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Reinforcement Learning: Super Mario, AlphaGo and beyond | Most of the literature we find on machine learning talks about two types of learning techniques — supervised and unsupervised. Supervised learning is where we have a labeled dataset. This means we already have data from which to develop models using algorithms such as Linear Regression, Logistic Regression, and others. With this model, we can make further predictions like given data on housing prices, what will the cost of a house with a given set of features be. Unsupervised learning, on the other hand, doesn’t have a labeled dataset, but still, we do have abundant data. The model we create in this setting just needs to derive a pattern amongst the data available. We do this with algorithms such as K Means Clustering, K Nearest Neighbors, etc. to solve problems like grouping a set of users according to their behavior in an online shopping portal. But what if we don’t have so much data? What if we are dealing with a dynamic environment and the model needs to gather data and learn in real time? Enter reinforcement learning. In this post, I’ll take a look at the basics of what reinforcement learning is, how it works and some of its practical applications.
Without reinforcement learning, there is no supervisor to tell you if you did right or wrong. If you did well, you get a reward, else you would not. If you did terrible, you might even get a negative reward. Reinforcement learning adds in another dimension — time. It can be thought of being in between supervised and unsupervised learning. Whereas in supervised learning, we have labeled data and unsupervised learning we don’t, in reinforcement learning, we have time delayed labels, which we call rewards. RL has the concept of delayed rewards. So, the reward we just received may not be dependent on the last action we took. It is entirely possible that the reward came because of something we did 20 iterations ago. As you move through Super Mario, you’ll find instances where you hit a mystery box and keep moving forward and the mushroom also moves and finds you. It is the series of actions that started with Mario hitting the mystery box that resulted in him getting stronger after a certain time delay. The choice we make now affects the set of choices we have in the future. If we choose a different set of actions, we will be in a completely different state and the inputs to that state and where we can go from there differs. If Mario hit the mystery box but chose not to move forward when the mushroom began to move, he’ll miss the mushroom and he won’t get stronger. The agent is now in a different state than he would have been had he moved forward.
You might not be able to totally recall the first time you ever played Mario, but just like any other game, you might have started with a clean slate, not knowing what to do. You see an environment in which you as Mario, the agent, have been placed that consists of bricks, coins, mystery boxes, pipes, sentient mushrooms called Goomba, and other elements. You begin taking actions in this environment by pressing a few keys before you realized then you can move Mario with the arrow keys to the left and right. Every action you take changes the state of Mario. You moved to the extreme left at the beginning but nothing happened so you started moving right. You tried jumping onto the mystery box after which you got a reward in the form of coins. Now, you learned that every time you see a mystery box, you can jump and earn coins. You continued moving right and then you collided with a Goomba after which you got a negative reward (also called a punishment) in the form of death. You could start all over again, but by now you’ve learned that you must not get too close to the Goomba; you should try something else. In other words, you have been “reinforced”. Next, you try to jump and go over the Goomba using the bricks but then you’d miss a reward from the mystery box. So you need to formulate a new policy, one that’ll give you the maximum benefit — gives you the reward and doesn’t get you killed. So you wait for the perfect moment to go under the bricks and jump over the Goomba. After many attempts, you take one such action that causes Mario to step over the Goomba and it gets killed. And then you have an ‘Aha’ moment; you’ve learned how to kill the threat and now you can also get your reward. You jump and this time, it’s not a coin, it’s a mushroom. You again go over the bricks and eat the mushroom. You get an even bigger reward; Mario’s stronger now. This is the whole idea of reinforcement learning. It is a goal-oriented algorithm, which learns techniques to maximize the chances of attaining the goal over many iterations. Using trial and error, reinforcement learning learns much like how humans do.
Reinforcement learning broke into the scene in March 2016 when DeepMind’s AlphaGo, trained using RL, defeated 18-time world champion Go player Lee Sedol 4–1. It turns out the game of Go was really hard to master for the machine, more so than games like Chess simply because there are just too many possible moves and too many numbers of states the game can be in.
Just like Mario, AlphaGo learned through trial and error, over many iterations. AlphaGo doesn’t know the best strategy, but it knows whether it won or lost. AlphaGo uses a tree search to check every possible move it can make and see which is better. On a 19×19 Go board, there are 361 possible moves. For each of these 361 moves, there are 359 possible second moves and so on. In all, there are about 4.67×10³⁸⁵ possible moves; that’s way too much. Even with its advanced hardware, AlphaGo cannot try every single move there is. So, it uses another kind of tree search called the Monte Carlo Tree Search. In this search, only those moves that are most promising are tried out. Each time AlphaGo finishes a game, it updates the record of how many games each move won. After multiple iterations, AlphaGo has a rough idea of which moves maximizes its chance of winning.
AlphaGo first trained itself by imitating historic games played between real players. After this, it started playing against itself and after many iterations, it learned the best moves to win a Go match. Before playing against Lee Sedol, AlphaGo played against and defeated professional Go player Fan Hui 5–0 in 2015. At that moment, people didn’t consider it a big deal as AlphaGo hadn’t reached world champion level. But what they didn’t realize was AlphaGo was learning from humans while beating them. So by the time AlphaGo played against Lee Sedol, it had surpassed world champion level. AlphaGo played 60 online matches against top players and world champions and it won all 60. AlphaGo retired in 2017 while DeepMind continues AI research in other areas.
It’s all fun and games, but where can RL be actually useful? What are some of the real world application? One of the largest field of research and now beginning to show real promise is the field of Robotics. Teaching a robot to act similar to humans has been a major research area and also part of several sci-fi movies. With reinforcement learning, robots can learn similar to how humans do. Using this, industrial automation has been simplified. An example is Tesla’s factory that consists of more than 160 robots that do a large part of the work on cars to reduce the risk of defects.
RL can be used to reduce transit time for stocking and retrieving products in the warehouse for optimizing space utilization and warehouse operations. RL and optimization techniques can be utilized to assess the security of electric power systems and to enhance Microgrid performance. Adaptive learning methods are employed to develop control and protection schemes, which can effectively help to reduce transmission losses and CO2 emissions. Also, Google has used DeepMind’s RL technologies to significantly reduce the energy consumption in its own data centers.
AI researches at SalesForce used deep RL for automatically generating summaries from text based on content abstracted from some original text document. This demonstrated an approach for text mining solution for companies to unlock unstructured text. RL is also being used to allow dialog systems (chatbots) to learn from user interactions and help them improve over time. Pit.AI used RL for evaluating trading strategies. RL has immense applications in the stock market. Q-Learning algorithm can be used by anyone to potentially gain income without worrying about market price or risks involved. The algorithm is smart enough to take all these under considerations while making a trade.
A lot of machine learning libraries have been made available in recent times to help data scientists, but choosing a proper model or architecture can still be challenging. Several research groups have proposed using RL to simplify the process of designing neural network architectures. AutoML from Google uses RL to produce state-of-the-art machine-generated neural network architectures for language modeling and computer vision. | https://hussainather.medium.com/reinforcement-learning-super-mario-alphago-and-beyond-fdd676d1bf43 | ['Syed Hussain Ather'] | 2018-11-12 21:51:40.907000+00:00 | ['Reinforcement Learning', 'Alphago', 'Deep Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Super Mario Bros'] |
The art of joining in Spark | Broadcasting or not broadcasting
First of all, let’s see what happens if we decide to broadcast a table during a join. Note that the Spark execution plan could be automatically translated into a broadcast (without us forcing it), although this can vary depending on the Spark version and on how it is configured.
We will be joining two tables: fact_table and dimension_table. First of all, let’s see how big they are:
fact_table.count // #rows 3,301,889,672
dimension_table.count // #rows 3,922,556
In this case, the data are not skewed and the partitioning is all right — you’ll have to trust my word. Note that the dimension_table is not exactly “small” (although size is not information that we can infer by only observing the number of rows, we’d rather prefer to look at the file size on HDFS).
By the way, let’s try to join the tables without broadcasting to see how long it takes:
Output: Elapsed time: 215.115751969s
Now, what happens if we broadcast the dimension table? By a simple addition to the join operation, i.e. replace the variable dimension_table with broadcast(dimension_table), we can force Spark to handle our tables using a broadcast:
Output: Elapsed time: 61.135962017s
The broadcast made the code run 71% faster! Again, read this outcome having in mind what I wrote earlier about absolute execution time.
Is broadcasting always good for performance? Not at all! If you try to execute the snippets above giving more resources to the cluster (in particular more executors), the non-broadcast version will run faster than the broadcast one! One reason why this happens is because the broadcasting operation is itself quite expensive (it means that all the nodes need to receive a copy of the table), so it’s not surprising that if we increase the amount of executors that need to receive the table, we increase the broadcasting cost, which suddenly may become higher than the join cost itself.
It’s important to remember that when we broadcast, we are hitting on the memory available on each Executor node (here’s a brief article about Spark memory). This can easily lead to Out Of Memory exceptions or make your code unstable: imagine to broadcast a medium-sized table. You run the code, everything is fine and super fast. A couple of months later you suddenly find out that your code breaks, OOM. After some hours of debugging, you may discover that the medium-sized table you broadcast to make your code fast is not that “medium” anymore. Takeaway, if you broadcast a medium-sized table, you need to be sure it will remain medium-sized in the future!
Skew it! This is taking forever!
Skewness is a common issue when you want to join two tables. We say a join is skewed when the join key is not uniformly distributed in the dataset. During a skewed join, Spark cannot perform operations in parallel, since the join’s load will be distributed unevenly across the Executors.
Let’s take our old fact_table and a new dimension:
fact_table.count // #rows 3,301,889,672
dimension_table2.count // #rows 52
Great our dimension_table2 is very small and we can decide to broadcast it straightforward! Let’s join and see what happens:
Output: Elapsed time: 329.991336182s
Now, observe on the SparkUI what happened to the tasks during the execution:
As you can see in the image above, one of the tasks took much more time to complete compared to the others. This is clearly an indication of skewness in the data — and this conjecture would be easily verifiable by looking at the distribution of the join key in the fact_table.
To make things work, we need to find a way to redistribute the workload to improve our join’s performance. I want to propose two ideas:
Option 1 : we can try to repartition our fact table , in order to distribute the effort in the nodes
: we can try to , in order to distribute the effort in the nodes Option 2: we can artificially create a repartitioning key (key salting)
Option 1: Repartition the table
We can select a column that is uniformly distributed and repartition our table accordingly; if we combine this with broadcasting, we should have achieved the goal of redistributing the workload:
Output: Elapsed time: 106.708180448s
Note that we want to choose a column also looking at the cardinality (e.g. I wouldn’t choose a key with “too high” or “too low” cardinality, I let you quantify those terms).
Important note: if you cannot broadcast the dimension table and you still want to use this strategy, the left side and the right side of the join need to be repartitioned using the same partitioner! Let’s see what happens if we don’t.
Consider the following snippet and let’s look at the DAG on the Spark UI
If we don’t specify a partitioner, Spark may decide to perform a default repartitioning before the join
As you can see, it this case my repartitioning is basically ignored: after it is performed, spark still decides to re-exchange the data using the default configuration. Let’s look at how the DAG changes if we use the same partitioner:
Using the same partitioner allows Spark to actually perform the join using our custom options
Option 2: Key salting
Another strategy is to forge a new join key!
We still want to force spark to do a uniform repartitioning of the big table; in this case, we can also combine Key salting with broadcasting, since the dimension table is very small.
The join key of the left table is stored into the field dimension_2_key, which is not evenly distributed. The first step is to make this field more “uniform”. An easy way to do that is to randomly append a number between 0 and N to the join key, e.g.:
As you can see we modified the dimension_2_key which is now “uniformly” distributed, we are on the right path to a better workload on the cluster. We have modified the join key, so we need to do the same operation on the dimension table. To do so, we create for each “new” key value in the fact table, a corresponding value in the dimension: for each value of the id in the dimension table we generate N values in which we append to the old ids the numbers in the [0,N] interval. Let’s make this clearer with the following image:
At this point, we can join the two datasets using the “new” salted key.
This simple trick will improve the degree of parallelism of the DAG execution. Of course, we have increased the number of rows of the dimension table (in the example N=4). A higher N (e.g. 100 or 1000) will result in a more uniform distribution of the key in the fact, but in a higher number of rows for the dimension table!
Let’s code this idea.
First, we need to append the salt to the keys in the fact table. This is a surprisingly challenging task, or, better, it’s a decision point:
We can use a UDF : easy, but can be slow because Catalyst is not very happy with UDFs!
: easy, but can be slow because Catalyst is not very happy with UDFs! We can use the “rand” SQL operator
We can use the monotonically_increasing_id function
Just for fun, let’s go with this third option (it also appear to be a bit faster)
Now we need to “explode” the dimension table with the new key. The fastest way that I have found to do so is to create a dummy dataset containing the numbers between 0 and N (in the example between 0 and 1000) and cross-join the dimension table with this “dummy” dataset:
Finally, we can join the tables using the salted key and see what happens!
Output: Elapsed time: 182.160146932s
Again, execution time is not really a good indicator to understand our improvement, so let’s look at the event timeline:
As you can see we greatly increased the parallelism.
In this case, a simple repartitioning plus broadcast, worked better than crafting a new key. Note that this difference is not due to the join, but to the random number generation during the fact table lift.
Takeaways | https://towardsdatascience.com/the-art-of-joining-in-spark-dcbd33d693c | ['Andrea Ialenti'] | 2020-12-07 01:34:03.753000+00:00 | ['Big Data', 'Apache Spark', 'Scala', 'Sql', 'Data Science'] |
I watched the movie Girl, Interrupted today. | I watched the movie Girl, Interrupted today. The last time I saw it was in 2000. I thought about how much my life has changed in 20 years.
I also thought about how many changes the actors went through and I wondered if they could’ve imagined the lives ahead of them
Theatrical release poster
Angelina Jolie was an unknown actress in 1999. Her future (ex)husband, Brad Pitt, was dating Jennifer Aniston. But she had to marry/divorce Billy Bob Thorton first.
Winona Ryder, who produced the film, was a massive star, the “it” girl of my generation. But too few know of her talent today.
Elisabeth Moss was a minor actor but is now a giant, award-winning star.
Brittany Murphy died ten years later — almost to the day of the release — in odd circumstances.
You never know how life will turn out for you or the people around you. | https://medium.com/everything-shortform/i-watched-the-movie-girl-interrupted-today-9491ab52e31 | ['Kevin Ervin Kelley'] | 2020-12-18 15:51:20.678000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Hollywood', 'Self', 'Personal Growth', 'Movies'] |
The 30 Best Resources to Learn Marketing for Free | Pre-PS: I launched a Full Stack Marketer course. Check it out here.
Between January 2011 and January 2015, the number of job listings on Indeed containing “content marketing” or “content strategy” grew by about 350 percent; therefore, I think it’s safe to assume some of you startup founders are hiring a marketer or two.
But how many of you actually know anything about digital marketing, specifically social media marketing and/or content marketing? I’m guessing not many of you.
You’re probably thinking: Well, duh — that’s why I’m hiring someone to do it. Which makes me remember something my father told me a long, long time ago:
“Lauren, before you ever hire someone for a job, you better know how to do the job yourself.”
There’s a plethora of reasons why my father is right about this, but instead of boring you with all my arguments, I figure my time would be better spent telling you where you can quickly pick up these digital marketing skills.
Here’s a comprehensive (but not overwhelming) list of the best places to learn digital marketing online. Enjoy!
By: Moz, Cost: Free
The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media is a beautifully laid out and interactive guide that makes it easy to learn what you want when you want.
By: Twenty20, Cost: Free
According to Micah Cohen, Twenty20 Product Manager, Twenty20 interviewed hundreds of social media managers to come up with the best social media content calendar, which gives you seven days notice on all major events/holidays accompanied with popular hashtags.
Curated By: Nicolas Nemni, Cost: Free
The Content Marketing Stack is a curated directory of content marketing resources and tutorials.
By: Ben Tossell, Mubashar Iqbal, Daniel Kempe Cost: Free
Marketing Stack, which inspired the above Content Marketing Stack, is a curated directory of marketing resources and tools. It was inspired by StartUp Stash.
By: Dan Norris, Cost: Free
Free on Kindle, Norris provides nine proven frameworks for content marketing to scale a content marketing machine.
By: Social Media Examiner, Cost: Free
If you are new to social media or you’re not sure you’re doing the right thing, this page is for you. It contains a number of resources to help bring you up to speed.
By: Marketo, Cost: Free
Discover how to drive new business and revenue through various social media channels with the Marketo Social Marketing Success Kit.
By: HubSpot, Cost: Free
Learn about the latest news and updates on social media via HubSpot, which breaks the marketing news before anyone else.
By: Moz, Cost: Free
The Moz Local Learning Center will teach you: what local search is; whether local search is the best marketing option for your business; and how to implement local search best practices to drive the maximum number of customers to you.
By: Moz, Cost: Free
The Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an in-depth tutorial on how search engines work. This guide covers the fundamental strategies that make your websites search engine–friendly.
By: Moz, Cost: Free
Whether you’re brand new to link building or have been doing it for a while, we’re sure you’ll find something useful in this guide.
By: Adam Connell, Cost: Free
Connell shares a powerhouse of epic content marketing tools with you that will help you do everything from planning to promoting and improving your content.
By: Adam Connell, Cost: Free
You’ll find a collection of guides, templates and checklists that you can use to grow your traffic, email subscribers, social following and more.
By: Copyblogger, Cost: Free
This guide will fill in the gaps to your content marketing knowledge, and it will help you become a content marketing expert in your industry or company.
By: Curata, Cost: Free
All the words (and influencers) you need to know to kill content marketing.
By: Digital Marketer, Cost: Free
This article is divided into 8 sections, each representing a goal you might be trying to reach with your blog. You can also download a mind map of this post here.
By: Lauren Holliday (me), Cost: Free
This is a mindmap I created to help content marketers come up with effective blog content ideas.
By: HubSpot, Cost: Free
This free and open-to-anyone certification created by HubSpot is a comprehensive marketing course that covers the core elements of the Inbound methodology.
By: HubSpot, Cost: Free
A free and open-to-anyone library of anything and everything inbound marketing related, from ebooks to templates and more goodies for you to download.
By: iDoneThis, Cost: Free
A free, interactive content marketing guide based on the framework iDoneThis used to grow its startup from nothing to a million-dollar business.
By: Kapost, Cost: Free
Explore Kapost’s entire catalog of free marketing resources.
By: Neil Patel, Kathryn Aragon, Cost: Free
The most extensive and detailed guide of advanced content marketing techniques available today, according to guide authors.
By: Ryan Gum, Cost: Free
Ryan Gum put together a list of the essentials you need to know to acquire customers for your startup.
By: Iris Shoor, Cost: Free
So you created great content, now what? Distribute it!
By: WPCurve, Cost: Free
In this post you’ll learn how to create content that converts (i.e. content that drives opt ins, leads and revenue to your business).
By: Google, Cost: Free
Primer is an experimental mobile app we created to make navigating the digital world easier for you.
By: Neil Patel, Ritika Puri, Cost: Free
According to authors, this is the most extensive and comprehensive introduction to online marketing that you’ll find anywhere.
By: Zana.io, Cost: Free
Learn how research-driven and experience-driven marketing can help your product or vision succeed.
By: Process.st, Cost: Free
Process.st created this checklist you can use to promote the content you work so hard to create.
By: Process.st, Cost: Free
Process.st created this handy checklist for you use on your next website launch or redesign. | https://medium.com/sitepoint/the-30-best-resources-to-learn-marketing-for-free-cb725393b1fa | ['Lauren Holliday'] | 2016-06-17 02:54:53.242000+00:00 | ['Content Marketing', 'Startup', 'Marketing', 'Learning', 'Digital Marketing'] |
What To Do When They Decide You’re Not “The One” | When someone decides you’re not the one for them, don’t argue with them.
Don’t try to prove to them they’re wrong. Tell them you understand. Tell them you respect their decision. Be polite. Go through the motion. Take their words at face value and turn around decidedly.
Don’t look back. Don’t hang around. Don’t dig into each little word they say. Don’t even try to find reasons because there’s really no need to. Just accept it for what it is and consider it your own closure. That’s that.
Tell yourself it’s okay. It’s okay to not be chosen, to fail at love again, and maybe again and again because hey, we all do. Let yourself feel the pain that cuts through your vulnerable heart. Let yourself feel sorry. Let yourself cry till it’s stinging around your temples.
When someone decides you’re not the one for them, do not, I repeat, do not question yourself. Do not make it about who you’re as an individual. It’s a decision they make in their own time based on their own perspective, not a true reflection of your inherent worth, not how you’re viewed by everyone.
When someone tells you that you’re not right for them, it means exactly just that. It’s about them and it doesn’t mean you’re wrong or faulty or unlovable.
Remember your life before them. Remember all the moments you felt so happy, so confident, so strong and it had nothing to do with them or being chosen by them at all.
Don’t trap yourself in that circle they draw for you, for this “the one” you’ll never need to be. Step out. Realise that there’s nothing that’s holding you back. Realise that in your hands is your power, always.
When someone decides you’re not the one for them, love yourself enough to let them go. Have enough self-esteem to stop choosing someone who doesn’t choose you.
For sure, it’s no easy task. I know your ego is deeply hurt, you feel like the biggest fool, yet your smitten heart couldn’t stop wanting to change their mind. But don’t.
Be strong enough to resist all the urges, any urges that have their name written on it. Take back the power. Save your dignity and cut your losses. Let them live with their decision and a path without you. Let yourself weep in private for however long it takes.
Now put the focus back on yourself and ask why you would care so much. If they don’t think you’re the one for them, they’re definitely not the one for you anyway, and that’s enough to rest the case.
When someone decides you’re not the one for them, take your time to find yourself again, a self that isn’t confined within anyone’s definition of “the one”, a self that’s true, a self that’s happy.
It will not happen immediately, not today, not tomorrow, probably not even months later, but it will get easier and you will feel better.
Don’t blame yourself. Don’t rush yourself. Don’t force yourself to feel anything you don’t right now. Let it be.
Most importantly, understand that no one is out to get you. It’s not about you. Everyone, just like you, is simply trying to be happy and sometimes their breaking your heart is part of the journeys for both of you.
Soon you’ll even see that it’s a blessing in disguise as you’re learning new things about yourself and realise you’re always stronger than you thought.
When someone decides you’re not the one for them, thank them for not wasting your time any longer. Feel hopeful because you’re now free to find your own “the one” who’s been waiting for you. | https://medium.com/tinglymind/what-to-do-when-they-decide-youre-not-the-one-287712234317 | ['Ellen Nguyen'] | 2020-08-02 19:59:03.281000+00:00 | ['Dating', 'Relationships', 'Advice', 'Heartbreak', 'Life'] |
This Is Why Humans Ask Why, And Why Some Never Lost Their Inner Child | And this is what makes a great thinker
Why do children always ask “why” ?
The other day, I was told that it was really my thing to question everything permanently. So I wondered why this word, “why,” came back so much in the mouth of my inner voice. Why had I never let go of this reflex of the child who marvels at every moment of the world? Why was I an obsessed of the why?
At the beginning, there is the child who discovers the world that will welcome him for this life. Eyes illuminated with curiosity and discovery, he looks, he touches, he questions. “Dad, why this? Mom, why that?”. His parents answer him, and : “Woaah!”
The child is a human being in the basic state. This time of life is one in which all the basic instincts are the most salient, and this mania that children have to harass adults with questions actually reveals our need for knowledge. Yes, our need.
In 1981, researchers made an astonishing discovery. We have in our body what are called opioid receptors. Opioids are the soothing substances that discharge when we hurt ourselves, but also simply when we experience pleasure. Not surprisingly, most of these receptors are located in parts of our nervous system that are involved in our responses to pain and reward, but what these researchers discovered was that we also have such receptors in the part of our brain that deals with visual processing; with the things we see, recognize and associate with them.
This means that the parts of your brain responsible for treating what you see and recognize have “pleasure molecule” receptors. And when you see something beautiful, you literally feel pleasure and relaxation. But that’s not all.
They discovered that these receptors were the most numerous in the area that’s involved in associating what we see with what we know, with our memories. And this means that you also feel pleasure when you recognize something, and by extension you understand it.
From the concrete world to the world of ideas: the birth of the curious and artists
When the child asks “why” and finds an answer, new concepts are created and he feels a lot of fun. But if this pleasure comes first from understanding, it also comes from the novelty.
Novelty modulates the reaction of pleasure to information: if someone tells you a joke for the first time, it will be hilarious. Less the second time, then no more the third. It’s because you have integrated the concept, reducing the reaction of pleasure to novelty.
At the beginning, there is therefore the child who feels pleasure every time he understands because we are “infovores”; the information that is useful to us is literally like food — the search for information and the pleasure derived from it take the same cerebral circuits that those used for food. And the more relevant information we have, the more we reduce uncertainty and worry, just as if we had tons of dried meat in a bunker during a war. But then, great individual differences will develop between those who will transmute this hunt for information in the world of ideas, and those who maintain this hunt for information in the concrete world, as in social relations.
Here is my theory.
Every human being is in essence an infovorous. But it is a gradiant, and some remain more like a child than others on this aspect. In those who remain the most, there are those who will maintain hunting in the concrete world, that is to say, in what is happening concretely around them: social life, the news of their city, of their job. They will be able to make good politicians, officials, policemen, or craftsmen who will chase away the most useful information from their field to continually improve. These people are the majority, simply because in our evolutionary history it was from them that the tribe needed the most. It required a majority of down-to-earth people focused on their immediate environment.
But there was also a minority of “artists”. Shamans. Druids. These artists are those who transmute this hunt for information in the world of ideas, in abstraction, in the imagination. These are the thinkers. The creatives. And these are the so-called “hyperdopaminergic” minds.
The big children of the world of ideas
When we go into abstraction, we start our dopamine system.
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for exploratory behavior but also our motor activity. When we have a lot of dopamine, this translates into more energy, but also a thinking ability that impels: this is what coffee is used for, and this is also reflected by the fact that we look up when we think: this is the sign that dopamine is released, because dopamine is what drives us in the projection towards the future literally as well as figuratively: the future of our life, but also the future before us, in front of our body as well than infinity above. This is why heaven is above. It’s the promised land.
The child is a hyperdopaminergic mind. He runs everywhere, is full of energy and asks lots of questions. He needs to externalize.
In children, this hyperdopaminergic activity remains confined to its concrete and immediate environment because it does not yet have the capacity for abstraction, and he can not yet transfer this exploratory behavior into the imagination — the world of ideas. Of course a child is extremely imaginative — think of their monsters under the beds or their love for stories — but he can not yet fully play in this terrain of fantasy and go hunting information.
When by 8–10 years old children begin to fully develop this abstraction however, the big individual differences in information hunting in the concrete world or the world of ideas are taking place.
These differences depend on the personality, and between those who will not wonder about the mysteries of the life, those moderately and those still who will be obsessed, there will be variations for example in the personality traits “novelty seeking”, “openess” or “self-transcendance”, that all depends by a mix of genetics and life experience.
In some people, this interest in finding answers will be channeled in a special area, such as mathematics or physics. But in others it will extend to an infinite range of subjects, to a global view that will seek to understand everything that surround him and make big syntheses.
At the end, society will end up with super-infovorous people (super curious) and others little, but also infovores of the world of ideas and others rather in the concrete.
And there will finally be those, rarer, who will be at the limit of the two worlds, neither too high nor too low, able to go very high in the abstraction but at the same time able to bring the information hunted to the concrete world, and look at how to practically apply it.
They philosophize but draw conclusions and useful knowledge. They observe the world around them and come to conclusions by analogy about what they do not see, about the metaphysical aspects of this world. Or conversely, delve into metaphysics and draw conclusions about things they experience without understanding the reason at first.
They are the ones called the great thinkers. They are the great chamans of our time.
Boris Laurent | https://medium.com/the-philosophers-stone/this-is-why-humans-ask-why-and-why-do-some-never-lost-their-inner-child-34c35a20ec69 | ['Boris Crevin'] | 2019-01-21 17:16:34.534000+00:00 | ['Inspiration', 'Life Lessons', 'Science', 'Personal Development', 'Life'] |
Against the ongoing case of youthful transgressions | Guidance, an oft sought favour among Muslims and a focus of the septenary Fatiha, arrives in many forms and is needed to degrees that vary alongside our wavering faith. Regardless of our self-professed level of piety, we are taught to continue seeking guidance with the telos of righteousness and ultimately of eternal paradise. While it is therefore fair to assume that praying for the guidance of a particular group is a virtuous act and a conduit for social good, a problem arises when the leaders of our community focus considerably on one particular group, namely the youth, whilst failing to highlight the blemishes that tend to especially afflict the older generations. In fact, this is not only evident within formal spaces of worship and centres of knowledge, but also within smaller community circles and even homes. At the same time, the serviceable shifts that are undertaken by the youth and that are fundamental to Islam are rarely recognized by the same group of people.
The youth are often portrayed as following a collective blueprint centred around drugs, alcohol and other classic notions of self-destruction which together present the idea that they are religiously bankrupt and in need of far more guidance than their older counterparts. Meanwhile, it’s rare, if it even exists at all, to hear about the religious and spiritual struggles that are unique to the older generations.
To touch on one common example, older folks are far more likely to follow the cultural norms of their upbringing even if these norms oppose their religious obligations. On the contrary, this is an area where many of the youth have flourished by taking it upon themselves to question and explore the perimeter which rightly separates culture from religion, even if this boundary opposes their nurtured ways. Of course, this concern of overlap is frequently voiced by Muslim leaders, but the concern, which threatens fundamental aspects of our religion, is not conveyed as one that especially afflicts a particular group. This is not to say that youth are unscathed from incorrectly merging the realms of culture and religion, just as adults are not removed from problems with drugs and alcohol. It is merely to illustrate that a problem which hugs the line of adulthood more than it does youthhood is not conveyed to demonstrate this reality while the antithesis is always featured.
It is discouraging to be part of a congregation that repeatedly refers to you, the youth, and your need for guidance as though you are not part of that very congregation and almost as though you are religiously inferior. Cloaked with an air of unintentional supremacy, you are made to feel like a passive spectator of your religion. I can imagine the pressure of adequately preparing the future generation of Muslims, but periodically referencing the youth’s need for guidance, and alienating them in the process, is not constructive nor is it fair.
On the same side of the fence lies our community’s disinterest in the spiritual and social reform that the youth are pursuing. Rather than immediately accepting every religious act at face value, the youth are returning to the Aristotelian why that is encouraged by our prophets and our holy scripture. They are also permeating important educational spheres, such as the arts, humanities and the social sciences, that have largely departed the Muslim community in favour of the hard sciences and engineering. If the weaknesses of the youth ought to be displayed, then their progress and curiosity should likewise crawl on our communal screens.
In writing this, I am not suggesting that we dissect our community into narrow age groups before airing out their respective dirty laundry. I am also not suggesting that we forgo examining the state of our community or that we abstain from raising concerns with the fear of bruising each other’s ego. Any such suggestion would be absurd and terribly irresponsible. Rather, we should renounce the double standard that repeatedly summons the youth for their distinguishing misdeeds but fails to confront the common offenses of older generations, instead framing them as broader societal problems affecting everyone equally. What should supersede this outdated standard is a system of knowledge sharing and communal responsibility that recognizes the youth as active participants who belong to the fabric of Islam rather than to the oblivious threads that hang on the edge. | https://medium.com/illumination/against-the-ongoing-case-of-youthful-transgressions-405ecbb48a64 | ['Samah Saci'] | 2020-12-11 15:22:17.820000+00:00 | ['Youth', 'Thoughts', 'Islam', 'Religion', 'Illumination'] |
Mele Kalikimaka! | Here is a collection of my Christmas paintings done in Hawaii from 1986 to 1993.
If you’d like, take a screenshot or download (I’m sure you can somehow) and print them out on good paper or cards or canvas and you can use them under Creative Commons License — for personal use only, no commercial use — thanks!
Hawaiian Christmas Prayer
Hawaiian Christmas Prayer — I painted this during the Gulf War, 1990. I was asked to create a hopeful painting by a military mom whose husband — and her daughter’s daddy — were deployed to Iraq. The tiny photo on the sofa under her clasped hands is of her dad.
Mele Kalikimaka Hat
Mele Kalikimaka Muumuu
Mele Kalikimaka Hug
Mele Kalikimaka Candle
Mele Kalikimaka Dove
Hawaiian Christmas Carols
Mele Kalikimaka Haku Lei
Mele Kalikimaka Christmas Fan
Mele Kalikimaka Anthuriums
Mele Kalikimaka Gift
Mele Kalikimaka Cat
I lived in Hawaii from 1966 to 1997, but these paintings were done from 1986–2003.
Mele Kalikimaka, all! | https://medium.com/@dianahansenyoung/mele-kalikimaka-35519eac4179 | ['Diana Hansen-Young'] | 2020-12-20 21:32:07.141000+00:00 | ['Mele Kalikimaka', 'Christmas', 'Prayer', 'Hawaii'] |
Signs of Cerebral Infarction ICD-10 — Medication, Treatment, Recovery Process. | Cerebral infarction and ischemia may be due to large vessel disease small vessel disease venous infarction and global ischemia.
Large vessel disease is when there is thrombosis or embolism of Maine named arteries supplying the brain in fats are initially pale then hemorrhagic then they become soft and finally gliosis replaces the dead tissue.
It may become fluid filled spaces surrounded by gliosis the congest area in the left cerebral hemisphere the bottom of the picture is caused by a cerebral.
In fact this is another example of a recent cerebral in fact small vessel disease is caused by hypertensive or diabetic hyaline arteriolosclerosis lacunar infarcts may occur in the internal capsule thalamus basal ganglia and pons.
These are usually less than one centimeter in diameter they may be may symptomatic or cause restricted neurological deficits and pseudo parkinsonism venous infarction is caused by thrombosis of cerebral cortical veins and venous sinuses.
This results in hemorrhagic cerebral infarction, causes of venous infarction include dehydration infections such as uninfected middle ear polycythemia the contraceptive pill, and pregnancy this is an example of cavernous sinus thrombosis.
Here is another example of sinus thrombosis this slice of the brain shows a hamachi conformed due to a cortical vein thrombosis watershed infarcts are caused by reduction of the blood flow in arterial boundary zones.
For example in hypotension this pot of cerebellum shows bilateral watershed infarcts global ischemia is caused by a reduction in the cerebral blood flow or oxygenation.
It can cause cortical laminar necrosis the cerebral cortex becomes shrunken with loss of white matter causes of global ischemia which includes cardiac arrest severe hypotension severe hypoglycemia and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Cerebral Infarction — Know it all.
A Cerebral Infarction is an area of necrotic tissue in the cerebrum coming about due to a blockage or narrowing in the courses giving blood and oxygen to the brain.
The restricted oxygen as a result of the limited blood supply causes an ischemic stroke that can achieve confined rot if the circulatory system isn’t restored inside a by and large short season of time the blockage can be because of clots an embolus or atheromatous stenosis of at least one veins which corridors are tricky will figure out which zones of the brain are affected infarcted.
These varying infarct will produce different symptoms and outcomes about 1/3 will prove fatal classification there are various classification systems for cerebral infarction.
The oxford network stroke venture arrangement OCSP otherwise called the Bamford or Oxford characterization depends fundamentally on the underlying indications dependent on the degree of the side effects.
The stroke scene is classified as total anterior circulation infarct ta CI partial anterior circulation infarct Pacey lacunar infarct Lacey or posterior circulation infarct POC I.
These four entities predict the extent of the stroke the area of the brain affected the underlying cause and the prognosis the toast trial of orc 10,172 in acute stroke treatment classification is based on clinical symptoms as well as results of further investigations.
On this basis, a stroke is classified as being due to one thrombosis or embolism due to atherosclerosis of a large artery two embolism of cardiac origin three occlusion of a small blood vessel for other determined cause five undetermined cause two possible causes.
No cause identified or fragmented examination manifestations indications of cerebral localized necrosis are dictated by the pieces of the cerebrum influenced if the infarct is situated in the essential engine.
Cortex contralateral hemiparesis is said to occur with brain stem localization brain stem syndromes are typical Wallenberg syndrome Weber syndrome Millard Gubler syndrome Benedict’s syndrome or others in factions will result in weakness and loss of sensation.
On the contrary side of the body, actual assessment of the head territory will uncover irregular student expansion light response and absence of eye development on the inverse side of the infarction occurs on the left side brain speech will be slurred reflexes may be aggravated.
Major Risk Factors of Cerebral Infarction
As well risk factors major risk factors for cerebral infarction are generally the same as for atherosclerosis high blood pressure diabetes mellitus tobacco smoking obesity and dyslipidemia the American Heart Association / American Stroke Association AHA / SI recommends controlling these risk factors in order to prevent stroke the AHA / SI guidelines also provide information on how to prevent stroke if someone has more specific concerns such as sickle cell disease or pregnancy.
It is also possible to calculate the risk of stroke in the next decade based on information gathered through the Framingham Heart Study pathophysiology whether a cerebral infarction is thrombotic or embolic based its pathophysiology or the noticed conditions and basic instruments of the sickness in thrombotic ischemic stroke.
A clots structures and squares bloodstream a blood clot structures when the endothelium is actuated by an assortment of signs to bring about platelet total in the conduit.
This bunch of platelets associates with fibrin to shape a platelet plug this platelet plug develops into a blood clot bringing about a stenotic corridor thrombotic ischemia can happen in enormous or little veins in huge vessels the most widely recognized causes of thrombi are atherosclerosis and vasoconstriction in small vessels.
The most common cause is Lippo Yale enosis lipo gala gnosis is when high blood pressure and aging causes a buildup of fatty hyaline matter in blood vessels atheroma formation can also cause small vessel thrombotic ischemic stroke.
An embolic stroke refers to the blockage of an artery by an embolus a traveling particle or debris in the arterial bloodstream originating elsewhere an embolus is most frequently a thrombus but it can also be a number of other substances including.
For eg from bone marrow in a messed up bone air disease cells or bunches of microbes for the most part from irresistible endocarditis the embolus might be of heart root because of atrial fibrillation patent foramen ovale or from atherosclerosis cerebral artery gas embolism.
Eg- during ascent from a scuba dive is also a possible cause of cerebral infarction LaVette and miller 2008 diagnosis computed tomography CT, an MRI scanning will show the damaged area in the brain showing that the symptoms were not caused by a tumor subdural hematoma or other brain disorder.
The blockage will likewise show up on the angiogram treatment a decade ago like myocardial dead tissue treatment thrombolytic drugs were presented in the treatment of cerebral infarction.
The utilization of intravenous TPA treatment can be supported in patients who show up to the stroke unit and can be completely assessed within 3h of the beginning if cerebral infarction is brought about by a thrombus occluding blood flow to an artery supplying the brain definitive therapy is aimed at removing the blockage by breaking the clot down.
Treatments by TPA/Thrombolysis
Continue Reading…
Originally published at https://bingeexpress.online | https://medium.com/@freelancerpratik7/signs-of-cerebral-infarction-icd-10-medication-treatment-recovery-process-ddaa4d508d8c | ['Pratik Ghadge'] | 2020-12-20 12:25:06.329000+00:00 | ['Neuroscience', 'Health', 'Brain Health', 'Medicine', 'Brain Injury'] |
Divorce Was My Answer to Happily Ever After | One of my earliest memories was the deep desire to be a mother and a wife. I wanted to have a family. I dreamed of a husband that adored me and that I cherished. We would have beautiful children. I wanted four children and so did he. Our house would be a home that everyone we knew wanted to visit. My husband and I would have an open door to everyone, and everyone would feel welcomed. We would happily host celebrations, game nights, evening soirées, Sunday afternoon BBQ’s and Shabbat dinners. Happy occasions shared by all. It would be our pleasure, after all life is about sharing moments with the ones you love and adore. We would build a beautiful life together. We would raise our kids and watch them recreate the same dream for themselves. As grandparents we would babysit our grandkids and take them on vacations. That was my dream.
I went on my first date with my knight in shining armor while I was attending my last semester of college. He and my cousin were graduate school buddies. In truth, my future husband had laid eyes on me four years prior at my cousin’s wedding. I was too young and he decided to wait four years to ask about me. He later spoke of how he had patiently waited for me all that time. My future husband sent me roses at work for all to see. He would leave me love notes in the kitchen next to the coffee machine. It was a true love story, just like in the movies.
My knight swept me off my feet. He held my hand and made me feel as if he would always take care of me. I was safe. I shared my dream with him on our first date. He smiled, and said “I want to make your dreams come true.” Magic to ears. I believed him. Three months later he asked my father for my hand in marriage. He then asked me to marry him on a bent knee. I accepted, and we were engaged. Twelve months after our engagement, we were married in a lavish wedding ceremony and celebration. Shortly thereafter, we were off honeymooning in Bora Bora. I had the wedding and honeymoon of my dreams. That had to mean that I was about to build the life of my dreams with the man of my dreams. Right? I was twenty-three years old and pregnant with our first child.
Fast forward — I’m thirty five — I have three kids, a beautiful home and lots of friends. Externally, everything was as it should be. I was living the dream… or more like a beautiful nightmare? My husband was the same man I married. I had changed. I was no longer the twenty-three year-old bride. I was a thirty-five year-old woman, mother of two daughters and a son. I was searching for meaning and looking to define my individual self.
Inter-relational dynamics are difficult to shift once they have been established. My husband was the breadwinner and I was the homemaker. We had a 1950’s like set-up. When we married, that seemed to work. We had a beautiful home, he went to work, paid the bills and provided a privileged lifestyle for our family. The caveat was that I needed to ask for permission before I made even the smallest decisions for the kids, the home or myself. My husband reminded me daily that he had the veto power. My home did not have the open door of my dreams. I thought I could find fulfillment in other places. I wanted to explore personal growth within my marriage. Ultimately I couldn’t. I wasn’t allowed.
Couples counseling was off the table. I was the problem. So I began individual therapy. I started to understand that I needed to advocate for myself in a real and purposeful way. I was suffocating. I needed to breathe — I needed air. I had new dreams I wanted to pursue. I wanted to build something for myself. I desperately craved independence and autonomy. I was determined to raise independent thinkers. I had a responsibility to model that to my children. How was I to do that if I was in a marriage construct that didn’t allow me to have a voice?
I was thirty-seven when the dream house was sold and my dream of a traditional family was shattered. My husband and I were not going to raise our children together in a traditional way. We will not dance together at our children’s weddings. I had to mourn the death of my dream. I had to bury it.
It was time to dream a new dream. I had to pick up the pieces. It was hard, but I was gentle with myself. I didn’t judge myself harshly and I choose to focus on building a new life.
Now, I don’t have to ask for permission. I can do what I want, when I want and how I want. It was scary being an adult for the first time at thirty-eight. Applying for a credit card and decorating my home the way I want it. It may not be the gilded palace I once lived in, but it’s my palace. It is my home, where the door is always open and I can do as I please.
My spirit is free to explore an authentic life.. As hard as my divorce and the years after have been, I know for certain my children respect and admire the courage it required of me to step outside the box and live my truth.
My kids and I now live in a smaller home and we don’t take fancy vacations. We have laughter, joy and most importantly we communicate openly and honestly. I am a better version of myself. Today I can be the mom I dreamed I would and could be. I can be open and alive. I have modeled strength, courage and resiliency through action.
I believe in marriage — my parents have been married for forty-seven years. Theirs is a real love story built on mutual respect, partnership and autonomy.
My happily ever after came after divorce. Happiness showed itself in the unique shape of me. I love the woman I am today. I worked damn hard to become her. I choose to honor her, accept her for who she is today and who she will become.
Flourishing in Flux,
Xoxo
Ronit
www.flourishinflux.org | https://medium.com/@flourishinflux/divorce-was-my-answer-to-happily-ever-after-aebda3e7b65 | ['Ronit Heimanson'] | 2020-12-14 18:43:17.903000+00:00 | ['Change', 'Codependency', 'Divorce', 'Self Love', 'Growth'] |
Demystifying and raising up curiosity for data topics, how to make it fun for all employees? | Could you tell what is common between our Payer to Partner strategy and our Tech-led ambition? Or what is common between Customer First and Artificial Intelligence?
One of the answers is Data and it’s obvious for us at rev. As an insurer, Data is part of our DNA (since the beginning, nothing new!) and is related to our ability to price a risk.
By becoming “data fluent”, we become more knowledgeable especially on the needs of the customers.
But what does it mean to demystify data in the business? What is the expected data reflexwe are looking for? How did AXA Partners and AXA Gulf manage their Smart® Data Awareness pre-test campaigns?
AXA Gulf’s example
First of all, at the very beginning of the adventure (June 2018) we structured themes around data user and data usage. Behind the buzz words, what are we talking about?
A workgroup including AXA Partners, AXA UK PPP, HR and REV answered by identifying 6 topics related to data awareness. Then, the challenge was to find a way to engage people. Beyond Sponsorship, doing things differently was definitely an option. And we already had convictions: mixing viral marketing techniques with an adaptative algorithm could produce a new way of embarking people. We created a kind of addictive engagement method.
After a family and friends’ prototype (103 DTI employees, last June), we validated the innovative platform developed by AXA France called SMART®, based on an addictive quiz concept.
But what is a Smart® campaign? It’s about receiving 3–5 daily questions on your PC or your mobile, during one week. It’s a fun and unusual experience when dealing with data, with adaptative questions depending on your answers. So, the beauty is that nobody gets the same questions and this creates energy while chatting around the coffee machine!
With the workgroup and AXA France, we co-designed new features to be added in Q4. The SMART® Data Awareness was born.
We fine-tuned the concept and kept it very simple: start learning by simply reading a question!
In parallel of developing new features, the workgroup mobilized 20 AXA Subject Matter Experts to design more than 100 adaptive questions, structured around the 6 topics: data citizen, data and my work, data for customer first, data family, data and technologies, data and value. This challenge related to the content is not over and it is a continuous improvement process.
“Challenge yourself through 4 daily questions and discover which data traveler you are”.
Early 2019, the Smart® data awareness was launched by AXA Partners and AXA Gulf with 2 different objectives:
AXA Partners wanted to gather qualitative feedback from their change makers network. Smart® was launched for 25 people, with questions in French and with a specific feedback process. A lot of learnings (especially on the “Data Summary journey” which is an output document from the Smart®) that will contribute to the official launch for AXA Partners starting with Partners France (more than 500 employees) in May 2019.
AXA Gulf wanted to pre-test Smart® on 150 employees before launching it on all the 2000 employees. In less than 3 months, this collaborative project (HR, CIO, CDO) was set-up.
“Smart® is an easy and unique initiative to foster curiosity related to data topics. I am convinced that it nourishes the data habits that we are looking for” says Tracy Al Saidi, Regional Head of Talent, Learning & Resourcing & Senior HRBP for AXA Gulf.
— In both pilots, the feedback of the participant is positive. Ie. “data isn’t such a difficult topic, once you get out of the jargon!”
— And the results are validating our marketing hypothesis: participation rate doubles from the first day to the last day. Day#1 shows 30% of participation rate and day#5 hits 65+%.
What did we learn so far from the Entities?
Set the sponsorship at the right level: The Entity Sponsor (CEO, Business Leader, CDO…) has to role-model the Tech Led transformation through data culture. REV has some recommendations!
Modularity is an entity requirement through 4 points: calendar, content selection, target population, language.
The crowd funding principles can be applied to Smart® campaigns. Mobilizing people few minutes a day during 1 or 2 weeks.
Beyond AXA Partners and AXA Gulf, several Chief Data Officers expressed their will to launch SMART® in their entity this year, starting with AXA Belgium, AXA France, AXA Spain, AXA Indonesia, AXA Poland, AXA Singapore… Before launching Smart® Data Awareness 1.0 with them, we will have the third and last prototype mid-March, with INM Central team (130 employees), another type of audience with another great Sponsor. Stay connected and observe our data reflex becoming true when generating, using and sharing data!
Want to discover more on this new addictive engagement method?
Contact: [email protected] | https://medium.com/just-tech-it-now/demystifying-and-raising-up-curiosity-for-data-topics-how-to-make-it-fun-for-all-employees-fae163c97a5d | [] | 2019-09-13 12:45:05.996000+00:00 | ['Digital Transformation', 'Smart Learning', 'Standards', 'Risk', 'Data'] |
Ambassadors of Diversity | Global Nomads
I’m a middle school teacher at an International K-12 school. We see students from across the world, and this brings a lot of information about their customs and backgrounds. It’s a melting pot of cultures and traditions. Generally the students are well behaved, well mannered, and are focused towards their education and strive hard to do good in their studies. The parents are a strong force that keep the students on track, they are constantly and consistently monitoring their children’s education. The parents are ready to provide any means that is needed to support their children’s learning. Most of our students are third culture kids coming from affluent backgrounds. They belong to somewhere and nowhere. They are coming from a country where they have spent a few months of their lives, they are living in a country that cannot be called their homeland, and their parents have different nationalities. It is a diverse hotchpotch of different colors, different races, and different ethnic backgrounds.
The world where I grew up was entirely different from this world. I grew up in one single country. My roots are buried deep in the ground and my heart aches to the calls of my community. My parents, my grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins and friends all belonged to the same village. We played in the same courtyard and grew playing around the trees that still offers shade to the passing pedlars and travellers. I still dance to the folk tunes and folk music of my village. This is the reason people of my age have an impervious personality that doesn’t let go of the ties that we have with the community that we grew up with. We are the people who are culturally and traditionally colorfast.
Whereas third culture kids (TCKs) were born in one country, they go to school in another country, and they go to college in another and start their practical life in some other country. Their blood vessels have the prints of every place they have visited or stayed in. They are pervious and have roots that have absorbed the nutrients from many parts of the world. Their inner seasons are not synchronized with the seasons of their birth country, their songs are foreign, they do not associate to the folk songs and tunes of their parent’s country. However, they have a rich cultural background like a spectrum of colors, where each band of color is acquired from a different soil and their own cultural background joins these bands into a beautiful rainbow. They are true sons and daughters of earth as they are the ambassadors of diversity. There are millions of TCKs in the world and they are living and working in every part of the world. The number of third culture kids is increasing and there will be a time when the world will be bustling with TCKs. And that’s when the ideas of nationalism will fade off and we will see the true face of globalization.
The TCKs can bring positivity to the communities as their experiences are wide spread and entirely different from the people who have not seen a diverse community in their lives. They are flexible and open minded mediators and entrepreneurs who can convince others with their communication and can negotiate important deals with their people management skills.
Some of the skills they possess are,
Flexibility: They are flexible and can fit easily in any situation like the gears of the machine. They make the machine run smoothly and easily.
Mediation: They can be the best mediators, because their blood has absorbed many cultures and traditions of the world. They can play an integral part in resolving the conflict between different communities and societies of the world.
Open mindedness: They are open minded as they know how to deal with the people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They can relate to the problems and difficulties of people moving from one place to the other.
Diversity: They have a spectrum of colors in their personalities, and they are capable of radiating these colors to every nook and corner of the world. This will not only make the world a better place but it will be culturally rich and colorful.
Entrepreneurs: They can become successful business persons, as they have a unique skill of creating a globalised and multicultural workplace. They are good communicators and often have excellent people management and time management capabilities.
The parents of third culture kids made this choice of leaving their own countries in search of a better livelihood for their families and communities. They were resilient and smart, they did not only survive in the harsh and unfamiliar environment of alien lands, but they made a firm pedestal for their offsprings to get a head start. These global nomads are raised by educated, sensitive and understanding parents who used their intellectual wisdom to come out of their comfort zones (well we know that magic only happens outside the comfort zone) and dream big for their children. This is why the TCKs are emerging as intelligent, resourceful and successful group of individuals who have the capability of changing the world into a better place. | https://medium.com/@RaaziaAli/ambassadors-of-diversity-526b0dc9d84e | ['Raazia Ali'] | 2021-09-10 17:34:22.458000+00:00 | ['Third Culture Kids', 'Parents And Children', 'Global Nomads', 'Globalization'] |
Interspeech 2017 flashback and 2018 expectations | Last Interspeech in a glance
Interspeech is the world’s largest and most comprehensive conference on the science and technology of spoken language processing.
Interspeech 2017 gathered circa 2000 participants in Stockholm, Sweden and it exceeded expected capacity of the conference. There were lots of great people to to meet and to listen to Hideki Kawahara, Simon King, Jan Chrowski, Tara N. Sainath and many-many others. Papers acceptance rate traditionally was rather high at 51%. ICASSP 2017 had similar number, yet other ML-related conferences have this metrics closer to 20–30%.
Most of works can be classified to one of the following groups:
Speech recognition (in various contexts).
TTS (mono- and multilingual).
Voice conversion.
Speaker verification spoofing.
Acoustic models.
Language modeling.
Speech and medicine.
Low-resourced languages.
Multi-model systems.
Dialogue systems.
Emotions recognition.
Unfortunately, posters and oral sessions overlapped, thus occasionally you had to choose from two interesting events happening at the same time or train quick walking skills travelling between Aula Magna and main building. Yet, overall it was pleasant to observe how recent hot trends from ML community carefully invade speech processing community. Examples include GANs for speech enhancement and voice conversion, usage of WaveNet-like architectures in non-TTS setting, RNN transducer etc. Also it was interesting that in case of acoustic modeling, going deeper is not always a solution. It sounds like a big difference from image-related problems where adding more layers often yields a better model.
Still, some researches do not abandon old-school approaches and invent new ways to apply DTW to various tasks.
Some notable papers:
Michael McAuliffe. Montreal Forced Aligner: trainable text-speech alignment using Kaldi. Also mentions other aligners (and corpuses) of potential interest.
Loweimi et al. Robust Source-filter Separation of Speech Signal in the Phase Domain. Also their experiments on windows for phase processing from Interspeech 2011: Phase-only speech reconstruction using very short frames.
H. Hadian. Duration modeling for LVCSR using neural networks. Authors project duration into discrete domain and train using crossentropy.
Oliver Siohan. CTC training of multi-phone acoustic models for speech recognition. Introduces M-phones for acoustic modeling. M-phone is a variable length sequence of phones. Model is capable of capturing coarticulation effects.
Sibo Tong. An Investigation of Deep Neural Networks for Multilingual Speech Recognition Training and Adaptation. Author compares shared layers architecture with recognizer trained on IPA targets. Also application of speaker adaptation techniques to language adaptation is shown.
Alexander Gutkin. Uniform Multilingual Multi-Speaker Acoustic Model for Statistical Parametric Speech Synthesis of Low-Resourced Languages. TTS for segments of multiple IPA phones. Trained on multiple languages, features and segments are based on relations between languages.
Van Hai Do. Multitask learning using mismatched transcription. Shows how to transcribe records for Georgian language if you have only Chinese transcribers.
Jeong-Uk Bang. Improving Speech Recognizers by Refining Broadcast Data with Inaccurate Subtitle Timestamps. Extraction of aligned data from video with subtitles.
Sercan Arik. Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks for Small-Footprint Keyword Spotting. Next iteration of small-footprint keyword spotting model.
Chin-Cheng Hsu. Voice conversion from unaligned corpura using VAE WGAN. GAN for STRAIGHT vocoder optima parameters search.
Saurabhchand Bhati. Unsupervised Speech Signal to Symbol Transformation for Zero Resource Speech Applications. Approach to unsupervised speech transcription based on virtual phones and words. State-of-the-art accuracy on spoken term detection task.
K.M. Knill. Use of Graphemic Lexicons for Spoken Language Assessment. Speech assessment based on interphonemic distances.
Wei Li. Improving Mispronunciation Detection for Non-Native Learners with Multisource Information and LSTM-Based Deep Models. Mispronunciations detection in Mandarin. Based on iCALL corpus.
What to expect from Interspeech 2018?
Apollo dataset
One of key expectation is release of 16k hours of transcribed audio for Apollo missions to public domain. Vocabulary size probably won’t be huge, yet amount of recordings is on par with what is used in modern commercial ASR systems. Previous biggest available public corpus was LibriSpeech with circa 800 hours of read English. You already could train a decent ASR with that data, so what would be possible with 16 times more speech?
This year we will focus on two tutorials. The forenoon one is End-to-end models in ASR by Rohit Prabhavalkar and Tara Sainath. End-to-end models have become a hot topic in recent years.
A common feature of all of these models is that they are composed on a single neural network, which when given input acoustic frames directly outputs a probability distribution over graphemes or word hypotheses. In fact, as has been demonstrated in recent work, such end-to-end models can surpass the performance of a conventional ASR systems.
The tutorial would cover historical development of end-to-end approaches and also describe similarities and differences between popular models.
Another notable tutorial that unfortunately is going to be at the same time is Spoken dialog technology for education domain applications by Vikram Ramanarayanan, Keelan Evanini and David Suendermann-Oeft.
… tutorial will cover the state of the art in dialog technologies for educational domain applications, with a particular focus on language learning and assessment. This will include an introduction to the various components of spoken dialog systems and how they can be applied to develop conversational applications in the educational domain, as well as some advanced topics such as methods for speech scoring.
Practical part of the tutorial would be around HALEF platform and OpenVXML. Brief search suggests that spoken part would be based on Kaldi. Conventional ASR systems often struggle when used for non-natives speech assessment, thus it would be interesting to see if authors would use some custom model or apply standard recognizer.
In afternoon session we are planning to attend Information theory of deep learning tutorial by Naftali Tishby. It should be a really exciting talk from theoretic point of view as deep learning theory is still underdeveloped. Works in this topic are usually going with rather severe simplifications like elimination of layers non-linearity.
Tutorial on Articulatory representations by Carol Espy-Wilson and Mark Tiede should also be of interest. Especially for e-learning applications. Manners and places of articulation are essential properties describing phonemes pronunciation. Accurate estimation of these features should make ASR systems output less black-boxy comparing to just probability distributions over phones.
Special session this year would cover various topics from paralinguistics to speech recognition for Indian languages.
Depending on the schedule, we’ll try to get to see the following three:
Deep neural networks: How can we interpret what they learned? It should be a nice session to check after information theory tutorial.
Low resource speech recognition challenge for Indian languages. Being low on data is a common thing for anyone working with languages outside of mainstream set. Thus, any tips and tricks would be really valuable.
Spoken CALL shared task. Second edition. Core event for sampling approaches to language learning.
There would be hundreds of papers presented. It is impossible to cover all of them.
There is a lot of overlap between sections. Especially on day 2.
We will try to focus on the following sections:
Show and tell.
End-to-end speech recognition.
Voice conversion.
Models of speech perception.
Acoustic model adaptation.
Novel NN architectures for acoustic modeling.
Measuring pitch and articulation.
Spoken corpora annotation.
Articulatory information, modeling and inversion.
Source separation from Monaural input.
Speech enhancement.
Language identification.
Speaker diarization.
Computer assisted language learning (CALL).
We look forward to seeing you soon at the Interspeech 2018 in Hyderabad! | https://medium.com/sciforce/interspeech-2017-flashback-and-2018-expectations-e17890854a38 | [] | 2018-08-31 16:38:20.637000+00:00 | ['Science', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Speech', 'Technology'] |
Blue Dogs Call on Trump Administration to Combat COVID-19 Disinformation | Blue Dogs Call on Trump Administration to Combat COVID-19 Disinformation
In February, the Word Health Organization issued a report warning that the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an infodemic. Blue Dog Coalition Mar 23, 2020·2 min read
Note: This was originally published on March 19, 2020.
The Blue Dog Coalition sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence calling for the Administration to take immediate action to combat the surging level of disinformation on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Specifically, the Blue Dog Coalition urged the Administration to do the following: launch a fact-based, nonpartisan public service announcement campaign; require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update data on the pandemic at least twice per day, seven days a week; and consider measures to hold social media companies accountable should those companies allow disinformation to run rampant on their platforms.
In a February 2020 report, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the COVID-19 pandemic and its response “has been accompanied by a massive ‘infodemic,’ an over-abundance of information — some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.” Recent press reports have revealed that Russia is waging a disinformation campaign about the COVID-19 pandemic in order to sow fear and panic in the West.
The Co-Chairs of the Blue Dog Task Force on National Security, Reps. Max Rose (NY-11) and Kendra Horn (OK-05), were the lead authors. The letter was signed by all members of Blue Dog Coalition leadership, Reps. Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01), Lou Correa (CA-46), Anthony Brindisi (NY-22), and Kurt Schrader (OR-05). Additionally, the following members signed the letter: Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Rep. Ed Case (HI-01) Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16), Rep. Charlie Crist (FL-13), Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Rep. Ben McAdams (UT-04), Rep. Brad Schneider (IL-10), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), and Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (NM-02). | https://medium.com/@bluedogcoalition/blue-dogs-call-on-trump-administration-to-combat-covid-19-disinformation-ef1d91aae911 | ['Blue Dog Coalition'] | 2020-03-23 21:28:03.325000+00:00 | ['Trump Administration', 'Social Media', 'Disinformation', 'National Security', 'Coronavirus'] |
Wiring the Quantum Computer of the Future: a Novel Simple Build with Existing Technology | But, building quantum computers for large-scale computation is proving to be a challenge in terms of their architecture. The basic units of a quantum computer are the “quantum bits” or “qubits.” These are typically atoms, ions, photons, subatomic particles such as electrons, or even larger elements that simultaneously exist in multiple states, making it possible to obtain several potential outcomes rapidly for large volumes of data. The theoretical requirement for quantum computers is that these are arranged in two-dimensional (2D) arrays, where each qubit is both coupled with its nearest neighbor and connected to the necessary external control lines and devices. When the number of qubits in an array is increased, it becomes difficult to reach qubits in the interior of the array from the edge. The need to solve this problem has so far resulted in complex three-dimensional (3D) wiring systems across multiple planes in which many wires intersect, making their construction a significant engineering challenge.
A group of scientists from Tokyo University of Science, Japan, RIKEN Centre for Emergent Matter Science, Japan, and University of Technology, Sydney, led by Prof Jaw-Shen Tsai, proposes a unique solution to this qubit accessibility problem by modifying the architecture of the qubit array. “Here, we solve this problem and present a modified superconducting micro-architecture that does not require any 3D external line technology and reverts to a completely planar design,” they say. This study has been published in the New Journal of Physics.
The scientists began with a qubit square lattice array and stretched out each column in the 2D plane. They then folded each successive column on top of each other, forming a dual one-dimensional array called a “bi-linear” array. This put all qubits on the edge and simplified the arrangement of the required wiring system. The system is also completely in 2D. In this new architecture, some of the inter-qubit wiring — each qubit is also connected to all adjacent qubits in an array — does overlap, but because these are the only overlaps in the wiring, simple local 3D systems such as airbridges at the point of overlap are enough and the system overall remains in 2D. As you can imagine, this simplifies its construction considerably.
The scientists evaluated the feasibility of this new arrangement through numerical and experimental evaluation in which they tested how much of a signal was retained before and after it passed through an airbridge. Results of both evaluations showed that it is possible to build and run this system using existing technology and without any 3D arrangement.
The scientists’ experiments also showed them that their architecture solves several problems that plague the 3D structures: they are difficult to construct, there is crosstalk or signal interference between waves transmitted across two wires, and the fragile quantum states of the qubits can degrade. The novel pseudo-2D design reduces the number of times wires cross each other, thereby reducing the crosstalk and consequently increasing the efficiency of the system.
At a time when large labs worldwide are attempting to find ways to build large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers, the findings of this exciting new study indicate that such computers can be built using existing 2D integrated circuit technology. “The quantum computer is an information device expected to far exceed the capabilities of modern computers,” Prof Tsai states. The research journey in this direction has only begun with this study, and Prof Tsai concludes by saying, “We are planning to construct a small-scale circuit to further examine and explore the possibility.” | https://medium.com/@tokyouniversityofscience/wiring-the-quantum-computer-of-the-future-a-novel-simple-build-with-existing-technology-39cf733c8cde | ['Tokyo University Of Science'] | 2020-04-23 08:00:59.507000+00:00 | ['Science', 'Quantum Computing', 'Technology News', 'Technology', 'Engineering'] |
Make Your Own Toy Data Set | If you’re interested in completely missing the point of this post, feel free to grab my personal toy dataset from github. It consists of over 3000 measurements (length, width, depth, and weight) of two species of captive sea turtle hatchlings collected over nearly 20 years by researchers at NOAA’s Galveston laboratory.
This has been my go-to toy dataset when I want to implement a new algorithm from scratch to understand how it works, compare different models, or explore a new library.
As convenient as this dataset is now for quick little experiments, the real value came in actually cleaning and curating it myself. The entire process was mired in ambiguity, because I knew that I wanted a toy dataset, but didn’t immediately know what I wanted to do with it, which means I had to do a huge amount of EDA just to understand what I was working with. There were a few anomalies where one measurement was taken in different units, but it initially looked like the values were straight up omitted. Or that the turtles were just very, very, flat. Or perfectly cube-shaped, because columns had been duplicated for some entries. And there wasn’t one batch of abnormally large hatchlings — they happened to be around the same size as turtles that were several months older, even though they were the first entry in that collection of measurements (meaning they weren’t actually measured as hatchlings).
The individual csv files weren’t formatted identically, and documentation was scarce, requiring me to dive into some academic articles to figure out what mysterious column headers corresponded to, but that taught me a lot about both how turtles are measured and how tracking devices are fitted. It gave me an excuse to google all sorts of bizarre pictures trying to figure out how those measurements are obtained (spoiler alert: calipers, not measuring tape wrapped around the entire turtle like my idiot self had imagined).
In other words, when you’re building a toy dataset, you can’t just look at the properties of the dataset itself, you have to understand the context in which the data appears.
Photo by Andres Abogabir on Unsplash
If you’re new to data science and strapped for creativity when it comes to what to add to your portfolio, I can’t recommend building your own toy dataset enough. It might not be a project that will disrupt a multi-billion-dollar market, revolutionize an industry or shatter the status-quo, but you’ll know that data front and back and feel some real ownership over your analysis.
You’ll gain experience with hunting down data, merging multiple datasets, cleaning, finding anomalies, rescaling when necessarily, subsetting to the useful stuff, and making executive decisions with what you want to make it to the final product. Once you’ve got your toy dataset, you can step through tutorials in a totally unique context, with results that you have to interpret and evaluate on your own because that analysis hasn’t already been done by everyone else — and the more you use your toy dataset, the more you’ll get used to what it means to train compare multiple models.
In other words, even though you’re working with a toy data set, you’re doing real data science. | https://danhalesprogramming.medium.com/make-your-own-toy-data-set-1f0a025a3fd3 | ['Dan Hales'] | 2020-10-10 23:35:55.195000+00:00 | ['Data Science'] |
Hoop Cam Plus review: solid security at a bargain price | The notion that you need to pay more to get more from a Wi-Fi security camera no longer seems as true as it did just a year ago. I offer the Hoop Cam Plus as evidence. It offers Full HD (1080p) video, several types of smart detection, geofencing, and other goodies in a unique design for less than $100. Together with the Wyze Cam and the Xiaomi Mi Home Security Camera, it makes clear that “budget” doesn’t need to be synonymous with “bare bones.”
The popular Wyze Cam has sparked a trend toward squat, boxy designs, and the Hoop Cam Plus literally doubles down on short. The top of its circlular module houses the camera while the bottom operates as a base on which the camera can pan 350 degrees and tilt 45 degrees. A speaker, pair of USB ports, and an LED status light are on the back of the base, and on its bottom are a setup button and microSD card slot.
This review is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best home security cameras, where you’ll find reviews of competing products, plus a buyer’s guide to the features you should consider when shopping for this type of product.The Hoop Cam Plus comes with all the features we now expect from a home security camera: 1080p full-color live display, sound- and motion-activated alerts, night vision, two-way communication, and compatibility with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. There are also a couple of small surprises: The ability to set intelligent reminders, and a text-to-speech messaging feature.
Hoop The Hoop Cam Plus can pan 350 degrees and tilt 45 degrees.
The camera pairs with the Hoop Home app. You need to create an account the first time you launch it, then add the camera and follow the on-screen prompts to connect it to your Wi-Fi. The process went smoothly and took just a few minutes in my testing.
Mentioned in this article Wyze Cam Outdoor (with base station) Read TechHive's review$49.99MSRP $49.99with base station)" data-vars-link-position-id="005" data-vars-link-position="Product Sidebar" data-po="vendor" data-product-id="1444555" data-vars-product-id="1444555" data-bkc="HomeTech" data-bkmfr="WyzeLabs" data-vars-bkmfr="WyzeLabs" data-bkvndr="WyzeLabs" data-vars-bkvndr="WyzeLabs" data-vars-outbound-link="https://wyze.com/wyze-cam-outdoor.html">See iton Wyze Labs The app opens to its home screen, from which you can configure and activate three modes of operation: Home, Away, and High Alert. For each of these you can set motion, sound, and fire-alarm detection to on, off, or Smart. When you choose the last one, Hoop’s proprietary algorithm takes over to reduce the number of irrelevant notifications you receive. I used it for all three types of detection.
You can also create profiles here for each of your family members to use with intelligent reminders. Once you upload a photo and phone number, you can create tasks with assigned dates and times that are sent to the recipient via push notification, SMS, or voice alert through the camera.
Michael Ansaldo/IDG The Hoop Home app is well designed and intuitive to use.
The camera’s live feed, which you can access from a toolbar at the bottom of the home screen, provides the usual camera controls for managing two-way communication and capturing video and screenshots of the live stream, plus the text-to-speech messaging, which broadcasts whatever you type into its field in a pleasant female voice. I used it a few times to “speak” to my kids downstairs and it worked well, but using the push-to-talk button is much faster (although less private at your end).
Video quality is excellent, and you can timestamp clips by flipping a toggle in the settings. That’s helpful if you ever need to turn the files over to the police as evidence of a crime. Night vision can be set to turn on automatically in low light, and it provides enough illumination and contrast to see clearly in a completely darkened room.
The camera’s motorized pan-and-tilt can be operated from the directional pad below the live feed or by swiping on the feed image itself. I experienced a bit of latency between when I pressed/swiped and when the camera responded. That wasn’t a big deal when I was just scanning the room, but it made it difficult to track someone’s movement through it as you might want to when alerted to an intruder.
Detection alerts were timely and accurate, and the Smart algorithm kept me from being slammed with notifications every few minutes. Still, I missed the level of control the ability to calibrate detection sensitivity myself provides. The event-triggered clips for the current day are displayed in reverse chronology on the home screen and can be downloaded to your device, shared, or deleted during playback. By default, they are also saved to the cloud for 24 hours free of charge, and can aslo be saved to a microSD card (not included) for longer-term storage. In this case, you can look through your video history by scrolling through a calendar at the top of the home screen.
Michael Ansaldo/IDG You can program the camera to remind family members of tasks, appointments, and the like.
The Hoop Cam Plus lists for about $80, which is fairly modest for its feature set, especially considering most of its competitors come with the added cost of a cloud subscription. But Hoop was offering the camera for 50 percent off at the time of this writing, putting it in the same price range as the Mi Home, our current pick for best budget home security camera. The Mi Home still has the edge for its more extensive detection-customization options, which give the user a degree of control the Hoop Cam Plus currently does not. But if you prefer a camera that lets you set it and forget it while still delivering solid security, the Hoop Cam Plus is an excellent option.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@Angela23830092/hoop-cam-plus-review-solid-security-at-a-bargain-price-1eabafa563f5 | [] | 2020-09-18 11:15:10.699000+00:00 | ['Connected Home', 'Surveillance', 'Headphones', 'Mobile Accessories'] |
Uses and Side Effects of Botox Treatment | Botox in Dubai is only a trademark that is utilized for the famous protein called botulinum poison which is discharged by the microbes Clostridium Botulinum. In the event that you end up taking this in enormous sums, the poison could prompt loss of motion and it would prompt food contamination manifestations.
Anyway, botox has been utilized in beautifiers over the previous many years and its fame continues expanding as years pass by and more individuals are into restorative medical procedures. You should realize that this is definitely not surgery, there are simply minor entry points made in order to infuse the botox.
Among the numerous utilizations, the most well-known incorporate treating wrinkles, lethargic eyes, and other facial issues.
Most basic employments
There are a lot of medicines where botox is utilized including treating minor headaches, muscle fits, restorative applications, for example, wrinkles, relieving languid eyes, treating overactive bladders, and much more.
So for those of you who believe it’s simply a restorative medical procedure, you’re off-base. There’s significantly more to it. As a matter of fact, the restorative part is only a small amount of the whole range despite the fact that it’s the most mainstream among them all.
Before you get any sort of treatment you need to converse with your PCP and ensure that you get the correct sort of botox treatment. It is utilized to regard uncontrolled flickering too. It works by hindering the substance called acetylcholine and accordingly forestalls muscle withdrawal and facilitates them.
There are a lot of cases wherein individuals are not equipped for going through overactive bladder treatment choices and it’s these individuals who at that point decide on botox treatment all things considered. Regardless of whether you experience the ill effects of uncontrolled pee and holes you could converse with your PCP about this treatment.
Treatment of underarm perspiration in situations where it’s simply an excessive amount to be agreeable can be cultivated utilizing botox.
A couple of the results
There aren’t many symptoms of this drug. Yet, at whatever point there are a couple, it would be seen just around the region where the botox was infused. You would presumably see expanding, redness, tingling, and wounding notwithstanding slight torment around the zone.
Other significant results remember issues for gulping food, respiratory issues just as dazedness and sickness. In this manner, before you get yourself botox therapy it is savvy to converse with your primary care physician and let them thoroughly understand your clinical history just as the medicine that you’re embraced. | https://medium.com/@nayabriaz54/uses-and-side-effects-of-botox-treatment-a5e3020d5ff3 | [] | 2020-12-26 05:12:50.828000+00:00 | ['Botox', 'Healthcare', 'Beauty', 'Çare'] |
Cedar Hill vs Tomball Memorial | Texas High School Football Live Stream 12/26/2020 | Cedar Hill vs Tomball Memorial | Texas High School Football Live Stream 12/26/2020
Watch Here Live: http://rizkihambali.sportfb.com/hsfootball.php
Longhorns
9–1
Wildcats
11–0
The Tomball Memorial (Tomball, TX) varsity football team has a neutral playoff game vs. Cedar Hill (TX) on Saturday, December 26 @ 4p.
Game Details: at Waco ISD Stadium
This game is a part of the “2020 Football State Championships — 2020 Football Conference 6A D2” tournament. | https://medium.com/@dewiadindafutri/cedar-hill-vs-tomball-memorial-texas-high-school-football-live-stream-12-26-2020-d2844f272c09 | ['Dewi Adinda Futri'] | 2020-12-25 07:09:45.325000+00:00 | ['Texas', 'American History', 'American', 'Texas Rangers'] |
Air Separation Plant Market Global Trends, Market Share, Industry Size, Growth, Opportunities, and Market Forecast 2021 to 2028 | Air Separation Plant Market is forecasted to value over USD 6.4 billion by 2028 end and register a CAGR of 4.8% from the forecast period 2021–2028.
The report begins with an outline of the business environment and then explains the commercial summary of the chain structure.
The report also includes data on the overview of competitive situation among different companies, including an analysis of the current market situation and prospects for growth. This report provides insights on the general market’s profit through graphs, an in depth SWOT analysis of the trends in this business space alongside regional proliferation.
Request a Sample / Full Report @ https://futuremarketanalytics.com/report/air-separation-plant-market/
Market Segmentation:
This Market is divided By Process, By Gas, By End Use Industry and By Region.
Regionally, the worldwide Air Separation Plant Market is fragmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.
Key Market Players:
Major market players enclosed within this market are
• Linde PLC
• Air Liquide SA
• Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
• Messer Group GmBH
• Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation
• Daesung Industrial Co., Ltd.
• Air Water Inc.
• Enerflex Ltd.
• Yingde Gases Group Co., Ltd.
• Inox Air Products Private Limited
• Hangzhou Hangyang Co., Ltd.
• Universal Industrial Gases, Inc.
• Nikkiso Cosmodyne, LLC
• Siad Macchine Impianti S.P.A.
• Ranch Cryogenics, Inc.
• Technex Limited
(Note: The lists of the key players are going to be updated with the most recent market scenario and trends)
Future Market Analytics Focus Points:
· SWOT Analysis
· Key Market Trends
· Key Data -Points Affecting Market Growth
· Revenue and Forecast Analysis
· Growth Opportunities for New Entrants and Emerging Players
· Key Player and Market Growth Matrix
Competitive Landscape:
· Tier-1 Players
· Tier-2 Players
· Emerging Players
· New Entrants
Objectives of the Study:
· To provide a comprehensive analysis on the Air Separation Plant Market By Process, By Gas, By End Use Industry and By Region
· To cater extensive insights on factors influencing the market growth (drivers, restraints, industry-specific restraints, business expansion opportunities)
· To anticipate and analyze the market size expansion in key regions- North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa
· To record and evaluate competitive landscape mapping- strategic alliances and mergers, technological advancements and product launches, revenue and financial analysis of key market players
Browse Corresponding Chemical & Advanced Materials Market Research Reports & Consulting
• PET Foam Market is forecasted to value over USD 527 million by 2028 end and register a CAGR of 7.5% from the forecast period 2021–2028. The report on PET Foam Market by Future Market Analytics consists of the market trends like the regularization of the usage of renewable Transportation resources, digitization of the chemical industry, etc. that have the potential of transforming the market growth.
• PVDC Coated Films Market is forecasted to value over USD 2.6 billion by 2028 end and register a CAGR of 7.2% from the forecast period 2021–2028. The report includes insightful data points on the overall PVDC Coated Films Market share, the impact of the market on the tech and commercial industry for the real-time process refinement and business expansion, revenue management, etc.
• Water Soluble Films Market is forecasted to value over USD 520 million by 2028 end and register a CAGR of 5.7% from the forecast period 2021–2028. The report includes insights regarding the Water Soluble Films Market size and the current market valuation coupled with detailed information on the market segmentation and the available growth opportunities in the business vertical.
Flexible Delivery Model:
· We have a flexible delivery model and you can suggest changes in the scope/table of content as per your requirement
· The customization services offered are free of charge with purchase of any license of the report.
· You can directly share your requirements/changes to the current table of content to: [email protected]
About Future Market Analytics:
We at Future Market Analytics are capable of understanding consumer and market mindsets. Based on a precise current and forecast data analysis, we offer the most pertinent insights to organizations by implementing the latest market research methodologies. Studying high-growth niche markets like shipping and transportation, block chain, energy, and sustainability, providing customized solutions to our clients, assuring agility, and flexibility in report delivery are parts of our business model which makes us stand out within our competition.
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Website: www. futuremarketanalytics.com | https://medium.com/@anuja.fma/air-separation-plant-market-global-trends-market-share-industry-size-growth-opportunities-and-1aa947f4ce5c | ['Anuja Fma'] | 2021-11-30 06:42:51.212000+00:00 | ['Market Research Reports', 'Market Research', 'Market Size', 'Market Share', 'Air Separation Plant'] |
Signature Recognition Using OpenCV -Part 2 | In my previous article, we tried to detect the signature region from a pdf using contour and draw a rectangle covering the signature region. You can read about it in Part 1.
As we said in Part 1, we are going to cover Morphological Transformation to remove the extra white spaces from the cropped signature and Structural Similarity Index to compare the similarity between original signature image and identified signature image.
Cropping Signature Region from PDF
To crop an image we need the coordinates of top left corner, width and height of the rectangle are collected from Part 1. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/signature-recognition-using-opencv-part-2-62685586d566 | ['Ramji Balasubramanian'] | 2020-12-11 11:56:28.964000+00:00 | ['Morphology', 'Computer Vision', 'Opencv', 'Concepts For Beginners'] |
Things to Know about Corporate Style before Ordering It | Things to Know about Corporate Style before Ordering It
A logo is an important and necessary thing. Almost every business have one. Even shops on Instagram with only a few thousand followers identify themselves with a particular graphic design. Then there is the need to unify posts, pack the goods in something, and manage paperwork.
If you are not familiar enough with the idea of a logo, then let’s clarify the elements they comprised of and why they are needed.
Brand Block
Scientists refer to logos as brand blocks. “Logo” comes from the Greek root “logos,” which means “word.” That is why the company name is in the logo.
Sometimes, it’s enough to have your company name written in the corporate colors and fonts. Logos generally include not only the company name but also the company trademark. They can be any image, figure, or colorful spot associated with the brand.
The red target is a graphic sign, and the black word is the logo. The combination is the brand block. Sometimes, a brand block includes one more component: a motto.
Intended for Life
A motto is usually followed by a logo or a graphic sign, or it can be omitted from the brand block with everything intact. Therefore, a brand block (generally referred to as a logo) is an image + a name, a name + a motto, or an image +a name +a motto. It’s the main and integral component of your corporate style.
Fonts
Practically every company has a corporate font, and the name in the logo is written in a definite typeface. If the company intends to add a motto, it is usually i written in another font complementary to the first one. The further the business develops, the more intensive the typography work.
Brands that have social media accounts or a website need two fonts to separate headlines from the main text.
The difference between the fonts helps readers quickly navigate through the web page.
You can make different fonts by using a single typeface and setting it in bold, regular, or italic formatting. Another option is to combine a few typefaces — it is is almost inevitable for large companies. Usually, one type of font is required for social media, another for the website, and one more for packaging.
Corporate Colors
Corporate colors are present in most cases but not always. Take a look at the corporate style of Melbourne (yes, the city one):
The sign shape is steady, while the colors verify significantly. This technique is used when a multifunctional corporate style is necessary — for example, when it’s hard to get by with a few colors to decorate all city authorities.
In most cases, there is one defined corporate color but sometimes even two, three, or four. A single corporate color is usually of medium intensity so that it can be used on both black and white backgrounds. If there are a few colors, they are generally different in tone to make logo inversions:
Color is a powerful psychological weapon. Colorful spots catch customers’ attention more easily than a word or an image. However, the more colors a corporate style has, the more complicated their combination principles become. Thus, most logos are limited to two or three colors.
Patterns and Textures
Not every company logo has patterns and textures. Sometimes, additional graphics are required for the design of places, packaging, advertising banners, and other information carriers. Seamless patterns and textures are more popular because they are simple to use in any format and any size.
Patterns consist of a few repeating elements. Textures are photorealistic images that can be used as a background.
Carrier Design
Corporate style carriers are merch, websites, application interfaces, social media posts, goods packaging, business cards, flyers, facility walls, and employee uniforms. All company attributes carry the corporate style one way or another.
Additional graphic elements, modular grid, layouts for printing on paper or website pages: all of these compose carrier design. Sometimes, product branding is limited to logo placement only, but many carriers require an individual design based on their shape, size, and purpose.
Final Thoughts
Corporate style is how the company presents itself to the outside world. It can be limited to a logo with a corporate font and color or can include patterns, textures, and different product designs. Visual images help quickly identify and remember the brand, and they create a definite attitude not only for clients but for employees and company partners, as well.
Need to develop a corporate style from the scratch or do a rebranding? See our portfolio and schedule a call. | https://medium.com/ninjapromoio/things-to-know-about-corporate-style-before-ordering-it-658b6536828b | ['Ninjapromo', 'Let S Grow Your Business Together'] | 2020-05-05 15:49:24.552000+00:00 | ['Logo Design', 'Content Marketing', 'Corporate Culture', 'Brand Identity', 'Visual Design'] |
How To Flourish Rather Than Survive in 2021: A New Year’s Challenge To Entrepreneurs | Photo by Daniel Chekalov on Unsplash
The New Year is almost among us and it represents a perfect opportunity to set some goals and leverage the cultural momentum of “starting fresh.”
So what if for 2021, your goal was to flourish rather than survive as an entrepreneur?
There’s quite a big difference between flourishing through something and merely surviving it.
Flourishing is a kind of living where one’s well-being is improved. You’re flourishing through a given project when that project (and whatever else you’re involved in) is contributing to your well-being, not detracting from it.
Surviving, on the other hand, is the kind of living where one’s well-being is being drained without it being replenished. Generally, when we’re in survival mode, resources are slim and dwindling.
Most folks survive in entrepreneurship. But what if it were possible to flourish through it?
What if there were things you could do, strategies you could employ that, even when material resources were on the downward trajectory (also usually accompanied by growing demands), your overall well-being was on the up and up?
Perhaps somewhat controversially, I think this is possible. And in the spirit of helping you move from survival-mode to flourishing for 2021 as quickly as possible, I intend to keep my tips for you short and to the point.
Here they are, in order of importance.
Set A Work Schedule and Actually Stick To It
The research is fairly decisive: the longer we work, the more unproductive we become. We’ve been learning this for years now, and we still insist that longer hours will result in better outcomes.
There are certainly outliers, but in general efficiency is improved by a constrained work schedule.
Ohio University has suggested through their research on the American work week that the average worker is only productive for less than three hours of their standard eight-hour work day.
America is among the top in first world countries for longest work weeks, with 18% of workers clocking in 60+ hours a week.
If I had to guess, entrepreneurs likely make up a significant portion of this 18%.
The conclusion for entrepreneurs, then? Work less, break more, set a schedule, and stick to it.
Applying these ideas, however, requires a fundamental orientation in the way entrepreneurs (and business owners more generally) conceptualize what it means to flourish. Tip number two, then.
Financial Returns Come Second To Overall Life Returns
What the Ohio University research didn’t make a claim about was the fundamental cause of the long work week for Americans.
In my estimation, it seems centered around financial returns. America, for all of its pros and cons, has had (and continues to have) an undeniably robust economy. And it didn’t get to where it is from nothing.
It took long, arduous, regular work weeks from those determined enough to keep going.
If your drive for financial returns comes at the cost of, say, quality of family life, friendships and relationships, then it seems difficult to say that you’re still flourishing nevertheless.
So, ask yourself what it means for you to flourish.
Which relationships need to be prioritized and in order?
What improvements are you looking to make in your life?
How much sleep would you like to get?
How often do you want to enjoy your closest friends?
Chances are that flourishing will be a matter of making good on the answers you give to the above questions.
If your trajectory is set toward ending up rich in cash but poor in relationships, your orientation may need some adjusting.
Keeping track of orientation isn’t easy, though. So, here’s tip number three.
Keep A Daily Journal, Even If You Only Write A Sentence A Day
With any goal, the key to achieving it will be tracking its progress (or lack there of).
We know this and do it diligently with our revenue, marketing, and sales efforts. So why not with our personal development goals?
Whether it be a spiral notebook, a fancy five-year journal (hoping to get one of these for myself this Christmas), or a binder with sticky notes, write down each day how you’re doing, what you’re doing, and how it’s all contributing to your version of flourishing.
Check in each quarter or bi-annually to note your progress by reading notes or journal entries from the past months.
The way to flourish in 2021 rather than merely survive it will be in resetting your work week, adjusting your fundamental orientation, and recording it all in a journal.
Entrepreneurship is tough work and is not for the faint of heart, but there’s no reason us entrepreneurs can’t shift our reputation from the hardest working group of individuals in the world to the smartest working group of individuals in the world.
We are innovators, after all.
Written by: Bryan Forbes | https://medium.com/@harnessinc/how-to-flourish-rather-than-survive-in-2021-a-new-years-challenge-to-entrepreneurs-a7037dc820d2 | [] | 2020-12-10 20:14:42.628000+00:00 | ['Innovation', 'Startup Life', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Work'] |
Understanding the Emergence and Benefits of Stablecoins | Blockchain technology has rapidly transformed the way businesses operate and over the years, it has disrupted major industrial sectors. It provides decentralized, secure and faster transactions of cryptocurrencies- a digitized form of physical currencies. With more than 200 crypto assets currently dominating the financial market, these digital coins were birthed to replace the complications associated with fiat currencies.
While conceptually fit to be the ideal form of money, cryptocurrencies are considered volatile. Let’s understand why.
The cryptocurrency pricing is governed by the laws of supply and demand — if people wish to buy, prices increase; if people wish to sell, the prices decrease. Apart from this, there are two major factors that contribute to market fluctuations.
The first factor includes its small market size as compared to the established forms of currencies. With an overall capitalization value of $267 billion, the crypto market size is still insignificant to the US stock market capacity of $28 trillion or to that of the gold market with $7.9 trillion bandwidth. This implies that even a small movement of crypto currencies can considerably have a very large impact on its price.
Let’s say if an investor decides to sell $100 million in gold, it would barely create any difference in the gold pricing. However, if a similar amount is used to sell Bitcoin, it would destabilize the entire crypto market and lead to a rate crash for all forms of digital currency.
The second factor involves the general perception of cryptocurrencies in people’s mind. Supposedly, if people start believing that the price of a particular crypto currency will no longer rise, they will begin selling them off. This reduces the cryptocurrency’s value and further stimulates other investors to follow the similar trend. The cycle continues and causes the crypto market to fluctuate very often based on the quick buying and selling trends. Also, there are a few big investors with large portions of stake in the cryptocurrency market, enabling them to hold disproportionate amounts of power over the cryptocurrency pricing.
However, understanding that the problem is not about crypto currencies in itself and considering the other benefits that these crypto assets hold, the digital industry found an alternative way to combat the situation.
This is where the concept of Stablecoins comes into play.
An overview of Stablecoins
The introduction of stablecoins lies in its working. They are, at core, market-headed crypto currencies that are powered by real-world assets such as fiat currencies like USD and precious metals like gold. Reckoned as ‘stable’ assets, their prices are pegged at a particular level with one-to-one ratio to universally recognized assets held as a collateral in reserves. They are objectified to reduce price fluctuations, instability and market volatility. A lot of global industries have already started implementing stablecoins in their business framework, posing infinite potential in the near future. Integrated with the neoteric blockchain technology, they are effectively helping to verify, control and secure digital transactions.
Since stablecoins are attached with global assets, they maintain a steady price in the virtual marketplace. As a result, they have become a prime liquidity source in the volatile crypto world.
Major usage of stablecoins can be witnessed with traders handling them to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on crypto exchange platforms that don’t accept fiat currencies. This further provides a safe place for saving funds whenever virtual markets go through a hard turmoil.
Having understood the basic workflow, there are three types of Stablecoins available with us today.
Fiat-collateralized stablecoins
Crypto-collateralized stablecoins
Non-collateralized stablecoins
Each segment offers its own version of security and transparency, from being crash-proof to decentralized, stablecoins have bridged the gap between digital and fiat currencies.
While we are patiently waiting for various businesses to come up with their own kind of ‘perfect’ stablecoin, what needs to be focussed on are their importance and benefits!
Importance of Stablecoins
Everyone with access to the internet can buy or get stablecoins. It has opened new doors for administering global financial systems.
Owing to the connection between fiat and digital realm, the evolution of new blockchain development companies are on the rise.
The convergence of stablecoins and tokenized securities has enabled them to make practical dividends and investments.
Since stablecoins payments are not subjected to cryptocurrencies’ volatility, high programmability will take place in the virtual world.
Benefits of Stablecoins
To curb the general real-world problems of investment and purchase, stablecoins have become a staple means of trading and selling. It provides crypto traders with an assurance to know what they are paying for and what they are getting back in return. The benefits include:
Decentralization
Governed by smart contracts
Leak Proof security
Transparency
High liquidity
Price rates stability
Investors’ privacy
Programmability
Redeemability
As more and more working sectors are diving into the deep virtual pool, stablecoins are expected to become the key that unlocks the digital market.
If you are already using stablecoins, try NitroEx Crypto Exchange to access wide liquidity pools and trade with cryptocurrencies to get maximum profits on your investments.
Read more: Bitcoin Halving: Optimizing Mining Efficiency With NitroEX
Telegram: https://t.me/nitrotokenglobal
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NitroExOfficial | https://medium.com/nitroex-blog/understanding-the-emergence-and-benefits-of-stablecoins-dedc5e76cba6 | [] | 2020-05-27 15:54:27.228000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency Trading', 'Smart Contracts', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Crypto Exchange Platform', 'Stable Coin'] |
Cheesecakes | My love for food has taken me to places, but the most important and regular visits are to the supermarkets, or gourmet food stores, I can live in them!
When I got married in Delhi we could only afford to live in Patparganj in East Delhi, although work would normally take me to the very posh South Delhi around GK- 1. Now there was and still is the very famous M Block market, all the high flying media friends would often go there to shop and I did trotter along. My pocket then was not that big and while everyone else went into shops my imagination would drag me to this big and very high end supermarket by the name Modern bazaar. The one and only gourmet store in Delhi back then. Shelves laden with ingredients you could only imagine, Mcvities digestive biscuits, cream cheese and sour cream that I read in Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks were in fact available.
I would somehow manage to calculate and risk my credit card to buy them. Then very excited come back home and make cheesecake. This became a norm in my house and as my son grew up he loved the chocolate
cheesecake I made.
We moved to Gurgaon in 2003 and so did Modern Bazaar, my greatest excitement on weekends was to drive to this super store and buy all my favorite ingredients, come back home and cook.
I made a lot of cheesecakes back then, time passed we moved to Bombay, my work hardly allowed me to cook let alone make cheesecakes (a cheesecake normally takes 12 hours of intrinsic supervision to come out perfect).b
Then a few months ago, the café I work with asked me for a cheesecake, I was a bit hesitant, never had done it professionally — the son said you can make very good cheesecake, give it a try Ma.
And I did — to my surprise I got the second order within 2 days and the third and more, its been a few months now and I regularly send cheesecakes to the café.
Thanks to Modern bazaar in Delhi I can indeed make cheesecakes and sell them too. | https://medium.com/@thatgirlwhocooks/cheesecakes-d8a88d8c28a | ['That Girl Who Cooks'] | 2019-11-20 08:08:24.219000+00:00 | ['Bakery', 'Food', 'Foodies', 'Cheesecake', 'Homecooking'] |
Roku’s wireless subwoofer is just $150 today | Roku’s streaming devices are some of the best in the biz, and its audio offerings promise to boost your entertainment experience even further. Today on Amazon, you can get the Roku wireless subwoofer for $150, down from a list price of $180 and the cheapest we’ve seen it.
This subwoofer boasts 250 watts of power, promising a booming, immersive audio experience. Its wireless connection allows you to place it anywhere, up to 30 feet from your TV, so you can position it wherever works best. And you won’t need to worry about hiding cables, even if your subwoofer is set up far from your TV. Automatic software updates keep it up to speed with any improvements Roku makes, while a 10-inch driver helps avoid audio distortion.
Note that this subwoofer only works with Roku Audio, including the Roku Smart Soundbar, Roku Wireless Speakers, and Roku Streambar. So even if you have a Roku streaming device, you’ll need Roku’s sound system to make this work.
This subwoofer averages 4.7 stars out of 5 on Amazon across more than 250 user ratings.
[ Today’s deal: Roku wireless subwoofer from Amazon for $150 ]
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@kristin33430163/rokus-wireless-subwoofer-is-just-150-today-5a631855ec15 | [] | 2020-12-24 00:56:49.267000+00:00 | ['Tvs', 'Audio', 'Home Tech', 'Electronics'] |
Adult Advertising Just Became Even More Profitable. | Phil Autelitano is a leading expert on Roku/OTT Connected TV development and CTV monetization. He is also owner of the outrageously popular adult channel, SCREW TV, available exclusively on Roku. Here he shares his thoughts on exciting opportunities in adult advertising.
In no other industry, as much as in the adult industry, can advertising earn money in so many ways. A simple 3-minute clip, for instance, can be used to advertise a paid subscription site, but at the same time, the advertisement itself is CONTENT that can distributed in multiple places and actually earn money from views.
With SCREW TV, we’ve created an exciting new opportunity for those advertisements to earn money while driving traffic to the websites they advertise.
First, you need to understand the difference between Connected TV and the Internet. Connected TV is viewed at home on a TV SET — which, by the way, is still the most popular screen in the house — not hunched over a mobile device or on a computer screen. Connected TV is an entirely DIFFERENT audience than Internet — in fact, Connected TV is the fastest growing new technology since the Internet, now accounting for more viewers than both Cable and Broadcast television combined. We’re talking hundreds of millions of viewers here, who aren’t looking at the Internet when they’re watching TV.
Second, you need to understand that most people now watch TV with a smart phone, tablet or computer nearby, if not sitting in their laps. The “bridge” between TV-set and an Internet-connected device is as long as their arm and as fast as a click. Think about how many times you’ve watched TV while texting, or how many times you’ve Googled something while watching TV. See, it’s become a perfect marriage between the two.
That said, SCREW TV offers an exciting NEW advertising opportunity for adult content providers. Launched in June 2018, SCREW TV is the fastest growing adult channel on the Roku platform, quickly approaching 1 MILLION subscribers who tune in to watch PORN. What’s more, SCREW TV now offer you — the adult content provider––the ability to advertise on the fastest growing entertainment venue, while earning money on your advertisements just like you can on the Web!
For just $500 ONE-TIME setup fee, SCREW TV offers you an entire category row for your content, content that can be used to direct viewers to your websites via the devices sitting in their laps while they’re watching. If you think of SCREW TV as, “The Netflix of Porn,” you’ll understand what a category row is — a row of content, labeled exclusively for YOU, featuring YOUR promotional video content. That content, is then MONETIZED for you–SCREW TV viewers pay a premium to watch it. Why? Because SCREW TV viewers are HUNGRY for porn–fresh, new content, and they’re willing to pay for it. (Even if it’s just promotional content.)
How much can you earn on your content? Well, SCREW TV charges a $0.99/month access fee for YOUR content. We manage your content, we rotate your content, adding new videos as you provide them, and so on, at no additional cost to you. Not only do you get the benefit of driving traffic to your paysites (and the revenue it generates for you), but you also earn 50% on every sale, paid every month, for as long as that subscriber has subscribed to your content!
It’s a no-brainer, actually. If you peddle porn on the Internet, you might as well be maximizing your revenue by selling it on SCREW TV, too. Not only that, it’s better than launching your own channel because we’ve already done the work to build the Roku audience you need to earn money.
Imagine earning 50 cents a month off just 10,000 of our 100,000’s of subscribers who pay to view your content — that’s an easy $5,000 a month in PROFIT, for simply ADVERTISING your website. Better yet, what if 20,000 or 50,000, or 100,000 pay to view it? See how fast that can add up? That’s REAL MONEY, in addition to whatever your pay site earns from their traffic.
It’s kind of hard to pass up, don’t you think?
For more information about SCREW TV, visit www.screwtv.live or if you have any questions about this exciting new program, you can email me directly at [email protected]. | https://medium.com/business-marketing/adult-advertising-just-became-even-more-profitable-9153aa3e6f58 | ['Phil Autelitano'] | 2019-09-06 22:39:33.202000+00:00 | ['Pornography', 'Television', 'Porn', 'Advertising', 'Adult Industry'] |
Heart or Mind | Our hearts don’t tell us to kill
to harm
to fear
to hate.
Our minds tell us that. | https://medium.com/poetryfromtheheart/heart-or-mind-bd1fe473a0a0 | ['Laura Black'] | 2017-08-23 22:19:21.092000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Life Advice', 'Poetry', 'Inspirational', 'Poetry On Medium'] |
Why Aren’t We Telling Pregnant Women About Diastasis Recti? | “I was like, seriously? Why is this not being checked more often? Why does it take me a year and a half after having a baby?”
I was at my doctor’s office for my post-partum wellness checkup after the birth of my third son. I’d been through this twice before, so I knew the routine, or so I thought.
My nurse practitioner looked at my C-section scar to see how it was healing, and poked around at my belly to check that my uterus was shrinking the way it’s supposed to.
Then, she stopped at my midsection and placed her fingers right below my ribs.
“It looks like you have some diastasis recti. It’s not too bad — I’d say about two fingers.”
Huh? What on earth was she talking about?
She saw my puzzled expression and explained what diastasis recti is: a separation of the abdominal muscles that sometimes happens after having a baby.
The whole conversation was nonchalant. Alright, I thought. This must be no big deal.
“Here are some websites you can subscribe to. They provide exercises you can do to make it go away,” she said.
Sweet! I thought. I’ll have this fixed in no time!
I left the office unphased by my new diagnosis. After all, it was just going to take exercise and time, right?
But I had no idea how serious diastasis recti can be, and how misunderstood it is. In the months following, I would talk to women who’s diastasis caused them serious pain and disrupted their lives.
It would take almost a year for me to fully understand my own condition and finally find my way to a physical therapist who began to help me heal.
What Is Diastasis Recti?
I went home and googled diastasis recti and the first thing that popped up was a summary from the Mayo Clinic. It explained that it’s a separation of the abdominal muscles, which leaves a gap down the center of the abdomen.
“In layman’s terms, diastasis recti is where the connective tissues between the abdominal muscles widen. This occurs when the right and left sides of the rectus abdominis muscle separate,” says Wendy Powell, a personal trainer and creator of the MUTU system, an exercise program designed to improve women’s physical fitness postpartum.
Powell explains that when the two parts of the muscle separate or come apart, the connective mid-line is stretched and weakened as it takes all other muscular and fascial support structures along with it.
Women with diastisis will look like they’re still pregnant. When lying flat on their backs or attempting a stomach crunch, the abdominal muscles will push up into a dome or a cone shape.
“If I lie flat on my bed, it looks like an alien is coming through the middle of my stomach.” Says Jennifer Soares, a hairdresser from Woburn, MA, who developed diastisis recti after having her first baby.
To measure the amount of separation, a doctor or physical therapist will have you lie down on your back. They will then align their fingers vertically down the middle of your abdomen, so their fingertips are pointed to your belly button. They then, press gently down and determine how wide the gap is by how many fingers they can fit between the two separated muscles.
A mild separation is two fingers wide or less. Moderate is between three and four fingers wide, and a severe case is greater than four fingers wide.
What Causes Diastasis Recti?
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash
While a lot of the literature on diastasis recti points to high birth weights, age, multiples, or many subsequent births as reasons why some women develop this condition, not all medical professionals agree.
“It is likely related much more to genetics and hormonal balance than anything that can be controlled,” says Dr. Adam R. Kolker, a double-board-certified plastic surgeon. “I have seen women after a twin pregnancy, large birth-weight babies, and having gained more than 50 pounds with negligible diastasis, and women who have had single pregnancy, small baby, and less than a 20-pound weight gain with very large diastasis.”
How Do Women Know If They Have Diastasis Recti?
“She told me I had it and when I asked what it was, she, exasperated, said, ‘You know what it is. Just do some planks and don’t do any sit-ups.’”
I was lucky to have my diastasis diagnosed at my six-week appointment. Not all medical providers check for it, and women go months or years without being diagnosed.
Soares first noticed something was wrong about six weeks after she gave birth. She noticed her belly button sticking out, but didn’t think much of it. Then, she started feeling the pain.
I was home. I had severe stomach pains, really bad pains.” She decided to lie down and take a nap.
“I woke up and, legit, looked seven months pregnant.”
She said her abdomen was rock-hard from her belly button to her diaphragm.
She made an appointment with her OB-GYN and found out she had diastasis recti.
For Bev Feldman, a freelance content marketer and jewelry designer in Somerville, MA, it took over a year after her second child was born to get her diagnosis. She didn’t even know anything was wrong until she started having pelvic floor issues.
She bounced between two doctors and a physical therapist until she got her diagnosis.
She was shocked. “It was, like, several fingers’ worth.”
She had started going to a personal trainer five months after she gave birth, and felt she had the best core strength she’d ever had. To hear she had this serious issue made her angry.
“I was like, seriously? Why is this not being checked more often? Why does it take me a year and a half after having a baby?”
To make matters worse, some of the exercises she had been doing with her personal trainer may have even exacerbated the problem.
Every woman who has had a pregnancy presents with some degree of muscle separation (diastasis recti),” says Dr. Kolker. “It can range from very mild to severe. I see cases of diastasis virtually every day.”
How Common Is Diastasis Recti?
According to the Mayo Clinic, there are more than 3 million cases of diastasis recti every year.
“One in two women will more than likely experience some degree of diastasis recti,” says Rachel Nicks, a doula, lactation counselor, and fitness instructor specializing in pre- and post-natal care.
And yet, as I began speaking to other women who suffer from the condition, they all told me the same thing: they had never heard of diastasis recti before they actually got it.
Jennifer Soares, a hairdresser from Woburn, MA, had her son six years ago. “I’d never heard of such a thing between all my friends and cousins. Nobody has this. I mean, I know people have four or five, six kids.”
How Serious Can Diastasis Recti Be?
Photo by H Shaw on Unsplash
While many experts (including my own doctor) will tell you that isn’t a debilitating condition, many women who have experienced it will tell you otherwise.
Jen says it feels like there is a beach ball inside of her. “When it first happened to me, people at work thought I was pregnant again.”
She says she has problems bending and getting clothes to fit around her abdomen.
Ashley Nease, an associate producer at a theater in NYC, suffers from back pain. “I’m still breastfeeding and bed sharing after 14 months, which surprisingly (to me, at least) requires a lot of core and back strength. Diastasis has taken away most of my core strength, which has left me with intense back pain because my back is unsupported.”
The condition can also cause pelvic pain, incontinence, and poor joint mechanics. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), 66 percent of women with DRA also experience urinary leakage or pelvic organ prolapse, where the uterus, bladder or rectum drop into or press against the vagina. According to the Office of Women’s Health one in five women in the U.S. develop this condition.
In my case, I have near-constant lower back pain as my back muscles compensate for my weakened core muscles.
Why Don’t Women Know More About Diastasis Recti?
Both Nicks and Powell point to a lack of support and education for postpartum women in both the U.S., where Nicks is based, and in the UK, where Powell lives.
“Postnatal care is arguably one of the most underdiscussed issues amongst medical experts,” says Powell, “Often doctors themselves are not told about pelvic floor issues such as incontinence, prolapse, or painful intercourse, and they’re certainly not told how to remedy it. It and it is common for doctors, gynecologists, and urologists to concentrate on other areas of postpartum health.”
Nicks fells postpartum women are neglected in the health and fitness space, as well.
Powell also points to a stigma attached to postpartum health. “One of the main concerns is that women are either too embarrassed to talk about, or are not aware that their symptoms can be addressed, which means they do not get the treatment they may desperately need.”
In a recent study by MUTU, they found that women reported feeling uncomfortable sharing their postnatal health issues with partners and people around them. That included sharing information with a boss or colleague
How Are Women With Diastasis Treated by the Medical Community?
After several months trying to repair the damage on my own, I realized I wasn’t making any progress. I decided to see my primary care physician, the first step to getting physical therapy.
When I did, the appointment was very rushed. Again, another medical professional tried to dismiss it as not a big deal, ultimately concluding with “the only way to repair it totally is with surgery, but most women give up before that, because it doesn’t affect them. I mean, you’re not a movie star or a model, right?”
Ashley encountered the same dismissive treatment when she was diagnosed at her six-week postpartum appointment.
The midwife she saw was not her usual one. “She told me I had it and when I asked what it was, she, exasperated, said, ‘You know what it is. Just do some planks and don’t do any sit-ups.’”
“Of course, I’ve learned now that planks aren’t helpful and can be harmful. I was rushed through the postpartum exam because my baby was there and not very happy, so I had to look up what diastasis recti was when I got home.”
Meanwhile, Jen was told there was nothing she could do. Her doctor simply said, “Look at it as your battle scars from having a baby.”
She was livid, “I refused to believe there was nothing I could do.”
Can Diastasis Recti Heal on Its Own?
The short answer is no. “It doesn’t heal on its own,” says Dr. Kolker. He explains that, while you can strengthen the muscles, you cannot repair the fascia, or firm connective tissue between the muscles, which is also stretched during pregnancy. “Surgically, it is usually a component of a 2.5-hour abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) procedure.”
However, the muscles can close up to some degree, either on their own or with the proper exercise.
“Every woman’s body heals at varying rates, but I would say within the year after giving birth, with consistent physical therapy and/or proper exercises, women will see a notable difference,” says Nicks.
She says the key is making sure the abdominal muscles are properly engaged, not only when working out but also during day-to-day activities.
“Postpartum, the abdominals are weak and vulnerable and the body tends to recruit other muscles to compensate, which delays the healing and the rebuilding of strength of the core.”
She says that’s the main reason women have a lot of hip and back pain postpartum, as well as pelvic floor and core weakness.
How Can Women Treat Diastasis Recti?
Both Nicks and Dr. Kolker recommend core-strengthening exercises to women with diastasis, and Nicks urges women to reach out to a pelvic floor physical therapist.
“The health and strength of the pelvic floor is also connected to our core strength,” she says. A physical therapist can identify strengths and weaknesses and treat them appropriately.”
Powell and Nicks also recommend the following exercises:
Find and connect with your pelvic floor and transverse abdominal muscles. Without moving your chest or shoulders, draw your belly button inward as you slowly exhale. You’re not ‘sucking in’ or making any forceful or exaggerated movement. Your pelvis shouldn’t tuck under. In fact, nothing should be happening in your shoulders, chest, or pelvis. It is just a subtle drawing in at the lower abs.
If it helps, do this while lying on the floor or standing against a wall to stabilize your back and upper body. Engage the pelvic floor and transverse abdominal muscles. Now that you’ve found them try this exercise: Exhale and engage the pelvic floor muscles and transverse abs, just as you did before and count to five. Then inhale and relax. Repeat this 5 to 10 times while using the fingers to bring the muscles toward the midline of the body. Repeat 10 times. Practice engaging these muscles throughout the day. This is particularly important when you lift your baby or other heavy objects. You have to consciously engage the pelvic floor and abdominals and get out of the habit of locking your knees and pulling from your back to lift things.
Finally, if your case is severe, or if physical therapy doesn’t help, there is plastic surgery, what’s generally known as a tummy tuck. Unfortunately, many insurance plans consider the procedure cosmetic and don’t cover it.
Are There Exercises Women With Diastasis Should to Avoid?
When I finally saw my physical therapist, one of the first things she asked was how I was exercising. I showed her the leg lifts I been doing, based on a YouTube video that claimed to repair diastasis.
It turns out this exercise was completely wrong.
In fact, any exercise that makes you contract those abdominal muscles and pushes them up into that cone shape should be completely avoided. That includes planking, crunching, boat pose in yoga, bicycles, jackknifes, and burpees.
Powell explains why these can do more harm than good. “If the deep core is not engaging optimally to bear the load of the exercise and strengthen the muscles and connective tissue, then a crunch or sit-up movement can have the opposite effect — increasing intra-abdominal pressure and not giving you the result you’re after.”
Is There Anything Women Can Do While Pregnant to Prevent Diastasis Recti?
My physical therapist was very honest with me about the lack of real studies on the condition and that no one can say with certainty why some women suffer from it and some don’t.
She explained that the abdominal muscles do stretch with every pregnancy, so it stands to reason that I would get it after three babies, but that there is no definitive evidence pointing to age, number of pregnancies, or even birth weight.
Both my physical therapist and Nicks agree that there is no way to prevent diastasis recti. But there are ways, says Nicks, to lessen the severity of the muscle widening.
First of all, says Nicks, make sure you get checked for diastasis recti. Not all providers check for it, so please ask at your six-week postpartum appointment.
“When you are pregnant, avoid forward flexion, crunches or sit ups, and twisting. When you get up out of bed roll to your side and use your other hand to support you as you sit up. When you’re picking things up, squat, engage your kegels, glutes, and abs, and then stand.”
She recommends practicing kegel exercises and abdominal toning throughout pregnancy.
“You want the transverse abdominals to continue to support you throughout your pregnancy.”
How Can Women With Diastasis Recti Get the Support They Need?
“It takes commitment and awareness, but you can heal.”
For me, finding the support and care I needed for my diastasis recti meant being proactive. I had to do the research, talk to the experts, and find my way to physical therapy, and option I didn’t even know existed when I began this journey.
Both Nicks and Powell agree. The best way women can find the help they need is by educating themselves.
“Learning more about what their bodies go through and how they can help stay healthy and feel comfortable, both during and after pregnancy, is key,” says Powell.
“They should know that DR and other pelvic floor issues are common and by and large treatable It’s not something we have to ‘put up with’..Learning about how it can be treated and what support is available is important and MUTU really pushes this through MUTU Connect to give women a platform to connect and share experiences.”
Nicks agrees:
“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to educate yourself on the pelvic floor and abdominals and diastasis recti during your prenatal and postpartum journey. Pelvic floor therapists many times are not covered by insurance, unfortunately, but you are worth the investment.”
“It takes commitment and awareness, but you can heal.” | https://medium.com/@lauriemega/why-arent-we-telling-pregnant-women-about-diastasis-recti-486d7df4d893 | ['Laurie Mega'] | 2020-12-26 14:47:24.266000+00:00 | ['Postpartum Fitness', 'Postpartum Care', 'Womens Health', 'Postpartum', 'Pregnancy'] |
How I Used Professional Poker to Become a Data Scientist | April 15th, 2011, is referred to as Black Friday in the poker community. It’s the day that the United States Government shut down the top three online poker sites. About 4,000 US citizens played online poker professionally back then, and thus the exodus began. Canada and Costa Rica were popular destinations. I’m from Southern California, so I’m no stranger to Baja California. I decided to set up shop south of the border in a town called Rosarito, Mexico.
As I prepared to move down to Baja, I was often asked, “What happens if this doesn’t work out?” Playing online poker requires a solid understanding of data, probability, and statistics. Back then I knew of only one other profession that utilized a similar skill set. My response was, “I’ll probably end up working as an analyst on Wall Street.”
That same month, the movie Moneyball was released. Based on Michael Lewis’s nonfiction book of the same name, the movie takes place during the 2002 season of the Oakland A’s. Using data analysis strategies similar to Wall Street analysts, the team at the A’s revolutionized baseball. They won a record 20 games in a row on a shoestring budget. This was the moment that data analytics went mainstream. One year later, Thomas H. Davenport and D.J. Patil published Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century in the Harvard Business Review. Glassdoor.com has ranked data scientist as the top job in the US for 2016 and 2017.
What data analysis has in common with poker
I began transitioning to a career in data science in 2016. I’ve noticed that much of what I learned during my poker career is relevant to customer segmentation. Where a poker player is from (geographic segmentation), how the player thinks (psychographic segmentation), and how the player plays (behavioral segmentation) are all very important factors when determining a strategy against that player. I learned during my poker career that these factors could be boiled down to a couple of simple statistics. I could tell how good a player was based on just two numbers. To test this theory, I built a K-Means model to segment my poker opponents, much like a company would segment their customers.
The data for this project was generated during my playing career. I played No-Limit Texas Hold’em cash games and the stakes ranged from $25 buy in ($0.25 Big Blind) to $200 buy in ($2 Big Blind). I usually played 15–20 tables at a time, each table having eight or nine players, which resulted in about 600 hands per hour. I have the most data at the $25 buy-in games because it’s the most popular game. I used the data at this level from 2013 where I won $1,913.13 over 387,373 hands, which was a small fraction of the hands I played that year.
Each time a poker hand is played at an online poker site, a hand history is generated that explains everything that each player did during the hand. I used software called Hold’em Manager (think Tableau for poker), which downloads each of these hand histories in real time to a PostgreSQL database so you can keep track of your opponent’s tendencies. These tendencies are visualized as a Heads-Up-Display at the poker table and it looks like this:
How I used data analytics to outmaneuver my opponents
In Texas Hold’em, each player is dealt two cards at the beginning of the hand which means there are 1326 starting hand combinations you can be dealt. For those who aren’t familiar with how Texas Hold’em is played, click here for a full explanation. As a hand progresses, it’s necessary to make assumptions about the range of hands your opponent may be holding. Having statistics on an opponent’s tendencies is powerful because it makes it very easy to accurately assume your opponent’s range. For example, some players rarely raise Pre-Flop so their Pre-Flop Raise (PFR) percent is low. If an opponent has a 2% PFR, I know they only have about 26 of the 1326 starting hand combinations in their range. Since they are likely to raise with the best hands, and AA, KK, and AK have 28 combinations, I have a solid idea of what they have.
[During each poker session, I would mark any hand that confused me and go back and review it at the end of the day. For an in-depth look at how to use probability and statistics to maximize expected value using actual hands, and actual opponent statistics, click here.]
The two statistics that I focused on to determine if an opponent was a good player or not were PFR percent, mentioned above, and ‘Voluntarily Put Money in Pot’ (VP$IP) percentage. VP$IP percent is the frequency with which a player plays a hand when first given an opportunity to bet or fold. Those two stats, and the ratio between the two, gave me most of the information I needed to determine if a player was a winner (a Shark) or a loser (a Fish).
The Pareto Principle, named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, states that for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This suggests that 80% of a company’s profits are likely generated from about 20% of their customers, and 80% of my profits were likely generated from about 20% of my opponents.
I identified the 20% of my opponents who I had the highest win rate against (Fish), and the 20% who I had the highest loss rate against (Sharks). I built a K-means model with five clusters to segment my opponents, using eight statistics that measure important playing tendencies as variables. Once segmented, I identified the segment with the highest concentration of Fish, and the one with the highest concentration of Sharks. For each segment, I averaged the opponent’s VP$IP percent and PFR percent. My hypothesis was that the Sharks would have a VP$IP and PFR most similar to my VP$IP and PFR, and the Fish would have the highest VP$IP and biggest difference between the two stats.
The Shark
VP$IP = 15.1
PFR = 11.7%
In the Shark segment, opponents on average have a VP$IP of 15.1% and a PFR of 11.7%. The image on the top approximates what a 15.1% VP$IP range looks like, and the image on the bottom approximates an 11.7% PFR range. The hands highlighted in yellow are the hands these players typically play. As you can see, these images are similar and consist mainly of good starting hands. These players fundamentally understand two things.
There is no reason to put money in the pot if you don’t have a good starting hand so it’s better to fold. When you do have a good starting hand, it is better to play aggressive and raise. The fundamental reason why playing aggressive poker is more profitable than passive poker is because betting and raising give you two ways to win; having the best hand or causing your opponents to fold. Your opponents can’t fold if you don’t bet.
These opponents cost me money at the poker table, but how might this look for a company? Let’s say we’re an online retailer selling widgets. We can probably learn a lot about our potential customers by how many pages of our website they’ve viewed along with the specific pages they’ve viewed. How each person interacts with the website will show a pattern of behavior. A segment that views a limited number of pages, and mostly pages that sell low-profit margin widgets may indicate a pattern of behavior that consistently results in low or no profit customers. Once identified, we can avoid allocating resources to these potential customers.
The Fish
VP$IP = 43.8%
PFR = 14.0%
In the Fish segment, opponents on average have a VP$IP of 43.8% which is approximated by the image on the top and a PFR of 14%, approximated by the image on the bottom. These images are not similar. These players are voluntarily putting money in the pot almost three times as often as Sharks. This indicates they are frequently playing with mediocre or even bad starting hands, and what’s worse is they’re playing them passively. Playing bad hands passively costs money at the poker table, and that money goes into my pocket. I never sat at a poker table that didn’t have at least two Fish playing.
Let’s go back to our online widget retailer analogy. What might their highest value segment look like? This segment probably views a high number of web pages, and spends time on pages that sell the widgets with the highest profit margins. High value customers might be arriving through certain landing pages, or might gravitate to certain blog posts. It could even be as simple as the time spent on the website. Once a potential customer is identified as being part of this high value segment, we’d want to allocate resources to convert them into customers, such as adding them to a targeted marketing campaign or having a salesperson reach out. | https://medium.springboard.com/how-i-used-professional-poker-to-become-a-data-scientist-e49b75dfe8e3 | ['Daniel Poston'] | 2017-09-22 05:46:28.286000+00:00 | ['Poker', 'Data', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualization'] |
A-Z Of Exploratory Data Analysis Under 10 mins | 3. UNIVARIATE ANALYSIS
Univariate analysis, as the name says, simply means analysis using a single variable. This analysis gives the frequency/count of occurrences of the variable and lets us understand the distribution of that variable at various values.
3.1. PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTION (PDF) :
In PDF plot, X-axis is the feature on which analysis is done and the Y-axis is the count/frequency of occurrence of that particular X-axis value in the data. Hence the term “Density” in PDF.
import seaborn as sns
sns.set_style("whitegrid")
Seaborn is the library that provides various types of plots for analysis.
sns.FacetGrid(haberman_data,hue='surv_status',height=5).map(sns.distplot,'age').add_legend()
Output :
PDF of Age
Observations :
Major overlapping is observed, so we can not clearly say about the dependency of age on survival. A rough estimate that patients age 20–50 have a slightly higher rate of survival and patients age 75–90 have a lower rate of survival. Age can be considered as a dependent variable.
sns.FacetGrid(haberman_data,hue='surv_status',height=5).map(sns.distplot,'op_year').add_legend()
Output :
PDF of Operation Year
Observations:
The overlap is huge. Operation year alone is not a highly dependent variable.
sns.FacetGrid(haberman_data,hue='surv_status',height=5).map(sns.distplot,'axil_nodes').add_legend()
Output :
PDF of Axillary nodes
Observations:
Patients with 0 nodes have a high probability of survival. Axillary nodes can be used as a dependent variable.
The disadvantage of PDF: In PDF, we can’t say exactly how many data points are in a range/ lower to a value/ higher than a particular value.
3.2. CUMULATIVE DENSITY FUNCTION (CDF) :
To know the number of data points below/above a particular value, CDF is very useful.
Let’s start with segregating data according to the class of survival rate.
survival_yes = haberman_data[haberman_data['surv_status']==1]
survival_no = haberman_data[haberman_data['surv_status']==2]
Now, let us analyze these segregated data sets.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
count, bin_edges = np.histogram(survival_no['age'], bins=10, density = True)
#count : the number of data points at that particular age value
#bin_edges :the seperation values of the X-axis (the feature under analysis)
#bins = the number of buckets of seperation
pdf = count/sum(count)
print(pdf)
# To get cdf, we want cumulative values of the count. In numpy, cumsum() does cumulative sum
cdf = np.cumsum(pdf)
print(cdf) count, bin_edges = np.histogram(survival_yes['age'], bins=10, density = True)
pdf2 = count/sum(count)
cdf2 = np.cumsum(pdf2) plt.plot(bin_edges[1:],pdf,label='yes')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:], cdf,label='yes')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:],pdf2,label='no')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:], cdf2,label='no')
plt.legend()
#adding labels
plt.xlabel("AGE")
plt.ylabel("FREQUENCY")
Output :
[0.03703704 0.12345679 0.19753086 0.19753086 0.13580247 0.12345679
0.09876543 0.04938272 0.02469136 0.01234568]
[0.03703704 0.16049383 0.35802469 0.55555556 0.69135802 0.81481481
0.91358025 0.96296296 0.98765432 1. ] Text(0, 0.5, 'FREQUENCY')
CDF, PDF of segregated data on age
Observations:
There are around 80% of data points have age values less than or equal to 60
count, bin_edges = np.histogram(survival_no['axil_nodes'], bins=10, density = True)
pdf = count/sum(count)
print(pdf) cdf = np.cumsum(pdf)
print(cdf) count, bin_edges = np.histogram(survival_yes['axil_nodes'], bins=10, density = True)
pdf2 = count/sum(count)
cdf2 = np.cumsum(pdf2) plt.plot(bin_edges[1:],pdf,label='yes')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:], cdf,label='yes')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:],pdf2,label='no')
plt.plot(bin_edges[1:], cdf2,label='no')
plt.legend()
plt.xlabel("AXIL_NODES")
plt.ylabel("FREQUENCY")
Output :
[0.56790123 0.14814815 0.13580247 0.04938272 0.07407407 0.
0.01234568 0. 0. 0.01234568]
[0.56790123 0.71604938 0.85185185 0.90123457 0.97530864 0.97530864
0.98765432 0.98765432 0.98765432 1. ] Text(0, 0.5, 'FREQUENCY')
CDF, PDF of segregated data on axillary nodes
Observations:
There are around 90% of data points have axil_node values less than or equal to 10
3.3. BOX PLOTS
Before exploring box plots, few commonly used statistics terms are,
median (50th quartile) is the middlemost value of the sorted data
25th quartile is the value in sorted data which has 25% of the data less than it and 75% of the data above it
75th quartile is the value in sorted data which has 75% of the data less than it and 25% of the data above it.
In the box plot, the lower line represents the 25th quartile, the middle line represents the Median/50th quartile, the upper line represents the 75th quartile. And the whiskers represent the minimum and maximum in most of the plots or some complex statistical values. Whiskers are not min and max values, when seaborn is used.
sns.boxplot(x='surv_status',y='age', data=haberman_data)
sns.boxplot(x='surv_status',y='axil_nodes', data=haberman_data)
sns.boxplot(x='surv_status',y='op_year', data=haberman_data)
Output : | https://towardsdatascience.com/a-z-of-exploratory-data-analysis-under-10-mins-aae0f598dfff | ['Ramya Vidiyala'] | 2020-05-14 14:39:14.813000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Education', 'Data Science'] |
We spend insane amount of money on gifts during Christmas. | We spend insane amount of money on gifts during Christmas. Specially to buy gifts for kids. It is time to STOP and think what really matters and is a long-term TRUE gift.
Would you consider spending 700–800 Rs on a gift that creates a memory of a life time? Gives them joy and the day is filled with thrill? Something that adds value and is theirs forever? Yes..right?
Here is an idea to make this happen and make December the best month of all!
Get cracking this Christmas with mesmerising engineering and science projects! A fantastic way to expand knowledge and develop interest in STEAM.
Join the CHRISTMAS STEAM ONLINE CAMP FOR KIDS! Ages 6–10 years
You will create 5 fun-filled awesome science projects using engineering principals and scientific method. They can be used as science fair challenges, running a winter camp or throwing Christmas party at home. It is harnessing imagination, exploring creativity and mixing knowledge that will work for the best!You will be automatically learning about forces and it’s interactions, energy, gravity, electricity, circuits, design, art and technology!
A fun filled camp that will keep you wanting for more!
CHRISTMAS S.T.E.A.M CAMP!What kids will learn in this course?
Design Flying Machines: Create Santa, Reindeer, Elf and make them blast off to space! Engineer a Santa Rescue mission! Santa is stuck! Pull him out of the chimney Santa needs warm hugs: Make a jitter “Hug-me” Santa bot that can spread love with every turn! (Wishful thinking J) Gift the joy of love with a personalised light-up Christmas card: Make LED card Design and Decorate your Christmas tree with glowing ornaments!
Bonus : Hack your creative skills while you relax this holiday with this Christmas Mandala FREEBIE
WHY SHOULD YOU TAKE THE CHRISTMAS STEM CAMP FOR KIDS?
Explore the universal forces, energy and design technology in this camp. Learn about energy, forces in nature, gravity, electricity, circuits, different types of conductors, unique motors, develop design thinking and more…
Watch the video:
Project 1: Design and Decorate your Christmas tree with glowing ornaments! Learn simple circuits how they work and how they can be built.
Project 2: Gift the joy of love with a personalised light-up Christmas card: Make LED card using a unique conductor. Simple way to make electricity flow through paper.
Project 3: Design Flying Machines: Create Santa, Reindeer, Elf and make them blast off to space! Learn how gravity works and how to launch space rockets.
READ MORE HERE: | https://medium.com/@wizkidsclub/we-spend-insane-amount-of-money-on-gifts-during-christmas-4ee11a021116 | ['Sumita Mukherjee'] | 2020-12-10 03:20:29.293000+00:00 | ['Stem Education', 'Christmas Gifts', 'Christmas', 'STEM', 'Homeschooling'] |
5 Habits of Highly Successful People | If you see these good qualities in a person around you, you need to spend more time with them or if you haven’t had that type of person around. that’s also fine you need to develop these habits of highly successful people by yourself.
These are essential qualities of a great person. The person who becomes successful by following the traits of success. These good qualities in a person are crucial if you want to be a world-class athlete or anything.
These qualities of a person will give to the person joy, happiness and Open lots of great opportunities that they imagined in their life.
Qualities of a person determine who they become in the long term if you have the habits of ordinary people and most importantly you don’t want to change it. so you also become the ordinary people in the long term, but you want to change yourself and develop the habits of highly successful people so, in the long run, you become the successful person.
I know good qualities in a person take a lot of hard work and it’s not for everyone. it’s not for those who just don’t want to change themselves but expecting different results.
For those who know if we want to become successful we need to develop the habits of highly successful people and these good qualities in a person will give them success in the long term.so there are some habits of highly successful people.
Related:
Purpose
If you ask some ordinary people what the purpose of their life they didn’t know about because they don’t think about this in their whole life they have a victim mindset. but the person who has a purpose in their life and knows what they do with their life what are the primary reasons of their life. These are the traits of successful people.
They always remind themselves and ask themselves about what is the purpose of my life, what I need to do to achieve it, what sacrifices I want to make to achieve their purpose of life.
This habit of highly successful people will help you clear your vision every day by asking yourself these questions: what is the purpose of my life? What do I need to do to achieve my purpose? What first step I want to make to achieve my purpose in life.
Focus
These good qualities of a person will help you work more on your purpose. These habits of highly successful people will help them focus on their purpose and no matter what happens in their life they always focus on their purpose.
They don’t distract themselves from parties and ordinary peoples. These important qualities help them work more and achieve more than ordinary people.
You see ordinary people, they are always distracted by some people or their phones. They always delay their work and go to parties and enjoy themselves, but they don’t know that this short term happiness will affect them very badly in the future.
Reading
Average American reads 12 books a year but successful people like Bill Gates read 50 books a year. Warren Buffett spends 80 percent of his day in reading and also called this one of the reasons for their success.
But ordinary people don’t read much but on the other hand, these habits of highly successful people like warren buffet help them achieve their purpose of life.
Reading will give you solutions to your business problems and the personal life problems you have that will create new questions in your mind if you learn more and more and this will help you read more books, learn more and achieve more.
Listening
These good qualities of a person will make the other person great because the person who is talking. You listen to them carefully, and they trust you because people love it if someone listens to them carefully and understands what they’re trying to say. This trait of a successful person will help them build trust and loyal people in their life.
Because they know you listen to them and you care for them. These habits of highly successful people will give them the ability to whenever they meet someone they will build trust about them because they know people love it if you listen to them carefully.
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
― Stephen R. Covey,
Related:
Effective Communication
You see most ordinary people don’t know how to talk to someone and how to handle some situations. But these good qualities of a person will make successful people handle the situation and also convince someone to throw their Effective communication.
Effective communication includes your body language face expression verbal communication skills. But the way you talk is an important quality you need to develop for convincing your clients or whatever it is but this will not just help you in business but also in your personal life to build a strong relationship with your partner.
Curious
Curiosity is one of the reasons for their success because these good qualities of a person will help them create more unique questions in mind and find their answers by taking seminar courses and reading books. This will enhance their knowledge as well but also help them learn more and if you learn more so you earn more and achieve more.
These habits of highly successful people will help you develop a curious mind and find your answer by taking seminars courses and whatever it is but always remember you need to build curiosity in those things that help you grow.
Conclusion
Good Qualities of a person determine that person’s success in the long term. if you want to be successful you also need to do what successful people do because if you want to change yourself no one can do it for you until you take action for yourself. There are some of the habits of highly successful people.
Focus
Reading
Listening
Effective Communication
Curious
“Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do.” ― Sean Covey
Related: | https://medium.com/illumination/5-habits-of-highly-successful-people-6bf578fc8b76 | ['Mr Arsalan'] | 2020-12-25 14:53:56.490000+00:00 | ['Success', 'Self Improvement', 'Successful', 'Habits', 'Illumination'] |
The Enduring Legacy of “Modern Family” | A Review of the Modern Family Series Finale
The timing of the Modern Family series finale was somewhat cruel for two reasons. First, it came amidst the coronavirus pandemic. This is a time when we need comfort not more loss and sadness. Second, it aired exactly 24 hours after the series finale of Schitt’s Creek, another long-running show I was deeply invested in. Nevertheless, I tuned in live to the two-part finale and the one-hour retrospective documentary that preceded it.
Image from the “Modern Family” series finale (Image Copyright: ABC/20th Television)
The documentary, A Modern Farewell, did a great job of reminding me what an astonishing legacy the show had. It chronicled the grueling process of auditioning literally thousands of people for the ten central roles, the reaction of the cast and crew to the initial breakout success, what it was like to literally grow up on set for the show’s younger actors, the watershed portrayal of same-sex relationships (more on that later), and the cast and crew’s difficulty letting go of the show and each other.
Image from the “Modern Family” series finale (Image Copyright: ABC/20th Television)
The two-part series finale will not join the ranks of the truly great series finales like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Golden Girls, Friends, and The Good Place. But it will decidedly not join the massive disappointments of the Seinfeld, Roseanne, and (original) Will & Grace series finales. It was a rock solid affair that hit all the notes it needed to — no more, no less. It essentially centered on two main plot lines. In the first, Cam and Mitch have moved into their new home and brought home the new baby they have adopted only to find out that Cam got his dream job in Missouri. Mitch selflessly (but anxiously) agrees to give up their life in LA and go on an adventure. In the second plot line, Phil and Claire lay down the law and tell their three free-loading kids that it’s time to move out. But when the kids take them seriously and move on with their lives, they are devastated.
Image from the “Modern Family” series finale (Image Copyright: ABC/20th Television)
The finale feels chaotic and exhausting at times in large part because it attempts to provide closure to every relationship on the show. It not only gives us beautiful moments between Jay/Gloria, Mitch/Cam, and Claire/Phil, but also between Mitch/Claire, Gloria/Manny, and the Dunphy children. (It also features a bizarrely cold interaction between Gloria/Cam that marked the low point of the finale for me.) On paper, it ended just as it should. Jay and Mitch have decided to sacrifice for their partners. Claire and Phil adjust to being empty nesters by going on an adventure. All four of the kids are ready to finally grow up (and, in a beautiful touch, Haley and her family move into Mitch and Cam’s recently vacated home). In execution, however, it was a bit unevenly paced, peaking a bit too early in the hour and not quite knocking all of the key emotional moments out of the park.
But, these minor quibbles aside, it really did hit all the right notes. It invoked laughs, tears, and nostalgia and managed to give each member of the gigantic ensemble at least one special moment. And the final image of the lights going off at each of their homes, with Phil and Claire turning the porch light on in case any of the children needed to come back home was both hopeful and heartbreaking. | https://medium.com/rants-and-raves/the-legacy-of-modern-family-617d0e705f1b | ['Richard Lebeau'] | 2020-04-11 15:53:44.753000+00:00 | ['Television', 'LGBTQ', 'Media', 'Culture', 'Writing'] |
Sentiment Analysis of news providers Tweets and only display positive articles. | Right now, there appears to be more and more negative news published to the internet everyday. We’re going to look at how to build a web application to filter out all negative articles using Sentiment Analysis. Sentiment Analysis refers to analysing an opinion or feelings about something using data, in this case, tweets from major news companies. The finalised web application can be found here.
The technologies we are going to use for this project include Python, Pandas, Tweepy API, Flask, and Heroku to host our application.
Reading Tweets
To start, we are going to need to read tweets from all major news Twitter accounts. Using the Twitter Developer Credentials which can be accessed by any user here: https://developer.twitter.com / and the Tweepy API we can create a Pandas dataframe of all the tweets and other relevant data from several news accounts. For now, we are going to stick with the follow news providers: “washingtonpost”, “ABC”, “SkyNews”, “CNN”, “BBCWorld”, “nytimes”, “NBCNews”, “VICENews”
2. Filtering Tweets Using Sentiment Analysis
We now have 1000+ tweets from several news providers stored within a single dataframe. To filter these based on positivity, we are going to use the TextBlob library. This is a lightweight Python library for measuring the sentiment of text using polarity on a scale of 0 to 1 (0 being very negative and 1 being very positive). We will look to filter our dataframe and discard any tweets that have a polarity of less than 0.6.
3. Displaying this information.
Finally, we will look to display this information within a simple web application. To achieve this, we are going to use Flask, a Python web application framework and Boostrap an open-source CSS framework.
Our Flask application, using Jinja2 syntax will display our newly filtered dataframe with all positive news stories and links to these articles. Bootstrap and other custom HTML/CSS will display this information in a more clear and concise way.
Flask application with table inlcuded.
index.html file for displaying table with Jinja2 syntax.
Our final result that can now run on a local host will look something like this.
4. Hosting our web application
Now that our application is ready to go online we’ll be using Heroku to host the application. Heroku provides free accounts that are perfect for side projects like this. The free version allows for up to five applications to run at one time. To deploy a Flask web app to Heroku we will run the following commands.
First install a web server called Gunicorn. Run the following command within the application folder.
pip install gunicorn
Update the requirements file by running
pip freeze > requirements.txt
Create a new file with Procfile as the name and do not add any extension. Include the python file name and the application name within the file.
web: gunicorn twitterbot:app
Now initialise git within the directory and commit to heroku
git init
git add .
git commit -am "commit1"
git push heroku master
Our application is now posted as a heroku application and can be found here. | https://medium.com/@conor-reilly/sentiment-analysis-of-news-providers-tweets-to-only-return-positive-articles-9cf76d7c6b7 | ['Conor Reilly'] | 2021-04-07 15:25:57.654000+00:00 | ['Tweepy', 'Sentiment Analysis', 'Twitter', 'Flask', 'Python'] |
I have actually just began to understand the investment, but the article, I liked. | I have actually just began to understand the investment, but the article, I liked. For a chick like me that recently hatched from an egg in this theme, is pretty valuable info. Thanks. | https://medium.com/@sandufrz/i-have-actually-just-began-to-understand-the-investment-but-the-article-i-liked-f1e1db4c8c13 | ['Sandu Frz'] | 2020-12-05 17:14:18.123000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Market', 'Saving', 'Investing', 'Stock Market'] |
C++, GraphQL and pleasant talks | This is a brief summary of everything I learned during the 12th week at Encora.
Open Source
Photo by Walling on Unsplash
I kept searching for issues I could contribute to! It’s so interesting to explore Open Source projects, understanding their purpose and getting to know how they work. Since this phase started, two of these OS projects caught my attention: react-bootstrap and Catch2.
react-bootstrap is a React library which contains Bootstrap components built with React.
Catch2 is a C++ framework for UnitTest, TDD and BDD.
Two weeks ago I opened a PR in Catch2 and along with the guidance of his maintainer, Martin, I have been working on that! Now, Martin suggested that he could continue working with the remaining docs and tests needed, which I gratefully accepted!
I also just made another PR in react-boostrap! I’m waiting now for a review :)
Pair Programming Sessions
Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash
I learned about GraphQL and Prisma! Carlos, my mentor, drove me through an example code that uses these two technologies. It was really exciting watching him work with it and understanding the principles of both GraphQL and Prisma!
GraphQL has only one endpoint, so you request just the info that you need. Prisma provides default functions for GraphQL.
I also learned a new Mexican word this week! I had no idea that they say reborujado in Chihuahua, where my mentor Leo is from, and I had no idea what this word means. Apparently, reborujado means something like confusing, mixed up and/or scrambled. Yes, all that in just one word. I love learning about new ways people use his language.
Chatting with Dayra and Luis
Photo by Joshua Ness on Unsplash
This week I had a feedback session with the Academy Staff (Dayra and Luis), it was really nice talking with them! Feeling how they care about me and opening perspectives is what motivates me to keep improving and demonstrate, not only to them but to me as well, that I embrace change and I’m willing to improve.
Nearsoft/Encora has taught me a lot in the time I have been here, and words are not enough to express how grateful I am for that. | https://medium.com/@snowspire/c-graphql-and-pleasant-talks-13127ff140ff | ['Uriel Rivas'] | 2020-12-21 19:24:19.268000+00:00 | ['C Plus Plus Language', 'GraphQL'] |
Recruiting remote employees: A complete guide | Finding amazing talent has never been easier.
By now, most of us are familiar with at least the basics of remote work. Many articles covering the subject tend to deal with matters from the remote worker’s perspective and not from the companies’ angle. Guides on how to land a great remote job are aplenty, but there are fewer of those covering the recruitment process of remote teams. This shift in the job market has many companies and recruiters confused and uncertain about whether they need to adapt their approach and how.
As we are ourselves a fully distributed company, here are some tips from our playbook on recruiting remote professionals:
Make your company remote-friendly
Recruiting remote employees is a process that puts your company on the remote-friendly map. Don’t jump into this if your company is not fully ready to embrace the benefits and challenges of remote work.
Carefully evaluate the expectations of each position and its possibility for remote hiring. Consider whether you will be hiring globally or locally, the expenses or savings remote work brings to your company, and processes you need to put in place for a frictionless work atmosphere.
Don’t “digitalize” your process — rethink it
Many companies fall into the trap of just trying to replace certain parts of their processes with remote equivalents. For your company to achieve success with remote hiring, you need to reconfigure the way you think about your teams and, in turn, new hires.
Think about how you will share assignments with candidates and evaluate them. Incorporate written communication in the recruitment process as much as any remote worker will need to do in their daily job. Share the job requirements with your team members and ask for their inputs: after all, they will be working with their new colleague every day.
Write an excellent remote job description
Remote employees won’t be present in an office where you can easily supervise them or pick up on their personality traits. The traditional method of evaluating performance through hours spent in an office doesn’t apply in this context, so make sure to think about the kind of person you are looking for in your team. One of the essential traits for remote workers is translating complex concepts into words and tasks — communicate that in your job posting.
A pro tip: Make a profile of your ideal candidate, but not by years of experience. Instead, focus on their character traits, reactions, and abilities. This will help you outline the requirements in the job description much easier.
Advertise the job in the right places
Of course, you should start by posting the job on your company’s website/ career page and any other recruitment channels you use. Then, post the opening on one of the many remote job boards, like Remotive, We Work Remotely, and Remote.co — it’s where you’re most likely to find seasoned remote professionals.
Spreading the word on social media, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn, is beneficial if you use the right hashtags. Also, make sure your team members amplify the search by sharing the posting on their feeds.
Come up with tasks
When hiring remote workers, you need them to demonstrate their skills and qualifications quickly and effectively. Identify the core responsibilities for the position and make trial tasks — anywhere between 1 and 3 assignments. Don’t make them too time-consuming or complex since your candidates may have jobs to do and families to take care of, and job-hunting shouldn’t be a job in itself.
A fraction of the workload is enough to see how someone manages the assignments, whether they’re creative or not, and how they respond to various situations. It’s a good idea to organize a follow-up session after the task. In this session, you can go over the candidate’s work, ask for clarification, and collaborate on refining the result. Make sure to keep the session short but productive, which will reassure the candidate that your company is well-versed in remote collaboration.
Prepare for the interview
Job interviews are usually stressful both for the candidate and the recruiter. If you add the online component to the mix, it’s easy to imagine how poor internet connections and family members in the background could ruin the time entirely. Remote job interviews differ from traditional ones in several ways; they are more informal, as you will be peeking into the home or coworking space of your candidate and vice versa. Embrace this informality and reassure the candidate that internet breakups will not affect the call itself.
If you are interviewing a candidate from a different country, take some time to know them. Here are some steps to take:
Be informed about their time zone, country, or even how their name is pronounced. The research takes only a couple of minutes before the interview, but it can save you the embarrassment of not knowing who you’re talking to.
Give feedback
Some companies receive hundreds of applications for a single job posting. It’s fair not to respond to everyone who applied if you announce in your posting that you’ll only contact those who are being considered. However, as your hiring rounds progress, take some time to give feedback to candidates who weren’t selected.
A couple of sentences can go a long way in providing the candidate with a sense of value and appreciation. Job seekers appreciate constructive feedback that helps them improve, and companies benefit from making a good impression during the selection process.
Organize a great onboarding experience
Once you have selected your perfect candidate, it’s time to welcome them to the team properly. This means making sure that someone can show them around on their first day, just like in an actual office. Start by introducing the new colleague to the team in your virtual lobby — a Slack channel for general discussion and non-work-related chat.
Make a checklist for all the tools and equipment the new hire needs to have on their first day — their email, project management login, a walkthrough of communication protocols, etc. Consider assigning an onboarding buddy who can help new colleagues join the company smoothly.
Draft a remote work policy
Companies have rulebooks and protocols in place for virtually every aspect of their employee’s work, and this should be the case with remote employees too. A remote work policy is an essential document outlining procedures, responsibilities, and company culture.
It should cover the availability expectations, work hours and schedules, equipment, employee allowances, security and privacy, and any other aspect affected by remote work. Working remotely has many advantages, but it can quickly be confusing or overbearing without clear guidelines for both the company and employees.
Keep updating the company culture
Hiring remote employees is a process with a clear endpoint, but retaining talent is an ongoing project. Keep communication lines open and frequently discuss the overall experience with team members.
Companies will need to evolve their culture constantly and motivate their employees in new and exciting ways. Keep an idea book handy and use it to write down suggestions for team building activities, benefits you can offer, and projects to encourage your remote team’s work-life balance. | https://medium.com/gable/recruiting-remote-employees-a-complete-guide-e2340fbad470 | [] | 2021-01-22 22:53:27.142000+00:00 | ['Management', 'Remote Working', 'Employment', 'Recruiting', 'HR'] |
#UnmaskedLeadership — Becoming More of Who We Are | Kevin was a role-model of efficiency. Driven, focused and to the point, no meeting with Kevin would go beyond 30 minutes. People would walk in with completed action items from the last meeting and then walk out with a new set. It was as smooth as clockwork.
Sara, the HR business partner for Kevin’s team was new to this culture. She was more used to a “kinder” style of working. I use that term because being driven all the time can lead to burn out and ‘tunnelling’. Kevin believed in optimisation and worked hard. He worked for his team hard too. And when people juggle a lot of problems, they give up trying to solve them all. They adopt tunnel vision. There’s not much long term planning or strategic prioritization. In the tunnel, there is only ‘forward’.
Sara had scheduled multiple meetings with Kevin and they were rescheduled time and again. Sara was keen to work with Kevin on the underlying currents in the team, their strengths and possible red flags. She wanted to discuss succession planning and to create a more engaging culture. Sara even started wondering if Kevin was avoiding meet her.
It didn’t come as a surprise when she ran into Kevin in the car park of a supermarket and he pulled her aside and said “hey! I know you mean well, but I don’t want to get into emotional conversations about my team at work. They are all good workers and I don’t want you to dig and unearth imaginary problems.”
Sara was too stunned to appropriate a response.
A second later Kevin’s son came running at him and he lifted him up and whirled him around, both giddy with excitement. Kevin had transformed into a different persona. Sara was flabbergasted.
Kevin did meet with her the next day at work. He explained that he didn’t mean to offend her, but he preferred staying unemotional and fact-driven at work. Emotions and nurture were best for home.
I have had the privilege to work with Kevin and Sara for a while now. First, it was upskilling his team on the art of crucial conversations (turns out a team as task-oriented as Kevin needed a huge dose of this) and as Kevin’s coach. Working intensively with Kevin has given me a first-hand view of how leaders truly believe that to succeed they should be tough, heroic and save the business in a crisis situation.
One of my most engaging sessions with Kevin was when I asked him if he would be the kind of leader that he wanted to be, who would that person be? Kevin said that at times he gets so caught up in being tough that it takes him time to become a dad at home. He needs a drink to settle down, and his boys know to keep away from him when he’s just back home, and that unsettles him. Given a choice he would be the dad kind of boss at work. He wanted to know more, understand what went on in the lives of his employees, and he knew he could offer advice when a team member was struggling with some life issues.
But he was always hard-pressed for time, there were too many fires to put out and commitments to be delivered on and he didn’t want it to get messy with his people. Kevin believed that if he couldn’t be tough and heroic, he would be labelled ineffective
He had always been led by tough guys, they were his role models and that’s what Kevin had imbibed unconsciously.
When I challenged him that the need for heroism is usually evidence of systems failure — he was listening. He was going home frustrated every day, because he was too driven for his own good, stymied and always felt that he could do better, he just couldn’t quite put his finger on what he could change and how.
And that is the space where we have been working on. Here are a couple of examples :
Don’t override emotional needs to accomplish work goals
When Kevin thought that a team member was distracted in a meeting or wasn’t putting in the requisite effort, Kevin asked for a follow-up meeting. Initially, his team was taken aback. It was new for Kevin to working with adult emotions and that took some fine-tuning in terms of tone, pitch and choice of vocabulary. Kevin started feeling less stressed about it and over time, his team started trusting this new facet of his behaviour.
Don’t flex the reflex mask of command
The moment something didn’t work the way he had visualised, Kevin felt his boss face come up. This was his “I’m in command” card — that he played unconsciously which didn’t allow discussion. His tone changed, he held himself up straighter and he perched his glasses on the top of his head. That was his command mask. His team knew it and learnt to back down. Given his experience, Kevin was rarely if ever off the mark, but it killed learning and conversation in the team. Just becoming aware of his boss stance made it possible for him to start working on it.
My coaching sessions with Kevin have a different flavour these days. He is his unmasked self, more often. He lets down his guard. He shares unformed thoughts as I hold a non-judgmental space for him to voice his apprehensions and feelings. He tells me how much lighter he feels these days — and how he is now attempting to bring that same space to his team to support them to grow.
What could be more satisfying for a coach!
This article was first published on LinkedIn, March 6, 2020 | https://medium.com/@shivangiwalke/unmaskedleadership-becoming-more-of-who-we-are-c798273196c3 | ['Shivangi Walke'] | 2020-12-23 07:36:10.759000+00:00 | ['Leadership Development', 'Leadership', 'Shivangi Walke', 'Leadership Coaching', 'Unmasked Leadership'] |
Inter Alia | Inter Alia
[Painting Credit: “Inter Alia" by Charles Yates]
Merry Christmas!
Have a happy time celebrating whatever this day means to you - many are the versions and suggestions on how you ought to do so. My recommendation: make it introspective on the irrefutable birth of Jesus with its implications on your life and do so either alone, with people you know or those that you don’t. For today, 25 December 2020, this is the main thing amongst the many other things in this life.
This past week, as I killed time waiting to meet a friend, a stranger came to sit beside me on the park bench. He had a full back pack. As he opened it, thrusting in his whole arm, he unravelled plastic bags full to the brim with bread crumbs. He was a bird-feeder. Well, maybe not entirely, but in that moment it was clear that he had come to do some feeding. On scattering the crumbs, a flight of pigeons flocked to their generous human. They must have been about 150 of them. They continued to pick peck on those crumbs, rather delightfully in a manner to express gratitude. Then, on the other side of the park, a photographer working on taking that perfect still-shot of his client, started throwing bread crumbs to “call” the pigeons to swarm so that they would be in the picture – what manipulation! Almost instantaneously, about three quarters of the about 150, fled to the photographer. I learnt that pigeons only follow the food, it’s nothing personal. I’m sure humans do the same too.
Meeting up my friend was refreshing to say the least. Ours is one of those relationships where we may take months to see each other (we actually argued when last we had seen each other) but then compensate it with a great catch up session. We got straight into talking about the current Covid-19 vaccine and its intricacies. Key to our debacle was how particularly this vaccine “seems” to be a bigger agenda than just helping people to be immune. We were exploring this with an exchange of facts, opinions, truth, speculations, the Bible and the apocryphal book of Enoch and all sorts. Then there was the catch up on where we are in our lives personally and where we are wanting to be. All this just reinforced the condemnation of my procrastination in starting a podcast. Our lives are full of lessons and we should share them.
Deciding on taking up a holidays’ temporary job relieving a permanent Cleaner just to get the extra income has been insightful. Particularly, the insight has been centred on the principle of work and its dynamics. When you are used to smart work over manual work and getting income by moving your fingers on a laptop and cross referencing your mental, there is lots to learn about yourself. Humility does not come humbly, you learn it through experience and through the tutelage of Holy Spirit, if you allow for it. But then again, reward oftentimes if not all times, pushes you to endure that which you may consider lowly. But, your worth is not in your work, your worth is verified simply by being human.
Then, I saw the dead body of a motor-biker, lying regrettably lifeless on the road intersection covered in reflective and shiny material. His blood trickled down the tarmac in a little red stream. People stood in the periphery, police vehicles and an ambulance had their emergency lights flashing. I had not witnessed the accident but fragments of the motorbike, a scattered shoe, a damaged vehicle, told all that had happened. As traffic was being redirected, I could almost sense the sobriety of the scene for the passer-by drivers. Seeing the now deceased biker with his curled hand poking out of the reflective material, I got reminded that life is fragile – its fragility demands that we live it simply and gratefully.
On top of this all, COVID-19 continues to take lives, and now even at a more alarming rate.
There are countless things that surround us to tell us their stories. It’s up to us to learn, apply their lessons and be grateful for each breathing moment.
Once again, Merry Christmas, dear reader! | https://medium.com/@bradodilo/inter-alia-5510ce02ea4b | ['Brad Odilo'] | 2020-12-25 12:17:42.615000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Pigeons', 'Christmas', 'Lessons Learned', 'Covid 19'] |
A Keystone Species, Gone Invasive | A Keystone Species, Gone Invasive
Photo By Steve from Washington, DC, USA — American Beaver, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3963858
In North America, we know beavers as ecologically important enough to refer to them as a keystone species. They can positively alter environments bringing with them a mix of other animals and plant life, even microbes that capable of revitalizing a dying ecosystem. However, this is, in part, because of North American wildlife, fauna, and woodlands evolving with the beaver. The cute bundle of bucktooth joy has had a detrimental effect on the southernmost tip of South America, an area known as Patagonia. I’m sure you have some questions. If they are such a problem, then why are they there in the first place? Why haven’t the endemic species of South America adapted to them? And now that you’ve asked yourself out loud, you probably know the answer. Humans.
How they got there
In 1946, they brought 20 North American beavers down to the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, hoping to build a fur trade as a boost to the local economy and to enrich the native fauna. This was the brainchild of the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of Agriculture in Argentina. It appears they did not consult with any ecologists who even in 1946 could have advised against this scheme.
Scientists traced the beavers’ origin back to Manitoba, Canada through an article written in the Schenectady Gazette on October 25th, 1946, “Lamb and the beavers traveled by rail from Moose Lake to New York, by air to Miami and will leave tomorrow aboard a clipper to Argentina.” The article references, Thomas Lamb, a Manitoban bush pilot. They also confirmed this through Lamb’s own flight records. Tracking where exactly they came from is important, so we know what animals and fauna did well with beavers around and to get a better idea of why they chose these specific 10 pairs of beavers. The answer is more simplistic than one might expect, it’s because that’s all Lamb could catch. The Argentinian Secretary of the Navy requested 25 pairs, but Lamb could not catch that many in the timeframe given. Initially, there was concern it would be insufficient, and because beavers mate for life that losing a few could be a big problem. No worries, a shortage of beavers has not been a problem, on the contrary actually, as it’s estimated there could be up to 200,000 now.
What’s been happening since
Let’s start with the bad first. As I already mentioned, the population boomed. This is mostly because they don’t have natural predators in Patagonia. In North America, the beaver population is naturally managed by wolves, cougars, and coyotes. Another major issue is that unlike their northern brethren, which have evolved with the beavers and are well-adapted to flooded soil like the ones we would find around beaver ponds in the US and Canada, the trees in Tierra del Fuego don’t re-sprout when cut down and they die from oversaturation. So what Patagonia gets is a dying land with felled and rotting trees and endemic animal species deserting the areas the beavers take over. Ultimately, the area suffers from a lack of biodiversity on the land, in the soil, and in the water.
Tierra del Fuego By Piergiorgio Rossi — produzione propria, Public Domain, Wikicommons
The fur industry never gained momentum there, and it’s in part for the difficulty in reaching these areas. For the locals, it was never worth the effort since beaver fur has not been popular in South America. Most scientists say, it is impossible to eliminate them and many are torn whether to do so even if they could because the beavers are likely to create a novel ecosystem and they’re just so darn cute. No, really, that is what’s they said.
Now for a little good. Humans create novel ecosystems quite often that nature adapts to when given enough time. It can occur when once human-occupied lands such as parking lots, mines, farms, and towns are abandoned or when we introduce an invasive species to an area. A study of the Magellan woodpeckers, a native of Patagonia, has shown they thrive in areas near beaver ponds. Scientists hypothesize the beavers’ disturbance may have increased the wood-boring insects the woodpecker so crave. Woodpeckers favor old growth, which the beavers are providing more than enough of when they flood an area and kill the trees. Some even suggest the ponds create microclimate ingredients in soil moisture which may favor the infestation of trees by wood-boring insects.
Muskrats and minks, humans also introduced to the area, have thrived beside the beavers. If not for the beavers, these animals who arrived shortly before them would probably not have survived. Muskrats eat the fauna of the area and minks have a voracious appetite for muskrats.
Another native species which does better than an invasive one because of the beavers is the Puye. They do well in beaver ponds, although it’s unclear why. The Puye outperforms the trout, another ill-advised introduction of a species to Patagonia compliments of humanity.
Final thoughts
Only time will tell at this point what the beavers’ impact will be in the long term. Some predict it could devastate the area with all the downed trees, stagnant water, and rot. Others say that nature will fix man’s mistakes, and I agree with them. I’m not a big fan of culling them, but I understand they may cause the deaths of other species, so it’s a tough decision to make. What are your thoughts? | https://medium.com/@teach-ryan33/a-keystone-species-gone-invasive-44a2403d5897 | ['Ryan Mccombs Jr'] | 2020-12-24 14:42:24.673000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Ecosystem', 'South America', 'Environmental Impact', 'Science'] |
Six Rounds of Laughter and Applause During Di Dongsheng’s Speech | Hello, everyone, welcome to “Inconvenient Truths”. I am your host Jennifer Zeng.
A lot of things have happened since I released a viral video on Dec 4. That video ended up in a Tucker Carlson show, and President Trump tweeted it. And then my video got deleteded by YouTube on Dec 10, right after YouTube announced that it would start deleting all videos that dispute the election results. Although my video is not about the election dispute, it became, perhaps, the first, or one of the first victims of YouTube’s massacre. Then I got quite a lot of media attention because of all this and have done quite a few interviews in the past few days. That’s why I haven’t been able to do any new videos until now.
Today, finally, I am back. But I don’t want to talk about all the drama. Instead, I want to focus on the video itself. I have always wanted to do a show to talk about it since I finished the translation. Today I’m finally doing it.
Top Secrets Revealed
OK, the video is an 18-minute speech of a top CCP professor and key opinion leader. You may already know that his name is Di Dongsheng. The main point of his speech was to explain why the “opening up” of China’s financial sector has been accelerating in 2020, and why it should accelerate.
But he might not have realized that during his speech, he revealed too many of the CCP’s top secrets, such as how the CCP has its own people at the top, the core inner circle of politics and influence in the US; President Trump is the only one that the CCP couldn’t and cannot fix via Wall Street; the CCP was very happy to see Biden’s election; and the CCP has a lot of “deals” with Biden’s son, etc.
He also revealed an untold story of how a Wall Street elite used a Mafia-like method to “fix” the owner of the “Politics and Prose” bookstore in Washington DC so that the CCP could hold a book launch event for Xi Jinping, etc.
Videos Deleted
After my video was released and circulated widely in the English speaking world, the CCP ordered to have all the original Chinese videos deleted inside China. Chinese netizens are telling me that they have to jump over the “Great Firewall” to watch Di Dongsheng’s speech, only to find that YouTube has also deleted it.
As there are so many things to watch in this 18-minute speech, I will break them up, and discuss them from the following aspects.
The Laughter and Applause from the Audience
During this 18 minute speech, the live audience-I think there were over a thousand people there-laughed and applauded 6 times.
This first time was when he explained why during 1992–2016, the CCP was able to fix everything in the US. Let’s take a look.
Di Dongsheng: “It’s just because we have people at the top. At the top of America’s core inner circle of power & influence, we have our old friends.”
When he said, “It’s just because we have people at the top,” the audience laughed out loud. They were so pleased that “we have people at the top”, and that America had become the CCP’s prey.
The second time was when he told that story of how a Wall Street elite helped the CCP to fix the bookstore owner in Washington.
Di Dongsheng: “What did I mean by that? There’s nothing that dollars can’t handle, right? If I can’t do it with one stack of dollars, I’ll do it with two. Of course, that’s my way of handling things.”
When he said that there is nothing that dollars can’t fix, if he can’t fix it with one stack of dollars, he will do it with two, everybody laughed with agreement and appreciation. Everybody agreed that this was the way one should do things.
And then Di Dongsheng said, “Of course, that’s my way of handling things.” When he said this, there was a seemingly humble smile on his face. It seems while he was bragging about his way of handling things with dollars, he tried to appear humble about his. But in fact, he was very proud and feeling so pleased with himself.
The audience awarded him with another round of laughter in appreciation.
The third round of laughter happens when he said that the Wall Street elite who helped the CCP to fix the bookstore owner had a permanent Beijing residence.
Di Dongsheng: “She said, I not only have Chinese citizenship but also have Beijing Hukou( registered permanent residence). I have a Siheyuan (quadrangle dwellings) on Chang’an Street in the Dongcheng district. When you come back to Beijing, come and have tea with me. If you need anything here this year, don’t forget to call me. What did that mean? She could fix anything here.”
When he said that the “old lady” had Beijing Hukou, which is the Chinese term for registered permanent residence, the audience laughed out loud.
Hukou is something special in China. It is like a green card in the US, but only valid in a particular city. If you don’t have a Hukou in Beijing, you are not really a legitimate resident. One Beijing Hukou could be worth nearly 2 million yuan or 305 K US dollars.
So when Di Dongsheng said that the old lady from Wall Street had a Beijing Hukou, the audience laughed because having a Beijing Hukou means she really is one of the CCP’s people, that’s why and how she got a Beijing Hukou, which is very difficult for ordinary Chinese people to gain if they were not born in Beijing. So the audience was very happy that the Wall Street elite had already become a member of China by having a Beijing Hukou.
The 4th and 5th round of laughter happened when Di Dongsheng announced that Biden was elected, and that “there are a lot of deals inside all these”.
Di Dongsheng: But now we’re seeing Biden was elected, the traditional elite, the political elite, the establishment, they’re very close to Wall Street, so you see that, right?
Trump has been saying that Biden’s son has some sort of global foundation. Have you noticed that?
Who helped him (Biden’s son) build the foundations? Got it? There are a lot of deals inside all these.
Did you notice it? The audience clapped their hands and laughed proudly after Di Dongsheng says “there are a lot of deals inside all these”. Although he didn’t mention the CCP’s name directly, everybody understood immediately that it was the CCP who helped Biden’s son with setting up the global foundations, so Biden’s son and therefore Biden, and then the US, are all now in the CCP’s pocket since Biden would be the next President of the US.
Now let me tell you a secret.
When I watched this video for the first time, it was at this stage, when I watched this round of laughter and applause from the audience, that I decided that I must translate the whole video into English so that English speakers can not only listen to what Di Dongsheng has to say, but also get to watch the interactions between him and the audience to understand the overall situation better.
It also pained my heart so much to see that all the audience immediately understood that it was the CCP that helped Biden’s son to set up global foundations without him having to mention the CCP’s name.
However, inside the US, where it is more important for the public to know the true stories of their presidential candidates so that they can make an informed decision when casting their votes, almost all the lamestream media and social media platforms had been blocking and suppressing the news of Biden family’s corruption like mad before the election. They said those are fake, or unverified, or hacked stories, so they couldn’t report it, or allow it to be reported or spread.
Because of the suppression of the lamestream media and social media platforms, the American public is losing its right to know, to be properly informed about important information and issues. Instead, they are deceived and heavily misled.
While people in China are feeling so good that they could finally once again have one of their puppets inside the White House, the American public is deprived of their rights to know the true situations.
Isn’t this sad? That’s why I was motivated to do the translation.
The 6th round of laughter happened when Di Dongsheng said that when China succeeds with the opening-up of its financial sector, the chance to earn money will be bigger.
Di Dongsheng: “When our financial opening-up succeeds, we will be speculating on Shanghai stocks and Shenzhen stocks in the future, the chance to win money will be a little bit bigger, although still limited. “
Well, these are the 6 rounds of laughter and applause in his speech. I have been outside of China for nearly 20 years. So sometimes I feel it’s hard to catch up with what is happening in China now, and to what extent the moral values have declined.
I was amazed to see how this professor could openly boast about how he believed that there is nothing in the world that can’t be fixed with money, and how proud he was when he said that he was chosen by the leader to negotiate a venue for Xi Jinping’s book launch because he was good at “fooling” foreigners.
When he told the “little story” about how the big nose old Jewish lady helped the CCP fix that bookstore owner, he used the same word 傲嬌 to describe that owner who initially refused to give the venue to him because that time slot was already booked by another author.
Who is Really “Spoiled”?
傲嬌 can be translated to “arrogant” and “spoiled”. Di Dongsheng used this word five times to describe the bookstore owner and also said that the owner “really put on airs with me.”
For me, it is totally understandable and normal that if someone has already booked the venue, you of course can’t give it to another person. You must abide by the contract.
But for Di Dongsheng, whoever dares to refuse his request is “arrogant” and “spoiled”, and is “putting on airs with me”.
So from this, we can see that Di Dongsheng must have been having a very smooth ride with his dollars everywhere else before that, and that’s why he felt it was so unacceptable that a bookstore owner would dare refuse him because the venue had already been booked.
So who has been spoiled? It is Di Dongsheng himself, and the people who spoiled him were those who were willing to be bought over by money.
But sadly, there are so many people in the US, and other countries, who have been corrupted by the CCP and have become the CCP’s agents. That’s why we are seeing such a critically dangerous moment in US history: This nation has been corrupted from the top and is ready to fall into the CCP’s traps.
Opening-up the Financial Sector: Goodwill to Biden
There are several other things to note in Di Dongsheng’s speech.
One is that he finally admitted that the CCP had agreed to open up its financial sector in 2001, when it was allowed to join the WTO, but failed to fulfill its promise, so it is now opening it up.
But have you noticed this? He also admitted that another reason for the CCP to open up the financial sector is to express some goodwill to Biden, and “there is a tactical and political value in it”.
A Parasite Feeding on the US Economy
Toward the end of his speech, he admitted that the CCP’s economy was a parasite or a plant that was grafted onto the US system. And the reason why the Chinese economy could boom so quickly was that the energy of the US economy was big, the market was big.
So, that is to say, Di Dongsheng admitted that the CCP’s economy is a parasite growing on the U.S. system, developing only by feeding on the U.S. economy.
Open-up the Financial Sector: Another Round of “Fooling the Foreigners”
Lastly, he admitted that by opening up the financial sector, the CCP could have foreign players go to its own backyard to “cultivate the root of the plant” for the CCP, and under the CCP’s own rules.
I think there are quite a lot of people who feel very happy about the CCP’s willingness to finally open up its financial sector after nearly 20 years and think that the CCP finally gave in to the pressure from the west.
For those people, they really need to have a listen to what Di Dongsheng said. The reality is, after sucking up the nutrition of the manufacturing sector of the US, the CCP now wants to suck up the nutrition of the financial sector of the US and the West, so that not only the flowers and fruits of the tree of the CCP’s economy can flourish, but also its root and branches.
Are you willing to be “fooled” again by professor Di Dongsheng, and the CCP?
That’s all for today. I’ve opened up a back-up Rumble channel in case YouTube deletes my videos again. Please search for “Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng” there, and you’ll be able to find and subscribe to it.
Thank you. Please help me spread the truth, and see you next time!
12/15/2020
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Be selfish and go help someone | Be selfish and go help someone
Like every other breathing software developer, I usually find useful answers to issues and topics on StackOverflow. So in 2011, I decided to get a little more involved and started not only asking questions, but also answering some.
Look, it’s great to help people and it seems noble but I have to admit that I did it for selfish reasons. Let me explain.
In high school, I joined a program where students with good grades would help tutor classmates that were struggling. Performing well in Math and Physics gave me confidence that I would be able to help my friends. However, I discovered early on that it would not be that simple: understanding something takes you to one level; applying that knowledge takes you further; however, explaining that knowledge, specially to someone who is already grappling with the concept, is at a whole other level. It forces you to gain new layers of understanding and new perspectives, even for the simplest concepts, so that you may be able to come up with a way to pass that knowledge on to another person.
So, years later, I knew that answering questions on StackOverflow would force me to up my game, hone my own skills and knowledge. So I got to it. I started being very active on SO, getting to a point where I would answer questions on a daily basis. That level of activity, as I expected, helped me understand the concepts better, helped me write better, helped me convey those concepts in a readable and helpful way.
After a few months, my level of activity slowly and steadily went down, as other challenges in life, family and work needed more of my time. However, I was glad I took the time to contribute: I had personal gain and my past contributions were still helping people around the world.
Fast forward to 2020, I have just noticed this:
My StackOverflow profile, mobile version
Even being barely active nowadays, my contributions are still being seen and up-voted, reaching 50K reputation and having impacted around 5 million people (according to SO). Sure, my contributions were not unique pieces of knowledge; most of them were about really simple concepts. They are not great pieces of literature, technical or otherwise. Also, there are some bad answers there in the middle. Nonetheless, I’m still glad I wrote them. They helped me build up my skills and knowledge, stepping stones in the process of trying to become better at those concepts and better at writing about them.
Throughout life, I have gained more certainty that, regardless of the context, helping other people is also a way of helping yourself. You even feel good when you go out of your way to help someone. It’s kind of paradoxical really; at times, it seems that the act of helping others can be a little selfish. Even as I write this, I think to myself “Sure I helped others but also look at all those random internet points on StackOverflow reputation!”
My wife always tells the kids that a fraction of your time can go a long way for others. More often than not, it costs very little to extend the hand to someone else, but your small effort contribution is usually of great aid to others. The funny thing is that once you put some help out there, it somehow comes back to you positively. For some reason (whatever you call it: God, karma or simply the intricate complexity of human interactions), once you give away some good for others, some other good inexorably comes back to you.
The skeptical engineer in me cannot always explain why this happens. However, the pragmatic engineer in me has acknowledged the fact that this happens. This is reproducible. Why wouldn’t one proactively generate positive reproducible results for oneself?
Thus, I am comfortable to encourage anyone: be a little selfish, do yourself a favor and help yourself by going out there and helping someone else. Others will be thankful. So will you. | https://blog.devgenius.io/be-selfish-and-go-help-someone-ace67ba1a3aa | ['Adriano Carneiro'] | 2020-06-30 20:01:53.650000+00:00 | ['Stackoverflow', 'Helping Others', 'Software Development'] |
A Short Practical Introduction to Machine Learning: Predicting Survival on the Titanic! | Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Machine Learning can be intimidating. I know this at first hand. The first time I was given an assignment at work involving Machine Learning, it didn’t really go well. I dove into it without having any background on the subject, and my code was just all over the place. I thought Machine Learning was just about plugging data into a model and then getting your results back. Yes, those steps are involved, but there is so much more to it.
In an effort to gain a background on Machine Learning, or at least some idea on how it is properly done, I’ve taken to spending some time to learn more about. One of the challenges I set to myself was making my first submission to Kaggle. In this article, I will show you how I did it (you can also code-along with me if you’d like), and in the process, if you have no idea what Machine Learning is yet, I hope it will introduce you to it. Don’t worry if you don’t get some of the concepts below now, I don’t expect you to (that’s normal). The point of this article is to give you a basic intro to Machine Learning.
What is Machine Learning?
First, let’s start with what Machine Learning is. Machine Learning is the technique of creating programs that can learn from data and to come up with their own algorithm (usually called a model) for solving a problem. It differs from the usual programming where you are dictating a series of steps for a program to follow. Machine Learning is a more challenging feat, but if done well, it can also give you broad flexibility and your users a tailored experience.
What is Kaggle?
Kaggle is a great place for exploring Machine Learning. For those of you who have no idea on what it is, it is online community for Machine Learning and Data Science enthusiasts and practitioners alike. You can find thousands of datasets and problems posted on it to practice Machine Learning. They even have an online course which you can go through to learn Python and Machine Learning — I highly recommend checking this out if you are thinking of going into Machine Learning.
Problem / Objective
The Titanic Dataset is kind of like the Kaggle “Hello World!” project. It is not too complicated, which is perfect for beginners — like me, and it is what they recommend you to start with. The objective of the project is to create a model that can predict passengers who survived the Titanic shipwreck. This kind of problem is called “classification” because we will be categorizing whether a person survived or not, as opposed to calculating a numerical value, which is called a “regression”. (Okay, I know we can just google who survived the Titanic, but we won’t learn anything by doing that, so we won’t resort to that).
Data Collection
The first step in any Machine Learning project (after the problem is framed) is data collection. This is an integral part of any project — without data there would be nothing to analyze. Sometimes, it is even considered the hardest part. Kaggle saves us the time and effort by providing us the data already. You can head over to their website to download and view the data for yourselves.
Data Exploration
After getting the data, we can start to explore it. Kaggle provides us 2 files, a “train” and “test” file in CSV format. We can check the data out using any spreadsheet tool. I used LibreOffice Calc here. When you first read the column names, it doesn’t seem intuitive, Kaggle provides us a definition table for this. This simplification in column names is done for easier manipulation later on.
Kaggle Titanic Train Dataset
Kaggle Titanic Dataset Definition Table
Each record in the spreadsheet represent a person was onboard the Titanic and whether or not that person survived. The difference between the two files is the “Survived” column. The “train” data shows us who survived while the “test” data doesn’t. This is called the “label” and it is what we will be predicting later on. The other columns are called “predictors” and we will use these to make that prediction. Basically, our model will learn by looking for patterns from data with the “answers” on it (the train file), and it will use what it learns to try to guess the answers on data it hasn’t seen yet (the test file).
Now that we have an idea of the dataset, we can dive further using Python and Jupyter Notebook. Jupyter Notebook provides you a working environment for running Python scripts, and you can install it for free with Anaconda. When you open it for the first time, it will look like this.
Jupyter Notebook
We will first import the Pandas module and use it to load the data as a Python object that we can manipulate. These Python objects are called DataFrames.
import pandas as pd titanic_train = pd.read_csv("train.csv")
titanic_test = pd.read_csv("test.csv") # Set aside for now, we will come back to it after we have our final model
We can look at the first 2 records of our data by using the following command. It should look the same as in your spreadsheet.
titanic = titanic_train
titanic.head(2)
Output:
First 2 Rows of Dataset
There are several commands to help you dive into the data. Let us use the “info” command.
titanic.info()
Output:
RangeIndex: 891 entries, 0 to 890
Data columns (total 12 columns):
# Column Non-Null Count Dtype
--- ------ -------------- -----
0 PassengerId 891 non-null int64
1 Survived 891 non-null int64
2 Pclass 891 non-null int64
3 Name 891 non-null object
4 Sex 891 non-null object
5 Age 714 non-null float64
6 SibSp 891 non-null int64
7 Parch 891 non-null int64
8 Ticket 891 non-null object
9 Fare 891 non-null float64
10 Cabin 204 non-null object
11 Embarked 889 non-null object
dtypes: float64(2), int64(5), object(5)
memory usage: 83.7+ KB
From the table, we can see if there are any missing values and the data type for each column. If you notice, we have missing values for “Age” and “Cabin” column. We will need to do something about these later on when we prepare the data.
If you look into the “dtype” column, you will see that there are three kinds of values: int64, float, object. Int64 stands for integer. Both int64 and float columns appear to be numerical values in the dataset, while object columns appear to be categorical values. When we start to train our model, all our columns must be in numerical values for it to be understood. There are several ways to convert categorical values to numerical values. Let’s try it out on the “Sex” column. Currently, the values for it are either “male” or “female”, we can actually represent them as 1’s and 0’s, which is called binary data. This time we will be importing another module called Scikit-learn (or sklearn) to do this. Type in the following commands.
from sklearn.preprocessing import LabelBinarizer lb = LabelBinarizer()
titanic["Sex"] = lb.fit_transform(titanic["Sex"])
When you look back at your dataset, you should now see 1’s and 0’s instead.
We don’t actually need to use all of the columns in making our model. We can remove some of them like the “PassengerId” and “Name”, because it won’t have any bearing on the model. Converting and removing data are best left in the data preparation part. For now, we are more concerned studying data to get an idea on how we will prepare the data.
Moving on, we can generate some descriptive statistics using the “describe” command. It will show you the count, mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and 25th, 50th, 75th percentile of each column. Generally, the data shows you the range of your values and where most of the data falls into.
titanic.describe()
Output:
Descriptive Overview of the Data
If you have a solid background on statistics, deriving information from the table is a piece of cake. I don’t. I like to visualize the data more to understand it, we can plot them using the “hist” command.
titanic.hist()
Output:
Histograms Plotted from the Data
Each numerical value column is plotted as a histogram showing the distribution of the values. We can see from the image that most of our data are skewing on one side of the graph and the range of values for each column is different (i.e. the “Age” column shows values from 0–80 while “SibSp” column only have values from 0–8). We will need to transform the values of each column to be on a similar range, so no column can overinfluence the entire model later on when we train it. This is called “standardization”.
Lastly (in data exploration), let us check the correlation of our columns with one another and to our “label”. The correlation measures how strongly two variables are related to one another. We can observe this by plotting a correlation matrix using the following commands. If you want to visualize it, you can also use a “heatmap” for this.
corr = titanic.corr()
corr
Output:
Correlation Matrix of the Data
Looking at the table, we can see that there is a visible relationship between “Fare” and “Pclass” columns. This is expected, “Pclass” represents the person’s socio-economic status. If we check the histograms, we can see that most of the “Pclass” falls on the value of 3 which means lower class, and most of the “Fare” falls on the cheaper side. We can make that assumption that people with lower economic status tend to have cheaper tickets. Based on this assumption, we can actually remove either of them because including both can be redundant for our model, since they both have similar implications. Sometimes, simple is better when it comes to training our model.
Data Preparation
Once we understand how we will approach the training data, we can now start to prepare our data for it. Assuming any future data that we get is similar to our training data now except in having the “Survived” column. We can actually automate the data preparation part by making what is called a “pipeline”, so all the considerations we derived from the data exploration part will be automatically processed in any future data we get.
When preparing for training, we will need to set aside a subset of the train data to be used for testing later on. We can consider this different from the test data provided by Kaggle, because we will actually use this to evaluate how our model performs. Later on it will make much more senses when we evaluate our model. For now, I will split my train data. I will set aside 10% as additional test data, and I want to make sure I get same “Survived” ratio on it as the overall data.
from sklearn.model_selection import StratifiedShuffleSplit split = StratifiedShuffleSplit(n_splits=1, test_size=0.1,
random_state=42)
for train_index, test_index in split.split(titanic,
titanic["Survived"]):
strat_train_set = titanic.loc[train_index]
strat_test_set = titanic.loc[test_index]
We also want to separate the label from the predictors on the train data because we will perform the data preparation on the predictors only.
titanic = strat_train_set.drop("Survived", axis=1)
titanic_label = strat_train_set["Survived"].copy()
Our numerical data will be processed differently from our categorical data. We can create a separate pipeline for both and merge the two pipelines after.
# numerical data
num_attribs = ["Age", "SibSp", "Parch", "Pclass"]
# categorical data
cat_attribs = ["Sex", "Embarked"]
I only included the columns I am interested in. I removed “PassengerId”, “Name”, and “Ticket” because this information appear irrelevant. I removed “Cabin” because it had too many missing values to be useful. I also removed “Fare” because I think “Pclass” will suffice.
We have two steps in processing our numerical data. First, we need to fill in the missing value in the “Age” column and next we need to normalize the range of the data. We can use SimpleImputer and StandardScaler from sklearn.
# num pipeline
from sklearn.pipeline import Pipeline
from sklearn.impute import SimpleImputer
from sklearn.preprocessing import StandardScaler num_pipeline = Pipeline([
("imputer", SimpleImputer(strategy="median")),
("std_scaler", StandardScaler())
])
For our categorical data, we have the “Sex” and “Embarked” column. We know to convert the “Sex” column into binary data, but how about the “Embarked” column. Well, if we look into the column, we know that it has 3 values to choose from. We can actually create 3 different binary data columns for it. To do that, we will use OneHotEncoder. Before that, the “Embarked” column has missing value we need to fill. We will just use the most frequent value to fill it with.
from sklearn.preprocessing import OneHotEncoder embarked_pipeline = Pipeline([
("imputer", SimpleImputer(strategy="most_frequent"),
("one_hot_encode", OneHotEncoder())
])
Now, we can then combine all our pipelines to form just one full pipeline. After running the full pipeline on the data, you should see that it has been transformed with all our adjustments.
from sklearn.compose import ColumnTransformer
from sklearn.preprocessing import OrdinalEncoder full_pipeline = ColumnTransformer([
("num", num_pipeline, num_attribs),
("sex", OrdinalEncoder(), ["Sex"]),
("embarked", embarked_pipeline, ["Embarked"])
]) titanic_prepared = full_pipeline.fit_transform(titanic)
titanic_prepared
Output:
Prepared Data
Training and Evaluating Models
After our data has been prepared, it is now a matter of training different learning algorithms and choosing one that will eventually become our model. This is the tricky part. Why do we have to train different algorithms, why can’t we just settle on one now? Well, several algorithms have different way of doing things and although they have the same goal, the math behind it serves different purpose. As a beginner, you won’t immediately now which one will perform best on your data without trying each of them. I don’t even think professionals can know immediately without trying different algorithms.
I will be trying four different algorithms SGDClassifier, RandomForestClassifier, SVC, and KNeighborsClassifier. Each of these deserves their own article, but for now all you need to know is that each of them can predict classification. To evaluate the performance, I will be using a metric called “accuracy” for it. Accuracy determines the number of correct predictions over all predictions made. There are other metrics to choose from, but for now we can settle with “accuracy”.
One of the common problems in training models arises when the model performs really well on the data we trained it with and really badly on unseen data. This is called overfitting the model. The best way I can try to describe it is memorization vs comprehension. The model memorized the answers but it didn’t really understand it, when it came to giving it new data to work on, it gets lost easily. To prevent that from happening, we will be using a technique called “cross validation”. Cross validation works by training the model a number of times on the same dataset, but for each time, it separates a different subset of the data for testing and improving the model. In this way, the model is prevented from “memorizing” the answers. You will notice that it outputs 3 different scores, that is because it runs 3 times each.
from sklearn.model_selection import cross_val_score
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier
from sklearn.svm import SVC
from sklearn.neighbors import KNeighborsClassifier sgd_clf = SGDClassifier(random_state=42)
cross_val_score(sgd_clf, titanic_prepared,
titanic_label, cv=3, scoring="accuracy") # OUTPUT SCORES: [0.75655431, 0.73033708, 0.68539326] forest_clf = RandomForestClassifier(random_state=42)
cross_val_score(forest_clf, titanic_prepared,
titanic_label, cv=3, scoring="accuracy") # OUTPUT SCORES: [0.80524345, 0.77153558, 0.79026217] svm_clf = SVC(random_state=42)
cross_val_score(svm_clf, titanic_prepared,
titanic_label, cv=3, scoring="accuracy") # OUTPUT SCORES: [0.84269663, 0.81273408, 0.82397004] knn_clf = KNeighborsClassifier()
cross_val_score(knn_clf, titanic_prepared,
titanic_label, cv=3, scoring="accuracy") # OUTPUT SCORES: [0.82771536, 0.79775281, 0.80524345]
Out of the four models, SVC performs the best, so we will choose this one, but let’s see if we can further improve the model. All of these models actually gives us access to a set of “hyperparameters” we can adjust to somehow control the learning process. Previously, we just set it default, but let’s see if we can further improve the score after adjusting. Let’s use GridSearchCV, which basically does the search for the best hyperparameters for us.
from sklearn.model_selection import GridSearchCV param_grid = [
{'C': [1,10,100], 'gamma': [1,0.1,0.001], 'kernel':
['linear','rbf']}
] svm_clf = SVC(random_state=42) grid_search = GridSearchCV(svm_clf, param_grid, cv=3,
scoring="accuracy",
return_train_score=True, verbose=10)
grid_search.fit(titanic_prepared, titanic_label) cross_val_score(grid_search.best_estimator_, titanic_prepared,
titanic_label, cv=3, scoring="accuracy") # OUTPUT SCORES: [0.84644195, 0.8164794 , 0.82397004]
Once it finishes searching, we can go ahead and evaluate it again. It seems that the score is still the same. This just means that the default hyperparameters performs the best for the model based on the set of hyperparameters given to it.
One last thing before we classify the Kaggle’s test data, let’s evaluate the model on unseen data. Remember the data with the labels we set aside earlier? Well, we will use the model now to classify it and compare it with the actual label.
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score final_model = grid_search.best_estimator_ unseen = strat_test_set.drop("Survived", axis=1)
unseen_label = strat_test_set["Survived"].copy()
unseen_prepared = full_pipeline.fit_transform(unseen)
predictions = final_model.predict(unseen_prepared) accuracy_score(unseen_label, predictions) # OUTPUT SCORE: 0.8
I got a score of 0.8, which is not bad, and it is still close to the earlier scores, so now we know that the model is not overfitting the data!
Submitting to Kaggle
We can go ahead and plug in the test data from Kaggle to model. We won’t able to know our score yet in Jupyter Notebook, since the data has no labels. Let’s save it as a CSV file and submit it to the Kaggle site.
test = titanic_test
test_prepared = full_pipeline.fit_transform(test)
final_predictions = final_model.predict(test_prepared) test["Survived"] = final_predictions
test[["PassengerId", "Survived"]].to_csv("submission.csv",
index=False)
Once you upload your submission, it will show you your score. My final score is 0.78, which I think is not bad, a little lower than expected but still near to our 0.8, which is good starting point. Kaggle allows you to further improve your model and submit entries multiple times to improve your score. I will leave that to you if you are interested in further building the model presented here, but for now, if you’ve been following along with your own Notebook, give yourself a high five because you just submitted your first Kaggle entry!
There’s no one way to do machine learning. I know there’s a lot to take in from this, but I hope this only encourages you more to pursue it further if this is something you are interested in. If you are thinking to yourself that is too difficult for you, I’ve been there, all I can say is a year ago I never knew any this. With time and effort, you too can begin your Machine Learning journey!
Cheers! | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/a-short-practical-introduction-to-machine-learning-predicting-survival-on-the-titanic-4acd2809b523 | ['Thompson Go'] | 2020-11-10 13:00:44.181000+00:00 | ['Python Programming', 'Predictive Analytics', 'Kaggle', 'Data Science Training', 'Machine Learning'] |
Islam and Meat Consumption | We are not animals, but we are not capitalizing on our humanity either.
Photo by Ömer F. Arslan
Eid al-Adha holidays are upon us here in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and one of the prescribed observances for Muslims to commemorate this occasion, is the sacrifice of halal domestic animals to share among family, relatives, friends and the poor, for those who can afford it. For those working to address everyday environmental concerns, it is also an occasion to revisit matters like meat consumption and veganism.
I have stopped knowingly consuming meat for a while now (I say knowingly because one can never be sure if while eating out, something had been laced with meat or its derivatives). I cannot pinpoint as to when exactly I had stopped because I made a decision and worked over the past couple of years to abide by it. For a while, I had been eating fish, but I also gradually worked my way out of it. Do I crave any of it? No, nor do I feel inclined to buy any vegan product which will fool my tastebuds, eyes and nose into thinking that I am not “missing out” on something. Am I vegan? No, because occasionally I will relent to having a piece of cheese, despite having my doubts about whether or not the cows that bore the milk were treated humanely.
The UAE imports 80–90% of its food supplies, so a lot of the cheese I would be having, would have made its way here from its country of origin in Europe or elsewhere. Does that make me feel more or less confident that no cruelty is attached to what I am eating? Well, a simple online search will provide you with enough doubt to upset your stomach, an example is footage from an organic farm in the UK which shows chain shackled cows, and calves separated from their mothers. Having been exposed to this information, I have phased out my milk intake, and I am limiting my cheese intake because I am not OK with how cattle is being treated and with my complicity in this, despite how detached I am from the source.
Back in high school, we had to dissect sheep brains and frogs in AP Biology. I could not get myself to do it, told the teacher, he asked me to write a letter detailing why, and allowed me not to. My rationalization at the time was that others have done this before me and that I could learn what I needed to learn from the book. In the Anatomy and Physiology class in University I relied on my partner to do the dissection of the formaldehyde drenched cat, but because most of those who were taking the class were Pre-med students I understood that hands-on work was their introduction to the potentially life saving work they would be doing in the future.
Did you know that by his own count, Leonardo da Vinci dissected 30 corpses during his lifetime? According to a Livescience article by Stephanie Pappas, his sketches reveal a deep understanding of how the body worked, and modern anatomists have only recently begun to look at the muscles and tendons of the finger in the detail that da Vinci did. “He was the first to draw the human spine with the correct curves and came tantalizingly close to understanding how blood moved through the body, a mystery that wouldn’t be fully solved until 1628, more than a century after his death.” He often dissected unclaimed bodies, such as those of drunks and vagrants.
Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer. Was he vegan? While he is reported to have written that he will not let his body be a “tomb for other animals, an inn of the dead … a container of corruption,” in order to create art, his brushes were made from sable or hog hairs attached to quills, he drew on specially tanned skin of calves, kids, and lambs; and sepia, the deep reddish-brown pigment he used, came from the ink sac of cuttlefish. Today, synthetic alternatives to painting materials are readily and cheaply available to any aspiring artist, school kids or those in need of art therapy, but they will not readily biodegrade in landfill (and therefore present an environmental hazard), and neither will synthetic vegan clothes for that matter.
Nowadays, technological advances are allowing for virtual reality learning in medical schools and elsewhere. More environmentally friendly materials are also being formulated and we can now “treat” our taste buds to plant based food and drinks engineered to taste like their non-vegan counterparts. But, do these technological advances address our tendency to overindulge? And why is it taking technological advances so long to treat our critical waste problem? According to The World Counts, we are already pushing “75 percent above what the Earth can sustain in the long run with regard to resource extraction and absorption of waste.” Are we simply displacing the problem from one set of resources to another?
In the Quran, a verse in Surah Al-A’raf (Q7: 31) translates to: “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every mosque, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.” In Surah Al-Ma’eda (Q5: 87–89) the verses translate to: “O you who have believed, do not prohibit the good things which Allah has made lawful to you and do not transgress. Indeed, Allah does not like transgressors. And eat of what Allah has provided for you [which is] lawful (halal) and good.” I cannot claim to be a devout Muslim, but the faith communicated through these verses has been imparted to me at some point and it has left its mark on me. Religion, as I understood it, existed to sensitize us to our responsibilities and obligations as members of society, and as exemplified by these verses, urges us to neither plunder away nor restrict ourselves.
Plundering is made easy today with our “advanced” abattoirs and mass scale agricultural capacities, so much so that it is estimated that every year one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted, while globally an estimated 820 million people remain hungry (2018) and food security in developing countries remains a concern, aggravated by climate change. This plundering is evident in our every day lives, and while many like to address food waste during Ramadan (a one month occasion where we are invited to experience being hungry in order to empathize with the needy and strengthen our faith), year long open buffet brunches and dinners are not guilt-free. Covid-19 restrictions have now made the associated debauchery less accessible.
While Islam has not restricted meat consumption from halal sources, it made it clear that those who overindulge or waste are not in favor with God. If it had not, Muslims could easily argue that they are in favor with God in spite of wasteful behavior. The religion also mandated that the slaughtering be done manually, that the lawful intention be set, and that the equipment be surgically sharp in order to ensure rapid death. Contrary to existing malpractices, customary practices when slaughtering include hiding the knife from the animal and performing the slaughter out of sight of other animals. This is in recognition of the fact that cruelty to animals, which are recognized as feeling species, is not only frowned upon in Islam but can also result in the ultimate punishment.
So how does Islam reconcile the message against cruelty to animals and the sanctioning of slaughtering animals for food? Simply put, the latter is condoned and not seen as cruel so long as the “regulations” are observed. While animals self-regulate their existence in an instinctual manner (with even the most innocent looking of them hunting and killing for food, or even eating their own progeny), because of our species’ capacity to overindulge, and go beyond fulfilling its needs, religions like Islam found it necessary to lay down the ground rules for what is considered favorable and responsible. While other schools of life work on validating or excusing “natural” behavior on the part of our species, based on its “hunter gatherer” ancestry or “evolutionary origin,” religions like Islam expect better from believers with canine teeth.
Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said: “He who cuts a Lote tree (without justification), Allah will send him to Hellfire,” so what would Islam make of grand scale (excessive) destruction of forests for livestock agriculture? What would Islam make of studies which have identified that livestock agriculture is responsible for 51 percent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions? Can Muslims be OK with the transgression invoked by overfishing on the ocean ecosystems? Can Muslims be OK with baby chicks being ground up alive in the name of egg production? What about products which contain egg derivatives, like mayonnaise?
Yesterday, I fasted because my mother asked me to. It is not an obligation but a recommendation, based on the example of Prophet Muhammad, for Muslims who are not performing Hajj, to fast on the Day of Arafah in order to empathize with the arduous journey made by the pilgrims. I do not know of any other species which will willingly discipline itself in order to empathize with others.
If there are self evident truths that I have come to recognize over the limited number of the years of my humble existence, one of them is that we are not on this earth to plunder through its bounties simply because we are “intelligent” enough to do so. Another self evident truth that I have come to recognize is that we are intelligent enough to identify and to recognize why we should not, but that many of us could care less to exercise their brain capacity for good, or have come to the realization that doing so is not socially nor financially rewarding, and therefore not conducive to their own survival and well being while alive. | https://safiroshdy.medium.com/islam-and-meat-consumption-13a9c4aa5182 | ['Safi Roshdy'] | 2020-08-02 03:08:42.689000+00:00 | ['Islam', 'Veganism', 'Carbon Footprint', 'Meatless Monday', 'Climate Action'] |
Yield Optimization for Digital Publishers | In partnership with leading programmatic advertising platform Rubicon Project, AdJoin Media now offers a competitive yield management solution in conjunction with our premium Private Audience Marketplace to further increase revenue for publishers’ unsold ad inventory.
The conundrum
Before relying on Google Ads only, understanding how to segment your strategy can make your output more productive. More than 80% of publishers rely on Google Ads as a back-fill solution to monetize their unsold advertising inventory, often yielding low CPM rates. However, depending on the content and volume of traffic a publisher’s site generates, eCPM’s and revenue earnings can vary drastically.
Example:
Some publishers, such as general news, classifieds and sports portals that generate high volumes of traffic (over 10 million monthly impressions) but are not necessarily considered ‘niche’ often make good revenue from the high volume of unsold ad impressions monetized by google back-fill ads, but yield low CPMs.
Then there are publishers with smaller volumes of traffic (under 5 million monthly impressions) that generate ‘niche / specialized’ content such as Women in Tech / Golf / Financial Business / Computer Gaming. They may get higher eCPM averages from Google, but may still generate less revenue than the likes of a site which generates revenue from 10x as much inventory.
Thus in order for a site to generate decent revenue from an ad exchange or back-fill partner such as Google AdSense, a site must have high volumes of traffic.
Google ads and ad exchanges are very popular among advertisers, as it allows them to programmatically buy massive amounts of inventory at very low rates. There are also many resources at hand for an advertiser to optimize their campaigns, but little a publisher can do to optimize their google back-fill ads to yield higher eCPM’s.
This situation often results in publishers’ having their inventory cannibalized by google back-fill ads, and trying to get the advertiser to buy your inventory at a premium rate becomes more challenging.
Competition Works!
This is where Private Marketplaces (aka: PMPs) and other programmatic ad companies come into play.
There are different types of PMPs, but for this article we’ll introduce you to AdJoin’s Private Audience Marketplace.
Essentially, with the help of a very powerful Data Management Platform (aka DMP) AdJoin are able to repackage your unsold inventory into audience segments and market it at a higher rate with the help of AdJoin’s many strategic buying and reselling partners.
Once again, you can’t rely on 1 PMP to fill all your remnant inventory at a higher CPM, so it’s healthy to include other PMPs and let them compete for your inventory in a Programmatic Real Time Bidding auction.
If AdJoin’s Audience Marketplace is unable to fill all your unsold inventory and you are still left with a high volume of traffic being filled by Google back-fill ads. In partnership with Rubicon Project, AdJoin now offers publishers an open RTB yield optimization solution.
For many publishers that do not have a programmatic monetization department or an ad operations team within their business, this proves to be a very challenging feat.
If you are a publisher that relies only on Google back-fill ads, then it’s worthwhile looking to a partner like AdJoin to help you with a yield management solution.
How does it work?
Any inventory not filled by a premium direct sale is given an opportunity to be bid on by various PMPs and ad exchanges.
Whoever bids the highest rate wins.
Any inventory not filled by AdJoin can now be given an opportunity to be bid on by Rubicon’s Open RTB. In order for Rubicon to not cannibalize your traffic, I always ask publishers to provide me with their average eCPMs they get from Google back-fill ads.
Your average eCPM from Google now becomes the min CPM for any advertisers in Rubicon Open RTB to bid on.
When AdJoin and Rubicon Open RTB are unable to fill your unsold inventory a pass-back tag fires allowing Google Ads to fill what’s left.
Keen to explore and find out what potential revenue you can generate?
Feel free to contact me. | https://medium.com/mobile-rocks/yield-optimization-for-digital-publishers-7ca2a140707 | [] | 2017-04-05 13:53:32.761000+00:00 | ['Monetization', 'Programmatic', 'Advertising', 'Publishers', 'Digital Marketing'] |
The Triple-Strength Worker | At the HBS Digital Initiative we spend quite a bit of time exploring how technology and workers come together to achieve results for organizations. Rapidly evolving work environments and technological advancement have changed what makes contributors in an organization valuable at all level. What is needed beyond excellent communication, interpersonal skills, and job specific knowledge? Today’s tech driven economy demands minimum credible knowledge across three areas of expertise.
Modern workers must possess abilities in computing, applied math, and at least one domain of expertise. Expertise is all about knowledge and experience in a subject. Having a unique perspective adds dimension to interdisciplinary teams. It is the source of passion leveraged to make a difference in the world and keep you coming back to work each day.
Computing skills are necessary as ubiquitous data has made self-sufficiency a requirement for most workers. Those who can collect, store, analyze, and interpret information for themselves are of higher value than those who cannot. Be it collecting data via software tools, manipulating the information, or setting up cloud-based compute power and storage to accomplish these goals, computing know-how is essential.
Applied math skills have become a requirement as organizations continue looking for answers in large collections of information. In extremely large datasets, can you determine what info should be left out of calculations? Which are the best methods to look for patterns, what constitutes a pattern, and is it possible to iterate potential solutions quickly by writing your own code?
Many organizations today are paying three people across IT, business intelligence, and specialized groups to perform what should be the work of one person. Domain expertise allows workers more than personal passion and the employer more than expertise. Coupled with computing and math skills, we get increased efficiency. Identifying bad data, meaningless outliers, and knowing which lead to follow next are the realm of someone who knows what the data mean. Whether the info is environmental, financial, automotive, cosmological, fashion oriented, or anything else, someone who knows what they are looking at can readily explore new directions and is of great value to an organization.
As these employees mature in their career they can shift to spending more time in their domain of expertise. Their experience and know-how in computing and math will allow them to better communicate and collaborate with workers spending their time deep in the data. Some experts will decide their area of expertise should be computing or applied math, as we also need to advance these fields. A common understanding of basic computing and applied math across all workers will empower organizations to innovate and succeed.
There exists today a gap between training and these needs in the workplace. From computerized factory floors to financial modeling, the minimum credible knowledge needed to compete must be woven together in pieces by the life-long learner. Elementary, secondary, higher-ed, continuing education, and job training offer the skills, but in pieces. It is rare to find a program providing enough rigor in computing, applied math, and specific domains of expertise that is configured for the student to easily encounter all three sufficiently. Students should look carefully for schools that offer rigorous classes in each area. Workers can enroll in training programs needed to fill out their offering. If you are still looking for work you truly enjoy, get that graduate degree or additional experience in the discipline you love, not just one you think will give you marketable skills. You can add in the computing and math skills you need along the way and learn how to be excited by work again.
In time, forward thinking educational institutions will continue their march toward making classes outside traditional majors more available to all students. Perhaps they will finally eliminate walls that artificially divide departments and share the expertise needed by all more easily. The most progressive organizations will require all three skills through an integrated program. Until then, businesses and organizations will divide the work among three people. But those with the right training will continue to make themselves indispensable by delivering on the triple-strengths of the modern worker. | https://medium.com/harvard-business-school-digital-initiative/the-triple-strength-worker-dc0abb93abd2 | ['David Homa'] | 2017-05-31 18:50:03.140000+00:00 | ['Codingbootcamp', 'Tech', 'Coding', 'Education', 'Higher Education'] |
Don’t Become Someone Else’s Collateral Damage on Their Way to Self-Discovery | Don’t Become Someone Else’s Collateral Damage on Their Way to Self-Discovery
Know your worth. REALLY know your worth.
Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash
At some point in your dating lifetime, you learn what it’s like to have someone else as your “rebound” relationship or what it feels like to be the rebound.
A rebound is a relationship (even if a short fling) with someone else shortly after the ending of a more significant relationship instead of using that time to heal and get in the right headspace for someone new.
It’s not always a bad thing. The expression “the best way to get over someone is to get under someone” has its merits. It’s easy to obsess over an ex; inserting someone new in the picture can break the cycle of repetitive thoughts. This works best when both people agree to the no-strings-attached condition of sex.
It’s a whole other ballgame when you’re the collateral damage on their way to self-discovery.
Some people are by nature selfish and self-serving. During a time of rebound and self-discovery, no one is immune from becoming somewhat selfish. It’s necessary to learn who we are at that moment, who we want to become, what we need to fulfill our goals in our next life chapter.
It’s understanding to miss the signs of someone else in self-discovery mode. Naturally selfish people aren’t stealth in their ways and they’re easy to spot after a few interactions. Someone under self-discovery isn’t aware that they’re selfish. It’s often a temporary state and they’re otherwise good people. After all, the first rule of self-awareness is becoming aware that you aren’t self-aware.
While it’s great that they’re going through a personal metamorphosis, that doesn’t mean you need to stick around and take the hard knocks on their path. How do you do that?
By knowing your worth.
So cheesy. I cringed as I typed it. Hear me out.
If you are on your path of self-discovery, it’s difficult to understand your boundaries, your interests, your goals, and everything else that would make for a sequel to Pixar’s Inside Out.
Know your worth: basic human rights
If you struggle to identify your worth, first think of the rules you would apply to every human, such as:
not tolerating physical abuse.
not tolerating blatant verbal abuse (such as “you’re stupid” or “you’re so fat”).
not tolerating theft or damage to your belongings.
not getting involved with someone who was incarcerated for any of the above reasons.
The rules you apply to every human are typically very blatant and black or white. They’re easy to identify. Unfortunately, for many people, this is a boundary that is difficult to enforce.
Know your worth: the bare minimum of dating
Next, think of the rules that you would apply to all humans but more nuanced. They’re more specific to you but most would agree, such as:
not accepting proclaimed “harmless” flirting.
not accepting offhand insulting comments (“careful with those cookies, you’ll end up even bigger”).
them going off on a “guys’ weekend” or “girls’ weekend” with loads of alcohol and partying without checking in if they promised to do so.
keeping you hidden from their family and friends
mooching off you financially because they make poor financial choices
Know your worth: the rules specific to you
The hardest list to determine your worth is the list of acceptable behaviors applicable to you. No one else can make this list for you. To identify them, think of things in the past that made you feel bad but you couldn’t quite articulate why or you felt irrational so you brushed them off. In particular, these are things that people do when they’re going through a life change, major relationship change, and all-around path to self-discovery.
Since the list is unique to you, here are some of my rules I’m putting on my list. | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/dont-become-someone-else-s-collateral-damage-on-their-way-to-self-discovery-64352d77f1cc | ['Jennifer M. Wilson'] | 2020-12-29 19:32:45.911000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Sex', 'Mental Health', 'Love', 'Relationships'] |
A paragon of their kind. | I suspect much of my fascination with heroes stems from my deep-seated love for Tolkien’s legendarium and how his writing made heroes. There is much to say on the topic in general, far too much to discuss here (as is my usual cop-out), as his work features heroes a-plenty. They are an inalienable part of the works’ thematic richness: making flesh, so to speak, the core theme of good fighting evil. Evil has its villains, and within such a framing, the good need their heroes. One of my favourite heroic scenes in both the movies and novels is the arrival of the Rohirrim to lift the siege of Minas Tirith. It is a remarkable moment, both narratively, but also for its heroic aesthetics. It is truly a stand-out piece, and in Peter Jackson’s masterful movie adaptations, the whole segment has an otherworldly feel to it; the sense of a divine intervention [1] manifest through near-absurd levels of heroism, and gosh-darn it, if it doesn’t get me every time!
“Arise, arise!” Théoden, king of Rohan, begins his pre-battle speech; his men eventually chant “death!” in response. “Death” the host chants, and death they bring, as they merge into one entity, a singular collective of 10,000 riders: 60,000 legs barrelling down the gentle slopes of Pelennor Fields. A flash flood of death and destruction, momentum and cohesion maintained by rage and a burning hatred for their enemies and the darkness they bring. The whole scene is deliciously epic.
The text is littered with heroic tropes — the pre-battle speech (the logistics of which I still question), or as my father once noted: “this chanting for death just shows the power of mass psychology”. Buzzkill, certainly, but not wrong. Nonetheless, I think this misses the point. The scene is a narrative constructed and filled with culturally and socially coded ideals to signal the heroicness of the actions themselves. Hero stories are hero stories because they are treated as such. In a blunt sense, heroes are always constructed by narratives; arguably not meant to be accurate, but rather meant to show the transcendental nature of the action or actor(s). As a result, the actors ascend to impossible heights with expectations that cannot be realistically maintained in reality; or perhaps more accurately, that cannot be maintained by the merely human. Instead, their heroic transcendence is maintained by ideology, not by their material existence, and Tolkien, in his text, perhaps inadvertently, makes an important distinction: it is not Théoden-king that has arrived with 10,000 riders: rather Rohan had come at last.
What do I mean by this? A hero is transcendental by definition, a symbolic paragon of their kind; an individual or group of individuals who have done something that so perfectly aligns with overarching cultural values and morals that through these actions they transcend their mere humanity and, in effect, become part of the cultural Big Other. However, human is still only human, and such transcendence into the overhanging moral structure is, practically speaking, impossible. It is always a product of narrative: it is always a story; an inspirational tale; a noble lie.
There are a surprising number of commonalities between the heroic figure and what’s been called The King’s Two Bodies. In the European monarchical traditional, there has at times existed a clear distinction between a monarch’s corporeal body — the blood-and-flesh, breathing, eating, shitting, imperfect human body — and his body politic: the transcendental body, the perfect body, the body imbued with divine might, the body chosen by God. The symbolic division between the individual and the power they hold is just as clear in the present with, for example, the different connotations between Boris Johnson-the-man and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, or indeed Joe Biden-the-man and the President of the United States of America. Such a leader-follower dynamic seeks to establish a sense of divine kinship, a sense of relatedness to the leader in question by invoking the Nation, a belief, or other ideological constructs. The leader-figure becomes, in effect, a material embodiment of the dominant cultural-ideological environment; a figure imbued with charismatic power which, following Max Weber, is an inspirational individual that people want to follow without promise of reciprocity.
Nonetheless, the tension between the body that shits, and the body blessed by God cannot be ignored. A hero is not the same as a leader, of course. The hero is a paragon, the embodiment of the moral-cultural framework that defines them. However, both leader-figured and the hero-figure are maintained by the existence a second body. This creates a Two-Body Problem. Heroes invariably suffer from a tension that arises between their transcendental heroic self and their excremental human self, and this is a tension that cannot be reconciled effectively. The only course of action is to ignore the tension, as is often done: ignoring a historical individual and instead embrace the mythic figure. The individual subject must be destroyed and replaced by the mythic figure.
Winston Churchill wrote that “history will be kind to me, for I intend to write it,” a statement which, by and large, turned out to be true. The Churchillian figure is now a trope, and the heroic figure in modern British society par excellence. Nonetheless, even with Churchill’s considerable success, his human self has not been fully exorcised. Criticism against his rampant racism, his colonial policies, and his (lack of) action during the Bengal Famine still exist in public discourse, and become points of contestation, as they painfully highlight the tension between the historical and the mythic figure. If the ol’ British Bulldog was such a remarkably heroic figure, a shining beacon, he cannot be shown to have filth on his underbelly. Even here the Two-Body Problem remains, and short of complete destruction of the historical record (challenging in its own right), it cannot be circumvented — and this is not to mention the implications for a heroic figure that is still live (ritualistic hero-murder might be a somewhat charged suggestion…).
That being said, the destruction of the individual subject can also be read as more metaphorical than literal. The most obvious way of destroying the individual subject is by placing the subject within a collective: to celebrate heroic acts carried out by a group, over those specifically made by an individual. Folding the individual into a collective, which may include any number of otherwise questionable individuals, shifts the focus away from how these individuals may or may not have behaved in the rest of their lives, and instead emphasises the actions of the group, allowing the heroic actions to speak for themselves. The group, as a collective entity, also ceases to exist eventually, insofar as it cannot be maintained indefinitely, and thus circumvents the Two-Body Problem.
The Rohirrim’s chant before their charge at the gates of Minas Tirith was, in a way, correct. “Death,” they chanted; literally and figuratively, did they bring death with them, that is to say, the destruction of the individual in favour of a collective cohesion that they created during their change, just as much as the literal death of crushed Orc-skulls underhoof. Théoden may have been their king, but the charge was not carried out by him. The Charge of the Rohirrim, as a collective, brings to the fore the body politic of the peopleof Rohan: their courage, their sacrifice, their loyalty, theirheroism. Much can be gleaned from this approach to heroism and commemoration — in short: deeds not men! — for without Rohan’s collective heroism, Minas Tirith would have surely fallen.
… As long as they don’t raise a goddamned statue of Théoden.
Selected Bibliography
Michelutti, Lucia. 2013. “We are all Chávez:” Charisma as an embodied experience.
Yurchak, Alexei. 2015. The Bodies of Lenin: The Hidden Science of Communist Sovereignty. | https://medium.com/@swejwo/a-paragon-of-their-kind-1cde0948b22 | ['Eric J W Orlowski'] | 2021-08-17 21:26:42.207000+00:00 | ['Heroes', 'Literature', 'Tolkien', 'Anthropology', 'Sociology'] |
The Infinite Filing Cabinet | The Infinite Filing Cabinet
My mind is a labyrinth. I feel like if I had all the right stimuli, I could remember almost every little thing that has ever happened to me. But my brain is so thick with information (most of which is essentially useless) that it can make it nearly impossible to remember something.
Sometimes my brain just forgets to remember. A piece of information can easily enter and leave my thoughts faster then I can commit it to memory. Countless times I have had someone relay me instructions, turned to go and complete them, and then immediately needed to go back and ask them to repeat it. Whatever is intended to catch my memories has holes in it.
The major difficulty in a mental illness (at least in my own experience) lies primarily in that you have no good state of wellness to compare yourself to. With a physical illness, the symptoms are easier to notice, Even if you’re chronically ill, it’s usually a lot easier to tell you’re not well. But with a mental illness, the symptoms can often go ignored. It’s natural to simply assume that everyone else has the same thought process as you, and that perhaps you’re just forgetful, or inattentive, or lazy. Some of these thoughts hurt more then others.
This inability to compare your thoughts to others was compounded in my case by the fact that I have a tendency to not realize things about my body/life are out of the ordinary until they’re back to normal. Many times I’ve gone through the entire process of being sick only to realize afterward I felt like my head was going to explode because I had a cold all week.
Another reason behind my lack of awareness of my mental illness was that I was a very quiet kid. I was academically smart, could get good grades, and didn’t act up in class. I didn’t do much to stick out at all. Because of this, any late homework assignments or poor test grades were chocked up to laziness. My teachers knew I was a smart kid who could do good if I tried, so clearly I wasn’t trying.
I find it very hard to describe what exactly this sensation felt like. To feel as though the simple act of being “normal” was a constant climbing and clawing. I was in a constant cycle of maintaining normalcy (or at least the appearance of it) for a while, until one small mistake always sent it all crashing down.
“What is wrong with me?”
“Why am I like this?”
“Why is this so hard?”
I often avoided thinking about it because the problem held more gravity and complexity then I felt comfortable with. Was I broken? Had some horrific mistake happened somewhere along the way to turn me into this? Was I really just incapable of keeping up with everyone? The more I contemplated, the less I liked what came out of it.
I resigned myself to this constant failure cycle even further when I decided it was inescapable. Nothing I did seemed to make a difference for long, so why even try? This was a dangerous mindset that only made things worse. I spiraled deeper and deeper, reaching rock bottom in my junior year of high school. | https://medium.com/@hjlanc/the-infinite-filing-cabinet-2f0cfd197881 | ['Hayden Lancaster'] | 2020-04-23 17:34:17.881000+00:00 | ['Memoir', 'Add'] |
Anxiety Ruined My Sleepover — here’s how to stop it ruining yours. | Popping my head over the edge of my bed I gave my friend Missy a smile. She was laying on the mattress that we had dragged off the day bed in the living room. It was now situated on my bedroom floor, next to my bed. Mum had made it up all nice and cosy for her — white downy sheets, pink and green blankets and extra fluffy pillows.
It was the first time I had ever invited a school friend over for a sleep over. To say I was excited is an understatement. Missy was one of the most popular, most confident girls in school (keeping in mind we were 6 years old at the time). The fact that she had come to my place for a sleepover was awesome.
We had had the best afternoon, playing in the pool and the backyard. In the evening mum had ordered pizza for us and we guzzled enough Creaming Soda to keep us wired for hours. And that is where we found ourselves as mum tucked us in and shut the door behind her on the way out. Sugar happily buzzing through our veins.
We were unable to settle.
I felt so contentedly happy. As I popped my head over the edge of my bed to give Missy a smile though, the expression on her face was anything but happy. Missy, with her wavy brown hair and Bambi like brown eyes, was crying. Her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably. Eventually she sobbed out that she wanted to go home.
My 6 year old heart broke.
My friend didn’t want to stay over. I started crying. It became mayhem. Mum, hearing all the crying coming from my bedroom came running in, my dad close on her heels. As Missy cried out that she wanted her mum and her own bed, I couldn’t stop yammering that my friend wanted to leave me. Mum did what she had to do: she packed up Missy’s stuff and popped her in the car for dad to drive her home.
After Dad and Missy had left I sat with mum and asked her if Missy didn’t like me anymore. Mum explained that Missy still liked me, but she was just missing her mum too much to stay overnight. Mum explained to me that for all Missy’s confidence and pizazz for life, she had never slept over at a friend’s house before, and maybe, just maybe it had been a bit to much for her to do.
As a child I never really understood what mum was talking about. I just nodded my head, latching onto the nugget of information that Missy still wanted to be my friend. But as an adult and after experiencing my own anxiety, I can understand that Missy had had a panic attack. In fact, like Missy, you can be the most confident person in the world and in some situations still be overwhelmingly anxious.
Missy, at high school, became the most popular girl, she was an extreme example of an extrovert. Except for when it came to being away from home. This was her anxious no-go zone. Her taboo experience.
Her brick wall boundary.
Whereas me, I was and am your classic introvert. I felt anxiety speaking up in class and being the centre of attention. To much socialising turned me into Oscar the Grouch. I was that kid comfortable enough to play by themselves for hours.
Though at the same time I adored sleeping over at my friend’s places. The thought of playing with my friend’s toys (Kelly had the best Star Wars figurines, OMG!) and watching scary movies that my parent’s would never let me watch (Alex introduced me to Nightmare on Elm Street at the age of 10) was bliss.
Anxiety can never be stereotyped or boxed into specific personality traits. Anyone of us can experience it in any given situation. Even the most confident of us.
What exactly is anxiety though? | https://medium.com/swlh/anxiety-ruined-my-sleepover-heres-how-to-stop-it-ruining-yours-5646fff278e5 | ['Elizabeth Wright'] | 2020-01-17 00:26:31.313000+00:00 | ['Friendship', 'Life', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Anxiety'] |
How to make a Label in UIKit and SwiftUI (2020) | How to make a Label in UIKit and SwiftUI (2020) iKh4ever ·Dec 19, 2020
Hi everyone. I hope you all doing good.
Currently I just create a video about How to make a Label in UIKit and SwiftUI (2020) to show you all about the way we can create it with simple step.
Check out below video about "How to make a Label in UIKit and SwiftUI (2020)": | https://medium.com/@ikh4ever/how-to-make-a-label-in-uikit-and-swiftui-2020-6e88b757f9e3 | [] | 2020-12-19 18:26:23.379000+00:00 | ['Coding Tutorial', 'Uilabel', 'Swiftui', 'Ikh4ever', 'Uikit'] |
20 Luxury gadgets that are too cool to be true | Naim Mu-so Bentley Special Edition Wireless Speaker System
If you’re looking for a speaker system to match your Bentley, then the Naim Mu-so Bentley Special Edition Wireless Speaker System is the answer. It’s the brand’s first speaker with a wooden finish. There’s even a copper-threaded speaker grille, and the signature Bentley lattice surrounds the volume dial.
Grobo Premium Smart Indoor Garden
You can grow a garden indoors, on your own terms, with the Grobo Premium Smart Indoor Garden. This high-tech growing box lets you produce high-quality plants with large yields right from the start.
Bang & Olufsen Beovision Contour All-in-One OLED TV
The Bang & Olufsen Beovision Contour All-in-One OLED TV is another of our favorite cool luxury gadgets that are too good to be true. Its minimalist design is a gorgeous addition to any room, and its award-winning sound brings the theater to your home.
Kohler Stillness Bath Smart Bathtub
Enjoy a luxurious, high-tech soak every day with the Kohler Stillness Bath Smart Bathtub. Inspired by Japanese forest bathing, the water fills from the bottom and overflows into the wood moat. Full-spectrum lighting enhances the ambiance.
Caviar Golden Rock Sony PlayStation 5
The Caviar Golden Rock Sony PlayStation 5 is a jaw-dropping way to add luxury to your gaming setup. It’s coated with about 20 kg of gold and features a geode design that amplifies reflected light. And, if that’s not enough, the gamepad uses crocodile leather and 700 more grams of gold.
Caviar AirPods Max Gold Black
Meanwhile, the Caviar AirPods Max Gold Black is a serious upgrade to your headphones. The ear cups are made from 750 grams of pure gold with Caviar inscriptions etched on the headband. Now that’s a cool luxury gadget.
Bugatti & TIDAL Audio Royale Speaker Range
A collaboration between the two brands, the Bugatti & TIDAL Audio Royale Speaker Range combines design and performance. These colossal speakers have features in line with the Bugatti sports cars, and you can customize materials, finishes, and details.
Jupe Flat-Packed Shelter
For your forrays in the wilderness, the Jupe Flat-Packed Shelter is designed for an off-the-grid getaway. Inspired by the cosmos, this is one of those luxurious gadgets that’s both functional and a work of art. | https://medium.com/the-gadget-flow/20-luxury-gadgets-that-are-too-cool-to-be-true-afac2a7fd0d5 | ['Gadget Flow'] | 2021-02-25 17:54:14.388000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Gadgets', 'Luxury', 'Smart Home', 'Technology'] |
Why Should You Keep Having Fun In Life? That Nobody Will Tell You. | “Most people take life so seriously and their seriousness doesn’t help them. They keep worrying and struggling all their lives. Finally, they forgot about living therein struggle. If they simply celebrate in everything in their life, they see the joyful life.”
I love kids. I was a kid myself, once.
When is that the last time you’re so happy and joyful? When is that the last time you’re unhappy? does one think we must take life so seriously? Or does one think we must take it as fun?
Most people would count their unhappy moments and ignore happy moments, and thus they think life isn’t fair for them. Instead, they must count happy and joyful moments to visualize hope in their lives.
As kids, we never took our lives so seriously and that is why we laughed heart fully and that we lived truly. We didn’t act and never tried to impress everyone. We did what’s satisfying for us. In short, we had joy in our life.
As we grew up, people taught us rules and limits and told us to require life seriously, to become happy in life. But this didn’t work for most of the people. Instead, we suffered more. Even the people who gave us advice aren’t happy with the rules and limits they taught us.
“There is no fear when you are having fun” “We don’t stop fun because we grow old; we grow old because we stop fun.”
source of happiness
This proves that never take life seriously. Don’t worry too much. Just live your life leaving your mental limits and believe that everything are going to be alright and importantly learn to be joyful daily in all the situations and all these situations are temporary and it’s not useful to stress about what’s temporary.
Leave all of your fears, worries, and all negative emotions that aren’t giving you happiness. Do things in life that bring you joy. Never do actions that suffer you more. Enjoy everything you are doing and life turns into a joyful place.
One day our life ends and flashes all our memories and make sure you’re smiling and enjoying this flash movie of your life. Don’t make moments that cause you to cry even at the end.
Find happiness in everything. Even bad things give you good lessons. Be optimistic. Leave hatred for others as you’ll suffer, not them. Always prefer joy to all or any emotions that disturb you. | https://medium.com/@alokpatelblogs/why-should-you-keep-having-fun-in-life-that-nobody-will-tell-you-136623a8d1aa | ['Alok Patel', 'Freaky Writer'] | 2020-04-16 20:27:58.149000+00:00 | ['Philanthropy', 'Kindness', 'Helping Others', 'Therapy', 'Happiness'] |
What is Google Trends data — and what does it mean? | A little more than a year ago, we made Google Trends data available in real time; and increasingly, it’s helping people around the world explore the global reaction to major events.
The vast amount of searches — trillions take place every year — make Google Trends one of the world’s largest real time datasets. Examining what people search for provides a unique perspective on what they are currently interested in and curious about.
So when a big news story happens, how can you best interpret this data?
What is Trends data?
Trends data is an unbiased sample of our Google search data. It’s anonymized (no one is personally identified), categorized (determining the topic for a search query) and aggregated (grouped together). This allows us to measure interest in a particular topic across search, from around the globe, right down to city-level geography.
You can do it, too — the free data explorer on Google Trends allows you to search for a particular topic on Google or a specific set of search terms. Use the tool and you can see search interest in a topic or search term over time, where it’s most-searched, or what else people search for in connection with it.
There are two ways to filter the Trends data: real time and non-real time. Real time is a random sample of searches from the last seven days, while non-real time is another random sample of the full Google dataset that can go back anywhere from 2004 to ~36 hours ago. The charts will show you either one or the other, but not both together, because these are two separate random samples. We take a sample of the trillions of Google searches, because it would otherwise be too large to process quickly. By sampling our data, we can look at a dataset representative of all Google searches, while finding insights that can be processed within minutes of an event happening in the real world.
It’s a unique and powerful dataset, which can complement others, like demographic data from the census, as shown here in the Washington Post. As a sample, it gives us a way to analyse what people are searching for in real time as events unfold. But combining data can be tricky — for instance, it doesn’t make sense to compare Google Trends to other Google datasets, which are measured in different ways. For example, AdWords is meant for insights into monthly and average search volumes, specifically for advertisers, while Google Trends is designed to dig further into more granular data in real time.
What do the numbers mean?
Google Trends is a powerful tool for storytelling because it can allow us to explore the magnitude of different moments and how people react to those moments. We can look back and compare different terms against each other, like how different sports have ranked since 2004. We also can take the total searches for an event to help understand its sheer magnitude. When we released our 2015 Year in Search, we found there were astoundingly over 439 million searches on Google when Adele came back with ‘Hello’.
What’s most useful for storytelling is our normalized Trends data. This means that when we look at search interest over time for a topic, we’re looking at that interest as a proportion of all searches on all topics on Google at that time and location. When we look at regional search interest for a topic, we’re looking at the search interest for that topic in a given region as a proportion of all searches on all topics on Google in that same place and time.
For instance, if we look at the Trends around Bernie Sanders, we can see that Vermont has the highest search interest in the current senator. This is because of all states, Vermont has the highest percentage of searches for Sanders out of all searches in that state. If we had looked at raw data rather than normalized values, we would’ve seen larger states with higher populations rise to the top of the ranks.
That normalization is really important: the number of people searching on Google changes constantly — in 2004 search volume was much smaller than it is today, so raw search numbers wouldn’t give you any way to compare searches then and now. By normalizing our data, we can make deeper insights: comparing different dates, different countries or different cities.
The context of our numbers also matters. We index our data to 100, where 100 is the maximum search interest for the time and location selected. That means that if we look at search interest in the 2016 elections since the start of 2012, we’ll see that March 2016 had the highest search interest, with a value of 100.
If we look at search interest in only March 2016, though, we can see that March 16 has the highest search interest, because we’ve re-indexed our values for just that month.
How do you put the numbers in context?
Because Google Trends data is presented as an index, we often get the question: “how important is this?”
There are a few ways to assess this. The first is understanding relative search interest in the topic compared to itself — or what we would call a “spike”.
As the results came in for the recent EU referendum, Google Trends showed what people were inherently curious about. Search interest in the BBC’s David Dimbleby’s tie spiked, and people searching for “getting an Irish passport” also surged by 100%. Understanding the percent increase in a search topic can be a useful way to understand how much rise in interest there is in a topic. This percent increase is based on a topic’s growth in search interest over a distinct period of time compared to the previous period.
Those “spikes” are a sudden acceleration of search interest in a topic, compared to usual search volume. We know these are interesting because they are often reflective of what’s going on in the real world — there has been a rise in applications for Irish passports in the UK since the vote, for instance.
To get a sense of relative size, we can add additional terms, which helps put that search interest into perspective. For instance, after the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championships this year, we saw the Cavaliers spike past Taylor Swift, a topic that has consistently high search volume on Google. This helps put into context how large the volume around the “Cavaliers” search query was when it spiked.
We’ve seen lots of reporters use this approach. In the aftermath of the Oregon shooting, Huffington Post saw that search interest in gun control spiked above search interest in gun shop. By looking at this data in the year leading up to the tragedy, they found that this was a pattern for other recent shootings in America.
Huffington Post
Looking at related searches can also help to understand conditions that might be driving spikes in Google Trends. During its annual Person of the Year special, TIME looked back at search interest around each of the candidates. To understand the context around each spike, TIME highlighted the related searches to each topic when it spiked in search to gain a better sense of what drove people’s curiosity at that moment in time.
Time
Trends data can provide a powerful lens into what Google users are curious about and how people around the world react to important events. We’re committed to making Trends easier to use, understand and share. We look forward to continuing the conversation.
I am Data Editor at Google’s News Lab. To get the most recent updates from the team, follow our new Medium publication here. | https://medium.com/google-news-lab/what-is-google-trends-data-and-what-does-it-mean-b48f07342ee8 | ['Simon Rogers'] | 2016-07-01 21:50:59.203000+00:00 | ['Google Trends', 'Google', 'Data Science', 'Journalism', 'Data Journalism'] |
Windows Terminal + Cmder = ❤️ | With the upcoming release of Windows 10 (version 2004), a bunch of new features comes in place for developers, like Windows Subsystem Linux (WSL) or Windows Terminal.
Despite the fact that Windows is not the default choice when developing, and at Talpor we have never considered ourselves Windows lovers, we believe this is a great opportunity for all those who use its OS, promising better working experiences and seamless integration with common technologies used in our development environments.
At this moment, Windows Terminal can be installed from the Microsoft Store. Its official version 1.0.x came in place a few weeks ago and integrates very well with existing consoles, such as Cmder, which we will be configuring in a few moments!
Before digging deeper, I want to show you some examples of what we are going to get in the end, because it is the most exciting part of all!
Windows Terminal running gl
Windows Terminal running git log
What do you need to get started?
Download the latest release of Cmder. I highly recommend the full version because it integrates Git easily and does not generate conflicts if you already have the client installed.
Download Windows Terminal from Microsoft Store.
Installing Cmder
Extract all the content of the compressed file that you previously downloaded into a directory of your choice, but it is recommended that you choose one that does not require administrator access so that configuration files can be successfully modified.
Furthermore, do not place Cmder in a folder that will contain spaces in the path. I recommend unzipping all the content in a new directory conveniently named Cmder inside %APPDATA% like this:
C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Cmder
We should see something similar to this:
Cmder example directory
Afterward, we have to configure the following environment variables in order to use Cmder later without any problem.
CMDER_ROOT
C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Cmder
ConEmuDir
C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Roaming\Cmder\vendor\conemu-maximus5
If you are using the same directory structure initially proposed, you can add the environment variables directly in your user’s environment. Otherwise, it is recommended that you add them as system environment variables.
We add the new environment variables as follows:
CMDER_ROOT environment variable
ConEmuDir environment variable
Then we should see something similar to this after completing the process:
User’s environment variables
Afterward, it is recommended to log out in order to test if our new environment variables are successfully recognized.
In order to prove this, we just have to execute these variables using the Windows + R shortcut and typing %CMDER_ROOT% or %ConEmuDir% . If everything works correctly, it should be able to show us the directories corresponding to the values entered in the environment variables.
Setting up Cmder
The configuration that we’ll make will be quite simple because we’ll not be using Cmder itself. We are only going to define the use of UTF-8 encoding after opening Cmder for the first time through Settings > Environment . Only the following line will have to be added:
chcp utf8
It should remain something similar to this:
Cmder Settings > Environment
If you want to test that everything is working correctly, you can run the following lines through Cmder, allowing you to verify that you have right support for Unicode and UTF-8 encoding:
Unicode testing support
ConEmuC -CheckUnicode
Unicode testing support
UTF-8 testing support
cmd /c %ConEmuDir%\ConEmu\Addons\utf-8-test.cmd
UTF-8 testing support
As you could probably see, the configuration that I have in Cmder is different from the one that comes by default, and that’s the reason why the color scheme is probably different than yours.
However, you don’t have to worry because when we integrate everything we have done with Windows Terminal, you will get the same result that you could see before starting!
Installing Windows Terminal
Installing Windows Terminal does not require much, you just need to have an Microsoft account to be able to download it through the Microsoft Store.
Default Windows Terminal
This is exactly what Windows Terminal looks like by default, but in just a moment, we will integrate it with Cmder to get the best of both worlds!
Setting up Windows Terminal
The first thing we must do is go to the Windows Terminal Settings , where we can see various options. For us, the most important options can be seen below:
"defaultProfile": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
// A profile specifies a command to execute paired with information about how it should look and feel.
// Each one of them will appear in the 'New Tab' dropdown,
// and can be invoked from the commandline with `wt.exe -p xxx`
// To learn more about profiles, visit https://aka.ms/terminal-profile-settings
"profiles": {
"defaults": {
// Put settings here that you want to apply to all profiles.
},
"list": [
{
// Make changes here to the powershell.exe profile.
"guid": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
"name": "Windows PowerShell",
"commandline": "powershell.exe",
"hidden": false
},
{
// Make changes here to the cmd.exe profile.
"guid": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}",
"name": "Command Prompt",
"commandline": "cmd.exe",
"hidden": false
},
{
"guid": "{b453ae62-4e3d-5e58-b989-0a998ec441b8}",
"name": "Azure Cloud Shell",
"source": "Windows.Terminal.Azure",
"hidden": false
}
]
},
As you can imagine, a new profile must be created with all the options required to be able to integrate Cmder. Maybe, the most difficult part of all this configuration lies in that value that seems to be unique called guid , and it really is!
How can I generate this value? Well, Windows offers us a very convenient command in Powershell that generates a new GUID value for us:
New-Guid
Generating a new Guid for our custom profile
The value you will get will be completely different from mine. The advantage offered by this command is being able to obtain a truly unique value for our new profile.
Inside list array, we will create a new profile object using the following configuration:
{
"guid": "{6d953325-a939-475d-a151-940cbd0302fb}",
"name": "Cmder",
"commandline": "cmd.exe /k %CMDER_ROOT%\\vendor\\init.bat",
"startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%",
"icon": "%CMDER_ROOT%\\icons\\cmder.ico",
"background": "#2e3436",
"padding": "15",
"fontFace": "Cascadia Code",
"fontSize": 10
}
Then we adjust the defaultProfile property with the guid value previously generated for our new profile:
"defaultProfile": "{6d953325-a939-475d-a151-940cbd0302fb}",
Why those options?
guid as mentioned previously, it defines the unique identifier to be used by our profile.
as mentioned previously, it defines the unique identifier to be used by our profile. commandline allows us to start Cmder through the environment variables defined initially, allowing us to configure everything in a rather elegant way.
allows us to start Cmder through the environment variables defined initially, allowing us to configure everything in a rather elegant way. startingDirectory defines the initial directory when starting Windows Terminal.
defines the initial directory when starting Windows Terminal. icon adds a custom icon to the Windows Terminal tab. Cmder offers other icons that are also located in that directory.
adds a custom icon to the Windows Terminal tab. Cmder offers other icons that are also located in that directory. background , padding , fontFace and fontSize allow us to customize the design of our profile in Windows Terminal.
I personally like Fira Code a lot as a typeface, but I must admit that the ligatures that Cascadia Code has are better displayed in Windows Terminal because they occupy the number of original characters replaced by the glyph.
Fira Code ligatures on Windows Terminal
Cascadia Code ligatures on Windows Terminal
In the end, our configuration file should look similar to this:
"defaultProfile": "{6d953325-a939-475d-a151-940cbd0302fb}",
// A profile specifies a command to execute paired with information about how it should look and feel.
// Each one of them will appear in the 'New Tab' dropdown,
// and can be invoked from the commandline with `wt.exe -p xxx`
// To learn more about profiles, visit https://aka.ms/terminal-profile-settings
"profiles": {
"defaults": {
// Put settings here that you want to apply to all profiles.
},
"list": [
{
// Make changes here to the powershell.exe profile.
"guid": "{61c54bbd-c2c6-5271-96e7-009a87ff44bf}",
"name": "Windows PowerShell",
"commandline": "powershell.exe",
"hidden": false
},
{
// Make changes here to the cmd.exe profile.
"guid": "{0caa0dad-35be-5f56-a8ff-afceeeaa6101}",
"name": "Command Prompt",
"commandline": "cmd.exe",
"hidden": false
},
{
"guid": "{b453ae62-4e3d-5e58-b989-0a998ec441b8}",
"name": "Azure Cloud Shell",
"source": "Windows.Terminal.Azure",
"hidden": false
},
{
"guid": "{6d953325-a939-475d-a151-940cbd0302fb}",
"name": "Cmder",
"commandline": "cmd.exe /k %CMDER_ROOT%\\vendor\\init.bat",
"startingDirectory": "%USERPROFILE%",
"icon": "%CMDER_ROOT%\\icons\\cmder.ico",
"background": "#2e3436",
"padding": "15",
"fontFace": "Cascadia Code",
"fontSize": 10
}
]
},
And this would be the end result in Windows Terminal:
Windows Terminal + Cmder profile as default
Do you like transparency effect?
With just two properties in your profile, you can add the characteristic transparency effect in Windows Terminal, which looks pretty good!
{
...
"useAcrylic": true,
"acrylicOpacity": 0.5
}
This would be the end result:
Windows Terminal with transparency effect
Remember to have transparency effects active in Windows to work properly.
What do we achieve at the end?
Windows Terminal + Cmder is a robust and versatile combination that allows us to have the best of both worlds:
We can use highly functional commands such as ls , cat , grep , git , nano , vim , even ssh natively (forget about using PuTTY) all from Windows.
Additionally, you have full compatibility with the color scheme provided by Windows Terminal, along with fast rendering when scrolling, multiple panels, ease of copying and pasting text, finds with highlight and case match, among other incredible advantages!
References | https://medium.com/talpor/windows-terminal-cmder-%EF%B8%8F-573e6890d143 | ['Wolfgang Dielingen'] | 2020-06-03 22:35:55.386000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Terminal', 'Windows 10', 'Cmder'] |
Kodiak Vision: Turning data into insight | So what do you do? You write another heuristic to cover this special case. Soon, almost all of your code is devoted to finding ways to deal with exceptions. The rules become extremely complex, and therefore very difficult to modify. With so many overlapping rules, you don’t have a clean way to add a new detector, let alone a new sensor, without breaking all your rules and rewriting a sizable portion of your perception code. By the time you realize your mistake, you have a choice to make: come up with another heuristic, or tell your investors, “sorry, you can’t get a test drive this quarter because we need to completely rewrite our perception code.” Guess which option most people choose.
We’ve designed Kodiak Vision to be different. Over the past decade, we’ve seen rules-based approaches fail again and again. Our experience taught us not to rely too much on the latest technological breakthrough or innovation. Instead, we went back to basics. We’ve adopted a disciplined approach, rooted in rigorous fundamental theory, with a strong commitment to avoiding rules, heuristics, and shortcuts. We rigorously apply what information theory and state-estimation pioneers like Shannon, Wiener, Kolmogorov, and Chapman tell us about how to track multiple objects in the same scene, building on principles originally developed decades ago. These principles aren’t secrets: there are whole textbooks devoted to them, and they are foundational for many complex modern technologies such as missile defense systems and GPS. But it’s rare for autonomous vehicle companies to explicitly enforce their use throughout the codebase.
Take the example of the occluded vehicle. Kodiak Vision aims to correctly frame the uncertainty. We know that there’s one vehicle hidden behind another, and we know the precise location of the vehicle surface closest to us. Instead of assuming we know the precise dimensions of the vehicle, we instead make an honest assessment consistent with the data and calculate our (probably high) level of uncertainty. That is OK! We know what we know, we know what we don’t know, and we are honest about it. We can roll with the uncertainty as long as we correctly manage it. This approach has a huge benefit: it is true and correct, at peace with the universe.
Relying on fundamental mathematics instead of clever software tricks takes discipline. Nobody sets out to create a perception system that’s a spaghetti tangle of overlapping rules, but it happens when you’re under pressure to show results quickly. It also cuts against the predominant culture of software development, which frequently values clever solutions that work for the moment over solutions rooted in theory. Our fundamentals-based approach certainly caused the Kodiak Driver to improve more slowly at first, which at times was painful. But it also means that our system is more robust to whatever the universe may throw at it. And now that we’re 18 months into on-road testing, Kodiak Vision’s solid foundation has allowed us to make incredibly rapid progress.
Central to our fundamentals-based approach is our sensor fusion solution, which we call the Kodiak Vision Tracker. The Tracker is responsible for fusing every detection from every sensor, then combining them over time to track every object on the road. Essentially, the Tracker defines a common interface for detectors based on the fundamental mathematics of information theory. It allows detectors both to describe what they’re seeing and honestly assess how certain they are about what they see, taking into account the physical properties and peculiarities of each specific sensor. The Tracker isn’t an ad hoc solution to one problem or another. It applies to every detector and every detection. The Tracker decouples detections from tracking. It does not have access to raw data about the outside world, but instead only sees the detectors’ outputs — object detections, ranges, velocities, accelerations, vehicle boxes, and other pieces of information.
The Kodiak Vision Tracker fuses the products of every detector
Take the example of the occluded vehicle. A detector can tell the Tracker, “I’m very certain this partial vehicle I see is a bus” or, “I see something here; it looks like the hood of a car, but I’m not especially confident.” Over time, the Tracker lets us build a rich description of what’s happening around the truck, filling in the details, sensor reading by sensor reading. Twenty times a second, the Tracker looks at the new information it receives from the truck’s detectors and uses that information to refine its hypotheses about what it sees around the truck. It then assesses what conclusion best explains the whole body of evidence, without prejudice, rules, or hard-coding. The Tracker then determines how likely that conclusion is, identifies likely alternate possibilities, and submits a detailed description of the world to the truck’s self-driving system.
Basing Kodiak Vision in such fundamental mathematics gives us tremendous flexibility. We can interchange Kodiak Vision’s components, work on detectors independently, and easily fuse in new detectors. Since all our detectors speak the same language, the Tracker can automatically assimilate the new information from new detectors without requiring any new code. The same logic applies to new sensors. Since our code is not tied to the idiosyncrasies of specific sensor makes and models, we can easily adopt the latest technology as it becomes available. This gives us a tremendous advantage in the rapidly evolving self-driving industry.
The Tracker also allows us to better manage the uncertainty inherent in driving. When the Tracker is uncertain about what or where an object is, it can flag it for extra scrutiny or instruct the vehicle to give the object additional space, just as a human would. Lastly, the same flexibility that allows us to easily add sensors applies to taking them away: if a sensor malfunctions, the Kodiak Driver won’t go blind. This gives our trucks additional redundancy and robustness; if we lose a sensor, the Kodiak Driver will take the safest and most appropriate action using the remaining sensors. This is a critical safety capability as we approach deployment.
The Kodiak Vision Tracker even allows us to update individual detectors, improving their performance over time. At the end of every drive, we can analyze every detector and say, “During the last run, you were systematically biased by a few centimeters; please adjust your measurements accordingly” or, “you were more correct today, so tomorrow I will pay more attention to you.” As we approach deployment, we will work to add the ability to do these corrections in real-time, on the road. This will allow us to not only reduce the overall level of uncertainty in our perception system, but also to understand the characteristic biases and uncertainty signatures of each sensor and detector.
There’s tremendous pressure in Silicon Valley to implement what’s new. Claims like, “We use the latest neural net!” or “Our amazing new camera sees over half a mile and solves all of our sensor problems!” can be very convincing. Kodiak has focused on implementing what’s right, using the latest technology thoughtfully, instead of as a crutch. In fact, our fundamentals-based approach has given us the foundation we need to rapidly integrate revolutions in deep learning or computer vision without rewriting our codebase. It’s amazing to see such rapid progress, and even more amazing to see how we got here, by following fundamental principles.
Safe and sound journeys! | https://medium.com/kodiak-robotics/kodiak-vision-65a2893e4b8b | ['Kodiak Team'] | 2020-11-12 16:26:40.264000+00:00 | ['Trucking', 'Autonomous Vehicles', 'Self Driving Cars', 'Self Driving Trucks', 'Transportation'] |
Top 5 Last Minute Gifts For Valentine’s Day To Avoid The Rush | Valentine’s Day is coming up! If you still can’t find the perfect gift for your partner, don’t panic. Here are some last minute gifts you can give to your partner without having to spend too much money.
Do not worry if it is almost Valentine’s Day and you have not found the perfect gift for your partner. Here are some last minute gifts that you can give to them without spending too much money.
Gift Cards — A Classic and Always Appreciated Gift
Amazon.com eGift Card as last minute gifts for valentine’s day
If you’re on the hunt for a last-minute Christmas present, consider giving the gift of choice with a gift card!
Gift cards are an excellent choice for those who are hard to buy for. They can be used on anything from restaurants to clothing stores.
Walmart is one of the most popular destinations for people who want to purchase a gift card because it’s so easy and accessible. Walmart is also great because they always have plenty of different types of cards available, including Best Buy, Costco, and more.
Chocolates — Another Classic and Always Appreciated Gift
Image Product Price
Ferrero Rocher Collection, Fine Hazelnut Milk Chocolates, 48 Count, Gift Box, Assorted Coconut Candy and Chocolates, Great for Holiday Entertaining, 18.2 oz
Chocolate Gift Basket, Holiday Food Tray, Christmas Gifts Arrangement Platter, Gourmet Snack Food Box as last minute gifts for valentine’s day
Lindt LINDOR Milk Chocolate Truffles, Milk Chocolate Candy as last minute gifts for valentine’s day
Ghirardelli Limited Edition XL Assorted Bag as last minute gifts for valentine’s day
With these online gifts, you are not only saving yourself the time it takes to go out and buy them in-store but also save your pocket from impulse buying.
There are many advantages of receiving chocolates delivered at home. Not only do they come in a beautiful box that makes for a great gift, but they’re also the perfect indulgence for someone who loves chocolate. When you order them online, you have so many options with different flavors and types to choose from. They are also available at budget friendly prices which is perfect if you are looking for something affordable for everyone on your list. It’s never been easier or more convenient to send this classic gift with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Watch — The Perfect Memento of a Few Romantic Hours Well Spent With Your Partner
Image Product Price
Tinwoo Smart Watch for Android / iOS Phones,46mm Support QI Wireless Charging
Generally, it’s not at all easy to find a perfect gift for your loved ones. And when you know the person really well, it becomes even more complicated. In such case, he or she may want to get a watch as a gift.
If you are not sure what type of watch they would like or how much money they can spend on a watch, the solution is simple: think of their daily life and make your choice accordingly.
A Romantic Dinner with Extras — Make it a Night They
A romantic dinner is the perfect way to sweep your date off their feet. But if you really want to impress them, it’s worth going the extra mile with a few special additions. Discover how with this list of romantic dinner extras that will set you apart from other couples on a date!
For the one who deserves to relax: Foot Massager
Foot Massagers and Massage Chairs are a great for any one who wants to relax and enjoy a massage after work.
Foot massagers and massage chairs are the perfect gifts for the anyone who wants to relax. They will feel that their foot has been taken care of when they use the massager or chair that you have gifted them with.
List of Last Minute Gifts For Valentine’s Day
OXO Brew 9 Cup Coffee Maker
Therm-a-Rest Honcho Poncho
Sugarwish eCard
Book of the Month
UE Ears Wonderboom 2
MasterClass subscription
Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug
Snuggle-Pedic Memory Foam Body Pillow
Baloo Cool Cotton Weighted Blanket
Foam Body Pillow
Headspace: Meditation & Sleep App
Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light
Rains Backpack Mini
Read our more blogs Christmas gift under $20 | https://medium.com/@sumanyonjan64/top-5-last-minute-gifts-for-valentines-day-to-avoid-the-rush-620a1b9640f8 | [] | 2021-12-30 08:31:05.325000+00:00 | ['Valentine Gifts', 'Valentines Day', 'Valentine Gift Ideas', 'Valentines'] |
A Special Thank You To All Of The Writers At Heart Affairs | A Special Thank You To All Of The Writers At Heart Affairs
Source: Unsplash
As the editor of Heart Affairs, I wanted to send out a newsletter of appreciation for all of the dynamic writers who have contributed to this publication since it began not so long ago.
In quite a short time, Heart Affairs has grown much faster than I anticipated, now approaching 3,000 followers.
With the help of the writers who contribute to Heart Affairs, we have read and learned about the intricacies of all kinds of relationships. We’ve covered dating, break-ups, being single, polyamory, same-sex relationships, infidelity, kink, marriage, open marriages, divorce, and all the varying kinds of love we’ve all experienced in our individual journeys.
You can find all of the talented writers who write for Heart Affairs below with links to their profiles (apologies if I left anyone out!)
I thank all of you and I am absolutely over the moon to be a part of this growing community.
I am SO looking forward to more contributions.
Wishing many moments of writing inspiration to all of you writers out there and many thanks to all of the readers who have engaged in Heart Affair’s stories this year.
xoxo Michelle
Edwina Owens Elliott
Illustrator, graphic designer, self-published indie author. Lover of beauty and creativity in every form.
Chris Land
Coming out of a tumultuous year, trying to figure out a way to re-invent myself and find purpose in my life. [email protected]
Hollie April
Writing about mental health, love, lust, and culture in the messy modern world.
Carter W.
I retired at 38, divorced at 41, and have been searching for self-fulfillment since. I have two incredible kids, a great running dog, and one awesome girlfriend
The Pod
No idea what I’m doing here, I only know it’s vulnerable, thrilling, and scary.
Victoria Brase
A mom who writes, just got her Masters degree (Public Health), and wants to go back for her PhD, because she is crazy.
Hannah Altagracia
💋Latinx Romance writer ♊ Alter ego of Hannah Carmona (she writes kidlit) 🎧 Audiobook Narrator 🐶 I’d rather hang out with my dog.
Damisola Sulaiman
Hopeless romantic, unapologetically black, poet and aspiring author. https://www.instagram.com/damisolawrites/
Shiksha Surana
Diverse interest in business, technology, travel, history & fiction that gushes out in form of blogs
Michelle Tad
Insights from a millennial with an entrepreneurial mindset, and a passionate love for understanding relationships.
Natasha Marie
Sex Positive Writer | Subversive Writer | Genre-Confused Writer | Breaking down taboos word by word & empowering sex-pression. https://www.shibaribarbie.com/
Joanna Henderson
Canadian. Mental health activist. Banker and financier who drinks too much coffee. Pursuing happiness and sharing my thoughts with others.
Alex Andra
I write about: Birth, Birth Trauma & Breastfeeding | Domestic Violence | Health & Fitness | Life | Mental Health | Motherhood | Love, Relationships & Sex
Manish Jain
The medium is the message — Marshall McLuhan | Pragmatic thinker | Glass half-full 🥃| Coding and writing stuff for humans | Senior Engineer at OLX Group Berlin
ColeTretheway
A well-read creative writer and editor. Fantasy, poetry, humor, personal growth, relationships. Quirky.
Kelsey Jane
Mom. Wife. Friend. Coffee Addict. Worry Wart. Forever Learning. Healing through writing. Family & Relationships/Social Issues/Travel
Jennifer M. Wilson
My midlife crisis and adventures along the way. I write because in real life my humor is allegedly too sarcastic and inappropriate. [email protected]
Jemima Paris
Writing is the voice of my soul. Share, Love, Grow.
Divorce Lawyer Diaries
Sex, money and impolite conversations
Eric Cuevas
Hello! I like to write articles based on my life experiences, stay awhile. | 20 | NY
Charlotte Ivan
writing about love, relationships, & mental health ❀ insta: bycharlotteivan // https://www.charlotteivan.com
Corren York
Tea addict. Gamer. History nerd. I write about relationships, life, British stuff and current issues.
Lori Lowe
Finding my voice, one scribble at a time.
Abigail Jacqueline
writer & generally cool person
Romeo Revamped
Freelance writer that explores the tragic, exciting, and confusing world that lies between the head, the heart, and the junk.
David “Dima” Lozovsky
Entrepreneur, Writer, Movement Scientist and Nutrition Specialist. Health and Wellness Companion | Insta: AlchemistofLife
Teresa J Conway
Wife, mother, HR Specialist, and mature adulteress. Writes for The Scarlet Letter and is the author of How to Cheat — Field Notes from an Adulteress.
Liam MacAdam
Liam MacAdam is the male half of the couple responsible for the Monogamish Marriage blog. You can e-mail him at [email protected]
Divina Grey
I love you, coffee, playing my guitar, and rebuilding my life one article at a time. Thank you for your love and support! ❤ [email protected]
Father of Five
Being a father of five girls definitely does not qualify me as an expert in parenting!
Scott Gilman
Thinking and writing about my place in the world, and making myself (and the world) a little bit better.
Elle Silver
I write about love, relationships, women’s issues, and my highly imperfect life. Story ideas and inquiries: [email protected]
MonalisaSmiled
Middle-aged adulteress navigating dead bedrooms and affairs without fear. The Scarlett Letter. Wrote a book r/adultery. [email protected]
Kara Summers
Geek by day, writer by night. Single mum. Raising awareness of emotional abuse and toxic relationships. Survivor.
Nancy Fairchild
A married libertine with a very understanding husband. Originally from New York but now in Europe and beyond. [email protected]
Dr. Miss
{writer | educator | Ed.D. | hiker | leader | feminist} email: [email protected]
Wistful writer
Romantic, reader, emotional fool, artist, life has taught me to let go, what I am isn’t what I chose to be, it’s what life made me. [email protected]
Katy Rivers
Amy Mehta Parmar
IT ERP analyst by day and dating coach for women by night. I love a warm drink, a cozy space, and great writing. https://linktr.ee/Amymehta
Dwayne Banzee
Battling my base humanity
Ruth Matthews
Thoughts about life in this crazy time: fresh from the newest generation. Contact: [email protected]
Mason Braxton Bennett
I write to express my emotional vulnerability in a world which expects me to bottle things up.
A. Nonymous
I write (sometimes) about how childhood affects adult relationships, and politics. Mostly I just read. Student of psychology, astrology, and life.
Zara Everly
NY based writer aka literary harlot. Sex positive bibliophile. | https://medium.com/heart-affairs/a-special-thank-you-to-all-of-the-writers-at-heart-affairs-f1571500de | ['Michelle Brown'] | 2020-12-13 17:12:40.656000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Writers On Medium', 'Publication', 'Newsletter', 'Gratitude'] |
The tech-writers’ journal #3— Writing Inclusive Documentation | Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
In this article, we are going to discuss “Writing Inclusive Documentation. “ As tech writers, we get carried away in the process of breaking down a technical concept and delivering it in an easy-to-understand fashion, to an extent that we usually tend to forget the importance of the language used in the documents. Ensuring that our language is inclusive and empathetic is just as crucial as making sure the content delivered is accurate.
What is inclusive documentation?
In a nutshell, an inclusive document is one that takes into account all of its users regardless of gender, cultural background, physical ability, gender, and so on.
Why does it matter?
To make your users feel at ease
As tech writers, we need to make the readers feel at ease and included when they read our documents. The documentation we are writing must appeal to a wide range of audiences. We might be documenting some complex DevOps concept, but our audience can be anyone; even a front-end engineer who only wants to learn this one concept. It is therefore necessary to keep in mind the wide spectrum of audience.
Our language influences our thought process
Languages have the power to shape the way you think, so the words we choose matter. This is a fairly new thesis by a cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky and her team. Don’t believe me? Check out the Ted talk yourself:
How to draft inclusive documents?
There are multiple layers to creating inclusive documents. In this article, we shall try to peel off a few of them.
Write gender-neutral documents
Holding it gender-neutral is one way to keep the audience from being excluded. Using a second person (you, your, yours) is a perfect way to promote a sense of interaction with the audience. This technique is highly effective since the reader feels like they are being addressed directly.
Avoid racially loaded terms
Words such as “slave-master” are generally used to describe technical relationships and they bear a fair amount of historical baggage. Consciously choosing to use such potentially offensive terminologies sends out a strong message about the culture in your organization. Some alternatives include “Primary and secondary,” “Primary and replica,” and “Source and sink.”
Be more empathetic
One of the key ways to show developers that we care, is to choose a documentation style that curates a smooth developer experience.
Ensure that the document caters to people with special needs. The audience can have certain health conditions that might make it difficult for them to access the document. For instance, color blindness, dyslexia, visual impairment, and so on. Technical documentation should be made available for everyone regardless of their health condition. You can ensure this by adhering to something as basic as a checklist. Here is a series of posts from ClickHelp to help you build your inclusiveness checklist.
Be Comprehensive
If you are mentioning a particular concept, or a technique, make sure you cover just enough so that your readers are not alienated from it. Nothing can prove more dangerous than building assumptions about your readers. Having such assumptions and adding exclusionary statements to your document unintentionally conveys the message that your document is meant only for a certain level of developers. | https://medium.com/@thetechwritersjournal/the-tech-writers-journal-3-writing-inclusive-documentation-dead9456bcdd | ['Amrithaa Sneha'] | 2020-12-22 13:52:09.439000+00:00 | ['Technical Writing', 'Diversity In Tech', 'Documentation', 'Developer Experience', 'Inclusion'] |
Getting started with Redux: Redux-saga with React | Installation:
install redux-saga
npm install --save redux-saga
2. Connect your sagas to store
import { createStore, applyMiddleware } from 'redux'; import createSagaMiddleware from 'redux-saga'; import rootReducer from '../reducers'; import rootSaga from '../sagas'; const saga = createSagaMiddleware(); const store = createStore( rootReducer, applyMiddleware(saga) ); saga.run(rootSaga); export default store;
3. In your API file “./apis/posts.js”
import axios from 'axios'; const axiosInstance = axios.create({ baseURL: 'http://localhost:3001' }); const getPosts = async () => await axiosInstance.get(`/posts`); export default { getPosts };
4. In your typs file “./Types.js”
export const FETCH_POSTS = 'FETCH_POSTS';
export const FETCH_POSTS_REQUEST = 'FETCH_POSTS_REQUEST';
5. In your action file “./action/index.js”
import * as actionTypes from './Types'; export const fetchPosts = posts => ({ type: actionTypes.FETCH_POSTS, payload: posts, }); export const fetchPostsReq = () => ({
type: actionTypes.FETCH_POSTS_REQUEST });
6. In reducers file “./reducers/posts.js
import * as actionTypes from './Types'; export default (state = {}, action) => { switch (action.type) { case actionTypes.FETCH_POSTS: return { ...state, ...action.payload }; default: return state; }
}
Don’t forget to combine your reducers.
7. In your root sagas file “./sagas/index.js”
import { takeEvery } from 'redux-saga/effects'; import * as actionTypes from './Types'; import { fetchPostsSaga } from './posts'; export function* watchAll() { yield takeEvery(actionTypes.FETCH_POSTS_REQUEST, fetchPostsSaga); }
takeEvery: allows multiple instances of these sagas to run at the same time. takeLatest: if you dispatch the action before the previous API call finishes, it will stop that call and return only the latest one.
8. In saga file for posts “./sagas/posts.js”
import { put, call } from 'redux-saga/effects'; import { fetchPosts } from '../actions'; import API from '../apis/posts'; export function* fetchPostsSaga() { try { const response = yield call(API.getPosts); yield put(fetchPosts(response.data)); } catch (error) { console.log(error); } }
Sagas effects
Put: it dispatching an action for the reducer to handle the response. Call: call a ‘API’ function that executes a server call and returns a promise, which will hold the response content when successful. Generators functions: The function* declaration (function keyword followed by an asterisk) defines a generator function, which returns a Generator object. This method will return the next element in the sequence. Yield: The keyword yield is used to suspend and resume a generating function.
9. Then all what you need is to call the action in you component. | https://medium.com/@dina-elghndour/getting-started-with-redux-redux-saga-with-react-5c36e4ccee6f | ['Dina Elghndour'] | 2019-10-17 09:57:36.779000+00:00 | ['React Redux', 'Front End Development', 'Middleware', 'React Saga', 'Redux'] |
LEDsafari partners with KeeIU solar in Mexico | Mexico is one of the best places to implement solar energy. 70% of the country has an insolation greater than 4.5 kWh/m²/day in a total area of 1,964,380 km². A recent energy reform has liberalized some sectors of the electricity sector allowing privates to produce their own energy and sell the surplus back to the grid.
Mexico has an ageing infrastructure and its citizens are looking to become independent from the grid. Pricing are on the rise as there are 430,000 users paying 20c of Euro/ KWh. In addition to this, there are still 1.5 million people without access to electricity. This provides an excellent opportunity for the solar sector to grow.
The installed capacity of solar in 2016 was 506 MW but it is expected to grow to 10,505 MW by the end of 2021 with a compound growth rate of 84%. During 2016 there were 12,577 contracts of distributed generation connected to the grid. Moreover, the commercial sector can be issued a Clean Energy Certificate per 1 MWh of production which can be traded.
Three schemes of interconnection can be implemented including, Net metering, net-billing and total sale. Although the new administration comes with different views, it is expected that distributed generation will continue to grow. The cost of installed watt is between $0.80 USD and $1.4 USD (1kW-500kW).
According to IRENA report 2018, 63,000 people are employed in Renewable sectors and 17,000 people in the Solar sector alone. According to Juan Carlos Soriano, CEO of KeeIU, solar sector in Mexico will need at least 75,000 people to meet the growing demand in the next 5 years and a capacity gap could hinder the growth. He feels that there is a strong need for training at the supply side (technicians, businesses, etc) but also at the demand side. Customers need to be educated on the benefits of solar as well.
With the aim of providing training and capacity building, KeeIU will provide LEDsafari learning platform (HelioLearn) to the solar companies and universities. They will also co-develop courses specifically for Mexican market.
HellioLearn Platform
“We believe here at KeeUI Solar that everybody should have access to information and education in renewables and sustainability to achieve true democratization of energy. We have been following LEDsafari and its accomplishments around the world and we are excited to see that they have chosen KeeUI as a starting partner in the region”- Juan Carlos Soriano Montero, CEO KeeIU.
KeeIU already works with multiples universities and 100+ solar companies in Mexico.
Author: LEDsafari, Switzerland, 7Feb 2019, contact: [email protected]
About KeeIU
KeeUI Solar is a company dedicated to accelerate the penetration of renewable and smart energy in Mexico. It empowers SMEs by providing training, automated dimensioning, and supply of equipment for the installation of energy systems. KeeUI Solar is an initiative of the “Energy Executive Training Program” organized by the Dutch Embassy in Mexico that promotes the industrial cooperation between the countries. It is supported by energy organizations including GGNI, Energy Delta Institute, GreenID, F&M Group, SUPORTS, among others. Furthermore, the startup has been incubated by MassChallenge Mexico class 2018.
About LEDsafari
LEDsafari is a clean-tech start-up based in Lausanne, Switzerland that develops innovative digital products to help solar companies and organisations to manage their staff and assets. LEDsafari uses its innovative solar kits for education purposes and online training platform for skill development. | https://medium.com/@ledsafari/ledsafari-partners-with-keeiu-solar-in-mexico-60a687317faa | ['Ledsafari Sa'] | 2019-10-14 14:49:07.287000+00:00 | ['Photovoltaic', 'Mexico', 'Company', 'Training', 'Solar Energy'] |
We Need to Tackle Anti Free Speech Academic Theories | Welcome to TaraElla News, where we examine the latest political and cultural news from the perspective of upholding classical liberal values like individual freedom, equal opportunity and free speech. TaraElla News is released on most days of the week, and each episode is distributed to either the TaraElla Politics channel or the TaraElla Culture channel, subscribe if you’re interested.
Today, I want to respond to a recent PragerU video titled Hate Speech Doesn’t Exist. Firstly, I have very mixed feelings about Dennis Prager and PragerU, but they are staunchly pro-free speech, and I will give them that. However, I believe we win arguments by being honest and rational. I think it’s an objective truth that hate speech is a thing. What we should argue is that there shouldn’t be laws against free speech, and that would have to mean no laws against any speech.
The video itself basically tells us what we already know. You know, trigger warnings, microaggressions, disinviting speakers, college students who prefer freedom from speech over freedom of speech, all things we have been familiar with since at least 2015. In other words, the video doesn’t cover any new ground. Therefore, you would have to ask, why would someone be making this video in 2019? It’s because free speech still isn’t winning. Unfortunately, outlets like PragerU generally love to preach to the converted, and tend to simplify and dichotomize everything. Another example is their recent video on the death penalty, where the subject was treated with absolutely no nuance.
But let’s return to free speech. Many of us continue to support free speech as a key pillar of classical liberalism, believing that the free market of ideas will bring truth and rationality. We’ve also been making the argument that suppressing speech doesn’t improve things for anyone. We’ve been going public with our objections to so-called safe speech, microaggression theory, and the de-platforming of speakers for several years now, and let’s face it, we haven’t been making any progress at all. The reason is because we haven’t made a dent in the underlying theory justifying these phenomenon. Free speech activists generally haven’t been big on theory. The PragerU video only mentioned academic theory once, in connection with microaggressions. But the fact is, critical theory, and in particular postmodern critical theory, is the backbone of the anti-free speech movement. In other words, we can save free speech, if we smash the critical theory worldview with classical liberal arguments.
Basically, all anti-free speech arguments are ultimately rooted in the idea that discourse itself is power. This draws heavily on postmodern critical theory thinkers like Foucault, but also has deeper roots in the critical theory tradition, where it is assumed that there are culturally-based systems of oppression everywhere. I mean, critical theory started out being inspired by Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism in Das Kapital, and sought to apply the same type of systemic critique to the social and cultural sphere. The assumption of culturally-based systems of oppression is baked right into the method. It’s not hard to see how this would lead to discourse being power, and from there to speech itself being tools of oppression, and even speech itself being violent. Of course, the best antidote to this bleak worldview of humanity is to embrace classical liberal values like the free market of ideas, and its potential to better humanity both morally and pragmatically. Where critical theory is negative about humanity, classical liberalism is very positive. Where postmodern critical theorists see individuals as being defined by external forces, classical liberals see individuals as having lots of agency. As a Moral Libertarian, my first principle is that every individual should have equal and maximum moral agency, and being a free speech absolutist flows logically from that.
That’s all for today. I’ll be back next time to discuss another big idea. Subscribe if you want to follow our story. And remember to resist the hive mind and stay individualistic. The world depends on it. | https://medium.com/taraellas-liberal-conversation/we-need-to-tackle-anti-free-speech-academic-theories-67427a57cb60 | [] | 2019-08-10 12:59:03.074000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Postmodernism', 'Free Speech', 'Critical Theory', 'Foucault'] |
The Pleasure Trap and How to Escape It | Photo by Francisco Moreno on Unsplash
The Pleasure Trap and How to Escape It
How our unique place in the history of consumerism and technology has blurred an important distinction, and how we can see it more clearly.
We are simultaneously in a great time to be alive, and an extremely dangerous one. On one hand, we have at our fingertips all kinds of stimuli — from information and entertainment, to conversation and consumption. Theoretically, we can have a desire for something, find it, pay for it, and have it arrive to us all in the same day — without leaving our homes, and using a phone that fits in our pocket. It’s a veritable buffet of goods and services that exist in order to cater to our every whim.
So not only has the sheer quantity of available pleasures increased dramatically, but also (and more importantly) the time between when we form a desire to when we can fulfill it has dramatically decreased. In this way, we live in a time truly unlike any other in history. And we seem to be taking it all in stride.
Or are we?
The Pleasure Trap
While there is an aspect of this that sounds great, you can probably see the potential drawbacks. There is a phenomenon known in psychology as hedonic adaptation, which basically says that humans have an uncanny ability to adapt to the stimulus they receive, and quickly return to a stable level of baseline happiness.
What this means is that for each of your desires that gets fulfilled, you very quickly become used to it, and your level of happiness goes back to what it was before. It’s a lot like tolerance to a drug: the more you get, the more you get used to having more, and the more you desire.
So if you combine our mind’s uncanny ability to adapt to pleasure, with an ever-increasing supply of more easily-obtained pleasures — we’re setting ourselves up for a kind of pleasure-addicted life that may end pretty hollow.
I call it the pleasure trap: we’re encouraged by businesses and technology to act more quickly on more of our desires — which they exist in order to fulfill. As a result, we get accustomed to having more and more desires, and having them fulfilled more quickly. This means that we form more desires, and form them more frequently. The more pleasure we chase, and the more pleasure we get, the more we need.
But what we forget, is that the more desires and expectations we have, the more opportunities there are for frustration, anger, and feelings of hopelessness. It can end up ruling our lives, if we let it.
So what can we do about it?
Know and Live the Difference: Pleasure vs. Joy
The best way to step away from the pleasure trap is to cultivate joy, rather than chasing pleasures. Joy is not the same as pleasure. They are markedly different things.
Pleasure is just what it sounds like. It feels great when it’s happening, and usually involves the senses. It comes from and depends on something external — some stimulus or some object.
But pleasure is short-lived. It comes and goes quickly. And in some cases, it fades quickly into guilt, shame, regret, doubt, and other negative emotions — depending on the circumstances. And even when it doesn’t, it leaves in its wake the expectation of more. It’s that expectation — that desire, for more of what you have — that can be your undoing.
The pursuit of pleasure — like every other pursuit — is a sacrifice, a trade-off. You may pursue one thing, but whatever you don’t pursue, you leave behind. And so often, we don’t realize until it’s too late, what we are leaving behind as we chase after pleasure. In many cases, it’s something more valuable, and more lasting: joy.
Joy — as opposed to pleasure — is a combination of understanding, appreciation, gratitude, and connection. Joy is deeper than pleasure — it’s intellectual (some say spiritual). It is something that — unlike pleasure — you cultivate through an understanding of both yourself, others, and the nature of the world around you. And what is more, you can actually generate and sustain joy without any kind of stimulus — which is not the case for pleasure.
What’s more, joy is more complex and nuanced than pleasure. Joy can be made up of both pain and pleasure. It can spring forth from a terrible experience — the kind that you learn from, and that give you appreciation for what you have.
We may think that joyful life is made up of a thousand enjoyable moments — that having joy in your life is simply a matter of collecting a bunch of fun or memorable experiences. But nothing could be further from the truth. Joy is built of both joyful and painful moments. Joy often comes at times when pleasure is not even a factor. Joy and pain can coexist. Joy and loss can coexist. The same cannot be said of pleasure. | https://mikesturm.medium.com/life-in-the-time-of-the-pleasure-trap-a9f37b2da4dc | ['Mike Sturm'] | 2018-11-14 18:49:29.056000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Philosophy', 'Self', 'Mindfulness', 'Life'] |
How to Buy Education Tokens (LEDU) on Mercatox | Education tokens (LEDU) are now trading on Mercatox. This article will explain how to purchase tokens on the Mercatox exchange. See also How to Buy Education Tokens (LEDU) on Exrates, IDEX and Livecoin.
Sign Up
1) First, if you’re not registered on mercatox.com click the “Sign up” button to view the following sign up window.
Deposit
2) The next step is to deposit ETH or BTC into your exchange account.
3) When depositing ETH you will be asked to send ETH to an address provided by the exchange. If depositing BTC you will be asked to send BTC to an address provided by the exchange.
4) Open your ETH wallet and send the amount you would like to deposit to that address. If you are using BTC, open your BTC wallet and send the amount you would like to deposit to the address provided.
5) Once you have ETH on your Mercatox.com account then you are ready to purchase LEDU tokens.
Purchase
6) LEDU tokens on Mercatox.com are available in BTC and ETH pairs, meaning you can use BTC or ETH to purchase. Locate the LEDU/ETH pair and click on trade to purchase Education coins if you want to use ETH. If you want to use BTC locate the LEDU/BTC pair.
7) You will be taken to the trading page where you can buy LEDU tokens. Simply enter the amount you wish to purchase and click the BUY ETH — -> LEDU to purchase LEDU tokens.
8) Once you’ve completed your purchase the token balance will be visible in your Mercatox exchange account.
Withdraw
10) Now that you’ve purchased LEDU tokens you can withdraw them to your ERC20 token wallet. Simply enter the withdrawal address where you wish to send the tokens and amount.
Get LEDU Coin
Get LEDU coins now on Exrates, Livecoin, Mercatox and IDEX or join the LEDU OTC Trading program for large purchases. Read more about LEDU coins on our project page and ask any questions you might have in our Telegram group chat. | https://medium.com/ledu-tokens/how-to-buy-education-tokens-ledu-on-mercatox-88a73d4c9b9a | ['Dr. Michael J. Garbade'] | 2019-01-11 19:33:42.338000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Token', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
What Forgiveness Feels Like When You’re Still Heartbroken | You can’t move on without forgiving your ex. However, forgiveness feels different when you’re still heartbroken. When you forgive, don’t expect your pain and disappointment to vanish immediately. It won’t.
If you expect it to happen that way you’ll only end up saying “I don’t think I can ever forgive him”.
Why is forgiveness so important?
The person most hurt by unforgiveness is you.
Forgiveness takes away the power they have over your healing process (completely) and positions the responsibility of moving on in your hands.
It disconnects you from the emotional tie they have with you and sets you free to focus on yourself and your healing journey.
I know it’s difficult to forgive someone who broke your heart.
Believe me I do.
Read to the end to see what forgiveness feels like when you’re still heartbroken.
This is what you need to do.
Forgive your ex for the broken promises, the heartbreaking attitudes, and for all the moments when he made you question your self-worth. Forgive him even though he never acknowledged the pain he caused you.
Forgive him, from the bottom of your heart for the days he made you feel worthless, stupid, and suicidal. For your own sake, forgive him whether he deserves it or not.
You need to forgive because, you deserve what’s on the other side of regret, anger, revenge, and every form of emotional unrest.
The bitterness that comes with resentment and having thoughts of revenge (although understandable) comes with a price. And that price is your peace of mind, emotional freedom and happiness.
Don’t let the past hold you captive.
Genuinely forgive him, and watch the power he has over your emotions slowly diminish, until it eventually vanishes. You’ll be astonished by the impact of forgiveness.
There are 3 things you need to do
Forgive yourself for allowing him waste your time.
Accept the apology he never gave you.
Forgive him even if he doesn’t deserve it.
Read the 9 laws of heartbreak
This is what forgiveness feels like when you’re still heartbroken
Don’t be misled into thinking you need to forgive him ‘just once’ and that will be all. No, it doesn’t work that way.
That you forgive him today does not mean negative (painful) thoughts/emotions won’t flare their heads again.
They will flare their heads once in a while, but their intensity will start getting mild. This means you will need to forgive your ex everyday, every week, every month until you no longer need to.
And you need to say it out “I forgive you xxx”, don’t just say it in your mind.
Healing a broken heart is a journey that takes a lot of time. It is not about speed, it’s about progress. It requires patience with your own self.
I always illustrate the process of moving on using an empty bucket and a drop of water.
The process of moving on is like the task of filling an empty bucket with drops of water💧.
Each drop represents any healthy thing you do that facilitates the moving on process. E.g engaging in social activities instead of lying down all day (in bed) wallowing in sadness.
Each drop represents any positive thing that brings you a step closer to emotional freedom.
When filling the bucket (moving on), each drop will seem insignificant in the early stage of journey (especially immediately after break up). It will look as if you’re not making any progress at all.
So even if you forgive your ex at this stage you won’t believe you’ve actually forgiven your ex because you’ll still be feeling heartbroken.
That’s why I told you what you need to do:
That you forgive him today does not mean negative (painful) thoughts/emotions won’t flare their heads again.
Some days so many droplets will fall into the bucket, other days it may be just one drop. That’s why you need to be very gentle and patient with yourself when healing. One day the bucket will be filled to the brim.
And this is how you’ll know that forgiveness has occurred totally.
You’ll remember the people who hurt you, and feel nothing but the power to wish them well. —Lightoflights
If you enjoyed reading this article, please share the link with others, and leave a comment.
Finally,
Read THE 9 LAWS OF HEARTBREAK to learn more.
Merry Christmas 🎁 | https://medium.com/@Lightoflights/forgiveness-feels-different-when-youre-still-heartbroken-22177e339cc2 | [] | 2020-12-22 22:00:21.254000+00:00 | ['Moving On', 'Healing', 'Moving On After Divorce', 'Heartbreak', 'Moving On After A Breakup'] |
5 lessons learned from managing a scale-up remotely — Part 5 — “the chance for a better you” | Congratulations! If you made it up to here, then you are at the end of my blog series focused on the lessons, which I’ve learned during managing a scale-up remotely during the COVID pandemic. In previous parts, I focused on the WHY for managing a company remotely, in the second part — on the catalyst effect of remote work. In the next part, I’ve shared my view on the importance of a process and in the previous part I’ve focused on the impact on team spirit and social relations within the company.
This time, I would like to focus on the last and very personal lesson learned, which is, that remote work offers you 3 chances for your personal improvement:
a chance for (re)evaluation of your values
You know it. When you love your job, sometimes it’s hard to slow down, or even stop. Passion is the strongest boss of all times, which drives you all the time to reach the unreachable. The passion and emotions which you get when being in personal contact with your team are incomparable to the emotions you experience when working remotely. And this is good and bad. Good, because you let other emotions get into your life as the “work-related” ones.
A linden tree, a typical symbol of the “kopanice” region in Slovakia
Working from home helped me personally to understand, that there is something else happening then a great company. I do not consider myself being a bad husband or a father, but truth is, that during the most intense growth phase of ableneo I was 150% committed to this challenge and not focusing enough on the most important elements of my life.
Waking up each morning with your kids, seeing them do all the fun stuff can sometimes be very exhausting, but is also very eye-opening because these moments will not last forever. And I’ve realized, that I do not want to miss them.
a chance for a better time management
I find time-management one of the most important, but sometimes also the hardest-to-learn skills you can gain during your professional experience. The capability to gain these skills is also very dependent on your working environment and external factors, which strongly influence your possibilities to manage time. Remote work provides actually a great playground to manage your time better because you are not influenced and distracted by the constant timebox-breakers coming to you each moment.
You know maybe the MyAnalytics feature of the Microsoft 365 suite. It’s a very handy feature, which helps you to track your working efficiency and in a very easy way present you with your working habits.
Looking back to March, just before the first wave of the pandemic hit, I was spending 72% on average in meetings, discussions, or workshops and having only 28% of my time to focus. You can make a picture yourself, how efficient this was.
Comparison of MyAnalytics report for March 2020 and October 2020
What I’ve realized during the pandemic is, that is much easier to become a master of your time. Not because I am a CEO, but somehow it was much easier for me to make these decisions when not distracted by the “office-rush”. I have booked time-slots during the week, where I just do not want to have any meetings and my teammates got used to it after some time.
Maybe it’s nothing new for you, but for me, it was actually a very important step towards focusing on what is important for me as a CEO.
a chance for more engaging meetings
Sheep can make your meetings better :)
Okay, jokes aside. Imagine your typical corporate meeting. 10+ people in the room, the luckiest one is standing in front of you, trying to explain slides, which are either hard readable or do not make sense. The rest of the room is sleeping and you are already thinking about what will you do after work.
We all know this…
Remote meetings can be boring as well, especially if the lucky one learns to have the same boring presentation using videoconference.
Try to imagine a different scenario. Imagine, when everybody works from their homes and start each meeting with some pictures, or video from their home, showing something interesting and engaging. It can be a sneak-peek into the kitchen and secret recipe, or just a quick look at your kids playing at home.
A small detail, that actually makes the difference and helps people to gain attention. It’s very refreshing to show a real-time video of sheep having lunch while having an interview with a candidate, or having a project kick-off with a US customer.
It may sound funny, it may sound unprofessional. But it works, and I have never seen so many smiling faces during meetings as when I was having this “engaging-part”.
A selfie with Bart, Meggie, and Lisa during a candidate interview
The world is serious enough, therefore we should always be able to have fun and smile. Each day, all the time. That’s what makes life good.
So that’s a wrap! At this stage, I want to thank you for reading all 5 parts of my journey to become a remote CEO and I hope you guys enjoyed it with me. The journey has only started… | https://medium.com/ableneo-people/5-lessons-learned-from-managing-a-scale-up-remotely-part-5-the-chance-for-a-better-you-c2337a7a0d45 | ['Ján Gregor'] | 2020-12-22 12:48:41.938000+00:00 | ['Remote Working', 'Personal Development', 'Future Of Work', 'Lessons Learned', 'Coaching'] |
【山女孩】2018 詩意京都(二)-鞍馬貴船 | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/%E9%87%8D%E6%9B%9D%E5%A5%BD%E6%99%82%E5%85%89-double-exposure-the-good-old-days/2018-%E8%A9%A9%E6%84%8F%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD-%E4%BA%8C-%E9%9E%8D%E9%A6%AC%E8%B2%B4%E8%88%B9-b8daf644b21e | [] | 2019-03-29 02:24:37.070000+00:00 | ['京都', '攝影', 'Mountains', '中文', 'Japan'] |
US Again Bombs Nations On Other Side Of The World In “Self-Defense” | US Again Bombs Nations On Other Side Of The World In “Self-Defense” Caitlin Johnstone Jun 28·4 min read
Listen to a reading of this article:
The US is again illegally bombing nations on the other side of the planet which it has invaded and occupied and branded this murderous aggression as “defensive”.
“At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region,” reads a statement by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby. “The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. Specifically, the U.S. strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries.”
Even more absurd than the fact that we’re all still pretending this clearly dementia-addled president is “directing” anything is the claim that these actions were “defensive” in nature. It is not possible for occupying invaders to be acting defensively in the nations they are occupying an invading; US troops are only in Iraq by way of an illegal 2003 invasion, a bogus 2014 re-entry, and a refusal to leave at the Iraqi government’s request last year, and they are in Syria illegally and without the permission of the Syrian government. They can therefore only ever be aggressors; they cannot be acting defensively.
It’s like if you broke into your neighbor’s house to rob him, killed him when he tried to stop you, and then claimed self-defense because you consider his home your property. Only in the American exceptionalist alternate universe is this considered normal and acceptable.
The only actual defensive action that the US could legitimately take to protect troops in Iraq and Syria would be to remove US troops from Iraq and Syria.
As former US representative Justin Amash pointed out following the bombing, there is no actual legal authorization for US troops to be in Iraq or Syria in the first place. As journalist Glenn Greenwald highlighted, there is also no legal basis for bombings on the military personnel in those nations either, no matter how “Iranian-backed” they are.
“I know it’s boring to note this but Biden has no legal authorization to bomb ‘Iranian-backed’ targets in Syria and Iraq, making it illegal,” Greenwald tweeted, adding, “But Obama bombed Libya after the House voted against doing so, and few of the Sacred Rule Of Law mavens cared.”
The legal justification the Biden administration is using for this airstrike is the same bogus one it used for its airstrikes in Syria this past February: not counter-terrorism, but an extremely weird and broad interpretation of Article II of the US Constitution.
“As a matter of international law, the United States acted pursuant to its right of self-defense,” Kirby writes in the aforementioned statement. “The strikes were both necessary to address the threat and appropriately limited in scope. As a matter of domestic law, the President took this action pursuant to his Article II authority to protect U.S. personnel in Iraq.”
This claim the Executive Branch has been leaning on lately, that Article II permits unilateral acts of war on the other side of the planet without congressional approval, has come under criticism from legal scholars across the US political spectrum. As Tess Bridgeman wrote for Just Security following Biden’s February airstrikes:
“With former President Donald Trump’s term in office over, it’s time to evaluate his war powers legacy and where it leaves the Biden administration as it begins to grapple with how and when to use force abroad in the absence of congressional authorization. The picture that emerges from Trump’s war powers reporting to Congress is one of an extraordinarily broad vision of the president’s authority to use force abroad without congressional authorization, and of a willingness to exploit loopholes in reporting requirements in a way that obscures information on the use of force from the public.”
A willingness to exploit loopholes is right. But as long as acts of mass military violence serve as the glue which holds a globe-spanning empire together, death finds a way.
____________________
The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud or YouTube, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my books. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here.
Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 | https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/us-again-bombs-nations-on-other-side-of-the-world-in-self-defense-d0e955cbeab5 | ['Caitlin Johnstone'] | 2021-06-28 02:06:01.894000+00:00 | ['Syria', 'War', 'Politics', 'Iraq', 'News'] |
Understanding the Concept of Virtual Time Using the Time Warp Algorithm | Understanding the Concept of Virtual Time Using the Time Warp Algorithm
What is virtual time and why do we need it?
As distributed systems have progressed and been adopted over the last decade, there have been numerous technologies in different segments like databases, caches, message queues, etc which are built on top of other frameworks which abstract away the difficulty of managing distributed systems. One of the most important and difficult things to manage in distributed systems is managing synchronicity using time.
Some common forms of synchronization techniques in distributed systems are block-resume, abortion-retry, lookahead-rollback. This post will cover the lookahead-rollback used by the Time Warp algorithm since, though not intuitive, it is leads to elegant and efficient solutions when the cons are compared for each of the techniques.
A virtual time system is a distributed system executing in coordination with an imaginary virtual clock that ticks virtual time. Virtual time itself is a global, one-dimensional, temporal coordinate system imposed on a distributed computation; it is used to measure computational progress and to define synchronization.
The main purpose is to have a single virtual time (which may also be in sync with the real time) across the system so that processes can always operate in an opaque manner when in actuality, it is an unpredictable entity.
All processes communicate with each other (either locally or remotely) via messages which mainly consist of 4 primary fields: sender, virtual send time, receiver, virtual receive time.
Some fundamental rules which must be observed for virtual time:
The virtual send time of each message must be less than its virtual receive time. The virtual time of each event in a process must be less than the virtual time of the next event at that process.
It should also be noted that the virtual times of any event A and B should follow the above rules only if there are events which directly or indirectly have causality amongst A and B.
Lamport’s logical Clock
Lamport was one of the first to show that real time temporal order, causality between events had a strong connection to the concepts of relativity. He provides an algorithm which assigns ordered clock values to events once the execution of a distributed system starts. The Time Warp algorithm is an inverse of the Lamport alogrithm where they mainly have the time assigned to the event and rollback if any discrepancy is found
Reed’s pseudotime
Reed came up with the concept of pseudotime which seems similar to virtual time but is different in the sense that pseudotime where events are assigned multi-version timestamps which are used for concurrency control to understand the atomic time of the event in distributed systems where virtual time is more relative in nature such that it mainly deals with events which have happened before or after in comparison to others. Reed uses abortion-retry for his algorithm where there may be starvation, unlimited retries, deadlocks, etc.
Schneiders’s work
Schneider’s algorithm mainly consists of broadcasting also synchronized messages to all processes and not proceeding till acknowledgements are received from each of them. Keeping all synchronized events in their local memory, processes are able to make decisions locally about the order of events. However, the algorithm doesn’t scale with the requirements of today’s scenario where the broadcast messages and acknowledgements needs to be performed for tens of thousands of servers for millions of messages.
Time Warp algorithm
Each process maintains its own virtual clock which is changed only between events. Each process has 3 queues; the input message queue, output message queue and the state queue. Keeping in mind the virtual time rules mentioned in the previous section, the each event in the local queue of the process should always be in increasing order.
There are extremely probable cases where events with virtual time lesser than the current time in the process may arrive, which violates the rules of virtual time. In such cases, the time warp algorithm follows the lookahead-rollback algorithm, which results in rolling back to the point where the incoming message fits appropriately with the processes’ virtual time and remaining messages have to be replayed in the correct sequence.
The rollback of messages cannot be narrowed down to a single processor alone since the messages sent in the wrong sequence also affects other processes which maintain their own queues. Hence, there has to be a rollback for the error messages in other processes as well which are connected to each other. Other processes which don’t have any direct or indirect connection to the message with error sequence won’t be affected, thus leading to a lesser network rework effect.
For rollbacks, there is a concept of antimessages in the system which can also be used for other purposes. All fields of messages and antimessages are the same except for one field, which is the sign of the message. All messages which have been sent to other processes have a (+) sign and their antimessages have a (-) sign. Whenever a message is sent, the message is stored in the receiver’s input queue and the antimessage is stored in the sender’s output queue.
Whenever a message and antimessage exist in the same queue, both the messages cancel each other out and are therefore removed.
The messages and antimessages are created together and can exist in different queues.
Coming back to the rollback case where we had to rollback the sent messages to other processes to maintain the new correct order, the process generates and sends antimessages for all the incorrect messages sent to other processes which do the same locally as well, thus leading to ripple effect of efficient rollbacks. Even in cases where the antimessage arrives before the actual error message in another process, both the messages will be annihilated since the same queue cannot have both the messages ultimately bringing all processes to the correct order.
As we go through the above mechanism, we need to understand that all the steps listed above are happening in the local context of a process, which doesn’t have knowledge of a global virtual clock yet. Not having a global value doesn’t allow efficient memory management of the queues since we see that messages have to be kept in their queues indefinitely which can be a problem at scale.
We introduce the concent of Global Virtual Time (GVT), which at real time r, is the minimum of the following
All virtual times in all virtual clocks at r
Virtual send times which have been sent but have not been processed/received at time r.
From the above definition, it becomes evident that at any point in time in entire system, the GVT will also be the lowest value or the floor value in the system. The GVT symbolizes that the messages below the GVT have been processed in the correct order and can be forgotten about, which the local processes can use to clean up their queues.
The delay in calculating the GVT is the total delay in sending a broadcast message to the processes.
Conclusion
A common feedback of the Time Warp algorithm contains the argument that rolling back across thousands of processes may not be feasible in the real life use cases. However, there is a point to be made that the rollbacks are termed as exceptions in real life use cases and not the norm. Since processes folllow the temporal locality principle, it makes more sense that events would arrive in the actual order and the events which arrive in the past arrive in the recent past which means the rollbacks are lesser.
The only alternative to lookahead/rollback is for the process to be blocked (i.e., doing nothing) for the same length of real time as the lookahead computation, which is just as much of a “waste.”
Virtual time is strongly analogous to Virtual Memory, the same concept of memory management where the most optimal pages are kept in the main memory. There are numerous efficient algorithms which try to determine the pages which are kept in the main memory, where lookahead section of data files prefetch a few pages in blocks and keep as it’s the usual trend of the user. In cases where a required page is not found in the main memory, there is a page fault which swaps out the least optimal pages from main memory and replaces it with the required page which is again similar to the rollback mechanism. The analogy can be extended in various ways to suggest that virtual time can be implemented in an elegant and efficient manner in distributed systems.
I hope you liked the article. Please let me know if you have any queries regarding the article. Happy reading!!
References: | https://medium.com/geekculture/understanding-the-concept-of-virtual-time-using-the-time-warp-algorithm-4579dfe5eca8 | ['Gaurav Sarma'] | 2021-04-20 22:09:36.783000+00:00 | ['Distributed Systems', 'Computing', 'Distributed Ledgers', 'Time Warp', 'Virtual Time'] |
How I Prepped for and Passed the QLTS OSCE — QLTS Success story | How I Prepped for and Passed the QLTS OSCE — QLTS Success story OSCEsmart Mar 29, 2018·10 min read
Priyasha Corrie, Corporate & Commercial Lawyer, UAE
Priyasha from Dubai, who cleared the QLTS OSCE exam in November 2017 in her first attempt, shares her experience as to preparation and getting through the extremely tough but exciting exam. OSCE smart team congratulates Priyasha, who obtained 76% which is far above the pass mark (64%). She is one of our best students, highly skilled lawyer, who managed to prepare for the QLTS OSCE, while working full time. Here is success story:
You’ve cleared the MCT. It’s now time to warm up for the OSCE which is an altogether different creature to tackle. The OSCE involves jumping various hoops and, for a working professional, balancing work with prep and your personal life will require you to be a tightrope walker for a few months. In this note, I’ve set out my experience of the assessments and study plan for the benefit of those prepping for the OSCE. Here you go:
1. Plummeting Pass Rates
The pass rates in the last OSCE administered in November 2017 plummeted to 63% and 51% respectively for the two batches as against the previous sittings where they were well above 70%. Statistics can be deceiving and hard to interpret but this could possibly mean that the exams have gotten tougher or that perhaps the marking is stricter. Whatever it is, the message is clear — do not take the assessments lightly!
2. MCT versus the OSCE
The OSCE tests you on a wider range of skills as against a test of merely answering multiple choice questions. That said, there are many who find the OSCE assessments easier than the MCT. I found myself on the other side of the spectrum. Although I scored higher on the OSCE than the MCT, I felt preparing for the OSCE was more challenging.
3. Subjects and the Order of Difficulty
The OSCE assessments will test you on (i) Litigation (Civil and Criminal), (ii) Property & Probate, and (iii) Business Law.
Watch out for Business Law which I found to be the most challenging of them all despite my being a corporate lawyer for the last 7 years. Funnily, Business Law, in my experience, was the easiest subject in the MCT. The tables are turned incredibly for the OSCE.
In the order of difficulty, Business Law is followed by Litigation. There is a lot to read in litigation and so you will have to study smart. I’ve covered my prep strategy in point 7 below.
In my opinion, Property Law is simpler in the OSCE than the MCT because it is mainly focussed on practical aspects of the practice such as sale and purchase transactions. Likewise, Probate is a smaller topic and you can take advantage of this to max your scores here.
4. Exam Format
The OSCE consists of two parts: Part I (Client Interview, Attendance Note/Case Analysis, and Advocacy) and Part II (Legal Research, Writing, and Drafting). That means six assessments for each of the three subjects totalling to eighteen assessments. Part I and Part II are each administered over three days, with a day allocated for each subject. As such, you will have to allocate six days of your work life for the OSCE which is quite unlike bar exams in other jurisdictions which are generally 1–2 day affairs.
5. Prep Time
To each, his own is the rule here. I started my preparations around July 2017 for the November 2017 assessments, although bear in mind that I was getting married in September (call me crazy) and therefore had to prep for a major life event as well! I had to somehow squeeze out time for studies during the day and, on an average, managed to dedicate about 2–3 hours daily with some marathon study sessions during weekends. There were days, of course, where I couldn’t devote any time at all. At the risk of coming across as anti-social, I used my lunch break in office to eat at my desk and read through the QLTS School summaries.
6. Prep School
I decided to study with the aid of a prep school just like I did for the MCT. While I was a bit confused between the BPP School and the QLTS School, I joined the masses and went for the QLTS School as I thought having a private tutor would be quite useful. As an aside, I believe the BPP School no longer offers an OSCE preparation course.
I have to say that there were missing gaps in the QLTS School’s course and, as a result, I ended up looking for an alternate resource to supplement my studies. I found a few videos of OSCE SMART (run by Dr Olga Pogrebennyk, who has previously passed the OSCE) on Youtube and signed up for her course. It worked very well for me because it enhanced my preparation and I am not sure if I would have made it without Olga’s tips! I’ve made a video review of OSCE SMART and you can watch it here.
OSCE Smart Review
Note that OSCE SMART is not as snazzy as QLTS School’s videos and web interface, but if you are someone who looks at substance over style, then you may find OSCE SMART useful like I did.
For your reference, I’ve also made a quick overview of the two prep schools for your reference:
QLTS School
OSCE Smart cources
Ultimately, my verdict is: QLTS School is great, but may not prepare you well enough for the exams, which is a pity considering its price. You will most likely have to supplement it with other resources. I found OSCE SMART to be a cost-effective tool and both the schools together helped me cross the line. If you cannot afford QLTS School, you may consider going for OSCE SMART which may be enough to see you through. I think there were candidates who made it with just OSCE SMART and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (Cilex) past papers.
Disclaimer: Like any lawyer, I have to add a disclaimer that sometimes passing an exam may not really depend on how good a lawyer you are or which school you go to. It depends on how much time you have put into your preparation, the mocks you have practised, and the skills the assessors are looking for.
7. Study Plan
I did not strictly follow QLTS School’s study plan. This is not to say that it doesn’t work. It is an ideal plan, but a bit too linear. For instance, a subject for three weeks and then another for the next three weeks.
Instead, I made my own prep strategy:
· I read the QLTS School summaries first, as I found the OUP books too vast to read through. To be fair, QLTS School also suggests the same approach. I alternated between two subjects in order to not get bored with one.
· At the same time, I commenced attempting mocks in order to get myself acquainted with what I was going to be tested on.
· Once I got an overview of the subjects, I viewed OSCE SMART’s video lectures on the subjects as I still did not get a grasp on the subjects. Watching these videos were a saviour because I did not have the energy to read a book at the end of a day’s work. Wherever there were gaps, I read the books.
· I continued with attempting the mocks and practised with friends and acquaintances (both in-person and Skype) who were also taking the OSCE. Here, I found OSCE SMART’s mocks for Part I to be very useful and I ordered a few more for myself.
· During the last month, I tried combing through the past Cilex papers (with solutions) which can be found at this link: https://www.cilex.org.uk/study/information_for_students/exams/past_papers. Look for Level 6 and the case studies. This was useful and was suggested by Olga.
· Finally, during the last couple of weeks, I read through the books to cement the information in my head. I only read the big Criminal Law book in my 8-hour flight to London, during which I covered 80% of the book! I don’t advise this for you though!
8. Memorise
You will have to memorise various principles, tests, case laws etc. for the assessments. You can either make your own notes or supplement QLTS School’s summaries with additional information as you go along your preparation. As you practise the mocks and read through the model answers, you will understand what you have to memorise. OSCE SMART has a fact sheet on things to memorise for civil and criminal advocacy which I found helpful.
9. Mocks — practise, practise, practise!
Don’t get stuck reading the OUP books thinking that you can practise the mocks only once you’ve studied the subjects. The books are important but you need to get a good grasp of how to prepare for the exam. Get started on practising the mocks as soon as you can. This is where QLTS School is great because of the number of mocks to practice. All their mocks come with solutions and so you have everything in one place. Additionally, for a practical feel of the exam, check out OSCE SMART as you will learn some practical tips on optimising your time in the assessments!
10. Part I OSCE — Challenges and Tips
Client Interview
Client Interview is challenging as your performance in the exam also depends on the client before you. You need to make sure you get all the relevant information from the client and it is possible that you get a client who is quiet, hard to decipher, or garrulous and leads you astray. You have to take control of the interview! In addition, the client is a lay person and so you have to avoid legalese. To illustrate, a client did not understand my question and advice because of legal jargon, and I had to apologize! Also, remember that you do not have to provide legal advice to the client. The objective of the interview is to collect the necessary information and to provide preliminary legal advice. You can elaborate on the legal advice in the attendance note.
Additionally, I made an interview script with a few opening lines and ending lines, just in case I got tongue-tied in the actual interview!
Attendance Note/Case Analysis
Post the interview, there isn’t much time to write the attendance note. You not just have to cover the facts of the interview but also provide a legal analysis to the Partner.
A tip is to write down the information you require in your notes (the sheets for your notes will be provided to you) in the 10 minutes you have before meeting the client. During the interview, you can fill up the blanks as you elicit the information from the client. This could include information such as the name, address, number, know-your-client documents etc. Here again, OSCE SMART had some practical tips which helped me organise my attendance note and optimise my time. Use the 25 minutes you have for the attendance note to brush up your notes and to write the legal analysis since you are also going to be graded on the law — this is important! You need to get the passing mark for both skills and the law. There are many who do fairly well on the skills part but do not make it on the law scores.
Advocacy
As against the interview, advocacy is easier as you have to make a presentation before the assessor who does not ask you too many questions. And 45 minutes is quite sufficient to prepare for your oral presentation/advocacy.
11. Part II OSCE — Tips
Legal Research
In Part II, Legal research can be daunting as you have to research on multiple queries and prepare a short note in 1 hour. While the QLTS School’s videos on research were useful guidance as a starting point, its drawback is that it doesn’t tell you how to do the research in one hour. I resorted to OSCE SMART’s strategy which was helpful because it gives you some really effective tips. I also arranged my note into bullet points to make it easier to read — maybe that worked.
Legal Drafting
Understand the types of drafting questions for each subject that could come up such as oaths for administrators/executors for probate, corporate resolutions for Business Law, particulars of claim for civil advocacy etc. Read up on how to draft such documents and keep a tab on where to find such drafts on LexisNexis.
Legal writing
This is most likely going to be a letter giving advice to a client. You will have a little time to research on the databases and will spend most of the 30 minutes writing the advice. Mastering how to find information from the databases will put you in good stead.
12. Remember the Objective of the Assessments
Read the Marking & Moderation Policy on the Kaplan website. This is key as you are going to be graded on these criteria. Quoting one of the objectives of the assessments:
“A competent newly qualified solicitor will demonstrate a level of knowledge, professional skills and understanding of legal practice and the law that is likely to avoid a negligence claim. In simple cases s/he can identify a client’s problem and the main legal issues raised. S/he should be able to recognise and respond appropriately to common situations which raise issues of professional conduct. S/he will normally know his or her limits when ignorant; know to what sources to refer for information; and ask for help when the problem is too difficult to deal with.”
If you do not know or are not sure of something (particularly in the oral presentation), say that you will have to double check and can get back to to the client later in the day. This is in line with the objective of avoiding a negligence claim.
13. 18 Hoops to Jump
Do not fret if you think you have messed up one of the assessments. Collect yourself and give your best in the remaining ones. It isn’t over until the end!
14. Logistics
Sort out your visa (if required), hotel stay, and clothes in advance. For Part I, you have to be formally dressed (it is better to wear black/navy blue and white for the advocacy). Try to stay close to the assessment centre as there are delays with the trains and you do not want to get stressed with the travel. I also took about 3–4 days off from work before the exams to get into the groove — time off from work to focus on the assessments would be great. And if it helps, book a morning flight to London so that you can spend the time reading a book rather than catching a snooze!
I’ve probably written too much and must stop. I hope you found the above useful. All the best for your assessments and do not forget to enjoy the ride!
Original article — https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-i-prepped-passed-qlts-osce-priyasha-corrie/ | https://medium.com/@qltsosce/how-i-prepped-for-and-passed-the-qlts-osce-qlts-success-story-62e31f325e1f | [] | 2018-03-30 09:34:51.005000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Solicitor', 'Lawyers'] |
How to Be an Anticapitalist Entrepreneur | RC Woodmass understands the unique value queer people bring to tech.
At last year’s Venture Out conference, they listed nine qualities LGBTQ+ people bring to the tech industry.
Creativity
Change tolerance
Courage
Abstract thinking
Empathy
Communication skills
Fast learning
Resourcefulness
Vision for social change
Courage and communication? Qualities invoked when coming out of the closet. Resourcefulness and abstract thinking? Skills required to navigate the tech industry as a member of a marginalized community. Vision for social change and empathy? Essential elements for changing the status quo — and making sure you aren’t leaving others behind in the process.
RC Woodmass is the founder of Queerit, a queer, feminist, anticapitalist digital agency.
RC Woodmass has employed many of these qualities on their road from opera singer to entrepreneur. Now the founder of Queerit, a “queer, feminist, anticapitalist digital agency”, RC is exploring what it means to “queer business” by subverting the binaries we accept as truths.
Here’s how RC Woodmass is putting workers first and holding themself accountable.
From Opera to Tech: A Journey through Gender
“It never occured to me that I could ‘be in computers,’” RC says. “I grew up in Steinbach, Manitoba, and at that point I was identifying as a woman in a conservative community. I was encouraged to follow my dreams of becoming an opera singer. That was acceptable for the gender I had been assigned.”
And so RC began a 10-year academic and professional career as an opera singer, where they were confronted by the gendered dynamic of the industry. While it’s common for opera singers to play other genders on stage, traditional gender norms are still enforced — and after they came out as nonbinary, RC felt they couldn’t keep singing.
“It’s difficult to make it in opera, so I always knew I needed other ways to earn a living,” RC says. “One thing about me is that I never give up — if something isn’t working, I fix it. (Massive Capricorn energy!) I saw some room for improvement with the Opera McGill website, and they gave me free rein to work on it. That’s how I taught myself CSS and HTML, and then eventually I fell into UX and product design.”
After a few years in tech, RC wanted to build something of their own and work with people who shared their values. They made the bold choice to start Queerit and state explicitly that they abide by anti-oppressive, anticapitalist values. “We may have lost clients because of this choice,” RC says, “but what we’ve gained are clients who believe in our message and are instantly aligned with us. We’ve created a hub of folks we love to work with.”
“When I think of a queer business, I think of applying anti-oppressive practices to the process of doing business.”
Creating an Anticapitalist Business Means Workers Come First
So how does a business embody anticapitalism? RC says they’re aware of the tightrope they’re walking by making this claim, but that the secret lies in the way workers are treated.
“We hire only queer and trans collaborators, and I’m always asking them how I can support them in their lives, not just feeding them their next client,” RC says. “I hope that prioritizing the worker’s experience is the new way of doing business as capitalism dissolves.
“When people think of a queer business, they think about rainbows — but when I think of a queer business, I think of applying anti-oppressive practices to the process of doing business. That’s what queering entrepreneurship means to me now, not just hiring queer people.”
RC recommends the following anti-oppressive, anticapitalist practices to run a queer business:
1. Don’t do it alone.
“Individualism is one of the principles that capitalism uses to keep us disempowered. The opposite of capitalism is solidarity, so I aim to be in community with folks who are directly impacted by my actions and seek accountability from them. In community, we share failures, struggles, challenges, and success. It’s harder and it’s slower, but it’s the only way.”
2. Examine the ethics of the tools you use and the institutions you support.
“One of the first things I did when I was registering Queerit as an official enterprise was to look for the financial institution that most aligns with the values we espouse.
“We opened our account with the Desjardins Social Economy branch, which re-invests money back into the local social economy. We also recently divested from Google, and moved all of our email, calendar, file sharing, and chat over to a more ethical solution called Zoho, after several instances of the company firing or punishing queer and trans folks for speaking out against oppression.
“It takes a lot of effort to examine these things and then take action, but it is a core part of how we put our money where our hearts are.”
3. Encourage your employees and contractors to unionize by allowing them to use company spaces to discuss union activity (if they wish).
“Unions are such an important accountability and solidarity tool, because they provide a legally protected avenue for workers to improve their situation. Capitalism prioritizes money, not workers’ rights, and people entrenched in the capitalist mindset usually try to dissuade unions from forming, in order to keep the cost of workers low. Unions are anticapitalist and can hold businesses accountable — be grateful for them!”
“One thing about me is that I never give up — if something isn’t working, I fix it.”
Questioning Performative Diversity and Inclusion: How We Need to Do More than Co-opt Language
As a business owner, RC is always thinking about two things: moving beyond performative diversity and inclusion and preventing power corruption within themself.
“I want to be clear,” RC says, “the women in tech and diversity and inclusion movements are important. We need more women in tech, and we need more diversity. But I can’t help thinking that we’re just asking people from marginalized communities to fit within the status quo.”
RC fears the day larger brands adopt revolutionary, anticapitalist messaging to sell more products. Just as pinkwashing — marketing through an appeal to the LGBTQ+ community — targets the queer community during (and beyond) Pride, RC is concerned that brands will co-opt anticapitalist messaging to boost brand power while upholding the systems that prevent BIPOC and trans/nonbinary people from gaining socioeconomic power. They say that business leaders need to be willing to hold themselves accountable and, in some cases, give up power so that others can have a voice.
“I know it’s scary to give up power — I can even feel that now, as a business owner. But I really think that transparency and accountability are the keys to building an inclusive business. Right now, I’m considering applying for a B Corp for Queerit. I need to be held accountable by an external governing body — because power corrupts.
“When I was focused on UX design, I was passionate about designing inclusive products. Now, I’m passionate about designing inclusive businesses.”
Want to be part of the LGBTQ+ tech community? Attend the Venture Out conference on March 19–20 at MaRS Discovery District. | https://medium.com/venture-out/how-to-be-an-anticapitalist-entrepreneur-rc-woodmass-and-queerit-5e9ccc24c3d7 | ['Tiffany Regaudie'] | 2020-01-24 02:39:33.351000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Toronto', 'Rcwoodmass', 'Queer', 'Nonbinary'] |
A Little Story about Amazon ECS, systemd, and Chaos Monkey | 👉 This article has moved and is now available here. | https://medium.com/production-ready/a-little-story-about-amazon-ecs-systemd-and-chaos-monkey-8bc7d1b5778 | ['Mathias Lafeldt'] | 2019-04-20 12:49:09.446000+00:00 | ['Systemd', 'Chaos Monkey', 'Chaos Engineering', 'Ecs'] |
I joined Medium to make money | Writer’s Blog
I joined Medium to make money
The ‘I made x amount in a month’ made me do it.
Medium was on my radar for a while before I actually started to write on it. A good friend and writing partner suggested that I start putting my articles up here. I had already started a blog and was trying to write articles, so she figured she would tell me about it.
She told me that I could make money writing on here, and having been scorned by the ‘you can make money’ crowd in the past I took what she said with a pinch of salt.
I had glanced at the platform, read a few articles and decided that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t give it a chance. I didn’t believe that it could make me money, at least not enough to make it worth my time.
It wasn’t until I stumbled across an article that told me how much it was possible to make in a month that I began to do more research.
Then something changed.
Seeing just how much money it was possible to make, made Medium’s potential, in my eyes, so much greater. The numbers were ridiculous, and I knew I was unlikely to get there. Even a few extra dollars a month would be great for pocket money though.
Knowing what was possible on Medium made excited to write. Every new clap (back when we were paid by claps) made my heart soar! This was a platform where people came to read and write and learn, and it was perfect for me.
It was because of Medium that I started a 30-day challenge, one where I forced myself to publish every day.
This helped me establish a writing habit that I’m still holding up to this day. Granted it’s changed slightly, I’m better organised, and only posting every weekday instead of every day, but those early days on Medium have taken me from writing every now and then, to incorporating writing into the largest part of my work week.
I’m not against advertising salaries on Medium.
Some people find articles that advertise how much money you are making annoying. I find them inspiring! I feel like I learn something new every time I look at an article like that.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that people who make money from writing never just make their writing money from Medium. The people who are really successful diversify.
Looking at their success can help me decide for myself what I want to pursue financially.
These stories aren’t made for the sake of bragging or celebrating. They are there for teaching. Open and honest transparency about what is working in the writing market and what isn’t is vital in today’s day and age!
Websites are filled with ‘get rich quick’ schemes, and passive income plans, but it’s difficult to sort through what works and what doesn’t. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve fallen for something that has cost me time and energy but never paid up.
A lot of the Medium articles have things in common. So if it works for many it should be worth trying out!
Transparency is a good thing.
Not only can advertising what works help new writers figure out what will work for them, but transparency also inspires new writers, to actually start writing.
When I saw the articles advertising their salaries, I didn’t immediately assume I would be making the same amount in a few short months.
It’s not false advertising.
The people making these articles didn’t hide the fact that they had been working for months or years. I knew that it would take a long period of time before anything would come of my writing.
It’s important that when reading these articles, you don’t skim over all of the hard work that people put into making their writing careers make money for them!
Don’t be disheartened.
Different things work for different people if you’re not making the money you want to make now, figure out what you can do to change your monetary situation. Don’t get down and give up because you’re not making the amount you want to!
Like I said earlier, the articles are supposed to be inspiring.
If you search through enough of them, you’ll get clues about how success works for these people and start implementing those practices for yourself!
Looking at success stories help us understand what works and what doesn’t.
These people shouldn’t be shunned for sharing their monetary success. They should be celebrated for it! I know how much time and energy they’ve saved me on money-making schemes in the long run! So get your notebook ready and go study what works and what doesn’t!
As always, I cannot wait to see you on the bookshelf! | https://medium.com/writers-blog/i-joined-medium-to-make-money-5662e70b1213 | ['Beth Van Der Pol'] | 2020-03-19 14:38:15.288000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Writing', 'Articles', 'Finance', 'Monetization'] |
Safety consulting service in Canada | We are expert Consultant in Canada provide health, safety and environmental support, risk .Kingssafety coverage service to you efficiently and keep costs to a minimum. See how our consultancy service can improve the Health and Safety in your business. | https://medium.com/@kingssafety/safety-consulting-service-in-canada-174a29a1ee66 | [] | 2020-12-05 05:17:19.270000+00:00 | ['Safety', 'Safety First', 'Training'] |
Amor e paixão | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/me-ajude-a-crescer/amor-e-paix%C3%A3o-bf296a34cea4 | ['Karan Alves Pereira'] | 2020-12-23 20:58:56.798000+00:00 | ['Amor', 'Paixão', 'Jesus', 'Deus', 'Evangelho'] |
How to build a microservice with AWS Lambda in Groovy | At AgoraPulse, we love to focus on building our applications and pushing new features instead of managing/scaling infrastructure. That’s why our tech stack relies heavily on:
AWS managed services (Elastic Beanstalk, S3, SQS, DynamoDB, Kinesis, etc),
(Elastic Beanstalk, S3, SQS, DynamoDB, Kinesis, etc), Groovy ecosystem (Grails, Gradle, Spock, GPars, etc).
When AWS announced Lambda in November 2014, I got pretty excited but only nodejs/javascript runtime was supported at that time.
AWS Lambda is a compute service that runs your code in response to events and automatically manages the compute resources for you, making it easy to build applications that respond quickly to new information.
In June, AWS finally expanded Lambda programming model to support Java 8 runtime and therefore various JVM languages such as Groovy. Shortly after that, in July, they introduced API Gateway which tightly integrates with AWS Lambda to allow you to create completely server-less APIs.
Amazon API Gateway is a fully managed service that makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale.
Yesterday, I finally took the time to experiment with all of this by building an HelloWorld microservice (nanoservice?) example in Groovy.
Do you remember my post on The evolution of software architecture (italian food perspective)?
In this article, we are going in 100% ravioli mode.
Bon appétit ! | https://medium.com/agorapulse-stories/how-to-build-a-microservice-with-aws-lambda-in-groovy-4f7384c3b804 | ['Benoit Hediard'] | 2020-12-17 10:51:32.992000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Microservices', 'Groovy', 'Tech'] |
The Haves vs Have-nots :Seniors vs Freshman | Writers: Megan Becraft, Shemayah Paige/ Interviewer Matt T.
Photography: Shemayah Paige
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a college athlete? Now imagine you are an 18-year-old freshman stepping onto the field with upper classroom. That seems a little intimidating.
We took a look at how life on the field differs between a freshman and a senior on UW-Parkside’s Ranger baseball team. We wanted to find out whether or not there are difference between on field responsibilities and off the field team morale.
In an interview with UW-Parkside senior Casey Oliver, and UW-Parkside freshman Niko Diaz, we were able to gain better insight into the two lives.
Traditionally, it has been told has been told of a unique history of sports teams throughout the country. More particularly, between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. Throughout the years, there have been numerous stories heard around the country of hazing that has been happening. This could be anything from making these younger people consume a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time, performing various acts, and wear crazy outfits, etc.
There is no hazing on any of UW-Parkside’s athletic teams. But, responsibilities are different on the team depending on your level of education. Freshman carry the athletic equipment (bags, balls, bats, etc.)
Senior Casey Oliver goes into detail on how both seniors and freshman are on the same page. Although they are a few years apart in age, they all have the same goal as a team.
Photo Credit: Shemayah Paige
Casey explains what being a freshman takes. Extra work both on and off the field are key for freshman to succeed, even if that means carrying equipment and spending extra time fixing the field after a practice or game.
https://youtu.be/JzF8FONrdQ4
Freshman Niko Diaz added in on his part of the action. Diaz explained how while being a freshman you have to accept your role both on and off the field.
Diaz talked about how it was the same during high school. Freshman have to take on a bigger role to show they are here to compete and make the team better. Even when that role includes bringing the baseballs to the field everyday.
https://youtu.be/LyzXuEbXXxs
When it comes to the Parkside Rangers regardless of color, creed, or college class. The Parkside Rangers see each others as equals with responsibilities as college student-athletes to uphold. From baseball park management, bag holding, rookie routine duties. To rising up the class rank and taking place in more responsibilities and role of leadership. To uphold the traditions and values of what it means to be a Parkside Ranger. | https://medium.com/@shemayahpaige/the-haves-vs-have-nots-seniors-vs-freshman-f5303af4507 | ['Shemayah Paige'] | 2019-04-12 04:08:01.325000+00:00 | ['College', 'Baseball'] |
The Advice ‘Read a Lot’ Makes Reading Too Hard | The Advice ‘Read a Lot’ Makes Reading Too Hard
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
I’ve read more than 50 books in 2020.
You know what makes me want to quit? The motivation to finish books to brag to you how many books I read this year.
I read “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” yesterday and caught myself motivated by the trophy of having finished the book. That would be fine, I guess, but I had totally zoned out of what I was reading.
What’s the point of having read a book if it’s done from a place of wanting to be finished?
The book is not at all what I expected, and it’s incredible. When I allow myself to sink into the experience of reading the book, I take my time, re-read sentences here and there — suddenly I look up, and it’s 3 hours later. That’s the juice.
You don’t get in that place if you’re following the advice “read a lot,” given by the otherwise excellent advice giver, Naval Ravakant.
It got me thinking — how do you get to that place? It’s one of those all-too-common life paradoxes: How do you get good at anything? Try without trying.
How do you try without trying?
Get Really Specific About Time and Place Triggers
When and where? Those are the most important questions.
In a study, people who were asked when and where they were going to perform a new habit were much more likely to actually perform the new habit.
For me, I read in several ways. Some of the ways are totally automatic, and some are newer habits I want to more fully ingrain. I listen to audiobooks automatically. I love them. Driving, cooking, running, or cleaning? Audiobook. No problem.
I read my Kindle app when I’m waiting. In line, waiting for a friend, or killing 20 min before a meeting? Kindle app. No problem.
Each of these queues is a specific time and place in which I have trained myself, over time, to pull out my books and start reading. I only ever have to read as much as I want. I started with as little as 20 seconds. It didn’t matter as long as I did a little bit every day. Now, I reap the benefits of those slowly built habits. Sometimes I can’t stop!
I want more physical book time. They are more sensory and rewarding than digital reading. But they are harder to fit into my schedule. The solution is to think of a good time and place.
Right after I finish dinner, I usually want to watch TV. That’s a good place to look.
I set my current book near the TV remote. But how do I make an old book more enticing than TV? That’s a tall order.
Read as Little or as Much as You Like
I want to read 80+ books in 2021. That means I will have to spend a lot more time sitting down and reading physical books.
The temptation is to force myself to read for 4 hours a day. From experience, I know that will burn me out in no time.
Instead, I need to read every single day, and that it needs to be at a specific time and place. How much I actually end up reading is not as important.
When I sit down to watch TV after dinner, I’ll see that book. If I was forcing myself to read for hours, it might be a scary sight. Instead, I know that I will get the reward (TV) if I just dip my toe in. Not very scary.
I open the book. I can read just one sentence if I want to. I can keep going if I want to, too. Either way, I get the reward of the TV.
Never punish yourself for starting a new habit. New habits are like baby birds. They need plenty of food (reward) to grow up strong. If you are too hard on them too fast, they will die.
Read What You Really Want To
No one cares if you read Dostoevsky. No one will judge you if you read Harry Potter.
Personal opinion time: They are equally great literature.
Even if they weren’t, you need to read what truly interests you — not what you want to seem like interests you. That convoluted motivation just won’t last!
Read what makes your heart sing. Read daily. Eventually (maybe — who cares?), you will dig into deeper and deeper stuff.
It ain’t a race.
Read How You Want To
In an exchange with Todd Brison, I argue that audiobooks are just as good as physical books.
I appreciate where Todd is coming from, but this is my argument in a nutshell:
If you’re like Todd and love reading physical books and can’t pay attention to audio, don’t listen!
If you’re like me, you might love audiobooks. Don’t let anyone get you down, man.
Audio
Long before we could read dark stains on white sheets of fiber, we told stories around a campfire. We’ve been doing this for 10s of thousands of years.
Audiobooks aren’t exactly the same, but they unlock similar areas of the brain.
That certainly explains their extreme popularity.
Not everyone jives with them. Some people lose focus and have to rewind all the time. If that’s you, no worries! You have 2 other formats.
Physical
The smell. The feel. The trophy. You can’t beat that.
I will never stop reading physical books, no matter how much the other formats capture me. There is just something magical about paper books.
Also, you can take notes. Not only that, but we remember things better when they are rendered in 3D. Suck it, digital.
Digital
Not so fast, romanticism.
Digital might hurt your eyes, disrupt sleep, and not have the romantic feel of physical books. You also can’t (safely) read them while driving.
I recently got the Kindle app, and I have to say, I love it. The ability to highlight passages and find them by search is life-changing. Not to mention the ability to read anywhere. I got my oil changed recently, and I would have been twiddling my thumbs otherwise. Instead, I read the 48 Laws of Power.
The look and feel of the Kindle app is cool, too.
Reward the Hell Out of Reading
No matter what format you are reading, if you want the habit to stick, reward the hell out of it.
Every time I read my physical book next to my TV remote — even for a minute — I consciously reward myself with TV. Or food. It’s a mini celebration!
No amount of reading is too small to celebrate, especially in the beginning. This is a life-long habit you’re building!
It will pay for itself long into the future.
Talk About It With Friends
Talking to my friends about what I am learning is a great habit. There are a few benefits:
Better retention
Good conversations
Solidify my identity as a “reader.”
Extra reward
If you don’t have a habit of talking to your friends about books, go slow at first. Always make sure to say, “I read about this!” and don’t pretend like you thought it up.
Check for signs that you are boring people. Watch for interest! These are all signs of integrating what you have learned into your lifestyle!
There are places designed for these sorts of interactions, by the way. I believe they are called book clubs. Perhaps join one after we finish this whole global pandemic thing?
If you don’t eventually integrate what you learn, what’s the point?
Conclusion
Want to “read a lot?” Here’s how you actually do it:
Specify reading triggers Read as little as you want — daily. Read the stuff you actually want to read. Read the formats you actually enjoy (audio junkies, unite!) Reward the hell out of the smallest improvement Discuss it with friends
Comment with your favorite book format! Let’s start a war! | https://medium.com/the-ascent/the-advice-read-a-lot-makes-reading-too-hard-72c9fd279fe | ['Taylor Foreman'] | 2020-12-23 16:02:25.646000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Motivation', 'Habits', 'Life', 'Reading'] |
Identical types in Go | First case of assignability says:
If right’s type is identical to T then assignment is completely valid.
It may sound so obvious to not be even worth to mention but there are couple of subtle points when it goes to identity of types. A deep dive into this topic can also help out with understanding other related basic concepts from the language.
Type declaration
To create new type name there is a special statement using keyword type:
type A struct{ name string }
type B A type (
C string
D map[string]int
)
Underlying type
Each type in Go has something which is called an underlying type. Universe block contains some predeclared identifiers binding to types like boolean, string or numeric. For each predeclared type T its underlaying type is T (no trap here). For type literals it’s exactly the same:
// Sample type literals var (
a [10]int
b struct{ name string }
c *int
d func(p int) (r int)
e interface {
f(int) int
}
f []int
g map[string]int
h chan<- string
)
Type declarations can be “factored” into blocks to avoid repeating var keyword many times. The same method can be applied to type declarations as shown in the first code snippet.
In other cases underlying type of T is the underlying type of type bind through type declaration:
type X string // underlying type of X is string
type Y X // underlying type of Y is string
type Z [10]int // underlying type of Z is [10]int
(un)named types
Named types are new ones specified using type name, optionally prefixed with package name. Package name is used to access name exported from other package (preceded with proper import statement):
package main import “fmt” type T fmt.Formatter // T and fmt.Formatter are named types
Qualified identifiers (the ones with package name prefix) cannot refer to the current package:
package foo type A struct{ name string } type B foo.A // compiler throws "undefined: foo in foo.A"
Unnamed types use type literals while referring to themselves like f.ex.:
map[string]int
chan<- int
[]float32
Type identity
Having some basic concepts grasped it’s easy to understand when two types in Go are identical or different:
two named types are identical if both are created through the same type declaration:
type (
T1 string
T2 string
)
T1 and T1 are identical. T1 and T2 are different as declared using two separate type declarations (even if factored into single block),
2. named and unnamed types are different (no exceptions),
3. unnamed types are identical if corresponding type literals are the same (details of type literals identity are clearly described in language spec). | https://medium.com/golangspec/identical-types-in-go-9cb89b91fe25 | ['Michał Łowicki'] | 2017-10-29 11:13:03.833000+00:00 | ['Golang', 'Programming', 'Type Systems'] |
Supporting Malawi’s fight to Protect People with Albinism | By Medina Latic, Advocacy and Government Relations Fellow, Amnesty International USA
People tell me they will sell me. Someone said I was worth K6 million (US$10,000). I felt pained that a price tag can be put on me. — a man with albinism talking to Amnesty International in 2016
In some countries having albinism can get you killed.
Albinism is a genetic condition caused by deficits of melanin that results in lighter hair and skin color. In Malawi, prejudice, superstition, and the lack of adequate protection by the government has resulted in people with the condition living in fear for their lives. Superstitious people in the country say albinism is a disease, others say it is a curse caused by infidelity, and others relate it to so-called “ traditional magic”, all of which have made the body parts of people with albinism valuable on the informal illegal market in Malawi. Attacks against people with albinism are so severe that the United Nations estimates about 10,000 of these individuals in Malawi are facing what they call “systematic elimination.”
In a briefing paper released in June, Amnesty International found that “Attacks on people with albinism have spiked in recent years in Malawi. […] At least 18 people have been murdered and another five have disappeared since November 2014. Over this same period, we have recorded 107 crimes against people with albinism, including attempted kidnappings and the desecration of graves in search of bones.” Toddlers are being abducted from their homes, teens kidnapped from sports games, and women mutilated as they travel through their own village. Those with albinism are even targeted by family members who follow the superstitions.
Efforts to help people with albinism have been increasing, but they need more support. Groups like the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi are taking on the formidable task of educating the general public about the need to stop to attacks and protect people with albinism while also pressing the Malawian government to meet it obligations to protect people with the condition.
In March of 2017, the President of Malawi released a statement condemning the attacks on citizens with albinism and urged the police to move forward with arrests. It is time for the president to follow through and ensure proper training for police in investigating and handling crimes against people with albinism and prosecute those suspected of being involved. The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi says it is aware of 148 registered abuses committed against people with albinism, including 22 murders. In addition to the need for more resources, the biggest challenge remains the absence of political will to bring perpetrators of the abuses to justice. Another obstacle is that human rights defenders who are working on these cases are receiving threats to stop working these cases.
The United States and the international community can make a difference by supporting groups like the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi and others, working with the Malawian government to bring persons responsible for abuses against people with albinism to justice, and supporting educational efforts and initiatives to raise awareness. It is estimated that about 7,000–10,000 people in Malawi alone live with albinism. They should not have to wake up each day and wonder if it is going to be their last. | https://amnestyusa.medium.com/supporting-malawis-fight-to-protect-people-with-albinism-eeb62036404 | ['Amnesty International Usa'] | 2018-10-10 15:18:14.070000+00:00 | ['Albinism', 'Malawi', 'Human Rights'] |
Deploy and Operate a Redis Cluster in Kubernetes | Why Redis Cluster?
Redis is an open source in-memory data structure store. It can be used as a distributed key-value database, cache and message broker. We use Redis primarily for caching and light-weight messaging between distributed components using its pubsub channels.
To make sure it runs reliably in production, it needs to be configured with the HA setup . It typically has two HA configurations:
Redis Sentinel
The sentinel configuration has one master node, and multiple slave nodes replicating data from the master. The master node will handle write traffic, and all nodes can serve read traffic. Master node will be re-elected if the original master node is down. If your application’s caching memory requirements exceed system memory or is write heavy which need multiple nodes to maintain the write performance levels, Redis Cluster is where you should be looking.
2. Redis Cluster
Redis Cluster is configured to spread data across a given number of Redis instances. Data will be partitioned by the key, each data partition has a master node and a configured number of slaved nodes with the replicated data from the partition. Below is the high-level architecture diagram of a 3-master, 3-slave redis cluster.
In this article, we will be talking about how to provision and operate a Redis cluster in Kubernetes, as it will be the desired configuration for our use case.
Why not GCP MemoryStore/Redis?
We run our software stack in GCP, it should be a natural choice to use GCP managed Redis. But the GCP MemoryStore/Redis option has some significant limitations:
Only versions up to 5.0 is available
Only the active/standby HA setup is available, no clustering option.
The latest 6.0 Redis release has significant performance improvement in supporting multi-threaded IO. And we would prefer to use the Redis Cluster configuration in production. Therefore we choose to provision and maintain our own Redis cluster in Kubernetes. The cluster use small amount of memory (up to 6GB altogether) at it is light on CPU in our use case. We ended up deploying a version 6.0.x Redis cluster into our existing K8S cluster without incurring additional hardware cost.
Deploy Redis Cluster in Kubernetes
Assume you have helm chart client installed on your dev box and your K8S client has correctly configured to point to the target K8S cluster. You can run the following commands to deploy a Redis cluster in K8S redis namespace using the Bitnami helm chart with the vanilla configurations.
helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami helm install -n redis staging bitnami/redis-cluster
After the deployment, you should see all the Redis cluster components in the GKE console in the following screenshot . We will cover the customization of the helm chart values.yaml later.
Remember that the helm chart deployment will generate a random password for the Redis cluster. You can retrieve the password through the command line:
export REDIS_PASSWORD=$(kubectl get secret --namespace redis staging-redis-cluster -o jsonpath="{.data.redis-password}" | base64 --decode)
Customize values.yaml
Why customization? Because the default Redis cluster helm chart configurations might not be optimal for your use case.
Make a local copy of values.yaml from https://github.com/bitnami/charts/blob/master/bitnami/redis-cluster/values.yaml. You can modify the content in values.yaml and apply the config changes to the Redis cluster by running:
helm upgrade -n redis -f values.yaml staging
There are a lot of configurations can be customized in values.yaml . Below is the simple example of increasing the default # of nodes from 3 to 6 in the Redis cluster.
## Redis Cluster settings
cluster:
init: true
nodes: 6
replicas: 1
Access Redis Cluster through Redisinsight
Although some people are perfectly happy and productive to use redis-cli command line util to interact with the Redis cluster. I’ve found it more intuitive and productive to use the Web UI to achieve the same. There are a few open source web UIs available, but we have opted to use the redisinsight developed by RedisLab. The web UI can be deployed into K8S as a Deployment . Below is the slightly modified version from what’s provided from RedisLab official document. The main difference is that a PVC (persistent volume claim) has been added, so that the configurations won’t be lost due to restart:
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
name: redisinsight-pv-claim
labels:
app: redisinsight
namespace: redis
spec:
accessModes:
- ReadWriteOnce
resources:
requests:
storage: 1Gi
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: redisinsight
namespace: redis
labels:
app: redisinsight
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: redisinsight
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: redisinsight
spec:
containers:
- name: redisinsight
image: redislabs/redisinsight:1.9.0
imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
securityContext:
runAsUser: 0
volumeMounts:
- name: db
mountPath: /db
ports:
- containerPort: 8001
protocol: TCP
volumes:
- name: db
persistentVolumeClaim:
claimName: redisinsight-pv-claim
Save the above YAML into redisinsight.yaml , deploy it into the K8S by running:
kubectl apply -f redisinsight.yaml
After the completion of the deployment, run the port forwarding:
kubectl port-forward deployment/redisinsight -n redis 8001
Then you can access the redisinsight web UI by opening http://localhost:8001 in your web browser. You can click on Connect to a Redis Database button in the UI, the following popup window will show up:
The Host IP will be the redis cluster service’s IP value available in the K8S console. Port is the default redis port of 6379 . Username default value is default . Name could be any name of your choice. Password need to be retrieved from the config map through kubectl command line as described in the previous section. After clicking on the ADD REDIS DATABASE button, it will prompt you to choose all or any one of the Redis cluster members as the seed node to connect to the cluster. You can choose all or any one of them. Once the connection configuration is done, you should be able to access a nice featured, fully functional web UI to view and manage the Redis cluster you’ve just installed.
As you can see in the above screen shot, there are 3 master and 3 slave nodes in the Redis cluster we have just provisioned. It also shows how many keys in each partition and how much memory is being used.
Automate Cluster Upgrade using CircleCI
Since we have committed the values.yaml for the Redis cluster in a github repository, we would like to automate the cluster upgrade through a CI/CD tool to avoid error-prone manual operations upon changes including:
New Redis image containing bug fixes or feature enhancement
New cluster configurations
We are using CircleCI as we have been using it to automate interactions with K8S clusters since the very beginning. Both image name and other configuration updates will result in a modification in the values.yaml file being merged in the master branch. And it will trigger the CircleCI to initiate a new deployment workflow:
In the above screenshot, we see a new workflow with Approval steps for staging and production environment to upgrade the corresponding Redis clusters.
Enable DataDog Monitoring
You will need to have the DataDog DaemonSet Agent installed in the target K8S cluster and have Redis Integration enabled in the DataDog console. Add the following pod annotation specific to DataDog monitoring in the values.yaml and redeploy through helm upgrade command as mentioned above:
podAnnotations:
ad.datadoghq.com/redis.check_names: '["redisdb"]'
ad.datadoghq.com/redis.init_configs: '[{}]'
ad.datadoghq.com/redis.instances: '[{"host":"%%host%%", "port":"6379", "password":"%%env_REDIS_PASSWORD%%"}]'
Phantom Node IP upon Restart Issue
A few times after the Redis cluster restarted for maintenance, the cluster getting into a weird state. The redisinsight UI is having issue connecting to the cluster. It seems some node IP in the cluster is not accessible at all and causing random connection issue for the Redis client applications. And it looks like it’s a known problem as described in issue 4645. The stale IP is the old IP of one of the redis node before the restart. Created a local patch to the redis node startup command in redis-statefulset.yaml in the helm chart solved the issue:
args:
# ......
local_pod_ip=$(hostname -i)
sed -i -e '/myself/ s/[0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,3\}\.[0-9]\{1,4\}:/'${local_pod_ip}':/g' /bitnami/redis/data/nodes.conf # Actual command to start the Redis service
/opt/bitnami/scripts/redis-cluster/entrypoint.sh /opt/bitnami/scripts/redis-cluster/run.sh
The sed command was added to replace the IP in nodes.conf with the up-to-date local pod IP to make sure the the obsolete old IP is wiped out consistently.
After this change this issue did not come back again.
Redis Client Connection Issue upon Cluster Restart
The Redis client applications are using the Redis cluster’s service IP to connect to the cluster. The client application is a Java application which uses Redisson java client library to talk to the cluster. It looks like the client library use the service IP as the seed and get the IPs for all the nodes in the Redis cluster. After the completion of the initialization, the client will use individual node’s IP instead of the fronting service IP for further communication. If the Redis cluster has been restarted due to upgrade or other maintenance operations, the redis nodes in the cluster will be running on new IPs even though its service IP remains the same. The client applications end up holding connections with the old IP and running into redis connection errors.
To recover from this type of issues, we have added logic in the client applications to do the following when encountering Redis connection errors:
Reinitialize the Redis cluster connection through the service IP
Retry the failed Redis operations with specified retry count and interval
Emit the Redis connection errors as custom metrics to DataDog
After these changes, we were able to know when these error happens, and whether it’s a lasting issue or not. So far, we have seen these as transient, and the system quickly recovered from these type of errors.
Any other issues you have seen with Redis cluster running in K8S environment? I would love to hear and learn from you. | https://medium.com/@marklu-sf/deploy-and-operate-a-redis-cluster-in-kubernetes-94fde7853001 | ['Mark Lu'] | 2021-03-08 05:51:08.360000+00:00 | ['Gcp', 'Circleci', 'Ci Cd Pipeline', 'Kubernetes', 'Redis'] |
Organic Vs. Conventional: Is Organic Food Actually Healthy For You? | People nowadays are becoming more health-conscious regarding the sorts of meals they inserted into their bodies. Each year there is a constant increase in the figure of people who turn from buying and consuming conventional store-bought food to organically produced or raised fruit and vegetables and plant based meat products. The organic vs. conventional discussion has been running on for some time. This article will primarily research what the term “organic” actually means and then go over both the pros and cons of conventional food and the optional organic complement in terms of health, cost, and impact on the atmosphere.
With concerns about organic vs. conventional farming of fruits and vegetables, there are numerous variations in how that part of fruit takes from the farm to the produce aisle. Chemical manure is not applied in organic farming; alternatively, farmers use natural orders such as combining compost and manure to enhance the soil. Another variation is that organic farmers eliminate weeds manually and withdraw pests by selectively classifying crops or using non-harmful bugs to rid the farm of pests. On the additional hand, conventional farmers sprinkle insecticides and pesticides on their crops.
Read More Deeply Here: Organic Foods vs Regular Conventional Food: What is the Difference?
In animal farming, organic farmers do not inject hormones also medications within their poultry or other animals. For instance, organic chickens are usually labeled as “free-range chicken” which indicates they are allowed to roam. However, the standards for organic farming are not concrete. They can be allowed outside for most of the day or they can have a restricted volume of time to loosely roam. Because the only want to obtain a “free-range” certification is to have entrance to the outside, large farmers may not go ahead that restricted time. Organically raised animals may not be allowed in free space for a huge stretch of time as most people assume.
The “DAWE Organic” label means that 95% of the product’s components are organic. Products can also be listed as 100% organic when the DAWE standards are met. If the label declares, “made with organic ingredients”, this means that 70% of the components were organically generated.
According to the specialists in nutrition, there still is not sufficient proof from investigation to back the claim that when choosing organic vs. conventional, all types of organic food will constantly have a higher nutritional value. One research by Newcastle University in England discovered that organic milk had more robust omega-3s, antioxidants, and vitamins than conventional non-organic milk.
One of the primary concerns stopping many customers from choosing between organic vs. conventional is the huge amount of organic products. The more work that goes into agriculture and animal farming as well as the huge cost of composts and fertilizer is what makes organic food more costly. Sometimes it can be as much as 50% costlier in price.
The impact of all the artificial herbicides and pesticides can be both negative on your wellness and the atmosphere. These drugs can destroy regional wildlife. Conventional farmers apply all the land that ultimately depletes the soil of nutrients over time. Organic farming saves natural resources and is more beneficial for the ecosystem overall.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, you understand that basic difference in organic vs conventional food. What is better for you and your children and the ecosystem? Yes, organic food is too costly rather than conventional food but conventional food harms your body and atmosphere, another side of organic food helps you to boost your immune system, help to prevent serious diseases in your body, and more beneficial for the atmosphere. But where can you buy organic food in Melbourne Australia at reasonable prices? Your answer is Natures Cart is the finest choice for organic fruit and vegetables, fresh fruit and veg boxes, organic bakery delivery, plant based burger, buy organic groceries, and many more food products we deliver to your doorstep around the Melbourne city.
Read More: Organic Foods Have Higher Nutrient Values | https://medium.com/@welleating/organic-vs-conventional-is-organic-food-actually-healthy-for-you-2d77b1344c7c | ['Ankit Smith'] | 2020-11-16 07:23:39.491000+00:00 | ['Healthy', 'Organic', 'Healthy Eating', 'Food', 'Health Foods'] |
Launching at the End of a Sprint | For the last few years, we’ve been doubling down on our sprint-based approach to software engineering. Unfortunately, one trend hasn’t seemed to change. When we say ‘development ends’, clients seem to hear ‘the product is ready to launch’.
There should always be a buffer between when software engineering completes development and when customers are invited to partake. Ideally, this gap is measured in weeks, not days or hours. There should be time for documentation, support, training, and communication. When the last line of code is freshly written, it’s unlikely those elements are ready for public consumption.
Assuming the sprint involved engineers actually writing code, the software product needs to be tested. There’s a myriad of other services and configurations required to ‘get off the ground’. To name a few:
System Emails need to be configured
Code and database changes deployed to the production environment
Custom domain setup and propagated
Your product has been tested and proven capable of holding up
Promising the product to customers and clients on the last day of a sprint puts everyone on edge. Not only does it leave zero room for error but further stresses an already complex process.
Apart from the more ‘technical’ issues that need to be set up and checked, there are a number of non-technical checks that need to be made:
Your customer support team will need to be hired and fully trained
Everyone in the company — executives, marketing, customer support, development, etc. — will need to be made aware of the launch and ready to field questions or requests from customers
You’ll need yo create your plan to track user behavior and make sure the metrics you track are most important for your team
The last day of a sprint cannot be the first day of product launch. | https://medium.com/polar-notion/launching-at-the-end-of-a-sprint-36f5f53fdb93 | ['Morgan J. Lopes'] | 2019-08-01 18:56:01.081000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Agile Methodology', 'Software', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Stem Cells 101 🔬 | Stem Cells 101 🔬
When we were young, we were open to literally every career choice there is on the planet. Doctor, engineer, waterslide tester, you name it. As we grew older, we started to narrow out our career options and be more specific with what we want to be, and these options were influenced by the environment they live in.
The same goes for stem cells, cells with the ability to self-renew (make more copies of themselves) and differentiate (change into other cell types). Perplexed? It’s okay because we are about to dive into all things everything STEM CELLS!
Young cell? Well, not exactly.
Essentially, stem cells are just unspecialized cells that have the potential to develop into other specialized cell types like muscle cells, nerve cells and many others. They don’t really have a specific function; they just chill and multiply till the time has come to specialize.
Then, why do we even have stem cells?
Stem cells have great potential in the field of medical research but let’s see what role they actually play in our body.
Replacing specialized cells : Our body is constantly losing cells, but have you ever wondered why it never runs out? Well, you’ll have to thank stem cells for that! Stem cells, with the help of external and internal signals, transform into specialized cells and replaces damaged or dead cells.
: Our body is constantly losing cells, but have you ever wondered why it never runs out? Well, you’ll have to thank stem cells for that! Stem cells, with the help of external and internal signals, transform into specialized cells and replaces damaged or dead cells. Producing new cells for the body as it grows: Even if we supposed that we aren’t losing cells, we can’t deny that our body is growing! To grow, we obviously need more cells and that’s where stem cells come in. Their ability to differentiate and make copies of themselves really does come in handy for this.
Where though?
Hmm… Stem cells are cool and all but where do they even come from?
Here are the all-time favourite spots of these fascinating cells (depending on the type!)!
Embryonic stem cells (Image from Pixabay)
Embryonic Stem Cells : These stem cells are found in the blastocyst stage of a human embryo. Think of the blastocyst stage as a ‘hollow ball’ of cells. It contains some cells on the interior known as the inner cell mass (ICM), which eventually gives rise to the development of the foetus. The cells of ICM are embryonic stem cells and it can develop into almost all cell types.
: These stem cells are found in the stage of a human embryo. Think of the blastocyst stage as a ‘hollow ball’ of cells. It contains some cells on the interior known as the (ICM), which eventually gives rise to the development of the foetus. The cells of ICM are embryonic stem cells and it can develop into almost all cell types. Somatic Stem Cells (Tissue-specific stem cells): Our body has ALOT of stem cells, and these stem cells that are found throughout the body are known as somatic stem cells. They can develop into a limited number of cell types.
A ‘lil bit about Potency!
Remember how I mentioned about stem cells’ ability to change into other cell types? Well, the extent of this ability to differentiate varies in different cells and we can call this the cell’s potency.
On the basis of potency, we can divide stem cells into the following:
Totipotent (AKA Omnipotent) Stem Cells : These types have the highest potency → they can turn into ANY of the 220 cell types in the entire body, including placental cells 😮 An example of this is the zygote, the product of the fusion of the egg and sperm cell.
: These types have the highest potency → they can turn into ANY of the 220 cell types in the entire body, including placental cells 😮 An example of this is the zygote, the product of the fusion of the egg and sperm cell. Pluripotent Stem Cells : These types can turn into any cell in the body EXCEPT the placental cells. An example of this is embryonic stem cells.
: These types can turn into any cell in the body EXCEPT the placental cells. An example of this is embryonic stem cells. Multipotent Stem Cells (AKA adult stem cells!): These types can turn into a limited number of cells. For example, haematopoietic stem cells can only turn into cells found in the blood.
How would you react to the idea of inducing specialized cells to become PLURIPOTENT stem cells? Sounds crazy, right? Well, to know if it is fantasy or not, you are going to have to check out the next section! 😉
Spoiler: It is possible, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (and to enjoy history).
You read that right, it is possible! Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) are specialized cells that have been reprogrammed back (wild, I know) to a pluripotent state. iPSCs opened a new door to stem cell research and completely changed how we thought of mature cells.
I’m not the biggest fan of history but here is the history of iPSCs for your information!
A history class from your favourite professor!
In 2006, Shinya Yamanaka produced the first-ever iPSCs from mouse embryonic fibroblasts 🐁 by inserting four specific genes into its nuclei. The following year, Yamanaka announced his success in deriving the first ever iPSCs from HUMAN 👨 fibroblasts. This news came as a pleasant surprise for everyone because this meant that we could obtain stem cells without the controversial use of human embryos, which was mostly looked down upon for ethical reasons. Yamanaka went on to receive the Nobel Prize of Medicine in 2012 and other major awards.
Now I know what’s running through your mind, ‘This seems cool but… why do it in the first place?’ iPSCs could have numerous benefits and uses for us humans, some of which are listed below:
Regenerative medicine 💉: Regenerative medicine is the science of restoring damaged tissues and organs using stem cells. It is otherwise known as stem cell therapy.
💉: Regenerative medicine is the science of restoring damaged tissues and organs using stem cells. It is otherwise known as stem cell therapy. Research 🔬: With iPSCs, scientists can study how a disease unfolds and sometimes, they model these diseases in the lab to get a better understanding. This could play a major role in discovering the cure for major diseases!
🔬: With iPSCs, scientists can study how a disease unfolds and sometimes, they model these diseases in the lab to get a better understanding. This could play a major role in discovering the cure for major diseases! Ethical edge over embryonic stem cells 👼: The usage of embryonic stem cells is a very controversial topic due to its ethical considerations. iPSCs are here to change all of that since they aren’t obtained from an unborn baby. This gives them an ‘ethical edge’ over the previously-used embryonic stem cells!
👼: The usage of embryonic stem cells is a very controversial topic due to its ethical considerations. iPSCs are here to change all of that since they aren’t obtained from an unborn baby. This gives them an ‘ethical edge’ over the previously-used embryonic stem cells! Avoidance of immune rejection 🏥 : Since iPSCs can be derived from the patient’s own body, there is little chance of immune rejection, which makes it better for stem cell therapy.
Induced Totipotent Stem Cells?
When I was reading about iPSCs and their immense possibilities, a question that kept running in my mind was about totipotent stem cells. Since iPSCs have a lot of benefits due to their potency, why couldn’t we do the same to induce totipotent stem cells? After all, they had a greater level of potency, enabling us to create even more disruptive innovation.
Well, the cool part is that though they are not here yet, stuff is happening in the labs! Know it all from some articles, check them out 👇 | https://medium.com/@sayyidaraniahashim/stem-cells-101-c3450d8c9857 | ['Sayyida Hashim'] | 2020-12-07 16:48:57.329000+00:00 | ['Women in STEM', 'Stem Cells', 'Stem Cell Research', 'Stem Cell Therapy', 'STEM'] |
Dark Side Of a Reddit Murder Confession | Dark Side Of a Reddit Murder Confession
A Reddit Confession Nearly Solved a 28-year-old Cold Case
It was 6th August, Saturday, the last day for Coverdell elementary school pupils. The day was a bit dark. Clouds have covered the sky. Scott came home from his school, changed his clothes, and went to play outside around 4 pm. St. Charles has had a neighborhood full of kids, approximately 100.
Scott was wearing a black t-shirt that said “Rude Dog,” khaki pants, and red and black high-top sneakers. Scott’s blue eyes and brown hair gave him a remarkable personality as a 9-year-old.
His elder sister saw Scott at approximately 5:00 pm in his hometown of St. Charles, Missouri. He had left his home on Leverenz Drive and was walking down towards West at the time.
Suddenly around 6:00 pm, St. Charles got affected by a massive storm. It was late, and Scott didn’t return home. At home, everybody thought that Scott would be in the neighborhood at one of his friend’s houses. They knocked on every door but didn’t hear what they wanted to. None of his friends has seen him. It was 6th August 1988, and Scott was never seen again.
Bloodhounds tracked Scott’s scent for about five miles northeast, then lost the trail. It was believed that the storm could have weakened his smell.
Authorities searched numerous human-made tunnels and caves in the area and also dredged streams to locate Scott. Some people believe he drowned in a flash flood that affected the region after the massive storm, but authorities and his family members believe he was abducted.
Missingkids.org
Authorities tried to find some parties of interest for the abduction but could not link them to the crime. Initially, they suspected a man named Michael J. Devlin. He was linked to some other missing child cases and formed a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate this theory. In October 2007, 20 years later, the task force dissolved, as it could not find any evidence that linked Devlin to Scott's disappearances.
The case fell cold until…
In 2016 a comment on the subreddit blew up. The post was, ‘To those who have accidentally killed someone, what went wrong?’ This Reddit thread got over 6800 upvotes and over 10.1k comments. But the comment that caught everyone’s attention was from a deleted Reddit user.
He commented this on the post, “This still haunts me to this day. As kids, we had a hideout in this dirt cliff/cove … There was a neighborhood kid who, in hindsight, was probably mentally handicapped in some way, but to us, he was just the weird/creepy kid (this was the eighties, and we weren’t exactly raised politically correct). Three of us were headed to our base and found a creepy kid sitting at the top in our ‘guard chair.’ We yelled at him to get out, and he said something like ‘make me’ and started lobbing dirt clods and sticks down at us. We all ran around the side to make our way up. It gets pretty fuzzy here, but all I remember is he fell. I still remember the sound. When we got back down to check on him, he was in a very awkward position with blood coming out of his mouth. We all just freaked out and ran home, and as far as I know, no one has spoken a word of this to anyone. We didn’t go back for over a month and never said a word of it between us. Again, this was the eighties, so media wasn’t like today. Chances are it got a small article in the newspaper B-section: ‘missing mentally disabled child found dead after fall’ or something like that.” and this photo was attached to the post.
Author: Reddit.com
In the above comment, he wrote, “It gets pretty fuzzy here,” does this mean someone had pushed him? People started to suspect.
Within an hour, another Reddit user commented, are you talking about “Scott Kleeschulte’s Case from Missouri.” Internet being the internet, other users started digging his profile and older posts he had commented to, trying to find out a clue about his location and to find if it is a legit comment or someone trying to get attention. Within a few minutes, someone found a comment in which he has mentioned a T.V show which was only aired in St. Charles, where the incident took place.
Author: Reddit
As soon as things started getting a bit serious, the user has deleted the account.
Maybe someone did this to get some attention and earn some Reddit Points(Which you get when your post receives a lot of upvotes and comments). This theory was soon dismissed as his previous posts were quite reasonable and never seemed trying to get any attention. If he just wanted to get attention, he would have done it again and again.
Also, things start to make sense here. Scott went out to play. He was seen wandering off and going towards the hills down towards West, which was half-a-mile away from the place where he was last seen and a mile away from his home. He was at the mountain, and these boys came, and this accident happened. As soon as this activity took place, St. Charles got hit by a massive storm and a landslide, which may have covered Scott’s body over.
A user was able to find out the age of the confessor from one of his previous posts, and it came out to be 39, which made him 11 years old at the time of this incident.
As the account got deleted, there was not any way to link this Redditor(the confessor), who commented on the post.
But, if this story was true, how bloodhounds were able to track Scott’s scent for about five miles northeast, which contradicts the Redditor’s story. We cant check the viability of a comment on the internet.
There can be two possibilities about this case-
Someone came across the St.Charles project case and decided to bring that up just for fun, get attention and earn some Reddit points, and things started to get out of hand and deleted the account or He was telling the truth.
Scott’s parents still live in the house they resided in when he disappeared, and they hope for closure in his case. His disappearance still remains a mystery… | https://medium.com/crimebeat/dark-side-of-a-reddit-confession-daff58d27e39 | ['Ayush Jain'] | 2020-11-26 06:52:03.888000+00:00 | ['Mystery', 'True Story', 'True Crime', 'Crime', 'History'] |
Grey, Blue, Green, Turquoise — The Colors of Hydrogen | The pathways to green hydrogen production
Same same but different…Although hydrogen is always hydrogen (the same structure and characteristics), the input materials and the process technology, determines, whether H2 is a sustainable energy carrier or not.
As an element, hydrogen combines with every other element in the periodic table apart from the nonmetals group (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn). That is why, technically, pure hydrogen can be derived from a huge variety of molecules through various chemical reactions.
Up to now, only 2 processes have proven to be somewhat economically suitable for industrial-scale hydrogen production: electrolysis & thermochemical conversion. The most promising future addition in regards to sustainability will most likely be the biochemical pathway. So where do the colors come into play? The answer is, that the color is linked to the process used to generate hydrogen, therefore it is ultimately related to the environmental impact of hydrogen production. | https://medium.com/delphidata/colors-of-hydrogen-9a7c3090abd7 | ['Lukas Strohmeier'] | 2020-12-10 22:27:47.443000+00:00 | ['Renewable Energy', 'Hydrogen', 'Renewables', 'Algae'] |
An invitation to be a part of Literary Impulse — a literary magazine | An invitation to be a part of Literary Impulse — a literary magazine
For its inaugural edition. Inviting poems, stories and creative non-fiction.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us,” Tolkien says through Gandalf. And we thought starting a literary space like this would a good way to do something with the time we have.
So, with due humbleness, we hereby invite you to be a part of Literary Impulse’s journey, a new entrant into the world of Medium Publications. A few rules that we will follow are —
It is a literary magazine. We love literature. And for literature, we are here. We will publish a total of 10 pieces every fortnight.
5 poems
2 very short stories (3000 words)
2 creative non-fiction essays (<2000 words)
1 review — of a book, or art piece, or even a poem (<2000 words) If we get enough entries, the first edition will come out on 3rd May, or then we will wait for the next Sunday. No listicles. Nor self-help articles. No motivational essays. We don’t care if the writers are enrolled in the Medium Partner program. Submissions open all around. Please check the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES page for details. Once you share your desire to join us, and we add you, you can share as many entries as you want.
“What is wonderful about great literature is that it transforms the man who reads it towards the condition of the man who wrote.” E M Foster.
Since it is a new publication, we are also looking for Editors. For that email at [email protected]. And we will take it from there. For now, Nachi Keta and Priyanka Srivastava are editors.
But, remember that if you are an editor, none of your pieces shall be published on LI.
We are tagging some of you. Please comment on the Submission page and let us know of your willingness. Ask your queries, if you have any, here.
If you know a fellow writer whom you think shall be a great addition to a “literary venture” such as LI, please tag him using the comment thread of this Story.
One of the Lost Generation stars, F. Scott Fitzgerald, once said, “that is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” We are looking for those souls with whom we can share that feeling of belonging.
We invite
Thank you and Best of luck. Don’t forget to tag people in comments, if you feel like this is a good thing. Let’s see how this “experiment” fairs. | https://medium.com/literary-impulse/an-invitation-to-be-a-part-of-literary-impulse-a-literary-magazine-d7be2abdc25a | ['Editorial Literary Impulse'] | 2020-05-18 13:17:36.911000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Poetry', 'Literature', 'Writing', 'Writing Tips'] |
The Content Marketer’s Dilemma: Educate, Entertain, or Sell? | Everyone in your company wants to get something different out of content creation.
SEO specialist: Better rankings, backlinks, and more traffic.
Social media marketer: More likes, shares, and comments.
Public relations director: Lots of press coverage and brand awareness.
Sales reps: More qualified leads with contact information.
The boss: Just wants to know how it’s going to affect the bottom line.
Meantime, the content marketer wishes she could just sit back at her computer and create cool stuff instead of worrying so much about trying to make everyone happy.
First, let’s get one thing straight. You should be creating content for your target audience, not for the people on your marketing team. However, there are still decisions to make concerning what kind of content you should develop.
So, does the best content marketing educate people who have questions, entertain an audience, or sell products and services to prospects? The answer … is yes.
Content Marketing’s “Special Purpose”
You’ll find some people, even marketing experts, who say you shouldn’t use content marketing campaigns to sell. They believe people are sick and tired of being sold to and content creation only works when you are using it for the purest of purposes. How dare you even think of asking people to buy something!
In an article for Forbes, marketing director Brian Sutter advises content marketers, “teach, don’t sell.”
“It’s OK to use your logo on content, but don’t mention how to buy anything. Ideally, don’t even mention what products or services you offer. The best content marketing is sales agnostic, yet it can still get the sale.”
I understand where he’s coming from. But, I think he’s got the wrong idea.
Content marketing is a means to an end, it’s not the end itself. That’s to say you shouldn’t be creating content for content’s sake. The reason you write articles, produce videos, design infographics, and engage with people on social media is because you have something to sell.
Selling is the end that justifies the means. That’s content marketing’s special purpose.
The point people like Brian Sutter are trying to make is that your content should avoid being overly promotional. It’s the pushy, in-your-face junk that turns your audience off.
But, that’s not how you sell — at least not effectively. Talk to the best salespeople you know or tag along when they meet a client. Do they immediately start spouting off product features and talk about special discounts or limited-time offers? No way!
Selling almost always takes time. A good sales rep knows the importance of building relationships.
They take the time to educate prospects by answering questions and providing helpful solutions. They take people out for coffee or cocktails and pick up the bill. They hang out on the golf course and spend time entertaining. They talk about sports, movies, family, and the weather just as much as they talk business. The best sales reps know a lot of details about their clients’ lives so they can relate to them on a personal level.
Both real-world selling and online content marketing require relationship building, which fosters trust. Both take time, involve just as much listening as talking, and ultimately require you to be persuasive.
That’s really what content marketing boils down to. It doesn’t matter how entertaining you are or how much you teach a prospect, if you aren’t making inroads towards persuading people to choose your company, you’re doing it wrong.
Have you ever watched a great TV commercial that made you laugh or cry? Then, 15 minutes later you can’t even remember what the commercial was for. That may have been good storytelling, but it was bad marketing. You want your target audience to consume your content and, even if you’re months away from making a sale, you want those people to remember where the content came from. So, when it is time to make purchasing decision, your business is where they turn first.
The 80/20 Rule and Your Content Marketing Mix
Content marketing should be working in the background to drive new business and generate sales, but we still need to establish whether you should focus on educating your target audience with useful content or generating a buzz with attention-grabbing, entertaining content.
Plus, how far should you go to promote your products and services, and when is the right time to ask for the sale?
A good rule of thumb to follow with content creation is the 80/20 rule. At least 80 percent of a piece of content should provide value to your target audience, and no more than 20 percent of it should be promotional. By promotional, I mean any portion of the content in which you talk about your company. That includes talking about deals, products, and services as well as mentioning things like company news, charitable giving, and community involvement.
There’s a time and place for direct response marketing in which you try to drive immediate action, and there will be PR opportunities when you’ll want to focus on letting the media and the public know what’s going on with your company.
However, most content marketing that belongs in the categories of owned media and shared media should strike that 80/20 balance. Too much promoting and people will quickly get annoyed. Too much PR and you could look boastful.
One of the biggest mistakes in content marketing is making it all about your company. It’s not. It should be about your audience: their needs, fears, motivations, and dreams. If you’re thinking too much about what the marketing team or your boss will think, your efforts will likely fall flat.
The Path to Purchase Strategy
In order to create effective content for your audience, you need to understand them. That’s why a crucial part of Element’s content marketing strategy is learning about our clients’ customers and their paths to purchase, which are the “journeys” people go on as they make a purchasing decision.
There are five steps along a path to purchase:
Needs Awareness — realizing they have a problem to solve or a desire to meet. Research — exploring possible solutions and educating themselves. Consideration and Comparison — checking out options and assessing the competition. Procurement — making the actual purchase decision. Loyalty — becoming a repeat customer who helps spread the word.
Different types of content can serve a certain purpose along each of these five steps.
Content that entertains will be useful at the beginning of the path to purchase. You may need to make your target audience aware you exist, and capturing their attention with something fun and engaging is often the right strategy. Keep in mind, entertaining content should still sell. You need to think about customer pain points and the emotions they’re experiencing and then deliver solutions in an interesting and amusing way.
When prospects are in the Research or Consideration and Comparison steps of their paths to purchase, it’s a good time to deliver educational content. They have specific questions you can answer and concerns you can address. However, even though you’re using content to teach, it shouldn’t be boring. Educational content can be entertaining, too.
As people enter the Procurement step in the path to purchase, they’re referring back to all the experiences they’ve had with you up until that point. Obviously, this is the right time to ask for the sale, and it’s when paid media with a direct response strategy can be very effective. If your content has done its job, you’re going to have a much better chance of closing.
Entertaining content can come back into play during the Loyalty step. Your customers will be most likely to share content they think their friends and followers will find interesting. They’ll also appreciate the opportunity to share educational content that makes them look smart and helpful. The goal should be reminding customers why they did business with you in the first place. You want them to be thinking “people like me do business with companies like this.”
Speaking of goals … every piece of content you create should have one.
What do you want the customer to do after they encounter that content? Sure, you want entertaining content to amuse them and you want educational content to teach them something, but there should also be a specific action you’re encouraging them to take.
That’s why everything you develop should include a call to action (CTA). It doesn’t have to be “Buy Now!” Instead, it should be defined by where your prospects are on the path to purchase, helping them move toward Procurement and Loyalty.
Timing is everything when it comes to crafting an effective CTA. You could encourage them to research other content on your website. Move them from your blog to category or product pages. It could be the right time to ask them to sign up for an email newsletter, or download a piece of premium content such as an in-depth eBook. They may have more questions and want to contact someone at your company. Make it easy for them to do so!
Content marketing can be powerful. Yet, without a strategy, it could end up being a waste of time and resources. That’s why you see so many companies with abandoned blogs, empty online newsrooms, and dormant social channels. They give up.
At Element, we have a team of marketing experts who understand the importance of developing a content marketing strategy that sells. Get help maximizing your efforts. Contact our Northeast Wisconsin agency today and let’s start making a plan. | https://medium.com/goelement/the-content-marketers-dilemma-educate-entertain-or-sell-54df72f082e3 | ['Element Creative'] | 2017-07-13 18:18:42.379000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'Public Relations', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Digital Marketing'] |
Working on a Team Project: Teamwork makes the Dream work | As an iOS developer intern participating in the DVT graduate programme, we have a lot to learn. We spent the first three months working on our own personal projects which were exciting. The personal projects came from ideas we each thought of and hoped to make something out of, but we did not just jump into them. Within the programme, we were taught many things in workshops, discussions and articles from which we could draw useful and relevant experiences and skills for our personal projects.
While each of the graduates in iOS had different project ideas, it did not stop us from interacting and asking each other for help. We had full control of what we decided to put in our projects (according to what we had learnt) but we showed our code to each other for quick approval (through a pull request, to be explained later) and went on our way. Thus, when we got to the fourth month of our programme where we would now no longer be in individual projects but rather work as a team, we thought that we knew what we were getting into. From the fourth month, we were introduced to a working approach which we have now come to know as an Agile team. This is very different from working alone or from what we thought working in a team meant — there are new valuable features.
An Agile team refers to a method of project management where work is divided into tasks of short phases of work. This is to increase the production of a project. Agile (methodology or mindset) involves lots of planning, reviewing, reflecting and iterating. This was far different from the directionless way our personal projects went, which only involved having to worry about what would become the next addition to our projects as we went through workshops. We did not know what we were going to do next, nor did we spend much time reflecting on what we had done so far. However, we have learnt a great deal and are excited to see what we can do with the lessons learnt.
Now that workshops are over and our personal projects are behind us (not really, they are being used for portfolios, and could become real apps if we give them more attention), we are finally working on team projects (or real-world projects)! However, if you thought that meant that you have learnt everything you need to work on that project you are wrong! There are still many things to learn, not to mention, many new techniques and behaviours that you need to get used to. The list of techniques for undertaking a team project that will be discussed today consists of sprint planning, retrospectives, and pull requests (you might have thought that you knew everything to know here but that is not the case).
Sprint Planning
Before you get started with your new team project you go through something we call sprint planning. A sprint is what you work on in a time period you and your team decide on iteratively until a product or output is completed. Sprint planning is when you organise what will happen in that time period such as how much work you can do, what each task entails and how much time you need to do all of the tasks. It is a very straightforward way of making sure that everyone in the team has enough work to do in your time period of interest and, if not, eventually you will. To start, you will create what we call a backlog, a list of features that need to be done. From the backlog, the team will pick out tasks that you all think can be handled within the time period you set. Finally, you will estimate how much time each task will take to complete and with that sprint planning is done! Do not worry about getting it perfect the first time. Sprint planning happens after every time period your set up ends, so you have many chances to get it right.
Here is an example to understand the full concept: Let’s say that as a team you decide that a sprint for you will last for a week. To plan before the week starts, you list all of the tasks of importance or priority to complete (a backlog). Then you give yourselves tasks for the week and estimations on how long each task will take to get done. Then you start your sprint, working on your project according to that plan. When the week ends you decide what you need to do in the next sprint. Any tasks that were not completed in the sprint will move to the backlog again. A small tip I could give you is to use project management software to handle the behaviour of sprint planning. A software tool will make your life easier and provide you with feedback on how your sprint went so that you will know what to work on in the next sprint whether that will be the number of tasks or the estimations given to them.
When it comes to sprints, it is imperative that you are honest with yourself. Do not take on more work than you can handle in a particular sprint. In this way, there is a sense of accomplishment amongst all the team members to carry into the next sprints. However, if you find that you have completed all the tasks before the sprint period is over then discuss the idea of more tasks to add to the sprint to make the most of your time.
Retrospective
This was a relatively new concept to me — not the principle of it but rather the structure of it. A retrospective is a reflection of the work done in a sprint. Before you start with a new sprint a retrospective of the ‘just ended’ sprint is necessary. In a retrospective, you and your team need to think about what went well, what did not go well and new ideas to add to the new sprint. You could honestly do your own retrospective on how you have been spending your week in and out of work to really make the best of your days. The principle of a retrospective is so good! A big thing to mention though is that if your team members are not honest with each other, then the concept of the retrospective will not be that useful. If there are things that your team needs to change, then they have to be mentioned transparently for change to occur.
Pull Requests
If you thought that you understood the full extent of pull requests, then you may be surprised that there is still more to consider. A pull request is a notification that changes have been made to the code base, such as a feature, that is discussed, reviewed, accepted and eventually added to the code base. While you had control of what happened to pull requests in your own project, this concept will change in a team project or real work project. In a real-world project, you may never have the ability to add and change code (when I say this I mean merge in code). That ability falls on the business analyst/ lead programmer. The code you write and review needs to follow the behaviour your team has decided on. Reviewing code may not have been as easy as you thought because of that same reason; you do not get the final say on what enters the project. Something else that you may not like to hear is that you may have to reject pull requests. I know that no one likes it when their code is rejected, but here’s the thing: The earlier you get things right, the earlier these rejections stop. Thus all members of the team should be vigilant when looking through code. In the end, all the questions, suggestions and requests to change code will improve your abilities as a team.
If I had to give tips concerning pull requests, I would advise on the following:
· That you try to learn to look for the things that do not look or behave right as early as possible. The more you do it the more you will start to notice when things are out of place. This does not mean that you are rude or disrespectful when asking for changes or making suggestions. If you want the best learning experience, then respect is key.
· Ask questions when you do not understand. You are not helping yourself by approving things that you do not understand. Instead, you are inviting code that may not be up to standard or allowing others to believe that you will follow the same technique. Do not be afraid to ask. Nothing beats understanding things.
In conclusion, if you look closely at all of the concepts, you may have noticed the term “honesty” standing out. All of these techniques and concepts work well when people are honest with each other. If you really want to grow as a team and as individuals, then you will need to be honest when tasks seem too big or too small, too complex or too simple for a sprint. When things are going well or not going well, you need to address them constructively in a retrospective.
Finally, when code is not looking right or well understood, you need to let people know in a pull request so that you grow individually and as a team. After all, you are stronger together. | https://medium.com/dvt-engineering/working-on-a-team-project-teamwork-makes-the-dream-work-93962c82b88f | ['Akua Afrane-Okese'] | 2020-06-01 11:04:16.035000+00:00 | ['Teamwork', 'Sprint Planning', 'Pull Request', 'Scrum Agile', 'Software Development'] |
Best clustering algorithms for anomaly detection | DBSCAN
DBSCAN is a density based clustering algorithm (actually DBSCAN stand for Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise), what this algorithm does is look for areas of high density and assign clusters to them, whereas points in less dense regions are not even included in the clusters (they are labeled as anomalies). This is, actually, one of the main reasons I personally like DBSCAN, not only I can detect anomalies in test, but anomalies in training will also be detected and not affect my results.
There are two key parameters in this models:
— eps: Maximum distance between two points to consider them as neighbors. If this distance is too large we might end up with all the points in one huge cluster, however, if it’s too small we might not even form a cluster.
— min_points: Minimum number of points to form a cluster. If we set a low value for this parameters we might end up with a lot of really small clusters, however, a large value can stop the algorithm for creating any cluster, ending up with a dataset form only by anomalies.
The way this algorithm creates the clusters is by looking at how many neighbors each point has, considering neighbors all the points closer than a certain distance (eps). If more than min_points are neighbors, then a cluster is created, and this cluster is expanded with all the neighbors of the neighbors. But, since one picture is worth more than a thousand worths I’ve borrowed this picture from this Medium post explaining DBSCAN:
Image obtain from the post “DBSCAN: What is it? When to use it? How to use it?”
Now we have the clusters…
How can we detect anomalies in the test data?
The approach I’ve followed to classify the point as anomalous or not is the following:
1 — Calculate the distance from the new points to all the Core points (only the Core points, since they are the ones actually defining the clusters) and look for the minimum (distance to the closest neighbor inside a cluster).
2 — Compare the distance to the closest neighbor inside a cluster with eps, since this is the limit between two points to be consider neighbors, this way, we find if any of the Core points are actually neighbors with our test data.
3 — If the distance is larger than eps the point is labeled as anomalous, since it has no neighbors in the clusters.
Gaussian mixture models
Probabilistic model that assumes all the data points are generated from a mixture of a finite number of gaussian distributions. The algorithms try to recover the original gaussian that generated this distribution. To do so it uses the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, which initialize a random of n initial gaussian distribution and then tweaks the parameters looking for a combination that maximizes the likelihood of the points being generated by that distribution.
Figure obtained from Angus Turner’s blog: “Gaussian Mixture Models in PyTorch”
One of the problems of Gaussian Mixture Models is that the number of clusters needs to be specified, another possibility is to use Variational Bayesian Gaussian Mixture, to avoid this problem.
Of course, just as K-Means, since the initialization of the clusters is random we can end up with a local minimum that is not optimal for our problem. That is something that can be solved with multiple executions and then creating an average of the probabilities. However, this solution is not optimal if the model needs to be put into production, I’m still looking for the best approach to solve this problem when a model needs to be deployed in a streaming environment.
Variational Bayesian Gaussian Mixture
I don’t want to get into much detail here, there’s the scikit-learn page with the full explanation for that. But this variation is worth mentioning. The idea behind this model is similar to Gaussian Mixture, however, the implementation is different, here, instead of EM, variational inference algorithm is used.
Here, only a maximum number of clusters needs to be specified, the algorithm then can find the actual number of clusters and set the weight of the non-relevant ones very close to zero.
Of course this alternative is not perfect either, there are many hyperparameters to chose, more than in Gaussian mixture actually. One of the most important is the weight_concentration_prior, which will largely affect the number of effective clusters you end up with.
How can we detect anomalies in the test data?
Once the algorithm it’s trained and we get new data we can just pass it to the model and it would give us the probability for that point to belong to the different clusters. Here, a threshold can be set, to say that if the probability is below that value the point should be consider an anomaly. In the case of Bayesian Gaussian Mixture there is an important thing to keep in mind: Not all clusters should be considered, remember that the algorithm disregards non important clusters giving them a weight close to zero (they are not removed, but you can know which ones should be removed), what I’ve done in the past is check the probability of the point belonging only to the important clusters, to do that I’m setting a threshold for the cluster weights, to remove the non-important ones.
Why not K-Means?
While K-Means is maybe the best-known and most commonly used clustering algorithm for other applications it’s not well suited for this one.
The main reason for this is that it’s only well suited when clusters are expected to have quite regular shapes, as soon as this is not fulfilled the model is not able to successfully separate the clusters.
Another reason is that all points are fitted into the clusters, so if you have anomalies in the training data these point will belong to the clusters and probably affect their centroids and, specially, the radius of the clusters. This can cause you to not detect anomalies in the test set due to the increase in the threshold distance.
Another posibility is that you even form a cluster of anomalies, since there is no lower limit for the number of points in a cluster. If you have no labels (and you probably don’t, otherwise there are better methods than clustering), when new data comes in you could think it belongs to a normal-behavior cluster, when it’s actually a perfectly defined anomaly.
Another disadvantage in this case is the need to specify the number of clusters a priori, we’ve already discussed that there are some parameters that are not easy to tune in the other algorithms, but I find this one to be specially tricky. Since the data we can change with time, the number of clusters can also vary, and once we have deploy our model into production there is no easy way to decide that other without human exploration.
How can we detect anomalies in the test data?
Not everything is bad for K-Means, it actually is the simplest case for the testing phase, since we have the centroids of the clusters and the shape is expected to be quite regular we just need to compute the boundary distance for each cluster (usually it’s better not to choose the maximum distance to the centroid, in case we have outliers, something like the 95th or 99th percentile should work, depending on your data).
Then, for the test data the distance to the centroids is computed. This distance is then compared with the boundary of each cluster, if the point doesn’t belong to any cluster (distance > boundary) it gets classified as an anomaly.
To sum up
I’ve presented here some clustering algorithms and explain how to use them for anomaly detection (some of them being more successful than others), obviously these are not the only methods, and I might be bias towards some of them based on the data I’ve dealt with.
I really think DBSCAN and (Bayesian) Gaussian Mixture models are the most useful clustering algorithms for this application. If you’re getting started with anomaly detection it’s worth it to find out more about them, if they aren’t useful to you now at least is something new you’ve learnt. | https://towardsdatascience.com/best-clustering-algorithms-for-anomaly-detection-d5b7412537c8 | ['María García Gumbao'] | 2019-06-04 13:01:18.342000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Clustering', 'Data Science', 'Time Series Analysis', 'Anomaly Detection'] |
Why did I leave? | An insight that occurred to me during my evaluation about my career was how the environment, unchecked, will shape it. I joined as a senior infrastructure specialist. The infrastructure specialist role is corporate speak for “I work on servers”. When you add the word senior it means I have been around long enough to fix more problems than I created.
I had the fortunate opportunity to be promoted to cloud architect. This position gave me a lot of freedom to set the technical direction for the company, and allowed me to work on projects on my own terms. It resulted in a lot of great skill building which ironically led to me leaving the company.
The difficulty I faced was that Hershey’s culture is essentially focused on managers and teams, and leaves very little room for independent contributors rising to higher levels of the organization. As a result there are only a couple roles I could be promoted to. Unexamined you think those are the roles you want.
I am not one for titles or promotion as a sign of value or identity, but it is a measure. I worked hard and solved a lot of very tough technical problems during my time. It was difficult to witness a management track that could reward people accordingly and a technical track that doesn’t match the same progression.
All that negativity aside, I decided I didn’t want any company holistically to shape my career. I allowed myself to be lured into the path of “what is next” by what the company had to offer, not what can I offer the world and what can the world offer me. I was easily enticed by the company’s career path because the first promotion was rewarding.
It is a poor reason to consider leaving just because you feel a technical promotion won’t happen. But it is a good reason if you have grown, and the relationship is no longer mutually beneficial. One of the things I wanted was corporate experience, but I need to work with people who understand my technical capability and how it can be applied regardless of my title.
On the other hand, allowing an environment to shape me can also be a force of good. I felt my skills were getting stale. Even though I was adopting new skills, learning cloud providers like Azure and AWS, working with infrastructure as code tools like terraform, and automating builds with CI/CD pipelines, those skills were underutilized and not well understood by others in the department. I needed others around me who wanted to solve the problems with code to continue to challenge me. | https://medium.com/pearcec/why-did-i-leave-5c4adfae100e | ['Christian Pearce'] | 2021-03-06 18:49:43.667000+00:00 | ['Career Development', 'Reflections', 'Career Advice', 'Software Engineering', 'Career Change'] |
6 things that one should consider while choosing retail POS: | 6 things that one should consider while choosing retail POS:
Whether you are an experienced merchant in retail industry or setting up a new retail store, having right POS system is essential for your business. Not all retail POS software has equal features, so it becomes very important to select which suits best to your business.
Need versus Wants
POS systems are being used in different industries ranging from cafes, salons and furniture retail. You know your business process better than anyone else, so create the list of requirements and features that you want in POS and prioritize them. Answers to these questions will help you to determine what your business needs are and what you want to achieve. From there you can begin your search for the best retail POS software.
2.Pricing
Monthly or annual cost of running a great POS software is relative low, but you have to consider the initial pricing to set up POS software. Initial cost to set up POS software can be more than you expect because you have to make sure that POS software is compatible with your current hardware. Hardware includes barcode scanner, credit card reader, display unit or tablet, receipt printer and cash drawer. Make sure to choose POS system which matches the most to your current hardware configurations
3. Customer Support
When you are buying a retail POS system, you are not just buying a software alone but you are entering into relationship with vendor who will be going to support you long term for the success of your business.
Also make sure what the definition of Support for vendor is. For example, vendor provides automatic delivery of upgrades by fixing bugs, or support through FAQ, or through any other online resources.
In evaluating the customer support for retail POS software, inquire about response time in normal working hours, weekend and on holidays. Test yourself phone support and online support during working hours, weekend and in holidays.
4. Training
A great POS system doesn’t means it is easy to use, but also providing training to the store associates on how to take benefit of POS system. Choose a retail POS software that is very user-friendly and offers plenty of training resources.
5. Integration with third-party software
Third-party integrations can help you to reduce many days and months of work, so when you choose POS system check what integrations are available. Integrations with different accounting software, E-commerce website and email marketing software’s should be essential.
6. Scalability
To maximize the return on your retail POS software investment over time, ensure that the solution you select is highly scalable. In other words, make sure it has the capability to grow with your business and its needs. A scalable retail POS software package will easily accommodate additional users and workstations in existing stores, as well as in new ones as they come online.
Contact us today to help you select the right retail POS package for your business. Visit Ordorite.com or + 44 203 2861 202 for more information. | https://medium.com/@marketing_88907/6-things-that-one-should-consider-while-choosing-retail-pos-b5c32d3377ce | ['Stephen Connoly'] | 2019-12-31 08:59:58.815000+00:00 | ['Retail', 'Pos', 'Software', 'Furniture', 'Pos Software'] |
The Clapping Hour | Thank you to the health care workers putting their lives on the line, and the essential workers whose jobs bringing us food and other services puts them and their families at risk. | https://backgroundnoisecomic.medium.com/the-clapping-hour-f2746d29ccf2 | ['Background Noise Comics'] | 2020-04-14 00:09:15.551000+00:00 | ['Healthcare', 'Humor', 'Gratitude', 'Comics', 'Coronavirus'] |
The global debt problem | By Alasdair Macleod
It has been recently estimated that global debts stand at $284 trillion equivalent, representing 355% of global GDP. Estimates such as these must be treated with caution, and they probably underestimate financial sector debt. Furthermore, no allowance in these figures is made for OTC derivatives, which according to the Bank for International Settlements have a gross value of $15.48 quadrillion(!), netting out at $609 trillion.
This article comments on the different debt sectors: government, finance, non-financial corporate and consumer debt. It finds the dangers of excessive corporate debt have had the least attention, and that systemic risk in commercial banks is grossly underestimated.
The rapid growth of emerging market corporate debt is a recipe for a repeat of the Asian crisis in the late-1990s.
Ultimately, the whole debt burden will fall on government shoulders in their threefold attempt to protect the banks, stop a recession and to continue puffing up a wealth effect by inflating increasing amounts of currency into financial markets.
The trigger to end the debt crisis is almost certainly rising bond yields.
Introduction
Times of monetary expansion generate a shift in wealth from bank depositors to borrowers. Given that this year is the fortieth anniversary of the Nixon shock, when the world’s currencies finally came out as fiat, it is hardly surprising that each successive crisis led to the easier path of increasing debt instead of letting failing businesses and banks go to the wall. Kicking the can down the road has been the way to deal with every economic or financial blip. After all, it is argued, inflation reduces debt obligations over time.
Maybe, but it increases the net present value of future obligations to the ultimate destruction of welfare-driven states. This is why, if for no other reason, kicking cans down the road just ends up at some point with a pile of cans that can no longer be kicked. But politicians aware of mounting obligations and still doing the can-kicking believe that will be their successors’ problem, and you never know, something might turn up. After all, optimists argue, we survived higher levels of debt following the Second World War.
While most people are aware there was a financial crisis in 2008, they will surely fail to link it with the next one. For many reasons, they could be right. The Lehman crisis was driven by an excess of residential property speculation, liar loans and their securitisation. The next one is likely to be a bond, stock and currency crisis triggered by rising bond yields undermining the debt pile and weakening the dollar. It is only philosophising observers who notice that these crises happen regularly and have done so for a long time, approximately once every decade. The common link is debt, flowing and ebbing in periodic expansions followed by sudden contractions of bank credit.
It even occurred under a proper gold standard. Other than differences between successive crises the basic factors were the same, alternating between bankers’ caution evolving gradually towards carelessness, greed and then panic. But this last cycle, starting from the aftermath of the Lehman failure, has been totally different. State intervention in the form of previously unheard-of interest rate suppression has continued throughout the credit cycle. It is unsurprising that the can-kicking in the form of debt creation never paused and has accelerated with renewed vigour. Estimated to have been $175 trillion when Lehman failed, today the global debt bubble has increased to $284 trillion, according to a Bloomberg report, citing figures prepared by the Institute of International Finance. And with global GDP estimated at about $80 trillion a ball-park figure for debt to GDP of 355% is a workable assumption. Put another way, $3.55 dollars of debt are required for every dollar of GDP output.
It has always been reasonable in capitalistic markets for an entrepreneur to borrow working capital to cover the period between the initiation of a project and eventual sales of the final product, but in doing so he calculates carefully with a view to paying back his creditors out of profits. He continues to evolve his product to respond to competition and his reassessments of consumer trends. Research and development are funded by the business out of profits. Then came the financiers, who saw that a clear profit margin of, say 10%, could be turned into 20%, or even 30% by borrowing, not to finance anything but just to give leverage to profits, much of which they extract in dividends. They called it private equity, a misnomer for a process which at its base was and still is a means to gain advantage from the wealth transfer from bank depositors.
Financing for financing’s sake has taken over from honest capitalism, which is to compete to provide consumers with what they desire and need. It is no less than a corruption fully facilitated by fiat currencies issued by central banks in increasing quantities and at heavily suppressed interest rates. Micawber’s aphorism about debt being misery has been superseded by a leverage-based mantra that debt is good.
This loss of original purpose has been a bad thing, because consumption is never static, with consumers demanding progress. An entrepreneur delivers it by being flexible in his plans using debt as a temporary financing bridge. But when he is already loaded up with unproductive debt his commercial flexibility is compromised, and a needless proportion of enterprises end up as eviscerated zombie businesses. The smarter PE boys will have moved on and created similar problems elsewhere.
Then there is the legacy debt of major corporations who have become dependent on crony capitalism — the persuasion of politicians for preferential and monopolistic advantages. The replacement by lobbying of focusing on customer satisfaction has gradually driven them into a zombie state as well. Nearly half of the world’s debt is corporate, and if that’s not bad enough governments have also encouraged consumers to borrow to spend and ditch their savings.
How much debt is there?
Broadly, there are four debt categories: government, financial, non-financial corporate and consumer. Table 1 shows an approximation of global debt distribution.
Within these debt categories, there is significant variance. In government debt relative to their GDPs we see Greece at over 200% and Italy at 170%. These simple ratios do not take account of the fact that tax revenues, upon which a state’s financial credibility is based, are raised by governments entirely from their private sectors.
Taking a global average of general government spending at 40% of GDP, government sector debt is 172% of its tax base. A government debt to private sector GDP for Italy stands at 314%, Greece at 324% and France works out at 264%. In fact, the socialising EU nations’ government spending, being an average of almost 50% of their economies, means that their indebtedness relative to their tax bases can be doubled from the comparison with total GDP to give a more relevant assessment of their financial sustainability.
It is against this background that government spending is now rising sharply driven by the economic consequences of the covid pandemic. With new lockdowns across the Eurozone, financial and systemic failures will have to be bought off by national governments. And government debt to private sector GDP ratios of over 400% are likely in some member states by the year-end.
For the moment, the ECB has sustained government finances by negative interest rates and heavily suppressed term rates. But interest rates are beginning to rise; some say because of the prospect of economic recovery and others due to the implications for prices as accumulated lockdown savings are spent against an anticipated shortage of consumer products. Whatever the reason, clearly, higher borrowing costs are likely to lead to higher risk premiums for these nations entrapped by their debt.
Non-financial corporate debt
At an estimated $83 trillion and 104% of global GDP, non-financial corporate debt is paid less attention while analysts have focused on government debt and the implications for their currencies. But as pointed out in the introduction, private sector production has become increasingly zombified, making a significant proportion of corporate debt unproductive in the sense that it no longer finances products genuinely demanded by consumers. Furthermore, with economic prospects owing much to hope rather than realistic assessments and the seemingly never-ending extensions of pandemic limitations on economic activity, business bankruptcies are bound to be on the increase. And with rising bond yields in prospect, bond financing is likely to become increasingly expensive for corporate survivors and will disrupt the soundest of business plans.
Even without an extension to pandemic troubles, there are signs that the post-Lehman crisis expansion of corporate debt was getting long in the tooth over a year ago. Major US bank balance sheets had run up to their regulatory ceilings and were increasingly restricted in their lending activities. Financial sector debt in Table 1 had actually declined by ten per cent relative to global GDP in the ten years following Lehman (but despite this represented a nominal increase of $8.2 trillion). The repo crisis combined with American tariffs aimed predominantly at Chinese imports were reminiscent of events in October 1929 behind the Wall Street Crash when the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed by Congress. And obligingly, stock markets commenced 2020 by replicating the October 1929 collapse with high precision before the Fed stepped in with a reduction in the funds rate to zero and quantitative easing at $120bn monthly on 23 March, both aimed at shoring up financial markets.
Since the Lehman crisis, the increased zombification of large corporate entities has been accompanied by economic stagnation — with the notable exception of tech industries which is not relevant to our story. The general stagnation is even worse when the underreporting of price inflation by standardised CPI method is taken into account. Furthermore, trillion-dollar annual US deficits being matched by substantial US trade deficits led to the expansion from 56% to 96% of GDP of non-financial corporate debt in emerging economies, while non-financial corporate debt in developed economies grew at a slower, similar pace to their GDPs.[i]
While some of the boost to emerging market corporate debt was down to an increase in offshoring production, the general level of risk in this fast growing, emerging market category of debt has increased due to the far lower rate of global economic growth and declining corporate earnings. In the words of the paper referenced above, “The ability of emerging markets to pay back their debts deteriorated”. This would certainly have been picked up by banks providing working capital and to an extent must be reflected in the decline in the financial sector’s share of global debt allocation.
It is against this background that the covid-19 pandemic shut down affected substantial elements of economic activity at the worst possible time. The supply chains linking emerging markets and Chinese production with advanced economies were disrupted, with goods not being shipped one way, and importantly, payments not travelling the other. The disruption continues today. Through a collapse in revenues, non-financial corporates in emerging markets now face a major crisis. Ironically, with the US budget deficit spiralling into the trillions, if only the logistics could be sorted out, demand for production from non-financial corporates in emerging markets is set to soar. But by then they could be facing a new emerging market crisis with capital flight killing business activity.
And now global bond yields are on the rise. If you look at commodity prices and non-fixed interest financial assets, the consequences of unprecedented global and dollar monetary inflation are clear to see. Fiat currencies are beginning to lose their purchasing power at an alarming rate. Markets are demanding higher interest rates and bond yields as compensation, and there is nothing that can practicably be done to stop it. Governments will be faced with a stark choice: do they debase their currencies even more in an attempt to rescue the entirety of their non-financial economies, or do they accept the reality of decades of debt-fuelled malinvestment? Will those tin cans be kicked down the road just one more time?
Adding to emerging market woes…
According to a recent World Bank report on borrowers under the International Development Association scheme, more than half of them are in distress, a situation which is worsening under the pandemic, if for no other reason. These are low-income countries, and their domestic debt relative to GDP also doubled on average between 2011 and 2019.
Figure 1 shows the World bank’s estimate of external debt distress and how it has deteriorated in recent years. The list of countries appears unimportant in the greater scale of things, including most of Africa, some in Asia and a bunch of Pacific Ocean states. They are less important in terms of production than they are in resources. It serves to remind us that China will benefit through greater control over these debt slaves, which are already the focus of its international political and economic expansion.
Consumer debt
Consumers in the developed nations now fall into two categories. There are the professional and middle classes, who through the pandemic have generally retained their employment and income, while some of their spending has been curtailed by lockdowns. It is this class which has been buying residential property, having accumulated income for the necessary deposits and have ready access to mortgage finance. And there are the low paid, particularly in the hospitality and tourist industries, who have lost their jobs and have little or no savings to fall back upon.
We hear a disproportionate amount about the fortunate, who when lockdowns end will release a tsunami of pent-up demand. They are the targeted market for the media and their advertisers; the educated who read newspapers in print and online. They are those who watch television news and have political and other opinions based on a degree of applied thought. Forecasts of economic growth are based almost entirely on this minority group of consumers. But while it includes both employees and business folk, this cuts across surveys over the years in both America and the UK that some 80% of employees in these consumption-driven economies live from paycheck to paycheck. And it is this group which has been hit hardest by the pandemic and government mandated lockdowns.
In America and the UK, for many of them foodbanks and government cheques paid into their bank accounts have been a lifeline. But read the headlines in the financial media, and they hardly exist. The consequences are that after an initial surge in consumer demand from the haves, the follow-through is bound to be muted, due to the larger number of have-nots. In the EU, any post-lockdown surge in demand is also being deferred by third waves, and given the outlook for non-financial sector bankruptcies, the future of the euro zone’s highly leveraged banking system (see below) is under dire threat.
Initially, rising interest rates might not be a major factor increasing credit card delinquencies, but as the purchasing power of the dollar and therefore global fiat currencies decline, they are sure to increase. The immediate and far larger consumer problem is over mortgage finance. As a subset to wider problems, the US and UK will face increasing defaults due to rising mortgage rates and the recent rise in house prices will then almost certainly reverse, perhaps to the point where even eighty per cent loan to value mortgages become uncovered and therefore a crisis for the lenders.
In short, a significant element of the $54 trillion of consumer debt will end up as losses to be borne by the financial sector.
The financial sector
Banks act as the intermediary between central banks and the non-finance private sector categories. They are highly leveraged ham in the sandwich between the state’s economic and monetary planners and their indebted borrowers. In troubled times it is not a pleasant place to be. Table 2 shows the capital gearing incorporating book values (market capitalisations) of the world’s global systemically important banks (G-SIBs).
With Société Generale, Deutsche Bank, Group Credit Agricole, Unicredit and Santander, the Eurozone has the most leveraged banks by far with price to book ratios between 29%-56%, market ratings that question their survival. And it only takes one of these banks to fail to put all G-SIBs at risk.
Another point — a mystery, is how the estimate of global financial sector debt is only $65 trillion, when the G-SIBs total liabilities (i.e. total assets less total equity) currently amount to $54.6 trillion, leaving all the other banks and shadow banks having liabilities of $10.4 trillion. A better assessment would probably put financial sector debt at closer to $80 trillion.
With an average ratio of assets to equity of 11.7, US G-SIBs are significantly less leveraged than most of their foreign counterparts, which might explain why so little attention is paid to systemic banking risk in the American financial press. But even at this level, mounting bad debts from the covid crisis amplifies them nearly twelve times for balance sheet equity. China’s four G-SIBs are similarly geared at an average of 11.8 times, Japan’s 21 times, the UK’s 16.8 times, and the Eurozone’s 20.5 times. The leverage ratios in Table 2 additionally take into account market capitalisation, and the three Eurozone banks heading the list tells us that markets already rate them as walking dead.
It is in the nature of things that when a bank fails, its net indebtedness is revealed to be significantly greater than balance sheet analysis indicates when it is a going concern. An obvious source of the difference is valuations of illiquid assets and collateral which are marked-to-myth. But a further avalanche of bad debts can arise from counterparty failure in derivative markets. For this reason, AIG, a non-bank insurer with a substantial credit default swap position was quickly bailed out in 2008. According to the Bank for International Settlements, OTC derivatives reported by banks totalled $609 trillion with gross values of $15,481 trillion at June 2020.
So, the banking ham in the sandwich between central banks and industry is extremely thinly cut — only molecules thick. A banking failure almost anywhere, must be bailed out for fear of triggering a global banking collapse the likes of which have never been seen before. The slightest hesitation in any advanced jurisdiction is bound to lead to widespread failure.
Government debt
According to Table 1 in the Introduction, total government debt stands at $82 trillion, being 103% of global GDP. But that does not take into account future liabilities, whose net present value has been estimated at over $200 trillion for the US alone (Kotlikoff, 2011). This enormous figure arises principally due to future welfare obligations, and similar considerations apply to all welfare-driven states. NPV calculations end up with wildly different answers depending on inputs. A debate about these obligations is beyond the scope of this article.
The overriding problem faced by governments and their central banks are their commitments to ensure 1) that their banking systems continue to function, providing working capital to industry as needed, 2) that any economic recession is shallow, and 3) that financial asset values continue to spread a wealth effect. Any one failure of these three objectives undermines the whole raison d’être for modern socialising democracies.
It has been decades of pursuing these objectives that have led to today’s global debt position. In the wake of the pandemic, it is leading to an accelerated increase in government debt for fear of failing in the three objectives. And the longer the crisis goes on, the greater the amount of government debt creation. This is particularly relevant for government debts in US dollars and euros. With broken supply chains both feeding into the US economy from abroad and also domestically, the Fed is tasked with supporting gross output in the region of $38 trillion in the domestic economy alone, and also an unknown external liability extending far beyond simplistic import figures.
The emphasis for the ECB is different. Failure to finance escalating budget deficits in the PIGS and France as much of the Eurozone enters yet another lockdown will lead to escalating political instability in its member states. As pointed out above, the debt situation in France, Italy and Greece when comparing government debt to its private sector tax base is extremely precarious. It is no exaggeration to conclude that the whole future of the euro, the Eurozone and of the EU Commission itself is weighing on the ECB’s shoulders.
But things are coming to a head, with rising bond yields. The realisation that prices, particularly of essentials, will rise well beyond CPI targets of 2%, is leading to losses on government bonds — a process that has only just started. The ECB is now trapped with increased fiscal revenue ruled out. Globally, it has been agreed that to raise taxes in the current economic environment would be counterproductive. Even the Keynesians sense their beliefs have led to a crisis in state finances, and the modern monetary theorists have suddenly gone quiet.
Selecting one of the three problems listed above is pointless, because they are all dangerous, and the failure of one will guarantee to trigger the others. But perhaps the least talked about is a failure of corporate debt. Some comment has been passed and generally ignored. The IMF urged policy makers to address it as it increased financial stability risks (IMF, 2017,2019). The UN weighed in similarly (UN, 2019). Some analysts predicted the corporate debt boom could trigger a financial crisis comparable to the great financial crisis (FT, 2017; Bloomberg 2019, Guardian 2019; World Economic Forum, 2019).[ii]
But the imminent failure appears to be that of using monetary inflation to puff financial markets. Once they stall on the back of rising bond yields all these debt obligations will end up being wiped out in a collapse of the fiat currencies along with the financial markets with which their fortunes have become firmly linked. | https://medium.com/goldmoney/the-global-debt-problem-599a9206ec7d | [] | 2021-04-09 02:34:42.826000+00:00 | ['Economy', 'Economics', 'Debt', 'Macroeconomics', 'Finance'] |
Platforms, Blockchains, and the Evolution of Trust | By Irving Wladawsky-Berger
“In primitive economies, people traded mostly with members of their village and community,” wrote David Brooks in a June, 2014 NY Times OpEd — The Evolution of Trust. “Trust was face-to-face. Then, in the mass economy we’ve been used to, people bought from large and stable corporate brands, whose behavior was made more reliable by government regulation. But now there is a new trust calculus, powered by both social and economic forces.”
Brooks’ article focused on the rise of the on-demand economy — aka, the collaborative, sharing, peer-to-peer economy — and in particular on the surprising success of Airbnb. Rooms for rent in boarding houses and child and pet-care services are nothing new. What’s new is the impact of technology, platforms, and blockchain in particular, on the growing on-demand economy. Companies are being disrupted as consumers are now able to deal with each other bypassing traditional hotels and taxi services. All kinds of on-demand products and services are now coming to market.
The on-demand economy wouldn’t be possible without the mobile devices and platforms that enable peer-to-peer transactions among individuals any time and place; the digital payment systems that reliably and securely broker the transactions between buyers and sellers; and the social reputation systems, where people rank buyers and sellers — a critical requirement for the smooth functioning of collaborative markets like Airbnb.
In the digital economy, our online reputations follow us everywhere, whether we are the renters or the ones renting, the service providers or the service consumers.
The competitive advantage of on-demand companies is their ability to aggregate lots of resources from their suppliers and integrate them with the trust needed to attract customers.
The classic hotels business is based on integrating property with trust, that is, the rooms they make available to customers with the trust created through their brand and reputation that attracts customers to come stay in the hotel. Trust has been the hotel’s key barrier to entry for individual competitors with rooms to let.
Shifting the Dynamic
Airbnb and similar companies have totally shifted this dynamic, however. Lodgings have now been commoditized. Airbnb offers more than 3 million listings in over 65,000 cities in almost 200 countries around the world. Its competitive advantage is its Internet-based reputation systems for trust between hosts and guests, based on the ratings of over 200 million guests. By integrating its reservation and trust management systems, Airbnb has been able to achieve an extraordinary global scale in less than a decade.
Despite its original grass-roots nature, the on-demand economy is now mostly owned by venture capitalists and other investors. New firms continue to enter the market in segment after segment, bringing together consumers and providers of goods and services with their highly scalable platforms and innovative applications. This new class of on-demand companies rely on freelance workers and asset providers instead of on a classic company workforce and assets.
Should we bemoan the fact that some of these on-demand startups have joined the ranks of billion-dollar unicorns, or should we just accept that this is the way capitalism has always worked and celebrate their innovative business models?
As this 2015 Financial Times article noted, on-demand communities “have been delving deep into what it means to be running a collaborative business model within a capitalist framework. Are the two even compatible? Or is there a fundamental conflict at the heart of an industry that preaches collaboration but, due to being radically commercialized by venture capital money from Silicon Valley, also needs to profiteer from the goodwill of others if it’s to remain viable?”
Digital Serfdoms?
Dominant on-demand companies are likely to trap their freelance workers and asset owners in a kind of digital serfdom because their all-important digital reputation is only associated with the platform of a specific company. Instead, these freelancers should have fully portable digital credentials and reputations. “How else can you take your reputation and your accumulated credit with you to another territory or platform without having to start again? How can you ensure freedom and preserve your reputation if every time you change your mind about where you want to engage in bartering or sharing online you’re going to have to start with a zero reputation score?”
On-demand companies represent a growing segment of the overall platform economy. Network effects drive the economies of scale of successful platform companies. The more products or services a platform offers, the more users it will attract, helping it then attract more offerings, which in turn brings in more users. Moreover, the larger the network, the more data is available to customize offerings to user preferences and better match supply and demand, further increasing the platform’s value.
“Over the past 20 years the economy has progressively moved away from the traditional model of centralized organizations, where large operators, often with a dominant position, were responsible for providing a service to a group of passive consumers,” wrote Primavera De Filippi in a recently published Harvard Business Review article — What Blockchain Means for the Sharing Economy. De Filippi is a researcher at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, and faculty associate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. She’s also a co-founder of COALA, the Coalition of Automated Legal Applications, a multidisciplinary initiative focused on the impact of blockchain technologies on society.
“Today we are moving toward a new model of increasingly decentralized organizations, where large operators are responsible for aggregating the resources of multiple people to provide a service to a much more active group of consumers… The problem with this model is that, in most cases, the value produced by the crowd is not equally redistributed among all those who have contributed to the value production; all of the profits are captured by the large intermediaries who operate the platforms.
The Independence of Blockchain
“Recently, a new technology has emerged that could change this imbalance. Blockchain facilitates the exchange of value in a secure and decentralized manner, without the need for an intermediary… With a blockchain, software applications no longer need to be deployed on a centralized server: They can be run on a peer-to-peer network that is not controlled by any single party. These blockchain-based applications can be used to coordinate the activities of a large number of individuals, who can organize themselves without the help of a third party. Blockchain technology is ultimately a means for individuals to coordinate common activities, to interact directly with one another, and to govern themselves in a more secure and decentralized manner.”
Trust is one of the key attributes associated with blockchain technologies.
A 2015 Economist issue called blockchain, “The Trust Machine,” and noted in one of its articles that blockchain “offers a way for people who do not know or trust each other to create a record of who owns what that will compel the assent of everyone concerned. It is a way of making and preserving truths.”
Trust was also prominent in a recent survey conducted by IBM on the state of adoption of blockchain. The study interviewed almost 3,000 C-Suite executives from over 80 countries and 20 industries to learn about their company’s blockchain plans. Eight percent of respondents were early adopters, already involved in blockchain pilots and experiments, while 25 percent were considering, but not yet ready to deploy, blockchains.
The IBM study analyzed the responses of the early adopters to figure out what’s driving them to embrace blockchain at this early stage. It found that early adopters viewed blockchain as a kind of trust accelerator, helping to build trust in several ways: increased transactional transparency, higher data quality and accuracy, increased trust in transaction reliability, and improved security against fraud and cybercrime.
De Filippi noted that blockchain can support a new kind of platform cooperativism — “where users qualify both as contributors and shareholders of the platforms to which they contribute.”
“And since there is no intermediary operator, the value produced within these platforms can be more equally redistributed among those who have contributed to the value creation.” Her article cited a few such recent startups in social networks, marketplaces, and transportation.
“There’s nothing new about that, you might say — haven’t we heard these promises before?” she adds in conclusion. “Wasn’t the mainstream deployment of the internet supposed to level the playing field for individuals and small businesses competing against corporate giants? And yet, as time went by, most of the promises and dreams of the early internet days faded away, as big giants formed and took control over our digital landscape.”
“Today we have a new opportunity to fulfill these promises… If we, as a society, really value the concept of a true sharing economy, where the individuals doing the work are fairly rewarded for their efforts, it behooves us all to engage and experiment with this emergent technology, to explore the new opportunities it provides and deploy large, successful, community-driven applications that enable us to resist the formation of blockchain giants.” | https://medium.com/mit-initiative-on-the-digital-economy/platforms-blockchains-and-the-evolution-of-trust-9dcbb787dd33 | ['Mit Ide'] | 2017-09-08 23:07:51.199000+00:00 | ['Airbnb', 'Digital Trust', 'On Demand Economy', 'Blockchain', 'Platform Economy'] |
Singapore says passengers do not have Covid after ‘cruise to nowhere’ returns early | According to Singapore’s health ministry, the Singaporean passenger who tested positive for Covid-19 aboard a cruise ship has subsequently tested negative for the disease.
The passenger, an 83-year-old man, was onboard the Quantum of the Seas of the Royal Caribbean, which set sail for a round trip to the city-state on Dec. 7 with no port of call in between. After the passenger went through a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test on the cruise liner which returned positive for Covid-19, the ship was forced to return on Wednesday, a day earlier than expected.
In order to diagnose cases, PCR tests have been commonly used as they are effective in their diagnosis, but results take hours to return.
“His initial sample has since been re-tested for (Covid-19) contamination at the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) and has returned negative. The Ministry of Health said Wednesday night, adding that another test will be performed the next day to confirm his Covid-19 status, a second fresh sample checked by NPHL has also returned negative.
The Ministry of Health reported on Thursday afternoon that the passenger did not have Covid-19.
“In its statement, the health ministry added, “We have rescinded the Quarantine Orders of his close contacts, who had previously been put on quarantine as a precautionary measure while investigations were underway.
At 2:30 p.m., the passenger was taken to the National Infectious Disease Centre. Singapore time on Wednesday, according to the Tourism Board of Singapore.
The tourism board added that all 1,680 passengers and 1,148 crew on board had tested negative for the virus prior to the ship’s departure. Passengers and crew members who came into direct contact with the person concerned were isolated and other passengers were forcibly checked before being able to depart the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, where the ship was docked.
Royal Caribbean said its entire crew would undergo PCR tests on Thursday in a separate statement, while the ship would be thoroughly washed and disinfected.
In the midst of the pandemic, Singapore’s “cruise to nowhere” initiative is an effort to strengthen travel demand. Cruise liners have to receive a compulsory safety certification to participate and will be subject to an examination before they are permitted to start sailing. | https://medium.com/@tasianaffairs/singapore-says-passengers-do-not-have-covid-after-cruise-to-nowhere-returns-early-102c607c4bb9 | ['The Asian Affairs'] | 2020-12-10 15:24:59.597000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Cruises', 'Asean', 'Singapore'] |
This Man’s Viral Post Sums Up My #MeToo Experience Perfectly | I think I may have stumbled upon this post three years ago. There are passages that no doubt would have moved me. There are passages I probably wanted to deny. At the time I would have wanted to believe the men in my life were different: I wouldn’t want to believe that the men in my life would stand quietly on the sidelines, denying my experiences, out of a fear that what I’ve been through was a mirror of something they or their friends may have done to another woman — out of a fear that by supporting me, they would have to internally acknowledge that they were one of the “bad guys”.
But three years later — as I read and reread the words of this courageous man who dared to look his own wolf in the eye — I realize that most of what he’s said has become a mirror to my experience as an assault survivor.
1. “We are pretending their experiences did not happen.”
Years ago, I was drugged at a bar. When after one sip of my first drink the world was spinning and distorting, and I felt my muscles start to tremor, numb, and freeze I knew something was up. My first instinct was to turn to the friend beside me and ask for help. “Maybe it’s the lights,” he had said nervously— and proceeded to get up and walk away, leaving me alone at the table. On another occasion, a longtime friend of mine threatened me into submission while suffering from a delusional psychotic break.
When I shared a passage of writing that detailed the experience from start to finish, my friends were shaken and moved to tears — but when I revealed who it was about, their attitude changed. Despite the fact that several other people came forward about similar experiences with him over the years, most of our mutual friends offered their support to my assailant. He had told a different story about our “consensual experience”. He was believed, I was not. Both of these examples reflect how hard it is to believe that someone we know and love could be capable of assault. The only conclusion that maintains our sense of safety in the world is to conclude that the victim is lying.
2. “Men are raised in a society that teaches boys that they are entitled to have access to women’s bodies.”
Sexuality has never been easy for me, owing to a history of childhood sexual abuse that’s left me battling PTSD and flashbacks likely to be triggered by almost any form a sexual touch. It’s a disclaimer I’ve learned is best revealed to potential partners from the get-go, because I understand most men have a strong sexual need that I’m unable to fulfill. I tell people right off the bat, so they’re free to walk away if it’s not the right fit. The reality of my experience is that many men choose neither to leave nor accept my boundary — instead, they stick around and try to push through it. “I can’t not,” they’ll say. “I need to.”
It’s their explanation for why they pushed back when I tried to push them off me or pulled me closer as I tried to pull away, why they pressure even after I told them I wasn’t in a place that I could be physical without falling into another nightmarish cycle of flashbacks. They feel justified, I suppose, because they live in a world that taught them that as soon as I become their romantic partner, I give up ownership of my body; that they are entitled to access regardless of the boundaries I set. And while there’s nothing wrong with their sexual needs, the violation occurs when they choose to disregard mine rather than accepting my “no”, bowing out of the relationship, and seeking a partner who is on the same page as they are.
3. “The game teaches men to assume that women want what we want.”
In every relationship I’ve had since beginning my healing journey from sexual abuse, I’ve headed my therapist’s advice and set a physical boundary. The boundary is accompanied by a clear explanation of how my previous trauma impacts my ability to be physically intimate. And on more than one occasion, my partner denies my experience, instead accusing me of infidelity or sexual attraction towards another man.
Why is it so hard for a man to understand that sexual abuse could be a trauma with lingering after-effects? That just like a veteran of war could be triggered into a series of visual, physiological, and emotional flashbacks at the sound of fireworks — a survivor of sexual assault could be triggered into reliving her own nightmare with as little as a touch or a smell that reminds her of her assailant? Society has programmed men in a way that many are unable to imagine a scenario where they would be repelled by sex or where a woman would be repelled by sex with them. So when I confided in my partners about my traumatizing experience of sex and my ensuing lack of sexual desire, the only conclusion they could come to was that I was lying.
3. “The game teaches women that they are supposed to want what men want. Men benefit from this, women do not, but the game is rigged to hurt everyone.”
In the short term, I stayed in relationships where my boundaries were pushed. I stayed because I’ve grown up in a society that taught me I’m supposed to desire sex all the time. I stayed because society tells me I’m required to have sex whenever my partner desires it. I stayed because I felt that ignoring my own wants and needs was the only way to receive “love” in return.
I stayed, even though staying meant sabotaging my own sexual healing process by echoing the message I had been told during my childhood trauma: “your body is an object made to please others, and your boundaries and your pain don’t matter.” In the short term, the men who pushed me into submission may have felt they benefitted from it. Their primal urges were fulfilled. But in the end, I’ve chosen to walk away from every relationship where this game of cat and mouse was mutually played out.
And this year — regardless of whether men continue to be persuaded by society of their entitlement to my body— I’ve made a vow that I’ll never stay in a relationship where my needs and boundaries aren’t respected again. Because if “the only way to end that cycle is to reject the game itself,” I’ve got news for you: I’m done playing. | https://medium.com/invisible-illness/this-mans-viral-post-sums-up-my-me-too-experience-perfectly-9f2bd7d5e760 | ['Kala Farnham'] | 2020-12-24 03:22:45.553000+00:00 | ['PTSD', 'Trauma', 'Mental Health', 'Sexual Assault', 'Self'] |
How to weight loss by Running | As we know to lose weight, we have to reduce our calorie expenditure with healthy diet and also use cardio vascular exercise to burn of excess fat and help speed up the process of weight loss.
Today I would like to talk about running and the many benefits that you can get from this fantastic exercise. Running is a very high impact exercise that works all of the muscle of the body. Running is also a very versatile exercise that can be very challenging and intense depending on the type of training program of the individual.
The speed, environment, angle and time are all factors that will determine how effective the workout is for the individual. As a general rule, the faster a person runs, the more energy expenditure is needed, therefore the more calories that are burned, there the higher probability of losing weight and improving fitness levels.
One of the main reasons what running is a popular choice among weight loss programs, fitness enthusiasts and military personal is the fact that you only need basic gear. A good pair of running shorts and suitable running clothing and your good to go.
Now when it comes to the actual running, one must understand that the type of running training that you participate in is entirely down to the individual’s current fitness level and body shape and health.
If an obese person wants to start running to lose weight then the concept of running 5 miles from scratch will most likely be far to challenging to start with.
The best practice for such case would be to start by simple running half to a full mile, or even a quarter mile to get into the swing of things.
Now in regards to intensity and variation, there are quite a lot of things one can do to change up the run. Running uphill is one very good option and is very challenging to even the most hard core runners.
Another great way to mix things up is to use HIIT which stands for High intensity interval training. This is done by simple switching from running fast to slow every few moments to keep the heart rate in the fat burning zone.
When you use High Intensity interval training in your running program this allows for the best type of training for weight loss because the heart rate is tested and challenged this will help improve fitness levels, increase cardio vascular efficiency and burn more calories, thus allowing an ideal scenario for weight loss.
Know what to eat to weight loss fast. Click here
Alternatively running with a weight vest on is also a fantastic way to make the running more challenging and more intense, this provides the best scenario for improved fitness levels, heath and weight loss.
To give yourself the best possible chance of improving your fitness levels and losing weight, the ideal case would be to go running for at least 30 minutes 3 / 4 days a week to boost a weight loss plan.
In regards to nutrition practices for running, complex carbs are the best way to go. Carbs provide the body with the energy needed for high intensity workouts.
Running should be complimented with other cardio vascular exercises to keep the body guessing, and also challenging and shocking the body to improve fitness levels and lose weight. In the ideal situation to lose weight, running would be complimented with swimming and skipping as these are some of the most other effective cardio exercises for improved fitness levels and weight loss.
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A few things to consider when running, would to make sure that you have the correct type of running shoes on for the run, nothing worse than going for a run without suitable trainers on the protect your feet from blisters and other feet issues.
Some ideas to help compliment your running program would be to join a group of runner’s, get a running buddy or simple put headphones and let the music entertain and motivate you while you run.
Overall running is one of the most effective exercises to improve fitness, and lose weight, regardless of age or fitness background. | https://medium.com/@donk60278/how-to-weight-loss-by-running-1fa921b9627f | ['Bikash Adhikari'] | 2020-12-18 14:45:59.942000+00:00 | ['Running', 'Weight Loss Tips', 'Weight Loss Fast', 'Wright Loss By Running', 'Weight Loss Program'] |
Orphaned at Sea: The 11-Year-Old Girl Who Survived 4 Days on a Lifeboat | Arthur Duperrault’s life long dream was to spend a year living at sea, travelling from one island to the next. At the age of fourty, the Wisconsin optometrist finally felt it was the right time to make his dreams a reality. To ensure life at sea met his expectations, Arthur decided to embark on a one week trip with his family as a trial run.
Arthur, his wife Jean and their three young children, Brian, Terry Jo and Rene, boarded a chartered yacht that took them to Fort Lauderdale. Once the Duperrault’s arrived in Florida on Wednesday, November 8, 1961, they rented a sailboat called Bluebelle and continued their trip to the Bahamas.
Julian Harvey, an experienced sailor and former Air Force fighter pilot was hired by Arthur to be the captain of the Bluebelle. Julian’s wife Mary Dene decided to come along on the trip as well. Off the two families went on their exciting voyage.
The trip was complete bliss for Arthur. It was the family adventure he had always wanted and his children were ecstatic to spend a week collecting shells and snorkelling on Sandy Point, a village on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Arthur called the trip a ‘once-in-a-lifetime vacation’ and vowed to return by Christmas. Unbeknownst to them, many of those among the Bluebelle ate their last meal that night.
At 9 am on Sunday morning, 11-year-old Terry Jo was sleeping below the deck in a small cabin at the very back of the ship when she was awoken by the sound of her 14-year-old brother Brian screaming for help. She heard the sound of footsteps stomping above, a thud and then — silence.
The panic-stricken child slowly inched up the stairs, her entire body shivering. When she reached the top she saw the bodies of her parents and brother, laying on the ground in a pool of blood. She tried her very best to avert her gaze — not wanting the image to be burned into her memory forever.
Terry Jo continued walking towards the front of the boat where she saw Mary Dene dead in the cockpit. Suddenly, Julian lunged at the child holding a bloody knife and screamed at her to go back downstairs.
Brian, Jean, Rene and Arthur. Photo source.
Mary Dene Harvey. Photo source.
Terry ran downstairs and crawled back into her bed. She lay frozen in fear, unable to move. The ship began to fill with water and soon enough her mattress was completely submerged. “Is the ship sinking?!” she frantically screamed out to Julian who confirmed it was, as it had been his plan all along.
Julian handed Terry Jo the line to the dinghy and screamed at her to hold it. The line slipped through the frightened child’s fingers. The dinghy began floating away. Julian jumped into the water towards it and vanished.
Julian Harvey. Photo source.
Julian was ‘rescued’ the following day. The body of Terry’s 7-year-old sister Rene lay beside him in the dinghy. Julian told the Coast Guard there had been a fire on the Bluebelle. He had jumped off the ship and later came across an unconscious Rene, who he tried to resuscitate In reality, the seven-year-old child was just another innocent victim of Julian’s.
Suddenly, Terry remembered seeing a small lifeboat hanging in the main cabin. She frantically untied it and only mere seconds before the ship sank underneath her feet, little Terry Jo pushed the float into the open sea and climbed atop it.
The Bluebelle. Photo source.
Terry spent the next four days at sea without food or water. She was wearing only a thin blouse and pants. Her throat had never felt so dry and the sun began to burn her skin.
On Tuesday night Terry dreamt of her family and of easing her thirst. She began to have hallucinations in which she was swimming frantically towards an island with a lone palm tree — the island vanished and Terry fell into a state of unconsciousness.
By Thursday, Terry was close to death. She had been stuck at sea for four days and she could barely open her eyes. Then, suddenly, she heard voices in the distance shouting and was pulled up off the float by her saviour — Greek freighter Captain Theo. She was taken to a hospital where she spent the next eleven days recovering.
The infamous photo of Terry Jo right before her rescue. Photo source.
Terry Jo’s rescue. Photo source.
Terry Jo could not stop smiling. It was miraculous that she had survived for so long — and all alone at that.
While at the hospital, Terry Jo was interviewed by the police. She told them Julian had murdered her entire family and his wife aboard the Bluebelle. The authorities had hoped there were other survivors, but Terry Jo had seen their bodies vanish into the open sea.
Terry Jo in the hospital. Photo source.
Of course, Julian’s story did not align with Terry Jo’s and when investigators dug deeper into the captain’s life, they discovered he had been involved in many suspicious incidents in the past.
Mary Dene was Julian’s sixth wife. His second wife and her mother were killed in a car accident where Julian was the driver. The vehicle flew off a bridge and into a river. Somehow, Julian was able to exit the vehicle before it plummeted, walking away unscathed. He was also involved in two other suspicious boat sinking incidents. Investigators discovered Julian had received large insurance payouts after each mysterious ‘accident.’
The investigators theorized Julian had killed his wife Mary Dene in hopes to collect on her $20,000 life insurance when he was caught by Arthur. In an effort to avoid being caught, Harvey murdered the family but left Terry Jo on the ship as he hastily made his escape, believing she would sink with it and drown.
Once Julian learned Terry Jo had survived and his crimes had been outed, he fled and checked into a Sandman hotel. When a maid entered his room and noticed blood on the bedsheets and a locked bathroom, she immediately informed her manager who called the police.
The authorities forcefully pried open the bathroom door and there they found Julian’s limp body. He had slit his own throat with a double-edged razor.
Unfortunately for Julian, he had underestimated little Terry Jo’s strength and courage. Not only did she survive a terrible tragedy, but she exposed Julian as the cold-hearted mass murderer he was.
Tere Duperrault. Source.
Terry Jo, who changed her name to Tere a year later at age twelve, was raised by her aunt after her parents’ murder. Today, she is married with three children.
Fifty years following Tere’s rescue, she was encouraged by a friend to write an autobiography called Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean in which she wrote intimate details of that fateful night in an effort to not only help heal herself from her own trauma but to help others heal, too.
“I always believed I was saved for a reason. If one person heals from a life tragedy [after reading my story], my journey will have been worth it.” — Tere Duperrault Fassbender
Sources: Mental Floss, All That’s Interesting, Vintage Everything, Wikipedia, Reader’s Digest, Find A Grave, History Collection | https://medium.com/memoirsfromhistory/orphaned-at-sea-the-11-year-old-girl-who-survived-4-days-on-a-lifeboat-23bf69886646 | ['Fatim Hemraj'] | 2020-12-27 19:05:44.556000+00:00 | ['History', 'True Crime', 'Murder', 'Family', 'Crime'] |
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