copywriting Services', 'Copywriting', 'Copywriting Portfolio', 'Copywriting Tips'] |
6 Ways Time is Cheating on You | You Can’t Write a Book at a Dinner Party
Let’s contextualise with another segment from one of the greats, James Altucher:
I’ll go out to dinner with people and they’ll say “oh, you know, I can’t wait to work on my book, finally.”. And I’ll be like okay, I’m done eating now, I’m ready to go home now but they’ll keep going until one, two in the morning. When are you gonna write your book? Your gonna wake up at eleven and it’s going to be too late to write your book in the morning, and then your day’s going to happen then at night you’re going out again…the time is there. James Altucher Show — 645: Conquering Your Comfort Zone with Ed Latimore.
If you’re talking about your impending book at some social event, but you’re still on page one after three months, something isn’t right. I’m certainly not in the thought bubble that you should go and cross out every social event from your calendar…you’ll go insane. However, social meet-ups don’t need to be in excess, i.e. every night, more so if they involve getting pitted. Why? I think Altucher sums it up pretty well:
You’ll come home late. You’ll be behind as soon as you wake up the following day (the possibility of a hangover could be existent). It’s late morning. It’s almost midday. When are you going to cross off those tasks that get your book closer to publication? The day is going, full steam, and now your son wants to go to the park, or your husband is starving because you slept until eleven and he’s been waiting to have breakfast with you. The lads drop you a text: Up for dinner tonight?
It’s a messy, perpetuating cycle. The solution is nothing more than pulling back on so many of these events so that you can hone in on those goals.
But wait! I’m a damsel-in-distress extrovert who needs people all of the time!
Yes, and everybody needs downtime. Go enjoy those meals out, as long as they don’t consume all evenings. If you’re getting lured into going out with people you despise, bail, because it’s both a throwaway of time and a way to work yourself up.
To make time for those you like, maximise your productivity time (we’ll talk about that in a second). Moreover, socialising doesn’t have to always include a meal and copious amounts of wine. Join a cycling club. Do some group study. When the lads drop you a text about the pub, suggest a jog around the park instead. Unless you’re having dinner with Elon Musk, you’ll probably get more out of those than going out for the sixth time this week.
One sentence: Being the boat race champion every night at your pub won’t increase the word count of your novel. | https://medium.com/@ciaran-rushton/6-ways-time-is-cheating-on-you-d04e49917f7c | ['Ciaran Rushton'] | 2020-12-26 23:16:07.298000+00:00 | ['Lifehacks', 'Nonfiction', 'Time Management', 'Productivity'] |
Creating an Ambitious New Web Platform for The Lancet Countdown | A Bespoke Website and Data Platform for The Lancet Countdown
Our team developed and designed a new bespoke website for The Lancet Countdown with a flexible modular layout CMS, allowing administrators the ability to easily create new pages, amend content including all text, images, resources and video.
We also introduced a bespoke data platform into the new website, integrating with the Flourish visualisation platform. This new data platform features 41 data visualisations, allowing users to observe and navigate through the key indicators from the report in a more engaging way. We also designed and implemented five illustrations to represent graphically the five main categories into which the various indicators were grouped within the 2019 report.
Bespoke data platform integrated with Flourish visualisation.
Video Production
In addition to the new data platform, our production team at Univers Labs produced an animated video, interactively presenting the key findings from the 2019 Lancet Countdown report. Our team oversaw numerous critical aspects of this video, including the storyboarding, voice over, design, animation and musical composition.
Lancet Countdown’s video, interactively presenting the findings from their 2019 report
A Redesigned Resources Page
The Lancet Countdown produces a range of highly regarded research materials which are extensively used by governments, policymakers, health professionals and the public. We redesigned the resources page, allowing users to explore the data, resources and reports, ensuring that users can quickly and easily access pertinent information in a format that’s most relevant to their work and needs. We also implemented search filters into the resources page, allowing users to search by year and country.
Illustrations
In addition to the newly developed resources page, our team at Univers Labs redesigned a range of resources for The Lancet Countdown, refreshing policy briefing templates and developing a range of illustrations to be used within their marketing efforts.
Redesigned Policy Briefing Templates
Illustrations and Infographics for The Lancet Countdown Marketing Activities
“Our partnership with The Lancet Countdown has enabled Univers Labs to work on an ambitious web platform to coincide with the launch of their annual report. This project required content across a range of digital media types, calling on many different skills from our talented team, including video production, musical composition, and illustration to communicate the work of The Lancet Countdown in a number of ways that speaks to a wider audience”. — Max von Seibold, Head of Production.
This project launched on Wednesday 13th of November, in time for The Lancet Countdown’s annual report on climate change and human health, which has received excellent worldwide media coverage and recognition. Full case study coming to our website soon. | https://medium.com/universlabs/creating-an-ambitious-new-web-platform-for-the-lancet-countdown-b9d83065eba2 | ['Univers Labs'] | 2020-01-17 14:08:06.941000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'The Lancet', 'UX Design', 'UI Design', 'Development'] |
Make the jump from self-taught coder pupil to employee | Hello World! The first beta version of Menternship was released today to the general public. It’s been about a month in the making, and for those who haven’t skimmed the original article, Menternship is a platform that connects professional programmers with side projects to new programmers who are looking to break into the industry. Professional programmers (mentors) get volunteer programmers working on their projects, and new programmers (interns) get more hands on experience.
The beta release of Menternship requires a LinkedIn account for a couple of reasons. It’s a simple way of verifying the qualifications of the mentors, and because recruiters and human resource employees generally check LinkedIn accounts to look over connections and verify resume claims, it pushes volunteers to maintain a public profile that will help them get a job faster. In the future we may allow other sign up options.
We’ve included a single type of internship to start. The requirements are 40 hours of work in two months or less, coupled with an on-boarding experience that includes at least one hour of pair programming, and excellent technical documentation for the project.
For legal purposes, it’s important to note that Menternship is not an exchange of work for education. It is an opportunity to volunteer in a setting where you will be exposed to the technology stack that you are interested in becoming employed in. We call these volunteer positions on Menternship internships, but this is just site specific language. The hope from any volunteer experience is that you’ll help someone out, and have a positive experience along the way. Menternship cannot guarantee that the experience will be educational or even worthwhile, but if the experience is poor, you can always walk away.
Keep in mind though that managing programming interns is not a simple task. Often times the intern is a drain on resources as they require the attention of experienced developers to bring them up to speed. Teaching interns is also a skill on its own, and many of the experienced programmers who join Menternship will be learning about managing and instructing programmers for the first time.
This is a new kind of experience for everyone, so lets have a little patience when approaching Menternship from either side. There are a couple of tips though that we’ve developed to improve the experience for both mentors and interns.
Setup excellent lines of communication. Email is the most primitive form of remote communication, so to get the best experience you’ll want to use a messaging service like Slack or Discord, and do lots of screen sharing and voice or video calls using services like Skype or Google Hangouts. First impressions matter, but so do first experiences looking and trying to run new code. As a project owner, you might think your application is well documented and easy to understand, but it’s best to make sure that your new interns have a positive first experience by scheduling a pair programming session to get them started. Not only will this strengthen the relationship between you and the intern, it will ensure that if a problem does occur on first startup, you’ll be able to understand why it came up and address it immediately. Ask questions, and make sure that everyone understands that asking questions is not just allowed, it’s encouraged. If programmers aren’t asking questions, that’s usually a sign of poor communication, and poor communication leads to a bad experience for everyone. So ask questions, and respond to those questions in a timely manner. Don’t forget that the ultimate goal for these interns is to get hired as a programmer, so when an internship does end, make sure that the interns are also in a better place publicly. Leave them a recommendation on LinkedIn, make suggestions about different programmers to follow through different platforms, give them projects that read well on resumes when completed, and of course, offer to act as a reference on any future job applications as needed.
Menternship is in its infancy right now, and what I would call barely MVP. We’ve got a lot of features on the horizon that hopefully a couple of interns will be able to contribute to. The first feature is a rating system. The only rating system right now is the number of interns an internship has attracted, and the status of those interns. A good project will have either active or completed interns, and a bad project might have some combination of fired and will not complete interns. So that being said, there’s even more of a mutual interest in having a positive experience, as bad experiences reflect poorly on both parties.
In App Notifications. Right now we’re relying entirely on email to notify members of important events, like new applications, accepted applications, and completed hours. In the near future we’d like users to be able to rely on an in-house notification system similar to LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, and so many others.
Different types of internships. Right now we have a single official 40 hour internship, but in the future we’d like to introduce shorter lightning internships (a possible use case would be for experienced developers looking to gain experience with unfamiliar technologies), longer format internships, and pair internships (where internships are completed as a team of two).
If you’re interested in the Menternship project, you can signup today and give this article a clap. The project is completely open source, and viewable at https://github.com/Menternship. If you want to discuss the project please join us on Slack, or send me or the official Menternship twitter account a tweet. Thanks for reading. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/interns-for-your-side-projects-beta-web-app-released-today-d8a93ceea2b3 | ['Leigh Silverstein'] | 2017-10-26 13:11:44.637000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Software Development', 'Startup', 'Tech', 'Education'] |
[Review] Evaluating Weakly Supervised Object Localization Methods Right (Weakly Supervised Object Localization) | [Review] Evaluating Weakly Supervised Object Localization Methods Right (Weakly Supervised Object Localization)
Accuracy Measured Using New Protocol
In this story, Evaluating Weakly Supervised Object Localization Methods Right, by Yonsei University, LINE Plus Corp., NAVER Corp., and University of Tuebingen, is presented. In this paper:
A new evaluation protocol is proposed where full supervision is limited to only a small held-out set not overlapping with the test set.
where full supervision is limited to only a small held-out set not overlapping with the test set. Five most recent WSOL methods have not made a major improvement over the CAM baseline as shown above.
as shown above. Existing WSOL methods have not reached the few-shot learning baseline, where the full-supervision at validation time is used for model training.
This is a paper in 2020 CVPR with over 24 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium) | https://medium.com/@sh-tsang/review-evaluating-weakly-supervised-object-localization-methods-right-weakly-supervised-object-b46d6ebc51fc | ['Sik-Ho Tsang'] | 2020-12-19 07:42:44.055000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Object Localization', 'Convolutional Network', 'Deep Learning', 'Weakly Supervised'] |
Online Jobs Without any Investment | Online Job is a job where we can work from any part of the world. Today we are going to see the most ranking Online Jobs Without any Investment.
Content development Jobs:
Content Developer plays a very important role in online jobs without any investment. Content Developer jobs are basically writing jobs. There are a lot of students use websites for studying. All this Web sites Content need good content. It could be in the form of articles, Question banks and anything else. The requirement is to have good Subject knowledge and have the ability to explain content based on the subject.
If you can’t able to develop your own content. It’s ok, you can develop content for junior levels. Contact the website you use for your own preparation. Since you are contacting them for a writing job. Pay attention to the quality of your email. Most of the websites are looking for a good content developer.
Because I have lots of content writers for my own website. You can also find content Development jobs posted on job portals & Freelancing websites. In fact, there are many freelancing websites that publish this type of jobs. All these jobs can be done along with your studies and in fact they add lots of value to it. Just Not in terms of money But also in terms of experience.
If you are not interested in education based topics or writing in English. Jest chose your language and write content in it. Originality and correctness of work are very important in this industry . To do this job you need is a laptop, Internet connection and subject knowledge.
When we come to online jobs without any investment. Sell photos plays a very important role. The requirement for this online job is a Phone’s camera. Most of this day’s every students have a camera.
If you are good enough, you can even sell your pictures for book cover, corporate brochures etc. You can sell your pictures as soon as you capture it.
If you want to sell your photos in online. You must click pictures from different aspects. Because people around the world search pictures for various purposes. The quality of pictures you click must be good.
You can do Online Teaching Jobs in the form of YouTube videos, Virtual classes, e-lectures for some publishers. Early from YouTube classes are slow classes. Because you must publish a lot of videos based on the subjects for a long time.
But there are lots of publishers who need e-lectures on contract basis. The topic may move from academic to music and more. This can be good options for you. Chose the subjects and write the content based on the subject.
There are a lot of websites that connect teacher and students in a virtual classroom. You can make good money with Online teaching which plays a very important role in online jobs without any investment.
People sell their own stuff or do affiliate marketing. But it is not suitable for students. But the student can do is form online groups and sell from Meesho app. Mesa is a mobile app which sells products. Pick good, cost effective, useful products & send to your group. And jest sell it to them.
For delivery jest collect the details of the customer and give it to the seller. Delivery and returns are the supplier’s responsibility. Just add your margin and give the buyer a price. Whatever you earn is a profit. So cost — Zero, Stock maintenance — Zero
What we do in affiliate marketing is talking about products & prompt viewers to buy them . Prospective customers read their article or watch video and prompt to buy the product.
If they buy the product buy watching your video or article. You earn a commission. This website is run by e-commerce website like Amazon, Flipkart and more. Customer’s are identified by your affiliate links. And people can reach your product by clicking the link.
All that you need is a phone and laptop. Make a video and publish them in your social media. If any of your customers click the link and buy the product that you advertised. You will get a commission. Even you can make a blog on it and post it in your social media.
To know more about online job click here
Welcome to Narenblogs, your number one source for all knowledge based contents . We’re dedicated to giving you the very best contents, with a focus on school study materials, college study materials, programing languages, and more. | https://medium.com/@krishna26nm2001/online-jobs-without-any-investment-455bcb100c26 | ['Naren Blogs'] | 2020-12-20 11:54:05.672000+00:00 | ['Work From Home', 'Affiliate Marketing', 'Online Jobs', 'Online', 'Jobs'] |
Virtual Reality Esports League for students arrives in Europe! | What is the CVRE EU League about?
The CVRE, is the Collegiate Virtual Reality Esports League. We had 3 successful seasons in North America, soon we will provide tournaments in Beat Saber and Echo Arena to students all over Europe!
Anyone can participate, solo or as a team, as long as they are students and have access to any PC-VR equipment which is able to run the games mentioned above. For Beat Saber even the Oculus Quest works! So make sure you sign up for this season!
Come in and compete for the title of the best school in VR esports. If you are interested have a look at our website or join our Discord server and have a chat with us. Registrations are open,if you have any questions feel free to text me until the 15th of February!
Is VR esports common? How big is it?
Yes, esports has been around in VR for several years now. There are many tournaments happening each year, even annual worldwide championships with offline finals are being held. Over the past 12 months more than 1500 players participated in VR esport leagues and won over 290.000 dollars through VR esports, which also shows the huge interest of sponsors in the growing market.
How did you get into VR?
To be honest, a few years ago I’ve been a VR critic and simply thought it is a gadget nobody needs. That was until I had my very first VR experience at a games fair where I played Space Junkies. It was so stunning and immersive, I instantly bought my very own Oculus Rift the next day. And for that I took a 5 hour car trip to the next market offering VR!
“Space Junkies is the best VR Game 2019 in my opinion, simply because it is the most polished and immersive VR experience I had yet. Many VR developers should learn something from it.”
Do you compete in VR esport tournaments?
Yes I do, I started to compete in February 2019 in the arena shooter Space Junkies. In this game we were unbeaten for the whole Season 3 of VR League and made it up to the world championships in England. During the semi-finals we had to take our first defeat of the year but scored 3rd, winning about 2000€ each while all costs during this travel got covered. Fun fact, at the time of the finals I have been on vacation with a friend in the USA for 2 days. Then had to fly to Europe to play on the stage, just to return 3 days later back to New York. I mean yes traveling that much tired me a lot, but I couldn’t let my friend down on our long term planned holidays.
Other than that I’ve played tournaments in games like Final Assault and Viro Move and always stuck to the top 5 players worldwide. So my expertise is quite wide when it comes to esports, I just love to compete in games.
How does studying and training for esport work along?
Training for normal esports is quite a time consuming task, attending a university and training at the same costs almost all of your free time. Thus we found the CVRE League, a league which suits the schedule of students. We will restrict our official matches to one tournament day every 3–4 weeks, each will last up to 4 hours. It is up to the players how much they want to train, but as everyone is a student here you can score high even with only moderate skill levels. | https://medium.com/xrbootcamp/virtual-reality-esports-for-students-arrives-in-europe-b10f5306a5f2 | ['Manuel Bäuerle'] | 2020-02-04 16:45:47.569000+00:00 | ['Students', 'Virtual Reality', 'Xr Bootcamp', 'Extended Reality', 'Esport'] |
Step by Step Guide : Veganism. Cutting out meat,fish,eggs and milk… | Before adapting any habit, its first step is to define the end goal.In this case you have already decided to become a vegan.Therefore congratulations, you have already completed your STEP-1 of this diet transition.
Whether you are transitioning for health reason, supporting animals and Planet Earth, this step by step transition guide will help you to achieve your goal to become a Vegan.
Step 2 : Adopt Pilot Changeover Transition
Pilot changeover means the new habit replaces the old one but only in a small scale. From being hardcore non-vegetarian to extreme vegan can sometimes take a toll on your body.Its best to reduce meat consumption day by day which will help your body to adapt the new diet without any trauma.
Reduce your meat or fish diet to a day or two in a week.Replace it with delicious dishes which will help you to resist the meat.
Once you become habitual of eating plant based diet, remove that cheat day and voila! you are officially a Vegan.
Step 3 : Surf Recipes Online
Many non-vegetarians think that veganism is all about bland and costly food diet which is not the case at all.There are many vegans and vegetarians around the world then you think.For example; 40% of Indians are vegetarians and we all know how yummy Indian food tastes.
Try to look on Youtube and Google about these tasty recipes from different countries around the world.
Step 4 : Don’t Forget Your Vitamins and Protein
Meat and Fish are rich in vitamins and proteins.It is hard to get the same level nutrients from plant-based diet.Therefore you need to take supplements of certain nutrients which are not so high in vegan diet.Examples of these nutrients are Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Iron and Protein.
Reach out to your doctor once if you need.
Step 5 : Subscribe to Meal Subscription Boxes
In the start of your diet transitioning, it can be a little stressful to prep for meal daily.Therefore try and find out some meal subscription box.The box contains all the groceries with perfect measurement which you will need to cook for a particular dish.
Examples of such meal subscription boxes are Hello Fresh, Sun Basket, Freshly etc.
Step 6 : Surround Yourself with Positivity
It is well known that food and mood are inter-related.Any change in eating patterns can cause mood swings.So it is very important to surround yourself with a good company.
Follow some really good vegan account pages on Instagram, Reddit and Facebook for day long motivation.My personal favourite community is r/vegan on Reddit.
Step 7: Try Vegan Substitutes for Meat and Dairy
In market there are several vegan substitutes of your favorite food.Try out these substitutes whenever you are craving for it.
I personally love almond milk and vegan cheese.They are healthy and delicious
Conclusion
Remember the changes you are making is a big one.And its okay to not be a perfect from DAY-1. The only thing that matters is your end goal.You transitioning will help you and this whole world.Good luck!! | https://medium.com/@chokhra95/step-by-step-guide-veganism-e73800a70c22 | ['Purva Chokhra'] | 2020-12-17 13:07:07.278000+00:00 | ['Vegetarian', 'Vegetables', 'Vegan', 'Veganism', 'Food'] |
A Little Plastic Bottle Filled With Gasoline | Photo by Wendelin Jacober from Pexels
He’s got a little plastic bottle filled with gasoline
On that wooden wobbly bedside table held up with a book of matches from last nights bar tab
It was 73 dollars
She hopped right on and boy I’ll tell ya’ those cognacs get expensive
She apathetically entertained arduous anecdotes of antiquated notions
He’s all seasick from after-hours love drunk potions
Clever as he may be, and believe me he was
She’s not going home with him
But he’s got his little plastic bottle filled one quarter shy of a silver dollar
And it’s always never too far out of his reach | https://medium.com/@fibonascii/a-little-plastic-bottle-filled-with-gasoline-b24c8da22ce0 | ['Reagan Kirby'] | 2021-01-29 05:14:44.237000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Short Fiction', 'Written Tales', 'Prose', 'Poetry'] |
Merging different schemas in Apache Spark | The image above is showing the differences in each partition. As we can see, columns and structs were added, datatypes changed and columns were removed.
The desired result is a schema containing a merge of these changes without losing any column or struct even it doesn’t exist anymore.
Attempt 1: Reading all files at once
What happens if we try to read all these files at once with spark.read.parquet() ?
data_path = "/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet"
df = spark.read.parquet(data_path)
df.printSchema()
It’s possible to read all files but as we can see above, only the schema of the first partition was considered. As all partitions have these columns, the read function can read all files but it will not merge the differences as we want.
As we can see below, all rows in each partition can be read because they share the same fields mentioned above but we are interested in merge all fields so, this solution doesn’t work.
from pyspark.sql.functions import col
df.groupBy(col("date")).count().sort(col("date")).show()
Attempt 2: Reading all files at once using mergeSchema option
Apache Spark has a feature to merge schemas on read. This feature is an option when you are reading your files, as shown below:
data_path = "/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet"
df = spark.read.option("mergeSchema", "true").parquet(data_path)
Unfortunately, this option cannot handle our different schemas. It could not merge the schema of the partition 2020-04-01 because the postal_code has incompatible data types as shown in the following error message (simplified to be legible):
org.apache.spark.SparkException: Failed merging schema of file file:/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet/date=2020-04-01/part-00000-796d0c3c-69c0-44c5-a4fa-635195e8d6a9.c000.snappy.parquet
Caused by: org.apache.spark.SparkException: Failed to merge fields 'address' and 'address'. Failed to merge fields 'postal_code' and 'postal_code'. Failed to merge incompatible data types string and int
Attempt 3: Reading all files at once forcing a schema on read
Let’s see what happens when we force the desired schema when reading the parquet files.
from pyspark.sql.types import StructType
import json schema_json = '{"fields":[{"metadata":{},"name":"address","nullable":true,"type":{"fields":[{"metadata":{},"name":"address","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"address_details","nullable":true,"type":{"fields":[{"metadata":{},"name":"number","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"street","nullable":true,"type":{"fields":[{"metadata":{},"name":"lat","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"latitude","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"long","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"longitude","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"street_name","nullable":true,"type":"string"}],"type":"struct"}}],"type":"struct"}},{"metadata":{},"name":"city","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"country","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"country_code","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"postal_code","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"state","nullable":true,"type":"string"}],"type":"struct"}},{"metadata":{},"name":"age","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"date","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"first_name","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"identifier","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"last_name","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"occupation","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"title","nullable":true,"type":"string"},{"metadata":{},"name":"title_name","nullable":true,"type":"string"}],"type":"struct"}' schema = StructType.fromJson(json.loads(schema_json)) data_path = "/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet"
df = spark.read.schema(schema).option("mergeSchema", "true").parquet(data_path) df.show()
When we ask the data frame to return a sample of the lines ( df.show() ), we get the following error indicating that it could not read the partition 2020-04-01 (error message simplified to be legible).
org.apache.spark.sql.execution.QueryExecutionException: Encounter error while reading parquet files. One possible cause: Parquet column cannot be converted in the corresponding files
Caused by: org.apache.parquet.io.ParquetDecodingException: Can not read value at 1 in block 0 in file file:/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet/date=2020-04-01/part-00000-796d0c3c-69c0-44c5-a4fa-635195e8d6a9.c000.snappy.parquet
This partition has significant changes in the address struct and it can be the reason why Spark could not read it properly.
Attempt 4: Reading each partition at a time and union the dataframes
What if we read each partition at a time and make a union of the dataframes? Let’s see what happens.
import os
from pyspark.sql.functions import lit data_path = "/home/jovyan/work/data/raw/test_data_parquet"
idx = 0 for dir in [d for d in os.listdir(data_path) if d.find("=") != -1]: df_temp = spark.read.parquet(data_path + "/" + dir).withColumn(dir.split("=")[0], lit(dir.split("=")[1])) if idx == 0:
df = df_temp
else:
df = df.union(df_temp) idx = idx + 1
We cannot union dataframes with different schemas, so it doesn’t work.
org.apache.spark.sql.AnalysisException: Union can only be performed on tables with the same number of columns, but the first table has 7 columns and the second table has 8 columns
Final solution: Custom function
After trying to merge the schemas using the methods described above, I ended up building a custom function that do the following:
Reads each partition path and get the schema of that partition
Converts the columns to String to assure that the data types will be compatible between schemas avoiding errors faced in attempt 2
Converts the dataframe to a JSON RDD before union the partitions. JSON RDD allows the union even when the structures are different, avoiding the error encountered in attempt 4.
After reading the partitions with this custom function, we have a dataframe with the desired schema, containing columns and structures of all partitions.
df.printSchema()
We can also easily identify which columns were not used by doing a count of null rows by partition and column. | https://medium.com/data-arena/merging-different-schemas-in-apache-spark-2a9caca2c5ce | ['Thiago Cordon'] | 2021-03-21 11:14:20.322000+00:00 | ['Data', 'Schema', 'Spark', 'Data Engineering'] |
Software Engineer Intern at Visa (SG) for Summer 2021 | Why Visa
I have always worked in small start-ups and it was only until my previous internship, when I wondered what the development process is like in an enterprise, in terms of how they scale their solutions to meet world wide demands as well as how they maintained their enormous codebase.
My past internships had always been very similar, to be assigned a task and completing it by the end of internship. Sure, I made things work and delivered on time, but I didn’t know if the way I wrote my code was up to standard and if in any way, adhering to the best practices in the industry.
There wasn’t much mentorship as the developers in the team were either rushing to meet deadlines and didn’t have time to guide me, or that I was the sole developer in the company and only had Stack Overflow to look up to.
It was around then, when I heard great things about Visa’s focus on developing talents and how learning is emphasised within the company from a friend. I thought that it would be a good chance for me to improve and grow under their professional guidance.
Coupled with my goal to work on meaningful solutions that positively impact the daily lives of people, I was convinced to give it a shot.
I found out that they were opening summer internship applications for Software Engineering roles in January 2021 (Singapore) and decided to apply for it.
My Experience
Without hesitation, this is by far the best internship I’ve had. No exaggeration, only the truth! 🔥
First of all, I really enjoyed how Visa took really good care of its interns and provided full transparency on all information within Visa. It felt good to be acknowledged professionally despite being an intern. There were weekly leadership talks, development sharing sessions, product introductions and innovation tours all planned out by the Internship Program management team. I am really thankful! 🙏🏻
I loved how Visa included the interns in everything. For example, I was under the Digital Developer Platform (DDP) team, and there was this forum to update on the team’s progress and achievements every quarter. They started off the forum by welcoming the interns with a short video, introducing us and our biographies, which I thought was really cute. Truly appreciative of the efforts made by the team!
There was also a time when I was highly interested in the mobile enablement team and spoke to my hiring manager and the DDP’s intern program coordinator about it. They immediately linked me up with an Android developer from the mobile enablement team for me to schedule a call with, to answer my curiosities. 🤩
Events in Visa were all catered to multiple time zones at our convenience to ensure that we do not miss out on any sessions. This was really beneficial to me especially on busy days where I could choose to attend events geared towards the North America timezone (Night time in SG).
Throughout the internship, there were many opportunities for interactions. I even participated in an Eco Case Challenge which happened over the course of a month, giving me the chance to bond with mentors from different tech teams and new friends from different universities.
Oh yeah, not to forget, one of the best things were the swags that Visa sent. Woohooo! I will also be receiving some Tokyo 2020 Olympics Merchandise, once the office reopens! 🥳
Digital and Developer Platform’s Welcome Gifts
I also got the chance to present what I worked on to DDP leaders on my 11th week, and it was amazing to see the cool projects that other interns worked on! 🤯👍🏻
Although it was a fully Virtual Internship (due to COVID-19), I looked forward to starting work every single day because of the people, the culture and new exciting things to learn!
Visa Singapore Office (I would have been working here if not for COVID-19)
What I worked on
I was part of the Digital and Developer Platform’s Visa Direct Singapore team that builds the payment APIs that you have probably used before. We enable people to send and receive money efficiently, securely, and seamlessly to billions of endpoints globally. 😎
My job scope focused more on Back End development, where I worked on one of the Push Payments API.
For some context: Push Payments allow funds to be pushed to a recipient’s Visa account by initiating a financial message called an Original Credit Transaction (OCT). Original Credit Transactions are a fast and convenient way to send money to Visa accounts.
Over these 12 weeks, I have gained so much and learnt numerous technologies and design patterns. During school semesters, there wasn’t much time for applications on school projects. However, Visa was a great platform for me to practice the theories I learnt back in school and it helped me understand some of the concepts better.
I feel like I have mastered the art of debugging after this internship. Working on this project made me more appreciative of programming tools and the importance of choosing the right ones to work with. The IDE I used had saved me hours of aimless debugging. Setting break points and seeing how the values are going into the variables helped me understand what went wrong with my API calls.
At times, I did get stuck on problems for hours and sometimes, even days. Most of the time I would try to figure things out on my own, but only when I had tried everything and nothing worked, I would ask my mentors for help. Knowing when to ask for help is really important and you never know if someone has experienced what you faced before.
One of the biggest takeaway for me was to be curious and to venture into the intricate details of the codes when I worked on the API. It was crucial to understand each line of code and the entire process flow in order to build something that works reliably and correctly.
I also performed unit, integration and regression tests for the codes I wrote. Testing was a very tedious and mundane process which I did not enjoy. The difficulty was coming up with scenarios and trying to hit the line and branch code coverage requirements. Although dreadful, tests are really important (reduces severe bugs surfacing after release) and I believe that a good software engineer should be able to write some basic tests to cover the code written. I still have a long way to go, but definitely looking forward to improving in this area! 💪🏻
Overall, it was challenging yet satisfying to be working on real work and contributing to something that will positively impact billions in the world.
Mentorship
How it works for interns (at least for my team) is that we are each attached to a mentor (usually staff / senior software engineer) who will guide us throughout the internship program. In my case, I was really lucky to be assigned my mentor and having my friend’s mentor to seek for guidance as well.
I had 1:1s with my Hiring Manager every week to update on my internship progress. Usually we will discuss on what I was learning, what I hope to learn, suggestions to improve, Visa’s technologies and sharing career experiences.
There were also daily scrums meetings where the team reports on their progress and any issues faced. Scrum is a part of how agile teams work, and I believe its importance is in creating accountability such as settings goals to be completed by the day to ensure productivity. I must admit that at times I felt a little stressed for being stuck on a task for days and not knowing what to report during scrum, but the team was very encouraging and this brings me to the next point about my mentors.
I had daily sync up sessions with my mentors, to ask open ended questions on the code base or any problems I was facing. On days where there were no questions, they would give us a first hand experience of the technologies used from development to production within Visa. These gave me the opportunity to learn about how a project is delivered starting from development to the release phase.
These sync up sessions were very interactive, productive and useful. I have to say that my mentors are the real MVPs. As a newbie, I was overwhelmed with information and struggled to understand the massive codebase. However, they were very patient and always allocated time to discuss with me about the problems I faced.
I felt that this was the key aspect of my internship which enabled me to learn the most as compared to my previous internships at start-ups. My mentors were highly skilled in the Software Engineering area and because they understood the code from inside out, at one glance they knew how to solve problems that I might have been stuck on the entire day. 🤣 I also really liked bouncing off ideas with them, such as how I could have written cleaner and reusable codes, which my mentors were really supportive of.
Benefits
Our working hours are usually 8.30am-5.30pm Monday to Fridays. But because of the current Work-From-Home (WFH) situation, employees get to enjoy well-being hours on Friday afternoons. I believe that this really helped me tide through mentally and productively as I tend to get really restless once it hits mid-week.
My Work From Home Setup 🤤
There is also a learning platform built on the Visa intranet also known as ‘Visa University’. We are privileged to have free access to paid courses from Udemy and O’Reilly on Visa University! I got to learn how to use the Spring framework for the project I was working on, as well as explore what Mobile Application Development in Flutter is like during my free time.
Specifically for Digital and Developer Platform (DDP), there are Microsoft teams channels for technical knowledge sharing. In addition to this, there are weekly technology sharing sessions for everyone. I occasionally dropped by to learn about new technologies (e.g UI/UX design, Software Engineering, DevOps, New Libraries and Frameworks) being used and it is wonderful how everyone is so passionate about technology here at Visa.
For DDP interns, we have weekly leadership talks with the heads of different divisions to learn more about the business and where leaders impart us with career advices. For some of these talks, we were also entered into a raffle, giving us the chance to win some prizes. I have won a $35 cash voucher (still thinking about how to spend it, open to suggestions 😝).
There are also intern social events with games like Bingo and Virtual Escape rooms on Fridays since we end work earlier, providing many opportunities for us to interact with others.
These are just some benefits that I know of as an intern and I’m pretty sure there are many more undiscovered ones.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Opportunity to work on high impact products
Great mentorship program
Good work-life balance
Many networking opportunities
Everyone is super friendly and willing to help
Cons
Took me weeks to get onboarded and to fully understand codebase
It was virtual and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was onsite (I heard great things about the facilities in the office)
Conclusion
Visa is an amazing company and has definitely set a high benchmark for my future internships.
I enjoyed my time here very much and would love to return as an intern / full-time employee someday! 😊
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out and I hope that my internship experience has been interesting for you! | https://medium.com/@marcusleeeugene/software-engineer-intern-at-visa-sg-for-summer-2021-f3b185f57473 | ['Marcus Lee Eugene'] | 2021-08-05 15:25:38.347000+00:00 | ['Software Engineer', 'Internship Experience', 'Backend Development', 'Summer Intern', 'Visa'] |
Pandemic of Chronic Disease | The year 2020 has focused on covid-19 and death statistics due to this virus. However, there is an even bigger issue underlying overall health in most of the world which is chronic disease. Chronic diseases are long lasting such as arthritis, asthma, autism, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease and Alzheimer's. People who have these chronic diseases are 6 times more likely to have complications and die from covid per the CDC.
The biggest question is WHY such a huge increase in chronic disease? You can study any of the chronic diseases and see huge, almost exponential growth over the years.
Not a single one of these chronic illnesses are getting better, they are ALL growing at significant rates. If you consider the impact on overall healthcare economics, the increases are going to lead to astronomical healthcare costs throughout the world. If any country could figure out and solve the root cause, they could have a significant economic advantage against other countries. The same would be true down to the individual, if you can avoid these chronic diseases you would have more economic security as well as a healthier life.
WHAT is the ROOT cause of these chronic diseases? The CDC blames tobacco use, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity and excessive alcohol use. Except for poor nutrition, I think this list is a bunch of bullshit. While chronic illness is up, tobacco use is down. Physical activity is either the same or slightly better due to emphasis on the importance over the last few decades. Alcohol consumption is also down.
Smoking is down. http://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Annual-adult-per-capita-cigarette-consumption-and-major-smoking-and-health-events-United-States-1900-1998-Hanson-Venturelli-and-Fleckenstein-2009.png
Alcohol consumption is flat to down
So this leaves a couple possibilities: Nutrition, environmental, and/or healthcare. Let’s look at each of these:
Nutrition: Starvation has been in a decline over the last few decades around the world and over-eating has become more of an issue than undereating. So if rise in chronic disease is due to nutrition it would be either from over-eating and/or consuming food that is bad for us. Since over-eating is such an epidemic and is directly related to many of the diseases, this is definitely an issue. However, people are not more wealthy than previous decades so what is causing over-eating? I wouldn’t think people “want” to over-eat so I would tend to believe that if nutrition is the main cause, then it’s because the FOOD is BAD for us and causing us to eat more than we should. We’ll come back to this after we discuss the other possibilities.
Environmental: If the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat are bad for us, then this would definitely increase chronic disease. Environment and nutrition would also be closely linked because if the food we eat such as plants and animals are consuming bad air, water and nutrients that would filter down to us when we consume that food.
Healthcare: This is a touchy subject. On one hand healthcare has improved life expectancy mainly due to trauma care, antibiotics and vaccines. I also include animal and plant healthcare in this category due to the use of antibiotics and vaccines for the health of the animals we eat. Glyphosate, commonly called Round-up, is used in abundance throughout the world and is also considered an antibiotic and has been patented as such. Glyphosate antibiotics do kill bad weeds and germs, but they equally kill the good and just like other antibiotics the benefits keep diminishing over time since the weeds adapt.
Pharmaceutical use has been growing as fast as chronic disease however it’s hard to find data on this subject. Best we can do is look at the stock charts of the Pharma Index. This looks like it has high correlation to chronic disease increase.
The microbiome in our gut has been getting significant awareness in the past few years. We now realize that we have about the same number of microorganisms in our body as we have human cells. There is an uncanny resemblance between the microorganisms in our soil and our gut. Even though our gut is “inside” our body it’s really the interface between the outside and our real insides, thus we are more like a donut with the donut hole being our gut. Everything we eat comes from the soil and the water. Even the animals we eat are eating plants and fish from the soil and water.
If we destroy our soil and water through antibiotics such as Glyphosate, we are diminishing the beneficial organisms that our species has relied on for thousands of years. So, my conclusion is:
OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS SUCH AS GLYPHOSATE AND THOSE USED ON FEED ANIMALS IS KILLING US.
There are obviously times when we need antibiotics, however the overuse of antibiotics to kill weeds, grow feed animals, and over-prescribed is leading to an increase in chronic disease and has reversed the increase in life expectancy.
If you want to improve your chance against covid and future viruses and diseases, grow your own food without chemicals and pesticides and purchase only organic and natural foods. Ten’s of thousands of years of human evolution is smarter than science in this area IMHO. | https://medium.com/@truer/pandemic-of-chronic-disease-fab69ceb45e1 | ['Mark Stair'] | 2020-12-23 19:40:21.860000+00:00 | ['Glyphosate', 'Antibiotics', 'Organic', 'Agriculture', 'Chronic Illness'] |
For As Long As They Could | Photo by Todd Trapani on Unsplash
How The Desire for Self-Actualized Technology Will Ultimately Drive Humanity Into Becoming Less Human
As you’re reading this, know that some of you may have already given your technology choices the power to distract your mind, reduce your attention span, and the perfect amount of permission to be less interested and more inattentive to the things around you. Even worse, some of you may have also given your technology choices the authority to leave you as the last person standing on life’s stage, the last to know and yes, the only person in the room wondering what just happened to your productivity. Some of you are also finding out that in this exact moment, the sweet sensation from that vibration, blip, or bleep from one of your million notifications will always emanate like a sweet monstrous Siren from your phone’s speaker.
Yes, you. The one walking into oncoming traffic staring at your screen wondering what’s up with Kanye this week.
Listen.
We’re becoming more and more distracted due to technology’s tight grip. This notion of — as you may already know — is clearly not rocket science. Numerous studies have shown that not only are we in downward spiral relative to our dwindling attention span, but we’re close to becoming our own worst enemy even as we try to find a viable solution space out of this digital darkness. Moreover, it doesn’t take a PhD in neuroscience or yet another clinical research study to understand that the long-term effects of being so distracted reduces our ability to truly live out our best lives, particularly as we try to master impactful, connected relationships with one another.
COVID-19 enters the chat room.
Damn.
So, what’s the point you ask?
Netflix’s show The Social Dilemma and others are simply repeating the same narrative that we’re somehow (and perhaps always have been) just another product and data point of every search, hover space, or double-click of the mouse. Every suggestion whether it be from YouTube, Facebook, or other social platforms is programmed with multiple layers of advertisements and creepy-crawly underground links, that the hours and hours we spend in screen time ultimately become our own damn fault; a self-driven prophecy of sorts because we have been continually warned by Cybersecurity profession ad nauseam about this impending distraction. Again, who wouldn’t want the freedom in having the world of information sourcing at our fingertips? Who wouldn’t want to have all of life’s FAQs within a swipe of a button or the click of the mouse?
We authorized it. We let it control us from the beginning.
For as long as we could.
Essentially, we let those digital creepy-crawlies into our humanity because from the outside, they looked pretty, seductive, and revealing. We allowed this disaster to happen in plain sight, and without the clarity of common sense until it was too late because everyone, I mean everyone reads the terms and conditions of all of the applications they install right? This dichotomy is the perfect balance in how technology connects, divides, distracts, and polarizes us in the same vein. What is worse is that this digital nakedness is fine for most of us, lingering between what is convenient versus what is needed. As cyber security professionals, we never forget that there are always three fingers pointing back at us as we indiscriminately point at every person who puts a password on a sticky note within arm’s reach of their desk.
See, we have to kick the digital jar loose together folks. We have to start seeing data as a living and breathing digital process. Further, we have to understand that perhaps that human things that we ignore today for sake of the digital things of tomorrow, will in turn ignore us as those digital things start to see themselves over the human things.
Do what now?
In other words, particularly during these COVID-19 times, where the randomness of blips and flickers of light from our phones have become a welcoming sound because the lack of physical connection points. We have come to a new understanding in how we connect, especially when the fear of leaving our homes is a true and realistic fear of dying. Even the sunniest and most beautiful of days have driven themselves to a nice comfortable deep-dive into the abyss of TikTok videos inside of our home protected on the couch. Even the social and political ramblings from your best set of “friends” on Facebook about things that would have neither captured your heart or attention before, are now being considered a safe space in between your work Zoom calls and your kid’s science project discussion.
We’ve arrived at a perfect social balance of wonderful and disgusting.
It’s 10pm. Do you know where your children are?
I’m sure Instagram and a few other sites know.
Look.
If this concept of a digital takeover doesn’t shake up your insides, know that when the digital dust has finally cleared, our major concern will most likely not be about the human vs technology impact from a biological or physical perspective, but rather from an emotional and connection perspective. We have to redefine our why when it comes to our seductive relationship within this digital fortress.
How might you refine this for yourself?
We have to let ourselves be seen by each other through awakened human eyes, and value this connection over anything digitally-driven.
So, I ask again — as it is now 11pm. Do you know where your children are?
Michael Davis is the current CEO and Founder of Merek Security Solutions (Merek.io), which is a data privacy and protection Cybersecurity firm that focuses on cognitive behavior relative to mindfulness and technology. A 22-year United States Navy veteran, Michael has worked in the Cybersecurity and Information Security field with IBM, Boeing, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to name a few before starting his own technology mindfulness company. His firm is located in Santa Fe, NM. | https://medium.com/an-injustice/for-as-long-as-they-could-6163eb42050 | ['Michael Davis'] | 2020-11-13 03:04:35.861000+00:00 | ['Cybersecurity', 'Mindfulness', 'Humanity', 'Social Media', 'Technology'] |
Xenoblade Chronicles X Was the Mech Game I Always Wanted | Xenoblade Chronicles X Was the Mech Game I Always Wanted
Incredible mech action in an alien world
In late 2012, Nintendo released the ill-fated Wii U. Successor to the massively successful Wii, the Wii U continued Nintendo’s approach to fun and innovation by introducing a very unconventional controller alongside its superior online capabilities and fully backwards compatible features. While the Wii U (to this day) has one of the best virtual consoles available for any Nintendo system, its weak game lineup and extremely limited third party support eventually killed the system by 2017, giving it an extremely short lifespan for a home console.
My siblings and I picked up our Wii U for one reason: the Wind Waker remaster. We saved up and waited for the special edition console to drop, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing through one of my favorite Zelda titles with the Wii U’s unique controller. Despite the brief fun we had with a smattering of the console’s games, it wasn’t until the eagerly awaited release of Xenoblade Chronicles X that I felt like the Wii U had finally found its redeeming quality.
A spiritual successor to the Wii’s Xenoblade Chronicles, XCX explored a different route compared to its predecessor. Executive director Tetsuya Takahashi (famed for Xenogears, Xenosaga, and work on Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI) wrote the scenario for XCX but left the bulk of both design and direction to his new team at Monolith Soft, who had recently been acquired under the Nintendo banner. The creative freedom that Monolith has enjoyed under Nintendo — compared to the restrictive nature of design they suffered at Namco — led to this unique, fresh take on both the open-world RPG and mech combat.
The design and size of the alien planet in XCX was impressive to me from the jump, with the sheer size of the game immediately apparent when paired with the draw distance of far away mountains and kaiju-esque alien creatures. At 400 square kilometers across five distinct continents, the game’s actual scope is intimidating. Mira’s design was creative, ethereal, and inarguably alien. There is an almost naturepunk aspect to the flora and fauna of the world’s indigenous design and gigantic layout. In order for the Wii U to run this massive game, they released free “data packs” that could be downloaded to drastically reduce load time. This made the file size of the game massive, and it needed a secondary memory card to comfortably hold it.
XCX took a refreshing approach to its progress by hiding the mechs behind the first thirty hours of gameplay, tasking the players with several quest lines that culminated in the hard-earned (and extremely desired) mechs, called SKELLs in-game. After gaining access to your first SKELL, the game allows your to further create additional mechs and then fully customize them from both an aesthetic and weapons perspective. Taking to the skies with an entire party of SKELL units for the first time is an elating experience, and only the first step on the road to eventually fighting horizon-spanning tyrants.
While the story is sparse for a Tetsuya Takahashi title, the world building of XCX is immensely satisfying. Your player-created protagonist works under the designation of the BLADEs, fulfilling requests for the citizens and government of New Los Angeles as they attempt to create a habitable home upon this hostile alien planet. Humankind has left Earth (a Takahashi staple) and after being thrown out among the stars, now exists among the indigenous network of plants and animals that comprise their new alien home of Mira. The roles and tasks fulfilled throughout NLA allow the player to not only watch the BLADEs grow, but also craft an entire team of SKELL mechs that can explore the entire planet and length, eventually taking to the skies to explore far-off dangers.
Xenoblade Chronicles X utilized the Wii U GamePad in such a creatively refreshing way that it was a massive disappointment to me when the generation came and went and no other developer took pains for equivalent design. While handling simple functions such as combat control and the map layout, the GamePad touch screen also served as the resource management system for each of the planet’s continents. Separated into hexagonal zones, the FrontierNav allowed the player to mine for minerals, materials, and fuel by placing together chains of mining probes. These probes net material gains in real time, and there are bonuses in planting your probes in new orders to create better chains.
Combat was a blast in XCX, designed similarly to the party combat in Xenoblade Chronicles. Where the combat excelled was in the mix of both melee and ranged combat, and how the interaction between classes and buffs created extremely unique party builds that the player could utilize across their conquest of the planet. On top of which, the SKELL combat was its own unique separate entity from the on-foot combat and exploration, and there was reason to make sure both your party and SKELL unites were properly equipped and customized. Enemies (especially the kaiju-sized foes) had appendages that could be targeted and destroyed, altering the layout of combat. The larger the enemy, the more likely that you would need your SKELL to fight it in combat, regardless of its level relation to your party. | https://medium.com/super-jump/xenoblade-chronicles-x-was-the-mech-game-i-always-wanted-fa674cc99cbf | ['Brandon R. Chinn'] | 2020-12-05 10:50:14.858000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Science Fiction', 'Art', 'Culture', 'Videogames'] |
Why Failing Orchestras Are the Problem of Every American | In America, classical music audiences and orchestras seem to be falling like dominoes. The mood is tense and the forecast is dismal. An erosive force, continual and subtle, is eating away the core of a cultural institution. You may have heard this story before: classical music is in decline, music education is so important, but why should you care? Failing orchestras create severe economic, social, and cultural repercussions for our nation as a whole. This is very much your problem.
Orchestras are more than just organizations that perform music. They have a direct impact on local economies. They increase tourism and raise the status of a city. Many of the musicians in orchestras are also teachers, who are actively training students in the community. When orchestras fail, high caliber musicians are more likely to look for work in other cities. Music education leads to a fuller development of the brain, which leads to increased math and science scores. This leads to more engineers, scientists, and innovators. At a time when America is getting its ass kicked in math and science, music education should be more of a priority now than ever for the sheer sake of global competitive advantage.
The musicians who make up an orchestra are highly trained individuals who have devoted their lives to musical excellence. They achieve this level of mastery through hard work and discipline that begins at a young age. When you attend a live concert, there are no auto tuners or speakers. The margin of error is slim, as there are no effects that can save or distract an audience from mistakes. It is an organic experience. Such an experience should always have value in a society that is built upon work ethic and determination.
It’s illogical not to give classical music a try. Hollywood makes a lot of terrible movies but rarely do we say we will never watch a movie again if we do not enjoy it. The classical repertoire is vast, and to say you don’t like classical music means that you simply haven’t found something you liked. For some reason, when it comes to classical music, we don’t look past the same faults that exist in popular mediums. More and more orchestras are making major changes to their programs to attract new audiences. They are trying. We should meet them halfway.
If we only support the things that have the most marketing money thrown at them, we have already lost our freedom of opinion. If we only support the things that satisfy us now and are not good for our future, we have already lost our sense of direction. And if we only support the things that are new, then we have lost all the wisdom that has been preserved over the ages.
In order to avoid the fate of fallen empires, we must recognize the things that are beneficial to our society and we must fight for them.
The story of classical music is a story about the pursuit of excellence through hard work and determination, it’s the preservation of a diverse, yet universal language, and it’s the celebration of the freedom of self-expression.
If that’s not American, I don’t know what is. | https://theculturemonster.medium.com/why-failing-orchestras-are-the-problem-of-every-american-a929f1397dd5 | ['David Donnelly'] | 2019-11-11 04:08:53.445000+00:00 | ['Orchestra', 'Arts And Culture', 'Nonprofit', 'Music Education', 'Classical Music'] |
Unicorn Startup Companies Founded During a Recession | Animation by Aslan Almukhambetov
The global recession is a turbulence time for all businesses. We have used to be afraid of scenarios that may play out during and after the financial downturn. Sources define this period as “a significant decline in economic activity, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in the real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales.”
But, what if I’d say that the most iconic unicorns have been started during the recession?
Apple, Mailchimp, Slack, WhatsApp, Microsoft, Pinterest, General Motors, CNN, IBM, Uber, Groupon, Instagram, and more. The history of big brands founded during a recession may be enriched with new startups today. It’s a high time for entrepreneurs to honestly ask themselves whether COVID-19 is a startup disaster or a boost to innovate?
“Many of today’s unicorns have been founded or built during recessions or downturns — resource scarcity can be a source of creativity and pivoting” — Inka Mero, Founder and Managing Partner at Voima Ventures.
Microsoft (1975)
In the early 1970-s, the USA experienced a hard and long-lasting economic depression (16 months). At that time, the GDP got its worst position for the next few decades. However, it sounded like a perfect time to start a company for two college dropouts who created the concept of free, easy, and enjoyable home and office computing.
Credit to The Associated Press
Bill Gates and Paul Allen have shown the world that even the darkest times in the global economy aren’t the limitation for emerging technologies that enter the market and disrupt industries with its brilliant innovations. Their development promised to eliminate the highest boundaries for many businesses worldwide, and it helped Microsoft to grow into one of the most successful and authoritative companies in the world.
Apple (1975, 2001)
Apple was founded much earlier during another recession in 1975. However, the Apple we know today literally gained the second birth during the dot-com bubble in 2001. That financial crash infected many businesses with fear and paralyzed their processes. However, there were also those who took a different approach and started working harder, investing more, and launch new products.
Despite all the challenges arisen during the tech bubble, Steve Jobs started building Apple’s next iconic music player — iPod. Its name was inspired by the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey.” After the only one year of development, iPod was launched in October 2001 and become the technology hit that allowed millions of people around the world to put “one thousand in your pocket.” It also paved the way for iPad and iPhone, helping to re-establish Apple as the most successful consumer electronics brand of that time and today.
“We believe in investing during downturns.” — Tim Cook, Apple’s former COO and current CEO.
Mailchimp (2009)
Mailchimp is also familiar with how it feels to survive and drastically innovate during financial downturns. This world-famous company has also been transformed during the global economic crisis.
Mailchimp was initially focused on serving solely big enterprise clients with yearly retainers. However, the Great Recession during 2008–2009 dictated new rules, and the company was forced to rethink its business model entirely. Mailchimp’s great decision was to add a freemium business in 2009. That change brought incredible results — with only one year, Mailchimp’s user base had grown up from 85,000 to 450,000.
Groupon (2008)
Groupon was founded during the Great Recession in 2008. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that it was the most severe economic and financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
At that time, Andrew Mason created a website that promoted other businesses by offering deals on their services and products to customers. It was Groupon.
The hard economic times weren’t the obstacle for Andrew Mason to found a company that was able to deliver the highest-quality and great-performing marketing for businesses worldwide and help them bring the communication with their customers to the next level. With its product discoveries, discounts, and ultra-creative approaches to everything, Groupon showed companies a new way to introduce their products to customers.
“In times of market uncertainty, technology companies that provide efficiency, cost-savings and transparent value to all parties are the ones that thrive,” — Stephen George, who was one of Groupon’s first five employees in 2008.
Slack (2009)
Slack has become one of the most famous work messaging apps, especially today, during the Coronavirus crisis, when everybody is working from home now. But, did you know that it was founded during the economic crisis too?
The Great Recession (2009) was a great time for Stewart Butterfield to build a new business communication platform. Slack has literally become a magic wand for many businesses today.
“In some senses, we were made for this. Slack’s not specifically a “work from home” tool; it’s more of a “create organizational agility” tool. But an all-at-once transition to remote work creates a lot of demand for organizational agility.” — Stewart Butterfield
Conclusion
Are you still thinking that a recession means the death of startups by default? I wouldn’t be so sure about this… The global economic crisis is a challenging time for each and every one. However, it may also be a perfect time for those who are ready to rethink their business models, incorporate innovations in their processes and approaches, listen to what their customers need right now, and continue to implement their big ideas delivering new amazing products and services.
Stand up and stand out! | https://medium.com/fireart-studio/unicorn-startup-companies-founded-during-a-recession-64af7d7af92b | ['Dana Kachan'] | 2020-04-23 03:56:56.706000+00:00 | ['Recession', 'Covid 19', 'Unicorns', 'Startup Lessons', 'Startup'] |
Case Study: A landing page redesign | A brief UX case study for Step-Ng
STEP is a Technology company focused on leveraging Technology to build solutions that solve the current challenges common to the everyday African. Their website is here.
In my opinion, the website looks good, visually, and I must commend Step for offering a solution that could certainly go a long way to ease some of the pains being faced by public transport users in Nigeria; particularly in a city like Lagos with a poorly developed transportation system.
I’ll go straight to pointing out the few UX problems I noticed.
Looking at the website welcome page, at first glance, it is not clear to a prospective user what service or purpose the website renders. It says “beat the queue” and prominently displays a drop down bar prompting the user to “buy your next ticket”. Seeing this, I immediately assumed it was a transportation booking site, where users could book a seat for interstate bus travel, for instance.
I had to read the FAQs and watch the instructive video to find out what product Step actually offers. In summary, Step allows users do the following:
1. Buy transport tickets on the go using a USSD code *5100# (so it primarily serves as a payments platform).
2. Access transport loans to pay for their transport fare if they run out of cash on the go.
3. Access micro-insurance to guard against road accidents.
4. Create a Step profile and acquire a Step transport card which will enable users purchase transport tickets faster on the STEP Platform at their service terminals.
In light of this, I have made the following assumptions:
1. The target users are those who regularly use public transport. I have drawn this inference because the platform is primarily USSD and does not require internet connection… although it appears that Step also has a mobile application (unfortunately, I don’t have an android device to download the app, and it’s not available on iOS so I was not able to investigate this further)
2. Step is at its introductory/pre-growth phase in the product lifecycle and thus, would be aiming to acquire as many customers as possible. In view of this, I concluded that the most important thing Step would want a prospective user to do when s/he visits their site is to get the user to register on their platform (creating a “Step profile” via web or by downloading the app.
This is the original
Bearing all this in mind while working on the landing page redesign, I felt it was necessary to have the USSD code *5100# placed prominently on the landing page, so that the first thing a prospective user sees is the USSD code. I then made sure to include a clear and direct Call To Action (CTA) inviting the customer to “Create a Step Profile”, and giving reasons for this by stating that if the user purchases their transport tickets via Step, “they’ll never have to queue again”.
I also added a floating button to the bottom right of the screen inviting the customer to “buy a ticket”, this will enable users purchase a ticket on the website, without being the primary aim of the landing page.
A notable point
When I followed the steps to purchase a ferry ticket (using the drop down bar on the home page), I was asked to input my mobile number, but it appears this amounted to being registered on the website even though it wasn’t actually clearly stated that I was expected to register; this is clearly bad UX, as I was not informed that by simply inputting my phone number to purchase a ticket, my details would be registered on the site.
Solution: Users should be asked whether they would like to purchase the ticket as guests or if they would like to create a profile by saving their details.
Bonus: The welcome email
Another UX problem I encountered is in the welcome email that was sent after I was inadvertently registered on the site. The email simply said:
“Thank you for successfully registering on STEP. You can now buy tickets for ferries, buses and rails.”
While this may (grudgingly) suffice in welcoming the user, it does not do anything to immerse the user or invite them into using the platform.
In my opinion, a better designed welcome email will do the following:
1. Welcome the user and thank him for joining the platform
2. Give a clear CTA inviting the customer to use the platform
3. Offer some incentive for the user to use the product (e.g. a first-time user discount)
4. Reiterate what solutions the platform provides (e.g. by telling the customer how to purchase a Step card where the Step Kiosks are located in his city or give the details of the nearest agent to his location.)
5. State the unique selling point of the product
In all, it is known that a well designed product will either remove a user’s pain or provide pleasure; and in this instance, the pains Step aims to alleviate are:
a. Users being forced to rush to a bus stop in order to beat the queue.
b. Users having to look for change when buying transport tickets
c. Users having to spend a long amount of time queuing to pay for their transport tickets
Kudos to Step for developing a product which promises such positive impact.
Thank you for reading!
P.s. I’m looking for a great product design role where I can put my UX skills to use on a user-centered product. If you feel we might be able to work together on something awesome please shoot me an email via my website. | https://medium.com/@iwalola/case-study-a-landing-page-redesign-d1e9758bd926 | ['Iwalola Sobowale'] | 2020-12-23 11:09:47.731000+00:00 | ['UX Design', 'Case Study', 'Web Design', 'UX', 'Website'] |
Reliable Message Delivery Using Transactional Outbox Pattern | In a distributed environment, communication is the key, and failure in communication is not so uncommon. How do we deliver a message reliably and consistently. Let’s Begin.
The Problem
For almost all transactions happening on our website, we do a fraud check(Your money is safe with us). This fraud check operation can result in one of the three states — ACCEPTED, REJECTED or PENDING_REVIEW. PENDING_REVIEW cases require a human intervention, i.e. someone from operations has to go to their dashboard and do ACCEPT/REJECT, this triggers a callback to our Payments system and has to be propagated aptly to the downstream systems. The solution we are using(a very well-known one in its space) has a limitation that it will only invoke this callback once*. So, if any issues arise while processing this callback, it will result in order failure. Also, We need to be sure that this processing and the propagation(through events) to downstream systems happen consistently and atomically**.
This problem is a perfect use-case for Transactional Outbox Pattern.
What is it?
In this pattern, instead of directly writing to the desired table, we first put an entry in an outbox table, we store the payload we get in callback, as is, and mark it as pending, then a worker(we wrote a cron job) reads these entries in batches, then these batches are processed sequentially.For a record in a batch, we write to our original table first and then try to publish the message. If there’s an error in publishing message, we immediately rollback our write. If everything goes well, we process the next record in the current batch and mark this record as processed. The following diagram illustrates it.
Diagram might look daunting, however, it is fairly simple to implement, and it comes with tonnes of advantages.
Pros
Before we do any processing, we save the callback as is. This solves our first problem(marked as *) as we can always read the payload in case of exceptions. This enables us to replay messages at a later point in time. This is a huge advantage. This ensures, that we are delivering our messages consistently and atomically.
Conclusion
Microservice architecture comes with many benefits, however they also create multiple points of failure. Transactional Outbox pattern minimises the chances of failure and ensures the atomicity of the operation at same time. | https://medium.com/@chandelabhishek/reliable-message-delivery-using-transactional-outbox-pattern-9f2490580dda | ['Abhishek Chandel'] | 2020-12-27 06:57:26.220000+00:00 | ['Microservices', 'Distributed Systems', 'Transactional Outbox', 'Design Patterns'] |
Why Language is Critical to Advancing DEI in the Nonprofit Sector | By Moira Fratantuono and Keiona Gorham
Tools like youth-produced Tests That Measure Films & TV Shows for Diversity and Representation urge us to think differently about who tells our stories, how they’re told and which voices to elevate.
A Future So Colorful — coined by our student Shahmeer Mirza, this phrase embodies a world rich with diverse narratives woven into its social fabric, abundant with equitable opportunities for young creatives to pursue their passion. In the nonprofit sector, we dream of an egalitarian society, but how do we get there? How do we translate our desire for a better future into impactful diversity, equity and inclusion work?
The pursuit of becoming an antiracist organization is a long-term commitment that involves on-going energy, attention, and effort; particularly for organizations like Wide Angle Youth Media that are “white-led” serving a largely BIPOC community of students. (Notably, 80% of nonprofits across the country have white leadership — an ongoing issue within the sector that we want to name. Building Movement Project). It is due to this awareness of the need for further antiracist education, internal policies, and continued self-evaluation that we decided to deepen our work by addressing our language, specifically investigating our word selection and collective definitions.
As a youth media organization, we believe that the narratives our society upholds and which voices it amplifies matter. They shape our collective identity and give fundamental context to who we are. The words we use to tell those stories are just as important. In the nonprofit sector, we communicate with donors, foundations, government agencies, partner organizations and policy makers to paint a picture of our accomplishments, value proposition, and theory of change. Language is power — it can ignite crucial conversations within and about the sector, but only if we choose our words with intention.
This summer, we researched best practices for integrating racial justice into organizational communications, and were inspired by Prosper Strategies, Sum of Us’s A Progressive’s Style Guide, and the YWCA’s Our Shared Language Glossary. Our team conducted a social media and communications audit involving feedback from youth participants, current staff and its Marketing and Communications volunteer committee to determine how to strengthen constituent ownership of external communications (youth voice) and increase diversity, equity and inclusion in its communications strategy. Leadership recognized that a key step to move beyond internal circular conversations was to clarify our commonly used language, build mutual understanding and bridge the different lived experiences of staff, students, board members, and supporters. In the words of Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA), “Shared definitions are crucial to productive conversations. Most of us have been taught ambiguous or even incorrect meanings of the terms we use to talk about inequity.”
“For me (a white woman), this year has been one of learning, unlearning, listening, critical self-reflection and reconciling difficult truths. Trainings I’ve attended, particularly those organized by Grow Charity Events, Nonprofit AF, and Community Centric Fundraising, have deepened my commitment to anti-racism and opened up new possibilities to understand and confront the complex relationships between wealth, race, historical oppression, white supremacy, access, and philanthropy. We are, individually and collectively, a work in progress, and we are dedicated to sowing the seeds of progress.” -Moira Fratantuono, Development & Communications Director, Wide Angle Youth Media
Amplify and youth voice (concepts core to our mission), as well as critical concepts like power, allyship, white supremacy and antiracist required clarification to ensure that all stakeholders could embark on the journey of dismantling oppression and actualizing our mission together. Under the skillful guidance of Dena Robinson, J.D., (Radical Roots Consulting and former Wide Angle DEI Facilitator), this fall, staff began to identify, deconstruct and define its shared language. In the coming weeks, we will refine and publish a glossary on our website. The final glossary will be a living document, revisited and edited as needed. With this tool, we have the opportunity to own our narrative, and also educate others on how damaging, coded phrases like youth at risk — a term still frequently used within philanthropy (and society at large) — uphold systemic oppressions, while also offering alternatives, such as youth from historically oppressed communities.
“Our current work is by no means the end-all. We are clear in the fact that we have a long way to go in dismantling systemic and structural racism as an organization but also celebrate how far we have come as well. Dena’s leadership and facilitation in this work was critical in highlighting the areas of opportunity for continued organizational and leadership development in the space of racial equity.” -Keiona Gorham, Program Director, Wide Angle Youth Media
We hope that this step, combined with a wider range of equity initiatives (increasing transparency with staff and stakeholders, establishing a COVID-19 Flex Policy, expanding part-time staff benefits, management training with Ted Capshaw & Associates to create better HR orientation and clarify hiring practices, developing a teleworking work from home stipend for all staff, expanding a youth Emergency Fund, creating racial justice resources on our website, and taking steps towards pay equity), will help us continue to make progress towards that Future So Colorful. As we look to a new year, we ask, “What words do you want your organization to define for itself? Would embarking on a similar effort in your organization take us one step closer towards the new tomorrow that our students envision?” | https://medium.com/@wideangleyouthmedia/why-language-is-critical-in-the-nonprofit-sector-92f5c139606d | ['Wide Angle Youth Media'] | 2020-12-17 22:21:14.363000+00:00 | ['Media Literacy', 'Diversity And Inclusion', 'Racial Justice', 'Non Profit Organization'] |
Leadership — Succession Planning and Philanthropy | I have been fortunate enough to have a successful career as a change agent. I leverage my experience of navigating the world with Cerebral Palsy — a world that was not yet ready to deal with a person with a disability — to help companies deal with their disability: their inability to change from the status quo.
My ted talk helping organizations deal with their disability — the inability to change from the status quo.
Succession planning for organizations is usually focused within the organization. How are we going to identify and mentor people within our organization to fill critical roles after the current ones move on?
We need to think of succession planning beyond the 4 walls of our organizations. We need to look at how to make the world a better place for people before they even join our organization. Between birth and employment, a wide variety of different types of barriers exist for many people. Barriers to education, barriers to access. How can we get ahead of it? Get involved sooner.
Last week, I had the incredible fortune to return to my hometown of Windsor, Ontario. This was my opportunity to give back and invest in the community, to mentor, and serve as a role model. In the morning, I presented at the John McGivney Children’s Centre (JMCC) to parents of disabled children, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Educators, and Executives on what I have been doing as a professional with Cerebral Palsy. I am very proud to be an alumnus of JMCC. They supported my parents, and me as a child, to prepare me to have the necessary skills to begin a journey of struggle as I progressed in my life.
Invest in Diversity
The John McGivney Children’s Centre is such a vital place that can enable hope, independence, and social innovation, to empower disabled children and adults to lead productive lives. However, they are struggling with budget cuts that limit or remove much-needed services to make this happen. Without JMCC, my story would have never been written. A story that has helped companies leverage my unique experience into a competitive advantage. We need to invest today in the tools we need for success tomorrow.
Organizations like these could really benefit from the support of volunteers from the private sector. Leaders that are used to competing for budgets and presenting new funding models for investment could make a massive difference to their cause. In the private sector, we invest in incubators and startups for new technology innovations; we invest in university programs. Starting earlier in the funnel would help develop these pools of talent to ensure we have a steady supply of talent with unique perspectives. We all say we want a more diverse workforce, and all hiring managers know that in our globally competitive landscape, we have a growing skills & experience shortage. Investing in organizations like the JMCC grows a diverse pool of talented workers right here at home.
Me and Kevin
That morning, I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin McShan. He is a young professional with Cerebral Palsy connecting businesses with employable disabled candidates for a win-win situation. In his role as an ambassador for the Discover Ability Network, he relentlessly travels around Essex county to drive awareness and enable disabled people to enter the workforce. This not only provides the benefit of independence for the talented person with a disability to earn a living, but it also gives the benefit of an employer looking for talent with a diverse perspective.
Build the Pipeline
In the evening I had the pleasure to keynote the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy Gala. I have spoken countless times on leadership, organizational change, and innovation, but never exclusively on Cerebral Palsy. It was incredibly emotional to have so many people in attendance who played a crucial role in my life. My message was Inclusion is Hope. We cannot stop at just having people with cerebral palsy present in society, we have to make sure we build a world where they can be supported to actually belong.
Me and Colin
At the Gala, I met a young man named Colin. Colin is 6 years old. He wants to be a police officer when he grows up. Impossible? Maybe today. Who knows what the future will bring in adaptive technology, innovation, and new roles in law enforcement. I was told that I would never accomplish many of the things I have done today. Like having a career, wife, and travelling the world. Today’s barriers are tomorrow’s opportunities. I look forward to Colin arresting me one day.
Broaden Your Horizons
By contributing to organizations like JMCC and the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy, not only do you have an opportunity to mentor people before they are even ready for employment, but you also get exposed to new leadership talent from unexpected places. Sheila, Colin’s mom, started the CP Gala in Windsor only four years ago. She was determined to build awareness, support, and opportunity for all people impacted by Cerebral Palsy in the whole region. In this role, she has led a growing group of volunteers that are growing awareness year over year. There’s a lot of competition for this type of leader. Serving philanthropic causes allows you to access this talent that would otherwise be missed.
I would like to leave you with 3 things:
Get involved with a philanthropic cause that matters to you. Your talent and experience can have an outsized impact on organizations that otherwise would not have the means to get access to that talent. For philanthropic causes that work with youth from diverse backgrounds, mentor them, and give them the support to help them through the unique barriers they face. This plants the seeds for employable diverse talent in the future. This also exposes you to hidden employment talent that you would not have connected with in your current network or normal talent pools. Giving to philanthropic causes helps develop and grow empathy. Great leaders use empathy to establish authentic connections and enable possibility.
Every keystroke is precious so I will end here.
Watch my video below.
Lead how you would like to be led.
Dave
Twitter: @DDame
www.davedame.com
LinkedIn Profile
Medium — https://medium.com/dave-dame | https://medium.com/dave-dame/leadership-succession-planning-and-philanthropy-89798fb09b82 | ['Dave Dame'] | 2019-03-25 14:02:50.124000+00:00 | ['Disability', 'Mentoring', 'Inclusion', 'Leadership', 'Philanthropy'] |
Merge Those Deals and Improve Your Bitrix24 Efficiency | It is always a good sign for your business if you have more than one deal with a particular customer. After all, only a customer who enjoys your services will call your customer service agents for more information even after contacting you on your website.
However, while multiple interactions with a particular customer may mean well for your sales, it will backbreaking for your CRM. You and your team will have to deal with accessing each deal separately during each interaction with that customer. The purpose of using a CRM system may also get defeated in the process. But don’t lose faith, there’s is a way around this seeming roadblock. That way is simply merging your deals.
Merging deals with your customers is one quick way to eliminate the complexities that come with duplicate entries. Your business stands to benefit in the following ways when you constantly merge deals with each one of your customers.
Eliminate CRM Complexities
Surely, you understand how unpleasant it can be to keep a customer waiting over the phone just so you can fetch all their transaction details from different deals. You may even lose such customers if the waiting becomes consistent, as they may perceive that your business lacks a proper structure for record-keeping.
But when you merge all the deals with one customer, you have them in one place and save yourself the stress of rummaging your CRM for transaction data with such a customer.
Improved User Experience
Your CRM will be easier to navigate when each customer’s data is in one place. You, as a project manager, and your team members will be able to get tasks and projects completed smoothly.
Easier Reporting
Merged customer deals do not only improve your CRM’s user experience but also make reporting relatively easier. Reporting plays a major role in the progress of every business as inaccurate reporting can greatly impede growth and tamper with your decision-making tools.
Eliminates Dual Input Errors
When you import a deal with a particular customer from other systems to your CRM, merging becomes the best option for such entry. Any attempt to manually enter the imported deal into your CRM system may result in errors that can cost you time, business resources, and even the deal itself.
Hence, in this illustration, we’ll show you how IT-Sputnik merges deals for our clients who import customer data from their 1C accounting system. This client created an invoice in 1C, and this triggered the creation of another deal in Bitrix24. So, we had to combine the two deals without erasing their history from the open channel.
Upon creating the invoice in 1C, our client discovered that he had one lead in ‘preparation document’ stage and another in ‘invoice’ stage.
2. To merge these deals, we simply select the two deals and then select ‘merge’.
3. As soon as the successful merging notification shows, the two deals become one.
4. You can also see that the history of the two deals has also been merged so that managers can always have access to them.
Do you still need us to help make your CRM a flawless tool in your business? Don’t hesitate to contact us today!
You can also watch the full video of this illustration below.
Contact us today!
email: [email protected]
web-site: www.it-sputnik.pro
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/Itsputnik.bitrix24
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCXf8483CbMOiB2RT0uld2iA
Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69762422/ | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/merge-those-deals-and-improve-your-bitrix24-efficiency-52bf237f1346 | [] | 2021-06-08 23:30:30.581000+00:00 | ['CRM', 'Bitrix24', 'Efficiency', 'Software', 'Crm Software'] |
Weekly Digest: Instant Cashouts To Card, CPO Livestream & USDC | Ready, steady, go!
Cryptocurrencies are great. They are secure, fast and reliable. But there is one thing most of them are still lacking: stability. That’s precisely why we’ve added support for USD Coin (USDC) — one of the world’s most popular and trusted stablecoins. This digital currency is pegged to the U.S. dollar, allowing you to fix profits, reduce your downside risk exposure & more!
Learn more
About Crypterium
Crypterium is one of the most promising fintech companies, according to KPMG and H2Ventures. We are building a mobile app that meets the banking needs of the digital assets era.
Our goal is clear: with Crypterium, whatever you can do with traditional money you will able to do with digital assets. This idea is supported, among others, by the co-founder of TechCrunch Keith Teare and over 400,000 registered users, and the number is growing by day.
The team is led by former General Manager of Visa Central & Eastern Europe Steven Parker, and C-level executives from global financial institutions, like Renaissance Insurance, London Derivatives Exchange, American Express etc.
Join our Telegram news channel or other social media to stay updated!
Website ๏ Telegram ๏ Facebook ๏ Twitter ๏ Reddit ๏ YouTube ๏ LinkedIn | https://medium.com/crypterium/weekly-digest-instant-cashouts-to-card-cpo-livestream-usdc-92fed6188dcc | [] | 2019-05-25 11:31:00.892000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Finance', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
Thought Plagiarism and How It Threatens Creative Platforms | Thought Plagiarism and How It Threatens Creative Platforms
When does copying end and the destruction of ideas begin?
Photo by Vinicius Amano on Unsplash
Every platform has its self-seekers — that is, those who try to game the system by milking the creativity of others and doing as little as possible on their end. Money and fame are usually the motivating factors for this.
They are the mimickers, the copiers, the type that ‘steal’ an idea and rework it in a way that rides on the coattails of the originator. They don’t care about attribution. They don’t wait and give the content distance in time. They’ll cash in as quickly and as frequently as possible. This is because to them, the internet is all about free speech.
Sometimes, they’ll go as far as calling it working smarter and not harder — except, the reality is that it’s leaning toward a black hat attempt to get as much money and attention as possible without adding value to the platform that’s paying them.
We’re not talking about those moments of mind-melding experiences where two creators happen to have the exact same idea or thought wave around the same time. It happens. Those moments are often done in isolation and innocence, making the similarities forgivable.
The difference between innocent creators and self-seekers is that the latter will exhibit an identifiable trend. They don’t just have one-offs — they have a history of content that seems too alike to be coincidental.
When enough people do this with money and fame as the main motivator, they drown out the original voices and contribute to the image of sameness on a platform. | https://medium.com/prototyping-a-year/when-people-chasing-after-money-and-fame-turn-platforms-into-trainwrecks-84018439878a | ['Aphinya Dechalert'] | 2019-10-06 14:13:41.508000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Business', 'Creativity', 'Startup', 'Writing'] |
What to Pack for a Hiking Trip? | Hiking is a great way of getting rid of the world’s everyday gouge and other complications…
Planning for a long and safe journey without having an idea of “What to pack for a hiking trip” does not really mean a safe trip.
You’re here because you wanna plan better for your day hiking and obviously, I’m gonna help you a lot. Hope so if not more, then you will learn at least one or two things for sure. So, let’s have a look at your Hiking essentials…
Refreshments;
1. Water
Yeah, you can’t go out without having your bottle filled with water .water is an essential element for life. And all of you know its importance very well. Water makes 70 % of the human body which is more than enough of the total percentage…According to general suggestions, we have to drink half-liter water every hour. But If you go hiking on a sunny and hot day then you may drink 1 liter or more per hour instead of half/ hour…
So, before going anywhere in order to avoid dehydration, firstly you should have to keep water according to your requirement in water bottles. Anyways the best bottle for carrying water is “Life Straw Flex” because its function is not carrying just water but it also purifies the water from parasites, fungi, bacteria, or any type of debris through its specially designed filter apparatus.
As it’s well said :
“ No life without Air, Water, and Food”…
2. FOOD
In refreshments, not only water but the food is also just important as well…
So If you are going for more days, you should take the food along with water, which has more energy, a high carbohydrate percentage, and gives more strength to your body.
My best food picks for hiking involve;
Fresh Fruits , like bananas, apples, pomegranates, pears..Among these, apples and pears are the best because they can stay fresh for a week or two.
, like bananas, apples, pomegranates, pears..Among these, apples and pears are the best because they can stay fresh for a week or two. Energy gels, bars ; are the best fit whenever our energy dwindles because they have a very high percentage of carbohydrates.
; are the best fit whenever our energy dwindles because they have a very high percentage of carbohydrates. Oatmeals : They contain 0 mg of cholesterol and 12 g of carbohydrates which are gonna quite enough energy source for one day in hiking.
: They contain 0 mg of cholesterol and 12 g of carbohydrates which are gonna quite enough energy source for one day in hiking. Lean Meats ; Meats of animals like kangaroo, lamb veals, and poultry chickens like ducks, bush birds, geese, etc contain very low fat and high energy quantity.
; Meats of animals like kangaroo, lamb veals, and poultry chickens like ducks, bush birds, geese, etc contain very low fat and high energy quantity. Ready-made tuna salad pouches; If it’s afternoon or lunchtime and feeling hungry then I’d recommend Ready-made Tuna salad pouches. They contain water, egg yolks, xanthan gum, salt, celery, etc. So, they’re the impeccable feast for noon.
If it’s afternoon or lunchtime and feeling hungry then I’d recommend Ready-made Tuna salad pouches. They contain water, egg yolks, xanthan gum, salt, celery, etc. So, they’re the impeccable feast for noon. Nut butter ; It’s made by grinding nuts into a thick paste-like mixture. It contains a high protein and carbohydrate level so you’ll no longer feel hunger (Yummy!)…
; It’s made by grinding nuts into a thick paste-like mixture. It contains a high protein and carbohydrate level so you’ll no longer feel hunger (Yummy!)… Eggs; They are the best source of proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins, which will obviously never let you go hungry.
3. Backpack
Whether you’re out of the house for a day or out of town for many days hiking, you can’t go without having your backpack or daypack. It’s the most important thing to wrap up all of your things in a little space.
Be careful in selecting it, because you should choose the one having low weight and high capacity enough to hold your hiking essentials. Stay standardized and ready for anything…
Hiking Footwear ;
4. Hiking Shoes and Hiking Boots
Firstly, let me clear out the difference between hiking boots and shoes.
“Hiking Boots” are harsh and very complex to fit. But they provide enough support to our ankle and protection from stings, distress, and other debris…
Their quality and endurance enable a consumer to walk a hundred meters long without damaging the feet.
However “Hiking Shoes” is extensile, comfortable, and really very easeful to wear for protection against dry and too much-wet weather.
I’d recommend both of them because both have pros and cons as well…
Hiking clothing;
Having a plan of outing for days, weeks, or even longer
you should take some comfortable and cozy dresses
according to the season requirements…
5. Sunglasses
You’re going out hiking without having your sunglasses in your essentials only due to the reason that you did not have any idea of the best sunglasses quality for hiking (oh!)
It’s not possible…Why am I here? Of course just to help you… So, don’t worry, I’ll suggest the “best sunglasses for hiking”
The ever best sunglasses for hiking are → Oakley Flak 2.0 XL which protects eyes from ultraviolet radiations such as UVA, UVB, the blue light of about 400 nanometres length, and other harmful effects but refrain from it while driving due to its 100% blockage to ultraviolet rays… Because car windscreens refine the ultraviolet rays which then results in reducing and constricting the backlash of the lenses…
The sunglasses I’d recommend for driving are “ Oakley PRIZM polarized lenses”. They are much safe because they cut out the light’s glow reflecting from the car sides and in such a way making driving cozy, smooth, and effortless.
6. Gaiters:
Hmm,
Most people think ‘’What’re Gaiters?’’
Many of you guys, obviously know them better and many of them have used them as well.
Aforesaid, you know better, and if not, just don’t worry because there’s no big science in it… Let me tell you that ‘’Gaiter’’ is actually a piece made up of leather or simple cloth… It’s used for covering your arms, lower legs, and ankles for protecting them from any kind of debris, slush, or ooze in short any type of filthiness. “Neck Gaiters” have the same purpose except for their area of usage because the ‘’Neck Gaiters’’ are used along the neck, mouth, or pulled up along the ears…
7. First-aid kit
When going out, in order to enjoy a risk-free journey, you should take an all-inclusive first aid kit. Nowadays, some lightweight first aid boxes are trending in the market. As you gain experience in traveling, you will get a better idea of what to include or exclude from the kit.
Your first add kit should include;
A face or pocket mask,
SAM splint,
Roller gauze,
Gloves,
Tourniquets
Medical tape.
8. Navigation tools
In Hiking Essentials, navigation tools are worth mentioning. Without these, you can’t guess where you are and where are you heading towards your next campsite, and your next position or locality.
While outing, Don’t forget to take the following navigation tools with you;
GPS device
A map
Satellite messenger
Altimeter map
Compass…
9.LIPSTICK SIZE CHARGER
You are hiking, using your mobile phone unconsciously, either watching videos, pictures, or listening to songs and suddenly your mobile’s battery runs out…
“What will I do now?”
Just cheer up!
The one and only and the best resource till now for charging a phone’s battery is with a handy featherweight “lipstick size charger”… So if you have this charger then you can simply recharge your battery wherever and whenever you wish…
10. LIGHTING
Obviously, if you are planning a hike for a day or week, or longer, you can’t go without any light resource.
For illumination during night time, or while in dark you need any of these lighting sources:
Mobile phone’s torch
Hand torch
Headlamp
Honestly, I’d recommend that the best one is a headlamp → having three or four AAA batteries and thus providing much more light.
So, in conclusion, you should take out a headlamp for hiking because it not only gives comfort to your hands but also avoids wastage of time. | https://medium.com/@arzooiqbal211/what-to-pack-for-a-hiking-trip-131c02f42c8a | ['Arzoo Iqbal'] | 2021-02-09 00:13:30.379000+00:00 | ['Hiking Boots', 'Hiking Packs', 'Hiking', 'Hiking Essentials', 'What To Pack For Hiking'] |
What Parents Don’t Know: Trans Youth Study Reveals Fatal Flaw at the Heart of “Rapid-onset Gender Dysphoria” | (printeraction/Alex Crease)
Origin and scope of the “rapid-onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD) pseudo-diagnosis of trans youth
Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is an alleged new social phenomenon of inauthentic gender dysphoria suddenly appearing among cisgender adolescents in growing numbers and in social clusters, unlike other currently known forms of gender dysphoria already seen among trans people. This claimed syndrome was first named by Dr. Lisa Littman of Brown University in an abstract (Littman, 2017) and later study (Littman, 2018) based on sampling readers of three prominent anti-trans communities which featured claims throughout 2016 of a growing trend of “sudden onset” of this false gender dysphoria in cis adolescents.
The proposed condition of ROGD thus suggests that, as apparent trans adolescents may actually be misdiagnosed as cis youth, the effective gender-affirming treatment given as a standard of care for trans youth would be inappropriate or harmful for this group of youth, and so this gender-affirming treatment should be withheld from them.
Following Littman’s 2018 study, this claimed condition has been widely promoted in the public discourse by anti-trans advocacy groups, right-wing legal groups, conservative legislators, “intellectual dark web” commentators, and those of any stripe whose politics include the invalidation of trans youth. The spectre of this contagion of mistaken gender running rampant among youth has recently been the subject of alarm among Republican lawmakers, as always under the banner of “protecting children”, working to ban access to medical transition for trans adolescents — and in at least one state succeeding.
Littman’s study has a fundamental flaw in its methodology that broadly undermines its reported findings. According to Littman, a key feature distinguishing ROGD from classic gender dysphoria is that ROGD appears very quickly in a child who was heretofore apparently cisgender with no sign of gender incongruity. The observations of this rapidity consisted entirely of reports from anonymous parents on their own perception of their child’s gender identity and development, almost universally expressing surprise at the sudden nature of their child’s statement of a transgender identity. The youth themselves were not surveyed on their own experiences of gender incongruity throughout their childhood, how long they had experienced gender incongruity or considered themselves transgender, or how long they had waited to make their trans identity visible to these parents for the first time.
These secondhand parental observations are the only evidence offered by Littman for the distinct “rapid” nature of the progression of ROGD, unlike classic gender dysphoria, which we can infer that Littman considers to have a more complex or protracted course of development and consideration. There is a problem: In this area, parental reports of their child’s gender development are not sufficient to make the case that their child actually has experienced a “rapid onset”. Extensive existing literature over decades has already shown that many parents do experience surprise at a trans child coming out; at the same time, their child gave much thought to their gender and identity for many years before that. The converse of parents’ surprise is the consistent finding, when trans youth and adults are the ones asked, that several years can pass as we contemplate our gender in our childhood and take our time before deciding when we come out as trans.
These two sets of observations occur because trans people have access to our own internal experiences and perceptions of gender while our parents can only access what we voluntarily express externally. Littman’s mistake in formulating ROGD is treating the latter as though it defines the former, with a child’s actual gender development being collapsed into a parent’s own perception, one necessarily narrowed down to the first time we chose to be visible. Treating parental observations as synonymous with actual child gender development processes is unsupported and contradicted by nearly every other published study in this area.
One notable study recently acquired the information Littman’s study conspicuously lacked, surveying both trans youth and their parents or caregivers on their reports of their own gender self-recognition and disclosure milestones versus their caregivers’ perception of the timing and pace of their gender development milestones. The discrepancy between parent perceptions and trans youth’s identity development has been quantified and it is a significant difference.
ROGD’s methodological error: Using parent perceptions to equivocate between trans youth’s self-recognition and disclosure
In July 2017 I had already pointed out the insufficiency of Littman’s reliance on parental reports as a proxy for youth’s gender identity development, and in February 2018 I explained why this methodology ran the risk of producing highly biased results:
This is a crucial gap: these children have not been administered any validated survey instruments on gender dysphoria, mental health, social functioning, or anything that would serve to demarcate this “new” condition from the traditional form of gender dysphoria currently observed among youth. Parent reports of a “rapid” onset of dysphoria are especially questionable: many trans youth understandably conceal their identities for years, knowing the consequences of coming out to potentially unaccepting parents could be dire. What appears to a parent to be a “rapid” onset may not have been rapid for their child at all, and it is common in trans support forums to hear from youth (and adults) whose parents protest that they “never showed any signs”.
Dr. Joshua Safer of the Endocrine Society and Mount Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine likewise explained that Littman’s study of what she calls ROGD actually only consists of a survey of parents’ perceptions and attitudes:
I don’t know if there is such a thing as ROGD — a phrase that applies to the parent might be legitimate but the term ROGD is a complete overreach and it is unfair to the field. We need to limit this to what the data show us only. . . . Littman has actually written a paper about the anxiety of parents who question an open approach to transgender care and frequent sites that cast doubt on the current management approaches. No children were involved.
Even the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) notes in its description of gender dysphoria that parents’ surprise at trans adolescents is common:
Late-onset gender dysphoria occurs around puberty or much later in life. Some of these individuals report having had a desire to be of the other gender in childhood that was not expressed verbally to others. Others do not recall any signs of childhood gender dysphoria. For adolescent males with late-onset gender dysphoria, parents often report surprise because they did not see signs of gender dysphoria during childhood. . . . Parents of natal adolescent females with the late-onset form also report surprise, as no signs of childhood gender dysphoria were evident.
Meanwhile, Littman’s study plays fast and loose with the very meaning of “rapid”, describing anything from one day to one year and effectively using the label of “rapid” merely to function as an invalidation (Pitts-Taylor, 2020):
Is a half-year wait for an appointment with a specialist far too quick? Or is it far too slow? The answer may hinge on whether the parent welcomes any gender affirmative treatment at all, or believes it is warranted in the first place. . . . These different durations are all deemed pathological, although the normative or “healthy” timeframe against which they are measured is not explicitly delineated. The study does not provide a stable referent for what constitutes pathological untimeliness. Rather, it treats a set of variegated durations as homogenously “rapid,” while applying the term to multiple objects, from subjects’ gender identifications to clinicians’ responses. Understood in semiotic terms, “rapid” is a floating signifier — it has a “semantic function whose role is to allow symbolic thought to operate despite the contradiction inherent in it” (Levi-Strauss, cited in Mehlman, 1972). The logic of ROGD uses (varied) patterns in the timing of (multiple) events to propose a singular etiological difference, social contagion, and to hypothesize the anomalous development of gender nonconforming youth.
We see what parents’ reports can tell us about their perception of their children’s gender identity development — and it really is only about their secondhand perceptions.
We can also choose to look at what Littman did not: the body of literature on the developmental course of transgender identity, gender dysphoria, and other gender-variant experiences among trans youth. As it turns out, trans people’s self-reports consistently and significantly differ from their parents in the description of their life course and gender development milestones. In several studies across decades, trans youth describe lengthy developmental timelines including landmarks of the first self-awareness of one’s gender variance, first identifying as transgender privately, first disclosing to someone else, first living as one’s gender part-time or full-time, and first pursuing medical transition. These events span years, not weeks.
Littman largely failed to engage with this literature:
Grossman et al. (2005) found among 55 trans people aged 15–21, trans girls felt “different from others” at a mean of 7.6 years old, considered themselves transgender at 13.4 years, and first came out to anyone else at 14.2 years. Trans boys on average felt different at 7.5 years, identified as trans at 15.2, and first told someone at 17. For trans youth and young adults, this was a course of awareness and identity development lasting several years.
Restar et al. (2019) found in 298 trans women aged 16–29, their average age of “initial self-awareness of transfeminine identity” was 9.9 years old, followed by “transfeminine expression in private” at an average of 12.9 years. They also first disclosed their trans identity to someone else at 15.8, presented as feminine in public at 17.4, and began taking feminizing hormone therapy at an average of 20.4 years old. Again, this process of identity development was not brief or passing, but lasted for a majority of their childhood.
Kuper, Lindley, & Lopez (2019) found that in 224 trans youth aged 6–17, trans girls first self-identified as their gender at an average of 9.9 years old and first disclosed to their immediate family at 12.2 years. Trans boys similarly self-identified at 10.7 years old and disclosed to family at an age of 13.1 on average.
Puckett et al. (2021) studied 415 Millennial trans people (born 1981–1996) and 196 Generation Z trans people (born 1997–2012). Millennials reported their gender first felt “different” at a mean age of 11.6 years, recognized themselves as having a transgender identity at 19, started living part-time as their gender at 20.8, lived full-time at 22.2, and accessed their first medical transition treatment at an average of 23.1 years old. Gen Z likewise experienced years of developmental milestones: feeling different at 11.5, identifying as trans at 15.2, living part-time at 16.1, full-time at 17 and medically transitioning at 17.6 years old on average.
Littman’s report of parental perceptions does not actually make any predictions as a hypothesis about a new and distinct syndrome, and it does not succeed in usefully paring down the space of possible observations of reality. These parental reports are fully compatible with a state of the world where trans youth’s gender dysphoria is not “rapid” in its onset at all.
The claims of ROGD are in danger of being unfalsifiable: Because trans youth consistently show this pattern of development and yet Littman’s methodology would never detect that pattern in favor of only reporting their parents’ subjective surprise, the supposed condition of ROGD can always serve as a possible reason to cast doubt on the authenticity of any trans person’s identity or experience of gender dysphoria. The youth who are clearly trans-identified and have been for many years could still be incorrectly classified as “rapid onset” by looking only at parental perspectives.
Based only on parental reports, are their children experiencing an inauthentic “rapid onset” gender dysphoria, or are they genuinely experiencing classic gender dysphoria as a trans person? How could you possibly tell the difference when working only from this limited evidence and misleading methodology?
This is a recipe for false negatives — a person with a trait is incorrectly identified as not having that trait. Wrongly declaring gender-dysphoric trans youth to be mistaken, non-dysphoric cis youth can then mean depriving them of the necessary affirming treatment for them to thrive in their authentic gender.
Parent reports of youth gender milestones are clearly not sufficiently accurate. And when we include both the parents’ perspectives and the reports of their trans youth on their gender identity development, that complete picture shows why this partial picture is so inaccurate. In June 2020 I made the following prediction about Littman’s study and the likely results of more comprehensive parent-child surveys:
Her results are nothing new, surprising, or inconsistent with previous findings; if she were to survey the trans children of her cis parent respondents, there is every reason to expect they would report the same lengthy trajectory of private identity development with discrete milestones occurring over many years.
Such a comprehensive survey has now been provided this year.
A recent study fills in ROGD’s missing pieces, joining trans youth and parent reports of gender milestones
Sorbara et al. (2021) surveyed trans youth receiving care at a youth gender clinic as well as their parents or caregivers, asking each of them to describe the child’s (perceived) age of self-recognition as trans and age of first disclosure of their gender to others. 121 trans youth and 121 of their caregivers responded:
Trans youth who first presented for evaluation at 14 years or younger reported self-recognizing as trans at a median age of 9.5 years and first coming out at 12.6, a span of over 3 years. Meanwhile, this group’s caregivers reported perceiving that their child first privately self-identified as trans at age 12 and came out at age 12.4, little over four months later.
Meanwhile, this group’s caregivers reported perceiving that their child first privately self-identified as trans at age 12 and came out at age 12.4, Similarly, trans youth who presented for treatment at age 15 or over reported identifying themselves at a median age of 12.5 years old and first coming out at 14.3, but their caregivers believed they first identified as trans at 14.3 — the same median age as their first coming out — and first came out at 14.7 years old.
The distance between parent and youth perspectives can be measured: For trans youth, what took two to three years appeared to their parents to take place over perhaps a season. The overall pattern is dramatic. While the youth self-identified as trans at 11.3 years, their caregivers said this happened at 13.
Youth reported a median time of 2 years from self-recognition to first coming out. Their caregivers perceived a median time of 0 years (as in 0.0 years). The caregivers believed that gender self-recognition and coming out were happening at the same time — an apparent rapid onset.
The authors note the relevance of these findings for claims of ROGD:
Our data point to another interesting aspect regarding recognition of gender incongruence. Both younger- and older-presenting youth recognized their gender incongruence before their caregivers, and consistent with what we and others have reported, both groups waited a number of years to come out after recognizing their gender identity. Conversely, caregivers reported recognizing their child’s gender incongruence and their child coming out as nearly contemporaneous events. These findings contrast descriptions of apparently rapid development of gender dysphoria among older adolescents. Instead, our data suggest that perceived rapidity may reflect caregiver unawareness of both the existence and duration of their child’s transgender identity before an explicit disclosure.
It could indeed be the case that Littman succeeded in accurately capturing parents’ perceptions of their children’s gender identity development, but this would still say nothing about their children’s actual gender identity development. Sorbara et al. captured here the same pattern of perceived rapidity reported by parents in Littman (2018). At the same time, they also captured the actual pattern of trans youth’s experiences of gender development over time.
When trans youth speak up, ROGD claims fall short
This pattern of perceived rapidity reported by parents does not mean actual rapidity in the gender identity development of trans youth. For this reason, Littman’s evidence, consisting solely of parents’ secondhand observations with no engagement with any trans youth, is insufficient to demonstrate the key distinguishing feature of the ROGD condition itself: the rapidity of its onset in these youth. The perception of rapidity by parents has always been entirely compatible with a gradual, private period of considered exploration on the part of trans youth throughout childhood and beyond. Littman’s proposed ROGD condition fails to rule out or even diminish at all the possibility that the youth being discussed in her study are in fact taking their time in introspection and contemplation about what gender means to who they are.
These researchers have previously reported in Sorbara et al. (2020) that timing of disclosure and presentation for treatment is also associated with substantial differences in mental health outcomes. Further confirming the results reported in earlier literature, this sample of 300 trans youth reported typically waiting 4.3–4.5 years between first recognizing their gender incongruence and first coming out to others. Those who were at a later pubertal stage when presenting for treatment were more likely than those at earlier stages to have depressive and anxiety disorders, more likely to have been prescribed psychiatric medication, and more likely to have engaged in self-harm.
Obtaining gender-affirming treatment in adolescence at an earlier stage of development may help avert these common mental health comorbidities. The authors observe:
Although the prevalence of pediatric depression increases with age and peaks after the onset of puberty, particularly for AFAB youth, we found that late pubertal GI [gender incongruent] youth were 5.49 times more likely to report this diagnosis independent of age and assigned sex. Anxiety disorders in the general population are not shown to exhibit a relationship with pubertal development, yet GI youth with more advanced puberty were 4.18 times more likely to report these diagnoses. To our knowledge, these are the first quantitative data relating pubertal stage to mental health problems among GI youth presenting to care, supporting clinical observations that pubertal development, menses, and erections are distressing to these youth and consistent with the beneficial role of pubertal suppression, even when used as monotherapy without gender-affirming hormones.
Puckett et al. (2021) likewise found that living full-time as one’s gender and accessing gender-affirming medical treatment were associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety, greater self-acceptance as trans, and greater sense of congruence in one’s appearance.
If a parent’s observations are relied upon as the sole source of information about the “rapidity” and therefore the (in)authenticity of their child’s gender dysphoria, a parental perception of suddenness — masking the years-long trans identity of their child — could be used to deny that gender-dysphoric child access to affirming treatment. That affirming treatment may be needed by these trans youth, and effective treatment of gender dysphoria can promote overall health and well-being as well as prevent common mental health comorbidities such as depression, anxiety, and self-harming behaviors.
Trans youth in need of transition treatment are placed at risk of delayed care and worse health outcomes when their own gender is doubted on the basis of a parent’s secondhand impressions.
If ROGD is fundamentally unsound, what about its related claims?
Littman has not sufficiently demonstrated that a syndrome characterized by a “rapid onset” of false gender dysphoria exists as a new entity distinct from classic forms of gender dysphoria. She ignores nearly all existing research on the subject of trans youth’s gender development timelines, the feature that is supposedly key to ROGD’s difference from authentic gender dysphoria.
In light of decades of research in this area as well as more recent studies of both trans youth and their parents, what is proposed as “rapid onset gender dysphoria” based on only parental reports is most likely to be just an incomplete observation of the lengthy course of trans youth’s development that has already been studied in detail — the experience of gender dysphoria throughout childhood.
Littman (2018) goes on to make numerous speculations about the nature and manifestations of the “rapid onset gender dysphoria” condition. But if there is no reason to believe that there even is a “rapid onset gender dysphoria” condition, these notions are nonstarters. This undermines much of the rest of Littman’s paper. Consider how she describes the ROGD condition and its behavior among youth:
As a “social contagion”, this rapid-onset false gender dysphoria can be contracted from viewing transgender resources online, such as YouTube videos, Tumblr posts, or social media.
The ROGD contagion can also be caught from individuals in one’s friend group who already have this rapid-onset false gender dysphoria.
Online transgender communities and resources, as well as offline friendships with other trans people, are comparable to materials promoting eating disorders such as “pro-ana” communities.
These youth’s attempts to access gender-affirming medical care are always a misguided and potentially dangerous effort, as they must be mistaken in believing that they are trans.
By extension, any clinician’s acknowledgment of these youth’s transness, and any treatment for their gender dysphoria, is incorrect and inappropriate, an unnecessary treatment putting an actually cisgender child at risk.
But you can’t catch a condition that doesn’t exist from your friends or from reading things on the internet. Being trans and the benefits of transitioning aren’t at all like the serious and life-threatening harms of eating disorders; a condition that doesn’t exist isn’t like or unlike anything.
A person cannot be diagnostically precluded from being genuinely trans or experiencing gender dysphoria on the basis that they are instead suffering from this non-condition. These youth’s reported approaches to finding gender-affirming care, whether social or medical transition, therapy or prescriptions, are simply those that any trans person does indeed engage in when seeking out treatment for their gender dysphoria. And a mass epidemic of a nonexistent condition is a mass of nothing.
ROGD: Into the Shrierverse
A substantial gap exists between the strength of scientific support for “rapid onset gender dysphoria” and the vigor of its promotion by anti-trans advocates. Rather than being constrained by the limitations of fact and the distorted scope of their foundational study, proponents of the alleged condition increasingly seem to have freed themselves of any empirical ballast.
What was once a claim of a discrete syndrome is now a loose storyline to an alternate universe inviting personal flights of fancy, akin to a tabletop RPG for cis people whose hobby is treating trans kids like a problem. And it’s difficult to overstate how downright weird the ROGDverse has become:
Andrew Sullivan and Katie Herzog invoke a social trend of ROGD when claiming a (nonexistent) decline in cis lesbians is due to this population transitioning as men. Herzog notably asserts she could find little more than a half dozen cis lesbians on the North American continent.
Glenn Greenwald has brazenly lied about the lesbian population allegedly shrinking while the trans population is growing, shamelessly distorting the actual finding that the lesbian population is growing even faster than the trans population. This was something so obviously wrong, the act of asserting it almost seemed like a disturbing power move to see who among the audience will acquiesce to the most overt lies and stick around for more.
Debra Soh, a sexual neuroscientist writing for Quillette, misread the Littman study and incorrectly claimed that transition for youth serves as an anti-gay “conversion therapy” as apparent cis gay youth who transition would become straight and transgender. According to the distribution of youth’s sexual orientations as reported by their parents in the Littman study, a smaller proportion of them would acquire the label of being exclusively attracted to the other sex (straight) if all of them transitioned, while more of them would be termed straight if none of them transitioned.
“Angus Fox” of Quillette recently suggested that adolescent trans girls are not truly trans but are catching rapid-onset gender dysphoria from a surprising asymptomatic carrier: cis-identified cis girls, who are transmitting the dangerous contagion of calling a trans person by their name and going out shopping together.
Chad Felix Greene, writing for The Federalist, asserted that Elliot Page’s coming-out is the result of rapid-onset gender dysphoria. This would mean that Elliot Page, a 34-year-old award-winning actor and household name, who knew he was a boy when he was a toddler and consistently insisted on identifying and presenting as a boy and being addressed as a boy throughout his childhood, was suddenly in 2020 stricken by a rapid attack of Littman dysphoria.
Abigail Shrier, author of the pop-pseudosci ROGD book “Irreversible Damage”, is not particularly concerned with shoring up the scientific foundation of her pet theory; instead, she told Joe Rogan that this condition (a parent’s unawareness of their trans child’s gender) is just like other social contagions such as cutting, eating disorders, witchcraft, and demonic possession. Rogan helpfully added that this nonexistent condition is like joining “suicide pacts”.
As any real existence of ROGD becomes more and more tenuous, it’s increasingly treated like magic, taking on the role of an incantation to be applied liberally whenever you need help imagining that trans people are doing bad things. After all, if this were intended as a serious argument, it would mean arguing that a wholly unproven but contagious social epidemic of deceptive gender dysphoria symptoms infecting men in their 30s is more likely than the simple fact that parents often don’t know everything about their children who are in the closet. ■ | https://aninjusticemag.com/what-parents-dont-know-study-reveals-fatal-flaw-of-rapid-onset-gender-dysphoria-c7cd95030c24 | ['Zinnia Jones'] | 2021-05-06 20:07:15.253000+00:00 | ['LGBTQ', 'Transgender', 'Gender Identity', 'Coming Out', 'Gender Dysphoria'] |
Exercise 3: Design in Daily Life | Personally a I give priority to this 5 design principles:
Useful, the purpose of a design is the most important goal. Aesthetic, the user feels happier when the design is likeable. Simple, difficult principle for me, but I something not complicated is better. Conscious, would be perfect to do design without much waste. Understandable, obvious is too much, but it should lead a friendly path. Sustainable, nothing is for ever but would be nice for while. Lovable, not addicting, to go back but not to get attached to it. Everyone might like it but not use it, not every design is for all audience. Visuals instead of overload with text. Respect the user´s time.
My top best user designs experiences:
#1 Children’s Headphones — Mpow CH6
This physical product has exceeded my expectations. The headphones are comfortable and absolutely easy for a kid´s use limiting the sound volume. It has great features: the cable can be connected from both sides or to another headphone in order to share the music and is foldable to be carry, perfect for a trip. Entirely lovable!
#2 Compensation Form EasyJet
From personal experience this form is everything you need in order to claim a compensation from the airline company. As far as I know the only one that has this service fast and easy to reach out. The customer service responded in a few ours, first that they already received the claim and in less than a week with a solution. You need to fulfil with important information that can easily be found in the customers account and you can add all the passagers without needing to do a new claim each time. In the site you can upload all the expenses or other documents and the customer´s account information to accelerate the process. This experience respects the user´s time.
#3 Deepl translator Desktop App
Apart from being the most accurate translator that I found so far, The app is simple and does it job. The user is able to have it open all the time and added to the dock in the desktop. The app also offers really good synonyms and meanings of a word or phrase. Understandable app for everyone.
My 3 worst user design experiences:
#1 My Help Buddy Website
As a buddy I have loads of critical complains about this site. The navegation is complicated. In this special case, design fails in being too simple. The channels of communication with the potencial client before and after making the offer are errased or hiden. As the site is too slow for the chat that it offers, some messages get missed. Once the offer is accepted or done, the buddy does not have access to the first chat (where the offer was posted) anymore.
#2 Shelving System, Telescopic Wardrobe System
The system is difficult to set up and comes with no instructions, only with a description of the parts. The wardrobe is very inestable and it gets damaged when the user builds it. It definitely does not supports all the weight that it shows in the picture so the marketing is misleading. Might be Aesthetic but for sure it lost its purpose.
#3 Netflix autoplay feature
When the user wants to see the information or details of a show or film they compulsory need to see the trailer because it autoplays. I feel like this choice should be done by the user and not by the assumption that the user wants to see the trailer. As one of my principles this is a waste of the user´s time. In my opinion, nothing should be automatic as audio or video refers to. As a user I usually get annoyed because of this and gets in the way of the sites usability. | https://medium.com/@nanitag/exercise-3-design-in-daily-life-aa4375eb193e | ['Yanina Grunewald'] | 2020-03-03 20:36:50.889000+00:00 | ['User Experience', 'User Experience Design', 'User Experience Research', 'Design Principles', 'UX'] |
Are you overthinking? | So first, what exactly is overthinking?
"It's the process of constantly analyzing and anguishing over one’s thoughts and the possible outcomes if any possible action is taken .
It may include rumination, in which an individual is stuck mentally rehashing their past or present decisions and/or actions."
Overthinking is very common and may be caused by self-doubt; self-esteem issues; concern about repeating past patterns in relation to prior bad experiences; traumatic experiences; or anxiety.
Overthinking makes it harder to enjoy life and can impact emotional regulation and sleep patterns, too.
Overthinking is linked to psychological problems, like depression and anxiety. It's likely that overthinking causes mental health to decline and as your mental health declines, the more likely you are to overthink. It's a vicious downward spiral. | https://medium.com/@mentalhealthcollective96/are-you-overthinking-ad12ff384b7b | ['Mental. Health .Collective'] | 2020-12-21 18:42:56.806000+00:00 | ['Thoughts', 'Mental Health', 'Experience', 'Patterns', 'Overthinking'] |
COVID-19陽性者数の県別日別データがすぐに見つからないけど簡単にpythonで作れるよという話 | 新型コロナウイルスのデータがほしいときに見たサイト
厚生労働省の新型コロナウイルス感染症について
PDF…行間にスペースが空いていたりする
SIGNATEのCOVID-19チャレンジコンペティション
ただいずれもどこにデータがあるのか、csvでダウンロードできても思った形にする必要がある。
実際のコード
COVID-19のデータをもとに一つのcsvにまとめることとした。コードはGithubで公開しています。データもダウンロード可能。
準備
import glob
import pandas as pd
import requests
import datetime
url_base = ‘ import osimport globimport pandas as pdimport requestsimport datetimeurl_base = ‘ https://www.stopcovid19.jp/data/covid19japan/' #バラバラのcsvファイルを格納するディレクトリ
data_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(),’csv’)
#csvファイル結合したファイルを格納するディレクトリ
merged_path = os.path.join(os.getcwd(),’merged_csv’)
COVID-19には3月18日から現在まで一日おきにcsvデータを保存されてある。ただデータがない日付であったり、アップロードがまだの日にちがあるのでその処理を行う
#2020年3月18日からファイルがあるので、現在までの日付を一日毎に作成
startDate = datetime.date(2020, 3, 18)
nowDate = datetime.date.today()
period=nowDate-startDate
period = int(period.days)
day_list=[]
for d in range(period):
day=startDate+datetime.timedelta(days=d)
day_list.append(day)
-日付をもとにURLを作成してリクエスト。ダウンロードされたCSVはcsvフォルダに入っていく。
for i in range(len(day_list)):
d = str(day_list[i])
url = url_base + d +’.csv’
try:
r =requests.get(url)
if r.status_code == 404:
print(d +’ : 404 File not found’)
continue
with open(os.path.join(data_path, d+’.csv’),mode=’w’)as f:
f.write(r.text)
print(d + “.csv was successfully downloaded”)
except requests.exceptions.RequestException as err:
print(d +” err”)
バラバラのCSVファイルを日付データを付与して結合する。
csvs = glob.glob(data_path + “\*.csv”)
merged_df =pd.DataFrame()
for c in csvs:
date = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(c))[0]
df = pd.read_csv(c)
df.insert(0,'date',date)
merged_df = pd.concat([merged_df,df])
csvファイルとして保存
merged_df.to_csv(merged_path + ‘\merged.csv’,index = False)
Voila! | https://medium.com/@usukie/covid-19%E9%99%BD%E6%80%A7%E8%80%85%E6%95%B0%E3%81%AE%E7%9C%8C%E5%88%A5%E6%97%A5%E5%88%A5%E3%83%87%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%81%8C%E3%81%99%E3%81%90%E3%81%AB%E8%A6%8B%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8B%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84%E3%81%91%E3%81%A9%E7%B0%A1%E5%8D%98%E3%81%ABpython%E3%81%A7%E4%BD%9C%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B%E3%82%88%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%86%E8%A9%B1-2e801d849a98 | [] | 2020-04-27 09:37:11.057000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Covid 19', 'Japanese', '日本語', '新型コロナウイルス'] |
Home Invasion | Marco Ricci woke up, as he often did, to find himself sprawled on the floor in an awkward angle, his bony neck teetering on the edge of a spasm. His heart thumped mildly in his chest, like a frozen engine trying to sputter to life. When he tried to get up, he unconsciously swallowed the thick, stannic fluid that was in his mouth; and before his numb tongue uncoiled a response that it was his own blood, the liquid had reached his tummy, causing him to barf into the darkness.
The pain that shot up to his head from his jaw told him he had broken it falling down; it was a throbbing, nauseating pain, but it helped pull some life into him. A moment later, he managed to stand up. His neck creaked like an old wicker chair. A stream of cold air washed against him from a nearby window, mixing with his pain until it was not just throbbing, but exploding like cold-bursts that fried his nerves from inside him.
He reached for the window and banged it shut.
Weird, ghastly shapes floated towards him in the darkness. He swept his pockets and came up with his last remaining bottle of Versed, which had kept him in such bouts of sleepless sleep and warm (almost pleasant) delirium for most of the week. How much of it had he been taking lately? He didn’t know. How much of it was he told would kill him? He didn’t know that, either.
He unscrewed its cap and decided to take a sip right there in the dark. He lifted it to his mouth, and for a second almost froze in place; did he hear it right? What was that sound? No, it wasn’t the Versed — Versed didn’t make sounds like twang or of footfalls echoing in the distance.
His head slowly lifted towards a rectangle of light coming from the floor above him. And in the light, he saw shadows shuffling, shadows that did not belong there.
There’s someone in my house.
He stuffed the drug back in his pocket and used his hands to close his mouth and nose, not daring to breathe. He saw one of the shadows dawdle slowly down the central stairs. Marco waited patiently as he came and stood within a foot of him.
He felt around him for something he could use as a weapon, and his hand grazed on a figurine. A glint of light bounced off it to reveal its dented features — round patches of bronze interspersed with molten darkness. The figurine held something in its hands: it was Saint Thaddeus holding a spear.
Without thinking twice, he picked it up and drove it square into the back of the shadow’s neck.
There was a faint croaking sound as the man choked, trying, as if it mattered, to look at the assailant. Maybe it did, because when the 6-foot-tall figure of the man twisted grotesquely and got a look at Marco, his knees took a cue and buckled, and he crumbled like a sack of sand.
“Who the fuck are you guys?” Marco whispered under his breath.
Even in his dizziness, he knew what he should do. He was not afraid anymore; shooting up to the top of the haze in his mind were painful proportions of anger. And he knew it was not the kind of anger he felt when he stubbed his toe sometimes and wondered if he could burn the world down for it — with this anger he knew he could.
Besides, there was Saint Thaddeus . . .
He bent down and pulled the spear of the Saint from the other guy’s neck. Blood spattered across his face as it came off at once. There were still shadows shuffling in the upstairs room; now one of them came to the top of the stairs.
“Damien?” he called.
Marco had dealt with people like this in the past, and he knew that even the rudest amateurs wore something like a balaclava on their faces before breaking into a house. But these guys hadn’t bothered to wear one — and they didn’t seem to have any weapons, either. So he decided that he was dealing with street scums here — bunch of nobodies who were worse than amateurs, probably junkies, definitely dropouts who hadn’t had two whole years of education.
Either that or —
These guys were the real pros. They had silenced Uzis under their shirts and didn’t intend to leave any witnesses.
Marco waited in the darkness not moving a muscle. The second guy was coming down the stairs, and Marco knew he couldn’t take him when he had the higher ground. When he reached the foot of the staircase, Marco emerged from the shadows and struck him on his head with the figurine.
An anguished cry erupted through the night.
After he collapsed to the floor, Marco placed one foot on his chest and buried the spear right in the dot of his larynx. When he removed it, blood spouted upwards from the hole like a fountain.
Marco knew he needed to act fast; he had no idea how many of them were still in his house. He climbed the stairs as fast as he could and stopped a few feet away from the lighted room. He could hear someone shuffling inside. He took a deep breath and charged inside the room, the dripping figurine raised over his head.
There was a guy in his early twenties crouched behind the bed, crying and wheezing like a badly hurt kid.
“Who the fuck are you man?” the kid yelled, his voice crackling into a feminine pitch as if he was exactly at the cusp of puberty.
Marco Ricci, although he still had the figurine raised in an apparent attack-stance, barely heard the words. He stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at himself in the mirror on the far end of the wall.
Then he dropped Saint Thaddeus to the floor.
The realization made him feel like a horror from his past had caught up with him, and here it was finally going to have its say. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Now he knew why he had thought that these guys were amateurs — it was because it wasn’t their profession; it was his.
The mask wasn’t on their faces, because it was on his.
He took the bottle of the Versed out from his pocket and drank what was left of it. He looked down at the figurine, and Saint Thaddeus seemed to be laughing at him mockingly. Then there were two small, pale hands that stole it from under his feet, but he didn’t care.
The last thing he saw was the spear of Saint Thaddeus turned towards him, then flying at him at a breathtaking pace. He knew the drug would kick in soon and he could go back to sleep. When it finally wore off, he would be at a different place, perhaps in a different city where he wasn’t a monster.
He smiled and closed his eyes. | https://medium.com/a-cornered-gurl/home-invasion-4f9cc63267fd | ['Anto Rin'] | 2020-07-20 10:31:01.240000+00:00 | ['Drugs', 'Death', 'Short Story', 'Fiction', 'A Cornered Gurl'] |
Why you should watch Emily in Paris | Emily in Paris is a Netflix Original series about an American girl who gets transferred to Paris for her dream work. The first season consists of ten episodes and premiered on Netflix on October 2.
After finishing this short, 10x30 minutes feel-good series here are my reasons for you to check it out.
1. Short episodes
The creators were geniuses. With 30 minutes per episode, Emily in Paris is easy to fit into your schedule. An episode is just enough for a short unwind at the end of the day, but it’s also perfect to binge-watch if you have some extra time.
2. Digestible
This series is very light and digestible. It is about a young woman who moves to Paris to work for a marketing firm to provide the American perspective for them. Although moving to another country is a complex and difficult topic to discuss it focuses on the fairytale side of it, just as Paris itself is considered a “fairytale destination”.
Nothing is overwhelming in this storyline. Even when it seemed like a major fight or struggle would come, the consequences of each act have been swiped under the rug. Emily in Paris cannot be further from reality — and that’s exactly why I loved it.
3. Dreamy
Who wouldn’t love to see magical Paris? Who wouldn’t love to get their opportunity of a lifetime to do their dream job in such a spectacular city, meet interesting new people and level up in their careers?
Emily in Paris shows exactly this dream life. Especially when the romance plot with handsome Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) commences and the lady watchers melt into their sofas.
Of course this dreaminess can be way too much. I did my homework and read the so far existing stories about Emily here on Medium, as well as other reviews of the show. They were definitely right: this production is nothing but a fairytale. A guilty pleasure of busy women, a false picture of life, unnecessary mocking glass to French people and so on.
Con: Don’t watch Emily in Paris if…
So, I thought I could list at least two more valid reasons why to watch Emily — but the fellow writers of the strict reviews were right: it can be as annoying as entertaining.
Originally, I planned to list here “4. Outfits” and “5. The Guys” as definite pros why to watch the series, until I realized they annoyed me. Why?
4. Outfits
Emily is no fashionista. In fact, there’s an episode about her style being mediocre according to a great designer. She accepts it as she never really tried to be stylish. The annoying thing is that she is always chic and classy.
In fact, she’s so chic and classy I hate her for it. Like, how the hell did you stuff all those awesome shoes into your luggage?
This is definitely something this series would never care to explain, and neither should we care too much. The same applies to my other Con:
5. The Guys
Yapp. Not only is Emily awesome at her dream job and always chic, she is also surrounded with awesome guys of different backgrounds. Surprisingly, she stuns all of them with no adequate explanation. She reminds me of those Barbie movies I consumed as a child.
If I really want to, I can find a logical explanation to this one: Emily is the perfect girl next door: she’s naturally nice and charming, a little goofy who’s not anxious to knock on her neighbor’s door in a piece of towel because her shower went bad. I get it, and I can get over it.
I can lean back and enjoy the show even if our protagonist seems to be perfect in each and every area of her life — but I understand completely if some of us busy women do not tolerate this effortless rainbow-colored marshmallow cloud she lives in.
Still, it’s a good series
If you, dear women out there don’t get annoyed by all that above, I would suggest you to give Emily in Paris a try. It’s like Sex and the City, but lighter and quicker — and that is a big yes for me.
I probably would have stopped watching after two episodes if they were longer — then, this series would have wanted to seem more that it was. But again, the creators knew what they were doing and put a pretty fun, easily digestible fairytale series on the table.
If you wish to relax with something else than rocket science, give Emily in Paris a try! | https://medium.com/an-idea/why-you-should-watch-netflixs-emily-in-paris-ca3d013746c5 | ['Kitty Kye'] | 2020-11-06 07:01:21.911000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Review', 'Netflix', 'Series', 'Life'] |
Things I wish I knew when I was younger | Sincerely,
your future self.
I am proud of you and who you are becoming. | https://medium.com/@sharmadivya1998/things-i-wish-i-knew-when-i-was-younger-2ba70701b987 | ['Divya Sharma'] | 2020-12-10 04:46:08.753000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Self Improvement', 'Self Love', 'Self Care And Self Love', 'Letters'] |
Good mood, better start: Early round cap reached in 50 hours | We want to express our excitement as we have successfully reached the cap of the early round and raised $1,500,000 USD. Early round is officially closed.
It took us 50 hours to do it and tokens have been distributed. A total of 33,052,748.9 tokens have been sold. Don’t worry, we still got some left for round II.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first round, we appreciate it a lot. It’s takes guts to pay no attention to the market and still contribute. We will do everything not to let our community members down.
All in all it was a good test before the public sale. We faced phishing attacks, fake community manager accounts tried to scam ORCA members, while contributors had some problems accessing the ICO cabinet — links were inactive to some while others had their invitations land in junk/spam mailboxes.
It wasn’t a walk in the park, but we are happy with the results. During the approaching public sale, the sale efficiency should improve. The learning curve will make things easier.
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram| Reddit | LinkedIn | Website | Github | | https://medium.com/cc-connecting-crypto-with-banking/good-mood-better-start-early-round-cap-reached-in-50-hours-529375e04537 | [] | 2018-08-08 18:44:07.363000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Token', 'Fundraising', 'Open Banking', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Theses on Counterinsurgency Tactics Within the New Afrikan Revolutionary Movement | The strategy of counter-insurgency is a necessary one for the continued existence of the current order of things. New Afrikan revolutionaries, who can be defined broadly as those who share the goals of the destruction of the capitalist-imperialist United States, extraction of this country’s blood debt owed us through force, and the unity of will and action with other colonized revolutionaries, should be aware of these strategies of class and national peace and struggle against them when they appear. Throughout the country, we see the same trends taking different forms according to the concrete conditions of the uprising as manifested in each city. Many new activists are easily frightened by those with “clout”, defined as prestige within small insular circles of other liberal activists, oftentimes internet based or firmly rooted in the petit-bourgeois protest aristocracy, but we must always be aware of the fact that correctness is determined by the masses of people and firmly root ourselves in revolutionary theory. We must consistently and consciously struggle to conquer leadership and win the masses away from opportunist, revisionist and reformist leadership. This only comes from rooting ourselves physically among them and being regular fixtures in the community. Without this, they obviously will not be inclined to listen to anything we have to say, correct or otherwise.
First, what is counter-insurgency? What is insurgency? Insurgency is defined as an “active revolt, or uprising”. Counter-insurgency is thus defined as an active attempt to slow down, prevent, or end an uprising. The US military has written much on counter-insurgency, and it highlights the necessity to sap the mass base from Maoist insurgencies. We New Afrikan Maoists realize that the people are our best security. Without them, we have and are nothing. Revolutionary military and political theorist Assata Shakur said: “No movement can survive unless it is constantly growing and changing with the times. If it isn’t growing, if it’s stagnant, and without the support of the people, no movement for liberation can exist, no matter how correct its analysis of the situation is. That’s why political work and organizing are so important. Unless you are addressing the issues people are concerned about and contributing positive direction, they’ll never support you. The first thing the enemy tries to do is isolate revolutionaries from the masses of people, making us horrible and hideous monsters so that our people will hate us.” Now, connect this to the behavior of our liberals, opportunists, and revisionists within the movement. Oftentimes, they will even give lip-service to the right to rebel. Comrades in Boston can attest to the fact that an organizer from a to be unnamed revisionist party sought to lead the masses at a combative demonstration out of the streets and back onto the sidewalk while wearing a t-shirt with this same Mao quote.We have also seen liberals, opportunists and revisionists falling hand in hand with the fascist Trump administration in labeling revolutionaries and the combative masses as “outside agitators” and agents provocateur. While agents provocateur are a constant threat, it is a conscious counter-insurgency strategy to label all militants agents provocateur. The most extreme and disgusting example of this is a video of liberal protest police in Washington, DC. handing over a militant directly to the police, literally picking them up bodily and carrying them over to the police line. This reprehensible behavior should be immediately, physically challenged by everyone present and the peace police should be expelled from all protests at which militants are present. This is line struggle in the streets, which is class struggle. Any active, planned engagement with the police, whether it be meeting with them, having them offer escorts to demonstrations, is counter-insurgency and militants must mercilessly repudiate those who promote this engagement. A New Afrikan anarchist comrade in Rockford, writing for IGD, correctly points out: “The counter-revolutionary tendencies within the black community are strong. Many of these so-called organizations for black empowerment or anti-racism are clearly linked to the racist city government. Groups like 100Strong, the NAACP and others came out the next day with white city leaders to “condemn the looting.” Some of these groups even helped to clean and fix up the police station the day after the rebellion. These groups do not represent black power, they represent deference to the white power structure. They utilize language and aesthetics of black power such as the clenched fist but they are clearly very much tied to a politics of respectability. They must be opposed at every moment. Revolutionaries must not have any respect for organizations or individuals who sell Black Lives Matters t-shirts or Black Panther hats while in the same moment host cookouts and take photos with the pigs.” This contradiction, that of aesthetically and rhetorically praising the BPP and the uprisings while walking hand in hand with the police, offers excellent opportunities for exposing the petit-bourgeois theoretical roots of opportunism within the New Afrikan revolutionary movement.
The second and most prevalent form of counter-insurgency is attempting to mobilize the people for voting and continued engagement with the ruling class order of things. Revolutionary Communist theoretician George Jackson said, correctly: “When any election is held it will fortify rather than destroy the credibility of the power brokers. When we participate in this election to win, instead of disrupt, we’re lending to its credibility”. This goes for so-called “Left” campaigns such as those of Howie Hawkins. Regardless of your justification, you applauding ballot access for such people, sharing their platforms, etc. is engaging in open counter-insurgency efforts trying to drag the lowest and deepest masses who overwhelmingly do not engage with the electoral farce to the polls. The most insidious is the defection of Angela Davis to the camp of Biden-Harris, despite centering much of her theoretical work around prisons and gaining credibility among the masses in the 1960s and ’70s for her just struggle in support of the Black Panther Party and the Soledad Brothers, and the state repression these stands brought. We have also seen such former movement stalwarts as Bobby Seale and Bobby Rush, who co-founded the Black Panther Party branch in Chicago with Fred Hampton, capitulate to the lowest forms of electoral cretinism, with Rush himself being a US Congressman and repudiating his Black Panther Party record. This is lying to the masses, seeking to fool them. It also builds a culture of impotence and weakness among the Left which I have consistently critiqued in my written pieces — we must build real, concrete power. Power was defined by Dr. Huey P. Newton as “the ability to define a phenomenon and make it act in the desired manner”. For example, if we have an abusive landlord in the community, the correct course of action would not be to appeal to the alderman (who, chances are, is also a landlord and thus an enemy of the people), or to the State (which is bribed and bought out by Chambers of Commerce and other bourgeois interest groups). Rather, the correct, powerful thing would be to organize tenants of said landlords for a direct confrontation, whether it be at the complex or at their offices. This is what builds power and confidence of the people. The organized, disciplined, conscious activity of the people under the leadership of the most advanced, the vanguard, is what builds power. Without this understanding all talk of Revolution is empty rhetoric. Anyone who is still engaging with the electoral system in any way, for any reason, is either engaging in willful deception of themselves and of the People, or needs to root themselves more firmly in the masses to realize the futility of their mission.
Thirdly, we have concessions to and active promotion of Black capitalism as a revolutionary solution. This trend is most notoriously represented by the Jay-Zs and Beyoncés and those who accept them as ideological leaders of our people and consequently smuggle bourgeois ideology into the movement. The “LLC twitter” cliques who see Black business ownership as a revolutionary thing are also promoters of this ideology among the masses. In my piece on the lumpen I highlighted how this trend is particularly prominent among the semi-proletariat and certain strata of the New Afrikan proletariat. I said: “Most of these youth aspire to either get a good job, become a skilled tradesperson through attending technical school, or own a small business, such as a barber shop. Even after being arrested, completing a prison term, and being released, the aspiration to become “independent” through small business ownership still remains, and I personally know several individuals who have been successful in this aspiration. Even if they become petit bourgeois, the character of these individuals is still more often than not progressive, as they are still nationally oppressed and their businesses are subject to a myriad of petty rules and regulations that oftentimes drive them into bankruptcy and failure, thrusting them back into the lumpenproletariat.” The Black capitalism strategy has its roots historically in the Booker T. Washington model of development, whereby Black people in the South were expected to engage in endeavors such as buying farms and setting themselves up in skilled trades and avoid politics or what could be interpreted as striving for “social equality”. This approach was carried further by the Richard Nixon administration as a direct and open counterinsurgency strategy in the late 1960s to combat the rise of the Black Panther Party, RAM, and other revolutionary organizations. This line is insidious because, for one, it doesn’t work as I explained in my lumpen piece, and for two, it promotes class peace and glosses over class struggle within the New Afrikan nation. The line “we all Black” has correct elements, as the national oppression of the New Afrikan people is a constant regardless of class, but we must never forsake class struggle within the nation because the upper and middle classes of the New Afrikan people have material class interests that align themselves with capitalism-imperialism. Akon owns mines in Africa, and Beyoncé’s clothing line profits off the exploited labor of nonmale people in Bangladesh, Haiti and India. Yet they diverge. As these comrades explain: The essential difference between the Black middle class and the white middle class is strategic: the Black middle class uses Black proletarian struggles to advance its own cause. Since it is not strong enough to advance its cause on its own, it leverages the fear of riots and street protests to push its own agenda. The Black middle class cannot completely dissociate itself from the militant phase of the rebellion because it needs to wield riots and violence as a potential threat over the rest of society. At the same time, the Black middle class cannot identify itself with the riot, because to do so would contradict its own desire to be integrated into the capitalist state, whose laws and order secure the existence of private property.
While we should not openly oppose Black economic self-determination efforts, we should encourage the development of cooperative economics and people’s mutual aid under the guidance of revolutionary elders and experienced, progressive community members. This is not about getting a bag but ensuring that our people survive capitalism-imperialism while step by step increasing their revolutionary preparation. This was the guiding motive behind the Black Panther Party’s service to the people programs. Our slogan and watchword should be “we take care of us”. These programs are also useful because they help demonstrate how little the government cares about the New Afrikan working class, and also offer perfect opportunities for our social investigation and class analysis process. We should see these as just one aspect of a broader proletarian revolutionary strategy with the goal of liberating our communities through force, but this can only be done through the building first of a solid mass base. In certain circumstances, small business owners may prove themselves allies of the movement, offering space and donations for our work. As our work grows, we should be prepared for them to vacillate and swing partly or fully over to the side of the enemy. Regardless, we must be prepared at all times to patiently explain, discuss, struggle through, and take advantage of contradictions. We must become capable of exerting power and making phenomena act according to our will, which is the will of the broadest, lowest and deepest masses.
Let’s close with how counterinsurgency manifests itself in the movement. The “movement”, as we interact with it often, is full of liberals in the Maoist sense who operate on a petit-bourgeois friendship politics basis. It’s not how correct your line is to these types, it’s who you know and who you are cool with. So, if a comrade offers a criticism to someone who moves like this, in a counter-insurgent fashion, they can quickly expect to find themselves “called out” and “cancelled” for “splitting the movement” or some horseshit. Liberals are afraid of struggle, and promote false peace. False peace with the police, false peace within the movement, false peace with the capitalists. We need to be aware of this and root ourselves not in the “activist” with blue checks on Twitter, but in the people, the “rank and file” who turn out at protests and more often than not have the same critiques that we have. We want the people that throw the bricks and fight the enemy. Not those that seek to drag them to the polls or put them in prison. We want to recruit them, learn from and teach them, and depend on them, the real masses. Activist gossip only circulates among the circles of “organizers”, the masses oftentimes are not in these internet circles and thus are, as Mao said, blank, meaning not loyal to either side in activist civil wars and firmly opposed to the counter-insurgency behavior. When people stop going to protests, they are expressing their dissatisfaction at the petit-bourgeois factionalism and cliquishness and their desire for a movement in which they feel comfortable being themselves and building community. It is our task to build such a movement. A second counter-insurgency strategy is to pose as friends and, in private, express support for revolutionary goals. We should ask ourselves why they are afraid to speak openly? Who do they serve? Who is paying them? If they are real Communists or revolutionaries, why do they not heed Marx’s call from the Manifesto? Always investigate and, as Lenin said, look for the interest of a class. Thirdly, be aware and ready to defend against redbaiting, which commonly gets activists in the Philippines shot and killed. Labeling every revolutionary and militant activist an “outside anarchist” or in cities with a Maoist movement, a “Maoist”, is a direct invitation to state repression. Ultimately, we will struggle against these tendencies with a strong foundation in theory and an even stronger basis in the people. | https://medium.com/@blacklikemao/theses-on-counterinsurgency-tactics-within-the-new-afrikan-revolutionary-movement-92ae6ac2e2b6 | ['Black Like Mao'] | 2020-08-23 00:02:54.925000+00:00 | ['Blm', 'Revolution', 'Communism'] |
Popular Delusions and Climate Action | We have seen some spectacular examples of herd behavior in 2020. They remind one of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, first published in 1841, Charles Mackay’s account of four infamous financial manias. But the 2020 versions, such as anti-mask, actively endanger others.
Popular delusion is indeed the operative term but let me start with crowds and build up to this everyday pathology.
The most familiar example of herd behavior can be seen by looking up at birds flying in flocks. All it may take to organize that flock formation is an inborn tendency to stay surrounded by others that look like you. Those birds out on the edges of the flock are more exposed to predators, so natural selection promotes the gene variants that provide stronger centering behavior. It is those birds that more successfully raise the next generation.
A corollary is to behave in a way that does not cause others to push you farther away from the center of the flock. Don’t look different. Don’t behave in a way that causes you to be labeled as odd. Looking unfamiliar is the easiest clue for a stranger in the midst. From such simple shortcuts, prejudice is born. As the essayist E. B. White once quipped, “Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.”
When conforming becomes delusional
Humans have a far more elaborate social repertoire, of course, but we still have lingering tendencies to “conform.” Some individualistic societies make an effort to deemphasize it; others are known for, as they put it, pounding down any nails that protrude the slightest bit from the level wood floor. Consider the penalties for being an apostate in the Muslim world; it’s like being a traitor to one’s country.
Even supposedly individualistic societies like the United States have episodes that, this year, we have been calling tribal behaviors*. “My guy, right or wrong” is the attitude towards a “Teflon president” to which no criticism seems to stick. There is a considerable evolutionary backstory, involving competition between neighboring groups, to our criteria for selecting our leaders — and for continuing to support leaders with terrible flaws in character, mostly because of concerns for sticking together, not letting defenses against revengeful neighboring groups weaken.
But here I want to focus on what might help explain the attitudes of nearly half of U.S. voters in the last two presidential elections. It helps to also explain the 2020 pandemic paradox, where even the hardest-hit states were flamboyantly resisting mask-wearing and quarantine restrictions. All it seemed to take was the community consensus being Republican enough to make exceptions vulnerable.
That they were endangering their own children and their elders did not seem to matter. What can lead people to behave so irresponsibly, endangering democracy as well? We have just given competing countries (not just potential enemies) evidence of how easily manipulated half of the voters are, and thus of how to weaken the United States on the world scene. It makes US promises seem unreliable when half of the voters can be fooled so easily. The voters may have thrown out Trump by seven million votes, but those voters did not also penalize the Senators and House members that enabled Trump. This is what has enabled the bizarre post-election maneuvering: politicians who know they can get away with lies.
How things change
One candidate to explain the self-inflicted-harm paradox is conformity, a fear of being seen as going against the community’s consensus. And it is not that they think one way and vote another: they seem to conform their news gathering and evaluation to their perceived notions of what their neighbors might think of them. And act upon. Fox is the “safe” channel to watch; changing channels occasionally never seems to occur to some of them. This failure to doubt is what traps them.
Here we see Orwell’s 1984 result, even without a Big Brother to implement it.
Other analyses of this paradox tend to feature fear. I tend to think that the fear of being ostracized is always there; yes, unethical leaders played on the fear, but they need not have created it.
Before, there were the barriers of the education and experience needed for promotion. That, too, changed gradually. The status of nonwhites was greatly aided by the “GI Bill” after WW2 that, at least for males, enabled the able to rise. Such gradual improvements may not endure, as all the pushback on abortion rights shows, but there are many examples of gradual improvement over a half-century.
In my undergraduate classes in the late 1950s, there was only one woman studying engineering (I used to study with her); now women are common. The same ratio was true in medical school classes in the 1960s (I used to regularly have dinner with one of the two women in the hospital cafeteria; she felt that she was under enormous pressures). Now, the med student ratio is half-and-half. Women managers and executives are often seen these days, but it was a slow haul because of the need for on-the-job seasoning and thus generational turnover.
Quick flips in attitudes
There are also some examples of a consensus changing quickly, in only a decade or so. It was hard getting up those hills to midway, but then things flipped. A flip is what we urgently need for pandemic protection and for taking effective climate action.
What is so interesting is how fast things can flip.
You can supply your own quick-flip examples from fashion (my favorite example is how suddenly the bustle disappeared in the 1870s and then reappeared in the 1880s), but in the political-differences realm, there are two really big situations in the last several decades where things flipped. For the benefit of those who did not live through the flips, here are a few examples.
· Banning smoking in offices took 25 years after the 1964 Surgeon General’s report to even get started. Lawsuits over second-hand smoke in the workplace helped, as did different insurance rates. In the 1990s, there was real progress even though the tobacco lobby still kept Congress on the sidelines. · An even better example is in tolerance of nonstandard genders, even in the military (though President Trump, naturally, tried to reverse it). In India, its Supreme Court unanimously struck down one of the world’s oldest bans on consensual gay sex in 2018. Last year, lawmakers in Taiwan voted to legalize same-sex marriage, a first for Asia. Now the pressure is on Japan.
Those who did not live through these 21st-century sea changes should study them because, before the flip, it looked a lot like the popular delusions and self-inflicted harm that we are seeing today from some anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers, and climate deniers. (The non-bizarre delusions in psychiatry are fixed false beliefs such as being harmed or poisoned; delusional disorder includes stalkers.) But they are not contagious; popular delusions are. As Mackay said in 1841, “Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.”
Because climate action has become so urgent, thanks to sustained surges in extreme weather a decade ago, we ought to be studying the sociology of fast flips and how to promote one for more effective climate action. There isn’t enough time to teach critical thinking to everyone.
WHC
* | https://medium.com/calvin-on-climate/popular-delusions-and-climate-action-331852ba1995 | ['William H. Calvin'] | 2021-01-02 01:28:25.769000+00:00 | ['Climate Action', 'Delusions', 'Extreme Weather', 'Herd Behavior', 'Psychology'] |
Why You Should Schedule Your Week | I am a dreamer. I have big aspirations. Dreamers like me are capable of amazing things, but we do have one fatal flaw. We are not good at planning. You see, we have all of these wonderful and lofty things stored up in our minds. But in order for those things to actually happen, they have to find a way to transition from our minds to practical reality.
We like living in the abstract and following inspiration wherever it leads us. That sounds magical in theory, but there still has to be some practical thinking. Just going with no real direction is a fast way of going off a cliff. We have to know where we are going. I’m not saying we have to stifle our inspiration. We just have to drive it, to focus it. This is where the age old science of scheduling comes in.
In my opinion, writing is an art and scheduling is a science. If you blend the two together you experience harmony in your work.
Here are some simple things I have learned about scheduling to accomplish your goals.
Make a list
This is pretty simple, but it is foundational. I have aspired to write at least five days a week. Most of those days I hope to write two articles. This is on top of a full time job in the ministry. As I have thought about this I have found myself becoming overwhelmed and thinking there is no way I can accomplish this. However, I recently sat down and made a simple list of the publications and places I want to write for. At first, this overwhelmed me even more because it looked like too much. But don’t worry, things get better in the next step. Here is what my list of January writing goals looks like:
Write at least once a week for:
Write twice a week for my personal newsletter, The Verse.
Like I said, looking at this list overwhelmed me even more. But then I took the next steps.
Choose a time
I decided the only way to hold myself accountable was to set a consistent time to write each day. Being consistent would build a habit, and the rhythm would eventually become a natural part of my daily life. So I chose to wake up one hour earlier than usual, make some coffee (the most necessary part of the day), and get to writing. Does it take discipline? Yes. Is the payoff worth it? It’s so worth it! Now I know I have about one hour every day I can dedicate to writing. This gives me the time I need to complete the task. I never have to wonder or stress about when I am going to have the time to write that next post.
So now that I have the time, I just need the structure.
Assign your days
This step has been so necessary for me. If I don’t assign my writing to a day I will waste half my time deciding which article to write and which publication to submit to. If I assign my days then I wake up knowing exactly what I am writing about and where I am putting it. This means all my alloted time can be spent writing. So here is what I came up with:
Monday: (1) Koinonia, (2) Poem or story for my newsletter
Tuesday: (1) Verse By Verse, (2) Record “ask anything” segment or write a topical piece for my newsletter
Wednesday: (1) ILLUMINATION, (2) Plan for future articles
Thursday: (1) The Dad Hammer, (2) Plan for future articles
Friday: (1) A Few Words, (2) Newsletter verse post
Every Day: Coffee. So much coffee.
When I got done with this step I noticed something amazing. I was no longer overwhelmed. In fact, I am now excited about my writing plan! I look forward to it every week! And the more I put it into practice, the more efficient I become.
Do you know what is great about this? You can do it too. Seriously, if I can set a schedule for my writing goals and accomplish it, you most definitely can. If you knew me, you would understand. So get at it! If you don’t already have a structure for your writing, now is the time. | https://medium.com/illumination/why-you-should-schedule-your-week-671de023fa36 | ['Brad Creech'] | 2020-12-29 00:39:46.307000+00:00 | ['Personal Development', 'Writing', 'Life Lessons', 'Planning', 'Goals'] |
Introduction to “Proxy” API for Metaprogramming in JavaScript | In the earlier lesson, we learned about some metaprogramming concepts one of which is intercession. Intercession stands for intervening in an operation or intercepting an operation. For example, if you trying to get the value of an object’s property, but that operation was intercepted by some JavaScript program and a false or modified value was returned instead.
Intercession is like a man-in-the-middle attack where data is transformed in-flight between the source and the consumer but done deliberately. The program that sits between the source and the consumer is called Proxy.
You may have heard about this term while connecting to a remote server through a proxy server that sits between you and the remote server. Here the proxy server is able to hide your identity from the remote server as well as transform data received from the remote server if necessary.
JavaScript gives us the Proxy class in ES2015+ that helps us create a proxy around an object. The Proxy global object is a constructor function (class) and its constructor signature is as follows.
var proxy = new Proxy(target, handler);
Here, the target is the object for which a proxy needs to be created. The proxy is the object that will be used to perform some operations on the target . For example, proxy.prop = 1 operation would be handled by the handler and its job is to set the value of target.prop to 1 .
💡 Both target and handler objects are required and must be descendents of Object and not a primitive value (including null and undefined ). Else, TypeError: Cannot create proxy with a non-object as target or handler error is thrown.
Creating a proxy around target doesn’t prevent one from accessing the target but it should be kept private. The handler object contains specific methods one of which will be invoked by JavaScript when a certain operation is performed on the proxy and that method would be responsible to communicate with the target .
In the previous lesson, we learned about the internal slots and internal methods. Every proxy object has two internal slots viz. [[ProxyTarget]] and [[ProxyHandler]] . When we create a proxy object with new Proxy() , these slots are filled with target and handler arguments respectively.
In the Reflect lesson, we also learned about the essential internal methods of all objects and saw a table full of internal methods (table above). These internal methods are trigged by Reflect ’s static methods. Guess what, a proxy object also has these exact same internal methods as shown in the table below. These method signatures are as same as the above table.
When the proxy ’s internal method is called, it calls the target ’s internal method with the exact same name. For example, if proxy[[Get]]() is called when proxy.prop is accessed ( prop is just a property name), it will trigger target[[Get]]() method. This is called no-op forwarding since proxt ’s is not performing any operation of its own.
However, we can provide an implementation of the internal method of the proxy using the handler . In the right-side column of the above table, we have the method (property) names that will be used to trap the internal method call of the proxy object. For example, handler.get method would trap the [[Get]] internal method call.
These handler methods are called traps as they trap or intercept the native operation of the proxy , therefore the native operation of the target . This method receives target as the first argument and the rest of the arguments are received as per the internal method specification.
If you read the Reflect lesson, then you know that the Reflect ’s static method calls the internal methods of the target . So the Reflect.get(target, prop, receiver) calls the target[[Get]](prop, receiver) internal method which returns the value of the prop property of the target object.
A trap receives arguments as you would call a Reflect method with the same name. So in this case, handler.get trap would receive target , prop , and receiver as the argument. Now it is up to you to communicate with the target and return the result back.
This also means that you can call an equivalent Reflect method from within a trap and pass all the arguments to the Reflect method without even looking. This is the reason why Reflect static method and Proxy ’s handler methods (traps) share the same method signature.
So if a trap is missing, then internal methods of the proxy object gets called which calls the internal method of the target and the proxy would behave as in there is no proxy at all. Meaning proxy.prop is equivalent to calling Reflect.get(target, prop) which is somewhat equivalent to target.prop .
If a trap is provided on the handler , you intercept the operation on the target such as if handler.get is present, so proxy.prop would execute the handler.get method and you can communicate with the target using a native approach or use the Reflect.get .
Therefore, for every Reflect static method name, there is an equivalent trap for the handler . You can just go through the Reflect lesson and understand the method signature of the Reflect ’s static method because these would be method signature of the traps available in the handler . So we are not gonna go through them in this lesson and jump straight to examples.
💡 You can find the list of all supported methods on this MDN documentation but it would be the same as Reflect’s static method signatures.
The get and set traps
Let’s create a proxy for a simple object that contains name and age properties. The name property contains an object with fname and lname properties to represent a person’s name. What we want to achieve make name property look like it is a string. Therefore when a user accesses it, it will come as a string and when the user sets a string value, the string value will be split between the fname and lname properties.
In the above example, we have created a proxy for the target object with get and set traps. With this, whenever proxy encounters get operations using proxy.prop syntax or Reflect.get(proxy, ...) , the get trap would be executed. Same goes for the set operation.
In the get trap, we have accessed the property value on the target returned a transformed response (when prop is name ). In the case of set trap, we are updating property value in the target and returning a boolean because that’s the signature of the corresponding Reflect.set method call.
💡 You can also use {} as the handler value. In this case, none of the target operations will be intercepted by the proxy handler and it will be directly processed by internal methods of the proxy .
From the logs, you can see that whenever we assigned a value to proxy , the respective set trap was called. Since there is no has trap on the handler , the "age" in proxy operation (or Reflect.has(proxy, "age") ) would be carried out on the target without any intercession.
The preventExtensions trap
Using a proxy, you can prevent the target object getting injected with arbitrary properties. For this, we need to use the preventExtensions trap.
In the above example, preventExtensions trap is called when Object.preventExtensions or Reflect.preventExtensions method is called on the proxy . Through this trap, we are freezing the target using Object.freeze() method ( Object.seal ) which will prevent the addition of any new properties to the target.
Though this works, it would change the behavior of the target as you can see in the above example, the target.salary operation was unsuccessful as the target was frozen by the proxy in an earlier call. I would recommend adding some logic inside the set trap to prevent any new property addition when proxy is non-extensible instead of mutating the target object.
The construct trap
You can use proxy as a means to enforce a singleton pattern.
In the above example, we have created the PersonProxy for the Person class (constructor function) and we are intercepting the instantiation operation using the construct trap. Hence whenever new PersonProxy() call is made or Reflect.construct(PersonProxy, ...) call is made, construct trap is executed which would pass all the control to Reflect.construct .
Revocable proxy
A revocable proxy is an object containing proxy field which contains the actual proxy and revoke field which is a function which when called sets the the [[ProxyTarget]] and [[ProxyHandler]] internal slots of the proxy to null . Therefore, any further operations on the proxy would result in a TypeError .
var { proxy, revoke } = Proxy.revocable(target, handler);
The Proxy.revocable method returns a revocable proxy object. A revocable proxy would be ideal when a third-party API needs the access of target but you want to intercept operations performed by this third-party API on the target . In that case, you can only provide the proxy object.
This abstracts the target object from the third-part API. Once you do not want this third-part API to make any more changes to the target , you can just call the revoke method. Any further operations on the proxy would then result in a TypeError error. | https://medium.com/jspoint/introduction-to-proxy-api-for-metaprogramming-in-javascript-fa2781e360ba | ['Uday Hiwarale'] | 2020-09-01 06:30:01.616000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Ecmascript', 'Proxy', 'ES6', 'Ecmascript2015'] |
4 Tips on Living a Good Life (advice from a 81-year-old) | To remain a student of life is to live.
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels
My neighbor Greg, has been on earth for a long time now. He just celebrated his birthday a week ago. Greg is not judgmental, which makes our friendship great. Many young people in the world need seasoned mentors to help navigate them through this crazy life. I’m an old soul, therefore I love conversing with wise human beings.
In high school, my best friend was my aunt Ann. She was 85-years-old, and she always had the best advice when I had tough decisions to make. My aunt helped me get through tough relationships, drama at school, and she always told me when I was wrong about something. She gave me the truth, but a non-threatening way. When her health condition declined, I would always visit the nursing home to see her, read to her, and make her laugh. When she died, it felt like I’d almost lost my mother. But her words and spirit still lives.
God uniquely puts special people in your life to guide you along the way, and that’s what I have in my friend Greg. On his birthday, we got a chance to chat for one whole hour. Greg provided me with some great wisdom to live a good life.
The advice in this article, is by no means, trendy or, will make the headlines. But it’s practical, and a must in life as we progress. These lessons will not cost you much money, however, it does require an open mind.
Make a Life Commitment to Reading Books
He explained that reading books can put you ahead in life. Greg reads a lot of biographies and books on history. He advised that as a writer you never want your content to become dense and repetitive. “Read books in all genres to stay well rounded on views and topics,” said Greg. He was reading The Great Influenza by John M. Barry as we were speaking.
Greg has over three thousand books in his home library. His mind is so filled up with historical content, and he can’t help but tell me story after story. He even has banned and unpublished books very few people in the world have. For Greg’s children’s college graduation, he wrote a book full of wisdom for certain moments in life.
Writers are life educators, we’re constantly researching to find cases that articulate the point we are trying to make.
Preserve a bit for Yourself
“Self-edification is today’s grim reaper. Avoid letting the world know everything about you, instead continue the memory book that’s collecting dust at your grandmother’s house,” says Greg. Very, very sound advice from the old man. Remember when we were kids and we’d flip through the picture book and see our Mom and Dad as babies and teenagers. There was a sense of tradition or historical heritage that was appreciated.
Like most people, my wife and I show our kids their baby pictures on Facebook, which is pretty typical these days. Right now, in my home, I just noticed that we don’t have picture frames of our family hanging on the walls. It’s because we’ve replaced antique possessions with software.
Last year, I went to a Dallas Cowboys game and as I was watching it, I noticed that quite a bit of people video the event rather than watch it live. Sometimes we only do this so that we can show the world that we’re having fun and enjoying life. Take time to enjoy the moment for your own sake. Taking pictures is cool before and after the event. Remember, there’s hardly ever an event that was not uploaded on YouTube the same day.
Remain a Student of Life
“Never stop learning. The moment you do, you die.” The universe puts important people in place to give you pointers on life to continue your journey. This is challenging for all people, especially if you don’t like to be advised. I have that problem sometimes. I can’t stand it when someone says, "This is what you should do”. That irks me. Greg would say, “Consider this…” which allowed me to listen with an open mind.
In the Bible, Paul traveled from city to city to listen and teach believers about Faith. For Paul to teach, he must’ve had a teacher. Paul wrote specific letters to churches to encourage them during trying times. Those lessons are relevant today for perspective. Though materials possessions come and go, human nature stays the same.
Practice Solitude Daily
When you are living a busy life (work, kids, activities), there’s almost no time for solitude. Solitude is vital because it allows us time to think, rationalize situations, generate ideas, and hear the quiet and still voice inside. We simply can’t do any of these things if we’re constantly being distracted by the chaos of the world or skimming Instagram feeds.
In the past, people didn’t have a choice but to endure long periods of solitude. The lack of technology meant they couldn’t listen to a podcast when they took public transit to work or check their notifications when waiting in the grocery line. People had to deal with their own screwed up thoughts and failures, right then and there. For the first time in human history, we are free from all areas of boredom. Let’s take our solitude back and allow our natural state of mind to flow according to nature. | https://medium.com/philosophy-caf%C3%A9/4-tips-on-living-a-good-life-advice-from-a-81-year-old-8b2d09088a75 | ['Barron Smitz'] | 2020-12-22 22:30:10.947000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Wisdom', 'Solitude', 'Millennials', 'Mindfulness'] |
Unpacking The LAO 👾 | The LAO has generated tremendous interest since it was announced several weeks ago. We address some common questions and criticisms below.
Several weeks ago, OpenLaw announced that it will be providing software to help create The LAO, a for-profit limited liability decentralized organization, which will enable its members to invest in early-stage Ethereum ventures and share in the profits. So far the response has been tremendous, and we’re deeply gratified by the coverage and offers by members of the Ethereum community to help bring this exciting idea to life.
At its core, The LAO aims to resurrect The DAO — the first grand experiment of Ethereum — but in a way that limits the liability of LAO-members and complies with US law. Just like how Coinbase legitimized cryptocurrency exchanges in the US — in the wake of Mt. Gox — we hope to do the same thing with for-profit DAOs, bringing digital organizations to the masses.
The history of DAOs is just beginning, but we believe the general approach of blending together traditional legal agreements with smart contract-based governance mechanisms hits the right tone and will ensure the responsible development of the greater DAO ecosystem. By way of analogy, from the beginning, Netflix wanted to bring streaming video to the masses, but it needed to start by sending DVDs through the mail (due to technical and legal restrictions — i.e., it needed to obtain licenses from content owners). We believe in open and permissionless DAO structures but will start by supporting a structure to a limited number of accredited investors through a public sale, which hopefully blossoms into an ecosystem of independent, member-managed LAOs that can rapidly make funding decisions.
Despite the promise of The LAO — and what we believe is a measured approach to delivering such structures — The LAO has already generated some responses, most notably from Preston Byrne’s in his article, “The LAO, demystified,” as well as other more measured critiques like “The Uphill Battle LAOs Will Face” by Mohamed Fouda.
The LAO is a Familiar Structure With Novel Smart Contract-Based Governance.
The LAO will (hopefully) be a large-scale experiment in using a limited liability entity managed by smart contracts to organize for-profit commercial endeavors. We’re bringing to life ideas that have been percolating around the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems over the past seven years.
A predicate to the generalized notion of a DAO, was proposed by Dan Larimer in 2013, when he began to describe Decentralized Autonomous Corporations (DACs), that relied on blockchains and smart contracts to organize commercial affairs. The Ethereum Whitepaper extensively referenced Larimer’s work, when it was released in early 2014, presenting a more formalized and generalized version of the DAC with the more generalized concept of a Decentralized Autonomous Organization.
Despite the long lineage of blockchain developers, who have described and explored DAO-structures, commentators on The LAO have suggested that these structures have already been built. One criticism is that the first time a LAO was built was in “in 2014 [sic], when [Monax employees]proposed linking a DAO — properly, just some software that automated organizational governance using a permissioned Ethereum template — to a private organization, specifically a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade association.”
We scratched our heads a bit at this criticism, because the referenced entity was never launched from what we can gather.
In any event, the novelness of The LAO does not rest on linking smart contracts to legal agreements for purposes of developing a not-for-profit. It rests on the fact that The LAO will be engaged in for-profit endeavors in ways that limit the legal risk of members and aims to comply with US law. The LAO will modify well established organizational documents to accommodate smart contract-based corporate governance mechanisms, while working within the current confines of the law.
For what it’s worth, the idea of legally-recognized digital organizations, with presumed legal agreements standing behind them, stretches far back well before 2014 and the fantastic Monax team. Take for example the sci-fi imaginings of Charles Stross in Accelerando (2005):
“The divested Microsoft divisions have automated their legal processes and are spawning subsidiaries, IPOing them, and exchanging title in a bizarre parody of bacterial plasmid exchange, so fast that, by the time the windfall tax demands are served, the targets don’t exist anymore, even though the same staff are working on the same software in the same Mumbai cubicle farms. Welcome to the twenty-first century . . . . Today’s increasingly automated corporations don’t understand mortality.”
The LAO Will Streamline Venture Financing for Ethereum Startups.
A second exciting aspect of The LAO is that it’ll handle many of the operational issues related to entering into and financing a startup. As part of that process, The LAO will require that young Ethereum startups begin their journey “digitally native,” relying on organizational documents that are largely standardized in Silicon Valley but also modified to permit — and provide legal effect — to tokenized stock.
The use of tokenized stock in these companies will hopefully, over time, create fertile ground to explore concepts currently swirling around the blockchain ecosystem in relation to tokenized securities (STOs), including real-time dividend and royalty payments. With companies starting with their life with tokenized stock — on open and permissionless blockchains — the Ethereum ecosystem will finally have a reason to build more advanced market infrastructure to handle the custody and trading of these important financial assets in a more standardized fashion. In our view, digital assets will likely be adopted in a bottom-up, as opposed to a top-down, manner. And as Ethereum-based startups grow in size and importance, it will force Wall Street and more established financial actors to accommodate and adopt blockchain technology.
The LAO, despite strongly-worded assessments, is not a rediscovery that “a Delaware corporation’s back office can be run with software.” The LAO will ideally serve as an important piece of infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem — one that isn’t based on a proprietary database or company, like Carta. The LAO will create a generation of digitally native companies, many of whom are hopefully successful. Data related to these companies shouldn’t be owned by one centralized entity, but should exist on open, secure, and permissionless financial infrastructure.
Likewise OpenLaw, as the administrator of The LAO, will not “serve as a law firm,” rather it will provide projects (and their independent counsel) easy to use tools to build digitally native companies. Unfortunately, starting a business today is still hard and expensive. We want to make starting a digitally native business exceptionally easy.
The LAO Will Be Member-Managed, Because US-Based LLCs Do Not Need a Manager, and Members Will Enjoy Limited Liability.
The LAO is a new experiment in crowdfunding investment decisions — an express homage to The DAO. With the first version of The LAO, the wisdom of the crowd will be tested and members will manage investment decisions and the entire proposal process. Unlike other for-profit venture funds, there will be no general partner or managing members and we’re building tools to enable members to delegate their votes to other members.
The LAO can be legally formed in the US (without a managing-member) and will not require that OpenLaw manage the affairs of the enterprise. Instead, OpenLaw will simply provide the software and additional tooling necessary to operate the fund, while all substantive decisions are democratically managed.
As many corporate lawyers know, this is the default way that LLCs and other limited liability pass-through entities work in many states in the US. In Delaware, for example, under Section 18–402, of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act, “the management of a limited liability company [is] vested in its members . . . . Unless otherwise provided in a limited liability company agreement, each member and manager has the authority to bind the limited liability company.” Questions related to what liability members owe to one another (fiduciary or otherwise) can be varied via the entity’s operational agreements and will be enforced by Delaware law. See, e.g., Miller v. HCP & Co., 2018 WL 656378 (Del. Ct. Ch. Feb. 1, 2018) (noting the axiomatic principle under Delaware Law that LLC or LLP agreements can “eliminate fiduciary duties that members or managers would otherwise owe to one another,” because Delaware Law gives “maximum effect to the principle of freedom of contract and to the enforceability of limited liability company agreements.”)
Accordingly, criticisms that The LAO “can really only work if there is one LLC manager — OpenLaw or a delegate — or if all the LLC members are managing members” isn’t supported by the default rules of Delaware corporate law and certainly won’t be the case here.
Likewise, critiques that The LAO will not address any lingering questions related to who is “liable for discharging certain duties, both to the [The LAO] members and third parties with which it deals on their behalf” is simply false. The operating agreement for The LAO will articulate the ability of members to bind the entity and deal with obligations that members have to one another.
These questions, while important, obscure the importance of what The LAO is hoping to accomplish. With The LAO, members are using Ethereum for what it’s good for — serving as a generalized state to record and execute their decisions and transfer funds when consensus is reached.
If members don’t want to participate in the decision-making process, that’s completely fine. They will have the right to delegate their voting power to other members and will be expressly permitted to do so under The LAO’s organizational documents. As a result, members will be able to actively participate in funding decisions or give other members the authority to do so (without deputizing any one member a manager).
Equally important, if a member is not happy with the performance of The LAO, members will have the right to “rage quit” or redeem — at any time — any unallocated capital contributed to The LAO. Once a member exercises this right, the member’s pro-rata portion of any securities in LAO-funded startups that they are entitled to (based on their capital contribution) will be held in an escrow-like smart contract until they are permitted to be traded. The right to walk away provides strong protection for members and should further limit the risk of liability between members.
The LAO Will Receive Tokenized Stock in Exchange for Investment, Clarifying Tax Issues.
By providing funding, in exchange for tokenized stock, The LAO will hold in its shared account tokenized securities backed by binding legal documents. If all goes as planned, the value of those securities will go up in value and The LAO will be the go-to source of funding for generations of companies seeking to build on Ethereum. Like today’s venture capital funds, any proceeds from the sale of those securities will be distributed in accordance with The LAO’s underlying legal agreements (and OpenLaw will help administer the distribution of funds if they are not in crypto).
The criticism “that LAO members would insist on ‘continuously claiming their fair share of profits’” doesn’t make much sense, considering that The LAO will hold private company stock (which is subject to transfer restrictions). And because The LAO will be dealing with tokenized securities (backed by valid legally binding agreements), the tax consequences will be predictable.
It is true that, in the future, The LAO members may choose to accept other forms of securities, which permit real time dividend payments or other streams of payment (a fantastic blockchain-based use cases). But, if that eventuality occurs, members can decide whether they want to amend their organizational documents to accept these novel types of securities. Alternatively, a new LAO could be organized to expressly experiment with these new securities.
The Status of LAO Member Interests Is Far From Certain.
One of the beautiful things about The LAO is that it will be member managed and democratically governed. For many that’s a scary proposition because it’s new and untested. But, to us, it’s a logical reflection of the underlying architecture of blockchain-based networks and their supporting communities.
Some question whether this will be effective and those criticisms are fair — we are venturing into uncharted territory, but we believe the hypothesis is sound, especially when softened by delegated voting rights (noted above).
Legally, however, it also brings the status of The LAO membership interests into a gray area. Because The LAO is member-managed, there are open questions as to whether interests in The LAO will be classified as securities. Under US law, interests in limited liability entities that are member-managed often are not considered securities, unless there is a majority holder of the entity or a party that dominates decision making.
The reason for this is plain. Securities law fundamentally addresses informational asymmetries between managers and issuers, on the one hand, and members and shareholders, on the other. With members actively participating in the governance of a limited liability entity, the membership interests are generally not considered securities. See, e.g., Robinson v. Glynn, 349 F.3d 166 (4th Cir. 2003); Ave. Capital Mgmt. II, L.P. v. Schaden, 843 F.3d 876 (10th Cir. 2016).
The logic undergirding these decisions is even more applicable here because The LAO is entirely member managed (no one member will be able to hold more than 10% of the underlying voting power by default) and the entire operations of The LAO will be readily available to every member. That means that interests in The LAO very well may not be securities, depending on how actively members participate in these structures.
Nevertheless, in the abundance of caution, The LAO will limit its sale of interests to accredited investors to a limited number of members to get the ball rolling. There are enough challenges to tackle first before making a fulsome case for excluding memberships interests in LAOs from being classified as securities. We hope to make those arguments, once these structures are validated and launched. At that point, we can show actual successes and a meaningful impact.
It’s worth noting that when The LAO makes accredited investor checks it will aim to experiment with new ways to validate this information, checking to see if a potential member’s Ethereum address contains sufficient ether to meet the definition of an accredited investor in the US (using real-time pricing information provided by decentralized oracle services, like ChainLink, to convert the value of the ether at time into US dollars).
Accredited investor requirements in the US can be satisfied, inter alia, if the: (a) member has a net worth, or joint net worth with that person’s spouse, which exceeds $1,000,000; or (b) is a non-excluded organization with assets over $5 million.
There is nothing under US law that precludes the use of digital assets to assess whether a potential member qualifies to join. Criticisms that “[t]his is not how accredited investor verification works” are not grounded in US law.
The LAO Will Provided Startups With Predictable Investment on Fixed Terms to Make it Easier for Members to Manage Their Pooled Assets.
As noted in our announcement, projects that seek funding from the LAO will be provided with investment on a take it or leave it basis. The investment terms will be standardized and there will be no negotiation on the part of The LAO members and projects. The reason for this is practical — group decision making is difficult — and we want to provide projects and members with a degree of predictability as to ongoing investments.
At any point in time, members will know how much capital (ether or dai) is being held by The LAO and thus criticisms that there will “Ethernomics” at play are a bit puzzling. If The LAO does not have sufficient assets to complete a funding, OpenLaw as the administer of The LAO can be deputized by members to wind down the entity and bring the experiment to a close.
The LAO is a Grand Experiment That The Ethereum Ecosystem Needs.
The Ethereum ecosystem has an astounding mix of ideas and talented developers — the likes of which we only saw during the first wave of the Internet. We’re committed to providing software to help create new, more democratic vehicles to better enable developers to build incredible companies and tools.
The LAO’s structure will be disclosed in more detail over the upcoming weeks, as we work with counsel to finalize the nitty-gritty details and do our best to ensure that The LAO complies with the intricacies of US law. Some may argue that The LAO is one or more limited liability entities “with some weird corporate governance arrangements that probably don’t work, and funky tax consequences.”
However, in reality, it will streamline a fairly cumbersome process today for early-stage Ethereum process and give members of The LAO greater control and access to companies that members collectively agree to invest in. The LAO is not “add[ing] another layer of complexity” or “cargo cult finance” but rather reducing complexity both for members and startups. The tax treatment should be predictable because The LAO will only hold securities and will be a structure that is not available on other “normal equity crowdfunding platform[s].”
The LAO aims to build an Internet native Silicon Valley — one that can serve projects and developers regardless of background or location. If you’re interested in this vision, we’d love to hear from you. Shoot us a note at [email protected].
👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾👾 | https://medium.com/openlawofficial/unpacking-the-lao-e463f7357b4b | ['The Lao'] | 2019-09-23 20:46:49.879000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Decentralization', 'Ethereum', 'Blockchain', 'Venture Capital'] |
DNA Is Now Solving Decades-Old Newborn Killings | DNA Is Now Solving Decades-Old Newborn Killings
Genealogy databases are leading police to mothers who killed their babies
On May 15, 1988, two children were playing near a creek in Northern California’s sunny Castro Valley when they made a disturbing discovery. At the top of an embankment along the creek, they found a bag containing the body of a newborn baby boy. He was swaddled in a light blue, adult-sized Garfield T-shirt. An autopsy later determined that the baby died by homicide. The mother, who investigators considered a suspect, could not be found.
The investigation turned up no viable leads. No one seemed to have any information about who the mother could be. In July 1988, a local church organized a funeral for the nameless infant, and 200 members of the community attended. Church leaders named the baby Richard Jayson Terrance Rein, while police referred to him as Baby John Doe. The case went cold for 17 years.
Then, in 2019, Alameda County police uploaded the baby’s DNA profile to an online genealogy database, which allows people to find relatives based on matching DNA. This enabled the police to trace the baby’s relatives to the mother, Lesa Lopez, now a 52-year-old grandmother living in Salida, California, about an hour east of Castro Valley. When police visited Lopez at her home in July, she admitted that she was the mother of the baby, who’d been born when Lopez was 20 years old. She told investigators that she had hidden the pregnancy from her family and friends.
Few details about Lopez have been made public, but her Facebook photos belie the notion of a cold-blooded killer. Instead, Lopez’s profile reflects a love of animals, the band Kiss, and spending time with her family and friends.
The investigative technique police used, known as forensic genetic genealogy, combines information in consumer DNA databases with traditional genealogy. Its use has taken off in recent years after law enforcement used it in 2018 to identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, who was sentenced to multiple life sentences in August for committing at least 13 murders and 50 rapes across California in the 1970s and 1980s.
Since DeAngelo’s 2018 arrest, genetic genealogy has solved more than 200 U.S. homicides and sexual assault cases, many of which had long gone cold. Now, police are increasingly using the technique to identify the mothers of infants who were killed or abandoned years ago. In 2020, police across the country announced that they solved several such “Baby Doe” cases with genetic genealogy, including one this month in Michigan, where a 41-year-old woman was charged with murder in the deaths of her twin newborn sons in 2003.
But some feel that its use in identifying the mothers of these newborns takes the technique too far. Research suggests that most mothers who murder babies within the first day of birth — known as neonaticide — do not premeditate the crime and aren’t violent. Instead, these girls and women, who are often unmarried, scared, and without the resources to care for a child, act out of impulsive panic after they deliver the baby. Experts estimate that a few hundred neonaticides occur in the United States each year, but the true incidence is unknown.
On one hand, genetic genealogy is a way to bring justice to the babies who never got the chance to live out their lives. But the growing use of the technique could also mean imprisoning women who may pose no threat to society.
“If you develop the atom bomb, do you have to drop it?” says Michelle Oberman, a law professor at Santa Clara University who has written two books about mothers who kill their children. “It’s really tempting, once you have the technology, to run through every cold case that you’ve ever had and see what turns up.” | https://futurehuman.medium.com/dna-is-now-solving-decades-old-newborn-killings-67dd0f9ccf82 | ['Emily Mullin'] | 2020-12-16 20:37:48.615000+00:00 | ['Crime', 'Science', 'Genetics', 'Privacy', 'Data Privacy'] |
President-elect Joe Biden and his better half, Jill Biden, will get their first portion of Covid immunization on Monday, a progress official said. | VP choose Kamala Harris and her significant other, Doug Emhoff, will get their first shots the next week.
Biden has said he would accept the immunization when was suitable and that he would do as such out in the open to raise trust and mindfulness.
VP Mike Pence and his better half, Karen, were inoculated prior Friday, as was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Government authorities are among the first to get the shots as a component of longstanding designs to ensure congruity of government.
Late surveys have indicated that trust in the antibody is expanding yet that numerous Americans actually harbor questions.
President Donald Trump has said he will take the antibody, however hasn't said when. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday declined to set a course of events, or to focus on him getting it while still in office.
On Thursday, the change reported that Representative Cedric Richmond, who has been named one of Biden's White House helpers, has tried positive for Covid, turning into the primary known contamination among the duly elected president's senior counsels.
Biden was tried after Richmond’s contamination was known, and the president-electetried negative for Covid-19 on Thursday. The progress group said Biden didn’t have "close contact" as characterized by the U.S. Places for Disease Control when they showed up together at a mission occasion Tuesday in Georgia, Biden representative Kate Bedingfield said in an articulation. | https://medium.com/@pinkiinki97/president-elect-joe-biden-and-his-better-half-jill-biden-will-get-their-first-portion-of-covid-41d627c27c2a | ['Inki Pinki'] | 2020-12-21 14:32:13.573000+00:00 | ['Trump', 'Covid 19', 'America', 'Joe', 'President'] |
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