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Slow and steady won’t win the race in PT | The physical therapy profession traditionally isn’t very progressive.
We are often reactionary and slow to adopt new technology.
Not only does this put us behind the curve, but it allows other, more progressive providers the chance to provide care to our prospective patients.
Instead of being afraid of the future and digging our heels into the old model, my challenge for us is to figure out how we can best use the technology available to reach new populations.
We need to quit focusing so much on the short term busyness of modern physical therapy that we miss out on future opportunities.
And when it comes to technology, it is not a matter of “if” but “when” you will need to adopt new systems that fit the demands and expectations of patients who now are paying more out of pocket and arranging their own care than ever before.
Help has arrived
I (and many others) believe telehealth is the next frontier of medicine.
The old model of waiting in doctor’s offices to manage basic care issues and chronic conditions is a huge burden for patients.
As stated, patients are expecting more from their providers.
Resources such as telehealth can help.
To that end, there is promising early research that suggests telehealth improves the patient experience and satisfaction.
Another example, the armed forces and VA are already successfully using this approach to provide better care.
Telehealth Primer: Synchronous vs Asynchronous
Telehealth can be synchronous (provider and patient interact in real time on a live feed) or asynchronous (aka “store and forward” where patients and providers access data such as videos, reports, and messages whenever it works best for them).
Synchronous telehealth helps to reach populations that either wouldn’t have access to healthcare (rural populations) or for those that have difficulty getting into a traditional medical office (homebound patients).
The main limitations to this approach is that both patient and provider have to be available at the same time and have to have the system working properly.
Streaming services can have technical glitches and user errors can throw a wrench into your meeting times.
The providers I know utilizing this option are using services like Skype, which are subject to security and connection issues at times.
Can you imagine the frustration of your connection dropping right in the middle of your doctor’s visit?
Asynchronous telehealth cuts down these barriers and allows for patients to get the healthcare they need at a time that works best for them.
Looking back on my career in outpatient and home health settings, I can identify many times where this option would have made a huge difference. (I recently wrote about one particular scenario that will likely ring true for you.)
Don’t get left behind
I encounter PT business owners who say things like, “That sounds great, but I just don’t have the time to look into that stuff.”
If that sounds like something you’d say, here’s my response: You can’t afford not to look into this.
Those that are slow to adapt get left behind. If you want to be a successful provider in the new digital age, you need to spend the time right now not in a year or two.
By Sean Hagey (Twitter: @seanhagey)
Try In Hand Health for Free! Fast Sign Up! | https://medium.com/the-in-hand-health-collection/slow-and-steady-wont-win-the-race-in-pt-8d865f9efa75 | ['In Hand Health'] | 2017-01-25 21:54:25.409000+00:00 | ['Healthcare Innovations', 'Healthcare Technology', 'Digital Health', 'Physical Therapy', 'Telehealth'] |
Preparing for the future | iSTEAMM Conference on May 23 will welcome 800 local seventh and eighth graders
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Meeting of the minds: On May 23, United Way of Bucks County and Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22 are inviting more than 800 area seventh-and eighth-graders to the first iSTEAMM Conference. Source: United Way of Bucks County
When it comes to choosing a potential career path, it’s widely assumed the latter end of high school is prime time to make this critical life decision. On the brink of adulthood, teens must decide to either immediately enter the workforce after graduation, or select a college major, crossing their fingers they made the right choice.
But, according to Marissa Christie, president and CEO of United Way of Bucks County, career preparation doesn’t have to be such a stressful experience. Students just need an earlier start at looking toward the future.
On May 23 at Delaware Valley University, UWBucks and Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22 are inviting more than 800 area seventh and eighth graders to the first iSTEAMM Conference. The free event, presented by PECO, will introduce students to science, technology, engineering, arts, math and manufacturing, and allow them to hear directly from professionals actively working in those fields.
“We’re very excited about this,” said Christie. “This is going to be the biggest countywide conference for students. One of the things that I am most excited about is to be able to bring in other elements that go beyond what a traditional STEM conference would bring to students.”
Unlike a STEM conference, iSTEAMM will incorporate the design, thinking, and problem-solving aspects of the arts, which Christie said are surprisingly vital to many STEM careers. For example, if someone works in an art museum doing restoration, they should have a solid understanding of how a chemical compound works.
“There’s this whole sort of Venn diagram where art and STEM overlap,” she said.
iSTEAMM will also feature information on manufacturing, an industry Christie explained has a severe lack of skilled workers.
“Specifically for our region, we really want to bring in the idea of manufacturing and, in particular, high-tech manufacturing because we know that in our area, that’s going to continue to be an economic driver,” she said.
Despite this being the inaugural year for iSTEAMM, an event of this magnitude has been a long time coming. For several years, UWBucks and the Intermediate Unit hosted an annual #girlSTEM conference, which brought together elementary-aged females from across Bucks County considering a career in STEM. After seeing much success, it only made sense to take things a step further.
“I think it’s fair to say that this has been an evolution for quite a long time,” Christie said. “We’ve always talked about what enhancements do we want to bring, and when do we want to bring them.”
At previous events, students as young as sixth grade and as old as 10th grade were welcome to attend. Christie explained the reasoning behind iSTEAMM’s limited age bracket.
“We really think that seventh and eighth grade is kind of the sweet spot, and that’s in part because so much of the work that young people do in these areas, in particular science and math in school, the learning is cumulative in nature,” she said.
While a 10th-grader could express interest in a STEAMM field, Christie warned that they may find themselves struggling to catch up.
“If you don’t have some of the foundation classes that you would need for that career, it’s a little bit harder to get on track. So from our perspective, what we want to do is start this conversation about career readiness and career paths so that students can plan a little bit better,” she said.
At iSTEAMM, students will attend a panel discussion, where they’ll have an opportunity to hear the experiences of professionals from all fields. This conversation gives attendees a taste of multiple industries, something Christie referred to as a “sampler platter.” During previous conferences, she has witnessed a number of students completely change their mindset after exposure to a field they weren’t formerly aware of.
After, they will rotate through two smaller, interactive workshops based on individualized interests. These will be hosted by volunteer presenters actively pursuing a STEAMM career. Professional men and women interested in presenting must develop and submit a proposal for a one-hour or 45-minute session no later than April 2. Organizers will review all proposals and then select presenters to ensure a wide range of career experiences are represented.
“From our perspective, education for education’s sake is incredibly important, but we also want to be practical about what we’re sharing with students,” Christie said. “We want to make sure that as these students get older, they are getting the kind of jobs that can support themselves and their families. And it starts younger than I think people realize.”
In addition to volunteers, UWBucks and the Intermediate Unit are seeking a handful of sponsors by the first week in March. For schools that have a disproportionate number of students who are free lunch-eligible, sponsor funding would help provide transportation to the conference.
iSTEAMM is open to all school districts and private schools throughout Bucks County, each with its own selection process for determining which students will attend. While some require students to write an essay, others base the decision on a lottery system. Christie encouraged interested students to reach out to their teachers over the coming weeks to see what the protocol is. ••
If you go…
iSTEAMM Conference will take place Thursday, May 23 at Delaware Valley University, 700 E. Butler Ave., Doylestown. Information on sponsorships are available at uwbucks.org/isteamm-sponsorship. Details on becoming a presenter are available at bit.ly/iSTEAMMpresenter.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected] | https://medium.com/langhorne-times/preparing-for-the-future-aa3c09a4d2ad | ['Samantha Bambino'] | 2019-02-18 13:01:00.949000+00:00 | ['Future', 'Education', 'STEM', 'Careers', 'Students'] |
WHO in close contact with UK over new virus variant | The Covid-19 virus is less potent in high humidity BIGSTOCK
A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious
The World Health Organization said on Saturday it was in close contact with UK officials over a new Covid-19 virus variant.
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“They’ll (UK officials) continue to share info & results of their analysis & ongoing studies. We’ll update the Member States & public as we learn more about the characteristics of this virus variant & any implications”, WHO said in a tweet.
A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday.
“They’ll (UK officials) continue to share info & results of their analysis & ongoing studies. We’ll update the Member States & public as we learn more about the characteristics of this virus variant & any implications”, WHO said in a tweet.
A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists said on Saturday. | https://medium.com/@lithi-14705/who-in-close-contact-with-uk-over-new-virus-variant-126fa5732f4f | [] | 2020-12-20 15:35:17.747000+00:00 | ['Health', 'UK', 'Who', 'Covid 19'] |
Slack Clone (Vue.js + Django) Part 1: A simple Slack chat interface using Tailwind CSS | Vue.js Project Setup
I’m not going to cover in depth the setup process, for reasons aforementioned. Here is a general overview.
Initial Setup: use Vue CLI to create a new project. Some notable configurations I have: ✔️ Vue Router, Vuex, Babel, TypeScript, ESLint + Airbnb configuration ✔️, ❌ no CSS pre-processor ❌(this is important because it can mess with Tailwind CSS). Add Tailwind CSS: This is very simple if you use the Vue CLI, just use this command: vue add tailwind (credits). Other packages: I like to use an HTML preprocessor called “pug” ( npm install -D pug pug-plain-loader ). Also, I will use an icon pack called “vue-feather-icons” ( npm install vue-feather-icons @types/vue-feather-icons ). ESLint Rules: Some ESLint rules that drive me crazy so I turn them off.
{
'max-len': 'off',
'lines-between-class-members': 'off',
'indent': 'off',
'comma-dangle': 'off'
}
Building the Interface
We’ll start with a full-width/full-height div to house all the sub-components. We want to use overflow-hidden so that we can let certain child components, such as the one housing the messages, to be able to scroll independently, without the entire page scrolling.
overview of what we will build
Now, let’s start with the sidebar. First, we’ll make a simple div with a background color and good width to be our sidebar. We of course want it to be full height. We also add the small section with our workspace name in it.
Simple sidebar div code
Simple sidebar div image
Then, we will add our “Channels” and “Direct Messages” sections. First, let’s make the header for a section, starting with “Channels.”
We will use a flex div to with justify-between to separate the icon and text “> Channels” from the plus icon on the right. This is a common technique to separate two elements in a flex-box at the leftmost and rightmost, since justify-between will put as much space evenly “between” each element as possible.
This section header is also clickable, and the click handler toggleChannelDropdown simply toggles a Boolean data variable called showChannels . As you can see, we display the “right” vs. “down” icon according to whether the dropdown is being shown or not.
\Section header code
Then, we’ll make the actual body of the dropdown, which is the list of channels. We’ll start with a div that is conditionally rendered on showChannels . Then we’ll have a div wrapping two span elements, one for the pound sign and the other for the channel name. I am using a v-for to repeat the element 10 times just for visual purposes, but obviously later on we will replace that.
Now, I am going to basically copy and paste all that to make a new section for “Direct Messages.” Also, as with any time you’re copying & pasting code, you should be thinking about “is there a way to abstract this?” The answer here is: yes, but later 😉 — strategic procrastination. So here we end up with the following:
Now, let’s move over to the right towards the messages. First, we’ll create a parent div for all the stuff on the right. The outer div is overflow-hidden, again, so that the inner div can actually scroll without scrolling the outer div. Other than that, we want it to be flex-col , because the conversation header, messages, and message send box will all be aligned vertically.
Outer wrapping divs for conversation and messages
Now, let’s add some messages. We’ll use a flex box to arrange the photos next to the text, and an inner flex box to arrange the two rows of text (name + timestamp & the message body). The image is set to a square width/height, and the image source is from Picsum photos. Again, v-for is used so we can see the scroll in action.
HTML for a single message
Then, we’ll form the conversation header and the box to send a message.
Conversation header HTML code
HTML code for message send box
Altogether, it looks like so:
Finally, the last part we want to add is a set of action buttons when hovering a specific message.
First, we need to modify the code for a single message. I have extracted it into a separate component so that we can keep track of whether each message is being hovered within its own component data. Notably, I added mouseover and mouseleave listeners that will toggle a boolean isHovered . Based on this, we will make the background gray and show the “actions” for this specific message. Also, we need to add the relative class to the root div, which will enable us to use absolute positioning for the “actions.”
Vue code for single message component
The code for the actions is below. The @apply command is a Tailwind CSS feature, which just applies the CSS from a class within another CSS class. Notice that we use absolute positioning for the outer div for the action buttons. The top: -16px; right: 27px are indicating the position of this div relative to the top/right of the outer message div that has relative positioning.
With all that, we should now have a solid interface to work off of. In future parts, we will make the interface more interactive, as well as adding a backend to make our app fully-featured! Again, here is the GitHub link for all the source code: https://github.com/chang-andrew/slack-clone-tutorial
Thanks for reading and happy coding :) | https://medium.com/@amchang/slack-clone-vue-js-django-part-1-a-simple-slack-chat-interface-using-tailwind-css-9b90a443ae7f | ['Andrew Chang'] | 2020-11-17 03:56:47.593000+00:00 | ['Tailwind Css', 'Vuejs', 'Web Development', 'Frontend', 'Front End Development'] |
Conduct Usability and User Testing for Mobile Apps Like a Pro | This means that user testing apps has become absolutely crucial for optimizing the UX and discoverability of digital products and services. Given the importance of mobile, you should include a mobile usability test in your research, which can provide you with invaluable data of how people actually use your app in the real world.
To get you started, we quizzed four leading experts on mobile app usability about the essential factors in planning and conducting a mobile user test. Read on and discover the techniques that, in their experience, lead to better digital products.
Test your apps early and often
Chris How, principal UX consultant at strategic design and innovation agency Clearleft, has found that the maxim of ‘test early and often’ really holds true.
While How recommends involving your intended audience at every stage of the process (from initial concepts, through lo-fi prototypes, and to the production-ready product), lead UX/UI designer and mobile expert Stéphanie Walter also suggests pre-testing before inviting real users.
“There’s nothing more frustrating than gathering the wrong data of false positives or negatives because there was an issue with the test protocol, the prototype didn’t send the user to the right page, or the vocabulary you used in your task description biased the user,” she explains. “You can avoid all that with pre-tests, which are really quick and simple to set up.”
A pre-test conducted with colleagues before testing the mobile prototype with real users.
A pre-test conducted with colleagues before testing the mobile prototype with real users.
Just grab some colleagues and ask them to play the role of the user. The rest should be pretty much the same as it would be for official participants.
“If the test is supposed to happen in a particular room with a particular device, use the same environment and setting for the pre-test,” Walter advises. “Go through the welcome speech, the tasks, and the mobile prototype, like you would do for the real test. If there’s an issue in the prototype, such as a typo, or a loop in your protocol, you should be able to detect it during these ‘dry run’ sessions. If there’s some language that might bias users, or the way you ask questions isn’t quite clear, you can detect this upfront, too.”
According to Walter, pre-tests are a little bit like a wedding rehearsal: they help you make sure that everything runs smoothly for the big usability testing day.
Reduce bias and consider context
Femke van Schoonhoven, a product designer at Uber, points out that, to ensure a successful user test, it’s important to reduce bias and consider context when creating your prototype.
“It’s good to remember that you are not your user, and whoever you’re testing with will be seeing your designs for the first time, without any of the context you have.”
Before you run your next test, van Schoonhoven therefore recommends making sure you’ve done the following:
Hide your hotspots to encourage organic discovery
Use real content instead of stock imagery and Lorem Ipsum
Tweak the prototype to cater to the specific user (for example, use a female profile in the design if the tester is female
Localize your content if necessary
Encourage realness by testing on the intended device
Always link one level deeper than the test to allow the user to explore (for example, let Help go to Help even though it’s not part of your test)
Considering the above will help validate your test and help your participant view your prototype through a realistic lens, which will avoid distractions and keep the test organic.
Recreate a natural environment
For Andy Vitale, strategic design and innovation leader and member of Adobe’s Design Circle, the key to usability testing mobile apps is to try to recreate the natural mobile environment as closely as possible throughout the various fidelities of the designs being evaluated.
“I have seen the greatest successes in mobile testing sessions when people are allowed to test directly on mobile devices, so that they can be observed using native mobile gestures and behaviors,” Vitale explains. “From a research perspective, it’s not about asking people what they would like from the design but more about observing them and the way they interact with the design and learning how to better help them achieve their desired results. It’s about testing a hypothesis.”
Vitale recommends understanding and aligning as a team on which success metrics you are trying to measure with the designs. If there is also a way to capture quantitative data throughout testing, it will help you set baselines and show improvements throughout various iterations of the designs you will be testing.
Meanwhile, Ida Aalen, chief product officer and co-founder of video conferencing startup Confrere and proponent of easy and affordable user testing techniques, has learned that it’s never about the equipment.
“The main thing is to make sure you’re not asking leading questions, in addition to encouraging users to think out loud as they try using your app,” she advises.
As your view of the screen will often be obscured by a participant’s hands, Clearleft’s principal UX consultant Chris How also views it as vital to actively listen and watch users for small clues indicating delight or frustration. He therefore recommends really getting to know the flow of your own app before conducting a mobile usability test.
Test your app in the wild
If you can, you should also get out of the lab and test the app where it’ll be used.
“Usage and behavior are linked to context and environment,” How explains. “When testing a mobile app for a museum, I shadowed participants. Seeing how often their phone went in and out of their pocket helped focus the design on supporting short bursts of repeated use. Likewise, testing a travel app in the wild highlighted the need for a design that could be seen in bright sunlight and used whilst wearing gloves on freezing days.”
Accessibility in particular should now be considered central to creating products that are fit for purpose in a mobile-first world. Whether you’re using your smartphone while you’re walking along, possibly one-handed, a coffee in the other hand, are distracted or in a rush — you’re temporarily impaired and in need of inclusive design. Conducting a mobile user test while you’re out and about will throw up exactly these issues and help you understand the unique UX requirements you need to consider for your app.
You will need to carefully adapt and plan just how you carry out your tests to meet the needs of your particular project. There’s no denying, however, that user testing apps — early and often, with colleagues as well as real users, on a variety of devices, in the lab and in the wild — is the key to the success of your app. Get it right, and users will come back to it again and again. | https://medium.com/thinking-design/conduct-usability-and-user-testing-for-mobile-apps-like-a-pro-d566339ffe1 | ['Oliver Lindberg'] | 2020-03-11 21:19:39.333000+00:00 | ['Usability', 'User Testing', 'Mobile App Development', 'Design Best Practices', 'Usability Testing'] |
How to Use Kustomize for Your Kubernetes Projects | 3. Add Changes to the Existing K8s Resource Files
Changing the label of the existing Kubernetes deployment
Inside the resources section, you can add your K8s resource files, such as deployments, services, namespaces, ConfigMaps, etc. At the moment, I only have a K8s deployment. After specifying the resources , you can then move to the next section where you define your changes.
commonLabels:
someName: #some-value
owner: #mike
app: #test
The commonLabels field allows you to define labels/names to your YAML configuration file. As shown above, you can add your labels to it. Once you’re done with the changes, you can run the command below to apply them to your deployment:
$ kubectl delete -f nginx-deployment.yaml
First, you need to remove the existing pod. But before deleting the existing pod, make sure to run the kubectl get all --show-lables command to check what you have in the Labels section in your pod:
// output NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
pod/nginx-deployment 1/1 Running 0 26s LABELS
app=nginx,pod-template-hash=66b6c48dd5
Then you can apply your changes by running the command below:
$ kubectl apply --kustomize . OR $ kubectl apply -k .
Let’s run the kubectl get all --show-labels command and see whether it has taken the changes:
// output NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
pod/nginx-deployment 1/1 Running 0 9m14s LABELS
app=nginx,owner=randil,pod-template-hash=6dcc7ddc48 NAME READY UP-TO-DATE AVAILABLE AGE
deployment.apps/nginx-deployment 1/1 1 1 9m14s LABELS
app=nginx,owner=randil NAME DESIRED CURRENT READY AGE
replicaset.apps/nginx-deployment-6dcc7ddc48 1 1 1 9m14s LABELS
app=nginx,owner=randil,pod-template-hash=6dcc7ddc48
Note: If you’re running an older version of Kubernetes, you have to install Kustomize on your computer before getting to this process. Then, you can run the commands below to apply the changes.
$ kustomize build . > test-deployment.yaml $ kubectl create -f test-deployment.yaml
Changing the names of the existing Kubernetes deployment
Kustomize helps you to change the names of your K8s resource files. For that, you can use the namePrefix and nameSuffix fields:
resources:
- nginx-deployment.yaml commonLabels:
owner: randil namePrefix: test- nameSuffix: -dev
namePrefix appends your custom text at the beginning of the name and nameSuffix appends your custom text to the end of the existing name.
// output - extracted only the relevant part NAME
deployment.apps/test-nginx-deployment-dev
Refer to the docs for more options. | https://betterprogramming.pub/how-to-use-kustomize-for-your-kubernetes-projects-42a90c00bd56 | ['Randil Tennakoon'] | 2021-01-06 08:24:40.298000+00:00 | ['Containers', 'Programming', 'Kubernetes', 'Docker', 'DevOps'] |
How digital remittances can help drive sustainable development | More people in the world have access to financial accounts and tools than ever before. With this access, new products and services are being developed to facilitate convenient usage of these accounts. Taking this a step further, healthy financial inclusion incorporates customers’ ability to balance income and expenses, build and maintain reserves, and to manage and recover from financial shocks using a range of financial tools. The most useful financial services are those that provide customers with convenience, and support resilience through enhanced ability to weather shocks and pursue financial goals; effectively supporting the financial health of the user.
Remittances are an essential source of income for millions of families, many of whom are low income. Global migration is increasing — over 258 million people currently live outside their country of birth, up from 173 million in the year 2000 — and is trailed by a steady stream of transactions. The remittances industry moves over $600 billion around the world, with $466 billion being sent to low-and-middle income countries. As the first financial product used by many lower income people, remittances often act as a stepping stone to accessing a menu of financial services; as such, they are a cornerstone of financial health.
Reducing cost and increasing convenience
The international community is striving to substantially reduce the cost of remittance services. This effort began in the late-2000s, when the General Principles for International Remittance Services were issued by the World Bank and Bank for International Settlements, the so-called 5x5 objectives were adopted by the G8 and then by the G20, and many public and private sector initiatives were launched in this direction around the globe.
Image: Business Insider Intelligence
Building on these efforts, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set a target for cost reduction that is two-fold. Firstly, the average cost of remittance services globally should be lower than 3% by 2030 (it now stands at 6.94%). Secondly, it should be possible to send remittances for a total cost of 5% or less in any given country-to-country corridor. The index developed by the World Bank to monitor this target, known as Smart Remitter Target (SmaRT), goes beyond just the cost of the service and includes accessibility, reach, and transfer speed in the equation. As of September 2018, 37% of corridors are above the 5% cost target.
Trends in policies and regulations, as well as market conditions (including addressing the issue of shutting down correspondent banking relationships), will be critical in achieving SDG 10, the goal related to remittances. With an enabling market and policy environment, remittance service providers can focus on leveraging new technologies to further benefit senders and receivers.
Innovative solutions are already beginning to shift the landscape of remittance services by reducing cost and increasing convenience for senders of remittances and their families. A study of mobile money remittances by GSMA (the trade association of mobile operators) found that mobile technology cuts remittance costs in half. Similarly, research from PayPal and Xoom shows that the average cost of sending a digital remittance is just 3.93%, nearly half the cost of traditional remittances.
In the same vein, a World Bank and Bank of Albania report estimated that if half of international remittances currently received in cash in Albania were received via e-money, beneficiaries could save up to $1.3 million annually while payment service providers could save up to $6.7 million.
Time savings
Technology can also help reduce the time and effort required to send and receive remittances. A Boston Consulting Group study of five emerging markets estimated that mobile financial services produce a savings of 1% of income due to reduced travel and wait times. The Xoom study estimated that digital remittances could save remittance recipients in Mexico 15 days over the course of their lives, nearly 100 million hours in aggregate for the economy and nearly $450 million in economic value based on the average income of a Mexican citizen.
Remittances as a first step towards increased financial inclusion and health
Research has demonstrated a positive correlation between increased remittances and enhanced formal deposits and credits. Another benefit of banking for remitters and receivers is government deposit insurance schemes, which help create enhanced trust and usage. Remitters who use account-based transfers send on average 30% more than those using more informal channels; these additional funds could yield enhanced stickiness with the regulated financial system for receivers in emerging markets.
What’s missing?
Innovative solutions must be complemented by additional efforts. While two-thirds of unbanked individuals around the world have access to a mobile phone, this is not sufficient to achieve universal financial access and usage. The World Bank Global Findex finds that a quarter of all new transaction accounts worldwide are ‘inactive’, meaning that there were no deposits or withdrawals made over the prior 12 months.
Remittance services are not an exception: while digital services are gaining traction, it is believed that most transactions are still initiated and disbursed in cash. Key measures to boost the digitalization of remittances may include:
- Strengthening domestic payment systems infrastructure and other supporting infrastructures such as IT, and ensuring remittance service providers can fully take advantage of them. Interoperability and fair and open access policies can directly impact the ability of remittance service providers to efficiently collect and distribute remittances.
- Reviewing legal and regulatory frameworks to remove any barriers to the use of digital channels for remittances. Various requirements exist (identification, signature, forex controls) that prevent full digitalization of remittance services.
Finally, consumer protections — such as ensuing customers understand products and are aware of risks, as well as protection of data, privacy and security when handling cash — are paramount to financial health. Educating and protecting the consumers is critical to gaining trust essential to drive healthy usage. | https://medium.com/world-of-opportunity/how-digital-remittances-can-help-drive-sustainable-development-9b2967c37694 | ['World Bank'] | 2019-04-23 16:50:11.874000+00:00 | ['Financial Inclusion', 'Remittances', 'Migration', 'Ict', 'Fintech'] |
WirePOLITICS: EMILY’s List supports Naughton | Tom Waring, the Wire
EMILY’s List, which supports pro-choice female Democratic candidates, is backing Shaughnessy Naughton in the 8th Congressional District.
“As a small business owner who grew up in a working family that struggled to make ends meet, Shaughnessy Naughton has what it takes to fight for economic policies that give all Pennsylvania families a fair shot,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List. “In Congress, she’ll use her unique background as a scientist to stand up for women’s health and to hold Republicans accountable for their attacks on the environment. Pennsylvania’s Eighth District is one of the most competitive districts in the country, and the EMILY’s List community of over three million members is excited to have the opportunity to help a Democratic woman as dynamic as Shaughnessy win this open seat.”
Naughton, a scientist and owner of a family publishing business, faces state Rep. Steve Santarsiero in the primary.
Naughton ran in 2014, but lost in the primary by 817 votes to Kevin Strouse, who had most of the party behind him. Strouse went on to lose to Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, who is not seeking another term.
“Right now, when Planned Parenthood funding is under attack by Republicans, I’m glad to have the support of EMILY’s List members who believe we need more women and more scientists in federal office to protect critical funding for breast cancer research and preventive care like mammograms.” Naughton said. “As a woman, a small business owner and a scientist, it’s shocking to watch Congress deny climate change and ignore significant advances in medical research. We need to be focused on creating jobs, growing the economy and making education a priority– not turning back the clock on women’s rights. I’m running for Congress because I know that we need to turn our country in a better direction, and I am honored to have the full support of EMILY’s List to get the job done.”
The 8th Congressional District consists of all of Bucks County and a small portion of Montgomery County.
Former Bucks County Commissioner Andy Warren is seeking the Republican nomination. Other rumored candidates include state Rep. Scott Petri and Tom Manion, a retired businessman and Marine Corps colonel who ran for the seat in 2008. | https://medium.com/feasterville-trevose-times/wirepolitics-emilys-list-supports-naughton-9fd3e907b45b | [] | 2017-04-27 14:40:48.248000+00:00 | ['Planned Parenthood', 'Kevin Strouse', 'Andy Warren', 'Politics', 'Scott Petri'] |
Geospatial data and tools for analyzing COVID-19 | Geospatial data and tools for analyzing COVID-19
There is little need to state the monumental and life-changing effects that COVID-19 has had on lives around the globe. As the world changes around us daily, there has been an increased focus on geography.
The Wired article “Amid a Pandemic, Geography Returns With a Vengeance” highlights the fact that we have a renewed focus on our relationship with geography.
The pandemic is redefining our relationship with space. Not outer space, but physical space. Hot spots, distance, spread, scale, proximity. In a word: geography. Suddenly, we can’t stop thinking about where.
This plays out not only in how we think about our day to day relationship with physical space but also in our relationship with data and information. In almost every news publication you can find maps and data that are tied to location, with information being added and updated many times a day.
Total cases of COVID-19 from the New York Times (as of 4/15/2020)
While a crisis of this scale is unprecedented in many ways, for those who work with geospatial data, many will be familiar with the concept of crisis mapping — or using geospatial tools, data, and the power of numbers to collect data and information that can be used by those responding to a crisis.
One of the first examples of this is the response to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. There was limited reliable geospatial data, such as roads and facilities, in Haiti that could be used to tell those on the ground where to go. In the days following the earthquake, many individuals contributed to OpenStreetMap, an open project similar to Wikipedia where users can add geospatial data to the map.
The response was overwhelming. These posts from the World Bank and OpenStreetMap blog and wiki describe the response, but this video illustrates the amount of data that was added after the earthquake.
Data added to OpenStreetMap in January 2010
In the time since many different disasters have taken place that have used of geospatial data and tools. From floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, epidemics, humanitarian crises, tornados, and more have all made use of geospatial data in the response to these disasters.
COVID-19 is a crisis at a much larger scale, but there has been an overwhelming response to the crisis from the geospatial community around providing data, tools, and ways to get involved. The rest of this post will aim to share some of those initiatives.
If there is a resource that you know of that isn’t on the list feel free to add it to the responses!
Disclaimer: My expertise is in geospatial data and analysis, not in epidemiology or spatial epidemiology. This guide is simply a collection of resources that the geospatial community has made available.
Data
COVID-19 Data Repository from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (JHU CSSE)
JHU CSSE Dashboard
This dataset is being used by many different agencies and news organizations around the globe and is one of the most commonly cited data sources during the epidemic.
Google Cloud has also made the JHU dataset available on the Google Cloud Platform and is working with a number of organizations on the response.
Unacast
Unacast Social Distancing Scorecard
Unacast, a human mobility data and insights company, has built a social distancing scorecard that uses mobility data to analyze the changes in mobility patterns down to the county level. Thomas Walle, their CEO, posted on LinkedIn that:
If you are looking to use location data for research and public health purposes please contact us and we will give you access to our global data set for free. We believe our data has great powers — and with great powers comes a great responsibility.
Centers for Disease Control
SVI Data at the US County Level
Social vulnerability can also have a major impact on how individuals and communities can be impacted by the disease. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) publishes its Social Vulnerability Index, defined as:
Social vulnerability refers to the resilience of communities when confronted by external stresses on human health, stresses such as natural or human-caused disasters, or disease outbreaks. Reducing social vulnerability can decrease both human suffering and economic loss. CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index uses 15 U.S. census variables at tract level to help local officials identify communities that may need support in preparing for hazards; or recovering from disaster.
You can download the data as shapefiles at the county or US Census Tract level.
WeatherSource
Weather and climatology can play an impact in terms of how COVID-19 may progress, but also human behavior in terms of responding to social distancing orders. WeatherSource is a data provider that has a wide range of weather-related datasets including forecasts and climatology and has opened its API to those studying COVID-19.
Facebook
Distribution of people over the age of 60 in Mexico.
Via their Data for Good program, Facebook is working with different researchers and networks to provide a wide range of anonymized data such as high-density population maps, social connectivity, co-location maps, mobility data, and more. Some resources are publicly available, such as the population density maps, while others are reserved for specific organizations.
OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap in New York City
OpenStreetMap provides its global dataset in a downloadable file and different geographically smaller extracts via a project called Planet.osm. This contains all the data that you see on the map: roads, buildings, transportation, points of interest, hospitals, land, water, etc. You can also use Overpass Turbo which is a user interface to extract data that is queried from OSM via the Overpass API. Keep in mind that OSM data is user-generated and may not be complete in some areas.
New York Times
The New York Times is making the data behind their United States Maps available at the national, state, and county levels on GitHub.
COVID-19 Mobility Data Network
The COVID-19 Mobility Network is described as a:
…a network of infectious disease epidemiologists at universities around the world working with technology companies to use aggregated mobility data to support the COVID-19 response. Our goal is to provide daily updates to decision-makers at the state and local levels on how well social distancing interventions are working, using anonymized, aggregated data sets from mobile devices, along with analytic support for interpretation.
There is an email to contact them, but you may need to be a part of an academic institution to use this data.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Humanitarian Data Exchange
UN OCHA COVID-19 Data Page
The UN OCHA Humanitarian Data Exchange has many different datasets for use for (and outside of ) COVID-19 including some of the datasets mentioned above along with data around mobility patterns in Italy, testing data, and other-country specific data.
Tools
CARTO
CARTO is a spatial platform that provides a wide range of tools to store, analyze, and visualize spatial data and they are making their platform available to public and private organizations:
For that reason, CARTO will be making its platform available to public and private sector organizations fighting against the coronavirus outbreak via our grants program. Whether you are a media outlet sharing advice for the general public, a healthcare organization optimizing resource allocation or a government entity looking to assess the impact of lockdowns — we want to help you with your use case and ensure we are making data-driven decisions together throughout this outbreak.
The program has been used by a long list of organizations including a collaboration between ForceManager and mendesaltaren, with additional support from Telefónica, Ferrovial, Google, and Santander to develop AsistenciaCOVID-19, a self-diagnosis and COVID-19 information app.
ESRI
ESRI is a geospatial software and platform provider that has a wide range of tools and products for geospatial analysis to many different private and public organizations around the world. From their COVID-19 resource page:
As the situation surrounding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to evolve, Esri is supporting our users and the community at large with location intelligence, geographic information system (GIS) and mapping software, services, and materials that people are using to help monitor, manage, and communicate the impact of the outbreak. Use and share these resources to help your community or organization respond effectively.
From here you can request GIS help, access GIS resources, view maps and dashboards, and get COVID-19 related insights.
QGIS
QGIS is a free and open-source desktop GIS tool that allows you to work with geospatial data, create maps, perform geospatial operations, connect to external tools, and integrate with a very extensive plugin ecosystem.
Dashboards
Google Mobility Reports
Sample Google Mobility Report
Google is using mobility data it collects on its platforms to create and publish mobility reports that capture changes in mobility patterns in several different place categories such as Retail & recreation, Parks, Grocery & pharmacy, etc.
Community Mobility Reports aim to provide insights into what has changed in response to policies aimed at combating COVID-19. The reports chart movement trends over time by geography, across different categories of places such as retail and recreation, groceries and pharmacies, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential.
Domo
Domo COVID-19 Geospatial Dashboard
BI company Domo has created a complete set of dashboards, both geospatial and non-geospatial, using the John Hopkins COVID-19 data that includes topics such as a daily update, maps, testing, economics, projections, and more.
Tableau
Tableau has shared a gallery of different dashboards published using Tableau as well as a starter workbook using the John Hopkins COVID-19 data.
Cuebiq
Cuebiq, a human mobility data provider, has published a series of interactive visualizations and analyses using their data on a wide range of topics including several articles by the New York Times, analyzing mobility patterns in Italy, and more.
StreetLightData
StreetLightData uses mobility data to analyze traffic patterns on roads to understand car traffic counts, transportation analytics, and more. Using their data combined with Cuebiq data to analyze how vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are changing in the US on a daily basis. You can use the map and download the data as well.
Getting Involved
HOT OSM
The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is a great place to get involved even with a few spare minutes. HOT OSM is a tasking system where different organizations can request assistance with collecting data about different areas or communities impacted by a major disaster, similar to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake described earlier.
The Tasking Manager is a mapping tool designed and built for the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team’s collaborative mapping process in OpenStreetMap. The purpose of the tool is to divide up a mapping project into smaller tasks that can be completed rapidly with many people working on the same overall area. It shows which areas need to be mapped and which areas need the mapping validated. This approach allows the distribution of tasks to many individual mappers in the context of emergency or other humanitarian mapping scenario. It also allows monitoring of the overall project progress and helps improve the consistency of the mapping (e.g., elements to cover, specific tags to use, etc.).
There are many different open tasks related to COVID-19 in communities around the globe. You simply need to create an account on OpenStreetMap, then choose the project you want to work on. From there you will simply be tracing a satellite image to find different features requested by the project.
Other Resources
NAPSG Foundation
The National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) is collecting a wide range of resources related to COVID-19 on their website including maps, dashboards, data, resources, and more.
OGC
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is collecting many geospatial resources including base maps, data and data pipelines, resources, dashboards, and advice around visualizing data and cartographic best practices.
Note from the editors: Towards Data Science is a Medium publication primarily based on the study of data science and machine learning. We are not health professionals or epidemiologists, and the opinions of this article should not be interpreted as professional advice. To learn more about the coronavirus pandemic, you can click here. | https://towardsdatascience.com/geospatial-data-and-tools-for-analyzing-covid-19-9eaf298512 | ['Matt Forrest'] | 2020-04-16 16:06:40.048000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Covid 19', 'Mapping', 'Geospatial', 'Data Visualization'] |
That damned cat. | It is 3:35 a.m.
The kitten does not want to stop partying. The night is a party.
So many toes to pounce on, so many mason jars full of water to knock down on the sleeping heads of the humans.
There is no logical reason for the kitten to stop partying.
The humans have to work in the morning. It does not matter. The kitten is
not concerned with concepts like ‘working’. For the kitten the only goal, the only job, is to learn the many ways of being a cat.
The kitten is learning many things. How to purr, how to meow, how to manipulate the two humans and get fed twice, how to eat bugs and how to watch the shadows. That is the work, the job. And the kitten does not have to try to be good at his job. He is already excelling.
Evolution explains the kitten’s utter fascination with high places. When life
was scarier for cats everywhere the high places were a safe refuge from Scary.
The only thing more powerful than partying is the Scary. Loud noises. Bangs, crashes and barks. Things that reminded the kitten that life isn’t all bug eating and human scratching and purrs and pets. Things that would harm.
That is what the high corners and Small Dark Spaces are for.
Protection from the Scary.
But this morning it is dark and the headboard with the mason jars is the BEST place to be. There is still darkness in the sky out the half open window, and the night is worth experiencing in fullness.
Why do the humans sleep through the shadows and the dark? The kitten can
bound around the house, carrying on and carrying on, from shadow to shadow, darkness as a shield.
‘Why aren’t the humans awake? I want to PARTY,’ the kitten thinks.
The kitten decides it would be very fun and exciting to bat the full mason jar of water to the edge of the headboard, directly over the fat human’s head.
Slowly, gentle push of the paw after gentle push of the paw, the mason jar teeters over the edge.
It’s party time.
The mason jar careens directly onto the sleeping man’s forehead and soaks the bed.
The humans do not want to party. They reach for the spray bottle.
4:30 p.m.
The kitten is planning to break himself from the chains of tyranny. But first, he has to get his facts straight.
There are many types of water. There is the toilet water, which is fresh, and delicious. There is the water dripping form the faucet into the basin, which is also delicious. Even the water pooled up on the shower mat is a delicacy. And getting damp accessing that water is a small price to pay for decadence.
However. complications arise. Water inside of a spray bottle? That’s bad, right? No. It is the same stuff in the shower, the same stuff that condenses on the side of the toilet.
The toilet. What a wonderful thing. When the fat human uses the bathroom, the kitten perches in the closet adjacent to the throne and stares, transfixed by the beauty of
the porcelain thing which runs as if a stream is inside of it.
Nevermind the smell of the human. The scene is beautiful.
Why use the water to wash when the tongue will do the trick? And the fat human still smells like dirty socks, even after the shower. Humans would not survive a night in the wild darkness; they reek and their foul odor would betray them to a fisher cat or a bear or a lion.
But the kitten digressed. There is a problem to solve.
So. the spray bottle contains water, and being sprayed results in slight dampness, correct?
How different is the slight dampness from the bottle different from the slight dampness of sitting on a wet towel or pawing at the pooled water in the sink?
It’s not, thinks the kitten. These constraints, these mental boundaries were put in place by the humans to keep the kitten in place. The kitten wanted to climb the counters, explore the Foods, all the Foods, and the tyrannical humans kept the Foods in places guarded by the spray bottle.
But why should the kitten be kept in place, chained by his own fear of the spray bottle? Why should the kitten care about consequence? Why adhere to an unjust law? Why not jump on the counter? Why not do it in front of the human? Why not alert them
the kitten is bound by no human laws?
The kitten, gathering his courage, and leaps up onto the counter, directly on the cutting board, right in the chopped onions. The fat human bellowed, grabbed the spray bottle, and squirted the kitten.
Oh god, oh no, I am wet. The kitten thinks, scattering off the counter. How could the human be so cruel? No warning, just excessive, unjustified force? I am just a baby. I do not know what is right and wrong. I made a mistake, and I paid for it dearly. I hate these people, these humans and their unabashed cruelty.
4:35 p.m.
The kitten is, once again, for the 7th time today, planning to break himself from the chains of tyranny.
4:40 p.m.
Yup, tyranny and chains and stuff again. It’s not going well.
5 p.m.
Fine, tyranny. You win this time, the kitten thinks as he runs full speed into the living room to dismember and consume a moth. ‘I’ll try again in 15 minutes.”
6:40 p.m.
It’s not the humans fault he’s ugly, the kitten thinks, climbing up into the fat humans lap.
It’s not his fault he is large and lumbering and fat and smells like feet. It’s not his fault he is not small and furry and whiskered and agile and ever so fast, the kitten thinks as he begins to purr.
I love him despite his ugliness, despite his poor excuse for whiskers, his shabby beard, his inability to lick himself clean. He gives the best scratches under the neck. He is my ugly. By loving him, I am doing him a favor, the kitten thinks.
It’s not his fault he kicks me when I run in front of him on the stairs and it’s not his fault he kicks me and begins to fall, the kitten thinks as he stretches out, reaching towards the human as the
human begins to hit the spot between his ears. It’s not his fault he is so clumsy and giant and slow, unlike me. I am the fastest creature alive. I will prove it to the human by running across
his face at 4 a.m. He needs to learn how fast I am. Maybe if he practices he won’t be so slow and ugly…although I’m not sure if that will cure the ugly…
The kitten trails off as he falls asleep.
12:01 p.m.
The human has not been the same. He sleeps. So much.
The kitten knows he is not in a place to judge, as the kitten spends much time sleeping. But it is a different sleep. The kitten stretches out towards the sun, the kitten finds the warm spots where the sun heats up the blankets of the floor and the kitten embraces the light. The human, under the blanket, does not move, does not stretch, and sometimes even keeps his eyes open.
He is hiding from the light. The kitten can feel something like a sickness inside of the human; the human sleeps like cats sleep when they are sick, when they find the dark places and hide
and let the darkness heal them or usher them Away.
The human does not speak this morning. He does not respond to purrs, does not pet or scratch. He buries his head in between the pillows. He looks like he is going to cry.
The kitten knows he should just be. Just be there. That is the way to help. The kitten climbs the blankets and sits on the pillow next to the human. The kitten purrs. The human, with great effort, reaches over and begins to pet. The kitten keeps purring, like he always does.
The human is being saved.
Human;
There will come a day when you will miss me curling around your legs as you rise in the morning.
There will come a time when you will look into the moonless sky and see me darting from pool of dark to pool of dark. You will feel me hop up onto the bed.
There will come a time you will see me standing on every fencepost, in every corner. A thing will fall in the night and you will think
“that damn cat.”
And know that I have loved you. Know in my own way, that you were
the world to me. Know that in the night when I curled up perfectly in your
side or on your chest or on your face that it was perfect and that was perfection
and I meant every purr.
Know that in some way I am in every corner, on every fence post, in every moon and every moonless sky
and every time you think you see me I am there. Know that the day has come,
and there will be other days and other cats and other kittens and they won’t be the same but they will love you in their own way.
Maybe they will save you. Maybe you will pluck them from the bottom of a trash can and save them. Maybe they will form a pretzel cat on your chest during the
worst moments of all and maybe they will help you like I did. Maybe you humans will help them like you helped me.
I know in life I wasn’t a fan of other animals. I hissed at dogs, murdered woodland creatures and
no bird passed by without fearing for its life. But it is your duty to steward other kittens, raise them up, show them kindness. Because as I have said, the world left on its own is not kind for anyone, any creature large or small. I would not survive. You would not survive.
Know that I love you. Know that we had the best life. Know that I miss you. I know that you miss me.
Signed,
That damned cat. | https://medium.com/@jonnybolduc/that-damned-cat-157be4cd688c | ['Jonny Bolduc'] | 2020-12-19 20:09:41.464000+00:00 | ['Cats', 'Kittens'] |
The African Slave Who Became a Japanese Samurai (A True Story) | Freedom was a short tenure
In his early teens, Yasuke was sold to European merchants, marketed on his physical prowess and mental acuity. He landed in servitude of a Jesuit Missionary, Alessandro Valignano, who intended to spread his faith to mainland Japan. Yasuke was to be Valignano’s assistant and bodyguard during this journey.²
They spent several years in southern Japan, where missionaries maintained a foothold. However, their arrival in Kyoto, Japan would create chaos. As Valignano and Yasuke rode into the city with their small caravan, masses of people gathered around, transfixed by Yasuke’s appearance. Many had never seen a man with black skin. Additionally, and because the Buddha is often depicted with dark skin, some saw him as a holy figure.
The commotion in the streets escalated, with people getting injured as they clambered to catch a glimpse of Yasuke and touch him. This unrest eventually reached the regional warlord, Oda Nobunaga, who demanded to meet with Yasuke.
His change in plans began
Upon meeting him, Oda Nobunaga was in awe of Yasuke. In the years since entering slavery, Yasuke had grown into a powerfully built man, who stood roughly 6'2. This was in significant contrast to the average 16th-century Japanese man. Most were slight of build and closer to 5'2. Oda was also caught off guard by Yasuke’s ability to speak Japanese, which he’d learned in his time with the missionaries.
Remarkably, Oda didn’t believe that Yasuke was actually black at first. Believing it was ink, he ordered him to strip to his waist and scrub his skin with a sponge to prove it, which he did. While one would think this experience sowed eternal animosity towards Oda, it would become very much the opposite.
Oda ordered Yasuke be turned over to him. The missionary, Valignano, had zero power in protesting, as Oda was the most powerful warlord in all of Japan. It was at some point during this time that Yasuke actually got the name Yasuke. Prior to this, some historians believe his name was Yasufe, but that hasn’t been confirmed.³
While under Oda’s command, Yasuke was given money, weapons, and training in the way of the samurai. Eventually, after proving remarkably effective with weapons, he was given the title of samurai, which had never been given to a non-Japanese person.
Yasuke then served in Kyoto as Oda Nobunaga’s personal bodyguard and was a formidable opponent. The very things that had drawn him into slavery, his sharp mind and physical ability, had translated well into combat. In turn, he had top-class privileges and was able to dine with Oda’s family and was even treated as fellow kin.
Art By Anthony Azekwoh Wikimedia Commons
There was combat during his tenure
A terrible civil war was raging in Japan. Feudalism was at a peak, with neighboring states all vying for dominance. The ongoing conflict would become part of Yasuke’s life, as he fought for Oda who, despite being a powerful Daimyo (warlord), struggled to consolidate power in the region. Through all of this, Yasuke was a favorite of Oda, always at his side, and considered a friend, whom he confided in and carried on conversations with.
In Oda, Yasuke found significance and respect, something that had eluded him for so long. And for that, he was ready to lay down his life for the man.
In 1582, both took part in a large invasion in the local mountains, with as many as 40,000 soldiers involved. Yasuke never suffered a major injury, in this battle or others. In fact, he made quick work of those who challenged him and was a feared opponent.
Ultimately, this invasion failed and Oda’s army retreated. Three months later, Oda’s quest to consolidate Japan came crashing down as his allies betrayed him, storming his castle. Yasuke would fight until the end, brawling outside of Oda’s chambers, cutting down enemies. But he was unable to save his warlord. Oda would commit ritual suicide, Sepukku, to avoid losing his honor.
Yasuke was taken captive but only temporarily. His captors didn’t have a use for him and saw him as alien from the culture. Additionally, he was a ronin (masterless samurai), so they released him.
His last chapter was quieter
From here, Yasuke returned to the church of his original missionaries. Little is known about the remainder of his life, as he was no longer tracked by Japanese scholars. It is presumed that his life was much calmer, avoiding the ongoing warfare that permeated the region.
Feudal Japan evokes beautiful imagery of rising mountains, curving architecture, and grand battles. It’s incredible to imagine that among their ranks, an African slave thrived, earning respect as a warrior, living free in a land that couldn’t have felt further from home.
He was the first non-Japanese samurai and a very competent one at that. If ever there was a truth about Yasuke, like the generations of subjugated Africans before and after him, he was a survivor. | https://medium.com/publishous/the-african-slave-who-became-a-japanese-samurai-44a42b750000 | ['Sean Kernan'] | 2020-10-12 23:26:48.370000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Sean Kernan', 'Self Improvement', 'History', 'Life'] |
Retail Sector: Cognitive Computing Applications | The retail sector has been very aggressive in using Cognitive Computing and AI applications. As they have been focusing on retaining customers and acquiring customers, they have been using chatbots, social media analysis, and other applications for quite a long time. They have been lately using video intelligence to count people, measure the happiness of customers, security automation and foot-print tracking. They are also aggressive in automating invoice management, vendor management, and inventory management.
Without taking your much time, we can have a look into the main Cognitive services being used in the retail sector.
I hope retail will keep enhancing delightful customer experiences and acquiring new customers through the latest Cognitive services in future. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/retail-sector-cognitive-computing-applications-56e5fa579d7a | ['Navin Manaswi'] | 2019-01-22 13:57:36.348000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Retail Technology', 'NLP', 'Cognitive Computing', 'Deep Learning'] |
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The first instant rebate plugin that works for commercial LED ecommerce sites and utilities | To say that ecommerce is growing rapidly in the C&I lighting space is an understatement. 54% of online electrical suppliers are in the beginning ecommerce stage. Fifty-four percent!
The adoption rate of ecommerce in distribution soared in 2020 with a weighted +26% increase from 2019 to 2020.¹ And let’s face it, the covid pandemic has just sped up this shift to online buying in the commercial space.
Whether you’re a utility or a distributor, wholesaler, or manufacturer that sells online, creating a “buyer centric” experience should be to make it as easy as possible for the buyer to complete their journey. In this case, all online, without any paperwork to fill out with a way to still meet the utilities’ program guidelines and requirements.
Let’s take a quick look at the growth rate of ecommerce sales in the B2B space. Now, don’t forget, current buyers, who, like you, have had their buying habits reprogrammed since ecommerce started in the late 90s (looking at you Amazon). So to say the least, the B2B space needs to catch up to what we’re experiencing right now with ecommerce on the B2C side — including taking into account the short attention spans of buyers and limited time to complete a purchase.
Growth rate of ecommerce sales
19% DELOITTE RESEARCH PROJECTING YOY GROWTH IN B2B ECOMMERCE OF 19 PERCENT IS FASTER THAN PROJECTED GROWTH IN B2C
DELOITTE RESEARCH PROJECTING YOY GROWTH IN B2B ECOMMERCE OF 19 PERCENT IS FASTER THAN PROJECTED GROWTH IN B2C 54% OF ONLINE ELECTRICAL SUPPLIERS ARE IN THE BEGINNING ECOMMERCE STAGE
OF ONLINE ELECTRICAL SUPPLIERS ARE IN THE BEGINNING ECOMMERCE STAGE >8% THE HISTORICAL GROWTH RATE OF ONLINE LIGHTING SALES PRIOR TO 2020
There is no large-scale solution available to etailers or utilities today to engage online sales
Understanding that ecommerce is the future for lighting and other commodity products means program administrators (at utilities) need a solution at the point of sale online for customers purchasing anywhere in the country so that ecommerce sites can offer instant rebates in the cart much like they offer midstream rebates at the counter today.
As an ecommerce site owner, how can you provide a positive touch point with your commercial customers and communicate the value of efficiency right where your customers are making purchasing decisions?
The good news
Offering instant rebates for energy efficient equipment on commercial ecommerce sites is a great way to effectively guide the buyer through the journey and give them urgency to checkout. Ecommerce instant rebates offer a way for ecommerce retailers to shorten their online sales cycle, give site visitors and customers a great online experience, and drive repeat sales.
Utilities can provide their commercial customers with instant rebates where they shop online while simultaneously addressing critical program design challenges such as awareness, attribution, and influence.
Using a plugin on an ecommerce site will give the site owners and the utilities a way to offer instant rebates for qualified products right where transactions are happening — all while increasing energy program performance.
Until today, this solution didn’t exist. Encentiv Energy is bringing alignment to utilities and C&I ecommerce stores to be able to offer an easy and simple way to bring instant utility rebates to the entire online buying journey through a plugin.
Looking for more insights on ecommerce instant rebates?
If you work at a utility company or are an implementer for a utility program and want to learn more about why you should start providing C&I customers with instant rebates online, while addressing program design challenges (awareness, attribution, and influence) — or even how you can start? Download the ebook (no form required, it’s a direct download) “Reaching the Other 50%: Why Utilities Are Missing Half of Commercial Buyers (And How You Can Fix It).” Or you can learn even more here.
If you own or manage a commercial lighting ecommerce store and want to offer instant utility rebates in the cart to accelerate checkout and shorten your online sales cycle, learn more here.
Authored by Ashley Garia
Director of Marketing & CX, Encentiv Energy
Sources
¹ 2021 State of eCommerce in Distribution: Part 1: A Rapid Rise in Adoption & Maturity; By Dean Mueller & Jonathan Bein, Ph.D. | https://medium.com/@encentivenergy/the-first-instant-rebate-plugin-that-works-for-commercial-led-ecommerce-sites-and-utilities-2571fd1f1d0c | ['Encentiv Energy'] | 2021-09-03 13:27:14.386000+00:00 | ['Lighting', 'Ecommerce', 'Utilities'] |
Facial Recognition using OpenCV (Python) | OpenCV:
OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) is an open source computer vision and machine learning library. This was built to give a common structure for computer vision applications and to influence the use of machine interpretation in the commercial products like facial recognition which is extensively use in today’s world. OpenCV has more than 2,500 optimized algorithms. These algorithm can be used to detect and identify faces, objects, track moving objects in a video or in an image, follow eye movements etc.
OpenCV has been written in C++ and has templated interface that work with STL containers (Standard Template Library: it is a set of C++ template classes to provide common programming data structure and functions like list, array, stack etc). OpenCV has C++, Python, Java and Matlab interfaces and supports Windows, Linux, Mac OS and also Android
Haar Cascade:
A Haar Cascade is a classifier which is used to detect the object for which it has been trained for. The Haar cascade is trained by superimposing the positive image over a set of images. This type of training is generally done on a server and on various stages. Better results are obtained by using high quality images and increasing the amount of stages for which the classifier is trained for. This cascade makes it easier to build a model. One just needs to pre-define the Haar cascade which are available on github. Moreover one can make their own cascade file.
So, Let’s Start :
Before starting this, my suggestion is to break this project into different parts or do it in steps so that it becomes easy to understand. Therefore, I have divided this into 2 major parts so that it becomes easy and hassle free.
First Part: (Data Collection)
The first and the major part is to collect samples of data on which this model needs to be trained.
Steps:
Defining Path : In this we first give the path of the file where the cascade file named “haarcascade_frontalface_default.xml” has been saved if you can download it from github. This cascade file will help your model classify your facial expression and will help in recognizing the face for which it has been trained for. Face Extraction : In this we basically convert the color of the captured images to gray because for many applications based on image processing, color information doesn’t help us identify important edges or other features. Also, for learning image processing, its better to understand multichannel processing rather than starting with full color imaging and missing all important insight that can learned from single channel processing. Moreover, in grayscale images, the watershed algorithm is fairly easy to conceptualize because we can think of the two spatial dimensions and one brightness dimension as a 3D image with hills, valleys, catchment basins, ridges, etc. Multi Scaling : After the color transition we use detectMultiScale(), this basically detects objects of different sizes in the input image and the detected objects are returned as list of rectangle. This method has three main parameters which involves image, scale factor and nearest neighbors. Cropping Image : this is the very crucial part as in this we just crop the image so that we could get the face of the object. Reading : Now after cropping the face we start reading. One thing that you must have noticed is that I used two variables to unpack the read function. It is because, this function always returns two values one Boolean and second the coordinates . Resizing and saving the Output : The resize function here resizes the cropped image into the desired set of frames, also declaring the location of the file where the training data is going to be saved (“cv2.putText” is used to add text on the screen along with the video and “cv2.FONT_HERSHEY_COMPLEX” is the name of the font used just like Arial etc) Wait Key : This is a method which is used to kill the process if any key is pressed it only takes ASCII values here 13 is an ASCII value. Releasing and Destroying the windows : This is probably the most important thing to do because this will destroy all the windows which are open during the process of capturing the data and if you do not use this the camera window will not shut down and you will have to restart the system all over again and in some cases restart doesn’t even work.
( Snapshot of code used for data collection )
The aforementioned code will collect 100 sample data and then store it in the predefined folder (output_path)
( Output file )
Second Part (Training and Predicting the Data) :
Training :
In this part we will train the model on the data that we have collected and based on the training our model will predict (based on confidence), whether the user is the same user or its somebody else; same as any other face lock of a mobile phone.
Before beginning the training we first need to get the data from the output file and then convert it into grayscale. After this color transition we then append the data into train_data.
The model which determines the face of the subject is already defined which is “cv2.face.LBPHFaceRecognizer_create()”. Therefore we use this as our primary model for training the sample data.
( Training the model )
Predicting :
This is the last and final step. In this we use test our model and calculate the confidence and based on this confidence we our model will determine and predict whether the user is the same for which the data has been trained or not. Few steps of this part are similar to the steps listed in part one(Defining path, Face Extraction, Multi scaling and Resizing). The only thing which is different is calculating confidence. First we set a threshold value, if our model predicts and the prediction value comes out to be less than the threshold value then only the confidence is calculated and If the value of confidence turns out to be greater than 80 then only the message “UNLOCKED” will pop otherwise the device will remain locked for every other faces.
Following video demonstrates the working of the code :
The source code of this is available on my github repository. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/facial-recognition-using-opencv-python-b90c94fbac8f | ['Aditya Dhapola'] | 2019-11-17 10:12:11.911000+00:00 | ['Facial Recognition', 'Haar Cascades', 'Opencv', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning'] |
Scenario Hell Mode 19–20 Guide. Your complete guide to completing Hell… | Preparing your Heroes
That isn’t to say that you should give up on upgrading your Heroes at all. While you will be relying on Gems to fuel your progress, you still need to hit a minimum threshold of power to even be eligible to use this strategy. Otherwise, you’re just going to get wiped out immediately with zero progress, no fun at all. You should be aiming to inflict at least some damage and make incremental progress each time before reviving yourself to move through each stage.
You will absolutely need a team full of evolved 6-star Heroes if you want to make progress viable. Having at least one or two fully Awakened or Transcended Heroes will make the process smoother. You still want to maximize your team’s power as much as you can so you can minimize the amount of Gems you require in general.
There are also some specific Heroes, load-outs and strategies you can use to maximize your team’s ability to make it through 19 and 20.
You should look to equip your Heroes with optimal Runes types. Attack and Magic Runes just won’t cut it at the higher levels of the game. Evasion, Warrior and Vampire type Runes are fantastic all-round Runes and will help you in both PvE and PvP situations and you should be collecting these types of Runes from Raids and using them on your Heroes for other aspects of the game anyway. Philosopher Runes are more PvP focused, but are still an amazing all-round Rune type, giving you a 10% boost in starting Energy for a set of two on a Hero.
Try to obtain 6-star Runes with Hero-relevant stats and dump your Gold into upgrading them as much as you can. The difference between, for example, a Hero equipped with four average Attack Runes versus one equipped with strong Warrior and Vampire Runes in sets of two each, can be night and day. Rune type, grade and level make a huge difference and it’s well worth the investment to get sets of +15 6-star complementary runes.
Another useful tip is to try and make friends with people who have powerful Representative Heroes, especially if they’re Transcended, so you can summon them during battle. Having a powerful Transcended Hero fighting alongside your team can help a lot and strengthen any area of deficiencies you may have, especially if you’re lacking a Transcended heavy-hitter yourself. You can also opt to use a friends’ Tank Hero like Atmos if you think your team has enough offensive firepower and could instead use some more defensive solidity.
A lot of the enemies in Hell 19 are Water attribute so having some strong Earth attribute Heroes is going to be a great help for your progress. Stage 19.10 also features the Water attribute character Lumie as the final boss.
Hell 20 transitions more towards Earth attribute enemies with some Fire attribute enemies thrown in, most notably Massa, a powerful Fire Melee character, as the final boss in 20.10 so having some strong Fire and Water Heroes will be helpful here.
Knowing which enemy types are present and their characteristics can give you a massive edge. The Starfish Shaman enemies are particularly dangerous as their powerful Magic attacks can one-shot your Heroes quite easily. The Sturgeon and Shark Knight enemies you face in 19 have a host of nasty Harmful Effects attached to their attacks, such as Bleed. You’re also going to face many Phantom Knights throughout 19, who are Fire attribute Melee characters and have deadly Crowd Control skills. Having strong Water attribute Tanks and Melee Heroes can significantly mitigate their impact. Try and see which of your Heroes can help counteract the enemies you face. | https://medium.com/playdappgames/stage-19-and-20-scenario-guide-3b6cb5a51fcc | [] | 2020-12-16 03:57:34.159000+00:00 | ['Mobile Games', 'Video Game News', 'Game Development', 'Guides And Tutorials', 'Rpg'] |
Bearskins and Buck Shot | Short Story
Bearskins and Buck Shot
huntin’ trip
Photo by Andre Tan on Unsplash
Did I ever tell you the story of the time I went bear huntin’? No, well, here’s what happened.
If you ever read some of my other stories, then you know I don’t like guns and I don’t like shootin’. I haven’t liked guns since someone shot and killed my dog when I was a kid.
I ain’t interested in no guns and killin’ no animals.
But I had this Boss name of Billy Biggs. Well, ol’ Billy insisted on takin’ his crew on a huntin’trip at the end of a project. We’d been workin’ in the Texas heat at the oil wells out in Odessa for several months and Billy owed us our paychecks for the last two months.
He’d made it pretty clear we better go with him if’n we wanted to get paid. What he said was that he was takin’ us huntin’ with him as a reward for all our hard work. ‘Course we all knew that was a load of hogwash.
Billy said he had in mind agettin’ him some bearskins for his new house. Guess he figured between us, some of us might be able to hit a bear or two with a rifleshot.
They was six of us includin’ me and my buddy Rick. Billy flew us up to his huntin’ cabin in Alaska on his own private jet. His “cabin” on this Alaskan island was better’n any place I’d slept in the last two years.
It was good sized enough for six bunk beds and a big ol’ king size bed for Billy which was fittin’ since Billy was king-sized.
Not only was the place fancy, but Billy had bought all of us winter gear ’cause it was snowin’ up in Alaska. The cabin was built shotgun style with a door at the front and another at the back and one long room in between.
Billy decked us out with parkas and gloves and hats and all. The he pulls out these pictures and showed us pictures of him with some dead bears. Then he practically forced us to go out in the snow and walk down to the water. He said he wanted us to get our bearin’s.
When we got back to the cabin there was a big ol’ fire roarin’ in the fireplace and some local guy was there doin’ the cookin’ and stuff. Sure seemed like Billy was butterin’ us up for somethin’ “special”.
That first night we stuffed our guts with chili and cornbread and washed it all down with some Crown Royal. I had figured on catchin’ up on some sleep after eatin’ and drinkin’ as much as I could since Billy was bein’ so gen’rus to us.
All us guys were thinkin’ ‘bout sleepin’ it all off when Billy pulled out this bag and set it on the table. He opened it up and set out all this fancy poker stuff: packs of new cards, fancy poker chips, and what not.
Ain’t nobody was lookin’ forward to playin’ no poker game with Billy. He bragged loud and often ‘bout how good he was. Now, we all understood that his whole trip was a set up to get us to play poker with Billy and lose.
We’d end up owin’ him money and wouldn’t get but scraps from our paychecks. Did I mention that Billy was a sorry SOB? Well, he was.
So we’re all around this big ol’ wood table and Billy’s dealin’. On the first hand, Billy kept raisin’ the bet. Ever’body lost money on that hand. For a while, nobody was losin’ all that much, but Billy was getting’ a pile of chips.
Next hand I won, then I lost two times. I was holdin’ back and tryin’ to get Billy to think I was just getting’ lucky now ’n then. The other guys had played poker with me before and they was wise to what I was doin’. They watched the game closely.
One by one, they dropped outa the game until it was just me ‘n Billy. I let Billy win a couple of hands and then I began to bet more. I slowly started winnin’ a few hands when the bets were high and lost when the bets were low. Billy kept actin’ like he had somethin’. Pretty soon though I started winning more hands than he did.
Finally, I begged out once I’d won back all the money my buddies had lost. It was after midnight when we convinced Billy to let us all get some sleep ’cause we were excited to go huntin’ in the mornin’. Billy finally agreed.
Next mornin’ after breakfast, Billy called me aside and tol’ me he wanted me to go on a scoutin’ trip for bears and to come back and tell us when I found one.
I wasn’t happy about that, but when Billy showed me how to load a rifle (he knew I wasn’t used to guns), he then handed me another rifle and told me to load it like he showed me. ‘Course I did it.
Then he tells me to go on outside and walk back into the trees out front. He said bears are more scared of people than people are scared of bears. “If you see one, then take the shot,” he said. “Bring me back a bear!,” he said as I was leavin’.
I couldn’t tell Billy no, but I sure wasn’t gonna shoot no bear. Soon as I was outa eyeshot, I took the bullets out of the gun and put ’em in my pocket. I walked into the woods not expectin’ to see anythin’ at’all. I was enjoyin’ lookin’ at the forest covered in snow, when I heard a noise.
I looked all around me, but saw nothin’ so I figured it was a tree branch snappin’ from the weight of the snow. I took my time tryin’ to make Billy think I was really huntin’ for a bear. I wasn’t all that far from the cabin when I stopped and smoked a cig and just stood there listenin’ to the quiet. After all the noise of the oil wells, it was nice.
I thought I might walk a little further on and then turn around and go back. I had just stepped out from between two trees into a clearin’ when I saw it. A gigantic bear on his hind legs with his giant sized paws movin’ around. Now, I’m 6 foot 4 so I ain’t short. This bear seemed like he was more than 7 feet tall.
We stood there a minute eyeballin’ each other. Neither one of us so much as blinked. Then I slowly began movin’ backwards. The bear just stood there for a few seconds until I broke eye contact and turned to see the fastest way outa there.
Then the bear lowered himself to all fours and I took off runnin’ faster than I ever run in my life. I could hear the bear behind me all the way back. That giant of a bear was quickly closin’ the distance between us.
I was relieved when I saw the cabin and I made a beeline for the door. I ran in yellin’, and I was halfway through the cabin when I noticed Billy had the guys roped into another poker game.
Only seconds later, my bear friend came runnin’ into the cabin just as I shouted:
“I got the first one. Skin it. I’m going back for another!” and I ran out the back door.
Outside I stopped because I could hear all kinds of commotion goin’ on inside the cabin. Then suddenly, my buddies come flyin’ out of the cabin hollerin’. They ran over to me and bust a guy laughin’.
I saw they had their cash in their hands. A minute later, we heard a gunshot and then heard the bear takin’ off through the front door. We went back inside and found Billy holdin’ the gun. Rick said, “Did you get him?”
Billy didn’t say nothin’ for a few minutes. Then he turned on me and said, “You were supposed to shoot the bear, not bring it back alive and mad!” Someone else asked again, “Did you shoot it?”
Very reluctantly, Billy said, “No. I did not shoot the bear. I was shootin’ at you guys for leavin’ me with the bear!”
Rick said, “We thought you were right behind us!”
Needless to say, the huntin’ trip was cut short.
Later, they told me that when I ran out, the bear stopped and looked at all of them. The bear was as scared as Billy. Well, almost. Billy wet his pants. They didn’t know whether the bear did or not.
While the bear stopped right in front of Billy, they grabbed their money off the table and took off.
We all got our paychecks. Guess Billy figured if we didn’t get paid that we’d start tellin’ people what happened. | https://medium.com/muddyum/bearskins-and-buck-shot-2948b1ded60d | ['Jimmywayne Ford'] | 2019-11-26 06:37:51.506000+00:00 | ['Hunting', 'Humor', 'Funny', 'Fiction', 'Short Story'] |
Why You Cannot be Free in a System | In December 2020 I was offroad mountain biking in Aspley Heath near Woburn, UK. Here to be precise. I fell and broke a pelvis.
For the next week, I was in the hands of a well-rehearsed system. The story is in parts very funny. The lessons, though, will affect my approach to life forever.
This is the story…
The Gruesome facts, as recalled on Entonox
Ouch! I was going down a modest (blue) run for my first time, so going TOO SLOW. I got a little muddled, and in braking, I found myself falling to my left. Unfortunately, to my left was another trail, with a two-foot drop. I landed on one straight leg and heard a crunch as the leg decided to explore my nether regions.
Yes, I was wearing a full helmet, arm pads and knee pads. Most of these did not get off until the next morning… not that they were much use with this type of accident!
In agony, I was at least not in danger of being ignored because I was blocking the best trail in the park, and I could not move. I want to say thank you to Dan and other bikers on the scene, both for staying with me and stopping me from getting run over by other cyclists!
I called 111 for a minute, then 999 to avoid the Covid messages, and I am extremely grateful for having the “What 3 Words” app on my phone. That probably saved 10 minutes of admin right there. If you ever go hiking, put the app on your phone BEFORE you leave. The NHS can find you if… for example… you get injured in a wooded trail where no normal stretcher can get to!
Even so, I think it was at least 2 hours before I finally got extracted from the wood. It took three ambulance crews.
The first on the scene included Josh and Aurika, who went to school with my kids! It was about then I realized that I might be too old for mountain bike trails. They took quite a while to arrive because I had first dialled 111 (a non-emergency number in the UK), which had rather affected my place in the emergency hierarchy. This was a problem because I couldn’t move, and the mud was dry but cold, and I knew that moving anything was going to make things worse. By the time they arrived, Dan had found an emergency blanket, and my wife and daughter were with me. At this point, they were not giving me grief.
So — Josh and Aurika sent for the Hazardous Area Response Team, who had to come from Cambridge. Hence the two-hour palaver at the scene.
The best bit about the wait was the Entonox. Laughing gas and oxygen. I do recall shouting at Josh and Aurika when they strapped me to the stretcher. Even in my state, I knew I was an idiot for shouting that they were from the Thought Police trying to take me away! It made me start thinking about how easy it is to lose all sense of reality and how irrational people can get very quickly. More on this in the Philosophy Part but for now I’ll leave one of my many rambling replies to random people here…
So we get to A&E…
So we Get to A&E at around 3:00 PM I would guess. It’s hard to tell when you are as high as a kite. Still, I do recall one conversation with Josh and Aurika (the Ambulance crew) about whether to go to The Luton & Dunstable hospital or the Milton Keynes Hospital. We decided (well… I probably didn’t get a vote… but we decided) to go to Milton Keynes because it was only 7 minutes, not 27 minutes away. I think the overriding reason is that they would have been disciplined if they had not followed protocol. Now I am relatively compos mentis, OF COURSE, you go to the nearest A&E! The ambulance spends less time out of action, and I get treated quicker. At the time, though, I was not so self-aware. Why on earth would I argue that point?
Roundabouts. That’s why. Locals will know. They are bloody painful when your raised leg that hasn’t moved for hours and is cold and held together with a broken pelvis and swings from side to side. Still, They were, of course, right. I also don’t think they were actually from the thought police after all, given that my daughter knew them.
The Gruesome Facts as Recalled on I.V. Paracetamol and Morphine
I ran out of Entonox in the A&E queue. so they happily got me more. Then they gave me the Paracetamol drip and then the morphine. My GOD that stuff is good! Especially whilst STILL on the Entonox.
So now I realize loads of things and nothing. I quite like being in control, and I absolutely was not in control of anything. The system was. I can say that when something is known, then systems get written. Professionals get trained, and the system can do its job. How much do you think a well-rehearsed system should spend listening to a drugged-up guy who, 30 minutes earlier, had suggested his daughter’s school mates were working for the CIA? Not a lot. More on that in the philosophy part too. For now, I did at least realize that nobody was interested in my point of view and so I took to making voice notes so I could remember what was going on in my head.
Listening back, I am really quite glad I was not in charge!
So I spent some time on a stretcher in a corridor, but that was fine I was in an orderly queue of trained paramedics and doctors, and I was glad my chariot turned right just BEFORE the sign saying “Major Injuries”.
Once triaged, I seemed to get an x-ray very quickly, but then was left in a bed bay with a sign on the wall saying “This is a Major Injury bay for serious traumas”. I guess the sign was to stop idiots parking their bicycles in the bay when not used. I am glad nobody did, but perhaps the sign at triage was more of a placebo than I had perhaps foreseen. Then again, I may have forgotten the actual wording.
I stayed there for a while. I felt warmer, safer and sleepier.
The X-Ray revealed a break. Maybe several. So they took me into a CT Scan whilst still in A&E. By then it was just gone 10:00 PM. I know this because they had to request an “after hours” scan. So we are now 10 hours into what was, now, clearly the literal definition of trauma.
Was I rational yet? Well, my biggest concern was not being able to get the Internet or a phone signal. So I would say I was far from thinking rationally. I also knew nothing about pelvic breakages and CT Scanners. I am learning now, though! After the scan they left me temporarily in a “not so serious” bay I think, but there were still nurses and doctors within earshot the whole time. They gave me a sandwich and checked on my pain levels.
I was there whilst they were finding a bed. I finally got to the ward at around 12:30 AM on Sunday. A full 12 hours after the accident. But worrying about waiting times is totally pointless. More in the philosophy part, but every hour that went by I was getting more comfortable and warmer and safer. It made no difference whether I was waiting for a CT Scan in A&E or on Ward 23… in fact, the rational plan (which they knew) was not to put me in the ward until all the vital stuff was done.
And then things got funny.
So here I am in Ward 23 in the early hours of Sunday morning. Now the Internet works great! So my first request to Marie was noise-cancelling headphones, on account of “Alex” shouting all night that his legs had fallen off. They are fine, of course, just dementia, but another example of how little has to go wrong before we lose all perspective — more in the philosophy bit.
I was still wearing three out of four protective pads, my muddy cycling shoes and half of Aspley Heath. I think we got the pads off, but the wood was still there the next day. I really didn’t care. Peeing, however, was starting to become my focus of attention! There was talk of a catheter down in A&E, but fortunately, I was able to avoid that undignified demise. I am SO glad I am a boy. I took to the cardboard bottles like a duck to water. Passing water in bed is more about mind over matter than anything else!
By Sunday proper, I started to get a grip on the important things in life. I had a photo on Facebook; I had a phone charger. I had noise-cancelling headphones. Only now was I starting to be rational. I took everyone’s advice, from the Grumpy old Man group to the nurse that took me from A&E to the ward. TAKE THE MORPHINE. I have been high ever since, except when I chose not to take the morphine. FFS — why did I do that? Deductive reasoning really needs you to listen to the experts. Not that the Grumpy Old Men are experts, but the nurse was.
So in comes the big boss doctors. Specialist in trauma. Now I was told lots of this down in A&E, but the main gist was that the CT scan had to go to Oxford for really REALLY specialized experts to decide whether I needed an operation or not. They believe it to be a complex rami fracture. Whether it is “simple” or “complex” means two very different pathways to getting better! One I should walk on it in a few days… with the other, it is 4–6 weeks without load-bearing and a high chance of an operation.
This is important information, so thank god for technology being able to send the CT scan to the best experts in the land to make the decision, eh?
Well… even experts have to sleep, and it was Sunday now, so because I am stable and because I am certainly going to be bedridden for a while anyway, this was no longer an emergency or even urgent. At last, I was reasoning effectively.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday have been fun! I won’t lie. I am concerned about Brian, in the bed opposite, who has not stopped staring at me since we arrived. I tried to defuse my paranoia with a little wave on the morning of day 3, and he raised an arm a bit, but as it was still under the sheet, I can’t say whether it was a wave or the finger. Rumour has it (the nurses were chatting to him trying to get him to eat, so it MUST be true, eh?) he is in for falling over whilst starting a brawl in the care home. I probably shouldn’t post his picture up here, but it’s hilarious.
Then there is the chap next to him, who uses the theme tune to Psycho as a ring tone.
By the second night, I had my Bose noise-cancelling headphones, which was great, because I couldn’t hear the guy with his legs on the other side of the room, but terrible when nurse Ratchett made me take them off because they were making it impossible to take my temperature. I argued with one nurse Ratchett successfully that it was just obvious why my temperature was high… but the second was more insistent. Not least because I really DID have a temperature and I should stop being an idiot and do what she says. I did. I was rewarded with more I.V. Parecetomol, a fan and more morphine. I have tried to apologize and thank her, but I think she was rather more senior than most and won’t be back as long as I do what professionals tell me, instead of thinking I know better.
By Monday morning the regular trauma expert came to see me. They had SOME news back from Oxford, but not the critical question as to the pathway they needed to take me down. Nevertheless, I was told that MOSR LIKELY I would avoid an operation but be bedridden for a long time and I definitely could NOT try and walk. On that, I very much agree.
The morphine is great at helping me look at the funny side of life here. However, I DID regress into a little taste of anger when I realized just now that the reason a definitive answer has not come back from John Radcliffe is that “IT” has failed to transfer the file of the CT scan in a way that can be downloaded at the other end. So — they only saw the X-ray, not the 3-D model of what used to be my finest features.
Yep — more about that in the philosophy bit.
The more pressing problem, though HAS just been resolved. Peeing in bed is one thing, but doing a number 2 without stressing your leg or your pelvis is totally something else! There is almost no dignity involved. The first time I tried, Marie decided to Facetime mid strain. That killed it. Then it turns out the downside to morphine in a bedridden world is constipation, So we’ve added laxative to my daily regimen. I cannot tell you how much more rational I feel now I have had a number 2!
The Philosophy Part
During my MBA, I saw multiple papers that — whilst proposing to be about business — inspired their commentary from the NHS or the military. I recall one book… or Harvard Busines Review article… or paper… that reminisced about the author finding himself — or herself — in casualty on a stretcher, thinking about how he was now the sausage in a finely tuned system which was doing its job.
This is what I was trying not to forget to write about as I sat there worse than helpless. I was a novice trying to wield some semblance of power over a situation where I was by far the least qualified to decide anything. If they needed information from me, they asked.
It was doubly poignant because this morning, the Milton Keynes hospital is the first in the region to be doling out vaccines! That’s great, isn’t it? Until I hear from Markos, my duty trainee nurse, that some of the health professionals are choosing not to take it! He and I were both astounded and it may have just been a story on day one of the vaccines rather than the trend, but he did say that the more senior and more (dare I say it) educated the professional, the less likely they were to refuse the vaccine. Basically, the ones that understand the science, the ones that had prepared for this, are taking the vaccine. The only ones that are not are the students! This is a teaching hospital and some have you have really read way too much trash from people that are not professionals or in any way qualified to argue conspiracy theories. Not that any deductive reasoning would lead you to the notion that a pandemic was the best way to be able to track people. They already have phones for that. The phones can also listen to you and my watch even does an ECG and measure my oxygen levels! What far-flung planet are you from if you are that stupid that you’ll let inductive reasoning that you made up yesterday outweigh years and years of deductive understanding that got us great vaccines just in time to save the world and maybe even the pub?
Take your vaccine or die.
(There, I said it. please can quote me as much as you can. I can always just say I was high.)
The NHS and healthcare, in general, is a complex system which, until now, assumes that its participants will at least be rational. Relatively recent understanding of the human brain has helped us understand that we rarely think this way, especially when faced with a threat. I had talked about this before when Trump came to see the Queen, which liberals thought was a bad idea, but reasonable deductive thought processes would say that inviting Trump in was exactly the right thing to do. We are all prone to terrible errors of judgment.
Fortunately, the same failing in the human psyche will also save us. I hear from the outside world that Boris wants us to have vaccine passports. If you have your passport, you can go to the pub! Now THAT will work, in the same way, that I felt the Internet was the most important thing in my life whilst lying down in A&E getting looked after by honest to god professionals.
Here are just SOME of the errors of judgment I have made in the last few days:
Cycling too fast was NOT as dangerous as driving too slow
Wearing padding and helmet will not always protect you in a fall
56 is NOT the new 26
Restraining a patient is not always a bad thing
I should not try and control a situation where I am the least informed in the room
There is a safety reason for roundabouts and a safety reason for NO roundabouts. Blaming roundabouts doesn’t change that
It doesn’t matter HOW MUCH money you throw at the NHS, there will never be a justification for getting more “Hazardous Area Retrieval Teams”. Sometimes things just take a long time.
I do not know better when I say my noise-cancelling headphones are harmless.
In an emergency, dialing 111 first is not helping anyone. I self-selected my Darwinist fate.
[Much of this article was initially written on my personal blog.] | https://medium.com/@dixon-jones/why-you-cannot-be-free-in-a-system-bead0bad2c52 | ['Dixon Jones'] | 2020-12-26 19:21:18.421000+00:00 | ['Vaccines', 'Nhs', 'Covid 19', 'Health', 'Systems Thinking'] |
How to Ace Your Next Veterinary Job Interview | You’ve worked hard, you’ve updated your resume, and you’ve finally scored an interview for your dream veterinary job! But now that the interview is coming up, the real work starts: trying to impress your interviewer with your skills and make the dream job a reality. Going for an interview at an esteemed veterinary clinic or animal care facility can be intimidating, no matter where you are in your career at a vet or vet tech. But we’ve compiled some tips to help showcase your talent and make a favorable impression on your future employer.
Get to know the practice
How do you familiarize yourself with the practice you are interviewing at? Do you have a strong grasp of what this clinic has to offer? Doing your research on the background the practice is essential in looking informed for your interview. Some things to make a special note of when you do your research are to find out what kind of patients they service, including whether they serve small pets or large animals; find out a bit about the layout of the practice, the grounds, and the backgrounds of the hiring managers; and if the practice or any of its employees were recognized for awards or notable recognition.
To continue reading click here | https://medium.com/@ben.caplan/how-to-ace-your-next-veterinary-job-interview-8e315415d5d | ['Ben Caplan'] | 2020-02-07 17:25:24.152000+00:00 | ['Veterinarian', 'Interview', 'Career Advice', 'Veterinary', 'Job Interview'] |
Niche Marketing Kit Review 2021 | Basic Information About “Niche Marketing Kit”
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THANK YOU….. | https://medium.com/@junooncrazzy11/niche-marketing-kit-review-2021-459896ddb3ce | ['Review Pedia'] | 2020-12-27 14:31:31.587000+00:00 | ['Review', 'Affiliate Marketing', 'Niche Marketing Review', 'Entrepreneur', 'Niche Marketing Kit'] |
Independent Business Partner | Independent Business Partner you work independently and earn high commission by selling products and services of Career Mantra. The primary responsibility of an IBP is to recommend Career Mantra services, courses, and products to prospective buyers like entrepreneurs, startups, businessmen, students, working professionals, etc. based on their income.
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Selection of IBP: After the successful selection of IBP. We will share the kit and other details with you including your login portal. | https://medium.com/@megha453/independent-business-partner-f60312bbc82c | [] | 2021-07-22 17:38:49.502000+00:00 | ['Earn Money Online', 'Partnerships', 'Business', 'Careers'] |
Prosperity Dining @ The Emperor Chinese Restaurant | Of hearty feasting, reunion dinners and an abundance of happiness & good health
On 25 Jan 2020, Chinese around the world will usher in the Lunar New Year of The Rat & in anticipation of this 15-day joyous celebration, award-winning Chinese Executive Chef Bryan of The Emperor Restaurant @Dorsett Grand Subang & his team are all set to ensure a Chinese New Year (CNY) feast for all its guests
As early as 15 Dec 2019, diners will be able to toss in a prosperous Lunar New Year with the traditional dish of Yee Sang. To spice up the celebration at this celebrated Muslim-friendly restaurant, Crispy Salmon Skin Yee Sang (RM98 ++ per ½ portion) & Crispy Softshell Crab Yee Sang (RM88 ++ per ½ portion) with choice of Japanese style wasabi Yee Sang sauce will take centre-stage. Lending a refreshing touch to the prosperity toss is the Jellyfish & fresh fruits Yee Sang at RM68++ per portion. Diners can also opt for the traditional Salmon Fish Yee Sang with Korean Pear or the Baby Abalone & Korean Pear Yee Sang priced at RM68++ per portion & RM138++ per half portion respectively
The Lunar New Year feast would not be complete of course without the variety of symbolic & auspicious CNY specialities. Top off the must-have list are Chef Bryan’s award-winning specialty dishes i.e. Roasted Duck with Glutinous Rice at RM188 per order & Oil Poached Mandarin Fish with Superior Soya Sauce at RM230++ per kg to name a couple. For ‘happiness & laughter the whole year through’, do order the symbolic dish of Wok-Fried River Prawns with Superior Soya Sauce at RM48 each & enjoy bucket full of good fortune & wealth by indulging in the Braised Dried Assorted Seafood & Sea Moss in Claypot at RM188++ per order & Stewed Dried Oyster with Black Mushroom, Black Moss and Stuffed Beancurd at only RM68++ per order
Both the Yee Sang & CNY specialities are available till 8 Feb, for lunch & dinner
A special Lunar New Year dim sum is also available from 15 Dec till 8 Feb for lunch only & the Deep-fried Crispy New Year Cake with Sweet Potato & Yam (Ninko) is not to be missed, especially when this sweet dish symbolises ‘both career & business growth’
The Lunar New Year is also a time for family togetherness & radiates the beliefs of ‘Family that eats together, Stays together’. Thus, a reunion dinner should not just be good, it has to be great & with this, Executive Chef Bryan has put together 3 different set menus to cater to different budget. The 8-course Prosperity Menu is priced at RM1188 nett per table of 10 persons, the 9-course Health Set Menu is at RM1388 nett per table of 10 persons & the Wealth Set Menu is priced at RM1688 nett per table of 10 persons
Diners at The Emperor Chinese Restaurant on eve of & 1st day of CNY will receive a goody bag from Lee Kum Kee (1 per table reservation & subject to stock availability) & for those who order the Wealth Set Menu may stand a chance to walk home with a special Gift Box courtesy of Lee Kum Kee, limited to only 2 sets per day
Taking the helm in the kitchen together with a fantastic culinary brigade at The Emperor Chinese Restaurant is none other than award-winning Executive Chinese Chef Bryan Teh. His most recent acclaimed accomplishments include a Gold Medal from the Shanghai International Top Chefs Invitation competition; Gold with Distinction Medal from the 2019 Malaysia World Elite Chefs Championship for Individual Hot Dish; Gold Medal from the 2019 Asian Culinary Exchange competition in Japan & a Silver Medal from the 2019 World Master Chefs competition for Cantonese Cuisine held in Macau. Read more via https://medium.com/@siennylovesdrawing/award-winning-indulgence-the-emperor-chinese-restaurant-dorsett-grand-subang-8323b3771a44
The Muslim-friendly EMPEROR Chinese Restaurant is open for lunch from 12pm to 3pm & for dinner from 6 pm to 10 pm. Advance reservation is A MUST from eve of CNY till 8 Feb 2020
For reservation, call +603 5031 6060 or email to [email protected] | https://medium.com/@siennylovesdrawing/prosperity-dining-the-emperor-chinese-restaurant-584eb7699290 | [] | 2019-12-02 00:07:43.286000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Celebration', 'Hotel', 'Foodies', 'Restaurant'] |
Is Zero Closer to Eight or to One? | Is Zero Closer to Eight or to One?
Authors: Rosaria Silipo and Mischa Lisovyi, KNIME
Is zero closer to eight or to one? Is this a three or a five? This was the type of question we were pondering a few weeks ago when we examined the results of an image classification application.
Yes, indeed, a zero is closer to an eight than to a one and a two is closer to a five than to a three — of course, from an image recognition point of view rather than in a strictly mathematical sense. In the last data science example that we were preparing, we trained a machine learning model to recognize images of hand-written digits. In the end, while checking the results, we realized how sloppy people’s handwriting is and how hard it is sometimes to distinguish an eight from a zero, a two from a five, a one from a seven, a zero from a three, and other, sometimes unexpected, similar digits.
For obvious reasons involving time and other obligations, we could not go through all digit images and their misclassifications, one by one. Nevertheless, it would have been interesting to have had an overview of the most confusable overlapping digits in the dataset. That is easier said than done. Each data row is an image, described through 784 input features. Try to visualize that!
We needed a massive reduction of the input dimensionality from 784 to 2 or maximum 3 so that data visualization via a 2D or a 3D plot becomes possible and yet also still informative. It would be great indeed if we could understand from a plot or a chart where the biggest confusion lies and which digits have the largest stretch in handwriting styles.
t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE)
Figure 1. Example of visualization after the application of the t-SNE projection
t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) i is a relatively recent technique, often used to graphically represent a complex and multidimensional dataset on a two- or three-dimensional space. t-SNE is a nonlinear dimensionality reduction technique that transforms the original n coordinates of a dataset into a new set of m=2–3 coordinates, based on nonlinear local relationships among the data points. Specifically, it models each high-dimensional object as a two- or three-dimensional point, in such a way that similar objects are modeled by nearby points and dissimilar objects are modeled by distant points in the new lower dimensional space.
In the first step, the data points are modeled through a multivariate normal distribution of the numeric attributes. A probability distribution is created for pairs of objects in the high-dimensional space. Similar objects have a high probability of being picked together while dissimilar objects have a low probability.
In the second step, this distribution is replaced by a t-distribution in a lower dimensional space, which must follow the original multivariate normal distribution as closely as possible. The goal of this second step is to find the low-dimensional space with as similar a t-distribution as possible — by minimizing the Kullback-Leibler divergence — and then to project the objects in the newly found low-dimensional space. This second t-distribution must model the probability of picking another point in the dataset as a neighbor to the current point in the lower dimensional space, as it was in the high-dimensional space.
The perplexity parameter controls the shape of the t-distribution as the “effective number of neighbors for any point.” A low perplexity value (~2) finds cluster shapes that are dominated by local variations in the data. A higher perplexity value (~30) leads to more stable clusters over multiple iterations. That is, the greater the value of the perplexity, the more global structure is considered in the data.
This technique is primarily used for visualization. Indeed, the aggressive reduction of the dataset dimensionality to just two or three coordinates, the transformation of the likelihood of pairs of data points into a visual neighborhood property, and the capability to represent strange shapes of the data groups thanks to the nonlinearity of the projection make the t-SNE particularly suitable for most data visualization techniques.
Notice that the t-SNE technique works only for the current dataset. It is not possible to export the model and apply it to new data. Indeed, all available data have to be used to find the new low-dimensional space. That is, new data can’t be projected.
The MNIST Digits Dataset
Figure 2. A few digit images from the MNIST digit dataset
The MNIST database of handwritten digits — hosted on the LeCun website — contains 70,000 examples of 28x28 B/W images of handwritten digits iii. We used a subset of 10,000 such images for this example.
Often when working with images, it is possible to read them directly from standard formats like PNG, JPG and TIFF. Unfortunately for us, the MNIST dataset is only available in a non-standard binary format. Luckily, it is straightforward to download the dataset and convert the files to a CSV format that can then be easily read.
After converting the digit images into numerical vectors, each image was represented by a vector of 784 levels of grey, that is by 784 input features.
Applying t-SNE to Visualize the MNIST Dataset in a 2D Plot
Figure 3. The t-SNE node in KNIME Analytics Platform
On one side, we have a high-dimensional dataset we would like to visualize on a 2D scatter plot; on the other side, a technique to reduce the dimensionality from a high n to a low m (m=2 for example). We then applied the t-SNE transformation to the MNIST dataset and plotted the results on a 2D scatter plot (Fig. 3).
This is an example of how the t-SNE transformation can help visualize high-dimensional datasets on a two-dimensional plot. The original dimensions 28x28=784 pixels of each image were reduced to two dimensions only with t-SNE, and the resulting data points were plotted on a scatter plot, where data points representing similar images are closely located. 784 input features come from an image 28x28 pixels “unrolled” into a single array or sequence of values.
The “6” for example are located in between two different types of “0.” Digits “4” and “9” are close and partially overlapping in shape, stretching into shapes similar to “1.” “0” and “8” digits are also closely located since they are often similar in shape; same for “3” and “5.” So, the scatter plot in Figure 4 is a topological map of the different shapes of every digit.
Figure 4. The MNIST dataset on a scatter plot after t-SNE transformation.
The KNIME Workflow
Now let’s have a quick look at the workflow implementing the t-SNE transformation on the MNIST dataset and plotting the results on a 2D scatter plot, available on the KNIME Hub as “t-SNE on MNIST dataset.”
The metanode named “Read MNIST data” lists and reads 10,000 MNIST files, each one containing an image of a handwritten digit. Images are then converted into a collection of numbers (the levels of gray) via the “Image to DataRow” node in the “Pre-process images” metanode. The numerical vectors are then fed into the “t-SNE (L. Jonsson)” node to calculate the two t-SNE components. In the parallel branch, the digit classes are extracted and used to color-code the different digit images. Finally, the color-coded t-SNE transformed bi-dimensional vectors are plotted on a classic traditional scatter plot using the “Scatter Plot (Plotly)” node.
Figure 5. The workflow “t-SNE on MNIST dataset” implementing the t-SNE transformation of the MNIST digit data and plotting the results on a scatter plot.
Conclusions
t-SNE is a really powerful transformation to project data from whatever dimensional space into a two-dimensional space and to display how close the data groups in the dataset are.
In this example, we have transformed the MNIST digit dataset from a 784-dimensional space into a two-dimensional space, and yet we could still inspect which digits where the most easily confused with other digits, like “8” with “0” or “7” with “1.”
References
1. Laurens van der Maaten, Geoffrey Hinton, “Visualizing Data using t-SNE,” Journal of Machine Learning Research 9, 2008
2. Kurita, K. (September 14, 2018). Paper Dissected: “Visualizing Data using t-SNE” Explained [Blog post in “Machine Learning Explained”]
3. Y. LeCun, L. Bottou, Y. Bengio, and P. Haffner. “Gradient-based learning applied to document recognition.” Proceedings of the IEEE, 86(11):2278–2324, November 1998
As first published on Datanami on July 8 2020 https://www.datanami.com/2020/07/08/is-zero-closer-to-eight-or-to-one/ | https://towardsdatascience.com/is-zero-closer-to-eight-or-to-one-c6392242b696 | ['Rosaria Silipo'] | 2020-10-26 13:01:05.691000+00:00 | ['Knime', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Dataviz', 'Dimensionality Reduction', 'Data Science'] |
2次元にもメイクできちゃう！？女性キャライラストの個性を引き立たせる5つのメイクアップアイデア | いちあっぷ講座 | in Both Sides of the Table | https://medium.com/yukoarts/2%E6%AC%A1%E5%85%83%E3%81%AB%E3%82%82%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8D%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83%E3%81%86-%E5%A5%B3%E6%80%A7%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A3%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%81%AE%E5%80%8B%E6%80%A7%E3%82%92%E5%BC%95%E3%81%8D%E7%AB%8B%E3%81%9F%E3%81%9B%E3%82%8B5%E3%81%A4%E3%81%AE%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%82%AF%E3%82%A2%E3%83%83%E3%83%97%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%83%87%E3%82%A2-%E3%81%84%E3%81%A1%E3%81%82%E3%81%A3%E3%81%B7%E8%AC%9B%E5%BA%A7-24e05adbb6e2 | ['Yuko Fukushima'] | 2018-07-27 09:46:10.194000+00:00 | ['Drawing Lessons', 'Drawing Tutorial', 'Illustration'] |
My Corona Diaries | My Corona Diaries
Chronicling my coronavirus experience with haiku collage comics
Image by Jason McBride
I’m not much of a journal keeper. However, even I recognize how important it is to capture the events and my feelings about them during these strange times. I’ve created a series of comic strips that are black and white collages with a haiku caption. I write one or more haiku a day about what’s going on in our family. Eventually, I get around to creating the collage comic strips.
For background, I’m a work from home freelance marketing writer, weird poet, webcomic creator. My wife is a pediatric nurse at a nearby hospital. We have four kids and a dog. I refer to our kids by their grades in these comics instead of their names: Third Grade, Fifth Grade, Seventh Grade, and Freshman.
Image by Jason McBride
Image by Jason McBride
Image by Jason McBride
Image by Jason McBride
Image by Jason McBride
Image by Jason McBride | https://medium.com/weirdo-poetry/my-corona-diaries-dbc94c3f0ee | ['Jason Mcbride'] | 2020-08-23 18:03:06.068000+00:00 | ['Webcomics', 'Family', 'Cartoon', 'Comics', 'Coronavirus'] |
No Land-Mobile ICBM Launchers For America | Russian land-mobile ICBM launchers on parade.
By Joe Buff, MS, FSA
Should the U.S. add land-based mobile ICBMs to its Nuclear Deterrence Triad, or use them instead of fixed-silo nukes? The short answer is no. Such weapon systems were considered during the First Cold War, as one way to make American ICBMs more survivable — by moving them around unpredictably. By jinking hither and yon on random paths while going top speed, they could even seek to outfox inbound enemy warheads. How? The half-hour flight time it would take Moscow to drop a big warhead on a specific location would give the mobile missile-carrier’s crew time to drive out of the mission-kill circle of the ensuing megaton blast.
This mobile basing option made sense to look at closely, once, when Soviet ICBM warheads first became powerful enough and accurate enough to hold our ultra-hardened deep silos at risk. ICBMs mounted on vehicles (road mobile) or concealed in special rail cars (rail mobile) were both studied, but then rejected in the U.S. for a variety of good reasons.
The old, tired idea was brought up again at the March 6, 2019 hearing on nuclear posture of the House Armed Services Committee. [http://bit.ly/2UsfnBw] Mobile ICBMs were suggested at that hearing as a way to supposedly make America’s ICBMs less “vulnerable.” This thought came from certain folks who don’t fully understand the full spectrum of basing options use for and the many different roles played by our strategic deterrent nuclear missile forces as a whole.
Mathematicians and fire-control technicians understand it just takes some simple arithmetic, and a great abundance of your own warheads, to launch a whole salvo distributed in a miles-across pattern that no mobile launcher can ever outrun. This is why, to do mobile basing at all, you’d need a way-big army of these special vehicles. Before you know it, both sides are in another dangerous and wasteful warhead-count arms race.
Enemy MARVing — making each nuke’s reentry vehicle be smart-guided and maneuverable — of the sort Russia and China are working to employ — could “chase down” an evading mobile launcher on an individual basis. No, nowadays, mobile is no panacea.
What’s so very all-right about our fixed-silo ICBM force?
America’s ICBMs are so well dispersed (across several states) and so numerous (about 500) that any sudden superpower-enemy preemptive strike, to make a dent at all let alone take them all out, would have to be so massive that it would face insurmountable technical obstacles to the sheer simultaneity, of all the end-to-end flight paths, needed for real surprise. Allying this with the facts that enemy ICBMs have somewhat less than 100% reliability and accuracy, that a Cold War rule of thumb is that at least two are needed to kill one silo, and that the notorious “fratricide effect” of a large strike would kill some of its own missiles not our silos, one thing is 100% certain: Some of our ICBMs would survive to wreak a vengeance of truly Biblical proportions on that enemy.
But wait, there’s more! Since no enemy would dare start a nuclear war against us without trying to eliminate those ICBMs at the outset, they serve several other very important functions at no additional cost to taxpayers. They are an essential strategic tripwire. The enemy nuclear attack against them — once the first actual mushroom cloud detonations are verified via ground truth on our soil — would mobilize our nation to an immediate proportional nuclear counter-strike. This nuclear counter-strike would be absolutely justified both legally and morally. It would also be absolutely necessary to restore geopolitical equilibrium to a badly disrupted humanity, prevent copy-cats then or down the timeline, protect good world order and global democracy, and force peace restoration on acceptable political terms.
Our ICBMs, despite their alleged vulnerability, and in a real way simply because of this tempting exposure, act as a crucial “roach motel” for enemy nukes, nukes that could otherwise be used against our SSBNs out at sea on deterrent patrol. How? With enough nuclear warheads available for concentrated use, an enemy can saturate very large tracts of the ocean to try for mission kills against our few deployed, super-stealthy SSBNs — without needing to know more than very vaguely where they are. Worse, if a belligerent (and very foolhardy) enemy didn’t have to take account of all our ICBMs in their risk/reward calculations, they could use their strategic warheads against American and allied cities. Whether the warheads were “used” for nuclear attack or nuclear blackmail would hardly be the point. Freedom would die in abject surrender to triumphant, everlasting tyranny.
Our nuclear Triad, by fielding assets that are deployed in very different environments (land, sea, air) and by transiting to their assigned deterrence targets at all different altitudes, provide the ultimate in diversification and interlocking, mutual support. By thus increasing the overall reliability/surety of the whole organic Triad system, they strongly support our national goals for expense savings and for us being world leaders in nuclear arms control and nonproliferation. If we did ever give up our ICBM leg of the triad, we would need a lot more SSBNs and strategic bombers. These would cost much more to build that silos do. Worse, we would need a lot more nuclear warheads deployed to achieve the same ultimate level of survivability for our all-important, decisively deterring second strike. Having more nukes required to be deployed than if we had three Triad legs, due to this lack of diversification, would also be an aid to nuclear terrorists, giving than more nukes to try to steal.
Lastly, to say that the vulnerability of our ICBM force means that POTUS would feel insurmountable pressure to shoot them all off, early in a crisis or even based on a whim of preemption, is so insulting (vulgar) as to hardly merit serious attention. But just for completeness, here’s a quick rebuttal anyway: Our Commander-in-Chief and his top military and statecraft advisers appreciate full well the untouchable survivability of our SSBN force, when deployed in the necessary numbers (12, not fewer) and properly supported by our other forces (including the U.S. Submarine Force’s extremely capable fast-attack escort and combat subs, our SSNs). Our national command authorities most certainly do not view the ICBM force in some vaulted isolation, as precious playthings to “use or lose” at the first sniff of trouble!
What’s so very all-wrong for us with any land-mobile ICBM basing?
Valid concerns about mobile ICBM deployments include first, their security, since the nuclear warheads would be moved around the country on roads and railroads open to enemy espionage, sabotage, hijacking, and theft. A second concern is safety, as motor vehicle crashes and railroad accidents could expose the citizenry to severe radiation hazards. The third worry is civilian survivability, since if mobile ICBM launchers roam the countryside, they might draw nuclear fire down closer onto the citizenry’s vulnerable heads. The U.S. public’s awareness — and undoubtedly, their very vocal objections — would be heightened to safety worries due to the dramatic media coverage of recurrent flaming derailments of oil-tanker trains, and some terrible train versus motor vehicle grade-crossing accidents.
Russia and China do deploy such land-mobile ICBM systems, but these are closed societies compared to America. Importantly, these autocratic states can count on inherently strong internal security for their mobile nuclear deployments, while public safety concerns can be ignored or suppressed. Any protesters can be rounded up and silenced. Perhaps Russia and China have resorted to land-mobile ICBMs because, despite some recent advances, they remain dissatisfied with the robustness of their SSBN capabilities compared to the U.S. and NATO. (France and the UK do not supplement their existing nuclear deterrents, which do include SSBN fleets, with any mobile land-based ICBMs.) The two superpower dictatorships might also be concerned about another way their technology lags behind America’s: Their ICBM guidance and targeting accuracy aren’t as good as ours. This would cost them an important form of parity in any saber-rattling blackmail standoff, let alone (God forbid!) in any actual nuclear exchange.
MIRVing land-mobile ICBMs (several separate warheads on one missile), as Russia and China do but the U.S. doesn’t, makes them a very tempting target for an aggressive nuclear first strike. This is because, if an adversary ICBM is MIRVed (known to carry, say, N nuclear warheads, where N is greater than one), it pays for the U.S. and our allies to invest at least N of our own deterrent warheads in trying to knock out that ICBM — even if we need to use N of our own ICBMs because ours are not MIRVed. That is, the calculus of trade-offs of friendly and enemy warheads is drastically changed by the enemy’s mobile launcher MIRVing. If N warheads are available to our side against one adversary mobile launcher, we can target the general area of a known or suspected ICBM vehicle or railcar as mentioned above, in the hopes that the combined very powerful warhead effects of heat, blast, radiation, and electromagnetic pulses will destroy or at least disable the ICBM and/or its control and launch equipment and crew. A big barrage of nukes in the suspected general area of an enemy mobile launcher does not need good targeting data to have a shot at, at least, some mission-kill damage against that launcher. Mobile ICBM launchers invite profligate expenditure of nuclear ordnance once nuclear battle is joined at all. They are inherently pro-escalatory, and therefore are seriously destabilizing.
Road-mobile launcher vehicles and special rail cars alike, because of their practical weight limitations, are by nature not very hardened. They are a lot more vulnerable to nuclear attack than an ICBM buried in a hardened silo, where it and its crew are protected by thousands of tons of reinforced concrete and shock-absorbing buffer systems. If a land-mobile ICBM system’s stealth were ever compromised, via espionage and/or improved surveillance technologies, they would make a preemptive first strike be awfully tempting to a paranoid-enough defender. They don’t belong in America’s arsenal nor in anyone else’s either. | https://medium.com/@joebuff/photo-by-the-national-interest-russian-mobile-icbm-launchers-on-parade-68c736b0ad54 | ['Joe Buff'] | 2020-12-17 10:09:30.673000+00:00 | ['World Peace', 'Nuclear Weapons', 'Deterrence', 'National Security', 'Foreign Policy'] |
Minding the Gap | Minding the Gap
Something unique to humans is the power to affect the lives of others. Consider how song lyrics, speeches, jokes, social media posts, books, and screenplays move us to dance, worship, laugh, get upset, challenge our beliefs, and move us to tears. [1] Unquestionably, we have a responsibility to impact humanity on a soul level.
This involves minding the gap in our leadership. “Minding the gap” is a term coined in the UK alerting underground-train passengers to the danger created by the space between the platform and train car. Similarly, there is a gap between where we are as leaders — possessing often a deeper knowledge, spirituality, maturity, etc. — and our followers. Acknowledging this gap exists is critical in preventing a tumble into the pride and frustration that commonly emerges as the gap widens.
Paul effectively minds the gap between Jews and Gentiles when he writes about being “thrilled to preach that everyone who believes is saved — the Jew first, and then people everywhere!” (Romans 1:16 TPT). Though it appears Paul is elevating the Israelites, he is notifying the Romans that God has tasked the Jewish nation with the responsibility to steward his plan for humankind.
Like Paul, leaders are stewards of the mission they’ve been given for the sake of God’s people. They leverage their role for the betterment of others and mind the gap by intentionally employing the following three practices:
Seek Jesus
O God of my life, I’m lovesick for you in this weary wilderness. I thirst with the deepest longings to love you more, with cravings in my heart that can’t be described. Such yearning grips my soul for you, my God! (Psalm 63:1 TPT).
At first, this one seems obvious. Still, ministry leaders regularly view studying God as the same as spending time with him. Leading others well, minding that gap, requires engaging God solely to have our thirst quenched. Crave him.
Ask questions
The religious leader stood apart from the others and prayed, “How I thank you, O God, that I’m not wicked like everyone else” (Luke 18:11 TPT).
As leaders, we’re tempted to think too highly of ourselves. In the above Scripture, Jesus is explaining the snare of a prideful leader. He reminds us that not having everything figured out is refreshing to others. Pray for a renewed curiosity and become a leader that regularly asks thoughtful questions.
Be a safe space
Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up (1 Corinthians 13:7 TPT).
Healthy leaders are hesitant to assign a negative motive to their people’s behaviors and views. They recognize that personal biases — justly or unjustly — tend to inform their opinions of others and can negatively affect individual encounters. Believing and wanting the best for your people creates a sincerer understanding of, and connection with, your people.
These three practices are like the Chinese Bamboo Tree lying dormant for five years. Yet once the tree breaks the surface, in just five weeks, it grows 90 feet tall! [2] Yes, as overwhelming leading your people may feel at moments, continue watering and caring for them, even when the results aren’t immediately apparent. Keep seeking Jesus, stay humble, and believe the best about your people. Soon the root system will take hold, and your people will sprout.
[1] Stanford, Dan. Losing the Cape (p. 162). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
[2] Torres, Elita. “What We Can Learn From The Chinese Bamboo Tree About Dreams #5MinMotivation.” Lead Grow Develop Shares Insights on Leadership, Productivity and Personal Development. 14 Sept. 2016, https://leadgrowdevelop.com/chinese-bamboo-tree-dreams-5minmotivation/.
WellConnected is an initiative of OneHope, and is a gathering place for children and youth ministers to access resources, research, and content to raise up the next generation. It’s a collaborative platform to equip leaders and influencers to effectively reach the kids in their communities. We invite churches and ministers to join one another in coming up with innovative solutions for today’s realities. We are continually learning and growing from each other — sharing knowledge, insight, and best practices. | https://medium.com/@414africa/minding-the-gap-ff7b3b9e9902 | [] | 2019-11-05 22:30:15.464000+00:00 | ['Childrens Ministry', 'Christian Leaders', 'Christian Leadership', 'Christianity', 'Christian Living'] |
Improving SEO and UX using Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages with Next JS | A Note on Contemporary Performance Expectations (UX & SEO)
There are series of expectations when it comes to both contemporary browsing experience and site performance for search engines. While Google reports 50% user drop-off rates if the site took longer than 3s to load (TTI) 😱, the search engines too prioritise sites that exhibit blazingly fast loading times (among a list of other qualities).
Here is an example of common minimum expectations when it comes to site performance
Here is an excellent article on Incorporating Performance Budgets into the build that discusses the best practices and user expectations as well as the techniques to aid in developments towards the set performance budgets.
Consider also checking out this presentation I’ve put together for the Front-end development, where it goes into detail on how the browsers parse bundled code and translate it into pixels on screen. The distinctions help understand which parts of the process can and should be optimised to achieve blazingly fast performance!
Improving Metrics with AMP & Next JS
Here is an example of 2 Sites , one that wasn’t developed with acute performance optimisation in mind (on the left) and it’s successor re-build developed using Next.js with Google’s AMP components.
Take note of both Time To Interactive (TTI) and overall performance scores which indicate how good the user experience would be and how high the search engines might rank the page | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/improving-seo-and-ux-using-googles-accelerated-mobile-pages-with-next-js-e22320bd331 | [] | 2020-06-27 08:26:42.394000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'React', 'UX', 'Programming', 'SEO'] |
Everything You Need To Know About Deep Teeth Cleaning | Has your dentist ever recommended you for deep teeth cleaning?
Did you question him WHY?
A dental deep cleaning also known as gum therapy is highly recommended when a patient experiences some sort of gum disease.
Do you know ignorance of gum/periodontal disease may lead to heart disease, risk of stroke, pregnancy complications, or any other respiratory problems? It is therefore imperative to always see your family Dental Surgeon for deep dental cleaning treatment.
This is a non-surgical treatment that cleans your teeth along with some part of the root, maintains oral hygiene around the gum line, and sides of the teeth, and at the same time facilitates gum building and teeth strengthening.
But, how do I know I require deep dental cleaning?
Answer these questions and you will realize whether you require deep dental cleaning treatment or not-
• Are you feeling pain while chewing?
• Are your gums getting tender, red, or swollen?
• Suffering from persistent bad breath?
• Do you find blood in your gums right after flossing or brushing?
• Are your teeth getting loose?
If the answer to any one of these questions is YES, then you require Deep Cleaning of teeth or even more advanced gum treatment.
Can I skip Deep teeth cleaning for some time?
Gum disease happens because of bacterial infection inside your gum tissue or any sort of inflammatory reason. Many times, when you don’t clean your teeth properly, a small amount of food particles get lodged in your teeth and gums which leads to irritation. You may try to pick that out but when the tiniest micro particle still stays deep into your teeth, it causes plaque.
You can remove plaque by maintaining proper oral hygiene — brushing and flossing but still, some of the remaining traces of plaque can eventually get hardened into Calculus also called Tartar. This leads to an excessive accumulation of bacteria beneath the Tartar. These bacteria in turn release toxic elements that can cause tooth decay and inflame your gums too.
So, if you find early signs of gum disease, immediately see your dentists and undergo a professional deep dental cleaning.
Deep teeth cleaning VS Regular teeth cleaning:
Regular teeth cleaning is followed for maintaining healthy gums and teeth. This treatment will remove the plaque that builds on your teeth every day with proper cleaning, brushing, and flossing.
However, if you don’t follow regular teeth cleaning, the plaque gets converted into hard Tartar , which gradually extends beneath the gums. Such teeth show signs of swollen and tender gums resulting in periodontal disease and an eventual tooth loss.
Deep cleaning comes into the picture when there is a large amount of tartar or bacteria build-up. Unlike regular teeth cleaning, it requires more than one sitting for cleaning the gums and teeth depending on the extensiveness of the cleaning required.
Book an appointment now at your nearest best dental clinic for professional deep dental cleaning services! | https://medium.com/@ritikaroy741/everything-you-need-to-know-about-deep-teeth-cleaning-8b849e8a2d35 | [] | 2021-12-29 06:17:42.486000+00:00 | ['Dentistry', 'Dental Health', 'Teeth Cleaning', 'Deepteethcleaning', 'Dentistnearme'] |
CRAFTING THE MISHIPAY EXPERIENCE | If aliens arrived from outer space, you’d be hard pressed to explain brick and mortar shopping to them. Walk around an indoor space where you get to browse, experience and enjoy the things you might want to buy, then voluntarily corral yourself into a specially reserved containment zone where, eventually, someone adds up the price of everything and hands you a paper receipt.
Of course there have been some notable tweaks to this journey of late — in some stores you can now get to do some of the adding up yourself — but the principle remains broadly the same. And therein lies the challenge for our developers. On the face of it, the MishiPay proposition is simple enough: let customers scan products in a store, pay for them, and then leave without having to queue. The reality is that many of the back office systems that power most stores are simply not built that way.
Point of sale systems — including the physical tills and the checkouts that you use every day — happen to be one of those essential things that have always just been there. Like petrol pumps and toilet stops — they are the unproductive interludes that punctuate an otherwise enjoyable journey. As a result they tend to be little more than functional, utilitarian — built to meet purely fiscal needs of the store, only to be operated by trained personnel.
The humble till was never designed to be interactive, clever or fun. Placed where they are, right at the end of the journey, they are the retail equivalent of walking out of the cinema after that great movie and straight into a dimly lit car park in the pouring rain.
It’s why our developers are such great problem solvers. They know that the glossy images and sharply worded descriptions you enjoy on a website are rarely straightforward to replicate in store. Few till receipts can muster more than around 20 ASCII characters. Even though sophisticated in-store promotions, customer loyalty schemes and modern methods of payment may have forced retailers to become better connected, most still operate their physical and online presences as completely separate businesses and thus, separate infrastructures.
When we kick off a project, the initial meetings are often attended by multiple suppliers, representing a range of different tech stacks and capabilities. If you’re hoping to exercise your YAML or Protocol Buffers muscles — then brace yourself, the lowest common denominator is likely to be a humble CSV file — albeit with four million rows. APIs may not be in place for at least one system, and those APIs that do exist may not be mature, feature complete or even accessible over the Internet!
Even something as simple as scanning a product can be tricky. There may be no single point of reference that links the online inventory with the items in the physical stores — there’s even a chance that the two stores don’t even sell the same products.
That creates a challenge for our developers. We’re not just looking to build a minimum viable product, but craft an amazing experience for our users. We call that the MishiPay experience, and it’s coming to a store near you… | https://medium.com/@mishipay.eng/crafting-the-mishipay-experience-78048451cf91 | ['Mathew Bartlett'] | 2020-11-23 21:52:53.983000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Coding', 'User Experience', 'Systems Thinking'] |
Blockchain for Dummies: A Gentle Introduction to Blockchain | $$ Introduction
Blockchain is a way of implementing a distributed database. Wait, what is a distributed database? 🤔 Wiki says,
A distributed database is a database in which not all storage devices are attached to a common processor. It may be stored in multiple computers, located in the same physical location; or may be dispersed over a network of interconnected computers.
So in Blockchain, a group of individuals controls a chain of blocks as a distributed database to store and share information. These independent users maintain data integrity without any central control. Nobody owns the Blockchain. This fact makes Blockchain so popular. But, though it is referred to as a database, it has not had all features that a database usually has.
Blockchain has permanent records of transactions. When a data/transaction is stored in a Blockchain, it is quite difficult to change the data. Why it is difficult, we will get on this point later. However, if someone wants to add data/transactions to the chain of blocks, the selected users of the blockchain network who have the right to validate data will verify the transaction.
The purpose of this post is to share a brief introduction to Blockchain and its related terms.
$$ Types of Blockchain
Three types of Blockchain are widely used.
→ 1. Public Blockchain 2. Private Blockchain 3. Consortium Blockchain
a. Public Blockchain — Anyone can join the network and create, write and participate in the network.
b. Private Blockchain — This type of blockchain is restricted to a particular group of people.
c. Consortium Blockchain — By sharing resources, cost with others, some organizations come together with a view to achieving a common goal.
$$ Block and Chain
Blocks are the container of valid transactions. Also, it stores some kinds of hash value used to link one block to other blocks. There are mainly two hash values in a block. One of them is the hash of the previous block and another one is it's own.
$$ Hash
Hash is a fixed-length string that is unique for a particular block. It is generated by a Hash function. The hash function will take anything and converts it to a fixed-length string. It is a one-way process, which means you can not revert the hash string to the input. Hash is also known as the fingerprint of the block.
$$ Difficult to change data?
So the question is why it is actually hard to change data in Blockchain. Suppose, Rahim is a hacker and trying to update the hash of Block B.
To update any data in a particular block, high computational power is needed. Assuming, Rahim is able to change the information in B. Rahim is very happy right now. Alas! he suddenly realizes he must update hash of consecutive blocks C, D, and consecutive blocks in order to get the control of the chain. Updating more blocks needs more computational power!!. Then Rahim stops hacking 😂.
$$ Adding a transaction
I believe you already have interpreted the above image and get to know that when a user tries to add a transaction, the network validates it. If the transaction is valid, it will be added to the chain otherwise it will be kicked out.
$$ Bitcoin vs Blockchain — are they same?
You probably hear that people are using blockchain and bitcoin interchangeably. Though they have common characteristics, they are not the same. Blockchain supports Bitcoin and Bitcoin is just a cryptocurrency like Ether for Ethereum blockchain.
People got the idea of Blockchain back in 1991. And Bitcoin was proposed in 2008 by an unknown person or a group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi Nakamoto used Blockchain to store transactions of Bitcoin securely. Later in 2014, Blockchain technology is separated from cryptocurrency. Currently, blockchain is implemented not only for cryptocurrencies but also for IoT, Healthcare, Music, Personal Identification, etc.
$$ Mining
When a block of data is requested to add to the chain, nodes of the network need to solve a mathematical puzzle to generate a hash. This requires high computational power. This is called Mining. You may ask why individuals willingly mine as it costs more computational power. Because for a successful mine, the miner will get rewards (they may get some crypto like bitcoin as a reward) 😎.
$$ Is Blockchain Secure?
Nothing is secure on the internet. But what makes Blockchain more secure? The keys to secure a Blockchain are Decentralization, Cryptography, and Consensus.
a. Decentralization — We already know, to add a new block to the set of blocks, all nodes of the network verify the block by mining. After successful validation, only then the block is appended to the chain. This addition of blocks makes an impact on other blocks. So if you change in your block illegally, others can sense it as invalid changes and will discard it.
b. Cryptography — The blocks are cryptographically hashed. One block is secured with Hashed value. There is no reverse engineer in Hashing, which makes Blockchain more secure.
c. Consensus — When a miner successfully solves a math puzzle based on the data in the block, at least 51% of nodes of the network must agree about the solution of the math, only then the block will be added. This is called proof of work.
$$ 51% Attack
The 51% attack sounds Fancy! If 51% of the mining power is owned by a group of nodes in the network, they can take control of the network and prevent other users to add blocks to the chain. | https://medium.com/brainstation23/blockchain-for-dummies-a-gentle-introduction-to-blockchain-bd731b567f08 | ['Arif Ul Islam', 'Ron'] | 2021-07-31 07:50:58.056000+00:00 | ['Secure Blockchain', 'Blockchain', 'Hashing', 'Types Of Blockchain', 'Mining'] |
The Usefulness Of Love | Overcoming The Past, With The Most Powerful Weapon There Is
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
Love was a foreign concept to me, as a child. The main thing was to be useful, and I wasn’t.
I knew that.
I was useless. I heard that on a daily basis, literally, from birth.
“You’re stupid, nobody wants you here,” Older Sister would look at me with a cruel smile.
Nobody contradicted her, so the words stuck, and she repeated them often. That kind of early conditioning really sinks in. The deepest wounds fester and rot, spreading like a malevolent cancer. Some take a lifetime to heal. Some never do.
Normally, a small child would look to Mom and Dad for reassurance, to settle the matter. But in our family of eight determined individuals, the older children looked after the younger ones. Parents weren’t to be bothered. Older Sister was 26 months my senior, so she was the proper authority. My oldest brother looked after all the boys and she looked after me. I had no further recourse. Worse, I was labeled a troublemaker from an early age, because I challenged the chain of command.
When Older Sister realized our parents fully supported her efforts to ‘keep me in line,’ her devastating insults increased. She was clever and highly skilled at setting up situations, gaslighting me, so no one would believe my side of the story. I actually admired her facility with words, even as she trapped me in one unpleasant situation after another.
Unfortunately, continual stress failed to stunt my growth. By the time we were twelve and fourteen, I was definitely taller. Older Sister took that as a personal insult and called me a fat cow. My parents shared her annoyance, actually scolding me:
“How could you do this? You’re putting a real dent in our budget.”
Apparently there was no clothing allowance for daughter #2. Now, I would require a whole new school uniform, an unheard-of expense, according to my parents. I saved up my babysitting money and sewed some clothes. Skirts were easy enough, once I mastered the art of putting in a zipper. Older Sister didn’t say anything, so I guess they looked all right.
It took me a long time to realize I wasn’t actually fat.
Twenty years later, I managed to forgive Older Sister and choose to love her anyway. She did get over that childhood/adolescent jealousy eventually. We realized we were just different personalities struggling to make sense of a dysfuctional family dynamic.
We were raised in a cold, impersonal manner. Our parents, both from large families, saw that Victorian arrangement as the norm. Separately, Older Sister and I envied classmates whose parents listened and spent time with them, freely dispensing hugs and kisses and ‘I love you’s.’
Those kids were so lucky, we thought. But we would never say it. Complaints weren’t allowed. As the years went by, we raised our own children with all the emotional supports we were denied. Lots of time in a comfy rocking chair, listening to their little stories. Even now, a late-night phone call from one of my grown children will find me saying, “oh, no, I wasn’t sleeping. Tell me what’s going on.” And I’ll listen, as long as they like.
I know Older Sister does the same. She told me once, when we were new moms, “you can love, even if you didn’t feel loved.” She knew.
Now, I sneak an “I love you,” into the phone before I hang up. She hesitated at first, but now she returns those unfamiliar words freely. If I forget, she gets it in first, with that familiar-but-no-longer-hurtful air of superiority.
We can laugh about that now.
The hardest part was getting all that negativity out of my head. It still creeps in, with the occasional nightmare. I’m still working on erasing all those hurts, flung at me by a scared little girl. She was hurt too, though I didn’t understand that then.
There’s a popular saying in the New Testament, in 1 Peter 4.8: “love covers a multitude of sins.” We can grow past the hurts. We can undo the damage inflicted when we were too young to process it.
Love isn’t just a ‘feel-good,’ cover up the past, wishy washy thing. Love is a useful weapon, and a powerful one, overcoming any obstacle.
Look back at those who hurt you. As Mother Theresa said, ‘love them anyway.’ Love puts you in control. You choose to love. You choose to overcome. You keep speaking love, no matter what.
Because you are beautiful and loved.
If no one’s told you that today. I’m telling you. You are loved and lovable and an amazing gift to everyone else on the planet. Let yourself be cherished and cared for, listened to — and loved.
I love you.
Thanks for reading the Real Life Resilience publication
For more resilience-related content listen to the Real Life Resilience podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or directly from the website. We also have fabulous short videos on the Real Life Resilience YouTube channel. | https://medium.com/real-life-resilience/the-usefulness-of-love-dced0578ed27 | ['Barbara Carson Todd'] | 2020-12-18 04:05:00.064000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Self Improvement', 'Resilience', 'Love', 'Childhood'] |
Black Seed — Key to Asthma Control? | I have suffered from asthma in the past, and it is no surprise since asthma runs in my family. I developed asthma as an adult and was diagnosed during my first year at Graduate School about 18 years ago.
I know I am not alone, for the Global Asthma Report from 2018 stated that 339 million people are affected by asthma globally.
Asthma is caused by inflammation in our airways and respiratory system that causes one or a combination of symptoms including wheezing, shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, and coughing, all of which work together to limit airflow into our body (Global Asthma Network, 2018).
I am blessed that I no longer suffer from asthma. I healed it through natural means, including the use of aromatherapy, other natural remedies, and lifestyle changes.
However, I didn’t realize that black seed is something I could have used as well. Evidence shows that black seed or Nigella sativa provides great benefits for asthma sufferers.
What is Black Seed Oil?
Nigella sativa is a medicinal plant belonging to the Ranunculaceae family. It is cultivated in the Middle East, Southern Europe, and Asia, including in India, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. It has been used in Ayurveda, Tibb-e-Nabwi or Islamic Prophetic Medicine, and other traditional healing methods (Ahmad et al., 2013). It is also known as black seed, kalonji, black caraway, or black cumin.
Black seed is known for its properties to reduce blood pressure, support the liver, improve digestion, alleviate diarrhea, stimulate appetite, relieve pain, reduce inflammation, protect and strengthen hair and skin, and fight microbial infections. It is also known for its anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-diabetic abilities (Ahmad et al., 2013; Tavakkoli, Mahdian, Razavi, & Hosseinzadeh, 2017).
Its varied benefits have led people to describe black seed as “the remedy for everything but death” (Ji, 2018).
Evidence it Supports Asthma- Animal Studies
One of the various benefits of black seed is its antispasmodic effect, which means it helps to reduce spasms in muscles and tissues. Because of this, it is believed to reduce contractions within the respiratory system (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Separate studies conducted on guinea pigs and rats indicated that those animals that had received a black seed supplement or treatment had reduced pulmonary inflammation and improved respiratory performance (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Evidence it Supports Asthma- Human Studies
Studies on humans have also been effective. One of them was conducted on 80 adults suffering from asthma in which half of the group received black seed oil and the other received a placebo of olive oil. After 4 weeks, the group received the black seed oil supplement had improved performance on an Asthma Control Test (Ji, 2018).
Another study was conducted on 29 adults suffering from asthma where 15 received an extract of black seed and 14 received a placebo solution for a period of three months. All adults who received the black seed extract saw an improvement in asthma symptoms, the frequency of the symptoms, and Pulmonary Function Test. Many of these patients were able to reduce the use of rescue inhalers and other medical treatments (Ahmad et al., 2013).
An additional study conducted over a two-week period showed that 15 asthmatic patients who took a boiled extract of black seed had dilated bronchioles and improvement in Pulmonary Function Test (Tavakkoli et al., 2017).
In addition, black seed improved symptoms of allergic rhinitis that include sneezing, nasal congestion, and nasal itching. Patients who took a supplement of whole black seeds saw an improvement of these symptoms, and a separate study in which patients applied black seed oil in their nostrils did as well (Tavakkoli et al., 2017).
How to Consume Black Seed
Nigella sativa can be consumed whole in its black seed form, and thus be added into food, drinks, salads, or swallowed directly. Some recommend heating the seeds to allow the oils within to be more easily released and digested. A teaspoon of seeds can be swallowed with a glass of water or mixed with a teaspoon of honey.
Black seed is also available in powder form and consumed similarly to the seed. It is also available as an oil, a water extract, and an alcohol extract. In these forms it can be applied directly on the skin or taken as a supplement.
Make sure to consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before consuming or using black seed in any form. Had I known of its great benefits when I was an asthma sufferer, I would have given it a try.
Related Reads
How a Great Herb Got a Bad Rap: Benefits of Comfrey
Practical Uses of Turmeric
Common Ailments and Nature-Based Remedies
2 Astringent Herbs that Regulate Body Secretions
3 Reasons to Use Lemon Balm
Website Links
Global Asthma Report
Green Med Info
References
Ahmad, A., Husain, A., Mujeeb, M., Khan, S. A., Najmi, A. K., Siddique, N. A., Damanhouri, Z. A., & Anwar, F. (2013). A review on therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa: a miracle herb. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 3(5), 337–352. doi: 10.1016/S2221–1691(13)60075–1
Global Asthma Network. (2018). The Global Asthma Report 2018. Auckland, New Zealand: Global Asthma Network, 2018.
Ji, S. (2018). Black seed oil puts deadly asthma meds to shame. GreenMedinfo.Retrieved on October 8, 2018 from http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/black-seed-oil-puts-deadly-asthma-meds-shame
Tavakkoli, A., Mahdian, V., Razavi, B. M., & Hosseinzadeh, H. (2017). Review on clinical trials of black seed (nigella sativa) and its active constituent, thymoquinone. Journal of Pharmacopuncture, 20(3), 179–193. doi: 10.3831/KPI.2017.20.021
Image
Pixabay, Celia05 | https://soneesingh.medium.com/black-seed-key-to-asthma-control-8bb943265060 | ['Sonee Singh'] | 2018-10-09 00:14:47.312000+00:00 | ['Wellness', 'Herbal', 'Health', 'Asthma', 'Herbal Remedies'] |
How to Boost Your Productivity While Working From Home | I’m writing this from North Carolina where I’m hunkering down at home with my family.
Since I’ve worked from home for over ten years, my daily routine hasn’t been affected very much. Everything feels like normal until I read the news or hear my neighbor’s high school age son playing basketball in the driveway during school hours.
But maybe you’re like many of my friends and family members and suddenly find yourself working from home for the first time. It can be a big adjustment from working in an office, especially if you have kids at home too.
That’s why I’ve written this article for you.
I’m sharing several tips and strategies I’ve collected over the years that help me boost my productivity while working from home.
I hope they will help you too as we all adapt to this difficult situation we’re currently experiencing.
Let’s dive in.
1. Set up a dedicated workspace
I’ve found that one of the number one factors that’s helped me stay productive while working from home is having a dedicated workspace.
In the previous house I lived in, I had my desk in my bedroom. In my new home, I have a separate room for my office. I love this because it helps me separate my work from my personal life.
It also is a much more professional environment for doing live video calls with my writing and web design clients (I like using Zoom for live calls).
If you don’t have a separate room you can set up as an office, here are three tips for making a productive work environment in the space you do have:
1. Try to find a place that’s outside your bedroom, and especially avoid working from your bed in your pajamas. Sitting in bed will make you sluggish, wreck your productivity, and might also threaten your quality of sleep at night.
The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard observes,
“Keeping computers, TVs, and work materials out of the room will strengthen the mental association between your bedroom and sleep.”
Of course, if you can’t find a private place in your home besides your bedroom, then you can set up a desk and chair in that room. Just make sure you’re not tempted to move to your bed and do your work there.
2. Pay attention to your posture. A desk and ergonomic chair is the optimal workspace, but even then you might need a laptop stand in order to work comfortably. I sometimes raise my laptop up on top of several books so I don’t have to bend my neck down to look at the screen.
If you don’t have a desk where you can work, be careful about sitting on your couch for hours. It’s much better to move your workspace around your house throughout the day.
In fact, I find that I don’t like working in one place for a long period of time.
I’ll start out in my office working on an intensive writing project that requires my full attention. Then I might move to the kitchen table to respond to emails. Afterward, I might work on less intensive projects while sitting on the couch in the living room, but I time myself when I sit there and make sure to get up when the timer goes off.
3. If the only place in your house where you can work is in the living room in front of the TV, and you’re finding it difficult to focus because you usually use that room to relax, try to change the environment.
Usually, I work on my fiction projects in the evening when I’m tired and don’t want to sit at my desk. But I still want my brain to be focused. I love putting on ambient scenes on the TV of a fireplace crackling and the sound of rain falling outside.
Here are several YouTube channels where you can find these types of scenes: Ambience of Yesteryear, New Bliss, and p12oud.
You might prefer playing music. I wrote this article about the different writing rituals of famous authors that helped them get into a flow while they were working.
And for more tips on setting up an inspiring workspace, check out my article where I take a peek at the workspaces of several famous writers.
2. Create a Structure to Your Day With a Morning and Evening Routine
I’ve run into two challenges while working from home: One, it’s easy to procrastinate on getting started on your projects. And, two, it’s easy to get so caught up in working on your projects that you don’t stop until late into the night.
Creating a morning and evening routine is an efficient solution that will help create a structure to your day so you don’t become a workaholic (or lounge about the house all day).
I write up a schedule with the exact time I’ll wake up in the morning, what activities I’ll complete before breakfast (for example, reading the Bible, writing in my journal, exercising), then what time I’ll have breakfast, and, finally, the time that I officially have to get started on my workday.
Similarly, I have an evening routine. First, I have a set time for when I stop working on any business projects. Usually, this is around 5:00 since I like to spend my evenings working on my fiction writing.
I also have a time for when I must shut down my computer completely so I’m not tempted to start working on a business project again late at night.
It’s critically important to decide on your working hours. If you’re living with family or roommates, you can tell them exactly when you’re working so they’ll know not to disturb you during that time.
Of course, your working hours might be completely different than mine. Maybe you like working on business projects in the evening and prefer to keep your afternoons for other activities. Or maybe you have kids and have to adapt your schedule to their activities.
Experiment until you find the solution that works best for your job, your personal life, and your productivity.
3. Make Schedules and Keep Track of Your Projects
Aside from your evening and morning routines, I also recommend creating specific schedules and to-do lists for your projects.
During your working hours, what will you be working on? You can time block this part of your schedule. For example, from 9am — 11am, you’re working on a copywriting project for a client. From 11am — 12:30pm, you’re replying to emails.
When creating your to-do list for the day, don’t make the list so long that it becomes overwhelming. A good medium is 3 to 5 tasks that you could reasonably complete during your working hours.
Make sure the tasks are specific. For example, I don’t write, “respond to emails”. Instead, I’ll write something like, “respond to emails from Harry, Larry, and Susan”.
In order to keep your daily to-do list short, you should keep track of your projects and deadlines on a single master list. (You could keep it in Evernote, Todoist, or in a physical planner.)
The master list is where you write down everything that you need to accomplish (it could be a year-long list of projects or maybe it spans the upcoming three months). Then every night write up a separate to-do list for the next day, pinpointing which items on your master list are your top priorities.
Organize the tasks on your daily to-do list according to importance and complete them in order. Begin with the items that are your “Most Important Tasks”. You should try to tackle the MITs first thing in the morning before moving on to the other tasks. It becomes more difficult to complete them the longer and longer you put them off.
Depending on what kind of projects you’re working on, you might find it helpful to devote an entire day to working on one project, rather than switching your focus between multiple projects. For example, I might devote Mondays and Tuesdays to writing blog posts, Wednesdays and Thursdays to working on client projects, etc.
In this article, I wrote about the journaling method I use to boost my productivity and keep track of all of my projects.
4. Limit Distractions and Take Breaks
In today’s world, multitasking has become such an acceptable part of our daily life that it’s a tough habit to break. As we work on a project, we might stop every few minutes or so to check a text on our phone or a notification from Facebook or Instagram.
However, our brains can’t focus on a handful of tasks all at the same time. Instead, the brain has to scramble to switch its focus every time we start doing something different.
When we’re multitasking while working on an article or any kind of writing project, that means that our brains only have a matter of seconds to jump back and forth as we check Facebook, then write a few lines, then quickly check our email, write a few more lines, then check our text messages, then return to our writing project.
According to this Wall Street Journal article,
“It takes more than 25 minutes on average to resume a task after being interrupted.”
Even worse,
“It takes an additional 15 minutes to regain the same intense focus or flow as before the interruption.”
That’s forty entire minutes, and that doesn’t even take into consideration multiple interruptions.
In order to prevent multitasking, I keep my phone in another room while I’m working. Sometimes I need to access Facebook for my work, but I’ve installed an extension in Chrome that disables the feed so I can only read notifications or visit people’s profiles directly. It’s called Newsfeed Eradicator (it displays an inspirational quote in place of the feed).
Additionally, I often use noise-canceling headphones and listen to music to drown out distractions from my surroundings.
I also use the Pomodoro technique to sharpen my focus while working on projects. I’ve written more about it here.
Essentially, you set a timer for twenty-five minutes during which time you work on your project, and then you take a short five-minute break. Those breaks allow your brain a little bit of time to reenergize but still keep you in the flow.
When I’ve been working for about an hour and made good progress, I’ll reward myself with a longer break and might allow myself to check social media or watch a YouTube video. I’ll time this, though, so I don’t take too much time away from the other work I need to do.
5. Stay Healthy
Working from home all day can be harmful to your physical and mental health if you don’t take the necessary precautions.
As I mentioned before, you need to pay attention to where you’re working. Sitting on a couch all day long can lead to neck and back pain. And that’s not helpful for your productivity at all.
Even if you’re careful to have good posture while working, it’s still not healthy to sit for hours. Get up from your desk, stretch, and move around during your breaks.
I go for a 30-minute walk outside when the weather is warm. In the wintertime, I like to go for 10-minute walks on a treadmill in my house throughout the day. (I wrote about how walking can boost your creativity in my article here.)
I also lift weights and have a stretching routine. My family set up a little gym in our garage where I can lift weights, but if you don’t have access to a gym, you might like to try bodyweight exercises. Here’s a 7-minute bodyweight workout. (Of course, make sure to check with your doctor before beginning any vigorous exercise plan.)
Another danger is skipping meals because you get so busy working. Or you might end up binging on unhealthy foods because you’re working right next to the kitchen.
Here are some ways to combat that: prepare your lunch the night before (maybe make a big dinner so you have leftovers you can quickly reheat for lunch the next day). Create a meal plan for the week. Stock up on healthy snacks.
You also might experience eyestrain if you’re staring at a screen for hours on end. The blue light from computer screens can also disrupt your sleep. To combat this, you might be able to download an app on your computer that changes the tint of your screen at nighttime.
I bought a pair of blue light blocking glasses. I wear them in the evening, and sometimes throughout the day too (I also wear them to watch TV in the evening). Here’s an article I wrote all about blue light and about the glasses I bought.
Finally, working from home can feel confining if you live alone or if your spouse, family members, or roommates work outside the home. You don’t have colleagues to talk to and bounce ideas off of.
With everyone isolating now, you’re probably staying at home as much as possible. But, if you continue working from home in the future, you might find you like working at a coffee shop once a week (or more often) to get out of the house and experience a different environment.
Or maybe you try to be more proactive about making sure to meet up with friends. Right now, this could mean a video call.
The Takeaway
I love the flexibility that working from home provides. If you’re working for yourself, you have complete control over your schedule and when you accomplish certain tasks.
But you do need to be disciplined and establish processes that will help you get your work done and also make sure you’re keeping your brain and body healthy.
I wish you all the best with your projects and hope these strategies will help you. | https://medium.com/copywriting-secrets/how-to-boost-your-productivity-while-working-from-home-35caafa1c6f0 | ['Nicole Bianchi'] | 2020-03-19 20:48:55.780000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Freelancing', 'Work', 'Writing', 'Remote Work'] |
Enigma Goes to ETHDenver! | Enigma Goes to ETHDenver!
After a number of successful hackathons in 2019, Enigma is thrilled to be heading back to ETHDenver in February!
We had a wonderful experience at ETHDenver 2019 — so much so that we decided to return this year as Meta-level sponsors! With the recent launch of our networked testnet — our final major technical milestone before mainnet launches in 2020 — we are actively looking to get as many developers as possible hands-on with our protocol and building their own “secret”, privacy-preserving smart contracts.
Read on to learn more about Enigma, ETHDenver, and what you can build!
Details of Enigma’s Bounties:
Bounty #1: Best CryptoGame
Description: This award is going to a team who creates the best game utilizing secret contracts to enable private interactions (for any aspect of the gameplay).
Prize: 500 Dai
Bounty #2: General Purpose Reward
Description: This prize will be awarded to the team who builds the most interesting and creative project involving Enigma.
Prize: 500 Dai
Bounty #3: Best Salad Integration
Description: This prize will go to a team who develops the best integration of Salad, our non-custodial mixing service, into a wallet or dapp.
Prize: 1000 Dai
For each of these bounties, our main judging criteria will be usability, technicality and creativity. Members of SecretDAO will vote on the winners. We are looking for projects with potential to continue development as Enigma prepares to launch mainnet.
What’s Enigma?
Enigma is building a decentralized, open-source protocol that lets anyone perform computations on encrypted data, finally bringing privacy to smart contracts and public blockchains. First founded and researched at MIT in 2015, Enigma turns ordinary smart contracts into “secret contracts”, allowing developers to build thousands of new and valuable privacy-preserving solutions. Enigma’s mission is to improve the adoption and usability of decentralized technologies, for the benefit of all.
Blockchains are bad at privacy by design — and as a result, traditional smart contracts suffer from significant limitations. They cannot use data that needs to be kept confidential. Enigma is building the first scalable platform for decentralized applications that can utilize sensitive or private data as inputs. Secret contracts unlock the enormous potential of dApps and can revolutionize industries like finance, credit, gaming, machine learning, healthcare, and many others that depend on the use of sensitive data. They also help swing the balance of power over data back to the individual.
How does it work? Our protocol breaks up sensitive data and distributes it in encrypted form across “secret nodes” on the Enigma network. Nodes can then use this data to perform computations without seeing or exposing the raw data itself. As Enigma thus solves for scalability in addition to providing data privacy, we believe that the first decentralized applications with millions of users will be built on Enigma — and that Enigma is the critical missing piece to a decentralized future.
Can I get a quick technical overview?
We’ve actually released a complete “quickstart” guide to Enigma that you can reference now or during the hackathon, but we’ll summarize some of the important points below!
Enigma’s secret contracts are written in Rust. Secret contracts can compute over encrypted data and call functions in Ethereum smart contracts upon completion.
Network diagram of data flow in Enigma
EnigmaJS — the client library for interacting with Secret Contracts. Enables users to encrypt, decrypt, and submit “Tasks”: encrypted data payloads sent to Secret Contracts.
Secret Contracts — written in Rust, the contract is public and executes over encrypted data (Tasks) submitted by the user.
Please reference our Quickstart Guide, our full documentation, or our complete technical resource index for more great information.
What can I build at ETHDenver?
Given the essential nature of privacy for every type of application, there are many great opportunities to build with Enigma. For some great ideas, you can see what hackers built at ETHWaterloo, including privacy-preserving machine learning, “secret” NFTs, and, uh, faster wizards.
Here’s some other cool possibilities:
How can I meet the team at and before ETHDenver?
We’ll have six members of the full-time Enigma team attending ETHDenver and will have more information to share soon about events we’ll be attending and supporting in the Denver area before the hackathon. Stay tuned :)
One of the best parts of any hackathon is bringing our engineers together with developers. We’ll be doing an official workshop on Friday, February 14th. If you miss our official workshop, you can still stop by our table and meet Fred and Victor from our incredible engineering team to get a hands-on introduction to secret contracts. We will also have on-line support from Taariq and Laura, so keep an eye out for them in the Enigma Discord! (You might be able to pick up some great Enigma swag at our table…)
Before ETHDenver starts, our team will be active on the ETHDenver Discord as well as Enigma’s own channels. Our primary developer support channels are our Discord and our Developers Forum. Feel free to say hello to our team and ask any questions!
We also do regular Open Community Calls if you’d like to get more familiar with Enigma, our protocol, and our community. You can also ask any questions you have live on the call. Check out this recap from November’s call!
You can also find our team on our community Telegram and follow our news on our official Twitter and blog. | https://blog.enigma.co/enigma-goes-to-ethdenver-18f0008bf16a | ['Ainsley Sutherland'] | 2020-02-14 19:21:49.931000+00:00 | ['Hackathons', 'Data', 'Smart Contracts', 'Privacy', 'Ethereum'] |
Importance of drawing Ecosystem Actors and their data/decision flow | I started by drawing out the entire compensation review cycle of the organization. This helped us plan the recruitment for the interviews. In the first few interviews, we found out that it is very difficult for the participant to externalize their role in the entire ecosystem. Thus we decided to use the same compensation cycle diagram as an aid for the following interviews. None of the participants were having knowledge about the dependencies in the system and roles defined for other profiles down the workflow. The aid helped participant’s clearly articulate their expectations from the system while playing different roles at a different point in time.
The similar approach helped us analyze our interview data. In this case, we drew the data or decision flow map for every actor in the system. As we switched the roles of every actor from a ‘recommender’ to an ‘approver’, we ended up listing down two scenarios each. These scenarios helped us list down the different requirements of the system.
Snapshot from the Data/Decision flow diagram
Example Scenario: Thomas works as a Sr. Mgr in the XYZ department. He manages a total of 4 employees including Jennifer (Mgr). And, Jennifer manages 5 other employees who work under her supervision. While Thomas has to recommend all the employees working under him, his additional role is also to approve or reject all the recommendations made by Jennifer.
Role switches:
Thomas Page as a Recommender Thomas Page as an Approver
The findings from the research and requirements were later used to design a Compensation review application. And the list of all the needs (requirements) was used to validate our design accordingly. | https://medium.com/theactofux/importance-of-drawing-ecosystem-actors-and-their-data-decision-flow-9f64e19792ff | ['Jyotirmaya Mahapatra'] | 2019-03-21 15:40:55.391000+00:00 | ['Contextual Inquiry', 'Systems Thinking', 'Theactofux', 'User Experience', 'User Research'] |
Everything about BINARY_SEARCH. Binary Search is a common sorting… | Binary Search is a typical searching technique utilized in computer science throughout the long term. This is a pursuit calculation that requests all the components to be sorted first. In 1960 Derrick Henry Lehman distributed a parallel hunt calculation that worked in all PC exhibits.
Binary Search follows the Divide and Conquer strategy to overcome the disadvantage of Liner Search Algorithm which involves iterating over all the elements until the target element is found. Binary Search took down Linear Search by its O(log2 n) running time which is lesser than O(n) time. Here n is the number of elements in the array.
Binary Search
Algorithm
Here N is the length of the sorted array and k is the element to be found.
low = 0
high = N-1
loop while low <= high
middle = low+(high-low)/2
if array[middle] == k
return middle
else if array[middle] < k
low = middle+1
else
high = middle-1
End loop
return Not Found
Example of Binary Search
From our Above Example, We can see that Binary Search is far better than Linear Search.
In the worst case, Binary Search needs log2(n)+1 iterations which are far better than O(n).
Consider we have 999 elements in an array of size 1000 numbers starting 1 to 999. we have to find the number 750. Linear Search takes 749 iterations to find the target element where Binary Search needs only 2 iterations. if an iteration takes 1 msec(millisecond) then Linear Search takes 749 msec where Binary Search takes just 2 msec.
Binary Search Implementation
Complexity Analysis
Time Complexity :
Time Complexity says how much time your program has taken to complete the process. Let's consider n is the length of the sorted array.
Iteration 1:
length of array = n.
Iteration 2:
length of array = n/2.
Iteration 3:
length of array = (n/2)/2.
.
.
.
Iteration k:
length of array = (n/2)^k. After k divisions, the length of the array becomes 1.
so,
1 = (n/2)^k.
n = 2^k.
Take base-2 Logarithm on both sides.
log2 (n) = log2 (2^k). As per Logorithmic properties.
log2(n) = k log2 (2).
Therefore,
log2 (n) = k [logA (A) = 1].
Above, we successfully derived the time complexity of the Binary Search Algorithm.
Space Complexity:
Space Complexity says how much memory or other computer resources has been taken by your program to complete the process.
Here Binary Search requires zero extra space. so, the space complexity of our algorithm is O(1) constant space.
Running Time and Cache usage
In analyzing the performance of binary search, another consideration is the time required to compare two elements. For integers and strings, the time required increases linearly as the encoding length (usually the number of bits) of the elements increase. For example, comparing a pair of 64-bit unsigned integers would require comparing up to double the bits as comparing a pair of 32-bit unsigned integers.
The worst case is achieved when the integers are equal. This can be significant when the encoding lengths of the elements are large, such as with large integer types or long strings, which makes comparing elements expensive. Furthermore, comparing floating-point values (the most common digital representation of real numbers) is often more expensive than comparing integers or short strings.
Duplicate Elements
Consider our array contains duplicate copies of target element k. In this scenario, we can’t conclude that our algorithm always returns the first occurrence of the target element. It may return the second/last occurrence of the target element also.
So that we have to say whether our algorithm has to return the first or the last occurrence of the target element.
We can return the leftmost occurrence :
function binary_search_leftmost(A, n, T):
L := 0
R := n
while L < R:
m := floor((L + R) / 2)
if A[m] < T:
L := m + 1
else:
R := m
return L
or the rightmost occurrence :
function binary_search_rightmost(A, n, T):
L := 0
R := n
while L < R:
m := floor((L + R) / 2)
if A[m] > T:
R := m
else:
L := m + 1
return R - 1
Here L = left/low, R = right/high, m=middle.
Consider this example: [4, 5, 5, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9]. You have to find the range of integer 8, that you have to return [4, 8] as output. Let’s design our Algorithm. We can have a boolean variable to say whether we are looking for the first occurrence of the element or last.
Range of an Element using Binary Search
Here if our Boolean flag f is true then we are going to find the first occurrence of our target element. so, we consider the left part of the array. Otherwise, we consider the right part of the array to find the last occurrence of our target element.
Applications
Binary Search has extensive applications in algorithmic problem solving as it has logarithmic runtime. It is absolutely a programmer’s delight!.
Let's say finding the square root of an Integer. In Normal Programming, we loop through all the elements from 1 to N to find the square root. Some clever programmers cut the loop in the halfway N/2. but in Binary Search,
square root using Binary Search
Real-world Applications:
debugging a somewhat linear piece of code. if the code has many steps mostly executed in a sequence and there’s a bug, you can isolate the bug by finding the earliest step where the code produces results which are different from the expected ones.
cherry-picking a bad code change from a release candidate. When pushing a large code release in production one would sometimes find that there’s a problem with that binary. If reverting the whole release wasn’t an option the release engineer would binary search through the code change ids. He would figure out the earliest code change which creates the bug.
figuring out resource requirements for a large system. one could try running load tests on the system and binary search for the minimum amount of CPUs required to handle a predicted load. (this approach is better than random guessing but much worse than doing some analysis of your system and doing some good educated guesses)
figuring out how big should your cache size be for a serving system or deciding on the TTL for the cache.
Some of the problems that can only be solved using Binary Search are,
1. Find the instance of a number in the array where duplicates are allowed.
2. Find the number of instances of a number in the array when duplicates are allowed.
3. Find a minimum element in the rotated sorted array or Find the number of times array is rotated.
4. Find a point where arrays start decreasing, the array is first increasing and then decreasing.
References and useful links: | https://manikaran7121998.medium.com/hola-to-binary-search-a-deep-dive-69b6b0a181d7 | ['Manikandan Prabhakaran'] | 2020-11-02 15:05:45.487000+00:00 | ['Data Structures', 'Binary Search', 'Programming', 'Algorithms'] |
How to write a Jenkins Plugin | Jenkins plugins allow you to extend the Jenkins build system to do almost anything. Jenkins in Italian? Sì. Replace Jenkins with Chuck Norris? You bet. Almost every feature used in building code on Jenkins is a plugin — in fact, even things like LDAP logins can be handled through the Jenkins plugin system. However, Jenkin’s near-limitless customization is also its drawback: with so much possibility, there is also an inherent complexity.
Jenkins plugins work by creating or extending an extension point, which hooks into a specific part of the build process. The catch: these extension points can differ significantly in what they do and how they work. In this post I specifically talk about implementing a Notifier plugin, as it showcases how you can use multiple extension points in a singular plugin while not being significantly more complex than the HelloWorldBuilder plugin described in the official Jenkins plugin tutorial.
Writing a Notifier Plugin for Jenkins
1. Set Up Your Environment
This part is taken directly from Jenkin’s official plugin tutorial. As it turns out, you need to setup Jenkins to be able to use it.
Jenkins works using Java 6 (or higher) and Maven 3 (if you’re using Nexus Maven Repository Manager, follow these instructions to set it up). If you’ve used Java before, you’ll be somewhat familiar with it (as well as Maven’s tendency to
download all of the internet every time). Once you have both installed you’ll want to put this xml in your ~/.m2/settings.xml (or %USERPROFILE%\.m2\settings.xml for Windows):
2. Create the Jenkins Plugin Template
It may seem weird that I always start off with the official Jenkin’s steps, but it makes everything to do with configs much easier (as you’ll see in step 5).
This step is made straightforward by Jenkins:
Open your console of choice Navigate to the directory where you want to put the plugin source in Run mvn -U org.jenkins-ci.tools:maven-hpi-plugin:create Answer the questions it will ask you (I’ll be naming the plugin HelloWorldNotifier for reasons discussed in Step 3) Open up the created folder with the plugin template in your preferred IDE
3. Destroy the Jenkins Plugin Template
Okay, just one file.
The template is great. It is one of the singularly most useful pieces of documentation that Jenkins offers. Unfortunately, the code file itself is made with Builder plugins in mind. Since we’re going to make a Notifier plugin, most of the generated code is not applicable .. so we’re going to write the class from scratch.
Open up HelloWorldBuilder.java and remove all the code from the doc (leaving imports intact). This is also a good time to rename the file to whatever you’ve decided to name your plugin. In this post I use HelloWorldNotifier.java since it’s the same concept as the HelloWorldBuilder tutorial but with a notifier.
4. Create the Outline of the New Plugin
Incidentally, our plugin is going to be mostly outline.
First, we need to define the class itself. In this case, it should be:
This means we’re going to have to implement a couple of required methods, but we’ll get to that later.
In our outline we’re also going to be adding in the configs, as they aren’t part of the logic of our plugin.
There are two kinds of configs: global and local. Global configs are values which will always be available to your plugin, whilst local configs will only be set per plugin use (any field that is job-specific and not Jenkins-wide is local).
To load per-project configurations ,we must mark our class’s constructor as a @DataBoundConstructor . The constructor’s inputs must match the names of the fields in config.jelly, as that is how Jenkins knows what to pass in where. In this case, the only local config values we’ll have is a String called local, so our constructor looks like this:
Of course, we also have to change our config.jelly to match:
Now that we have our local configs, let’s make it so we load an Integer from our global config.
Loading global configs is somewhat more complicated. To load a global config we must define a getDescriptor method and a DescriptorImpl class.
Jenkins has a standard plugin model called the Descriptor/Descriptable model which allows you to have global configs for your plugin. The first step is to write the DescriptorImpl . The DescriptorImpl is a class that Jenkins will pass on to every instance of your plugin class it creates, so anything we put in it will be accessible to every instance of our plugin. The DescriptorImpl must be marked with @Extension to tell Jenkins that it is a plugin’s Descriptor.
Of course we now have to implement all the classes required by BuildStepDescriptor :
Then comes the data loading: we override configure and have it load the data from the form just as we would any other. Here we can also throw an exception if the user put invalid values in our fields.
Finally, for the constructor we have to call super and pass it our plugin’s class name. This is what lets Jenkins know that this descriptor is for our class. Additionally, we load() in order to get the data from the configure step.
Now that we have a descriptor for our class, we need to create a getDescriptor method which we will use our new class. Oddly enough, you will almost always write this the same way, as it contains none of the logic for loading the global config info:
https://gist.github.com/andres-rama-hs/c094434887f5bf5d7f471820ff8d1fda
5. Write the Rest of the Plugin
It’s plugins all the way down.
The plugin right now does … nothing. It loads the configs, and does nothing with them. To fix this we’re going to create a whole other class. This class is a kind of plugin unto itself; a BuildListener. All it is is:
And we just make it call the fund we want in our notifier! In this case, we’ll only trigger our notification plugin on build completion, and we’ll check that our step is in the build so we don’t send notifications about all of them.
6. Write Tests
Jenkins has final methods, and therefore cannot be mocked.
While Jenkins calls them “unit tests”, the only tests you can write that will interact with any form of Jenkins will involve spinning up a fake instance of Jenkins and running tests on it (you can’t mock final methods, and Jenkins has some). Thankfully, that’s fairly straightforward. To get a test Jenkins, just add the following rule in your test class:
Then you can interact with it more or less the same way you would the actual Jenkins, just using method calls and not clicking buttons. You can create a fake project by simply writing:
And finally getting and parsing the logs for our plugin’s printing of the passed in String 3 times is just as easy:
Summary
Jenkins plugins are easy to learn but difficult to master, so if there’s already one that almost does what you need, you should try to do that. The community behind Jenkins has made it easy to get started with a variety of plugin tutorials covering everything from build steps to colonizing terminal output, making it easy to customize your learning to the task you want to achieve. Here are my favourite resources online to learn more about Jenkins plugin development:
Jenkins plugins also work on many other build systems, including Jenkins 2.0.
About the Author
Andres was a co-op Software Developer on Hootsuite’s Production Delivery team, working to build and maintain the tools we use to ship code out to customers multiple times a day. He also previously worked in Hootsuite on the Platform team, which used these same build pipelines. When he’s not writing code, he likes to play Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Wargame: Red Dragon, and Rocket League. | https://medium.com/hootsuite-engineering/how-to-write-a-jenkins-plugin-7fc829eab0ab | ['Hootsuite Engineering'] | 2018-02-07 18:35:18.002000+00:00 | ['Code', 'Co Op', 'DevOps', 'Build And Deploy'] |
Cracking the Code to Human Interactions. Part 3: Cause | Types of interactions
In the previous article, we went a bit into the details of different types of interactions which humans experience throughout our lives, broadly categorized as Logical, Emotional, False and Violent. We also looked into some terms which are relevant to the understanding of the types of interactions.
A brief summary of the four types of interactions from the previous article:
Logical (or rational)
Interactions which are based on sound facts and methodologies.
Axiom: Self evident realities which do not require any proof or evidence and the acceptance of which is necessary for any rational interaction. For example belief that the universe, time and space exist; belief that 1 + 1 = 2, etc.
Premise: Any statement which is assumed to be true, while making another statement or deriving a conclusion.
False premise: Any premise which has been proven to be false. Related article: Lie Detector…!
Wrong questions: Any question which is based on false premise(s).
Argument: Drawing a conclusion based on some premises.
Deductive arguments: The structure of reasoning where two premises are used to make a conclusion.
Inductive arguments: This structure of reasoning where probability is used to arrive at a conclusion.
More on this…
Emotional (or irrational)
Interactions which are based on human emotions and cognition.
Subconscious emotional interaction: Any emotional interaction which bypasses our conscious decision making process.
Conscious emotional interactions: The often seemingly logical interactions, which in reality are based upon our conscious emotional judgement instead of deductive/inductive arguments.
More on this…
False
Interactions which are based on unsound premises and methodologies.
False premise: Any premise which has been proven to be false. Related article: Lie Detector…!
Wrongly structured arguments: Improperly constructed arguments where the premises do not lead to the conclusion in the way it is presented (either deductively or inductively).
More on this…
Violent
Interactions which are based on uni-directional communication, where “the other” is not allowed to interact.
More on this… | https://medium.com/@rosesonfire/cracking-the-code-to-human-interactions-part-3-cause-59d1007d4fdb | ['Ishtiaque Khan'] | 2020-10-20 04:05:59.890000+00:00 | ['Cause And Effect', 'Human Behavior', 'Emotions', 'Violence', 'Logic'] |
Image Classification With ResNet50 Convolution Neural Network (CNN) on Covid-19 Radiography | Image Classification With ResNet50 Convolution Neural Network (CNN) on Covid-19 Radiography
On final year of uni, they offered three selection subject to choose: Image Processing, AR/VR, and Digital Forensic. I was trying so hard to be different and chose Digital Forensic, my own worst decision. It was so hard and without any interest on the field, i didn’t actually understand (surviving CS 101). Anyway, a lesson for me (and probably you): just be realistic.
So because I was so silly to choose another subject instead of image processing, I tried to learn it myself. Turned out, it’s even more fun to learn by yourself. I will list every source to understand Image Processing the easy way on every point. Anyway, Kaggle provides this free course explaining very detailed about Image Processing with Deep Learning.
In this article, I used Kaggle dataset with X-ray images that classify COVID-19, Viral pneumonia and Normal Chest. There are 219 COVID-19 Positive images, 1341 Normal images and 1345 Viral Pneumonia images.
As always, head to my Github for the code❤️
I linked every article I used as references as the underlined hyperlinks. Big thanks to each authors.
Image Classification
Image Classification is a method to extract information of image classes digitally. Shortly, it used to classify images. Image Classification can be supervised (you give label to each images) and also unsupervised (the training model learned to classify the images based on the patterns).
This article used Supervised Image Classification with three classes.
CNN
As I mentioned before, I am using Resnet50 layers, which is one of CNN architectures. To know more about CNN, this article explained CNN so clear. To sum it up, the flow of CNN are:
Convolution Layer (extract feature with filtering) Strides (shifting pixels over the input matrix) Padding Rectified Linear Unit (RelU) (introduce non-linearity to the network) Padding Layer (reduce number of parameters) Fully Connected Layer (flatten matrix into vector and feed it to a fully connected neural network layer.)
There are few architecture of CNN (some of the most common is ResNet, VGGNet), but in this post, I will use the ResNet50.
ResNet or Residual Network uses the residual learning instead of trying to learn some features. Residual can be simply understood as subtraction of feature learned from input of that layer. There are some variants of ResNet other than ResNet50. The core idea of ResNet is introducing a shortcut connection that skips one or more layers.
ResNet50 has 50 layers deep, below is the architecture of ResNet50 with 34 layer residual. Here is the paper of the network and here is why ResNet is a good CNN architecture to be used.
Data
I actually wanted to try Image Processing for my research but in that time there were so many people said that image training consumed too much time and memory, plus if you don’t have decent laptop/computer, it might be kind of impossible to do so. So I didn’t. But turned out, you could just use Google Colab. I don’t know how much time if I train it on my computer but with Colab it’s not that long like my friends had said.
If you wanted to access the data from Kaggle, you could just download the JSON API of your Kaggle account, upload to your Colab files then download and unzip the image data to your Colab environment.
! pip install -q kaggle
! mkdir ~/.kaggle
! cp kaggle.json ~/.kaggle/
! chmod 600 ~/.kaggle/kaggle.json ! kaggle datasets download -d tawsifurrahman/covid19-radiography-database
! unzip "covid19-radiography-database.zip"
You can also access data from your Google Drive with mounting your Colab session and access your image data location from the Drive.
from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/drive')
If you want to access the data from an open source website, you can just use request library from Python. To take an example, here’s how to download 20GB data from Physio Net.
import requests, zipfile, io zip_file_url = "https://physionet.org/static/published-projects/siena-scalp-eeg/siena-scalp-eeg-database-1.0.0.zip" r = requests.get(zip_file_url)
z = zipfile.ZipFile(io.BytesIO(r.content)) z.extractall()
Pre-Processing
Library
Some libraries that I used
from fastai.vision import *
from fastai.metrics import error_rate import torch
import torch.nn as nn
import torch.optim as optim
from torch.optim import lr_scheduler
from torch.autograd import Variable import numpy as np import time
import os from fastai.callbacks import ActivationStats
%matplotlib inline
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
plt.style.use('seaborn-whitegrid')
Access the image from folder
Define the folder path
path = Path('/content/COVID-19 Radiography Database/') folder = path folder.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Extract the image data bunch
np.random.seed(42) data = ImageDataBunch.from_folder(path, train='.', valid_pct=0.35, ds_tfms=get_transforms(), size=224, num_workers=4).normalize(imagenet_stats)
Training with CNN Resnet50
With fastai, we can instantly use the Resnet model by the function of cnn_learner. Don’t forget to define the accuracy metrics so that we can see the loss and accuracy.
To reduce time, I will just use four epochs.
learn = cnn_learner(data, models.resnet50, metrics=accuracy) learn.fit_one_cycle(4)
With the model, we can find the optimal learning rate to get the better performance. Unfreezing the model is used to let the model continue the training. In this case, unfreezing will let the model to train again with the better learning rate after we got the observation.
learn.unfreeze() learn.lr_find()
learn.recorder.plot(suggestion=True)
Next training with better learning rate can train for just 2 epochs.
Result
The very good thing that I really love using FastAI is that the model evaluation is so so easy. We can just interpret the classification model like the loss prediction, confusion matrix, most confused.
interp = ClassificationInterpretation.from_learner(learn) losses, idxs = interp.top_losses()
First, we can plot the loss of prediction from the model.
interp.plot_top_losses(9, figsize=(15,11))
And then the Confusion Matrix.
interp.plot_confusion_matrix(figsize=(12,12), dpi=100)
Conclusion
It’s very convenient to apply many AI methods now, especially with FastAI Image Processing. I think the most important thing to be on studying Machine Learning is to be creative, innovative and never stops learning new things!
Thank you for reading!
More Source to Learn | https://medium.com/swlh/image-classification-with-resnet50-convolution-neural-network-cnn-on-covid-19-radiography-d2a1fd77f5fb | ['Emmanuella Anggi'] | 2020-09-17 20:58:46.066000+00:00 | ['Resnet', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Cnn', 'Image Classification', 'Machine Learning'] |
A Hiker Had to be Rescued Just 3 Miles into an Epic Long-Distance Trek | The Adventure Blog | A Hiker Had to be Rescued Just 3 Miles into an Epic Long-Distance Trek | The Adventure Blog The Adventure Blog Jun 17·4 min read
Long distance hiking has always held a significant allure with outdoor enthusiasts, offering both a great adventure and the chance to reconnect with the natural environment. But during the pandemic, long distance backpacking has only soared in popularity as many of us have sought solitude and serenity on a remote trail.
This has proven to be true in the United Kingdom as well, where more people are embarking on long-distance treks along the country’s coastal routes than ever before. By stringing several of these trails together, it is possible to circumnavigate the entire country, covering thousands of miles in the process. As you can probably imagine, such an endeavor is not an easy one, a fact that was underscored recently when one hiker had to be rescued less than three miles from her starting point.
Embarking on a Big Adventure
The story began much the way any long-distance hike would get underway. Looking to add a dash of adventure to her life, an unnamed 28-year old British woman decided to set off along the 630-mile (1014-km) South West Coast Path (SWCP) in England. Her goal was to eventually walk the length of the entire coastline in the U.K., beginning and ending in the small town of Minehead on the southern bank of the Bristol Channel.
Such a trek can cover anywhere from 2672 miles (4300 km) to 6213 miles (10,000 km) depending on the path that is chosen. There are numerous routes for backpackers to take along this journey, requiring weeks and months of travel. Much of the route follows rugged and remote coastlines with rocky trails wandering along sandy beaches and towering cliffs.
This is exactly what awaited this anonymous backpacker when she set out last week. But her big adventure-filled with hope and promise-soon ran into a roadblock that should put a premature end to the trek and result in an ignominious rescue.
Rescued Three Miles In
The trek began simple enough, with the solo hiker saying goodbye to friends and family near the start of the trail in Minehead. From there, she set off on the walk, carrying a large pack filled with all of the necessary supplies and gear she would need for the journey. In fact, according to reports, the pack was so large and stuffed with gear it was a wonder that she could carry it at all. Still, undeterred the hiker embarked on what promised to be an epic adventure of a lifetime.
Not far into the walk she made a crucial navigational error that caused her to stray from the official course of the SWCP. Her errant route took her 800 feet (243 meters) down to the beach below where a rapidly rising tide cut off her access to the trail and left her stranded. She was just three miles into the hike and already she found herself in serious trouble.
Fortunately, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was alerted to the woman’s predicament and soon leapt into action. A boat was dispatched to rescue her from the beach, although she reportedly had to be convinced to give up her large backpack in favor of donning a lifejacket instead. Rescuers were able to get her to swim out to the boat, while also retrieving her pack. Once the woman and her belongings were safely onboard, she was quickly returned to dry land.
Becoming More Common
One of the members of the RNLI team that retrieved the hiker is a woman named Karla Thresher. She tells the BBC that these kinds of rescues are becoming more and more common. “”Lots of people have just read books about coastal walking and think: ‘Oh, I’ll give that a go’ but just don’t realize how tricky the tides are here in Minehead” Thresher says.
The incident was said to have left the hiker “shaken but unhurt.” In fact, once she was safely taken back to shore, she indicated that she planned to relaunch her round-Britain adventure the very next day. Presumably this time she would make more of an effort to stay on the designated trail and possibly learn to read a tide table too.
It seems likely that there may be more stories like this one coming our way. With an increasing number of people heading outdoors in search of an adventure, the possibility of inexperienced hikers and backpackers potentially needing assistance is likely to go up as well. While we shouldn’t discourage these individuals from seeking those experiences, perhaps it would be wise for them to wade into these challenges slowly rather than diving in head first. Thankfully, this story ended well and now provides a bit of a chuckle. That may not always be the case however, so remember to use caution when embarking on such a big journey. | https://medium.com/@adventureblog/a-hiker-had-to-be-rescued-just-3-miles-into-an-epic-long-distance-trek-the-adventure-blog-95259eb486c7 | ['The Adventure Blog'] | 2021-06-17 19:44:54.533000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Adventure', 'Hiking', 'Explore', 'Rescue'] |
German solar ice-making machine for Indonesian small-scale fishermen | Indonesia’s small-scale fishermen in disadvantaged regions will in the future be able to sell their products nationwide with the help of seamless refrigeration chains. This is being made possible by a solar-powered machine for the production of ice blocks.
This innovative type of unit was developed as part of a multi-year German-Indonesian cooperation arrangement. “The fish is prevented from spoiling, with the ice being produced on a totally climate-neutral basis,” says Frank Stegmüller of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). “This is a genuine German-Indonesian success story.”
Indonesia is the world’s leading tuna producing nation and the second-largest fish producer overall. However, small-scale fishermen who practice environmentally sound fishing methods are often unable to transport their fish to consumers due to a lack of refrigeration facilities.
As a result, these fishermen find it virtually impossible to compete with industrial fishing; much of their catch is spoiled, causing poverty amongst the fishermen.
Indonesia’s policy aims to conserve fish stocks and secure the income of fishermen in remote areas. The key factor in achieving this is to keep the catch continuously refrigerated. The GIZ initiated and provided support for the development of a solar-powered ice-making machine.
Together with a number of Indonesian, German and other European companies, the production of these machines was also established in Indonesia.
Development began in 2016 and the pilot plant started up successfully in 2018 — the first commercial unit will go into operation in Indonesia in 2020.
The high-tech solution from Southern Germany for a German-Indonesian project for rural development and to avoid food waste. High-tech components from Germany provided for the development of machines that use solar power to produce ice blocks for local fishermen.
In accordance with the guiding principle of Industry 4.0, the innovative technology ensures the production of up to 1.2 tons of block ice per day, dynamically and automatically adapted to the amount of solar energy available.
This does not require either a power connection or an expensive, large battery storage system, allowing ice blocks to be produced in locations away from power grids and used for cooling locally caught fish.
Stegmüller from the GIZ: “This secures the income of fishermen who operate on a sustainable basis, especially in remote and low-income regions of Indonesia.”
Components and know-how were provided free of charge during the development phase by the German companies Bitzer, Ziehl-Abegg and BAE Batterien.
The development, as well as technical support, were provided by experts from the ILK Dresden [Institute of Air Handling and Refrigeration]. The solar-powered ice-making machines are manufactured by the Indonesian industrial company S | https://medium.com/@themachinemaker/german-solar-ice-making-machine-for-indonesian-small-scale-fishermen-4fd7f72a5819 | ['Machine Maker'] | 2020-02-12 09:32:49.214000+00:00 | ['Technology News', 'Innovation', 'Solar Energy', 'Solar Power', 'Technology'] |
BinanceMax; A Decentralized Platform Featuring Centralized Platforms | There are numerous challenges faced in the crypto space, and these obstructions must be removed and dealt with, to create a smoother user experience. Some of such issues include the user unfriendliness in using AMM (Automatic Market Makers) like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, etc. Also, there is little or no data provided for users to monitor price changes, and we all know that such information plays a vital role in the making of a good trade. Nevertheless, there is a solution to such and similar challenges. Introducing Binance Max.
BinanceMax
BinanceMax is the first decentralized exchange to integrate the features of centralized exchanges, and still retaining its decentralization. Imagine seeing Binance-like bar charts on Uniswap/PancakeSwap. That is exactly what I mean, and even more features. BinanceMax also offers futures and margin trading with up to 100x leverage, yet, it is built on the Binance Smart Chain.
BinanceMax provides a DAMM (Decentralized Automatic Market Maker) that allows users to safely swap and trade their digital assets through the liquidity that is generated from LP (Liquidity Pool). Users can farm and stake their LP tokens to earn more tokens and even earn from the trading fees for swap pairs. Adding to that, BinanceMax provides a daily lottery program that rewards 3 lucky users with as much as 5 – 50 BNB and also rewards users who hold up to 0.25 BNB worth of BMAX tokens.
Core Features Of BinanceMax
Security and Safety: Built on an existing distributed ledger, BinanceMax’s transactions are absolutely visible and transparent to everyone through the Binance Smart Chain Network. Users do not need to provide an email address or password to access any of the BinanceMax products or services. Users can rather have access using the web3 enabled wallet provided by BinanceMax.
Also, users' private keys and funds are kept so discreet that nobody (including team members of the platform) can have access to them. Adding to that, the team has chosen to work with security personnel, auditing firms, and bug hunters, to provide more tight security in the platform.
Governance(100% Community Driven): BinanceMax ensures that every BMAX token holder has the right to participate in the decision-making of the platform. This ensures that the voice of everyone is heard and understood. It will also help prevent larger token holders from oppressing the small token holders or jeopardizing the platform. As the platform grows, governance will be transferred to community members who hold BinanceMax government tokens.
Some Other Features Include;
A free built-in trading chart and tools
Decentralized futures up to 100× leverage and margin trading
Decentralized lending and borrowing platform for leverage trading
100% owned by the community as contract address ownership gets renounced
Daily lottery (Each day up to 3 Bmax holders will win 5 to 50 BNB worth of Bmax daily through
lottery draws), etc.
The BinanceMax Token
BMAX is the native token of the BinanceMax platform. It is a self-automated liquidity-generation and auto-burning token with a unique staking mechanism. There is also an automatic 5% charge for every transaction involving BMAX. With 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion) as its total supply, 20% of the total supply will be burnt, and even as the auto burn feature has been set, this will help by increasing scarcity and value.
Tokenomics
Total supply - 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion)
Token sale (presale and public sales) 50% - 500,000,000,000 BMAX
Initial Liquidity fund 10% - 100,000,000,000 BMAX
Initial Burn amount 20% - 200,000,000,000 BMAX
Initial Lottery wallet fund 10% - 100,000,000,000 BMAX
Airdrop and bounty token 5% - 50,000,000,000 BMAX
Team and dev token 5% - 50,000,000,000 BMAX
Note that team/dev token will be locked for 1 year and will be unlocked 10% monthly
Conclusion
BinanceMax has proven to be an outstanding platform that offers centralized exchange features even as a decentralized platform. With the prementioned amazing features, BinanceMax has the potential to scale through. Hopefully, newbies and even old traders will find the BinanceMax platform friendly and easy to access/use. | https://medium.com/@chrisbarth2008/binancemax-a-decentralized-platform-featuring-centralized-platforms-fdb468d87ec3 | ['𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡'] | 2021-07-02 00:54:43.672000+00:00 | ['Binance', 'Decentralization', 'Binance Smart Chain', 'Crypto', 'Decentralized Exchange'] |
The Gold to Silver Ratio | The Gold to Silver Scale
It is oftentimes mentioned by precious metals analysts, advocates and others who analyze the precious metals price movements but what exactly is the gold to silver ratio and what is its historic importance? The gold to silver ratio is the amount of silver one can theoretically buy with a fixed amount of gold. The gold to silver ratio is measured in the number of troy ounces of silver one can acquire with one troy ounce of gold, at least in the West, but it can be measured in any unit that is the same across the two precious metals.
The gold to silver ratio is a helpful ratio for precious metals traders and other paper investors (and arguably some physical investors) to assess when the value of gold or silver are off dramatically from each other and therefore one is likely overvalued or undervalued relative to the other. We must remember though that the paper spot price of both precious metals are heavily manipulated so in many ways the ratio today is of questionable value until the true price of both of the precious metals is allowed to be discovered in a truly free and fair market. That will require the destruction of the paper markets, something all of us stackers are working fervently to accomplish.
In antiquity, gold and silver were both the only real money and Ancient Romans, Chinese, Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Harappans, and Sumerians paid very close attention to the ratio as it was effectively part of the transaction. Nations typically facilitated trade by weighing their gold or silver and having predetermined gold to silver ratios. One such example is that of the shekel, which was an ancient coin that held about 11 grams of silver (0.39 ounce) and had a gold to silver ratio of 15 to 1, meaning 15 silver shekels was exchangeable for 1 shekel of gold.
The gold to silver ratio was altered throughout history by governments with some key examples being 2½ to 1 in Egypt under Menes (Code of Menes c. 3,100 B.C.), 10 to 1 under Alexander the Great (c. 330 B.C.), 12 to 12½ to 1 in the Roman Republic (until 27 B.C.), 10 to 1 during most of Europe’s rise until 1492 when it rose to 15 to 1 due to the influx of large amounts of silver taken from the New World as extracted and shipped in Galleons to Spain. England, upon her ascension to global power, set the ratio at 16 to 1 and Napoleon later set the ratio at 15½ to 1. When Adam Smith wrote the Wealth of Nations in 1776 he said “An ounce of gold will commonly purchase from fourteen to fifteen ounces of silver…” In 1792, the ration was set to 15 to 1 in the United States.
The story thereafter became one that dovetailed with the rise and fall of the 1st and 2nd Bank of the United States (central banks), the mining out West and the improvements in mining brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and the bimetallism fights of the 19th century. The ratio stayed within a range of around 15 to 1 to the low 20s to 1 until around the turn of the century when it started spiking to 30 to 1 and 40 to 1, with some brief intervals where the ratio declined closer to historical levels. By 1933 when a four day bank holiday was declared to stop the “hoarding” of gold and silver, the ratio spiked to over 130 to 1 and never went below 50 to 1 until the late 40s after the Bretton Woods agreement.
The gold to silver ratio stayed under 40 to 1 until the 1980s when it maintained a high ratio range of 50 to 1 to 90 to 1. Coming out of the 2008 financial crisis, the ratio never fell below 40 to 1 but spiked to over 90 to 1 and remains high to this day, where it stands at 67.6 to 1 as of July 5th, 2021. There is clearly a correlation between the massive suppression of the silver price in recent decades and the ratio climbing to such high numbers compared to the historically and commonly cited ratio of 16 to 1 average.
Many believe, and Bullion TP is one of them, that a return to the historical gold to silver ratio will occur when the paper markets are broken and the manipulation of gold and silver is ended via this paper price-fixing mechanism regime we currently live under. While both precious metals offer a tremendous upside upon their true price being discoverable in the market, silver’s relatively high gold to silver ratio at the moment is indicative to many that it may be the better performing precious metal of the two. They will certainly both rise, but silver will have to rise more than gold to achieve the targeted historical gold to silver ratio, delivering a greater overall return in purchasing power increase to the silver holder than the gold holder.
Bullion TP believes that a return to the historical gold to silver ratio, or very close to it, is inevitable. We do believe that silver has a very strong potential to outshine its yellow brethren, but that like with nearly all investments, some degree of diversification for those of means who can afford to acquire the much more expensive gold is a solid strategy.
www.bulliontp.com
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Telegram: https://t.me/bulliontp | https://medium.com/@bulliontp/the-gold-to-silver-ratio-ff92e4194183 | ['Bullion Tp'] | 2021-07-06 12:19:54.342000+00:00 | ['Silver History', 'Gold', 'Silver', 'Gold To Silver Ratio', 'Gold History'] |
A Quick Guide to Understanding Python’s Import Statement | Heracles battling the Nemean Lion. (Source)
In today’s article, I will be going over Python’s import statements. I realized that import is a really important skill to master, especially when it comes to structuring one’s Python project.
While making Automated Stoic, I wanted to use a few of the source code from Memento Mori. However, since I did not know how to properly use the import statement, I had to manually rewrite the code from one file into the other.
And so, today I will be going in deep about import statement, what it does, and how one could utilize it to its maximum.
What is an Import Statement?
Before we get into the specific details of how one could utilize the import statement, let us take a deep dive to understand the fundamental definition behind this method.
According to Python’s official documentation, an import statement can be defined as the following:
The Python code in one module gains access to the code in another module by the process of importing it. The import statement is the most common way of invoking the import machinery, but it is not the only way. Functions such as importlib.import_module() and built-in __import__() can also be used to invoke the import machinery.
In short, the definition of an import statement is that it will transfer all of the code from one file to another Python file.
For example, let’s suppose that you have two Python files: first.py and second.py . Now, assume that the code in first.py is already written alongside its variables and functions. If you want to use these variables and functions in second.py , you can just import the first.py file and immediately gain access to the variables and functions.
Before we continue, what exactly is a module? In general programming, a module is a piece of software that has a specific functionality. For example, when building a tic-tac-toe game, a module will be responsible for the logic behind the game while another logic will be responsible for drawing the board. Each module is a different file, which can be edited separately.
In this case, a module in terms of Python programming is simply a Python file with a .py extension where a set of functions, variables, or classes are defined and implemented. The name of the module will then be the name of the file. In the case of the example above, the Python files first.py and second.py are modules with the name first and second respectively.
Furthermore, it is also important to note that whenever a developer is accessing modules using the import statement, that module is essentially executed. This allows the developer to make use of the scope of definitions within the imported module.
To import the module, Python needs a fully qualified name of the module being imported. This may come from various arguments such as the import statement or from parameters to the importlib.import_module() or __import__() functions. If any of the imports fail, then a ModuleNotFoundError is raised.
Ways to Import a Module
Since we have already gained a good grasp of what an import statement is, let us see three different ways in which we can import a module!
import
The first way to import a module is by using the basic import statement. Usually, importing is done in the header section of the code, before writing any specific functions.
When we import a module, we are making it available to us in our current program as a separate namespace. This means that we will have to refer to the functions of the imported module in dot notation, such as [module].[function].
Here is an example:
import random
print(random.randint(1,25))
In the code above, we imported the random module, which is a built-in Python module. From that module, we would like to utilize their random integer function, randint() . Since the random module is available to us as a separate namespace, we would have to use dot-notation to refer to randint() , hence random.randint() .
from [x] import [y]
Now, if we want to import a specific function, we can use from ... import ... . This method of importing will also allow us to call the function without using the dot-notation. Here is an example:
from random import randint
print(randint(1,25))
Since we are using the from ... import ... notation, our aim is to use a specific function within the module. In this case, we are accessing the randint function within the random module. Doing so will allow us to call randint() without having to use the dot-notation.
In some programs, you might see people using from module import * . This statement will take every scope of definition within the local namespace. However, this is discouraged as it could potentially replace your locally defined variables or functions.
Before we continue to the last method, I would like to give a brief explanation of the differences between import x and from x import * . When a programmer uses import x , the programmer is essentially creating a reference to that module in the current namespace of x . This is why you need to define a module path to access a particular attribute or method from that module (such as x.name or x.function() )
On the other hand, if the programmer uses from x import * , then the programmer is creating a reference to all public objects in x within the local namespace of the current module. This way, the programmer won’t have to define a module path such as x.name , but can simply refer to it as name .
However, the downside of using from x import * is that if you already have name defined in your local module, then it will be replaced by the name that came from the x module.
import [x] as [z]
This method is called aliasing methods. In the similar case above, you can create an alias of a method if the same name is present within your local project.
For example, if you already have a variable named x inside your local project, you can import your module x by giving it an alias.
import x as x_module print(x_module.name)
Within the program, we can now access x.name as x_module.name .
Styling Import Statements
According to the official style guide for Python (PEP 8), there are a few key points when it comes to styling import statements:
Imports should always be written at the top of the file after any comments and docstrings. Imports should be divided according to what is imported. There are generally three groups: standard library imports (built-in modules), related third party imports (modules that are installed but do not belong to the current application), and local application imports (modules that belong to the current application) Each group of imports should be divided by a blank space Write your imports alphabetically
Here is an example:
"""Illustration of a good import statement styling. Note that imports should come after docstring""" #Standard Library imports
import datetime
import os #Third pary imports
from flask import Flask
from flask_restful import Api
from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy #Local application imports
from local_module import local_class
from local_package import local_function
As you can see above, the code starts of with the docstring. A docstring is used to document a specific segment of the code. Multi-line docstrings consist of a summary line, followed by a blank line, followed by a more elaborate description of the module.
Absolute vs Relative Imports
After understanding the different methods to import a module, let us look deeper into how to import modules from a tree of a directory. In short, there are two ways: absolute imports and relative imports.
Absolute Imports
An absolute import specifies the module being import using its full path from the project root’s folder.
Let’s say we have the following directory structure:
└── project
├── package1
│ ├── module1.py
│ └── module2.py
└── package2
├── __init__.py
├── module3.py
├── module4.py
└── subpackage1
└── module5.py
We have the root directory called project , which contains two sub-directories, package1 and package2. Here, it is good to remember that a package is basically a directory that holds one or more modules.
Here, package1 has modules module1 and module2 , while package2 has an __init__.py file, two modules, and another subpackage which contains module5 .
For the sake of this example, let us assume the following:
package1/module2.py contains a function called function1 package2/__init__.py contains a class called class1 package2/subpackage1/module5.py contains a function called function2 .
With these assumptions, we can then write the following absolute imports:
from package1.module2 import function1
from package1 import module1
from package2 import class1
from package2.subpackage1.module5 import function2
As you can see from above, using absolute import is similar to calling the path of the file, except that we are using a dot instead of a slash.
Absolute imports are preferred and highly recommended by PEP 8, as it clearly shows the path of the function/module. However, absolute imports might get a little too long, such as the following:
from package1.package2.package3.package4.package5 import function6
In this case, we can use relative import as an alternative.
Relative Imports
Unlike absolute imports that imports from the root of the project directory, relative imports is a method that imports relative to the current file the import statement is called.
There are two types of relative imports: implicit and explicit. However, since implicit relative imports have been deprecated in Python3, we will not be covering it.
One way to call a relative import is by using dot notation to specify the location. A single dot means that the module or package referenced is in the same hierarchy as the current project, while two dots mean that the referred package is one directory above. Three dots means two directories, and so on. This is similar to how you would use cd .. to go one directory up.
Let’s assume the same directory as the structure above.
In this case, if you want to import function1 which is located in module2 inside module1 (both are in the same package), then you would have to write the following code:
#package1/module1.py
from .module2 import function1`
From the example above, you start the import statement with a dot-notation, signifying the use of relative imports. Since it is only one dot, the computer will recognize that module2 is located in the same directory as module1 . After finding module2 , it will then import function1 to module1 .
Take a look at another example:
#package2/module3.py from . import class1
from .subpackage1.module5 import function2
Recall that the location of class1 is in __init__.py , while function2 is located in package2/subpackage1/module5.py . Since module3 is located in the same directory as __init__.py and subpackage1.module5 , we can easily import class1 and function2 by using relative import statements with one dot notation — signifying that they are located in the same directory.
Aside from shortening long absolute imports, relative imports are not encouraged as they could cause confusion on a shared project.
Summary
To finish this article, let us summarize and review what we have learned today!
Import statements will let a module gain access to another module’s defined scopes (variables, functions, classes)
Modules are files with a .py extension; each module should serve a specific function
extension; each module should serve a specific function There are three ways to import a statement:
import x will refer to the module in its respective namespace. This means we will have to use dot-notation to call any of its variables/functions. from x import y will only import y from module x . This way, you won’t have to use dot-notation. (Bonus: from x import * will refer to the module in the current namespace while also replacing any names that are the same) import x as y will import module x which can be called by referring to it as y
The four rules of making import statements according to PEP 8:
Import statements should be written after the docstrings and comments Import statements should be separated according to what is imported: built-in modules, installed modules that are not part of the application, modules that are part of the application. There should be a space in between each of the import categories Your imports should be in alphabetical order
There are two distinct ways of calling an import:
Absolute import: uses dot-notation to call an import file relative to the root of the directory Relative import: Import modules relative to the current file. It also uses dot-notation but starts the import with number of dots signifying the relative position.
Conclusion
The reason why I wanted to study import statements is that I wanted to use Memento Mori’s code for Automated Stoic without having to copy and paste the whole codebase.
To put this into practice, I will be going through the changes I made to utilize import in my past project.
Remember: stay consistent.
Sources: | https://medium.com/cold-brew-code/a-quick-guide-to-understanding-pythons-import-statement-505eea2d601f | ['Richard Russell'] | 2020-06-05 07:41:57.127000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Computer Science', 'Python', 'Software Development'] |
What is wrong with talking about magnesium and pain? | Feedback is essential for growth.
Feedback is critical for writers.
Feedback is invaluable in every profession.
I love writing about my experience and sharing important messages.
Writing and sharing have always been passion for me.
In this article, I want to discuss an article close to my heart.
The pure intention of the article was to share my personal experience supported by science. I attached it below for your reference.
The experience mentioned in the article made a substantial positive impact on my health. Therefore, my aim was to pass on the message to a wider audience so that many other people can benefit from this experience. I introduced a natural substance and some practical tips to use it.
By following the Medium curation guidelines, I submitted the article with no ads or clutter. I did not use the term Medium and did not tag anyone. More importantly, the article received excellent feedback with many claps from my readers. Even some well known health professionals endorsed it. I also had fantastic feedback from many professionals on LinkedIn.
However, Medium curators did not distribute it to the topics for unknown reasons. I am wondering why. What did I do wrong in this specific article? Or was there something wrong with my message? Did the article misguide people? Was it too personal? Did it give harm to society? Was there any harassment in the content? Was the title click-bait? Was the cover photo too aggressive, offensive, or misleading? I keep asking these questions but cannot find a convincing answer. Therefore, I need your help.
Since there is no feedback mechanism from curators and I am a person who strives for excellence and wants to improve his writing and content marketing, I want to invite my readers to provide me honest feedback on what is wrong in this article prevented it being distributed to the topics on Medium.
Please be as brutal as possible in your feedback. You can’t offend me, I enjoy and value negative feedback too. I’d appreciate your comments on what is missing or what it is too much to prevent it from distribution.
I truly want to improve my writing skills and want messages to reach out to a wider audience. Since you are all creative writers on ILLUMINATION, I value your feedback. We are here to help and support each other to grow and become successful in our writing practice.
Here is the article for your review. | https://medium.com/illumination/what-is-wrong-for-talking-about-magnesium-and-pain-a2de1237c298 | ['Dr Mehmet Yildiz'] | 2020-04-17 18:21:52.967000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Writing', 'Education', 'Leadership', 'Innovation'] |
How to install Apache, PHP, MySQL on Windows manually | How to install Apache, PHP, MySQL in Windows manually
STEP 1 Install Apache
Download Apache 2.4 binaries
http://www.apachelounge.com/download/
e.g http://www.apachelounge.com/download/VC14/binaries/httpd-2.4.25-win64-VC14.zip
Extract the downloaded file in your drive C:
$ cd \Apache24\bin
$ httpd -k install
$ httpd -k start
Go to your browser and type http://localhost/
You'll see a message "It works!"
Problem:
Installing the ‘Apache2.4’ service
(OS 5)Access is denied. : AH00369: Failed to open the Windows service manager, perhaps you forgot to log in as Adminstrator?
Solution:
You should run the command prompt as administrator.
Find Start > All programs > Accessories > Command Prompt, right click, and select ‘Run as administrator’.
STEP 2 Install PHP
Go to http://windows.php.net/download/ and download the stable thread safe release. Choose x64 for 64-bit OS or x86 for 32-bit OS.
e.g. http://windows.php.net/downloads/releases/php-5.6.30-Win32-VC11-x64.zip
LoadModule php5_module “C:/php-5.6.30-Win32-VC11-x64/php5apache2_4.dll”
Note: Make sure that your Apache and PHP should matched with their bit either 64 or 32-bit.
STEP 3 Configure Apache and PHP
Extract the downloaded file in your drive C:
C:\Apache24\conf\httpd.conf
LoadModule php5_module "C:/php-5.6.30-Win32-VC11-x64/php5apache2_4.dll"
AddHandler application/x-httpd-php .php
PHPIniDir C:/php-5.6.30-Win32-VC11-x64
In the same file. Search for the line starting DirectoryIndex. Change it as follows:
DirectoryIndex index.php index.html
Now, navigate to C:\php-5.6.30-Win32-VC11-x64, and copy php.ini-development to php.ini. Edit this file, find the following lines and modify them as follows (all should exist already):
memory_limit = 256M
post_max_size = 128M
upload_max_filesize = 128M
## Next, add the following extensions:
extension=php_curl.dll
extension=php_gd2.dll
extension=php_mbstring.dll
extension=php_mysql.dll
extension=php_mysqli.dll
extension=php_pdo.dll
extension=php_pdo_mysql.dll
extension=php_xmlrpc.dll
STEP 4 Test and debug
Navigate to C:\Apache24\htdocs and create a file called test.php
<?php phpinfo(); | https://medium.com/sudogem/how-to-install-apache-php-mysql-on-windows-manually-f95a437c0cc7 | [] | 2017-05-17 17:27:53.447000+00:00 | ['Phpmyadmin', 'PHP', 'MySQL', 'Apache'] |
FARMERS’ PROTEST | FARMERS’ PROTEST
Are Indian Farmers getting framed?
Photo by Nandhu Kumar on Unsplash
Before beginning this article, I would like to pose three questions for you. You can answer it to yourself, write it out on medium, or send me too.
What do you think is the essence of a Democracy? Who is a farmer, according to you, and what importance he/she has in your life? What method would you like to opt for when someone else’s decision oppresses you if that decision affects your survival? Will you rather walk away from the problem or face and oppose it?
I am writing to highlight the events that are currently going on in India with Indian farmers.
In Sept 2020, Indian Central Govt. passed three bills that stated to improvise the farmers’ financial conditions by offering different options to alleviate farmers’ hardships. These bills disturbed the Indian Farmers to such an extent that they decided to protest against these bills.
What are these bills, and why are farmers demanding its repeal?
To understand these, let’s go back to the past when other agricultural reforms took place.
During the 1960s and 1970s, many states enacted the APMC ( Agricultural Produce Market Committee) Regulation Acts. These were formed to alleviate farmers’ poverty and stop their exploitation by a higher-order private dealer. It stated that farmers could sell their produce at an auction in local markets directly to the government at a fixed minimum support price (MSP) and other private dealers. It doesn’t matter who the buyer could be, but the minimum price was fixed. This fixed-price became a new survival source for farmers. Under APMC, many mandis (local markets where farmers could sell their produce) were set up under state government. These mandis were the hub of multiple buyers. A farmer could take its products to any dealer and bargain according to his desire.
Now, what do the new bills offer?
There have been many discussions for decades on taking on the agricultural reforms since a majority of the population was assured of the malfunctioning of the older system.
What are the changes that are likely to take place in the Indian Farming system?
Farmer Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation), 2020
According to the first-mentioned bill, the farmers can eliminate the middlemen. However, farmers are worried because they think they are being exposed to privatization. The government will exclude APMC Mandis. Private dealers in Mandis won’t need to pay any tax. And this act will also remove the geographical restrictions. Farmers could go to other states as well as where they could get a fair price for their produce. Thus this act is likely to expose farmers to those corporate buyers who have more bargaining power and resources. Nearly 80% of Indian farmers do not own enough land (less than 2 hectares) to negotiate with big corporate dealers.
Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services, 2020
We can refer to this bill as Contract Farming. According to this, farmers can sell their produce directly to private contractors bypassing the government. Farmers can enter into agreements with big Agro-firms, exporters, or large buyers to produce crops at a pre-decided price. If, by any means, farmers couldn’t grow and not meet the firm’s requirements, then according to the agreement, this might be a significant loss for farmers. They can not go to the court for any deceit but have to go to the district admin. A majority of farmers do not find it easy to deal with corporates who have qualified lawyers. The farmers think that they would likely to succumb to death if this happens. If MSP is removed, there won’t be any government control over prices, and big corporate buyers will do what they would likely do.
Essential Commodities (Amendment), 2020
This Essential commodity bill is related to the hoarding piles of crops. This law allows economic agents to hoard (store) food items freely without any fear of persecution. Earlier, hoarding of crops was illegalized because it could lead to black marketing. Similar is likely to happen again once this bill gets out.
The Problematic Farm Bills
Photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash
The bills mentioned above passed in sept have been facing protests since then. Farmers and their unions have been protesting for months. But this protest recently got into the limelight when farmers from Punjab and Haryana and other nearby states like Uttar Pradesh decided to march to Delhi, the national capital, to oppose. This is just like during India’s Independence struggle in the mid 20thcentury. But, like other recent protests in India, it also met Police resistance. The borders are sealed, highways were blocked. Water cannons and tear gas are getting fired over these peace-wanting farmers. As a consequence, the farmers got more agitated and stirred up.
Various national and international unions and agricultural experts claim these bills to be Anti-Farmer and Pro-Corporation. They think that these laws will affect vulnerable farmers to exploitation. It will decrease their per capita income and undermine their negotiating power. The MSP gives farmers a certainty that they are at least getting the minimum support price. It assures that government will buy the farmer’s produce when no other buyer is ready. With MSP, there is no way that farmers would be at a loss. But with this MSP gone, they would be in a fret. And the number of farmers’ suicide in the country will likely increase since farmers wouldn’t have anything to survive upon. As a result, poverty, unemployment, and debt will increase, which is already too much.
The Indian Central government is still justifying these laws as pro-farmers. They have been saying that these bills will allow farmers to choose from many available options. Farmers could participate in Private Investment to increase their growth.
However, why can the government not see the most prominent option that could benefit farmers? Don’t you think, just by increasing the MSP value, farmers could get to live up to their best?
If the bills are pro-farmers, then why so much chaos? Punjab and Haryana are the two most prominent agricultural states where MSP is working and working well. The farmers don’t want their MSP removed. If the government wants to do good for farmers, assure them of their MSP instead of firing tear shells and water cannons.
The farmers want to get assured of their MSP. And it’s been two weeks since the protest started. Why can’t government and media support them instead of calling them politicized, Khalistan, or terrorists?
The farmers are not in 100s or 500s. They are in tens of thousands, have been protesting for two weeks in this shivering cold. You can find youngsters, men-women, the elderly, and everyone in this protest. They came to talk and get their problem solved. But what did the government order to do? The government ordered to fire tear gas and cold water on them? Seriously? The central government asked the Delhi government to convert stadiums into temporary jails. For what? The Indian news channels except one or two have been continuously calling out these farmers terrorists. Are these miserable farmers fighting for their rights to survive, looking you like terrorists?
Democracy is not just about choosing a government with people’s votes. It is about listening to your people. You have the right to protest against any decision that you think could affect your life. You have the right to use your voice against the ruling party. You have the right to ask questions to the government. If a government is not respecting people’s fundamental rights, discriminating among mighty and merciful, is that government worth saving? Is that government democratic?
TO BE CONT. | https://nishabhatele.medium.com/farmers-protest-4079580d91ba | ['Nisha Bhatele'] | 2020-12-11 11:55:55.483000+00:00 | ['Indian Farmer', 'Farm Bills 2020', 'Farmers Protest', 'Indian Farmer Suicides'] |
Sad Songs, Friendly Coffee Tables and Questionable Relationships | Sad Songs, Friendly Coffee Tables and Questionable Relationships
The Three Funniest Humor Pieces On Medium This Week
Photo by Artur Wayne on Unsplash
Here are my picks for the 3 funniest posts on Medium this week.
First up, this coffee-table-centric post by Erica N, which wins the prize for both the week’s weirdest post and the week’s best title:
Humorist Jim Nolan’s riffs on sad pop songs cracked me up:
Finally, Funny Relationship Guru Kyrie Gray definitively answers the one dating question most women want to know — are you in a relationship or just a guest on his podcast?
If you’ve read (or written) something funny this week? Please share the link in the Comments section. We need all the laughs we can get.
Roz Warren is the author of two collections of library and book-related humor, Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A Collection of Library Humor, and Just Another Day At Your Local Public Library, both of which would make great gifts for your favorite librarian or other bookish friend.) | https://medium.com/top-3/sad-songs-friendly-coffee-tables-and-questionable-relationships-2c7443bb6f8e | ['Roz Warren'] | 2020-05-07 13:43:01.463000+00:00 | ['Funny', 'Humor', 'Writing', 'Top 3', 'Roundup'] |
further confessions on the origins of personal rein | The following narrative is but one element of a larger and perhaps more ambitious performative thought experiment, whose goal is to infer, within a reasonable range, a probable past and present of its author; in the hopes of communicating to, at the very least, his family, friends and maybe even a few co workers; not just the writer’s intention, but also a conceivable future for all those concerned.
It was almost as if he was an out of control horse about to jump off a cliff to a bottomless pit, and somebody at the last minute pulled hard on what must have been some kind dangling reins of a hyper misconception; a sudden action that caused his head to jerk back and actually see what he was about to do; finally coming to the realization, that this thing he was about to engage in with was no girl; she was his sister.
That’s where we left our young man; wrestling with a self control he neither understood or could figure out a way to not let it take over his life entirely; no girls; and as, it would turn out later in life when he seriously questioned his sexuality, no men either; no close friends; and, ironically enough, no mortal enemies as well.
No one; nothing was allowed past a certain point; at least not yet; and as all these inner commands came to the surface of his waking general self, from a place he simply could not, truly name; from time to time, his conscious awareness grew restless, turbulent even; visibly unsettled, as puberty, with its characteristic swirl of hormones and anxieties, real or imagined, issued in the natural changes therein; firmly taking a hold of both his behavior and thought.
As our young man matured; the declaration made to his parents, and eventually, also to a few concerned school administrators; who in calling him to the office of Lahser High School, a few days after the beginning of his first year at the secondary level; after carefully examining his educational transcripts; and after asking him why he hadn’t gone to a better school; our young friend responded with a; what must have sounded like, at the time, an idealistic and naive reply: I wanted to learn about life; to wit, said proclamation, apparently dwindling into a kind of archaic textual obsolescence; the older he grew and the restless and confused he became.
However, before getting too far ahead, let’s go back to the summer after St. Hugo of The Hills. It was also after his circumcision and for some reason, he didn’t know why, his spirits were remarkably light; unusual, given the changes his sister was going through; changes this writer wonders today, were not connected to her stay a year or so earlier, at Camp Stapleton.
In addition, the relationship between our young man’s parents; since not only the boy but his sister as well, had chosen not to go on with parochial schooling; a rocky marriage since Chicago; now, was worsening.
So why was the young boy feeling so, what we can safely guess from where we stand today; optimistic?
It’s difficult to pin down the exact origins of his overall good mood from our contemporary point of view. The upcoming summer was to going to be, as it turned out, unusually balmy; with temperatures stubbornly parking themselves in the ninety to one-hundred degree range for weeks at a time; staying that way throughout of most of the tropical-hazy days and all through the many passages of sauna-humid nights; for some reason, the young boy frequently enjoyed; the tastes and feelings of swelteringly sticky, hot humid weather; not all of the time, but sometimes; foregrounded by several well placed fans; or in the case of his family’s Bloomfield Hills apartment home, an air conditioning unit that rarely, if ever, broke down; summer, from his view, was just fine.
Yet, the next few months would not be uneventful. The season came on the heels of his successful circumcision; a procedure that left him with an odd kind of relief; for he, as all males of most ages and many sexual preferences probably have at one point or the other, done; had noticed other boys’ penises; many of which did not look like his own.
At the end of theirs, for example, a definite tip emerged; what the writer of this narrative might compare to a natural Clovis tip; a point which the little boy thought much more efficient; more so than the shriveled wrinkly nub at the end of his; which he would often have to pull back the sides of and clear away lint and other debris from; random detritus that sometime collected there; if left unattended for too long.
After the operation, our young man marveled at how new it felt; like he had been given a brand new penis; one that looked like the other boys’ penises; but better; because after all, it was his and to him; he considered it — unique.
Before he could figure out a way of celebrating his new founded sense of natural animal freedom, his mother received news that her father, his grandfather had died; his death coming from what many believed; his mother’s sister, Connie and her husband, Jim; to name a few; was the inevitable result of far too much drinking and very little regard for his own well-being; for far too long a time.
The young boy’s mood then changed slightly; although not exactly; to match his mother’s hazy sort of ambivalent acknowledgement of the news; her long and quiet living room stares out onto the grass covered and tall treed lawns; penetrating views into landscaped hills; the apartment complex, where they lived; her blank and empty extended glances as she wandered through their home over the next couple of days; passing the word to the rest of the family; preparing things for the long drive down; packing clothes; informing her employer; the whole time; neither crying nor sighs of regret, nor any outward indications of excessive remorse; just a matter of fact flatness and recognition of the appropriate thing to do; propriety being the give and take, back and forth, that dominated the relationship between the boy and his mother.
What we can not forget here, is that as the years would progress, there would be stirrings within the boy, increasingly becoming more frequent; rustlings of pushed down memories; buried archives that would become a source of familial tension; psychic unconscious flotsam and jetsam that in the long run, wound up driving a wedge of mutual resentment and distrust between a mother and her two young children.
What’s more; through out the turbulence of both his and his sister’s middle and late adolescence on into their early adulthood, from their new family of three, would come to assert its’ self, as a wordless covenantal ark born of mixed and frequently conflicting commands; themselves, appearing as apparently backwards and nonsensical edicts arising from the remainders of a divorced and fragmented family who happened to be black; living on the salary of a single parent provider; in a community of minor to significant opulence; a general standard that, to the newly fashioned uneasy trio of mother, daughter and son; often became a daunting hurdle; particularly in light of the ‘what to do now?’ question that all ways comes with rituals of high school graduation and the like; all of which was further complicated by underlying secrets that, to this day, still have yet to work themselves out; perhaps for his sister, but most assuredly, for our young friend; the young boy; subject of this narrative experiment.
So it was with these stirrings of inner, hidden things and unseen seems of emotional fabric, that our young boy and his family took, what would also be the last trip as a whole family, they would have together; in the form to which each member: father, mother, son and daughter, had come to know; the oldest brother having long since left; moving to strike out on his own, years before.
By the time night fall came, the little boy and his family had completed nearly two thirds of their journey; stopping to rest a few miles east of Springfield in a town called Lebanon.
In spite of the somber circumstances of his grandfather’s funeral; the reason for the trip in the first place; so far, the whole experience was almost like a vacation; that is until the boy’s father, while making food and lodging arrangements, happened upon a couple of white men; parked on the opposite side of the lot where they were; in a pick-up truck; almost singing epithets of ‘nigger this’ and ‘nigger that’; slurs flowing like a river of sewage polluting an otherwise tranquil family outing; causing a slight unease to lightly turn in the boy’s stomach; maybe a small reminder, from this writer’s retro-perspective; but to the little boy back then; a warning, no matter how uninformed or not, of the not so distant past of this place; called the South.
The dreaded South.
The boy distinctly recalls his father angrily flipping them the middle finger; a hard to miss: “Fuck you, you Honky Bastards!” erupting in response, as he adjusted the belt around his, at the time, spreading waist; opening the driver’s side door; perhaps checking for the gun he wished he always carried; a habit from either his prior law enforcement days or his then connections with the Inspector General’s Office back in Michigan; not finding it where he’d hoped it was; getting in and slamming the door; the young boy’s mother’s soft but edge-tinged voice cautioning: “Let’s just and get our rooms”; soothing him enough for the key to turn, the engine to engage and the young boy; his sister, mother and his smolderingly calm father, to get some much needed rest for the night.
Our young friend awoke to an early sunny summer morning; he and his sister’s parents, particularly their father, in a palpable hurry to get going; to gather their belongings and get on the the road; a short order plan made obvious by all the: ‘Hurry ups’ and the ‘C mons’ ushered by both mother and father; gentle, but firm prodding for two young children, just waking up from a long sleep; to get dressed and get in the car; with added assurances of getting breakfast, once on the road and far from this place; the little boy remembers, as Lebanon, Missouri.
The family then passed through, what this writer has since determined to have been, the outskirts of the Ozark Mountain Area; sheer expanses of red clay cliffs; the occasional rustic home tucked in against the rise; a smoky panorama reaching up from the highway; sprawling and sun-shadowed; mountainous hilled faces; crowned by tufts of green forest and other viridescent wood; none of which appeared to impress any else in the car; at least, not as far as the little boy could tell.
Both his sister and his mother seemed distracted; as if their minds were a million miles away; and his father’s eyes; although outwardly fixed on the road in front of them; unbeknownst to the little boy at the time or any one else, for that matter; save the boy’s wife, his mother; who ironically enough, as fate would have it, probably was thinking the same thing as her husband; one word flashing in both parent’s mind’s eye; like a lighthouse beacon; shining from the rocky shores of a hopelessly broken marriage; over and over; almost as if it were a prayer or Gregorian Chant, both repeated, under their breath in resigned unison; escape, escape, escape.
Meanwhile, our young friend’s sister could have been thinking about her two best friends back home; Noreen and Elaine; the former, a long limbed, dark haired; sensibly-postured girl who loved her glasses; the latter, an auburn-cropped-curly cut; Shirley Temple dimpled and freckled roundish girl; whose killer Little-Debbie-smile and surprisingly sharp streak of witty mischievousness, often sparkled from her frequent winks and nods; thus proving to be her noblest virtue.
Yet, ‘thinking about her friends’ more than likely, gravely understates what was probably going through the young boy’s sister’s mind. She couldn’t see what he saw, because her eyes were fixed on Elaine’s and Noreen’s Father and the home he had made for his two young daughters after the tragic death of their mother; first hand reports from both girls of his frequent verbal abuse; violations, the boy’s sister herself had witnessed; incidents of groping and other inappropriate suggestions or lewd associative Speech Acts, the girls had tearfully confessed to the boy’s sister; finding their way to his ears both by his sister’s admission and what little interaction the boy also had with the two young girls’ father.
As the coming months and years would show, the boy’s sister will grow more and more outraged over Noreen and Elaine’s father’s behavior; a burgeoning activism that inadvertently, yet inexorably will make itself quite plain; as a virtual Great-Wall-of-China practically builds itself up between a mother, whose outward appearance belied hidden scars and tissues; unhealed wounds of repeated incestuous intrusion in her own past; and a daughter, who may or may not have had her first homosexual experience during her stay at a Catholic Run summer camp for girls, a year or so before; a possible encounter, she mostly kept to herself then, and probably to this very day, still does.
The rift between both women; one young and inexperienced the other older and more cautious; put a simpler way; mother and daughter; will become clearly evident in a day to come; over a span of a moment across time; from where the boy’s family found themselves; going southbound through that Ozark Valley way; on that particular early sunny summer’s morning; to a point neither mother nor daughter, realizing then, riding in that car, both just staring at the passing sun dappled countryside; that in almost in a year of months to come, both will be at the back their apartment home in Bloomfield Hills; in the girl’s room; yelling at the top of their lungs to each other; as the mother attempts, to physically keep her daughter confined, to her room.
The mother will first be asking; then ordering; and finally demanding that her daughter stay out of Noreen’s and Elaine’s family business.
On the other hand the daughter; the young boy’s sister, at first not understanding why her mother will not call the proper authorities; will then verbally challenge her mother’s reasons for not notifying someone that Noreen and Elaine’s father was way out of line; in what she believed, warranted some kind of intervention from — someone, anyone; and if no one would be notified, and nothing was done, then she, the boy’s sister, was going to take it upon herself to do something; even if that something meant standing up to the father of her two friends; boldly challenging him to his face; practically daring him to go through her first, before he lay another finger on his children.
When the boy’s sister makes that clear to their mother, the two will grapple; the boy’s sister eventually, violently, will push past their mother; a chase through the house, from the back to the front, will rapidly ensue; the boy will be in the dinning room at the front of the house; listening to what he will come to believe; to be self evident pieces of his family dissolving; like an incoming wave that laps the shores of a lake; dissolving the sand there; with each retreat and advance.
He will see the blur; of his sister grabbing the door’s knob, running into the hallway; of his mother in close pursuit leaping upon her, grabbing a hold of whatever she could; both of whom will be moving faster than he had ever seen either move before or since. He will see how his sister; refusing to be denied, will essentially drag their mother into the exterior hall way; there; the boy’s mother will loose her grip on her determined daughter; whose forward motion, will cause their mother to loose her footing; tumbling to the ground and rolling onto her shoulder; against the grating of the metal rail there; a jarring, painful end end of her helpless lurch; as the boy’s sister will effect her escape; running down the stairs, leading outside; supposedly on her way to make her stand for her two friends; leaving their mother disheveled; red-faced angry; scrambling to her feet; slamming the apartment door as she stormed back to the master bedroom; slamming thew door there as well.
All these things will happen in, around and to the family of this young man; the object of this narrative experiment to infer a probable past of not only himself; but that of his family as well.
However, for the time being of the narrative, as we are generally examining it in this specific context of our perspective now; looking back then; at an African American family; going south bound through the red-clay-lustrous and sun- dappled-expressiveness, of those rolling Missourian Hills; on their way to the funeral of the little boy’s grandfather in Tulsa Oklahoma; one thing was certain.
Although no one riding in that car could or would say so at the time; some secrets, either of family; between friends or even neighbors for that matter; don’t make us better people.
They may make us human; but in the long run and over time; they don’t necessarily make us better human beings.
They just make life harder; that’s all; and there’s nothing at all special about that; at least, not as far as this writer can ever hope to truthfully tell; to show, that is, in the best and most thoughtful way he knows how; or, can get away with.
(to be continued next: the funeral and its initial aftermath) | https://medium.com/@tkrawftmich/further-confessions-on-the-origins-of-personal-rein-bbaec52b106b | ['Thomas Krawford'] | 2019-06-17 23:23:28.186000+00:00 | ['Autoethnography', 'Ann Arbor', 'Narrative', 'Family', 'Philosophy'] |
GREEN LABS will focus on bolt on acquisitions this year | 29 JAN 2021 / Mergermarket
GREEN LABS, a South Korean digital agriculture platform developer, will focus on acquisition opportunities in Korea this year to strengthen its leading position in the digital agriculture platform market, co-CEO Shin Sang-hoon said.
The Seoul-based company is currently reviewing two to three targets, he added. It is eyeing targets engaged in agricultural businesses such as agri-logistics companies, IoT developers in smart farming, agricultural film manufacturers, agriculture pipe manufacturers, seed companies, fertilizer companies, pesticide companies, and others involved in relevant sectors, he noted.
The ideal deal value is below KRW 10bn (USD 9m), Shin added.
For future bolt-ons, it would finance the deals through its cash, he said.
GREEN LABS recently acquired two domestic firms,Happy Farmer and RUNean, Shin continued. Happy Farmer, acquired in November last year, specializes in processing and distributing agricultural products. RUNean, acquired in January this year, estimates the cost of farmhouse construction via automatic algorithms and databases, according to the company’s press release.
Additionally, the company plans to expand its IoT-based smart farming service to East Asia and Southeast Asia. Thus, it is looking for investors from these regions for its next funding round, the CEO continued.
The ideal investors would be local investors that have solid networks with agriculture and ag-tech businesses, as they can help GREEN LABS connect with relevant industrial partners and customers, the CEO added.
The proceeds will be earmarked for R&D and to hire employees including data engineers and computer engineers, he continued.
The firm remains receptive to investors’ approaches to this end, but details have not been determined as it just closed a KRW 20bn Series B fundraise this month, Shin noted. GREEN LABS is in a position where it does not need to raise money right now, but is in a comfortable position to do so at an appropriate time, he added.
Organic growth on track
While the company will focus on inorganic growth this year, it will also seek organic growth to strengthen its dominant position in the country’s ag-tech market, Shin said.
The number of users of its Farm Morning app has increased exponentially, and the company expects to meet the target of securing more than 100,000 users by 1H21, the CEO noted.
Given this rapid growth rate, it expects all domestic farmers to use the app by 2022, he added. Farm Morning app is a digital farming platform that GREEN LABS launched in July last year.
GREEN LABS uses data analytics to help farmers cut costs, increase profitability and distribute their crops. It offers objective farmer-driven information on seeds, fertility, soils backed by the company’s agronomic data. Additionally, its users are given data-backed recommendations as to how to create the perfect environment for the crops to grow, Shin said. With its central control panel and IoT devices installed in their greenhouses, farmers can view and change the settings of the greenhouses, even if they are away.
On the digital front, GREEN LABS plans to provide advanced B2B IoT-based smart farming services to agricultural companies by the end of this year, as part of its efforts to help farmers maximize their profits, the CEO continued.
GREEN LABS expects to record sales of KRW 100bn this year, up from sales of KRW 25bn last year, Shin said.
The founders including Shin, Ahn Dong-hyun and Choi Sung-woo, hold a majority stake, followed by, domestic VC HASHED, which had participated in the Series B fundraise, he continued.
The company’s overall business has not been impacted by the novel corona virus outbreak. Rather the COVID-19 outbreak has created a positive atmosphere as smart farm technology has garnered attention from investors, he said.
Founded in May 2017, the company had 160 full-time employees as of 26 January, Shin said. GREEN LABS’ global peers include California-based Farmers Business Network. It is the first digital agriculture company in South Korea, he noted.
by Haejin Choi in Seoul
Write to Haejin Choi [email protected] | https://medium.com/@greenlabs/green-labs-will-focus-on-bolt-on-acquisitions-this-year-2c789be57df7 | ['Green Labs'] | 2021-02-23 05:40:03.382000+00:00 | ['Farming', 'Platform', 'Agriculture', 'Agritech', 'Farmers'] |
How to unlock your potential | Photo by Vincentiu Solomon on Unsplash
In one of my previous blog posts I wrote about the difference between using the phrase “need to” versus using “want to”. This post is a continuation to that.
It is no doubt that our upbringing and education has a great influence on our thinking patterns. Thinking back on the last 20 or so years, my life has been filled with urgency, catching up, and not trying to fall behind. This has now revealed itself to me as “need to” mentality.
A big portion of the time, when we say or think that we need to do something, it is usually caused by external factors. These external factors can include other people’s opinions, other people’s expectations, our need to fit in, and our need to survive. No double that all of these are valid reasons to do something. Not long ago, our survival depended on all of those factors actually. Not even 100 years ago, standing out from the crowd could have severe consequences. It is difficult for us to imagine but duels were still a frequent occurrence in the 19th century.
Our brains have learned to adapt to such environments by implementing the “need to” mentality. In reality that means that we have a healthy brain that is functioning well to keep us alive, so we must thank ourselves for it. The problem is that we are no longer under much danger in the 21 century. So we need to work with our brain and show it that there is no danger lurking around the corner. It is alright if someone doesn’t like us. It is alright to sometimes disappoint people so that we can look better after our own needs. It is not selfish to look after our own needs first.
In reality, you don’t “need” to do anything…
The First Step
To break free from impure motivations, we must first be aware of our motivations. Next time you notice yourself saying “I need to do (something)”, try to understand why you said that you “need” to do it. Why didn’t you say that you “want” to do it?
This can be something as easy as “I need to finish the report by tomorrow”. Realizing these thought patterns can be a huge shift in reframing your motivations. Ask yourself, “Why did I feel that I need to finish the report?” Are you worried about disappointing your boss if you don’t? Will you lose your job if you don’t? And if you lose your job, you won’t be able to afford your apartment, your car, etc. This is all true. But does it make you feel empowered thinking of it that way?
Saying “I want to finish the report by tomorrow” puts you in a much better position. “I want to impress my boss because I think we make a great team together”, “I want to be able to get the promotion so that I can have more autonomy in my work”, “I want to do my best on this report because I know I am capable”. Doesn’t that sound much better than “needing” to do something because of all those consequences. By rephrasing your thoughts, you are putting yourself in a much better mental position and giving yourself the control over the situation instead of feeling obligated to do something.
We all feel more energetic from feeling empowered and in control of our lives. | https://medium.com/@iskurbanov/how-to-unlock-your-potential-35da93db6df2 | ['Iskandar Kurbanov'] | 2020-12-26 04:48:56.471000+00:00 | ['Passion', 'Mental Health', 'Potential'] |
A Concise Guide to Remember More of What You Read | 1. Start What You Can Finish
Before you pick up a book, use what I’d like to call it the “Three-Pronged Questionnaire”:
What do I want to learn or read? They can be categories such as fiction/non-fiction, self-help, politics, science, relationships, cooking, etc. Why am I reading this? What do I hope to get out of this book?
To help you with that, going through the table of contents, book summary, and reviews give you a wonderful sense of idea what that book is all about.
The list of questions above serves to ensure you’re reading a book that will pique your interest in the long run. If you’re likely to enjoy the purpose of the book, you’ll make an effort to understand the context of what the author has written.
As one of my teachers used to put it, “If you study to remember, you’ll forget. If you study to understand, you’ll remember.” — Which do you remember better: the content in your history textbook or the logic behind why 5+6 = 11?
2. Annotate (The Messy Way)
Scribbling notes on books is not something new, but the way you’re making notes on them make a difference.
Merely underlining or highlighting an excerpt or an idea in the book isn’t effective in imprinting those words in your memory. Instead, I’d highlight a specific sentence or paragraph of ideas, draw a curly bracket beside it, and rephrase it in my own words.
Doing this not only summarises the key points the author is trying to convey, but it also deepens your understanding. It’s the same way of telling someone what you’re trying to remember except you’re doing it for yourself.
Putting something in your own words helps you retrieve that information later on.
Don’t believe me? Try explaining the process of evaporation and revisit the concept a day or two later.
Put tabs on the first page
Sometimes, I’d also annotate striking ideas on the first page of the book. It’s usually filled with a title in the middle of a blank page, so there are tons of spaces left for me to write.
On it is where I’ll write a short subtitle along with the page number relating to a concept that appealed to me. Whenever I want to refresh my memory on some grand ideas or lessons listed in the book, I just need to turn to the page.
3. Create Your Encyclopedia of Book Summaries
Much of my advice here takes a great deal of work on your part but summarising each chapter and its takeaways help in remembering what you read.
I use Notion to compile all book summaries I’ve written. You may not be carrying your pile of books all the time so having an app like this allows you to retrieve information wherever you go.
Here are some useful functions that helped me organised my notes better:
Collapsable drop lists — useful for parking a chunk of the information under the main header of a chapter
Underline, bold , and italicise functions to emphasise various key concepts
, and italicise functions to emphasise various key concepts Colour tags to differentiate the categories of books you’ve read
Embed web links, images, or videos — could be book reviews or summaries by others online that you find useful
Another bonus tip I’d like to share is a compilation of my favourite websites to visit for concise book summaries: | https://medium.com/the-innovation/a-concise-guide-to-remember-what-you-read-16d651f64132 | ['Charlene Annabel'] | 2020-12-22 11:05:43.406000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Reading', 'Productivity', 'Productivity Hacks', 'Self Improvement'] |
How to get people to shUT UP- politely | Now that I’ve got your attention-
Lesson one: Never say, “Shut up.”
Firstly, before I start with any of my nonsensical, works-for-me-what-about-you tricks, are you possibly here looking for voodoo-magic that would shut your chemistry teacher from talking about carbon again? If yes, I’m sorry, move along- not the right article for you. (P.S. If you find one, send it to me asap, thanks.)
Coming back to the topic, the first questions you should be asking yourself is who and why. Look at it this way- has shouting at your grandmother “I DON’T WANT ANY FOOD!” ever stopped her bringing you more? Probably not. (And if it has, you 90% have a silent treatment coming right along your road.)
After analyzing the who (not that hard, I hope) comes the tricky part: why. Not why is the person in front of you continuously blabbering- but why you are getting so annoyed by it. Is it because you’re hangry? If that, then no problem: interrupt the person after they complete a sentence with a “Hey, I’d love to hear about this over a cup of coffee, would you like to join me?” And it doesn’t really matter if you don’t want to hear about it because once you have the food, then the mind’s happy, and bonus- you just have to nod because your mouth is full.
Moving forth, analyse what the person is talking about. You don’t have to join the what seems like never-ending rambling; just their point. Unless they are talking about their feelings and our on the verge of tears, the following are easy tips to get them to stop talking:
Nod your head repeatedly and quickly. This symbolises both understanding and urgency. If it’s a light topic, interrupt them and change it. A light topic could include anything from how much those new pair of shoes cost to how their child is always crying. (Warning: if it does turn out to be the latter, please, for the sake of your relation, do not tell them to shut up.) Probably the easiest in the lot- cut the call. I don’t mean literally- that would be extremely rude. Cut the call as in telling them that you’d love to talk and hear them out, but you have to leave. The ‘Just a second’ trick. This one’s my favourite. You randomly go and say, “Just a second, but did I tell you about my uncle’s new cat?”, or, “Dude, I’m so sorry to interrupt but did you listen to that new Taylor Swift song? I can’t get it out of my head….” and so on. Food. As mentioned a few paras ago, it’s possible that if you aren’t hungry- the person who’s talking to you might be. Sneak them into the nearest cafe and buy them a sandwich. This is my least favourite, but a rather effective method. Scream louder to assert dominance. Before you take this literally, there a few rules to keep in mind before you do this (if you absolutely must).
First, you should know the person well. Screaming at that friend you made yesterday is not solidifying your relationship.
Second, you should be sure that they’re actually rambling, which is why the first point.
Lastly, you should know that they won’t actually mind the shouting after they’ve gotten mental haze in which they’re rambling. And the final: let them get it out. I know, I know. The whole point of this was to help you shut people up but you’d be surprised if you saw how nice they can be to you after getting it out of their system.
I’ve never had a situation which could not be handled with these so there’s that.
So that’s all for me, folks. Let me know what you think in the comment- wait a minute, this isn’t YouTube? | https://medium.com/@something-interesting/how-to-get-people-to-shut-up-politely-5243da827d07 | [] | 2020-12-24 13:10:22.653000+00:00 | ['Tips', 'How To', 'Tips And Tricks', 'Shut Up', 'Funny'] |
COVID-19, Cyber Security and the “New Normal” | It is hard not to see tech, security and privacy coming out stronger.
As we all struggle with lockdown conditions and the impact the COVID-19 crisis is having on our lives and our businesses, one sentiment seems to prevail: The sense that — somehow — life after the coronavirus will not return exactly to “what it used to be”.
Discussions and commentaries abound on what that “new normal” will be like, but they all bump across the same hurdle: The time horizon towards which they are looking cannot really be defined right now.
Frankly, at the minute, the only certainty is still uncertainty, and there are just too many scenarios and too much unknown to plan ahead properly, unless you are prepared to consider a seriously multi-threaded strategy: Will lockdown exit scenarios be successful? Will there be further outbreaks and how will governments react? When will free movement of people resume? Locally? Nationally? Internationally? How long does natural immunity actually last and when will a vaccine be ready or deployed? As they stand, will governments rescue plans be sufficient? How many businesses will go bankrupt regardless? Etc…
Nobody can really see beyond the few weeks ahead, and that paralyses — rightly — any mid- to long-term decision making in most businesses. In addition, most have had to take drastic cash conservation measures, with — amongst other measures — many top executives agreeing to major pay cuts, while numbers of staff go on paid or unpaid leave. Money is scarce for many and could be for a long time.
But from a technology and cyber security perspective, there are three lessons already emerging:
Remote working works
First, from a technology perspective, the large scale remote working experiment we are having to endure is simply working: Platforms have scaled, and networks have not collapsed. We may or may not like it, but we are starting to adjust to new ways of interacting. More generally, the digital economy has successfully scaled up at pace and the COVID-19 crisis has dramatically accelerated the digital transformation of many sectors. It is impossible to say what the long-term impact will be (e.g. to what extend will we continue to work from home), but this is bound to bring a positive outlook for the tech industry at large.
Cyber security is critical
Second, over the last six weeks and in the face of countless scams and fraud attempts, we have had in front of us the largest real-life cyber security awareness campaign anyone could ever have imagined, and this is bound to have a significant cultural impact on people, in particular if the lockdown continues or comes back. Cyber security has had to be on the agenda, as a necessary dimension of lives and business activities now entirely dependent on digital services. Nobody can risk a cyber-attack right now, and good cyber security measures have become key to keeping the lights on. One cannot imagine cyber security moving down the priority list with senior executives post-COVID.
Privacy concerns are being re-enforced
Finally, privacy has not gone off the radar. If anything, the debate around digital contact tracing and the use of mobile apps has re-ignited the public interest around personal data and state surveillance. One can argue about the timeliness of all that and the need for exceptional measures during exceptional times, but it remains a sign of healthy democracies that it’s taking place. Where it will leave pre-existing regulations such as GDPR or CCPA — and how it will impact the long-term role and credibility of privacy regulators — remains open for debate, but that’s another matter.
Nobody really knows what the “new normal” will be like and when — and how — the dust will settle. But it is hard not to see tech, security and privacy coming out stronger.
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Contact Corix Partners to find out more about developing a successful Cyber Security Practice for your business.
Corix Partners is a Boutique Management Consultancy Firm, focused on assisting CIOs and other C-level executives in resolving Cyber Security Strategy, Organisation & Governance challenges. | https://medium.com/security-transformation-leadership/covid-19-cyber-security-and-the-new-normal-addc9787cbd1 | ['Jc Gaillard'] | 2020-05-01 12:13:13.648000+00:00 | ['Privacy', 'Cybersecurity', 'Covid 19', 'Technology', 'Coronavirus'] |
Choose your king wisely. | Letters of Exhortation
26th November 2020
Shalom and welcome to today’s "devotional letter" (an Open Heavens Devotional Review )
Our topic says
CHOOSE YOUR KING WISELY.
Authority reference;
Eccl.10.16 - Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, And your princes feast in the morning!
Eccl.10.17 - Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobles, And your princes feast at the proper time-- For strength and not for drunkenness!
Eccl.10.18 - Because of laziness the building decays, And through idleness of hands the house leaks. | https://medium.com/@livingletters/choose-your-king-wisely-20de6ec5b50c | ['Life Lettters'] | 2020-11-26 06:47:34.468000+00:00 | ['Letter', 'Leadership', 'Leadership Development', 'Devotional', 'King'] |
3 benefits gained from turning my phone off at night | Photo by Paolo Giubilato on Unsplash
Like many people, I like to use my phone at night.
I scroll through social media.
I listen to podcasts.
I respond to texts.
And ever since I got my first phone in middle school I’ve used it late at night. However, I always knew that using my phone late at night was a bad habit.
So in 2020 I decided to try turning it off at night.
I’m now a big advocate for everyone doing just that.
Here’s why:
Benefit #1: Improved Sleep
Phone screens produce blue light. That blue light disrupts the production of melatonin, a hormone which helps regulate circadian rhythm (your sleep cycle). Blue light exposure makes it harder to fall asleep, and also makes it harder to wake up in the morning.
When I started turning my phone off at night, I instantly recognized an improvement in sleep. I would wake up feeling more well-rested the next day, and I wouldn’t wake up as frequently in the middle of the night.
And even though it would sometimes take longer for me to fall asleep without the use of my phone, I still noticed the benefit that next morning.
Benefit #2: Clarity of Mind
This benefit has fewer roots in scientific proof. But the mental math checks out.
After I started turning my phone off at night, I started having greater mental clarity in my life.
I like to think of it this way:
Have you ever laid your head down on your pillow and noticed your thoughts moving a lot faster?
For me, this happens a lot. And typically, that’s when I’d pick up my phone and get to scrolling.
However, I now believe that nighttime thoughts are the most important thoughts of the day. And the last thing we should do is ignore them.
I believe the thoughts we have at night is our brain’s way of processing everything that happened during the day.
After all, our minds are so consumed throughout the day from dealing with work, people, the internet, and so on. So much so that nighttime is truly the only time for our mind to process everything that’s happened.
When I stopped using my phone at night, I started allowing my brain to process everything that happened throughout the day. This has led to enhanced mental clarity.
Instead of waking up and trying to process past events, I wake up with a clear mind. I even noticed that I’m less likely to pick up my phone first thing in the morning. As I have started enjoying the clarity of mind I have in those moments before my day gets going again.
Benefit #3: Reduced Exposure to Radiation
Exposure to radiation has become a big concern of mine in 2020. Throughout the day we’re constantly exposed to radiation through our devices and our wifi.
Now, according to the [FDA](https://www.fda.gov/radiation-emitting-products/cell-phones/do-cell-phones-pose-health-hazard#:~:text=Cell phones emit low levels of non-ionizing radiation when,increases cancer risk in humans.): the low levels of non-ionizing radiation a cell phone emits have not been proven to be a risk for humans.
So call me paranoid, but I like to minimize my exposure to anything that could be a detriment to my health.
That’s why I filter my water. That’s why I use glass containers instead of plastic to store food. And that’s why I believe sleeping in a room without my phone and without any electronics is good for my health.
And for these three reasons, I’m not throwing my phone away, but I’m spending my nights without it. | https://medium.com/@andrewforonda/3-benefits-gained-from-turning-my-phone-off-at-night-511c24be84ad | ['Andrew Foronda'] | 2020-12-24 16:54:46.938000+00:00 | ['Sleep', 'Healthy Lifestyle', 'Health', 'Mental Health', 'Phone Addiction'] |
How The DStv App Is Providing The Perfect Solution To Changing Video Consumption Lifestyle | How The DStv App Is Providing The Perfect Solution To Changing Video Consumption Lifestyle Digital Times Africa Feb 22·3 min read
The video entertainment landscape is witnessing a fast-paced innovation. With the influx of streaming platforms, now more than ever, we have been feeling there should be viable and trusted entertainment platforms that give us the kind of content that we can easily relate to.
In an age where people are increasingly becoming more attached to their mobile gadgets and uninterested in lugging around their 52 inch TV, mobile video entertainment apps like the DStv App have become a perfect solution to a fast-changing lifestyle.
Ericsson ConsumerLab’s TV and Media report released in 2017 had projected that half of all video viewing would be done on a mobile screen in 2020, and half of this will be done on the smartphone alone.
The DStv App is more than just TV on the go. It gives you a unique and personalized experience whilst helping you get the most out of your DStv subscription.
After taking some time to use the app, we found there is a lot more that it offers than just keeping viewers close to their favorite shows. Let’s review some of the features and benefits we found from using the app.
The first thing worthy of note is that you can use the DStv app on up to four devices with just one subscription. That takes care of the question of the value you get from the monthly subscription fee.
Access to the DStv App comes standard with a subscription to your DStv cable. Meaning, as long as you have an active DStv subscription, you can use the app. Notwithstanding how much you subscribe to your decoder, it gives you multiple access on other devices, allowing family members to have a piece of the unlimited entertainment on DStv from anywhere — the university campus or even during a family holiday.
With the DStv app, you get to enjoy live TV such as football, reality shows, Nigerian Idol, and a host of other top-tiered events. Imagine you’re stuck in traffic while the Champions League finals or your favorite show is about to go live. The days of fretting are over; all you need to do is to whip out your mobile phone, open your DStv App and stream all the live-action so you never miss a moment.
And if you didn’t watch it live, you can watch it on-demand on Catch Up. DStv Catch Up service boasts of a great library of content from across different genres.
We understand your fear about data costs We also found another unique feature on the app that allows you to control data usage by setting it to low data. It’s basically helping you regulate your data consumption.
Another cost we all need to save on is power. With the increase in electricity tariffs, the DStv App is the streamer you need to own if you want to join the league of Nigerians cutting down power usage. And power outages also can’t stop the fun.
And for those who prefer to keep things separated and stay in their own corner of the room, this is the perfect companion to give you the lifestyle you’ve always wanted.
The app is an excellent alternative for DStv home decoders. Its shelves are constantly stocked with new and quality shows you can download and watch later. It’s got a pretty great user-friendly interface, too. With one subscription, an entire family can simultaneously watch different things on multiple devices. It’s just so good! — but, don’t take our word for it; try it yourself
Download here on the Play Store or here on the App Store or now.dstv.com
Press Release | https://medium.com/@digitaltimes-2020/how-the-dstv-app-is-providing-the-perfect-solution-to-changing-video-consumption-lifestyle-5cce878aea2c | ['Digital Times Africa'] | 2021-02-22 13:54:05.263000+00:00 | ['Dstv', 'Technology News', 'Technology'] |
Section 118A of KPA Explained | Our country has its Constitution which gives its citizens fundamental rights, the right to vote irrespective of their caste, creed, religion, race or gender. No matter what kind of democracy a country works on, be it presidential or parliamentary, the power is in the hands of the people. And the Press is the voice of people, it is considered to be the voice of the voiceless. The Press existed even before independence and it certainly proves that any sort of media or press is by the people of the state not by the ruling body.
The media acts as a bridge between the government and the people as it tends to inform people about the functions performed by the government. It also informs the government officials about the problems faced by people in their respective constituency. Because the freedom of the press means freedom from interference from the authority which would have the effect of interference with content and circulation of newspapers. But under freedom of expression, it is inferred that the press, not only newspapers but all sorts of media have the right to inform and educate people.
A few weeks back, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan approved an ordinance promulgated by the LDF government in the state for punishing the “making, expressing, publishing or disseminating” of any “matters” which could be constructed “threatening, abusive, humiliating or defamatory”. In 2015, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment on Section 66A of the IT Act had also struck down a similar provision of the Kerala Police Act for being violative of the right to freedom of speech and expression and for its vagueness.
The Section 118 (d) of the Kerala law provided for imprisonment, extending up to three years, of any person convicted for causing “annoyance” to any person “in an indecent manner” by “statements or verbal comments or telephone calls or call of any type or by chasing or sending messages or mail by any means”. In the Shreya Singhal case ruling, the apex court had said what it has said about Section 66A would directly apply to the provision “as causing annoyance in an indecent manner suffers from the same type of vagueness and overbreadth…”
Section 66A criminalized sending of any communication, via computer or a communication device, which could be said to be “grossly offensive, has menacing character” or false information intended at “causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or will” or any electronic mail or email messages intended at “causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead” the recipient.
Source : Live Law
Section 118A, which was added to Kerala Police Act as part of the amendment cleared by the Governor on Saturday, provides for a similar punishment on conviction as that of the Section 66A and the Section 118(d) but is not restricted to communication made through a computer resource or a communication device, as it explicitly states “through any kind of mode of communication”, and also is not restricted to annoying someone, like Section 118 (d). It says “whoever makes, expresses, publishes or disseminates … any matter or subject for threatening, abusing, humiliating or defaming a person or class of persons, knowing it to be false and that causes injury to the mind, reputation or property of such person or class of persons or any other person in whom they have interest” shall be punished with imprisonment extending upto three years or with fine extending to Rs 10,000 or with both.
Section 118A of the Kerala Police Act makes the defamatory content and the other acts defined under it a cognizable and bailable offence; a police officer has the power to arrest a person only if his arrest is necessary to prevent or not to continue the offence, when it is manifestly evident that locating such person subsequently is not possible, such person is likely to hurt himself or any other person or there is “special and emergent circumstances” warranting the arrest”.
The Constitution guarantees the freedom to profess, propagate, and practice religion, and allows all religious sections to manage their own affairs in matters of religion; subject to public order, morality, and health. To date, there have been no central legislations restricting or regulating religious conversions. The issue of freedom of speech is so well settled and well known, through a catena of Supreme Court judgments since 1950, that it would be redundant to discuss it here.
Source : The Cyber Blog India
In many ways, the new legal section in Kerala is acutely reminiscent of the notorious Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which was struck down by the Supreme Court in the case of Shreya Singhal (2015) as ultra vires the Constitution. Interestingly, most people seem to have forgotten that in the same judgment, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 118(d) of the Kerala Police Act also as unconstitutional.
Section 118(d) read:
“Any person who causes annoyance to any person in an indecent manner by statements or verbal or comments or telephone calls or calls of any type or by chasing or sending messages or emails by any means; shall, on conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees or with both.”
The Supreme Court held,
“What has been said about Section 66A would apply directly to Section 118(d) of the Kerala Police Act, as causing annoyance in an indecent manner suffers from the same type of vagueness and overbreadth, that led to the invalidity of Section 66A, and for the reasons given for striking down Section 66A, Section 118(d) also violates Article 19(1)(a) and not being a reasonable restriction on the said right and not being saved under any of the subject matters contained in Article 19(2) is hereby declared to be unconstitutional.”
It can be easily seen that the new Section 118A tries to introduce the unconstitutional Section 118(d) of the Kerala Police Act or Section 66A of the Information Technology Act on the sly, through the backdoor, with a little window dressing.
The outlawed sections spoke of vague notions like ‘annoyance’ and ‘inconvenience’, which are not defined in law anywhere. The new Section 118(A) speaks of an equally vague concept, ‘humiliating’, which is also not defined in law anywhere.
In the Shreya Singhal judgment, the Supreme Court had quoted with approval a historic judgment of the US Supreme Court in the case of Grayned v. City of Rockford, “A vague law impermissibly delegates basic policy matters to policemen, judges, and juries for resolution on an ad hoc and subjective basis, with the attendant dangers of arbitrary and discriminatory application… Uncertain meanings inevitably lead citizens to ‘steer far wider of the unlawful zone’…than if the boundaries of the forbidden areas were clearly marked.”
The amendment to the Kerala Police Act is thus an unholy attempt to hoodwink the Supreme Court. For the reasons enunciated at length in Shreya Singhal, this is also likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court.
It needs no explanation that the Ordinance has the potential for great abuse against lay people and the media alike. It gives enormous, unbridled powers to the police. Anybody could be accused of humiliating someone and prosecuted. Further, since the new law would enable the police to take action suo motu, it obviously increases the possibility of abuse.
Moreover, since cyber space does not have jurisdictional limits, it means that an online spat with a Malayali living anywhere in the world could theoretically result in a case being registered in his hometown in Kerala, on the ground that he had been ‘humiliated in the eyes of his friends out there’. If the accused happens to be living in another corner of the country, his plight can be easily imagined.
Not only does the section defy the Shreya Singhal judgment, it is actually redundant. Even if it is argued that it is intended to protect women and children from bullying or abuse in cyberspace, there is no evidence that the objective could not be achieved by existing laws. They include Section 67 IT Act (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form); Section 506 IPC (punishment for criminal intimidation); Section 509 IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman); Section 500 IPC (punishment for defamation); or Section 119(b) Kerala Police Act (taking photographs or recording videos or propagating them at any place in a manner affecting the reasonable privacy of women).
There is no study duly backed by data, which could support a presumption regarding inadequacy of existing laws. Moreover, if existing laws have been found toothless, they should have pointed it out at appropriate forums like the annual DGPs and IGPs conference, which is usually attended by both the prime minister and the home minister, or in official communications. This was never done.
It is not possible to conjecture as to what exactly might have precipitated this move. However, it is known that of late, the media has been critical of the Left Democratic Front government and the chief minister has also accused a section of the media of taking part in a political conspiracy against the government. Then in September, there was an incident involving one dubbing artist Bhagyalakshmi and two other women activists who assaulted a YouTuber Vijay Nair allegedly for making derogatory and sleazy remarks against women on his YouTube channel. They said that they did so because the police had not taken any action. In any case, they could get anticipatory bail from the high court only.
To know more about the incident, check out this link:
A section of the people feels that, in view of these incidents and the like, public sentiment was somewhat against critical remarks being made on social media. Public sentiments are, however, transient. Laws riding the wave of public sentiments, or sugar coated to pamper to public sentiments, are often abused to suppress that very public.
It appears that the cabinet had been misled into recommending this amendment, without its implications and ramifications having been properly explained to them.
They would be well advised to withdraw the amended law immediately, and admit that it was a terrible, albeit inadvertent, mistake. If the law were to be scrapped as ultra vires the constitution by the Supreme Court, the communists would lose a great deal of political capital.
During the Constituent Assembly debates, Somnath Lahiri, the only communist member in the Constituent Assembly, had famously stated, “I am constrained to say that these are fundamental rights from a police constable’s point of view and not from the point of view of a free and fighting nation. Here whatever right is given is taken away by a proviso.”
From Lahiri’s lofty, vigorous words to this draconian law, it is a terrible downfall. This is nothing but a regressive move by a progressive party, that took pride in being called the conscience keeper of political morality in the country.
Ironically, CPI(M) leader P. Rajeev had made a spirited speech in the Rajya Sabha against Section 66A of the IT Act, and the election manifesto of the CPI(M) during the 2019 general elections had demanded that Centre repeal defamation from the IPC.
The greatest danger of such legislation is that if the Ordinance is not withdrawn by the Kerala government, it will act as an example to other states to frame similar laws of their own. Many of them have an inglorious record of harassing the media.
If we the people fail to assail this law, we will lose the moral right to criticize any such misadventure by the Right (or for that matter anybody) in the future and freedom of speech will be seriously imperiled.
Disclaimer: We are a platform which allows all views to be represented without bias or discrimination. This piece is not to be judged upon as the final stance of MUNner’s daily or MEC MUN Society.
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We also invite guest writers to publish their material via this blog! | https://medium.com/munners-daily/section-118a-of-kpa-explained-2e638641683c | ['Sree Jaya'] | 2020-12-27 15:42:15.046000+00:00 | ['Law', 'Constitution', 'India', 'Freedom', 'Freedom Of The Press'] |
Panel addresses religious liberty on national, global scale | The University of Maryland invited two activists to talk with students about preserving religious freedom in the U.S. and worldwide in Stamp Student Union on Tuesday, April 21.
“The way that I preserve religious freedom is through the practice of my faith and by ensuring that everyone else is free to practice their own religion,” said Nadia Hassan, a speaker at the event.
Hassan, the government and interfaith relations coordinator for the Islamic Society of North America, and Virginia Loo Farris, a foreign policy advisor for the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, shared their testimonies in front of several dozen listeners.
Hassan said she has seen plenty of religious oppression in the U.S. She grew up in Orange County, California, where she was surrounded by friends of multiple faiths.
“We always enjoyed a pluralistic existence in my town,” she said.
But after 9/11, Hassan said she encountered hostility and judgement based on her Muslim faith.
“My loyalty and my patriotism were being questioned, and it was coming under attack because of what happened on 9/11,” she said. “It was a real shock for me, after all those years, to encounter such hate and bigotry.”
On Feb. 13, 2011, hundreds gathered outside a community center in Yorba Linda, California, to protest an Islamic Circle of North America fundraising/charity event to support local homeless women.
Outside the community center, Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly announced, “I know quite a few Marines who will be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in paradise,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Pauly’s comments sparked controversy in Villa Park and inspired Hassan to help organize the Villa Park Peace Coalition “to counteract hate in Orange County,” she said. She received phone calls from people of all different faiths and walks of life voicing their support.
“When we can shift our focus outward and acknowledge and affirm the rights of others, then this will help us to do things,” said Hassan. “It will help us to strengthen the mutual trust between interreligious and nonreligious groups in the society and it will allow us to work together in service to others for the benefit of humanity.”
Farris, the second panel speaker, shared statistics of global religious oppression. The Pew Research Center found that in 2013, 77 percent of the world’s population lived where levels of governmental or societal religious oppression were high or very high.
Several leaders of the campus community attended Tuesday’s panel, including members of the Catholic Student Center.
“I think there isn’t a lot of discussion about religion on campus,” said Jennifer Olson, the graduate coordinator for Interfaith Programs and Spiritual Diversity at University of Maryland. “There’s often discussions about a lot of different types of diversity. I don’t hear as much discussion about religion.”
Beatrice Torralba, a University of Maryland alumna who majored in government and politics, moderated the discussion.
“This dialogue is definitely very important,” Torralba said. “It’s an issue that is still happening now. It’s an issue that is happening in the United States [and] abroad.”
A handful of people, including on-campus Catholic missionary Mary Linn, stayed late to talk with Hassan more about her faith. Linn said this type of thing “helps people to recognize that you can’t paint all in black and white.” | https://medium.com/umdplex/panel-addresses-religious-liberty-on-national-global-scale-8d42a7fe547a | [] | 2016-08-10 16:57:45.538000+00:00 | ['Religious Freedom', 'Religious Liberty', 'Panel', 'Religion'] |
How to build sliders with d3.js | Set up your work space.
Set up your files in a directory:
index.html
main.js
main.css
Install d3.js
Download d3.js and unzip to your project folder, or alternatively you can link to the script at the bottom of your html file:
<script src="https://d3js.org/d3.v5.min.js"></script>
Install d3-simple-slider via Terminal with npm install d3-simple-slider or you can download from GitHub.
Set up your HTML & CSS
I’ll leave the CSS up to you, but here’s a basic setup for index.html with 2 div elements we’ll end up calling on in our main.js file.
The first, id="mood" , contains an SVG, which is what we’ll manipulate with the sliders. (I generated the SVG using Blobmaker) The second, id="slider-color-picker" , is empty for now. The JavaScript will do the work of building out the slider.
Set up main.js.
Let’s walk through the script. First, we set variables for the SVG and the colorSlider div we set up in index.html
Next, we write a function that will convert RGB values to hex:
Then we select the div we named in index.html and append an SVG that essential acts as a canvas for the 3 RGB sliders we’ll call in a minute.
Next, we name the function that calls and styles the sliders for each of R, G, and B. (For different styles of sliders, check out John Walley’s tutorial.) This script also changes the color of the blob to the rgb values chosen on the sliders. Finally, you invoke the slider canvas and call the slider function.
Test it out and tweak as needed
You should have a working blob and rgb slider set now. Play around with it and make changes as needed! | https://betterprogramming.pub/how-to-build-sliders-with-d3-js-f6b442171540 | ['Karen Mcclellan'] | 2019-05-03 16:30:19.916000+00:00 | ['Prototyping', 'Programming', 'JavaScript', 'D3js', 'Tutorial'] |
Building your online musical presence, Part 5: Setting up your email list | Welcome to Part 5 of the SongCast guide to building your online musical presence. If you’re late to the party, here is a recap of past weeks: in Part 1 I introduced the guide; in Part 2, we walked through building your website; in Part 3, we showed how to sell your music everywhere online; in Part 4, we covered setting up your social media. Here, we’re going through everything you need to know to set up and run an email list.
To get you up and running as quickly and solidly as possible, as I explained in Part 2 of the guide, I’m not going to cover all your options. I’m going to tell you to use the best-in-class tool. If you want to explore other email list options and ignore the experience and expertise of a professional who has been building websites for twenty years, go with Kabbalah Monster. But if you want to get started quickly and not have to worry about anything, use MailChimp.
MailChimp is the best-in-class email marketing solution for bands and musicians, period. They way they handle pricing is by volume of emails you send. On the Forever Free plan, you can have up to 2,000 subscribers and send 12,000 emails per month. Bear in mind, that 12,000 number is each individual email. So if you actually had 2,000 subscribers, you could still send 6 emails to them each month. That’s a lot of emails really. And once you get over 2,000 subscribers, you should be making enough money somewhere to afford the $10 per month plan.
There are two parts to this guide to email: here, we’ll go through the three main components of your email setup. In Part 6, we’ll talk about connecting your email list to your website, adding subscribers, what to send and when.
Get started
Go sign up for MailChimp. As with other things we’ve discussed, you might want to use a band email to set this up so that everyone can share.
The different components: lists, templates, campaigns
Once you’re signed into MailChimp, there are three main components you need to understand: lists, templates, campaigns. I’ve seen many people screw up the three. So I want to be careful to tell you how to do it right so that in six months or a year, you’re not in a huge mess.
Lists are simply the list of your subscribers.
Templates are the layout design (you know, the “template”) you use for your email. These are layouts that you re-use.
Campaigns are the actual emails you send to your subscribers.
Hopefully, it’s pretty intuitive how all this works together. When you’re ready to create an email, you’ll start a Campaign, choose a Template, and select the List to send to.
Lists
Right now, on the Forever Free plan, you just need one list. When you get more advanced, you can make “segments” of a list but 99% of the time, you as a band or musician only need one list. I’ve watched many people duplicate their list for a one-off email that they only want to go to certain people or instead of properly importing new subscribers into their main list, make a new list every time. Please don’t.
Subscribers add up. For example, if you are like one of my clients and have 1200 subscribers to one list then you make a new list (instead of a segment) with 900 of those subscribers, now you’ve gone over your allotted 2000 subscribers.
If somehow, you become a large enough band that you’re touring nationally or internationally, then it’s time to segment your list. At that time, you might want to send only your Canadian fans your Canadian touring schedule. But even then…who cares? Willie Nelson tells me every time he plays a show anywhere in the world.
When you’re touring internationally and need segmentation, hire a consultant to help you.
Click on Lists in the main navigation and we’ll make a list.
When you’re on the Lists page, click the Create List button. You may be asked if you want to create a group. You don’t. Click the Create List button again.
Then you’ll get a form to fill out.
At the bottom of the form, you choose when you would like to be notified of new subscribers. Select what’s best for you.
Once you save, you’ll land on the View Contacts screen.
We’re going to assume you don’t have any subscribers in CSV format, so create a signup form by clicking on that link.
On the next screen, choose the General Forms:
Here you’ll find your sign-up form on the left and the fields you can add on the right.
Here is the easy part: the fields on the left are the only ones you need. The more fields you ask for, the fewer people will fill out the form. In fact, I’d click on First Name (and then Last Name) in the form…
And mark the field Hidden:
You’ll see something like this:
Above the form, you’ll see a signup form URL that you can share anywhere on the web (we’ll talk about embedding it on your website in the next article).
Now add some names to the list. Click Add Contacts and a drop-down appears:
Click the “Add a subscriber” link. You’ll get a really simple form to add subscribers one-by-one.
Make sure the people you add gave permission to add them. Once you get more subscribers and more experience with MailChimp, you can create a CSV spreadsheet and import it. But for now, it’s easy to add one subscriber at a time here.
Templates
The template is the basic layout that you will re-use for the emails you send. What I’m saying is: DO NOT MAKE A NEW TEMPLATE FOR EVERY EMAIL YOU SEND OUT. Please.
You really just need one template. If you click Templates across the header navigation of MailChimp, you’ll go to a repository of customizable templates. Click it.
Then click the Create Template button.
Here is where it gets super easy. You can pick a starter layout that will usually have all the elements you need.
You’re going to want to experiment here. I like starting with the Basic layouts below but if you want more prompts on emails styles, check out the Featured layouts above.
Note: this is not your template yet. What you’re going to do is pick a layout here, make a few tweaks and save that as your first template.
Another Note: whenever you’re creating a template, you don’t want to add any content or features that are particular to a certain email message. Templates should be the structure and features that appear on each email that uses that template. For example, my Hey Todd A main template is simple:
title
featured image
message body
links to my social media
Whenever I create a new email, I select that template, add an image, and write my message in the body. I don’t have to add my social media links every time because they are part of the template. Template features are persistent. Does that make sense?
So grab a basic layout to play with f0r now:
As you’re choosing, think about the usual content you’re going to put in an email. For example, I’m going to suggest you send a monthly email later. Let’s say you’re in a really industrious band. You record a new song every month, play live every month, and always sell t-shirts. You may want one area for tour dates, one area for new recordings, and one area to plug merch. So you might choose a “1:2 Column” layout and put your new recording in the top (“1”) section and your tour dates and merch call out in the 2 columns. If you only occasionally do any of those things (like most of us), you might start with a 1 column layout.
I’m going to select this one:
Once you select one, you land on the design screen. Remember, this isn’t an actual email that you’re going to send. This is a template. So don’t put any specific content into it. Just the features you’ll need on future emails. On the design screen, the items on the right are blocks that you simply drag into the layout on the left.
I’m going to put a band logo above the featured image at the top. So I grab the “Image” block on the right and drag it above the featured image on the left.
I want that band logo to appear on every email. So it is part of my template. In MailChimp, I can just drag my image where it says “Drop an image.”
Now I have this as a template:
The layout I chose has social media icons above the footer. But those links are not set yet. So I click the section to add them.
I add my links in here and customize the style. That’s all I need for my template, so I click the Save and Exit button in the bottom right.
Now you have a new template in your account.
Let’s send your first email.
Campaigns
Your usual interaction with MailChimp will go like this: you’ll login and click Campaigns to create a new email. You can schedule them in advance or send them immediately. Click it:
There, you’ll click the Create Campaign button and get this form:
Name it and select a campaign type. You’re pretty much going to want a Regular campaign every time.
On the next page, you’ll choose the list to send you. You should have only one.
Then you’ll choose the Entire List.
You’ll navigate to every next step with the menu at the bottom of the screen.
These are the steps you’re going through: You’ve chosen your recipients. You’ll complete the setup, select a template, design (add the content and images), and then confirm.
So once you click Next, you’ll get the Setup page.
Your Campaign name can be whatever helps you know what it is but the Email Subject is what your subscribers will actually see. Read MailChimp’s tips on writing a good subject line. Also, go with your gut. You know what kind of emails look like spam and which don’t. Don’t write something with a lot of exclamation points or ALL CAPS. Write a subject you would want to read.
In the Setup, you’ll also choose what tracking you want to do and if you want to share with social media. The defaults are great if you don’t know what you want. But you’ll probably want to connect your social media now or in the future so that you’ll automatically post to social media when you send a new email.
Click Next and we’ll choose a template.
This screen will look familiar. It’s just like the one we saw when we set up a template. The point is, you can start all over on a template here if you want. But you shouldn’t have to because we created one. So click “Saved templates.” You should see the template you saved earlier:
Once you select it, you’ll automatically advance to the Design stage where you write your email and add your content. The screen looks like the template setup screen.
Now, you’re just going to click on the section you want to edit. I’m going to upload a featured image for the top of my email and then start editing the top section by clicking on it.
I’ll see the preview of my email appear as I edit.
At the top you’ll see this default section:
Make sure you edit that with a friendly preview of your email that’s a little different from your Subject line (e.g. “Here are our new tour dates!”)
Once you’ve written your email, click the Preview and Test button in the top right. Then click “Enter preview mode.”
You’ll get to preview what your email looks like on a laptop/desktop and in mobile views. If you see anything that sucks, go back and fix it. Once you’re happy, close the preview and click Next to confirm everything.
You should also click ‘Send a test email” and add your own email address so you can see what it will look like in a real email program.
On the Confirm screen, you’ll see a run-down of all the requirements for the email.
Your Social Cards are never enabled until this stage. That’s a little preview of the email that will be seen if you or anyone else shares the email on Twitter or Facebook. So it’s a good idea to click Edit and enable this.
Once all these checkboxes are green and ready-to-go, you can Send immediately or schedule for later.
If you choose to schedule the email, you’ll get a little scheduler at the bottom of the page:
Set your date and time and click Schedule.
That’s it. That’s your first email done. In the next article, we’re going to connect your email list to your website, talk about getting subscribers, go over the best times to send, what you should send, how often to send, and a bunch of other details. | https://medium.com/making-music-in-the-21st-century/building-your-online-musical-presence-part-5-setting-up-your-email-list-d518096db53a | ['Todd A'] | 2018-04-09 03:13:16.680000+00:00 | ['Music', 'Email Marketing', 'Marketing', 'Making'] |
Submission Guidelines | We DON’T own the article you submit, so you can remove it whenever you want, for whatever reason. But we hope you’ll contact us to discuss your decision before taking that drastic step! Just be courteous. It’s only good manners if we improved your copy with extensive rewrites, helped with feedback, or gave you valuable suggestions. (We aren’t here to give free assistance and support to writers who quickly remove their work and use it elsewhere.)
If we created bespoke graphics for your article when it was part of our site, these must NOT remain as part of your article if removed. (If they are, we’ll kick up a stink with Medium’s administrators.)
While your work is hosted by us, you agree to let it be used for marketing purposes, which is a mutually beneficial promotion for the site and yourself.
Writers have complete control over whether or not their submission is only accessible behind Medium’s paywall (more details on that in the section below). We strongly advise you don’t keep it behind this paywall forever, so weigh up the pros and cons of keeping something paywalled for longer than 14 days. If your work is making you money even months after publication, obviously keep it there!
We may add bespoke graphics, logos, or links to other content within your article, to encourage readers to recommend and share your work and other relevant content. Writing imported material into Medium from an external source will automatically include the following footer: Originally published at [link to your site or blog].
Payment & the Medium Partner Program (MPP)
We can’t pay anyone directly for their submissions, but you can enrol in Medium’s Partner Program. This means you can “meter” your article behind a paywall where only certain people can access it:
“Medium members”. Subscribers who pay $5 per month for paywalled content and other privileges.
Anyone sent a special “Friend Link” to access a paywalled article without requiring a Medium subscription.
Anyone accessing an article through Twitter.
This means authors are paid each calendar month based on an article’s engagement (i.e. how long a paid subscriber spent actually reading your submission). ‘Claps’ no longer affect payments as much, it’s just a way to show appreciation, but leaving a response (comment) perhaps helps a little. It’s a bit of grey area.
The publication owner is NOT paid a percentage of what an article makes, currently, despite often having a lot of input with editing and formatting. Hopefully, this will change soon, to help us cover the costs of running www.framerated.co.uk, together with compensating us for the added work editing, providing feedback, and promoting online. (What about it Ev Williams? Fair’s fair!)
Authors are paid by Medium each calendar month, but this requires signing up for a Stripe account. Stripe’s the company Medium has partnered with to manage payouts to each user’s bank account. You don’t have to be a paying Medium member to set this up, but we recommend you consider enrolling in the MPP because members seem to have work curated more often. (Curation is when Medium staff select your work for promotion on a topic page, which can bring it to a wider audience. This makes it more likely your work will be engaged with, thus earning you more money!)
Please note that not every country can participate in the MPP and Stripe isn’t available everywhere either, so some writers simply can’t be paid at this time. A handy list of countries where Stripe operates can be read here.
We’re happy to accept work from writers who don’t want to enrol on the MPP, of course, but you won’t be compensated financially by us right now.
Regular Contributions:
While payment isn’t guaranteed because it mainly relies on readers engaging by your monetised article in large numbers, being a regular contributor does give you some perks when joining Frame Rated: | https://medium.com/framerated/submission-guidelines-bd6098e2930 | ['Dan Owen'] | 2020-10-29 10:52:08.941000+00:00 | ['Features', 'Submission', 'Film', 'Criticism', 'Writing'] |
How Julia Feld Uses UX to Help Immigrants and Refugees | Food is akin to the immigrant experience
“To a certain degree, getting to know people and connecting people that might otherwise not be friends, or might not engage with each other, it’s something that goes back to this idea of the immigrant experience,” Feld said. “It makes you feel like you have family when your root family isn’t there. Sharing a meal with someone gets at that idea of the family meal.”
Julia Feld against the Berlin skyline.
In Berlin, Feld is a product designer at HotJar, a company that develops tools to analyze user behavior via heatmaps, recording sessions, and other usability tests. It’s a new opportunity for her, and one that differs from her previous roles in UX as this remote opportunity requires her to work from home.
“Before joining Hotjar, I never would have imagined that I’d be interested in being a fully remote employee,” Feld said. “Although I’m fairly introverted, I’m quite social and love the collaborative aspect of design work. I realized that this was a great opportunity to learn how to facilitate a rich collaborative experience with the tools available in a remote environment. I was too curious to pass up this opportunity to learn.”
Julie Feld speaking at a workshop in London.
How working with refugees introduced Julia to UX and inspired a career change
Feld’s curiosity is the flame that led her to user experience design. A sociology major by trade, her journey to UX happened almost accidentally. Early in her career, she was working with a non-profit in Boston that supported undocumented immigrants in navigating the legal system in the U.S. Those seeking the organization’s services were required to fill out their own paperwork. One day, after explaining the process to one mother, she slid the papers across the table for the mother to fill out on behalf of her young daughter.
“Once we put the sheet in front of her to fill out, we found out that she didn’t know how to write,” Feld said. “We had to find a way for her to fill out this form for her daughter, yet she was struggling to simply hold the pen correctly. Through some creative problem solving and observation, we found a way for her to fill out her own form and send it in.”
Working with refugees in this manner opened Feld’s eyes to a lot of systemic issues that could be improved through better design processes. “I started to think, okay, so how can you start to solve problems more holistically rather than being at the end and just fixing the result of the problem? How can we start to think about this problem from the start to its end and start designing solutions?”
Throughout her high school and college education, Feld had taken numerous design courses. In her free time, she found herself drawing mockups and wireframes redesigning websites and apps that she didn’t like. After telling a friend about her greater observations working with refugees in the immigration system, her friend said, “you know, this idea of problem-solving and really fixing problems systematically, combined with these mock-ups, it’s an actual job.”
Feld applied to Techstars in Boston and participated in a program that helped people transition into careers in the startup world. Through this experience, she met Lara Cavezza, co-organizer of Ladies That UX Boston. She was then able to get her first product design job.
An image of one a communal Thanksgiving dinner with Feld’s friends.
Breaking bread in Berlin
The startup bug had bitten Julia. She had wanted to work overseas ever since she spent a semester studying abroad in high school in Salles, a tiny town in southwest France. She knew Berlin had a strong startup scene, and ended up moving there almost exactly one year to the day after vacationing there and falling in love with the historic city.
“It seemed like a city that has so many layers of stories in it that I was just curious to understand more. What are these stories in this city and how do they relate to the present time?” she asked herself.
Berlin is not Boston. With a younger tech industry that attracts people from all over, it’s a completely different cultural experience than what she was used to in the States, and one that comes with all sorts of challenges. Yet the experience hit her close to home. She began volunteering with an organization called ReDi, which helps newcomers to Berlin get the skills they need to succeed in the city’s digital economy. Initially, she taught a UX/UI class for women that helps them bridge skills they learned in their own counties with Berlin’s in-demand tactical skills, and now consults more on the building of the curriculum itself.
“As the daughter of immigrants, being an immigrant myself, and growing up and living in a community with a lot of national diversity, the topic of migration is fairly present in my every day,” Feld remarked.
She is working on a side project called Reading the City, which recommends books to read “that are deeply connected to a specific place.” It’s a way for her to add texture into what she says is a greater conversation about place and belonging, a topic that has affected her throughout her life. Right now in an ode to home, she is featuring Interpreter of Maladies, a book by Jhumpa Lahiri, as a way to explore Boston.
“It’s less of a distinction between who is a refugee, who is an immigrant, and who has been there for generations, and more about what are all of our shared experiences in this place?” Feld said. “Although this project doesn’t touch on policy topics, I’m hopeful that it’s a great platform to see different perspectives.”
Julia and a colleague conduct design sprint research.
Advice for new UX designers: It’s not a competition
Recently, a cohort of women graduated from the UX/UI design class Feld helps teach, and unsurprisingly many of them were eager to get out there and start making their mark in the world of UX. This is where she makes a point to remind them to take it one step at a time.
“I find people can get really caught up in, okay, I need to know how to do all these things: how do I start looking for a job? How do I do this; how do I do that? The work that I’ve been doing with them is [to take it] one thing at a time. You can’t apply without a portfolio, so let’s work on your portfolio. Then we’ll break it down together. What does a case study look like? What do you need in there? How do you communicate all of the work that you’ve been doing on this project?”
From there, the next biggest takeaway is that this is not a competition.
“Listen, you’re not competing against each other for these junior roles. It might seem like there are barely any junior roles out there and that you are competing, but you’re not because you all have really different skill sets. The right job for one of you is going to be the wrong job for another one of you, so help each other get these jobs,” she tells her students.
Many people transition into UX from different careers just like Feld did, which is why when she was looking for her first job she knew she wanted to work with an established design team that could help mentor her and show her the ropes. She worked closely with Allan Telio, who was at the time vice president and Boston program director at the Startup Institute, and she credits him with instilling many of these values in her.
“Share the interview questions, share how the interview went and how you’re meeting with people. It’s really important to establish this comradery in the UX community, so we’re all helping each other out,” she said. “We’re doing this to help solve problems, so we should help each other in doing that as well.”
Whether she’s sharing knowledge through her volunteer work, or noodles around a communal table, Julia is doing her part to help create more inclusive communities in tech and UX. | https://medium.com/thinking-design/how-julia-feld-uses-ux-to-help-immigrants-refugees-51eca40c228 | ['Sheena Lyonnais'] | 2019-12-16 20:05:19.828000+00:00 | ['Design', 'Inclusive Design', 'Refugees', 'UX', 'UI'] |
This Is the Biggest Secret to Getting and Staying Lean | When I first started working out, I was a skinny fat teenager with zero knowledge about nutrition, working out, and fitness in general. I just didn’t have any high hopes and just wanted to look “average”.
It has been more than 4 years since then and I have achieved much more than what I could have even imagined in my wildest dreams back then. I have also made quite a few mistakes and learned a lot along the way.
The Plague of Pseudo-Science
One of the biggest problems with fitness is that the fitness industry and the internet is rampant with misinformation and pseudoscience, fondly also called “bro-science”.
It’s easy to fall prey to this misinformation and most beginners do, even I did for the first two years or so which greatly bogged down my progress.
Even when I started learning, I didn’t learn enough and as a result, almost killed myself trying to lose fat. As the saying goes,
“Half knowledge is much more dangerous than complete ignorance.”
Onto True Science
When I finally managed to swim out of the sea of bro-science onto the coast of true science, my progress drastically sped up. Learning has been an integral part of my fitness endeavor since then.
“Tracking calories, hitting my protein goal, working out while prioritizing compound lifts and progressive overload, and sleeping 8+ hours became the norm.”
I learned about calorie deficits, calorie tracking, macros, micros, workout programming, exercise selection, rest, recovery, supplements, etc.
Tracking calories, hitting my protein goal, meal prepping, working out while prioritizing compound lifts and progressive overload, and sleeping 8+ hours became the norm. The traditional stuff and nothing too exciting.
Photo by Vanessa Loring from Pexels
As traditional bodybuilding wisdom advocated, I alternated bulking and cutting to build muscle and lose fat respectively.
Cutting meant dieting which meant stringent restricted eating, meticulously tracking every single calorie, and quite some self-control.
Digging deeper
When I started digging deeper, I started to come across stuff that most were unaware of. This is because fitness-related research is pretty active and most don’t bother keeping up with the latest research.
“But a year or so ago, I happened to stumble upon something extremely interesting and a true game-changer — the concept of G-Flux”
When I stumbled across body recomposition or the process of losing fat and building muscle at the same time, I gave up traditional bulking and cutting. The necessity of the dreadful dieting was gone and the process of staying lean year-round became easier.
But a year or so ago, I happened to stumble upon something extremely interesting and a true game-changer — the concept of G-Flux, used by world-class athletes but very obscure and barely talked about otherwise. | https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/this-is-the-biggest-secret-to-getting-and-staying-lean-dba2506cddd2 | ['Neeramitra Reddy'] | 2020-12-31 16:29:08.133000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Fitness Tips', 'Fitness', 'Weight Loss', 'Fat Loss'] |
Loss | Photo by Ellie Burgin from Pexels
The final soldier,
The victory blow,
The air growing colder,
The star alone in the sky to glow,
It’s a long fight to the end,
It’s a big step to make,
It’s a battle to live and see your friends,
It’s promise many despair to break.
When you are outnumbered it is a loss,
When you have little to offer it is a shame,
When you embrace the time of death as your boss,
When everyone – living and dead – forget your pain.
Held up a shield for the final soldier,
Blocking the victory blow,
The air stopped getting colder,
Plenty of stars in the sky to glow.
The fight is coming to an end,
It was a large step to make,
You won the battle to see your future generations and your friends,
It is not a full promise, but an insight to take.
When you have your own strength, it is not a loss,
When you have a small gift, there is no shame,
When you accept that your journey is your boss,
When everyone – living and dead – accept and ease your pain. | https://medium.com/@erikafischerlaine/loss-6e2a7e8cefa5 | ['Erika Fischer-Laine'] | 2020-12-19 09:27:27.371000+00:00 | ['Death', 'Loss', 'Hope', 'Strength'] |
A New Adventure! | One of the most exciting activities that can be done outdoors for me is hiking. I spend most of my time hiking somewhere in Sweden, or in the mountains. I love hiking so much and staying overnight in the wild after a long-distance hike even if you have tired legs and probably some blisters on your toes. It’s such a nice feeling that sleeping out in the wild, and it makes me feel more connected to nature. While I’m being outdoors, I also enjoy taking photos, amateur film making, and writing, especially if it’s a long hiking day. Consequently, I do create content a lot in the woods as well as doing hiking a lot.
An idea that came up while I was walking along on the beautiful shores of an island in Gothenburg, dragged me to build a new product, a platform. And today, I am pretty happy to introduce that platform to you guys! The idea, or rather, the question was:
Almost every Friday evening, or during the week, I’m spending so much time to find and explore new hiking trails in Gothenburg or in the surrounding area. And once I find those trails and start hiking them or just while being outdoors, I create content a lot. So, why wouldn’t I (or we) combine them and share my experiences (or others’) regarding the trails around Sweden?
Since I had that idea, I’m trying to improve it, to build the business model, and start working on technical stuff for making it real! It’s not a unique idea. Besides that, have no competitors, no risk at all, and, no that much initial costs to start testing the idea. Lagom!
For the ones who might not know, we as 4 people started a company called Peakode when we were 25 years old, and ran it for 4 years. It was quite hard times, made a lot of mistakes but we learned a lot from them! But that is how you grow, right? Since I would always like to enjoy my free time in the evenings, my intention is to not spend that much time on the platform, that’s why I decided to move forward with this easy-to-build idea.
On this journey, we are together with my lovely wife Eda, she is designing the whole creative stuff on the product(s). Moreover, she handles the technical stuff as well. The logo that you will see shortly is designed by her❤️
So let’s talk about the product! Hold on…
The name of the product is…
hikethenorth.com!
Click here to see how the first version of the product looks like!
You can find more details about the product on the website I shared above. The first version of the platform will be helping me to find hikers who are eager to share, and convince them to write their experiences along the trails. Then the actual version of the product is planned to be released before the summer. My plan is to have at least 5 authors and around 10 hiking trails on the platform before it will be released in summer. The plan for the next versions is to have more authors on the platform, perhaps from the different Nordic countries☺️ Therefore, I will focus on looking for authors and try to convince them to share their hiking experiences. If you have a friend or someone you know who might be interested, please share the website with her/him!🙏
I’m aware that the first version of the product and the Instagram profile are quite empty right now, however, there is some work in progress in the background. So please follow @hikethenorthapp Instagram profile for the updates, you can follow me on Instagram as well. There will be updates soon. | https://medium.com/@gultekingokhan/a-new-adventure-155e6ab99424 | ['Gokhan Gultekin'] | 2020-12-23 20:28:29.680000+00:00 | ['Blog', 'Outdoors', 'Hiking', 'Adventure', 'Community'] |
Friendly | Happy National Best Friends Day. If you have a best friend (any kind!) tag them! | https://backgroundnoisecomic.medium.com/friendly-a12b453274ab | ['Background Noise Comics'] | 2019-06-10 03:21:22.881000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Relationships', 'Friendship', 'Comics', 'Cartoon'] |
Messaging Apps: Where They’re Popular and Major Revenue Opportunities | Messaging Apps: Where They’re Popular and Major Revenue Opportunities
Messaging apps are an increasingly important part of the mobile app space. Facebook’s WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger are particularly strong throughout the West, while local heavyweights such as WeChat, LINE and KakaoTalk lead in key markets across Asia.
In this report, we provide an overview of the messaging app landscape and highlight the leading apps and discuss their evolution into full-fledged platforms, which is expanding their revenue opportunities and increasing their influence in the overall app economy. (To see how we define messaging apps, please check the notes at the end of this report.)
Facebook Grabs the Globe, Local Players Dominate Asia
Through acquisition and strategic unbundling, Facebook expanded its presence into the messaging app space. The company acquired hugely popular WhatsApp Messenger in February 2014. Later that year, it made the decision to move all worldwide messaging functionality from Facebook to Facebook Messenger.
To put Facebook’s success in context, there are three messaging apps among the Top 10 apps (outside of games) by all-time worldwide downloads on the iOS App Store. WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger account for two of them, and Microsoft’s Skype is the other.
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger are among the Top 10 all-time most-downloaded apps on the iOS App Store.
The strength of Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger is reflected in usage as well. Both are, in terms of Q3 2015 monthly active users (MAU), the top messaging apps in many key countries around the world. Facebook Messenger is particularly strong in North America, while WhatsApp Messenger leads in Latin America and Europe.
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Messenger were the top messaging apps by MAU in key countries, such as the United States and Brazil, in Q3 2015.
In Asia, heavyweight apps have built up a substantial user base and strong network effect in their local markets. For example, WeChat leads in China, LINE is dominant in Japan and KakaoTalk is top in South Korea.
The global landscape for MAU (as seen in the figure above) looks much different than that for revenue (in the figure below). For example, Skype and Viber expanded their successful business model of charging for credits from desktop to their mobile apps. In addition, Facebook Messenger does not currently directly monetize its users and WhatsApp Messenger only charges $0.99 per year (after a one-year free trial). As a result, Skype and Viber are Q3 2015’s top revenue-generating messaging apps in many of the markets where Facebook’s apps led by MAUs.
The top messaging apps by revenue are more fragmented than those by MAU in Q3 2015.
The massive number of messaging app users presents huge opportunities for those who can take advantage and convert app downloads into revenue. Successful monetization strategies vary greatly across platforms and regions as the messaging app space serves an extraordinarily diverse and global user base.
More Than Just Messaging: Apps Expand Functionality and Revenue Opportunity
The leading messaging apps in Asia, in particular, have expanded their reach by adding features that go beyond merely sending and receiving messages. This extra functionality ranges from voice and video calls to games, taxi hailing and even local government services.
Messaging apps, particularly those from Asia, have evolved into platforms by adding features that go beyond just sending and receiving messages.
Through these extra features, these apps have evolved from messaging to full-featured app platforms. This is creating new revenue opportunities and opening up new battlegrounds in areas such as mobile payments and media content.
LINE leads messaging apps in iOS App Store revenue and is the second highest-grossing iOS app (outside of games) of all time. A significant portion of its revenue comes from digital sticker sales. In addition, games connected to messaging platforms earn huge revenue, especially in major APAC markets. This is true of games published on LINE in Japan, WeChat in China and KakaoTalk in South Korea.
Although games and messaging features such as stickers have been key to driving monetization to this point, publishers are experimenting with new ways to expand their revenue potential. For example, WeChat is leading the way in m-commerce. It has experienced huge success as a mobile payment platform with its users able to purchase movie tickets, taxis and even municipal services. Other messaging platforms in APAC have followed suit while the West has yet to scratch the surface of this type of functionality.
WeChat’s mobile payment platform provides a wide range of options to users.
Messaging apps are also testing the waters with advertising. Their progress in this area has been slow but steady as publishers are understandably wary of alienating their user base with intrusive ads. WeChat, for example, has successfully integrated ads into its users’ Moments timelines.
Innovative forms of advertising and brand promotion will be key moving forward. For example, Snapchat Discover, which allows media brands to directly engage with customers in innovative ways, pushes the boundaries of advertising on messaging platforms while sidestepping many of the issues of traditional advertising. We expect publishers to continue to find new ways to push this model further in the messaging app space.
Looking ahead to the future, the messaging-app-as-platform paradigm is likely to continue to gain momentum, with APAC leading the way. As more services are added, an increasing amount of app time is likely to be spent within the messaging ecosystems, further raising their potential for marketers.
It’s not yet clear the extent to which the Asian messaging platform paradigm will carry over to Western markets, but compelling services will likely stimulate growth. We expect that messaging app publishers will continue to explore new ways to monetize the apps, opening up further opportunities for content publishers and advertisers.
Notes: | https://medium.com/app-insights/messaging-apps-where-they-re-popular-and-major-revenue-opportunities-a7a28881a001 | ['App Annie'] | 2016-02-23 22:31:01.242000+00:00 | ['Messaging', 'Wechat', 'WhatsApp'] |
Skills required in 2021/2022 to secure a Java Developer job | I regularly interview developers, and wanted to share some tips on what is required to get a job. Juniors sometimes learn the wrong technology, seniors sometimes stuck in legacy tools or thinking.
Selecting the right specialization
I often get the question of what should I learn to get an IT job. The answer is that it depends on… Back in the good old days a talented “IT Guy” did everything from hardware installation to website development. These days an enterprise IT project is so complicated that it requires specialists like :
Backend developer (.Net, Java, Python, etc)
Frontend developer (Angular, React, Vue, etc)
Architect
Mobile developer
Data engineer, Big data engineer
Data scientist
UX designer
Scrum master
Project manger
Tester (manual, automation engineer)
SEO
System administrator
White hat hacker
and many more
Selecting the right specialization is hard, but knowing what to learn is even harder, because technologies change quickly, a 2–3 years old book or university course can be easily outdated.
The demand on the job market (and the salary) can vary significantly, but there are a few general rules : Almost every company that builds software will need backend and frontend engineers. Amongst backend engineers Java, .Net, Python and C++ are the most demanded (and highest paid). At the time of writing this article there were 4700 Backend Java developer openings in London , 1500 Backend .Net developers and 3700 Frontend React developers. It is a never ending debate which programming language is the best, but we can certainly say that investing into a Java Backend Developer career path is amongst the safest and highest paid options.
Required skills for a Java developer
There isn’t a definite list, but learning the most popular tools of the most common categories are likely a good investment. There might be better or trendier alternatives, but these are the most likely to be used in real world companies therefore the most likely to be appreciated in a job interview.
0. Tooling
1. Java 8+
There are countless free and paid tutorials, here are a few examples
2. Java 9–17+
Chances are that the java course you find will teach an older version. The last major change in Java was Java 8 . If you mastered that then new features are easy to learn.
3. Unit and integration testing
Developers don’t just write production code, they also write unit tests to avoid regression. JUnit is the most common unit testing framework, see tutorial.
5. Spring boot
Spring boot provides a lot of simplification how we run enterprise grade java applications. There are very few companies who run Java without Spring and Spring Boot.
Spring core, Dependency injection, java config. See tutorial
Database access : JDBC, JPA. See tutorial
Creating APIs to serve UI : Spring MVC Rest. See theory and practice.
Skills that every developer should know
The below tools and technologies apply to every developer specialization may it be frontend of backend.
Version control system
Version control systems allows multiple developers to collaborate on the same project. Nowadays the de-facto standard is Git, see tutorial.
Design patterns, Test Driven development, Agile
Design patterns are programming language independent best practices that every developer should know. They are very frequent job interview questions. The most respected book is Clean Code it also worth reading it’s sequel, the Clean Coder
Engineering teams almost always organize their work according to Scum or Kanban principles. This short free e-book explains how it works.
Attitude and personality
The programmer stereotype is the introvert nerd. This certainly exists, but in reality programmers usually work in large teams and they need to be good communicators. Programmers are paid to solve business problems so they need to be open to learn about other professions e.g.: finance, health care etc. They should be also self managing and eager to learn new things.
Technologies to be avoided
In 2021 it might be a waste of time to learn these technologies
Java versions prior to Java 8
JEE, JSP, JSF, Swing
Further learning opportunities
Thanks to the high demand and low supply of skilled Java developers, most companies are focusing on the core skills and allow employees learn the rest on the job. The most common additional skills are
Docker (Tutorial), Kubernetes (Tutorial) . These will be good foundation for Cloud computing that is also in high demand. | https://medium.com/@peter-szanto/skills-required-in-2021-2022-to-secure-a-java-developer-job-f70b06b932ad | ['Peter Szanto'] | 2021-09-04 21:07:09.335000+00:00 | ['Learning To Code', 'Programming', 'Java', 'Jobs', 'Job Interview'] |
The best smart lock for a keyless home | While traditional lock-and-key systems have improved over time, the basic mechanism hasn’t really changed since the first lock was invented more than a thousand years ago: A piece of metal that is just the right shape pushes pins inside a lock into the proper position, allowing the lock mechanism to turn. As a society, it’s been tough to replace a system that has worked reasonably reliably for literally a millennium.
Updated December 29, 2020 to add our BrillLock Fingerprint Door Lock review. Unlike most of the products in this roundup, the BrillLock is an entry handle lockset, not a deadbolt. It doesn’t come with an app, can’t connect to your smartphone, and Wi-Fi and it can’t be integrated into a broader smart home system, but its relatively inexpensive at $75.
Are smart locks really better?You can thank the hospitality industry for finally pushing locks into the digital age. Hotels learned long ago that keys are easily lost, expensive to replace, and simple to bypass, as thieves can pick locks or simply make copies of a key to allow for unfettered future access. On the flipside, hotel guests have readily accepted key cards (and in some cases, smartphone-based solutions) as the primary means of getting into their room. The electronic solution is just so much simpler. Lost hotel key card? Replacing it is no big deal.
But the biggest benefit of electronic entry systems is that they are highly configurable. Digital locks can be changed at a moment’s notice (which is why that old hotel key card in your wallet isn’t good for anything), and the property owner can generate a record of when each door was opened. In a more advanced setting, different keys can be generated for the same lock, so a homeowner can tell when each member of the family came in, or when the housekeeper arrived.
Whether you have a teenager who tends to break curfew or merely want to give temporary access to houseguests, service providers, or Airbnbers, smart locks are an incredible upgrade over the old way of doing things. Ready to make the jump to smart lock technology? Here are our top picks of the market at the moment.
[ Further reading: A smart home guide for beginners ]Best smart lock overall Kwikset Halo Touch Read TechHive's reviewSee itOut with the keypad, in with the fingerprint scanner—and a few other welcome changes to make this lock a winner.
Some will argue that we should have named the Level Touch our top pick in this category—it earned a higher score, after all—but Level treats iOS users better than it does Android users. Kwikset also ditches the old familiar keypad in favor of a fingerprint reader on its latest smart losck. This enabled the company to dramatically shrink the footprint the lock presents on the exterior side of your door. Kwikset also gives you the option of opening the lock with a conventional key, in the event the reader won’t recognize an authorized fingerprint (should your skin prune up after a dip in the pool, for instance).
Runner-up Level Touch Read TechHive's review$329.00MSRP $329.00See iton Level HomeLevel gets external hardware, touch-sensitive opening, and more features in a compelling—but expensive—smart lock system.
The minimalist Level Touch looks as good as it operates and is our highest-rated smart lock. The reason we’ve named it runner-up, versus best-of-the-best in this category, is that it can be remotely controlled only with an iOS device. The Android version of the Level app includes every feature the iOS app does, with that one important exception.
Best retrofit smart lock Level Bolt Read TechHive's review$229.00MSRP $229.00See iton Level HomeLevel’s “invisible” lock lives up to its promise, giving any deadbolt smart features with no change to your exterior hardware.
The August Smart Lock Pro has been deposed. Level Home’s Level Bolt is our new favorite retrofit smart lock, thanks in large measure to its ability to disappear. The smart components of the Bolt hide inside your door, where they replace the interior mechanical elements of your existing deadbolt. You re-attach your existing interior and exterior components, so that your door’s overall aesthetic doesn’t change in the least.
Runner-up August Wi-Fi Smart Lock Read TechHive's reviewSee itAugust adds Wi-Fi while shrinking the overall size of its hardware considerably, making this a better retrofit option than ever.
Weighing the convenience of Wi-Fi versus the visual appeal of the zero footprint that the Bluetooth-only Level Lock offers was tough, but Level Lock won out in the end. Hey, achieving runner-up status in TechHive’s coverage is no easy accomplishment, and if the convenience of Wi-Fi outweighs aesthetics in your mind, then this is the retrofit smart lock to buy.
Best budget smart lock Wyze Lock Read TechHive's review$99.99MSRP $99.99See iton Wyze LabsWyze continues to rule the budget smart home world with this good-enough lock that’s half the price of some competitors.
Wyze Labs has a well-earned reputation for produce bang-for-the-buck smart home products, and its new Wyze Lock deadbolt converter is certainly no exception. Fit this device to your existing deadbolt, plug in the included Wi-Fi bridge, and you’ll convert your dumb deadbolt into a modern smart home device that can be opened with your existing key, and you can’t argue with its less-than-$100 asking price.
Most innovative smart lock Lockly Vision Read TechHive's review$399.99MSRP $399.99See iton Home DepotLockly Vision successfully integrates two complex smart home devices—a deadbolt lock and a video doorbell—into a single, compelling security device.
The Lockly Vision reduces the number of security devices you’ll need to deploy on your porch by combining a powerful smart lock with a great video doorbell. It’s not perfect—its big, bulky, and not very very attractive—but there’s nothing else like it on the market.
What to consider when shoppingHow do you pick a smart lock? (No pun intended.) This is a young and wildly immature space, and many products on the market are still extremely rough around the edges. Even top products can balk when dealing with old or stiff deadbolts, doors that don’t shut well, or environments where non-standard fixtures are in use. The bottom line is that it’s tough to declare that any product is universally perfect for every home. That said, here are some key considerations to take into account to help you narrow down your shopping list.
Bluetooth Special Interest GroupHow smart is it? An important caveat to consider first: Some “smart locks” don’t work with a smartphone app or any smart home networking hubs at all; they’re really just electronic locks that use a code instead of a key to open up. One step up from that, you’ll find Bluetooth-only locks. These work with a smartphone app, but can’t be monitored remotely or via a smart home system. That’s fine if you’re looking to get rid of the keys in your pocket, but less impressive if you want to make your entrance portals a true part of your home network.
Replace or retrofit? You’re forgiven if you don’t want to replace your antique doorknob on your vintage Victorian with a metallic device that looks like it would be more at home keeping people out of a strip mall bank branch. A sizeable number of smart lock products don’t require you to replace all your existing hardware. Instead, they are installed on the inside of the door only, replacing only the interior part of the deadbolt. You can continue to use a standard key from the outside or open the lock via a smartphone app.
SamsungSmart home hub integration If you have an existing hub like the Wink Hub 2, Samsung SmartThings, or an Apple TV, you’ll want to ensure your chosen smart lock is compatible from the start. Many smart locks support Bluetooth, so they work with your phone, but lack the technology needed to connect with your home network. Some Bluetooth locks, like the Yale Assure system and the August Smart Lock, offer a radio module as an add-on to connect to your home network. If you’re using a smart home hub like the Samsung SmartThings or Wink Hub, look for a lock that supports Z-Wave or ZigBee, instead.
Alternate entry means Forgot your phone at the office? How will you get in the house? Physical key? Numeric keypad? Wait for your spouse to arrive? Myriad different approaches are available.
Power backup What do you do if the batteries inside the lock die—and you’re stuck outside? Some locks allow for emergency power to be applied should this happen. Yale’s Real Living locks feature external posts to which you can connect a 9-volt battery, giving you enough juice to get the door open. Other models retain the traditional key cylinder for backup.
Geofencing Bad about manually locking the door when you leave? A geofencing system automatically locks the door when it detects your phone has left the vicinity, and can be set to automatically open up when it finds you’ve come home.
Guest access features Most smart locks let you set up temporary keys for houseguests, which you can delete when they’ve returned home. Smarter systems even let you set time restrictions around when each access code can be used.
Our smart lock reviews 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/@elizabe67758634/the-best-smart-lock-for-a-keyless-hom-6a270e50e605 | [] | 2021-01-11 21:31:07.442000+00:00 | ['Consumer Electronics', 'Chargers', 'Surveillance'] |
[16x10] Watch :: The Bachelorette :: 2020 — Season 16 Episode 10 [HD - Online] : Full Episodes | New Episode — The Bachelorette Season 16 Episode 10 (Full Episode) Top Show
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🦋 TELEVISION 🦋
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 191s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 1950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[1] during the 1915s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 150s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (531i, with 909093 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3451513, 3451513 and 3334. Since 115, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, HBO Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 113, 39% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[3] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 1990s. Most TV sets sold during the 150s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-115s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 115s.[1][3][8] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 3.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 115s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 150s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 150s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 115s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
🦋 OVERVIEW 🦋
A subgenre that joins the sentiment type with parody, zeroing in on at least two people since they find and endeavor to deal with their sentimental love, attractions to each other. The cliché plot line follows the “kid gets-young lady”, “kid loses-young lady”, “kid gets young lady back once more” grouping. Normally, there are multitudinous variations to this plot (and new curves, for example, switching the sex parts in the story), and far of the by and large happy parody lies in the social cooperations and sexual strain between your characters, who every now and again either won’t concede they are pulled in to each other or must deal with others’ interfering inside their issues.
Regularly carefully thought as an artistic sort or structure, however utilized it is additionally found in the realistic and performing expressions. In parody, human or individual indecencies, indiscretions, misuses, or deficiencies are composed to rebuff by methods for scorn, disparagement, vaudeville, incongruity, or different strategies, preferably with the plan to impact an aftereffect of progress. Parody is by and large intended to be interesting, yet its motivation isn’t generally humor as an assault on something the essayist objects to, utilizing mind. A typical, nearly characterizing highlight of parody is its solid vein of incongruity or mockery, yet spoof, vaudeville, distortion, juxtaposition, correlation, similarity, and risqué statement all regularly show up in ironical discourse and composing. The key point, is that “in parody, incongruity is aggressor.” This “assailant incongruity” (or mockery) frequently claims to favor (or if nothing else acknowledge as common) the very things the humorist really wishes to assault.
In the wake of calling Zed and his Blackblood confidants to spare The Bachelorette, Talon winds up sold out by her own sort and battles to accommodate her human companions and her Blackblood legacy. With the satanic Lu Qiri giving the muscle to uphold Zed’s ground breaking strategy, The Bachelorette’s human occupants are subjugated as excavators looking for a baffling substance to illuminate a dull conundrum. As Talon finds more about her lost family from Yavalla, she should sort out the certainties from the falsehoods, and explain the riddle of her legacy and an overlooked force, before the world becomes subjugated to another force that could devour each living being.
Claw is the solitary overcomer of a race called Blackbloods. A long time after her whole town is annihilated by a pack of merciless hired soldiers, Talon goes to an untamed post on the edge of the enlightened world, as she tracks the huggers of her family. On her excursion to this station, Talon finds she has a strange heavenly force that she should figure out how to control so as to spare herself, and guard the world against an over the top strict tyrant. | https://medium.com/@vnemi/the-bachelorette-2020-series-16-episode-10-week-10-the-men-tell-all-full-episodes-8a36ce969270 | [] | 2020-12-15 01:43:45.056000+00:00 | ['TV Series', 'Startup', 'Reality'] |
« 4x5 » Cardinal Season 4 Episode 5 — CTV Television All Access | ꧁ shows.tvboxoffice
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Cardinal is a Canadian crime drama television series, which was first broadcast on January 25, 2017, on CTV (in English) and Super Écran (in French).[1][2][3] The series adapts the novels of crime writer Giles Blunt, focusing on police detective John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and his partner Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse), who investigate crimes in the fictional city of Algonquin Bay.[3]
Across six episodes, the first season adapts the novel Forty Words for Sorrow,[4] which focuses on the investigation of the murder of a young girl.[1] On February 28, 2017, CTV renewed Cardinal for a second and third season, each containing six episodes.[5] The second season adapts Blunt’s third Cardinal novel, Blackfly Season, while the third adapted the novels By the Time You Read This and Crime Machine, the fourth and fifth novels in the series.[5] Episodes from the second season premiered a day in advance of their television broadcast on on-demand service Crave TV.[6]
Filming on the third season completed in July 2018,[7] and the season began airing on January 24, 2019.[8] CTV announced that the programme had also been renewed for a fourth season, which will be its last. Internationally, the series is broadcast on BBC Four in the United Kingdom, C More in Scandinavia, Calle 13 in Spain, Hulu in the United States, SBS in Australia, Magenta TV in Germany, Canvas in Belgium and Channel 11 in Israel.
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Watch free shows.tvboxoffice: All TV Series or Movies in various countries are all here only at shows.tvboxoffice — all subtitled in your language by fans just like you! #shows.tvboxoffice is the one-stop destination for all your content fix!
shows.tvboxoffice describes itself as a platform where you can watch movies without spending any money. The goal of the site is to provide its visitors with access to the latest movies with excellent quality and high dFreeformload speeds. shows.tvboxoffice has everything from action to comedy to sci-fi to romance, and all movies on the site are available in their original language. | https://medium.com/@avarami56030024/4x5-cardinal-season-4-episode-5-ctv-television-all-access-original-8c1eab446458 | [] | 2020-05-01 06:54:27.856000+00:00 | ['4x5', 'Cardinal', 'TV Shows', 'Stay At Home', 'Covid 19'] |
How To Create Multiple Pieces of Content to Promote Your Podcast | In 2016, I called Lamar, a Facebook fitness instructor, and asked him if he wouldn’t mind having a conversation where we’d record ourselves with one phone while talking on another phone using AnchorFM; he said, “Yes.” Afterward, he sent me the video; I synced the two clips and posted it on my page and sat back, and waited for the downloads to roll in-it never happened.
Hopefully, you don’t make that same mistakes I made when I launched. If you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast, but your on the fence jump in the waters warm.
A lot has transpired since 2016; for starters, Spotify purchased AnchorFM and Gimlet in 2019, and I learned not to sit back and wait for downloads to stream in. If I wanted BTW Podcast to grow, I’d have to promote it actively.
These are not absolute rules, just a few strategies I’ve acquired along the way through trial and error.
Mind mapping the birth place of ideas
Ask Yourself Why You Invited Your Guest On The Show? Was it for you, your guest, the audience, or a combination of all three? Answering this question will help you identify your WIIFM.
Request a bio from your guest; this will come in handy while you’re writing up the show notes.
Formulate your questions in advance (even if you ask them informally).
Record Your Episode.
Listen out for the essence of the show during the editing phase.
Create a teaser post with the essence of the show as the caption (e.g., Take Your Job and Love It: Assuming an Owners Mentality as an Employee Prepares You to be a boss).
Use that same caption in your show notes. Use your show notes as a springboard for a blog or medium post.
Create a Medium Post with the heading.
Create a Headliner transcription video, import it into Inshot, and add the caption.
Please share the video on your IG/FB feed & announce it in your stories.
Please share the link with your guest and ask them to share it within their network.
Create an informative IG Reel.
Create a Ko-fi post.
Create a blog post from the show notes. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/how-to-create-multiple-pieces-of-content-to-promote-your-podcast-5cc294672795 | ['Derek Oxley'] | 2020-11-12 15:35:13.011000+00:00 | ['Podcasting Tips', 'Podcasting', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Podcast', 'Social Media'] |
[Paper] NetAdapt: Platform-Aware Neural Network Adaptation for Mobile Applications (Image Classification) | [Paper] NetAdapt: Platform-Aware Neural Network Adaptation for Mobile Applications (Image Classification)
NetAdapt
In this story, NetAdapt: Platform-Aware Neural Network Adaptation for Mobile Applications (NetAdapt), by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Google Inc., is presented. In this paper:
By using NetAdapt. the pre-trained network is simplified progressively until the resource budget is met while maximizing the accuracy.
This is a paper in 2018 ECCV with over 190 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium) | https://medium.com/swlh/paper-netadapt-platform-aware-neural-network-adaptation-for-mobile-applications-image-84d7210bb828 | ['Sik-Ho Tsang'] | 2020-11-18 12:15:03.825000+00:00 | ['Image Classification', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Convolutional Network', 'Mobilenet', 'Deep Learning'] |
How Wrong Ideas about Knowledge Can Ruin Decisions | How Wrong Ideas about Knowledge Can Ruin Decisions
Campbell’s law, unknowable things, and the illusion of control
Let’s do a quiz!
What do these things have in common?
My happiness level; The job performance of a knowledge worker; The societal engagement of young people; How democratic a country is.
Well?
‘Things’ like happiness, job performance, democracy, and societal engagement don’t exist in a concrete sense. You can’t see or touch a happiness-particle or a democracy-atom. The things mentioned in 1–4 exist, yet are not “there”. In philosophy, we call them abstract objects.
They raise fascinating epistemological issues. ‘Raising pistemological issues’ is philosophers-jargon for: it’s not clear how can we know stuff about this stuff we can’t perceive because they are not objects that ‘are there’.
How can Amnesty know how democratic a country is? How can a manager know how well the new hire is performing? How can a teacher deduce how societally engaged his students are?
This time, let’s put it in terms of a multiple choice question:
A) These are not concrete things I can put under the microscope or perceive directly. Therefore you can’t really know how democratic a country is, in the way you can objectively determine the weight of a rock, for example.
B) Nah man they’re the same kind of thing as rocks — can’t we measure happiness and job performance and societal engagement objectively, in the same way as we can weigh rocks?
Many people, we call them “managers”, believe, or want to believe, that we can get the same kind of knowledge about these things as we can get about the concrete objects as claimed in answer ‘B’.
Management by spreadsheet
How does that work, given that the objects aren’t there, you ask?
Take the example of the societal engagement of schoolkids. First you recruit some sensible and nuanced educational researchers to prepare some test to measure this variable. Then you ask schools all over the country to distribute the questionnaire. And finally you run statistics on the survey results, write some fancy report, et voila, you have discovered a fact about the societal engagement of youngsters.
Why would this be different than facts about the weights of rocks?
Okay, we must hope that the researches prepared valid and comparable questions in the best possible way and we also have to hope that our students understood the questions and answered them properly.
But let’s stipulate that all went well.
What I want to convince you of is that, even then, it would be wrong to say you have discovered previously located information about young people’s societal engagement. The attempts to objectively measure stuff like job performance, intelligence, societal engagement, and so forth, encourages the pursuit of a type of knowledge that I believe we cannot strive for in the first place. It also has all kinds of fucked up consequences for the way we run our schools, companies and healthcare.
These proxies are not knowledge
It’s part of neoliberal common sense that it would be bad if we wouldn’t have data on how productive Joe from IT has been Tuesday afternoon between 2 and 3. And terribly undesirable if we don’t have an accurate image of how societally engaged our youngsters are.
If we don’t have numerical representations of these things, we can’t take action accordingly. If I don’t have information on Joe’s productivity or on young people’s societal engagement, policymakers are powerless. If I can’t measure it, I can’t manage it.
So we rely on proxies. Joe needs to send fifty e-mails and be at the office for eight hours each day. That’ll suffice. And we devise all kind questionnaires and surveys to tell us about how “societally engaged” kids are these days.
It’s a harmful mistake to require numerical proxies (questionnaire results) before we can know and do something about the real thing (societal engagement).
I’d like you to consider two things. Could it be that (1) this neoliberal reflex is more an act of creating some data point than tapping into previously located information about Joe and our youngsters that was already there for management consultants and visitation committees to come along and detect? And (2) could it be that making up proxies to measure, “know” and manage these unknowable things is not helping anyone?
They are just averages
Because I care about education, let’s stick with the example of the societal engagement of children. It’s widely believed that schools ought to make sure that children are societally engaged. So when some report announces, after a survey process like the one described above, that kids’ societal engagement has decreased, shit will hit the fan. Schools aren’t fulfilling one of their tasks.
Politicians will speak. Reports will be written. Emotions will be had.
But think about this announcement for a bit. When some such questionnaire “reveals” this trend, what it’s saying is that, (1) on average, the later (2) cohort of school kids (3) scores lower on the questions than some earlier cohort. Hence, the conclusion that societal engagement is going down.
First, of all, keep in mind that this is a comparison based on averages of populations. Comparison of group averages might tell us that the earlier cohorts scored higher, but does that merit an inference to individuals? Do I know anything Joe from the 2016 cohort and Jane from the 2018 cohort?
No, you do not.
One of the big mistakes people make about data is that information about averages gives you knowledge about individuals.
Here’s a toy example.
Imagine a group of two persons. One has a length of 80 centimeters, and the other one is 20 centimeters tall. The average height of this group, therefore, is 50 centimeters. But no individual in that group is even close to that height.
You can know the average of a group without thereby knowing about the individuals in the group.
But this is actually just a side point.
They are also *meaningless* averages
The more important point is that this information doesn’t tap into anything in the real world, but just creates some data point that’s spinning in the void, not corresponding to anything in reality.
Because, what would it be corresponding to?
Claims about abstract objects such as societal engagement don’t make an empirical claim to factual truth in the first place. We have no idea what such a factual truth would look like. The conditions under which such a statement would report knowledge cannot be articulated at all.
To put it more philosophically: there is no way to say in more fundamental terms what it is for some child to be societally engaged, in the sense in which there is a way to say in more fundamental terms what it is for a rock to have a certain weight, or for a function to be continuous, or for a thing to be made of gold.
Things like societal engagement and job performance are abstract objects that aren’t fit for true knowledge claims or authoritative announcements after quasi-scientific questionnaires. It’s not at all clear they’re getting at something in reality. They are Fata Morganas that we desperately crave for because we are afraid to make decisions and trust people in the absence of quantified metrics.
Downside 1: a perverse reversal of priorities
All these surveys yield is a meaningless number, an empty shell that allows everyone to hide behind statistics. This leads to a situation where the numbers have become more important than the thing they were supposed to measure.
Much of this so-called ‘data’ has little meaning or application outside the parameters of the audit. They are fake and only have a function as part of the neoliberal carousel.
As Finnish researcher Eeva Berglund observed:
“The information that audit creates does have consequences even though it is so shorn of local detail, so abstract, as to be misleading or meaningless — except, that is, by the criteria of audit itself.”
Since there is no connection between reality and the metric, no one knows — can know — how to change reality to achieve the desired change the metric. However, there is such an enormous focus on prevention and funding depends on meeting these nasty output-criteria. Therefore, it becomes all about getting the metrics in order, regardless of changes in reality. Making sure our kids say the right things on the questionnaire that measures their societal engagement takes priority over actually molding them into engaged participants of society.
Or, to put the same point differently: what we have is not a direct comparison of school’s performance on getting kids societally engaged, but a comparison between the audited representation of that performance and the output. Inevitably, a short-circuiting occurs, and work becomes geared towards the generation and massaging of the representations rather than the ‘in-reality’ goals of school itself (which are of course not to change the metric put to foster societal engagement in kids).
The metric ends up replacing the real thing. Now all of a sudden there’s something ‘there’, something we can track. That means we can base decisions on it, and improve on it. But it is not at all clear that such an “improvement” is meaningful, that it corresponds to something in reality.
Downside 2: opportunity costs
The drive to assess the performance of teachers and to measure forms of labor which are resistant to quantification has, moreover, inevitably requires additional layers of management and bureaucracy. This brings with it massive opportunity costs in terms of both money in time.
In terms of money, while governments pump massive amounts of money into education and healthcare, too much of that mysteriously doesn’t get to the teachers and caregivers but gets stuck at the level of middle-management.
In terms of time, a case study of a local government in Britain concludes that “more effort goes into ensuring that a local authority’s services are represented correctly than goes into actually improving those services.”
I just fell off my chair.
No, I don’t have data to back that up
This was a long rant, so here’s a summary.
It’s part of neoliberal common sense that we need metrics to make sure teachers do their job and that they will fuck up if managers don’t have data regarding their every movement.
Far from normal, however, this idea is a consequence of the flawed Keynesian theory of human nature. But since we’re deeply convinced that we need that data, yet it wasn’t there to be found, we went and created some instead. We would like to know about these unknowable things so badly, that we pretend there’s some fact about societal engagement ‘there’, which our surveys tap into.
Now we can finally start managing teachers!
According to Campbell’s Law:
The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.
The illusion of knowledge about abstract objects leads to a perverse reversal of priorities. The system cares about the representation of everything in metrics, at the expense of the actual personal development of kids.
There is so much ‘scientific expertise’, there is so much fear of what could go wrong. So we hide behind methodologies, behind your tracking systems, behind the delusion of scientifically informed policy.
“But,” you say, “without these metrics, don’t teachers and principals no longer have safe epistemic grounds for their choices and decisions about (for example) societal engagement of children? Doesn’t this follow from what you’re saying?”
Yes, that does indeed follow. But I’m denying that’s not having numbers to base these decisions on is a problem.
Socialization and citizenship-formation are things you do, together, with each other, by working on a morally good climate in the school. For that, you need personal commitment, openness, cordiality, honesty, courage, and a good sense of the human measure.
To be grounded, these decisions need wisdom, trust, and common sense, not fake and super-costly data.
We should allow the kind-hearted teacher to stand up for his own common sense, his own compassion, his own sensitivity, and his own professional independence.
In short, you need virtue, and that is really in a different register than knowledge. | https://medium.com/the-understanding-project/how-wrong-ideas-about-knowledge-ruin-decisions-ab6f1ed197ab | ['Maarten Van Doorn'] | 2019-06-17 15:07:28.456000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Culture', 'Philosophy', 'Productivity', 'Education'] |
Pandemic School Closures Made Perfect Food Bank Pop-Up Sites. What Happened to Them? | My last piece for The Bold Italic documented the anguish I was having processing the (still climbing) spike in anti-Asian violence, especially against our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) seniors. After much ruminating and nights of lost sleep, I decided that volunteering with the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which serves a large population of AAPI seniors, would be a good way to turn my worrisome and angry energies into a positive, non-violent action response to all the craziness.
It’s been a few months, with near-steady weekly shifts. I’ve worked at five sites so far, mostly at pop-up pantry locations at public schools in the city. The school closures made perfect venues for the food bank. Huge yards and parking lots provided enough room outdoors for delivery trucks, dozens of pallets of groceries, and space to socially distance both volunteers and a record number of food bank participants.
Aside from the service aspect of each shift, I enjoy the fresh air, the chance to get in some steps (10,000 is a rarity in these times), and the choice to either zone out while putting together 18-to-23-pound food bags in an assembly line, or engage with fellow volunteers from a distance.
We knew the pop-ups couldn’t remain at the schools forever.
Speaking of volunteers, the Bay Area—heavily populated with bleeding heart, overachieving do-gooders—produces the perfect one. Nearly everyone is early and proactive. Admittedly, that combination can yield behavior that’s not much in the spirit of service. There’s sometimes competitiveness amongst volunteers, like who can go down the line and fill grocery bags the quickest, impatiently waiting for six feet behind the slowpoke holding up the line because grabbing four handfuls of tangerines takes longer than the other stations.
(Actually, I’m mostly describing myself and just a few others. I’m guilty of this rude behavior and try to check myself, though my years working in the service industry means I’m used to performing repetitive, manual labor with speed. I am a beast. Or maybe I just think I am. Either way, I need to be a beast with patience and remember that we’re all there for the same good purpose.)
When I step outside of my self-perceived beast mode, though, I quickly glance at the line outside of the school property, which never seems to get shorter. Some food bank participants show up two hours before the pantries open for distribution, not wanting to be hungry for the next week.
There are currently 29 SFM Food Bank pop-up pantries, and the food bank is keeping in communication with participants on shifting locations, trying to give two weeks’ advance notice about changes.
At every site I’ve worked thus far, I see time and again that the participants are overwhelmingly AAPI seniors. I know this, but seeing it makes me feel a twinge of sadness inside. I look at the bilingual distribution volunteers working the front of the line, fluidly switching between Cantonese and English. As I throw a giant turnip into my bag and grab some celery, I am envious of those volunteers and embarrassed that I don’t know enough Cantonese to fill that role, which the food bank always desperately needs. Still, I tell myself that I am serving Asian seniors like I wanted, just from a greater distance.
Having settled into this new routine, I was surprised to receive an email a few weeks ago. ”Thank you for signing up to volunteer at Abraham Lincoln High School this Friday. Unfortunately, this week’s shift has been canceled,” it read.
That food bank location, with less than a week’s notice, had to quickly pivot to distributing disaster boxes outside of school grounds, but could only have staff work due to pandemic safety protocols. I hopped on to another shift for that day at A.P. Giannini, seeing some of the volunteers from the Lincoln site had done the same. Shortly afterward, the volunteer sign-up section of the food bank website stated that my newly chosen volunteer site was going to cease operations this month in June.
We knew the pop-ups couldn’t remain at the schools forever.
And of course, the news of schools reopening was a relief for some parents and students. While the economy has been slowly reopening as vaccine rollouts reach more communities, unemployment has also been shrinking, though the reasons may not be so great. That’s partially why hunger isn’t disappearing from the Bay proportional to the rate of the rest of society reopening. During Covid-19, SFM Food Bank participants jumped from 32,000 households per week to 62,000 last summer. While the need “leveled at 55,000 households per week during the last several months, we’re not seeing any kind of decline at all,” said Keely Hopkins, SFM Food Bank Communications and Social Media Manager.
While the food bank is no stranger to shifting operations, having served the city and North Bay for more than 35 years, this major change amidst a crisis presents an added layer of urgency to our city’s hunger problem. There are currently 29 SFM Food Bank pop-up pantries, and the food bank is keeping in communication with participants on shifting locations, trying to give two weeks’ advance notice about changes. It’s not only schools reopening that is affecting many of the pantries, though, “it’s across public spaces,” Hopkins shared. “Schools were the first ones to move. Right now we have the street closures, and we’re going to lose those locations as traffic returns. Our poor pop-up pantry team has been in full scramble mode the last couple of months,” she continued.
Not to fear, though. Some new locations are next to or very near the school pantries, and some neighborhood pantries with whom the food bank partnered pre-pandemic have been reopening. Logistics are being smoothed out as you read this, and no pantries will actually disappear. Eventually, the food bank hopes to return to the farmers market-style of food distribution, instead of the current distribution model. Participants can choose what they want instead of being handed a blind box full of pre-packaged groceries, which may contain foods not commonly eaten in some cultures, like peanut butter or boxed macaroni and cheese that are more common in the mainstream white American diet.
Sign up for The Bold Italic newsletter to get the best of the Bay Area in your inbox every week.
As for the do-gooder volunteers, perhaps like myself, Hopkins emphasizes, “We’re still here, we still need volunteers…we’re still outside and are social distancing.” Volunteers are needed more on the weekdays than the weekends, especially on Mondays and Thursdays. | https://thebolditalic.com/pandemic-school-closures-made-perfect-food-bank-pop-up-sites-what-happened-to-them-c58b543a79ef | ['Margot Seeto'] | 2021-06-17 17:52:49.456000+00:00 | ['Pandemic', 'Volunteering', 'Foodbanks', 'Bay Area News'] |
Study reveals how carrots are healthy for heart | Carrots are a good source of beta-carotene, which is a precursor of vitamin A and to get the full health benefits of this superfood, we need an active enzyme to produce this vitamin, say researchers.
Beta-carotene is the bioactive compound that gives carrots their orange colour. Studies with humans and mice show the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A reduces “bad” cholesterol in the blood.
“Thus, beta-carotene can help protect against atherosclerosis development, which leads to the accumulation of fats and cholesterol in our arteries. Atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death worldwide,” said study author Jaume Amengual from the University of Illinois in the US.
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The research team conducted two studies to further understand the effects of beta-carotene on cardiovascular health. They confirmed its importance but identified a critical step in the process.
Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A with the help of an enzyme called beta-carotene oxygenase 1 (BCO1).
The first study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, analysed blood and DNA samples from 767 healthy young adults aged 18 to 25.
These mice develop smaller atherosclerosis lesions, or plaques, in their arteries.
Carrots are a good source of beta-carotene, which is a precursor of vitamin A and to get the full health benefits of this superfood, we need an active enzyme to produce this vitamin, say researchers.
Beta-carotene is the bioactive compound that gives carrots their orange colour. Studies with humans and mice show the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A reduces “bad” cholesterol in the blood.
“Thus, beta-carotene can help protect against atherosclerosis development, which leads to the accumulation of fats and cholesterol in our arteries. Atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease is the primary cause of death worldwide,” said study author Jaume Amengual from the University of Illinois in the US.
The research team conducted two studies to further understand the effects of beta-carotene on cardiovascular health. They confirmed its importance but identified a critical step in the process.
Beta-carotene converts to vitamin A with the help of an enzyme called beta-carotene oxygenase 1 (BCO1).
The first study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, analysed blood and DNA samples from 767 healthy young adults aged 18 to 25.
These mice develop smaller atherosclerosis lesions, or plaques, in their arteries. | https://medium.com/@lingulif/study-reveals-how-carrots-are-healthy-for-heart-c3385f807f6a | [] | 2020-12-19 23:26:06.362000+00:00 | ['Kids', 'News', 'Heart', 'Healthy Lifestyle'] |
What are Sandboxes in Zoho CRM? | Zoho CRM sandboxes are copies of your Production environment. A sandbox contains all the configuration, customization, apps, and code (known as metadata) that you have made to your Production environment (where users log in and work every day). Some sandbox types can even contain some of your production data too and it is chosen by the user who created the sandbox.
The benefit of a Sandbox is you can do anything you like in there without any risk of harm to the configuration or data contained in your Production environment.
Usage of Sandbox :
Development :
Sandboxes are just a clone of our production org with the same configuration like workflow, profile, roles… etc. We can create a new configuration like workflow and blueprint and verify the execution. During development production environment data will not be affected.
Testing:
Sandboxes are mainly introduced for testing purposes, where we can safely test our new configuration without affection production data. We can test our existing configuration also since it is copied to the sandbox from production already. Some of the restrictions are also there in a sandbox environment like mailing is not possible in the sandbox. We cannot add or modify the status of users in the sandbox.
Deployment:
A most interesting feature in the sandbox is deploying the newly added and modified configurations of sandbox org. whatever we are changing or adding in the sandbox org will be tracked and listed in the sandbox changes page. With the help of the deployment facility we can move the tested configuration to production environment. If any conflict is there like duplicate name or missing module in production, it will show the conflicts in the sandbox check dependency popup during deployment.
Deployment logs:
It's a history of sandbox deployment that happened in the last 6 months. we can filter the specific component, module, and deployed user in the deployment logs page.
See difference in Sandbox :
We can visually see the difference between sandbox and production configuration for the updated changes with the help of see diff feature. For example modify and workflow in sandbox and in the changes page hover over the workflow, you will see the see diff button. By clicking it we can see both the changes and differences there itself.
Will be continued….. start using Zoho CRM https://crm.zoho.com/ | https://medium.com/@maxxselvak/what-are-sandboxes-in-zoho-crm-36b688fcd51e | ['Maxx Selva K'] | 2021-12-22 07:43:52.982000+00:00 | ['Zoho Crm', 'CRM', 'Marketing', 'Sandbox', 'Zoho'] |
Clocking Machines and Systems for Every Type of Business | Guard Tour System — 8000AT
In the present very aggressive business condition, the requirement for expanded laborer efficiency is currently more noteworthy than at any other time. Consistently tallies from the minute the worker strolls in the entryway until the time he ventures out. In any case, do you have the correct devices that can enable you to screen whether your workers are shaving off a couple of additional minutes all over?
You might utilize logbooks and timesheets to spare yourself from purchasing progressively modern and thusly, increasingly costly, participation checking instruments. In the event that you do some calculating nonetheless, will undoubtedly find that the utilization of customary participation devices, (for example, timesheets) which your representatives can exploit, might be more expensive over the long haul than simply getting time and participation arrangements that work as they should.
Here are the most well-known kinds of timing machines and frameworks. Select one that would best meet your organization’s requirements.
Checking In Machines. While not as advanced and brisk as different machines included here, this one carries out the responsibility, and still pounds having to physically fill a period card where the genuine occasions can be unintentionally or deliberately distorted.
Swipe Systems. Self-introduced swipe frameworks are a stage up over the fundamental timing machines. A product that can deliver participation reports for combination into your finance frameworks.
Biometric Clocking Systems. By a wide margin the best method for keeping representatives from checking in for one another, biometric checking frameworks. A hand punch timing framework, or a hand checking machine, you’ll see one that can best serve your sort of association. By taking out the typical reasons of overlooked or lost cards, and guaranteeing that laborers are really present on the occasions they state they are, you spare a great deal on finance costs.
Guard Tour System. Security is a basic part of any business however it’s regularly hard to check whether the faculty relegated is keeping to his watch plans. By introducing a watchman visit and watch framework, you can confirm whether gatekeeper watch courses are being pursued. This is finished with the utilization of handheld gadgets which can record the date and time data on explicit purposes of the watch course.
Time and Attendance Software Solution. Full administration workforce the executive’s instruments are not essentially intended to fill in as participation screens. Be that as it may, most arrangements can be effectively incorporated with timing frameworks so you have all the data you need about the work part of your business in only one application. These arrangements likewise give web get to and enable you to make worker calendars and store your staff database.
With the assistance of these apparatuses, you can screen their participation effectively, setting aside you time and cash. | https://medium.com/@bdetechnology1990/clocking-machines-and-systems-for-every-type-of-business-b1cf601000e0 | ['Bde Technology'] | 2019-08-22 08:44:42.076000+00:00 | ['Guard Tour System', 'Surveillance Camera', 'Security Camera', 'Cctv', 'Digital Door Lock'] |
Different type of roles in AI Industry Myths related Data science , ML engineer , Data engineer etc. | As a beginner there are many Question in mind related like What is the difference between Data scientist and Machine learning engineer? or What I want to be like Data analyst or Data scientist or Machine learning engineer?
After reading this blog you will have clear decision in your mind which role is suited for you.
Recently I find a report on AI career path by Workera.ai it really helped me to understand different roles in AI Industry. This blog is some kind of conclusion of it and some other research from various forms and blogs.
First thing let’s understand using a AI project life cycle.
Data engineering: All the data manage and maintained by Data engineers and other changes in data so that data can be use for Model development and analysis.
Modelling: All kind of model building ,model tuning and things needs be done before put it to production for users.
Deployment: Created model will use for end user by a platform website software anything.
Business Analysis: All business values check and analysis happens for a product , feature etc. This part company makes decision about product weather to repeat cycle or what changes needed?
AI Infrastructure: All resource required for upper cycle manage by this peoples and end product resources also.
What do you want to say?
Upper cycle is manage by a team and different peoples of team do different work A single person can’t do all the task for industry level project.
Different roles in a AI projects
Data scientist
A person who all the Data engineering , Modeling and Business analysis task .
, and task Data scientist collect / prepare data and perform data cleaning on it then use that data for creating Machine learning and deep learning model. Data scientists don’t do Deployment they will preform business analysis after completed the deployment.
Machine learning engineer
Data scientist and ML engineer do almost same job but ML engineers do deployment also but don’t do business analysis.
Data analyst
They perform data engineering task and Business analysis tasks most for the work of a Data analyst to perform data analysis and helps team and company to make better decision.
Software Engineer Machine learning
A person who all these both skills software engineer and Machine learning not expert level but some understanding various ML concepts will become a better candidate than a software engineer for deployment task and data engineering task.
Machine learning research
A person who done all the task of Machine learning engineer instead of Deployment because there isn’t requirement in research.
There are some variation in Machine learning engineer and researcher like Deep learning engineer and researcher.
Skills require for theses different roles
Data scientist
Modeling in Python using packages such as numpy, scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch
in Python using packages such as and Data engineering in Python and/or SQL or other domain-specific query languages
or other domain-specific query languages Business analysis in Python, R, other domain-specific tools such as Tableau or Excel , or presentation software applications such as PowerPoint or Keynote
in Python, R, other domain-specific tools such as or , or presentation software applications such as PowerPoint or Keynote Collaboration and workflow using a version control system such as Git, Subversion, or Mercurial along with a command line interface (CLI) such as Unix and an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Jupyter Notebook or Sublime.
Data analyst
Data engineering in Python and/or SQL or other
domain-specific query languages
in Python and/or SQL or other domain-specific query languages Business analysis in Python, R, other domain-specific tools such as Tableau and Excel, presentation software applications such as PowerPoint and Keynote, and external software services for A/B testing.
Machine learning engineer
Data Engineering in Python and/or SQL or other domain-specific query languages.
in Python and/or SQL or other domain-specific query languages. Modeling in Python using packages such as numpy,scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch.
in Python using packages such as numpy,scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. Deployment using an object-oriented programming language (such as Python , and Java , C++ ,) and cloud technologies such as AWS , GCP , and Azure .
using an object-oriented programming language (such as , and , ,) and cloud technologies such as , , and . Collaboration and workflow using a version control system (for instance, Git, Subversion, and Mercurial), a command line interface (CLI) like Unix, an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Jupyter Notebook, and Sublime, and an issue tracking product like JIRA.
Software engineer Machine learning
Modeling in Python using packages such as numpy,
scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch
in Python using packages such as numpy, scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch Data engineering in Python and/or SQL (or other
domain-specific query languages)
in Python and/or SQL (or other domain-specific query languages) Deployment and AI infrastructure using an object-oriented programming language such as Python, Java, or C++ and cloud technologies such as
AWS, GCP, or Azure
and AI infrastructure using an object-oriented programming language such as Python, Java, or C++ and cloud technologies such as AWS, GCP, or Azure Collaboration and workflow using a version control system like Git, Subversion, or Mercurial, a command line interface (CLI) like Unix, an integrated development environment (IDE) like Jupyter Notebook or Sublime, and an issue tracking product such as JIRA
Machine learning research
Data Engineering in Python and/or SQL (or other domain-specific query languages)
in Python and/or SQL (or other domain-specific query languages) Modeling in Python using packages such as numpy,scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch.
in Python using packages such as numpy,scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch. Collaboration and workflow using a version control system like Git, Subversion, and Mercurial, a command line interface (CLI) like Unix, an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Jupyter Notebook or Sublime, and an issue tracking product like JIRA.
and using a version control system like Git, Subversion, and Mercurial, a command line interface (CLI) like Unix, an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Jupyter Notebook or Sublime, and an issue tracking product like JIRA. Research by following updates via channels such as Twitter, Reddit, Arxiv, and conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CVPR, and ACM.
Upper Different roles help you to take decision which roles best for you can you can do progress and develop your skills according to that role and you will also get path for learning skills.
When you have a path way to develop a your skill-set for a particular role you can take right steps towards it.
This blog may help you to find right path for your future journey and Workera.ai report help a lot and I wrote conclusion of full report in this blog you can find full report in the reference.
The world needs engineers and scientists to build the future. In fact, all roles defined in this report are in significant shortage as of 2020. Make your move! — Workera Team
References :
Workera.ai report | https://medium.com/@gondaliyajeel/different-type-of-roles-in-ai-industry-myths-related-data-science-ml-engineer-data-engineer-etc-54d58d80acda | ['Jeel Gondaliya'] | 2020-12-24 03:14:13.635000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Machine L', 'Skills', 'Deep Learning', 'Data Science'] |
Manipulating Data With Django Migrations | What’s Under the Hood?
Django migrations are Python files that help you add and change things in your database tables to reflect changes in your Django models. To understand how Django migrations help you work with data, it may be helpful to understand the underlying structures we’re working with.
What’s a database table?
If you’ve laid eyes on a spreadsheet before, you’re already most of the way to understanding a database table. In a relational database — for example, a PostgreSQL database — you can expect to see data organized into columns and rows. A relational database table may have a set number of columns and any number of rows.
In Django, each model is its own table. For example, here’s a Django model:
from django.db import models
class Lunch(models.Model):
left_side = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
center = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
right_side = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
Each field is a column, and each row is a Django object instance of that model. Here’s a representation of a database table for the Django model, Lunch , above. In the database, its name would be lunch_table .
A table representing lunch_table.
The model Lunch has three fields: left_side , center , and right-side . One instance of a Lunch object would have Fork for the left_side , Plate for the center , and Spoon for the right_side . Django automatically adds an id field if you don’t specify a primary key.
If you wanted to change the name of your Lunch model, you’d do so in your models.py code. For example, change Lunch to Dinner , and then run python manage.py makemigrations . You’ll see:
python manage.py makemigrations
Did you rename the backend.Lunch model to Dinner? [y/N] y
Migrations for 'backend':
backend/migrations/0003_auto_20200922_2331.py
- Rename model Lunch to Dinner
Django automatically generates the appropriate migration files. The relevant line of the generated migrations file in this case would look like:
migrations.RenameModel(old_name="Lunch", new_name="Dinner"),
This operation would rename our Lunch model to Dinner while keeping everything else the same. But what if you also wanted to change the structure of the database table itself and its schema? Maybe you’d also like to make sure that existing data ends up in the right place on your Dinner table.
Let’s explore how to turn our Lunch model into a Dinner model that looks like this:
from django.db import models
class Dinner(models.Model):
top_left = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
top_center = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
top_right = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
bottom_left = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
bottom_center = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
bottom_right = models.CharField(max_length=100, null=True)
It’s database table would look like this: | https://medium.com/better-programming/manipulating-data-with-django-migrations-93833b69e9c | ['Victoria Drake'] | 2020-09-18 22:08:59.291000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Software Development', 'Data Science', 'Technology', 'Learning To Code'] |
The Prostitute, The Housemaid, and the Little Brown Monkey; Common Titles For A Southeast Asian Woman | “So, how much?” “Excuse me?” “How much do you charge? You’re from these parts. Don’t tell me you’re not a prozzie.”
That’s a conversation that occurred, sadly, not only once or twice in my lifetime. I vividly remember this incident in Saigon when I was backpacking around Southeast Asia in 2010. I was waiting for a friend to pick me up outside a small mom and pop shop.
While reading a book and drinking coffee, a guy, looking like a fellow tourist at the other table, waved and smiled. I nodded my head in acknowledgment and smiled back. He then came over and asked if he could join. He seemed friendly and harmless, so I saw no reason why he couldn’t.
He said he’s from Australia and had been traveling for months all over Southeast Asia. He had many stories, and I was quite happy to listen and ask for more information about the places he’d visited. His only question for me was where I was from, and upon hearing my response, his demeanor unexpectedly changed from pleasant to less favorable.
He had assumed I was from the US. The friend I was waiting for then called saying he was arriving in a few minutes. As I was about to get ready to leave, the Aussie dude hastily asked, “so, how much?”
The response I remember was, “what?”I honestly had no idea to what he was referring. He then said, “well, you’re from around here, don’t tell me you’re not a prostitute. You smiled at me. You were flirting with me. You’re a prozzie. How much do you charge?”
Most people tend to associate your clothing and accessories with what you do for a living. It’s mean to categorize people based on what they’re wearing, but one of life’s harsh realities is that we’re cruel, shallow, and judgemental beings.
However, given the fact that most of the time I wear a regular fit t-shirt, jeans, and boots or flip-flops, it’s mind-boggling that someone would think I was a sex worker. At that time, I remember I was wearing baggy jeans that were old and dirty, flip-flops, an oversized black t-shirt that had a picture of an orange monster, and a black baseball cap.
I seldom make myself pretty and rarely wear jewelry or makeup. I definitely didn’t have any of those on that particular morning. As portrayed in movies, there was no suggestive tapping the knee, seductive twirling of hair, droopy eyelids, or licking the lips involved. I don’t think I gave him any reason to think I wanted his money in exchange for sex.
However, as the dummy said, I come from Southeast Asia, how can’t I be a prostitute?
Being polite and decent were synonymous with flirting. The fact that I’m Southeast Asian makes me a lady of the evening regardless of my appearance, time of day, how I was speaking, and topics I prefer to discuss. Often in the past, if not labeled a lady of the night, a sugar baby, or a mail ordered bride; I was a housemaid or a nanny just because I’m from that region.
“You’re a Southeast Asian Woman; you’re a prostitute or a housemaid.”
I’ve heard these words multiple times. Men and women from different parts of the world have worded these assertions differently, but they all conveyed the same thoughts. To them, a Southeast Asian woman is either a sex worker or a housekeeper.
“So, you live in Thailand. Do you work in Pattaya?”( malicious smirk)
“Oh, I enjoyed my time in Olongapo and Angeles City. You women from there are fun and beautiful.”(wink, wink)
“Good morning Vietnam! Me love you long time.”
“Are you traveling with your ‘daddy’?”
“You’re traveling by yourself? How can you afford that?”
“As your friend, I don’t think you should be hanging out with these women( the speaker was referring to my female friends and me). Maybe with a Japanese girl or a Singaporean, it’s ok.”
“ How many guys do you talk to online?”
“You must have a rich, old, white boyfriend?”
“How much do your sponsors send you?”
“Are you here with your husband? Oh, you must be looking for one?”
“My friend is looking for a nanny, interested?”
“You should hang out with Linda. She’s my friend’s helper from your country.”
“Are they your employers?” (Pointing to my foreign friends)
“You just used the word INDEED?! Wow. How many English speaking boyfriends have you had?”
“You can speak English well. Your husband’s a good teacher.” | https://medium.com/the-virago/the-prostitute-the-housemaid-and-the-little-brown-monkey-common-titles-for-a-southeast-asian-505769e93259 | ['Jasmin El-I'] | 2020-12-13 07:19:33.329000+00:00 | ['Racism', 'Women', 'Racial Profiling', 'Sexism', 'Mysogyny'] |
Trapeze Artist | Photo by Gabor Barbely on Unsplash
Trapeze Artist
From an upcoming untitled essay collection
There are certain undeniable truths you learn as a child. Of course, these don’t really hold much mettle as you get older, but the impact remains the same. For example, I was pretty sure that running away to the circus was a thing.
It was mentioned so much in different mediums, from cartoons to books to being used as a turn of phrase. Was there some special program for soon-to-be runaway children that all circuses had? Some sort of universal code like the direction you turn a screw to tighten it. I imagined that there had to be a back-office for the circus. The ringmaster would have his tall hat perched on the end of the desk; his glossy booted feet kicked up on top. Twirling his circus mustache, he would say, “Sure, kid. It’s hard work but you got moxy.”
Or something like that.
I believed this with the fiery intensity that childhood often lent such hopes. Unquestioningly real as the quickness that $20 departs from my account. This blind trust was like a magnet for trouble. People who can get their way with the alliance of family ties and a few, smart words were like an enigma to me. My brother was a great ringmaster of manipulation.
Like many families without much income, money was a sore subject. How to get more of it, how to keep it, how to hide it. Somewhere around the time that we were all old enough to have jobs of our own, he also began to become obsessed with the idea of appearing to have more. Better clothes, better cars, the whole shebang. While we were never exactly, “well off”, it never bothered me that much. Children can be cruel, and this became evident in school. The right shoes freshly cut hair and quality sew-ins were a lifejacket that very few could afford.
The best thing about being a poor as fuck Black kid was that there were many others just like you. You could sit together in your thrift store uniform pants and creased up shoes and it was ok. I was ok so long as I was accepted. My brother was not ok with just “enough”, and I think that’s where his obsession with keeping up the appearance of money began.
I have obsessions, fixations on things that I would go to great lengths to obtain. The aloof coolness of the tattooed women on TV, the taste of fresh sashimi caught that morning, peace of mind. I can admire the doggedness of his pursual. There were lots of bribing back then in form of a ride to the mall. I thought this was a normal part of early 2000’s club culture: You buy an amazing outfit, usually a new shirt, wear it with the tag attached and hidden, then return it the next day. Bag secured. It seemed genius, really. Why spend $79.99 on a new shirt from the overly scented Boston Store men’s department to wear out and spill watered-down Hennessey on if you could just return it the next day, money carefully returned in the form of its original tender? I remember helping to iron the shirts for their imminent return. Genius.
But this wasn’t enough though. His obsession with image started to shift its form. Change is a gradual thing. It is starker as you get older. Weird acne to weird wrinkles to weird voicemails about car insurance I’ll never need. (I’m a permanent — non-driver.). It was the small things that were actually really big things but disguised with very quick talking and pleading.
One thing they don’t teach you in financial literacy class, that single one where they show you how to fill out a check, and a man in a navy-blue polo shirt whose name was probably Chet or some shit hands out worksheets you barely do, is about family.
Banks have rules. “Don’t rob us” is probably at the top of the list. While balancing a checkbook may be very useful to the girl who eventually bought a condo with the guy she’s been seeing for less than a year, I could have really used a lesson on wayward family members trying to cash-in on pristine bank accounts and newborn credit scores.
My first checking account was opened at a bank whose color scheme was so drab that I immediately knew I had made it to the big leagues. I was proud of my little debit card that usually only had a readily available balance of $35 dollars on it. At least it was a positive balance. People who have problems with money always seem to know a lot about other people’s money situations. A positive balance was all that my brother needed, and he explained it as such.
“I just need any bank account number to give this car place. Really, that’s it so I can get them off of my back.”
It made sense to me. I was old enough then to know that there were some limitations to not having a bank account. I was privileged in that small way, to have a bank and bank card and to not have to visit any of the check-cashing places with their litter-strewn floors. I gave it to him, and the routing number too. He was visibly relieved. Not that soon after, my account was overdrawn for an amount that was much more than $35. A car payment amount. Or two. Or however many he was behind on at the time.
I was so surprised and sure that there had to be some mistake. I told him and he feigned surprise and indignation for good measure. Cautiously, I asked him if knew they were going to take the money out and his response was anger and hurt that I would think a family member would do anything so vile. I felt ashamed to question him.
This was long ago, and I don’t remember all of the details of what happened after that. If I received any money from him as repayment after that, it probably wasn’t enough to put my account to rights. I can understand spending beyond your means. I’m always surprised to make it to the next payday with a positive balance. I buy shit I don’t need to feel something. But, I couldn’t and still don’t understand making living outside of your means someone else’s problem. I eventually learned my lesson after many an overdraft, but I don’t think that he ever did.
I dislike going to check-cashing stores a lot. Especially alone. Men will cat-call you any place and this was one of them. Check-cashing stores became another fixture in my life. I felt like I had failed somehow. Before I worked out my internalized respectability politics, I thought those places were for people who failed. Why didn’t they have their own bank? Were they all victims of their own naivety or something more nefarious? At any rate, the people were efficient and cold, and I dreaded going. I promised myself I wouldn’t go back there once everything eventually got sorted out.
Financial literacy classes don’t take into account that some of the students they are teaching may be struggling with more than picking out credit cards. Family and money don’t mix very well together. Especially when there is always a large rug to tidily sweep everything under. All of those things that you insist were “so long ago” fit nicely under a thick enough rug.
Do you know how expensive a nice rug is?
In all my years of living outside of my parent’s home, making my way slowly onto the first rung of financial literacy and safety, I never knew how much a good rug cost. You know the ones that hang up in the window display, bent gracefully at their middle as they hang suspended over their individual rods. I learned about payment services that wouldn’t damage my credit, (I had heard enough about the buy now, pay later places to be thoroughly afraid of them), and got myself a nice ass rug that I paid off over a month.
Expensive rugs are the undeniable truth of my adulthood, and that money is complicated. I still wish I could drop it all and find those circuses that have healthcare, protein-dense meals, and muscular, lady-lion tamers who fall in love with me the first time they see me drop my juggling pin.
I looked up the lyrics for the song, “The Daring Young Man on The Flying Trapeze” because a line for the chorus always stuck with me:
“He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease
A daring young man on the flying Trapeze”
Wouldn’t you know that this dude was also a con artist? He steals some poor schmucks’ girlfriend and lets her do the work while he collects the money. It would seem that even the circus has its problems. | https://medium.com/@sarahthomas-30859/trapeze-artist-95b42db702bf | [] | 2020-12-21 14:45:01.724000+00:00 | ['Personal Essay', 'Drama', 'Family', 'Essay'] |
One Missed Call | I could not receive her call as I was busy in the Stocks meeting at my office. I had responded with a “Will be there soon” message in reply to her text “Come quickly.”
I parked my car in the basement and took those steps along a road I knew so well. A sudden gust of wind sent icy tendrils winding through my hair. As I walked up the familiar stairs leading into the lobby I noticed that the receptionist was new, and she did not recognize me, but the guard at the gate was the same as an year ago. He saluted me, and asked the new girl to let me pass.
The carpet, the plush sofa sets, the lights, and even the smells of the place had remained unchanged — as if time had not touched them as it had touched me. There was a young couple on the sofa, holding hands and watching the television. They paid me no heed. But in my mind they were looking at me with accusing glances, calling me the name the media had carefully refrained from using — “Murderer!”
I gathered my bearings, got into the elevator and pressed the button that said “15”. The fifteenth floor of Paruplaza Apartments — the place where I had built my life the way I had always dreamed, and the very place where it unraveled in front of my eyes!
As the doors of the elevator opened, I was filled with a sense of dread. My instinct — every fibre in my body screamed at me to turn away and run — run until my legs could carry me no farther. But all I had been doing in the past year was running — it was time to face my fears, to let go of something I had tried to hold on for so long.
“Come soon”, her second message had said. I didn’t reply, but hurried past all the locked doors, so I could be with her again. And presently, I stood in front of apartment 1519. The nameplate on the door read “Mrs. and Mr. Nandan Shyam”. Looking at the innocuous plate of metal, no one could guess the world of terror it housed within.
I opened the door and stepped inside. The furniture was shrouded with white clothes — I had no idea who had done that, nor did I care. Now that I was in, I rummaged through the mess of papers on the dining table and found the one I was looking for — it was newspaper clip from exactly a year ago. The headline announced “Famous socialite Raveena Shyam commits suicide” and it carried her picture — the picture of my wife. The article mentioned that Raveena was suffering from severe depression, and committed suicide one night when her husband was out due to some business reasons.
I looked at the piece of paper and wept. These were tears of remorse — of guilt. Guilt that had I received her call on that fateful night a year ago, I might have been holding her in my arms right now instead of that newspaper clip which showed her smiling face. I sobbed in silence for a long time, and finally took out her phone from my coat pocket. No one had used it for an year, and the last dialed number on it was mine — just minutes before she had thrown herself out of the window.
Without thinking, I pressed the call button. My own phone lit up and started ringing. Her caller picture was the same the newspaper had printed, and it had a faint glow due to the incoming call — but it could not compare with the healthy glow Raveena had on her face when she was happy. It almost killed me to remember how seldom I had given her the reason to smile. My phone rang for one full minute before the call disconnected.
“One Missed Call” — proclaimed the screen.
One missed opportunity, I read. | https://medium.com/literally-literary/one-missed-call-5a0d24d000fa | ['Anangsha Alammyan'] | 2018-03-02 18:05:40.472000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Fiction', 'Literally Literary', 'Relationships', 'Creativity'] |
Negotiate To Win If You Lose | Negotiate To Win If You Lose
How can we be having an argument, … er, negotiation … if I never get to speak? (Image Credit)
Assume,
when negotiating,
your adversary is
smarter than you,
or your mistakes
will make it so.
If she’s your wife,
bet on losing,
to guarantee
you’ll win —
something.
You’re welcome!
©2020 HHThorpe. All rights reserved.
Inspired by Samantha Lazar’s poem, “The Approach” and prompt, “Approach.” Thanks to our hosts, Kathy Jacobs and me (🙃), and the rest of the talented Chalkboard team! | https://medium.com/chalkboard/negotiate-to-win-if-you-lose-7608e4bf3fa4 | ['Harper Thorpe'] | 2020-11-19 13:32:27.289000+00:00 | ['One Line', 'Satire', 'Music', 'Poetry', 'Humor'] |
How I “Sanity Check” Financials For a B2C Business Idea | Hypothetically, let’s consider a B2C software app that grows primarily through paid acquisition (advertising) as an example.
In this scenario, it has a “freemium” model wherein the basic functionality is free but heavier usage customers have to pay via subscription.
It’s not a marketplace or a service that gets better with more users, so the only “real” value a customer provides to the business is revenue.
There’s three immediate KPIs that are important to contemplate:
Customer Acquisition Cost: How much it costs to acquire customers.
Conversion Rate: What % of customers convert into paying customers.
Paying Customer Value: How much value paying customers generate in revenue.
This can seem a little abstract to consider without any data, but, it’s possible to inject a sense of reality by using a framework.
By researching the “closest” competitors to the idea or components of the business model in question, and getting a feel for their KPIs, there’s an initial baseline to work with.
At this point, I can whirl up a basic spreadsheet and start to populate it.
Here’s a link to it.
In the top left, in green, I have the major KPI variables. Changing these affects the rest of the spreadsheet.
My “research” returned these figures:
CAC: $10
CR: 10%
PCV (6M)*: $150
*I drop off revenue in months 7–12 to roughly account for churn.
So, once input these figures, it populates the other cells with data.
In the example above, I started off by spending $1,000 in advertising in Month 1 as a one-off injection of capital, and reinvested the returns through to Month 12.
This generated “gross profit” for the year of $1,528.91, and $17,677.71 over two years, which can be used to fund operating expenditure:
But, all we have here is a baseline. Now, it’s time to probe further by “playing around” with the KPIs using a logical basis.
This is unique in each circumstance, so I try to calibrate them realistically and with merit. Otherwise, the process falls apart.
For example, if I’m able to offer my product in a market that is untapped by competitors, I could make the assumption CAC will be lower at varying degrees and explore how that changes the financials.
If my product delivers more value to the customer than the competition, I could make the assumption PCV (6M) will be higher in varying degrees and explore how that changes the financials. This is where a unique value proposition can really shine through.
The reverse is also true — catering for the “unknown” and factors that are “overlooked” or “underestimated”.
What happens if CAC is doubled — $20?
What happens if the Conversion Rate is halved — 5%?
What happens if PCV (6M) is 50% less — $100?
Doing this helps me build “quick narratives” around the business model.
Not just by changing numbers randomly, but by deliberately adjusting them depending upon what I believe to be the strengths and weaknesses of the business in that unique context.
It’s possible to “get a feel” for what KPIs are most likely to deviate based upon the research, and to roughly what degree. This can be used to map out a minimum and maximum threshold for each KPI.
You can also use a sensitivity analysis chart to consume this data better visually, where Conversion Rate is on the x-axis and PCV is on the y-axis:
Image supplied by author.
In the above example, the KPI range where a business can hit and “win” (green) is larger than the red area (where it “loses”). | https://medium.com/founders-hustle/how-i-sanity-check-financials-for-a-b2c-business-idea-37877cdf0dc9 | ['Martin Delaney'] | 2020-12-16 09:04:41.102000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Business', 'Startup', 'Founders'] |
State Fair Pig | Merideth C Norris
“Deliverance” takes place in Georgia.
I am going to say that again. It takes place in Georgia. There are dialogue references to the Chatahoochee River and to driving to Atlanta, and if you don’t believe me, wait for the end credits where they describe where they filmed it.
I know because I once rented the VHS tape specifically to check and be vindicated. Back when people rented VHS tapes.
I’m hammering on this point because I did my internship and residency in West Virginia, which is a gorgeous state full of amazing people. I’ll say that again too. Gorgeous. It is one of the only areas east of the Grand Canyon that makes me catch my breath when I see the landscape.
But the minute I told people in Florida where I was moving after med school, about 80% of them started singing “Dueling Banjos”. Every single one of them thought they were being witty. And original. Then I would brace myself for follow up references to “Squealing like a pig!” accompanied by pelvic thrusts.
People in almost every state in the union like to use West Virginia for a punching bag. Although the slogan when you drive in on Route 64 is “Wild, Wonderful” it might as well say “Kick Me!”
I would redirect to Georgia and the Chatahoochee, and they would say “no!” and would keep repeating the opening line of “Dueling Banjos”, only doing it more loudly, the way you do when you don’t speak the lingua franca but believe that if you say things emphatically the point will be conveyed nonetheless.
Generally, the people shitting on WV have never been to the state but will utter cultural insights with great authority, such as “there’s a lot of incest in West Virginia!’
This is probably stemming from some vague notion about “inbreeding” which is really a separate thing from “incest” and is pretty common in many areas where people don’t move in or out that frequently. This happens all over the place. It is also called the Founder Effect, meaning that the few families that settle a place tend to have a genetic dominance and that consequently many people may be a little related.
It doesn’t mean everyone is banging their sister.
These self appointed anthropologists would also believe they were the first to tell me the joke about how the toothbrush was invented in WV “see, anywhere else it would be called a TEETH brush!” Because poverty and poor access to health care are always comedy gold.
Well, screw you guys. After four years in flat, crowded, tacky-ass Florida, I had an almost biological need to be in these mountains and I was going to use my internship year to get me there.
Let me explain how internship works. The year after you graduate from medical school, you go hang out at whatever hospital agrees to let you. It will pay you a very small amount of money in return for which you get to make yourself available to do the work of the hospital and also be the subject of psychological warfare.
Your attending physician, the one with whom you are working most closely for the month, is theoretically helping you learn. However, if you are picturing something akin to an apprenticeship with a senior artisan, or a didactic setting with a loving instructor, you would in most cases be mistaken.
You show up on the first day of your rotation with the attending, who may or may not have remembered that he agreed to take an intern. The chances are quite good that expectations will never be stated out loud, but that instead you will be expected to infer how to keep this particular instructor happy via nonverbal cues, or else by getting berated repeatedly and publicly so that you can identify which particular thing got you yelled at. Basically, like shocking a lab rat in order to mold behavior.
You will be quizzed in a Socratic manner (called “pimping”) in the middle of patient care and often in front of the patient. It may be something that is reasonable for you to know (“what is the first thing we should start for this patient who is having trouble breathing?” “Oxygen!”), or something that you would have no reason to know and will never have reason to use (“where should I ligate the arteries on the cervical cuff?” “I don’t fucking know I’m a family medicine resident!”).
Socrates was ostensibly trying to educate. A great many of these guys just wanted to humiliate, usually the way they were humiliated at this phase of training.
You would also be evaluated on the extremely moving target of “showing an interest”. This could mean that you asked a lot of questions: unless, of course, your attending hated being asked a lot of questions when she was trying to do something. This could mean that you stayed way after the work was done “in case you needed anything else”. Unless the attending preferred that you get away and stop bothering him. It could mean that you read up on the subject that the attending assigned, except that after you spent an hour of your evening engrossed in minutiae, the whole exchange would be forgotten and the brownie points never reaped because your instructor does not recall the discussion. After which you will be graded down as a result of “not showing an interest”.
Every month you do something different in order to expose you to the full spectrum of medicine. And so that the specialists had an extra pair of hands to hold a retractor and look stuff up. We didn’t have Google back then so we were the google: internet minus “net” you might say.
There were 6 “house staff” in all, which meant four family medicine residents and two interns. Greenbrier Valley Memorial Hospital was like a lot of rural hospitals, in that we weren’t so big as to merit a huge team of physicians in training, but we were really more than a 6 person call team could handle on the regular. In 2003, regulations changed so that residents could not work more than 80 hours a week, but that was not the case in 2000.
The experience of being on call meant that you would be the one doctor in the building overnight and that you would get paged for whatever medical needs were going unmet by the current load of inpatients. The nurses did not understand that, although they would finish a night shift and be done, the residents on call still had their day job to do, and so our desire to sleep was often interpreted as “lazy” rather than “biological”.
Possible reasons to page me at 3 am:
“The patient in 206 threw up”. This is a complete sentence but does not give me useful information. I do not know the patient in 206 and you treat vomiting from being on antibiotics very differently than how you treat vomiting from an inferior wall heart attack. If I asked for clarifying information, it was very common to hear some other shrill voice in the background yelling “can’t she just order some phenergan?” LIke I was the asshole here.
“This patient is agitated. Can you help de-escalate?” and then when I arrive to try and be the person in authority, the neutral third party who might be able to redirect Demented Angry Guy, they turn and point to me saying “here’s a pretty little girl to see you!” thereby reducing me to either a granddaughter or a piece of ass, depending on the old crazy man in question.
Navigating code status with families who had bizarre and unformed religious beliefs about health care, which were nonetheless attached to them like barnacles. “His breathing is getting a lot worse. Do you know if he would want to be on a ventilator or did he just want to be kept comfortable?” “Only God can decide when he is going to live or die.” “Ok, of course, but right now God seems to be cutting off his air supply so if you want to interfere with that we need a ventilator…” “Do everything you can! Let nature take its course!” “Doing everything we can is the opposite of nature taking its course and I can go in either direction but I need a better understanding….” “Look, aren’t you a Christian?”
Nurses wanting me to sedate a demanding and aggravating patient but trying not to admit that’s what they were asking for, and so instead saying things like “I feel like he would be a lot happier if he could rest”.
You also saw people who needed to be admitted to the hospital, and wrote the initial orders that would get them out of the emergency department and into a bed upstairs. There were only two floors of the hospital, which was why one of our colloquial expressions for “dead” was “transferred to the third floor”.
Oh yes, and speaking of dead, if someone did make it to the third floor on your shift, you were the one to pronounce them. The first time I was asked to do this, I was puzzled because I was more used to being known for my vocabulary than my medical acumen. In other words, usually if I was asked to“pronounce” anything, it was in the context of “how do you say ‘puerile’?”. Once I put together that it was “dead” I was supposed to pronounce, I was saddened and horrified and also embarrassed that something this permanent was being conducted by a dork who graduated from med school a month ago.
Several members of my family, myself included, tend to have a mental soundtrack going for every occasion. I would often soothe myself while bickering with a patient by internally muttering Eminem lyrics. It is very unusual for me to order Italian food without a silent round of tarantaella rattling around in my head. And when dealing with someone who is being bananas, I may be thinking Patsy Cline or Seal, depending. But definitely “Crazy”.
In this case, the gravitas of the occasion of pronouncing the now-deceased was accompanied by a frenetic mental round of the song the Munchkin coroner sings when asked to verify the status of the Wicked Witch of the East post-cyclone. . As I leaned over the cooling body, a cartoonish voice sang in my head. “Not only is she meeeerely dead, she’s really most sinceeerely dead!” I am pretty sure it was only in my mind that the song occurred but I make no promises and by now the nurses were kind of used to me.
In every house staff there is one resident who is known to be the “Shit Magnet”, in other words the new doctor who had the Four Horsemen in their wake. If there would be an outbreak of rotavirus that affected the whole floor, it would be on their shift. On the night three patients had a simultaneous heart attack, they would be on call.
I managed to dodge that bullet but after one night during which I had to pronounce a record 4 patients the nurses started calling me “The Angel of Darkness”.
But affectionately.
My first month was spent learning internal medicine with an oncologist. I know I’m supposed to say things about “triumph of the human spirit” and “inspirational to see how people face adversity”. I can’t, because it wasn’t. If there were a pithy expression which conjured “colossally depressing efforts to provide complicated medical information to undereducated people who have to decide between driving a two hour round trip every day for 8 weeks of radiation or just staying home and having something amputated” I would say that, because it was more on the money. July was a long month.
Toward the end of July, people around me started talking about “Fair Week”, in a manner that sounded less “Rogers and Hammerstein” and more “Pinocchio Gets Dragged Off to Donkey Island”. “You’ll be working Fair Week?” Side eye. Heh heh. “Oh, honey, you want to be sure you at least stay away from working the FULL MOON on Fair Week.” Conspiratory shuffle up. “Now, has anyone told you about Fair Week or were they just going to let you be surprised?”
Since August was going to put me in working in the emergency department, I knew I should explore these hints as I would be on the front line, or, as inpatient people would say “being the wall”. The job of the “wall” is to keep people from getting admitted for bullshit that they could handle at home. Example: if someone who has a seizure and has a known seizure problem and did not take their meds for two days, they do not need to be “admitted for a work-up.” Be the wall!
I also knew I should be diplomatic. Despite my own indignation about the cultural integrity of West Virginia, I knew that the odds were good I would come off the wrong way just by being me.
Once, during med school, I was at the rodeo in Davie, Florida. Fort Lauderdale is spring break and titty bars, but its neighbor 5 minutes away is country. There is a hitching post outside the McDonald’s. As part of the opening rodeo ceremony, the emcee was delivering a patriotic monologue about “old Glory” over a swelling background of “America the Beautiful”.
For reasons that are unclear even to me, I thought the performance was intentionally ironic. A wink at old-timey values, an affectionate parody. Why I would assume that about people spending Saturday night at a rodeo and eating boiled peanuts while wearing shirts with the Stars and Stripes on them is anyone’s guess. But that’s what I thought. Or, at the very least, I thought that the rest of the folks in the stand were also noticing the ridiculousness of the performance and were in on the joke.
I started braying like the jackass I was and nudging people around me as if to share our communal disdain. “Get a load of this clown, huh? Bwah hah hah!”
My more savvy Georgia born friend saved me from mob execution by hugging me and patting my shoulder to make it appear that my shoulders were shaking because I was sobbing with patriotic fervor and not because I’m a disrespectful asshole.
A few months later I would get a fortune cookie which would deliver the eerily on-point message, “Not everyone has the same sense of humor as you do. You think you are breaking the ice, but you are actually alienating people.” Damn, Confucious.
20 years later, my daughter would echo this tendency to ride roughshod over other people’s icons when I brought her to a Golden Gloves where I was the ring doctor. While everyone is getting seated, they play assorted jock rock wind-up-the-crowd music, but the last minutes before they start the bouts, they cue up the theme from “Rocky” . This really gets the eye of the tiger happening for the fighters, and I am certain many get chills. My 17 year old, however, started weeping with open and red faced hilarity, which was awkward because she was literally ringside with me and in full view of both the fighters and the fans. Fortunately, she read my mom face early enough to dial it back to the occasional smirk.
Lesson learned: whatever else I gleaned about what was clearly the Local Big Deal, I knew it was going to be important to present as respectful and not as the jeering buffoon I showed myself to be in Davie. As with many underdog cultures, they may have a sense of humor about themselves, but they are the home team so it’s allowed. So when they repeatedly dangled the Fair Week bait, I bit and asked for details and tried to keep my tone curious rather than sniggering.
As it turns out the WV State Fair is held every August in Lewisburg. The fair grounds are situated on the main drag through town, literally right on it. When you get to the spot, Rt 219 splits and now you have Rt 219 one way going south to the right, with the fairgrounds stretching several blocks to your left. If you need to go north from there you need to go down the hill into the neighboring town of Ronceverte and turn around by the Kroger. You can imagine what kind of a bottleneck this would create during Fair Week so even for practical purposes the locals kind of dreaded it.
The people working in the ED didn’t kind of dread it. They really dreaded it. Just as the hospital wasn’t big enough to merit more than 6 house staff, it wasn’t big enough to accommodate the huge expansion both in terms of volume and in terms of crazy. The nurses were also easy to draw out on what specific concerns they looked forward to that would change the clinical flavor for the month. .
“Well you’ll be seeing a lot of animal bites and STDs”, remarked one nurse when pressed.
I’m sorry, what? Did you mean that to be one sentence? Like…do you mean animal bites comma STD’s or do you mean that they are somehow a package deal?
The taciturn nurse shrugged. “Well, the carnies ain’t too particular.”
Ah.
The more chatty staff might share a longer narrative:
“Well, we always get one every year where Papaw loads up the grandbabies in the fifth wheel, gets down here 5 hours to camp by the Fair and then goes and has the Big One and now we have all these grandbabies and no Papaw. Makes social services crazy, they always come from Huntington or somewhere and it’s awful trying to get them back home.”
An unexpected short hand was revealed in the phrase “call maintenance!” Anywhere else in the hospital that would mean a ceiling fan was making a buzzing noise or a lightbulb was out. In the ED, it meant someone had been injured so strangely that the usual medical implements would not suffice and that we would require the use of a power saw or a large pliers.
You always knew it was going to be something good when you heard them call maintenance.
I had worked in a whole bunch of ED’s during med school and was thus used to the parlance of motor vehicle accidents (School bus vs. Chevy; muscle car vs pickup. You get the idea). In Greenbrier Valley, the MVAs had a different cast of characters:
“ Room 4: 17 year old Mennonite vs dairy cow! We need a CT scan..”
When I pushed for more details, the attending physician said with a complete straight face, “Dairy cows are just mean cows.” Res ipsa loquitur. Dr. Bookhout was not prone to seeing the humor in things; he was the same guy who, when I had to borrow a Japanese colleague’s white coat, had fixed me with a stern look and said “YOU’RE not Dr. Onishi.”
No fun.
But the beautiful union of animal bites, MVAs and the carny world came to me through a med student, Jacey.
I will say up front that she was and probably still is a better person than I am and so she was bringing more professionalism to the Emergency Department in general, and her current patient in particular, than I was failing to bring to the entire month of rotation. I was a horrible role model for a physician in training but fortunately for both of us, it probably never occurred to her to see me as a role model.
She came over and asked me if I would check the sutures she had just completed. As she was starting to present, the nurse looked up from her clipboard and chimed in “oh yes, the State Fair Pig.”
I’m sorry, the what now?
“Calvin Swine!” she elaborated, which was similar to “dairy cows are just mean cows” in that it gave me no new information but lent to the overall sideways quality of the conversation.
Jacey, like the dutiful student that she was, presented the specifics of the matter.
As the University of Richmond has a Spider mascot and Iowa has Herky the Hawk, the West Virginia Fair has Calvin Swine. In this particular case, the persona of Calvin was inhabited by a high school boy. Picture a nonspecific mammalian costume for the parts below the neck (and probably some kind of suit, I never got a good look) and for the upstairs part, a big old pig head which the kid would wear over his natal noggin.
Because of the shape and position of the part around his eyes, it was generally assumed to be best practice if he had an escort so he could navigate the fairgrounds and be festive without walking over any small children or disturbing the livestock. This sacred mantle was given to a teenage girl. She would walk next to him either coaching him on directions or holding his hand. This was particularly important when it came to crossing the street.
Remember how the main drag of Lewisburg went right next to the Fair? They were preparing to go to the far side of the southbound lane.
The girl paused to flirt with a state trooper.
The pig kept going.
SooooooIEEEEEEEEE!
At this point in Jacey’s presentation, I was laughing hard enough that I could barely collect enough air to hog-call while pounding the nursing desk. I say “barely enough” but I managed, oh indeed I did. And at volume. If there were hogs anywhere in the vicinity of the Greenbrier Valley Hospital Emergency entrance, they would have come a-runnin. Several times. I apparently had not learned my rodeo lesson well enough, because I’m still basically an asshole.
Squeal like a pig indeed.
Ultimately Jacey threw enough shade at me that I settled down and got the specific mechanism of injury.
Our young Calvin, before the shocked eyes of his teenage escort and the trooper in question, was taken down by an off duty paramedic in what was fortunately a small car and not the pickup that would more commonly have been found coming in and out of fair country. (State Fair Pig vs Camry!).
This sent me into another explosion of giggles while I imagined the thought process of a man going home from his shift as a first responder and suddenly finding a 6 foot tall pig across his windshield. Jacey soldiered on without pausing.
“It seems the pig head is what saved him.” she intoned between my sobs of laughter. “I guess it acts enough like a football helmet that it protected him from severe damage despite his being drug about 10 yards down the road.” Yes, she was local and so the past tense of “drag” was “drug” “ He just needed some sutures to his face and got a little banged up.”
At this point she paused and fixed me with a stern stare.
“I need you to check those sutures for me.” Hands on hips. “But I am not letting you go in there until you get a hold of yourself.”
I will never be anyone’s straight man but I did manage to put something resembling a scholarly medical look on my face. At that time in my life I was the doctor who everyone told “you look like you are in high school are you really a doctor?” so I probably was not fooling anyone but it was the only face I had to work with.
I was doing fine until we went into the room and found the nurse adjusting the boy’s pillow as she presented his lunch on a tray (it was pork chops and I’m not making that up). Right at the moment of my entry she asked him in a kind, maternal tone, “will they be able to get a replacement for you, honey?”
Trying to keep things moving, I chimed in, “you mean like a stunt pig?” and then had to run out of the room before Jacey gave me a traumatic injury of my own.
The last thing I heard before getting back to the nursing station was the boy responding in good spirit, “Ma’am, I was the stunt pig!”
Before my retreat, I had time to observe that Jacey had actually done a very neat job with the sutures. The mantra of suturing is “approximate, don’t strangulate”, which is a cute, medicalese way of saying “pull the sides of the wound together but don’t make them too tight or the wound will bunch.” In Jacey’s particular case, she had approximated the laceration edges and not strangulated me, so you could argue that she had gone a level above.
I would think of Calvin years later when a close friend and I had a girls’ weekend in Montreal. An ardent foodie, her choice for dinner was at a place called Au Pied du Cochon, although turns out the signature dish is not the pied but the tete. It is served roasted with, of all things, a lobster in its mouth, and I could think of nothing less appealing but it’s a dish for two and I couldn’t crush a friend’s dreams.
There is an implied rebuke when served the head of something on a dish. Hard to remain in denial about what you are eating. You can talk yourself into a certain dissociation when gnawing on a piece of thigh meat or even a rib, but when the thing seems to be looking at you (and it always seems to be looking at you) you feel you need to cowboy up and look back. Stare it down.
There is a scene in Through the Looking Glass where Alice is at a party in her honor, which the Red Queen is sabotaging by continuing to introduce her to the food, which then takes umbrage because “It’s very poor manners to eat something you have been introduced to!” Alice tries to derail this process as the pudding approaches, but the Queen jumps in and quickly blurts, “Alice. Pudding. Pudding, Alice.” I can still picture the dour expression on the pudding in the illustration.
No one introduced us but I felt guilty anyhow. I thought of Calvin, and I figured that if I was going to eat this thing, I could at least make a gesture on its behalf, some kind of restorative justice. Let the pig go down swinging. Or at least, let him not die unavenged.
“Waiter?” I called. He returned, looking sexy and efficient as Montreal waiters tend to. “I was wondering…..
He looked expectant. “Yes, madame?”
“Did you happen to get the license plate of the car that hit him?”
My friend rolled her eyes and dug in. Before she took the first bite, she paused, stared back at me and whispered, “Squeeeeal.”
As I watched her hack away like the Pennsylvania gal she is, I idly counted the lacerations she was making. And idly wondered what kind of suture I would use to repair them. | https://medium.com/@drnorris/state-fair-pig-bcc12ba072ef | ['Merideth C. Norris'] | 2021-09-13 16:23:46.617000+00:00 | ['Slapstick', 'Autobiography', 'Suture', 'Rural Healthcare', 'Pigs'] |
Accidentally Insulting my Life Choices | #life
I do understand the weird nostalgia of some people for the “nuclear family units” because usually the people saying that either were in or imagine themselves as the humble patriarch, going to work, providing well for their family, then enjoying the benefits of well-mannered children. It sounds great for the person in that role and as a model requires nothing beyond being an individual devoted to their own family and leading a good example for other patriarchs.
Now, even if that all was the case there is an assumption that another person has done all the grunt work to keep the house nice and mentor the kids to be functional children. There might be people who aspire to have that be their lives but even if I was one of them there was a slight problem of me being so miserable that I was looking at ending my life (or wishing for something bad to happen to my kids dad) as the only ways out.
Now, I pointed out in my usual calm and relaxed manner that the “nuclear family” as the GOAT would suggest that I should have stayed married as the “best” thing for my kids and that I did not agree. I was happy to have this conversation though actually, because I really think most bad policy comes from lack of understanding.
I would absolutely love to have a partner that would be an extra layer of support for the kids. I would love it if I didn’t have to threaten and make their dad fear me to get him to step up and take the kids when I’m a puddle but when I was being “nice” asking for extra help was a calculation of how much I could stand being told about his dinner plans or whatever bull shit he had planned with the person he was living with.
When I’m drowning and we are both the parents I don’t care if it’s inconvenient, be a fucking father first. Which brings me to the next point that the idea of the “nuclear family” inherently places blame on the remaining parent (often the mother) and ignores the Asshole who cut out early or only put in half effort.
I would love to get to a point where we don’t have to celebrate fatherhood because it’s just fucking expected but we are very far from that. For one thing, the same people who usually promote “nuclear family” as the ideal also think the solution to crime is more cops. Somehow the fact that cops arrest and take people away does not seem to come up in the line of thought.
I think most cops are earnest people doing a tough job. However, the training they are often given creates strain within the community and increases the risk of harm to them. In general, cops don’t spend the majority of their time actively stopping crime. They investigate and hopefully remove people who have done harm and are likely to do harm but the problem is two fold. First harm had to be done and second, you removed them from society for awhile but what now?
Social services are crime prevention.
I can’t think of a single parent who would turn down help with the every day chores of keeping their kids alive and out of trouble. I’m sure there are a few who have been so alienated by society that they have embraced an outsider narrative and take pride in their behavior that does not conform to norms (or laws) but most would probably be thrilled on so many levels to have extra help or support.
The lack of support is the problem, but blaming single parents for not settling down with whomever they spawned with won’t solve that.
The uncomfortable pill to swallow is that to take care of everyone and prosper all together the “humble” patriarch needs to be devoted to a much larger group and show that devotion by contributing to investment in social services.
That’s right y’all I mean taxes.
I’m not going to pretend governments always get it right, but they do much better when people try to make them better. If you don’t trust the government but hopefully realize that there are problems capitalism will not address then perhaps you could try to make government better instead of trying to invent some new system to deal with a single problem.
No entity will work towards it’s own demise (except inclusion and equity professionals, they would love to not be needed) so the thing that kills many good not profits is a lack of resources and people after in the initial enthusiasm wears off. Then even more effort has to be expended to take care of the things that the entity wanted to address but there are less resources because a bunch of energy was just spent on doing it the way some activist wanted.
I have seen this and the very real harm it causes firsthand.
Don’t blame parents for not attracting enough support for their children. Vote for things that will actually help parents (like more affordable after school care and increased access to affordable quality child care in general) and/or go out and volunteer to help someone who is struggling. Unless what you really wanted to do was complain when a kid inevitably does something stupid and ends up on a path where they see crime and violence as a good tactic to survive.
Thank you for coming to my virtual TED talk, I’m interested in your feedback if it’s constructive and if I have to explain what constructive means then I’m probably not interested in working with you but thank you for your participation. | https://medium.com/@therarnestmom/accidentally-insulting-my-life-choices-3b0981411124 | ['Maria Dickmann'] | 2021-08-07 23:21:33.424000+00:00 | ['Patriarchy', 'Social Sector', 'Moms'] |
Forex Trading: Understanding A Forex Broker in 2020–21 | Understanding A Forex Broker in 2020–21
A Forex broker refers to an individual or firm that plays the role of an intermediary between the trader and the interbank system.
The interbank system, on the other hand, refers to the bank networks trading with each other in the Forex market.
If you want to trade, the Forex broker provides you with actual prices of the banks having access to Forex liquidity and lines of credit.
Many FX brokers will use multiple banks to offer their clients pricing, and in the end, they will offer them the best available prices.
Forex Trading Risks
Forex trading can be a complex and risky investment. Unfortunately, the Forex instruments aren’t standardized, and the interbank market has different regulations.
Forex trading is usually unregulated; therefore, you have to be cautious when investing in this field.
The interbank market has many banks that trade with each other globally. So, these banks are the ones to determine and accept credit and sovereign risks.
Fortunately, they have already come up with internal processes that help them stay safe all the time.
However, it is a safe industry for the banks because the regulations are usually imposed, which will help protect each bank that will participate.
Understanding the Forex Broker
There are many forms of trading, but the Forex exchange market is a 24-hour market operating globally. Among the clients include retail currency traders.
They have to use the platforms to know the direction of their currencies. Moreover, the other clients are large financial services firms who will trade on behalf of their customers or investment banks.
If you want to trade individually, you’ll only handle a small portion considering the overall foreign exchange market.
The Forex broker plays different roles in the foreign exchange market. In this market, the transactions occur between paired currencies. And for these currencies, they are only from ten countries that can afford to make up to G10.
So, these nations and their currencies are; Euro (EUR), U.S. dollar (USD), Japanese yen (JPY), sterling pound (GBP), New Zealand dollar (NZD), Australian dollar (AUD), Swiss franc (CHF) and Canadian dollar (CAD).
However, other Forex brokers allow you to trade using other currencies, especially in the emerging markets.
If you’re using a Forex broker, you have to open a trade, and to do so; you have to buy a currency pair. While closing the trade, you will have to sell the same pair.
You can decide to change euros to USD; for example, with this, you will buy the EUR/USD pair. And to do that, it means you will buy euros but with U.S. dollars.
When you want to close your trade, you will sell the pair, which is the same as buying U.S. dollars but using euros.
When you are closing your trade, if the exchange rate will be higher, that’s how you will make a profit. On the other hand, if not, that leads to a loss.
How To Choose an FX Broker in 2020–21:
Security
The first characteristic of considers is a secure trading platform. After all, you can’t hand over your hard-earned money to any platform because it claims to be legit.
An added advantage is that it is now easy to check the credibility of any Forex broker.
In each country, there are regulatory bodies responsible for separating fraudulent Forex brokers from trustworthy. If you’re new, consider checking this list of best Forex Brokers.
Depending on your geographical region or country, here is a list of some corresponding regulatory bodies:
United States — CFTC ( Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and NFA ( National Futures Association).
— CFTC ( Commodity Futures Trading Commission) and NFA ( National Futures Association). Australia — ASIC (Australia Securities & Investment Commission)
— ASIC (Australia Securities & Investment Commission) United Kingdom — PRA (Prudent Regulation Authority) and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).
— PRA (Prudent Regulation Authority) and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). Switzerland — SFBC (Swiss Federal Banking Commission)
— SFBC (Swiss Federal Banking Commission) France — AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers)
— AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) Germany — BaFIN (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht)
It is, therefore, essential to think before you invest in an FX broker. Depending on your geographical region, make sure that the Forex Broker you choose is a member of regulatory bodies.
Deposit and Withdrawal
An excellent type of FX broker is one allowing you to deposit and withdraw hassle-free.
There is no concrete reason that should make it hard for you to deposit and withdraw your profits. The only reason they can hold funds is when facilitating trading.
The broker, therefore, will hold your money, ensuring your trading experience is more effortless. So, don’t expect other reason that can make them give you a hard time to withdraw your earnings.
Choose a force broker who ensures your withdrawal process is smooth and speedy.
Transaction Costs
With transaction costs, it does not matter with your currency because, in the end, you’ll experience transaction costs.
Any time you enter to trade, there are charges such as spread or commission to be subjected. So, the best broker’s trading platform is the one offering cheap rates and most affordable.
However, there are times that you can sacrifice low transactions to get a reliable broker. And in such a case, look for a way to balance between low transaction cost and security of your money.
Trading Platform
If you’re to trade online, most of the trading activities will be on your broker’s platform. Therefore, consider a broker with a stable and user-friendly platform.
Before you sign and deposit your money in a broker’s system, check the trading platform to confirm what it offers.
For example, the free needs feed technical and charting tools, and how it presents the information you need to trade. After the review, you can now make your decision.
Also, check out their demo trading platform, try it first then deposit the amount in your live trading.
Besides, if you don’t know certain differences between demo and live trading then the following guide will ABSOLUTELY help you.
The Bottom Line
Before you make a step to register with a forex broker, take time to look for the best Forex broker. It will help you avoid making the wrong decision that might cost you.
Nevertheless, choosing a top broker provides you with robust resources, access to the worldwide banking systems, and trade at a low cost. You will have nothing to worry about; your money will be safe.
Besides, you can also open a small account and make a fortune with your trading skills. | https://medium.com/daily-finance/forex-trading-understanding-a-forex-broker-in-2020-21-e5092c0dae75 | ['Don Mirza'] | 2020-11-16 09:19:04.504000+00:00 | ['Forexonline', 'Forexbroker', 'Forex', 'Forextrading', 'Bestbroker'] |
Episode 10: Student Takeover — “Our Lives and Tech” | Transcript
Hannah: This episode of Nevertheless is going to be a little bit different from the others. The podcast has been handed over to us, the students of School 21 in London, UK.
Lethabo: Nova Pioneer in Johannesburg, South Africa…
Sophie: And Blue Ridge Virtual Governors School in Virginia, in the United States.
Ethan: In this episode we’ve written and produced three stories about technology, looking at how it has impacted our lives in different ways.
Lethabo: We look at how technology has made people, teachers, and parents lives easier.
Csarina: How it’s changed the way we understand the news.
Justin: And how it has made living in our own town quite terrifying.
Csarina: This is Nevertheless, a podcast about learning in the modern age.
Ethan: Each episode, we shine a light on an issue impacting education and young people, and speak to people creating transformative change.
Hannah: Supported by Pearson.
Story 1
Hannah: Hi, I’m Hannah.
Csarina: Hi, I’m Csarina.
Hannah: We’re from School 21. As two teenagers growing up on social media, we wanted to know what it was like to get news both on social media and outside world.
Hannah: Earlier this month, Csarina’s internet went out and couldn’t access anything online.
Csarina: So not being able to get any of the news, we wondered what it would be like to get the news back in the day when there was no social media.
Hannah: We spoke to some people who didn’t grow up with the internet and wanted to know how they got their news.
Csarina: Hi, Miss.
Ms. Davey: Hi.
Hannah: All right. So what world event had like the biggest impact to you, back in the day.
Ms. Davey: Okay so one of the most significant world events that I remember happening was 9/11. So it happened when I was in year 12, and I was in an English Literature lesson when it happened. I remember one of the English teachers bursting into the room and telling the other English teacher that some planes had hit the Twin Towers. I’m not really convinced any of us knew what the Twin Towers were, but we knew that planes crashing into buildings did not sound good and we just knew that it was this huge thing.
Ms. Davey: Yeah, so when we went home it was really interesting because at this point in time, you got home and it was just news on every channel, like the BBC and ITV, at least, it was just rolling news coverage and it was just picture after picture or videos.
Ms. Davey: My friends, like everyone had mobile phones, but didn’t really have the internet on our phones back then.
Hannah: Oh wow.
Ms. Davey: So people were kind of like texting each other and stuff. You could get the internet, but it was quite convoluted and it wasn’t really like coloured screens and stuff. So a lot of it was from the TV-
Csarina: What about newspapers?
Ms. Davey: Yeah, newspapers. So like we used to have a newspaper delivered every day, which most people did.
Hannah: How did you know that that information was accurate? Did you have any idea it was accurate or did you just take that information from the people you knew and was just like, oh yeah, that happened?
Ms. Davey: Well I think my main source of information was probably the BBC and I would consider them to be a trustworthy source. Over the next few days with all the conspiracy theories started to come out. So in terms of working out they why’s of the event, as opposed to the what, that was quite difficult to find useful or trustworthy information on. ’Cause even things like Wikipedia didn’t exist at that point in time.
Hannah: Wikipedia didn’t exist?
Ms. Davey: When I was in primary school, we used to have a set of physical encyclopaedias at home, and if we had homework then we would go-
Hannah: So how big were those books? They’re like that big.
Ms. Davey: Oh so they were like-
Hannah: Oh, no.
Ms. Davey: They were almost like giant cookery book size, if you’re trying to visualize it, and they had black covers and then the first one was like the letter A. And then there was the letter B.
Hannah: That must’ve been really time consuming. So do you think like the way we get information now is better than how you did it before?
Ms. Davey: Oh, it’s so much more accessible because those books were really expensive as well. So there used to be sales reps that went around with the Encyclopaedia Britannica books and if people could afford them, they’d buy them, but often, they’d have to pay for them monthly over several years because they were so expensive. Like I’ve got a really strong memory of them being in the bookshelf in our house, and you’d go and sit and you’d look stuff up.
Hannah: Oh my gosh. That is so time consuming.
Ms. Davey: Yeah. But now you can find anything out really quickly, but you need to be bit more savvy about whether it’s reliable. Can I actually trust this? Is this fact? Is it opinion?
Hannah: So, when Ms. Davey was talking about the fact that she had newspapers delivered to her house, we’re like, “Oh, that is really weird.” So we decided to have a go and buy a newspaper ourselves.
Csarina: We’ve never bought a newspaper before and we wanted to know what the experience was like.
Hannah: And the experience was very interesting, indeed.
Hannah: So what are we getting? One pound-sixty, though seems a bit extortionate.
Csarina: Okay. Why is the Times one pound-sixty? I can get two Suns for that.
Hannah: The Guardian is two pounds.
Csarina: Okay. The Daily Star.
Hannah: Okay, that’s brilliant. Shrek dwarf six-foot-tall, right? The Morning Star. What do you think about The Morning Star?
Csarina: No.
Hannah: No? It looks a bit boring.
Csarina: Yeah, it does look a bit boring.
Hannah: What about The New Recorder?
Csarina: Well that would just be the local news.
Hannah: Is it free? A pound? No, I’m good. And The Sun is just boring. Oh, here’s The Guardian.
Csarina: Yeah, but it was like two pounds.
Hannah: Why is it so expensive? This is why people can’t get news, ’cause no one’s gonna pay two pounds for that. Yeah, do you want The Financial Times? Imagine buying The Financial Times.
Csarina: Nah, it’s too big.
Hannah: It’s a bit too big. Fair enough.
Csarina: Okay.
Hannah: The Daily Mail seems good. So MPT. Is The Daily Mail …
Csarina: But it’s cheap and it looks-
Hannah: Yeah, it’s cheap. It looks good. Yeah, let’s get it.
Csarina: We ended up choosing The Daily Mail, brought it back to school and spent some time looking at it.
Hannah: Can Meghan really be filming a Scottish Widow ad-
Csarina: I think it’s talking about how Meghan’s meant to be like a princess of sorts, or a Duchess, now and she was meant to give up acting. So it’s a bit weird for her to be playing such a role in an ad for-
Hannah: Right. And then second page, “Babies are still not safe at scandal-hit NHS maternity unit.”
Csarina: Just an observation, it’s a lot of information.
Hannah: Yeah, it’s a bit of a mess. It’s not really pleasant to read.
Csarina: It is very overwhelming. From something you can look at on your phone that is a couple of paragraphs and easy to read, to this, which is a double-page spread.
Csarina: And they typed it vertically. I need to read across the page. I have to read down, and there’s a gap, and then it’s down, and it’s a gap, and then … I’m not gonna read any of those columns. It’s so long. What do you think, Hannah?
Hannah: 18 is too many for a story that could probably be condensed into a single page.
Csarina: Okay. All right. So there’s adverts right in the middle of our story.
Hannah: But I suppose you’d get that on your phone, as well if you’re on a website. There’s always adverts.
Csarina: But this is taking up like more than a quarter of the first page. And then there’s another advert on the next page.
Hannah: And there’s also kind of… It takes away from the story.
Csarina: Yeah, so something interesting I noticed is whenever there was a point they wanted to make about the story, they would use very strong and opinionated words. Like talking about Brexit, they used words like “doomsday,” or “apocalyptic.” You know, it’s like stuff out of a movie. It’s very opinionated. Most of the news is very opinionated. There you go again, another example of dramatic language. So this page headline is “The Final Betrayal.” Oh, just the layout of the page. Oh my gosh.
Csarina: So, the front cover is suggesting that she’s breaking the rules somehow, going against her role because she’s not supposed to be acting.
Hannah: And just the way… where it says, “Can Meghan REALLY …”
Csarina: Really.
Hannah: Really is capitalized.
Csarina: Yeah, really is capitalized.
Hannah: It’s like they’re outraged that she’s doing it.
Csarina: And then the moment we turn to the spread, it changes to, “Remind you of someone? Meghan, the hooded beauty.” And the first sentence is, “she looks like the iconic hooded figure from the Scottish Widows adverts.”
Csarina: Wow.
Hannah: And even the line underneath it, “Meghan Markle is not shooting a commercial here.” So they just completely-
Csarina: Online equivalent, the physical equivalent of click-bait.
Hannah: Yeah.
Csarina: It literally click-baited us.
Hannah: From 2015!
Csarina: 2015! So it’s completely misleading. That’s amazing.
Hannah: Crazy.
Csarina: That’s why we pay seventy five pence. If I have to, pay two pounds for The Guardian to get accurate news.
Hannah: It is.
Csarina: It is. That was on the front page. It says the female section. They have a section for-
Hannah: A lot of fashion. A lot about being a mother.
Csarina: Childcare and stuff like that.
Hannah: Home.
Csarina: Budgeting.
Hannah: Buying stuff.
Csarina: Cleaning products.
Hannah: A set of gorgeous gifts-
Csarina: Gifts for under five pounds.
Hannah: So after doing this experiment of going out and finding a newspaper, buying it, and reading it together, how do you feel about it?
Csarina: I’ve learned I’m not going to buy Daily Mail. That’s bit biased, but I’d rather just stick to online news. Headlines were too big. They were really obnoxious, as well.
Hannah: Just being overloaded with information. There’s too much.
Csarina: Yeah. It’s a big pile of adverts in between the stories. It’s not really pleasing to the eye, and it’s expensive. I would not spend 70p on that, I’m sorry.
Hannah: Difficult to read, as well. I mean you go from story to story and nothing is really in any type of organized way. The biggest issue we had was the Meghan Markle story.
Csarina: Online, if I see something that’s click-bait, I know it’s click-bait because it’s from an unreliable source. Like it’s usually from like this really small, independent news companies, or those companies that when you click on them you get a virus or something. This is The Daily Mail. Like it’s so widely recognized, I wouldn’t expect that to be click-bait. | https://medium.com/nevertheless-podcast/episode-10-student-takeover-our-lives-and-tech-5068cf7a7b3e | [] | 2018-12-20 11:31:41.950000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Storytelling', 'Learning', 'Tech', 'Edtech'] |
What Is It About Zoom That Makes Us So Tired? | What Is It About Zoom That Makes Us So Tired?
The term “Zoom fatigue” recently entered the mainstream vocabulary. So, why is Zoom so exhausting?
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
A few weeks ago, my semester started. So far, I both love and hate my studies. I love what I’m studying, my professors and colleagues are great: kind and funny, but also curious and brilliant. I’m learning and reading a lot. I’m also writing a lot. All of that is great.
The thing that I hate or really, really, really dislike is Zoom.
I have heard other people complain about it since the pandemic started and everything got moved online, but I arrogantly assumed that I would just be able to handle it so much better than everyone else. I’ve been working behind a screen 40+ hours a week for the last three and a half years after all. How bad can it be?
Well, bad.
If you’ve only used it sporadically, you may not have noticed the fatigue that comes with using it regularly (for several hours a day, for example). It’s just a video-call app that has some neat features like scheduling meetings, recording them, dividing the meeting in breakout rooms, etc. Sounds very convenient.
I remembered listening to my friends complaining about Zoom early in the pandemic, how they hated the online meeting situation, how it’s exhausting. Now I finally understood what they were talking about.
Zoom sucks.
But I wasn’t happy with that conclusion. I needed to know why. What was it about Zoom specifically that was so energy-draining? Is it the number of people in a meeting? Is it the length of my lectures? Is it the concept of video calls? And, perhaps most importantly, is it possible to make the experience better?
Hawthorne Effect, Demand Characteristics, and Online Mirrors
Hawthorne Effect refers to a type of bias that happens in research when the research participants adjust their behaviour because they are aware that they are being watched. It was named after the experiments conducted within the Hawthorne plant, described in Elton Mayo’s book “The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization”.
The experiments were trying to discover whether the amount of light the workers had to work with would influence their productivity levels. What was found instead was that it wasn’t the light but the attention that the workers received from the researchers that increased their productivity. This finding has been contested since the study was published, but there appears to be evidence in other studies that subjects tend to act differently when they are aware that they are being watched.
A good example of this is a study from 2006, which showed that there was a 55% increase in compliance with hand-washing of healthcare personnel working in five intensive care units at a university hospital in Berlin, Germany.
A concept that is closely related to the Hawthorne effect is “demand characteristics”. While the Hawthorne effect means that the subjects adjust their behaviour when they are aware that they are being watched, the concept of demand characteristics refers to them being aware of what the researcher is studying or what they are expecting to find. The subjects, then, adjust their behaviour or answers in the interview. This concept was first developed by a professor of psychiatry and psychology, dr. Martin Theodore Orne.
Orne was originally particularly struck by how helpful were research participants. He identified that research participants believed in the importance of science and tried to help advance it by playing the role of the “good subject”, thereby seeking to satisfy the perceived needs of the researchers (McCambridge et al., 2012)
It isn’t only in a research setting that people adjust their behaviour. According to social psychology, we change how we talk, act, and present ourselves depending on who is around us.
Our everyday behaviour is a result of both internal factors (our personality, state of mind, how we think about ourselves) and external factors (situations we find ourselves in, how we interpret our relationship to those situations or persons that are in those situations with us).
So, being in an academic setting will cause you to act quite differently than you would if you were in an informal setting, hanging out with friends or grabbing a beer in the local pub. The same can be said for being in a business meeting as opposed to being at a team-building event or, again, just hanging out with your friends. Even if you don’t think about it, you subconsciously adjust your behaviour, use of language, and your wardrobe.
The reason we all do this is that we are aware that (1) we are being watched (meaning that there are other people present, not that there’s a You-type stalker around — hopefully) and (2) there are certain societal expectations that we need to fulfil.
This added labour that we have to do while doing other tasks is usually called “emotional labour”. At work or in any formal setting, you are required not only to “do your job” but also to manage your behaviour, your emotions, responses, etc. This is tiring as it is, but with video calls, there is one extra layer that makes it especially challenging: the online mirror.
In a short documentary about Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), which refers to a psychiatric disorder in which a person cannot help but obsess over one or several perceived flaws in their appearance, the researcher talks about how mirrors enable the fixation on the perceived flaw.
People who do not have BDD will, of course, not have the same experience with mirrors as people who are ill, but they can still negatively affect them. | https://medium.com/illumination/what-is-it-about-zoom-that-makes-us-so-tired-cd4bf271926c | ['Kristina Hemzacek'] | 2020-09-21 08:35:57.831000+00:00 | ['Zoom', 'Pandemic', 'Self', 'Business', 'University'] |
Medium: Diversity and Inclusion | At Medium, we strive to be the best place online to find interesting ideas and perspectives you won’t find anywhere else. As a company, we believe that diverse perspectives deepen our understanding of complex issues, and great ideas can change the world when you create a welcoming space for them. Diversity for us includes, but is not limited to, gender, ethnicity, race, culture, socio-economic background, religion, age, physical ability, veteran status, country of origin, primary language, sexuality, political preference, education, and family makeup.
In the past year, Medium has gone through a lot of changes but we’ve remained constant in our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We’re dedicated to building a team that not only embraces but seeks out a diverse group of people. We’re committed to being a place that welcomes and includes all the things that make each of us unique.
In 2016, we signed the Tech Inclusion Pledge, and as a part of that pledge, we wanted to share with you our 2017 numbers. To us, this means more than just signing a pledge; it’s an ongoing promise to which we are committed. | https://blog.medium.com/medium-diversity-and-inclusion-a90062f8e39d | ['Raquel Munoz'] | 2018-04-03 20:06:56.289000+00:00 | ['Diversity', 'Inclusion', 'Corporate Culture', 'Company'] |
Celer Network Partners with NEO to Improve Scalability and Usability of NEO dApp Ecosystem for Mass Adoption | Celer Network Partners with NEO to Improve Scalability and Usability of NEO dApp Ecosystem for Mass Adoption Celer Network Follow Sep 17, 2019 · 3 min read
Celer Network’s partnership with NEO, one of the largest public blockchains with a flourishing Smart Economy dApp ecosystem and a huge global community, kicks off today.
Both Celer Network and NEO are looking to be inspired by each other throughout the win-win partnership. NEO will integrate Celer Network’s layer-2 scaling technology to significantly expand the scalability and usability of its dApps. Meanwhile, Celer will benefit from the vigorous march of NEO 2.0 and tapping into NEO’s diverse dApps ecosystem. The cooperation has started and the initial smart contract support is scheduled to be completed in Q4 2019. To help power Celer’s State Guardian Network to secure off-chain states, NEO Foundation is committed to staking CELR tokens and aims to become one of the major nodes on the Celer Network.
As a globally well-known dApp platform, NEO blockchain has reached the high ground of the dApp ecosystem, and the heat is still rising. NEO’s “Smart Economy” concept pieces together digital assets, digital identity, and smart contracts by establishing a distributed network.
The leading dApps on the NEO blockchain include Nash Exchange (NEX), a non-custodial cryptocurrency exchange, Switcheo(SWTH), a cross-chain dex based on NEO protocol, Qlink, a decentralized mobile network for P2Peer WiFi sharing, mobile data converted content distribution, enterprise telecom services, and crowd-sourcing, and so many more. NEO blockchain also has a large user base and community around the globe with a deep root and a long history in China.
To facilitate the continued growth of NEO’s dApp ecosystem and solve the scalability challenge, NEO has been reaching out for a suitable layer-2 scaling solution. NEO eventually fixed its eyes on Celer Network, whose technology advancement, product strategy and execution capacity have proven to be superb.
The integration will break into two phases.
To start with, NEO engineering team will work on writing Celer’s generalized state channel smart contract in C# which can run on the NEO smart contract VM smoothly with close support from Celer team. The open-source code, contributed by NEO and Celer team, will then merge into Celer’s cChannel smart contract repo. This is expected to be in place in Q4 2019.
The second step will connect Celer’s layer-2 system components, such as Celer Node and State Guardian Network, to the Celer Network’s generalized state channel smart contracts on NEO. Celer’s engineering team will contribute to the successful integration and guide the integration towards the Unified State Channel Standard. It is foreseen that, in the near future, a wide range of dApps in the NEO ecosystem including distributed exchanges, games, and payment will be blessed with Celer Network technology and CelerX eSport Gaming SDK. This is estimated to be initially released in Q1 2020.
Celer’s Cryptoeconomics Design
Besides technology integration, NEO and Celer will also collaborate on marketing and community building in China and across the globe. Both teams look forward to a fruitful long-term strategic partnership.
Follow Celer Network: | https://medium.com/celer-network/celer-neo-508de9e3ead7 | ['Celer Network'] | 2019-09-17 01:31:50.483000+00:00 | ['Celernetwork', 'Celerpartners', 'Blockchain'] |
Learning Rust — Printing ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ on console | Photo by Chris Ried on Unsplash
Rust is a rather peculiar language and Twelve Days of Christmas is a rather peculiar poem. It is very simple to learn and involves a lot of repetition which makes it the perfect candidate to be printed out on a console screen via a simple Rust program.
The Rust Programming Language aka The Book is what I’m following to learn Rust these days. Learning from a book like this lets me find a lot more details than I would if I was learning from a youtube tutorial. This problem is listed as an exercise for self at the end of Chapter 3.
Problem: Print the lyrics to the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” taking advantage of the repetition in the song.
Here are the lyrics:
On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Six geese a laying, five gold rings, four calling birds
Three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying, five gold rings
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying
Five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Nine drummers drumming
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Ten pipers piping Nine drummers drumming, ten pipers piping
Drumming, piping, drumming, piping
Eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying
Five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Eleven ladies dancing, ten pipers piping, nine drummers drumming
Eight maids a milking, seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying
Five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve Lords a leaping, eleven ladies dancing, ten pipers piping
Nine, drummers drumming, eight maids a milking
Seven swans a swimming, six geese a laying
And five gold rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree, and a partridge in a pear tree
Yeah, just skip over it, here’s how I break down this problem:
for i = 1 to 12
print('On the {i}th day of Christmas my true love sent to me')
for j = i to 1
print({the appropriate gift for the gift day})
Thinking back, I probably should have done this using arrays and stuff so it had better readability but at that time, I was just thinking about how to make it work.
So here’s the final code:
Code for Twelve Days of Christmas Carol with Rust
If this code helped you, be sure to STAR this gist and if you’d like to suggest changes in the code, comment on the gist here.
Best Regards,
Krona Emmanuel 👑 | https://medium.com/@kronaemmanuel/learning-rust-printing-twelve-days-of-christmas-on-console-eb1f864ded2e | [] | 2020-03-18 20:23:17.033000+00:00 | ['Twelve Days Of Christmas', 'Learning Rust', 'Console Application', 'Rust'] |
隨著電動車起飛的充電樁市場 (4) — 直流快速充電佔號稱 NO1 — EVgo | 營運催化劑
(1) 反向併購上市
預計 2021 年第二季度可以完成反向併購上市。融資後估值約為 26 億美元，交易完成後的 5.7 億美元將用於擴大建設充電基礎設施。
(2) 與 GM 的合作
預計 2021 年第二季開始上路。預計在 5 年內為 GM 新蓋 2750 個充電樁 (EV chargers)，在沒有任何拖延的前提下，平均 1 年可增加 550 個充電樁，目前 EVgo 共有 1412 個充電樁，營運可望吞下大補丹。
(3) 拜登基礎建設計畫
拜登總統於 2021 年 3 月 31 日推出基礎建設計畫 - 《美國就業計畫》(The American Jobs Plan)，共有四大面向，為 (1) Transportation Infrastructure，6210 億美元、(2) Infrastructure at home， 6500 億美、(3) Research and development，workforce development and manufacturing，5800億美元與 (4) Care Economic，4000億美元。
相關細節如下，其中與充電樁相關的為 (1) Transportation Infrastructure 中的 6210 億美元的預算，將對電動車的投資將為 1740 億美元，消費者購買美製電動車時將獲得折讓 (rebates)，或者是稅務優惠( tax incentives)。
該計畫將為州和地方政府、私人部門建立撥款和激勵計劃，目標是在 2030年前建立一個全美充電網絡，將包含 50 萬個電動車充電樁(EV chargers)；另外，還要更換 5 萬輛運輸用柴油車，並使美國至少 20% 的黃色校車電動化，並將包含美國郵政局在內所擁有的聯邦車隊改用電動車。
FACT SHEET: The American Jobs Plan Create good jobs electrifying vehicles. U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is only one-third the size of the Chinese EV market. The President believes that must change. He is proposing a $174 billion investment to win the EV market. His plan will enable automakers to spur domestic supply chains from raw materials to parts, retool factories to compete globally, and support American workers to make batteries and EVs. It will give consumers point of sale rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made EVs, while ensuring that these vehicles are affordable for all families and manufactured by workers with good jobs. It will establish grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, while promoting strong labor, training, and installation standards. His plan also will replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 percent of our yellow school bus fleet through a new Clean Buses for Kids Program at the Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Department of Energy. These investments will set us on a path to 100 percent clean buses, while ensuring that the American workforce is trained to operate and maintain this 21st century infrastructure. Finally, it will utilize the vast tools of federal procurement to electrify the federal fleet, including the United States Postal Service.
根據媒體報導，美國交通部的信件顯示，提供給消費者的購車折讓 (rebates) 將高達 1000 億美元 (對 GM 與 Tesla 有利)，稅務優惠( tax incentives)將有 140 億美元， 50 萬座充電樁則是會有 150 億美元的預算，電動校車有 200 億美元。
Biden plan calls for $100 billion in new EV consumer rebates WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s $174 billion proposal to boost electric vehicles calls for $100 billion in new consumer rebates and $15 billion to build 500,000 new electric vehicle charging stations, according to a U.S. Transportation Department email sent to congressional staff and seen by Reuters. The EV rebates, part of a $2.3 trillion infrastructure and jobs proposal, could be a big boost to U.S. automakers, especially General Motors and Tesla Inc., which no longer qualify for $7,500 tax credits after they sold more than 200,000 zero-emission models. The White House declined to say how the $100 billion would be distributed or how much the grants will be. In 2019, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer proposed awarding $392 billion in subsidies for owners to trade in gasoline-powered vehicles at least eight years old and in driving condition for EVs, plug-in hybrid or fuel-cell cars. The old vehicles would be scrapped. The Biden plan also calls for $20 billion for electric school buses, $25 billion for zero emission transit vehicles and $14 billion in other EV tax incentives. Treasury said in a report the proposed incentives are “to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles and efficient electric appliances.”
目前美國約有 4 萬多座的充電站、10 萬個左右的充電樁，若能在 2030 年前達成目標，約有 4 倍的成長空間。
美國財政部也於 2021 年 4 月 7 日發布一份報告，詳述拜登政府擬議中的新稅法，認為新稅改將為美國在 15 年內帶來 2.5 兆美元的資金，可用來投入包含基礎設施、綠色投資及社會福利等領域的 8 年財政支出計畫。
Replacing Subsidies for Fossil Fuels with Incentives for Clean Energy Production Climate change is already impacting homes, businesses, communities, and farms. If left unchecked, the damage from both extreme heat and extreme cold, devastating storms and wildfires, droughts, and other disruptions are predicted to grow. Today the tax code contributes to climate change by providing significant tax preferences and subsidies for the oil and gas industry. The President’s tax plan would remove subsidies for fossil fuel companies, while providing incentives to reposition the United States as a global leader in clean energy and to ensure that our infrastructure is resilient to storms, floods, fires, and rising sea levels. Targeted investments in a clean and resilient energy future would also boost jobs for American workers and address environmental injustices. The Made in America tax plan would advance clean electricity production by providing a ten-year extension of the production tax credit and investment tax credit for clean energy generation and storage, and making those credits direct pay. Together with nontax initiatives, like the Energy Efficiency and Clean Electricity Standard, the plan sets the country on a path to 100 percent carbon pollution free electricity by 2035. In addition to addressing climate change, analysis by an independent think tank suggests that plans like the President’s would also lead to a dramatic reduction in local air pollution, reducing premature deaths from breathing polluted air by at least two-thirds. Low-income and minority households are more likely to live in communities with poor air quality, so these benefits would help address equity concerns as well. The President’s plan would also create a new tax incentive for long-distance transmission lines to ensure that clean energy can be carried to cities, homes, and businesses. The plan further expands the tax incentives available for electricity storage projects. These incentives would help ensure that the electricity supply is reliable as well as less harmful to the climate. Recognizing the importance of supporting nascent technologies to help fight climate change, the President’s plan calls for tax incentives for state-of-the-art carbon capture and sequestration projects. The President’s plan also includes specific supports for clean energy manufacturing, including an extension of the 48C tax credit program. Finally, the President’s plan includes a blender’s tax credit for sustainable aviation fuel, enabling the decarbonization of a key portion of the U.S. transportation sector. Innovation in these areas could have large spillover benefits to our industrial sector as well as to global efforts to address climate change. Taken together, the President’s tax incentives would help precipitate a shift toward cleaner energy and create high-paying jobs in green industries. For consumers, the President proposes incentives to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles and efficient electric appliances. New incentives, combined with other government investments in the infrastructure for electric vehicles, can help overcome consumers reluctance to start using new technologies and make these technologies available to the consumers that need them most.
該報告還宣示，將結束長期以來對化石燃料的補貼，並將因此在未來的 10 年內獲得 350 億美元的資金，將得以推出針對清潔能源的稅賦補貼，以鼓勵消費者轉向電動汽車和高效率電器。
當然，拜登的《美國就業計畫》(The American Jobs Plan)還尚未獲得通過，將持續面臨著來自共和黨的反對，但還是相當值得期待。 白宮方面，希望在 5 月 31 日的 Memorial Day 前就可以取得進展。 眾議院運輸和基礎設施委員會主席 - Peter DeFazio 曾表示該委員會可能在5月第三周完成相關立法工作。
(4) 與 Tesla 的合作
在美國，不同車廠的電動車使用不同的充電標準和充電槍類型，在沒有轉接頭的情況下，這些標準是不可互換，美國目前既有的三種標準為 CCS，CHAdeMO 和 Tesla。
不需要轉接頭，EVgo 充電樁就可提供充電服務給所有的電動車品牌；其充電樁通常同時包含 CCS 和 CHAdeMO 電纜，某些充電樁還整合進 Tesla 充電槍，是目前市場上少見的設計 (可與 BLNK 與 CHPT 做比較)，可望大幅提升消費者體驗。
從上圖可看到，EVgo 充電樁是少數搭載三個充電槍的充電設備，即包含在美國通用的三個標準。
EVgo 與多家供應商保持長期合作關係，將充電樁的生產與安裝都外包，充電樁製造商包含 BTC、ABB、Signet 和 Delta 等，其軟體平台則與 EV 充電管理平台 - Driivz 進行密切合作。
EVgo 主要負責設計新一代由軟體定義的 DC 快速充電樁架構，該架構讓數台電動車同時連接到單一充電樁時，可達到動態共享功率輸出的功能。EVgo 相信該技術可減少前期資金和運營成本的投入、最大化投資報酬率、提高運營靈活性，並降低運營風險，還提高了擴充性，並標準化零件，達到降低硬體成本的目標。
早於 2019 年 12 月，EVgo 就成為首間獲得全球電動車霸主 - Tesla 的獨家授權，可謂對其集成式管理系統的一種肯定。
Tesla 與傳統車廠不同，在初期就開始廣建超級充電站解決里程焦慮問題，雞生蛋、蛋生雞的困境解除後，銷售量就順勢而起，在美國電動車市場的市佔率高達 80%，而與 EVgo 合作可完善超級充電站的不足之處 ( 建置 80 個 Supercharger V3，或耗費 130 萬美元)，尤其 EVgo 快充站不需額外添購轉接頭，使用者體驗將更上層樓。
在 2021 年 2 月，EVgo 宣布既有快充站將追加 400 支 Tesla 充電槍，今年在舊金山、洛杉磯、聖地亞哥、西雅圖、丹佛、達拉斯、奧斯丁、華盛頓特區鹽湖城和邁阿密等城市新增的充電站，還將預留 200 支 Tesla 充電槍的位置，總計將達 600 支。
Tesla 於 FY21 全球銷售量預期將有 80 萬台，亦將有助 EVgo 的營運。
EVgo 於舊金山與洛杉磯設置支援 Tesla 充電槍，並計劃持續增加可為 Tesla 電動車充電的 DCFC 快充站。
目前全球的充電站都還處於建置階段， Tesla 已開始開放其生態系統給其他業者使用。對 Tesla 而言，早期的排外機制可以讓車主享有尊榮感 (如 Facebook 早期只有哈佛學生可以註冊)，但是開放其充電規格、充電站或其他技術給同業使用將可盡快擴大電動車市場。
畢竟 Elon Musk 的眼光是放在火星，電動車與太陽能業務都只是他達成策略的眾多手段之一。
對充電站業者而言，目前仍是高速成長期，但總有一天會像加油站一樣普及 (目前美國約有 16 萬座的加油站)，到時候各充電廠商要比的可能就不再是規模了，而是客戶滿意度。 | https://medium.com/@losky/%E9%9A%A8%E8%91%97%E9%9B%BB%E5%8B%95%E8%BB%8A%E8%B5%B7%E9%A3%9B%E7%9A%84%E5%85%85%E9%9B%BB%E6%A8%81%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4-4-%E7%9B%B4%E6%B5%81%E5%BF%AB%E9%80%9F%E5%85%85%E9%9B%BB%E4%BD%94%E8%99%9F%E7%A8%B1-no1-evgo-8527f81cd05 | [] | 2021-05-05 00:58:27.787000+00:00 | ['Fast Charging', 'Charger', 'Electric Vehicles', 'Tesla', 'Electric Car'] |
Vue Authentication Using Sendy Auth Plugin | Configuring Sendy Auth
The options object includes a number of properties that can be used to configure the plugin.
driver (string)
The driver property sets the social authentication driver that will be used when performing social authentication. If a driver is not defined in the object then the app will default to using Google.
NOTE: Currently, the plugin only supports the ‘Google’ driver.
authUrl (string)
In case there is an internal authentication endpoint that is required in your application, this is where you define it. This property is also used for basic authentication that shall be covered in the second part of the series.
NOTE: For social authentication, if this is provided then the payload that will be sent to the url will be the email and password (token) obtained from the social providers.
configs
The configs property further customises the driver. It’s an object whose keys should be supported drivers only. Each definition is an object with the necessary driver configurations. For example Google’s config object expects a clientId that is used to access google apis (gapi).
configs: { google: { clientId: //enter your google api token here as a string } }
Sendy auth automatically registers two components in the global Vue instance:- the social auth and the basic auth component. | https://medium.com/sendyit/social-basic-authentication-for-vue-applications-using-sendy-auth-plugin-5b355ac047cd | ['Francis Kisiara'] | 2019-09-19 09:54:23.990000+00:00 | ['Front End Development', 'JavaScript', 'Plugins', 'Vuejs'] |
Web App for Healthcare: Case From Practice | Since the healthcare topic is quite popular now, I decided to share with you our exciting experience in developing a web application for patients. It was a large and severe project which IntexSoft’s (the company I work in) team was working on for several years.
I have to omit all names and some details for certain reasons: the screenshots in the article also serve a demonstration purpose only — the real application looks a little different, but I hope you will still enjoy this article.
Background
The client urgently needed to extend the team to develop the application. And since we already had a positive experience of cooperation, they turned to us.
The product itself is a large-scale, multifunctional web application that allows you to quickly find a doctor of any specialization, make an appointment, or receive an online consultation.
Our team worked only on a part of the functionality, and particularly these features we will discuss in this article.
Key tasks and solution
Below I will describe the main tasks that were set for our team and the way we solved them.
1. Facilitate the process of posting video content for content managers
The application has a partner information section that contains a lot of video files. To accomplish the task, we used the Brightcove service, which allowed us to compress video files to the necessary parameters and assign a specific ID to each video. This speeds up the loading of video content and makes the process of placing files easier.
2. Customize the search for the needed specialist by location
The application has a separate unit allowing to quickly find the doctor you need: the user can go to the page, chose a specific state/district and see the locations of partner doctors on the map with all the necessary additional information, and make an appointment, or contact a specialist for online consultations. To implement this feature, we used Google Maps.
We also developed a special React component, which allows to filter locations and display only those regions where partner doctors are available
3. Develop a COVID-19 info block
The client requested to create a section, which contains all the most relevant information about the virus and the epidemiological situation. By following the link from the pop-up banner, the patient can make an appointment, or request an online consultation.
4. Make the app accessible for people with disabilities
One of the most important tasks of the project was to adapt the application for people with visual impairments. For this task, on all pages, we used HTML Accessibility, which allows users to listen and navigate the content of the app. Voicing is carried out via screen readers — VoiceOver for macOS and iOS, TalkBack for Android, and NV Access for Windows.
By the way, if you are interested in the topic of Accessibility, then you might also like the interview with our Accessibility testing specialist.
5. Simplify content management for admins
The application contains a section of diseases that are studied and treated at the medical center. This section contains detailed information about diseases and real cases.
When creating this section, we used CKEditor to facilitate the work of content managers. For the detailed display of specific objects — blocks with quotes, galleries, blocks with relevant stories, etc. — we developed additional plugins. When creating an object, a content manager can select a ready-made template for a certain block, then insert a text and everything will be displayed on the screen in the required format.
For the block of diseases, we also developed a plugin that allows content managers to add videos from other services to CKEditor.
6. Set up localization
To configure localization, we developed a separate component on React, which allows users to switch between different languages (10 languages).
7. Speed up page loading time
The application has a complex menu, which could slow down the loading of pages. Based on the client’s requirements, we created HTML documents with a menu item title and the necessary data, and then these documents were added to the project. When you first enter the website, the menu is loaded and cached, which speeds up the work of the application.
The app also contains many other static elements. Not to overload the servers, different levels of caching are used there. The first level is performed via Symfony, which acts as a link for the frontend and Drupal, and when the page is fully formed, everything is cached via Varnish.
8. Make the app responsive
Our team faced the task of adapting the application interface to the main types of modern devices — computers, tablets, and smartphones. In this regard, the client’s designers created a separate design for each type of device. To implement this, we used a grid-based layout system. Thus, depending on the device screen parameters, the application interface is displayed in the relevant size.
Since the app has a lot of graphic content, it also had to be adapted so that the images uploaded in the original size would not slow down the page loading on mobile devices. For this, our experts developed a special module for Drupal. Now, when adding the content, it is necessary to upload only one picture of the original size, and the module creates 3 copies of different quality for certain devices and loads what is needed.
Final functionality of the application
For users:
search for a doctor by region/competency;
making an appointment or an online consultation;
multilingualism (10 languages);
accessibility for people with visual impairments;
blocks with useful information for patients and doctors;
adaptability for the main types of modern devices.
ready-made templates for certain types of content;
simplified management of text, graphic, and video content.
For administrators:
ready-made templates for certain types of content;
simplified management of text, graphic, and video content.
Technologies used
Frontend: HTML5, scss, React, Lodash, jQuery, Babel
Backend: PHP, Symfony, Nginx
CMS: Drupal
Database: MySQL
VCS: Jenkins
Other: Varnish, CKEditor, BrightcoveSusy
Summarizing
As a result, the client received a multifunctional web application that greatly simplifies the process of finding the necessary medical specialist for end users, as well as simplifies the content management process for site administrators.
P.S. If you are interested in this kind of articles, write in the comments below or just clap. I will try to share such real cases from practice more often. | https://medium.com/quick-code/case-from-practice-web-app-for-healthcare-d8cd231de083 | ['Andrej Suschevich'] | 2020-07-27 11:32:05.695000+00:00 | ['Nginx', 'PHP', 'Healthcare', 'Web Development', 'React'] |
Angular Observable Stores— or How to Pass Info Between Components, With Encapsulation. | *This article assumes a basic familiarity with rxjs observables.*
Last week I saw a post on dev.to by Nicolas Larrode titled ‘Communicate between Angular components.’ In the article, he detailed a simple service that allowed data to be passed between components by using a service that exposed a Subject.
If you’re not familiar with a Subject, just think of it as a two-way Observable. You can subscribe to it, sure, but you can also push values to all of its subscribers. Like so:
So in the article, Nicolas describes how we can use a subject in a service as a way to pass items between components. We do this by having both components inject the service, which is a singleton, meaning they both have the SAME instance of the service.
The service contains a Subject which is public. Component A can subscribe to it just as it would an observable. Component B can then call the next method on the subject, passing the value it wants Component A to be aware of.
I created a stackblitz to show the whole thing in action:
As it stands, this code is definitely useful. But it has some issues from an OOP perspective. We have our Subject hanging out where anyone can just push whatever they want by calling the next method, and when they do every subscriber reacts. This means that each of our subscribers needs to be aware of what all the others are doing at all times, so they don’t get caught off-guard with an unexpected value.
Take the example from the stackblitz above. We have two sibling components subscribed to the DataService. Both take whatever greeting the service provides and dutifully repeat it to their sibling. If you enter “Hello”, in the textbox and submit, they say: ‘Hello Brother!’ and ‘Hello Sister!’. What if sister wanted to cause some trouble though, she could call this code:
dataService.next("Shut up");
this.greeting = "Please don't say that, I love you ";
See the problem here? Sister is able to make brother say whatever she wants.
Say we want to prevent such foul language from being used between siblings. All we’d have to do is go into brother’s code and scrub the output, so that if the message was “shut up” we replace it with “I love you.” Something like this:
if(greeting.toLowerCase() === 'shut up'){
filteredGreeting = 'Tell me more';
}
Simple, now brother will never say shut up again. We probably need to copy that same code over to sister too.
I don’t like this.
Here’s how we fix it:
First, a brief aside. I like to use a BehaviorSubject for this. It’s a lot like a Subject, with one important difference. When an object subscribes, they don’t have to wait for a new value to be emitted, they get the last value that was emitted. Which is nice for storing state in our app.
So as before, we’ll have a couple of components and a service. The sibling components will subscribe to the ‘data’ being exposed by the service. From their perspective, not much changes.
The service is where the magic happens. We’re going from this:
To this:
A few things changed. The first thing you’ll notice is this line:
private _data: BehaviorSubject<string> = new BehaviorSubject('');
We made a private BehaviorSubject. No components can push data to it, they can’t even subscribe to it. We also had to pass an initial value to its constructor. Since subscribers get the last value immediately after signing up, you have to give an initial value, even if it is empty.
public get Data(): Observable<string>{ return this._data.asObservable(); }
Secondly, we created a public property to expose only the observable portion of our BehaviorSubject. This is what components will see. Just an observable they can subscribe to. If they want to change the greeting, they have to call SetGreeting.
SetGreeting(greeting: string){
this._data.next(filteredGreeting);
}
Here we push to our private variable, which is seen by our components that have subscribed to the observable portion. This method is where we could put the filtering logic I mentioned earlier.
We now have a service that provides a view of our data, but is much more loosely coupled to its subscribers than the previous implimentation.
See the ‘before’ code here: https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-itfpzv
and the ‘after’ here: https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-qjrdry
I hope this helps you when you need a simple store. If you have complex state, consider ngrx. I’ll do another article on that soon. | https://medium.com/swlh/angular-observable-stores-or-how-to-pass-info-between-components-with-encapsulation-f8aff60c42d1 | ['Justin Miles'] | 2020-09-12 14:47:57.479000+00:00 | ['Observables', 'JavaScript', 'Typescript', 'Web Development', 'Angular'] |
Breaking news: an alternative to React | Recently I was reading some articles, in order to stay ahead of the latest trends within the ecosystem of my favorite framework Ruby on Rails, and I came across an article that read: “There is absolutely no technical needs for RoR devs to use ReactJS “. Clearly it was something that caught my attention, and I had a question that helped me to dig deeper into the subject: Why go against a library as popular as React?
In order to better understand how this can be possible, we should decompose the final solution into different portions that synergistically work to improve development productivity (something common in Rails) and simplify the development team, and process, removing diversity from it.
The elements of this recipe are the following, some of these will be covered in this article, and others we will leave for another opportunity:
Ruby on Rails
If we have to do a brief review of what is Ruby on Rails (RoR for simplicity), it is a framework written in Ruby, an object-oriented programming language, with a very simple and readable syntax, it is used by technology companies such as Github, Gitlab, Airbnb, Shopify, among others.
Since it has many first-rate technology companies, which base their products on this technology, many of them contribute to the growth, improvement and generation of new ideas within the Rails ecosystem.
ViewComponent
This is a frontend framework that allows us to decompose views into components, thinking of them as blocks that contain only the necessary information and to which certain behavior can be added according to the information they receive.
We can think of the components as an evolution of the Decorator Pattern, since in the end, it fulfills a similar but enriched function.
The components are Ruby objects, with a well-defined interface with which we have the certainty of the input and output information, allowing us to improve the unit tests on them, as we will see later in their benefits.
Stimulus
This Javascript microframework emerged from Basecamp (the company from which RoR emerged), comes to replace other libraries such as JQuery, or Vanilla Javascript, allowing us to define controllers that add behavior to our HTML.
StimulusReflex
Library that allows us to extend the functionalities of both RoR and Stimulus. The ultimate purpose of this library is to intercept interactions with the application by the user and send them in real time (over Websockets) to be handled by Rails.
It is responsible for managing the state of the application and the changes applied to the interfaces, achieving update rates of between 20–30 ms.
CableReady
Gem that allows the creation of applications to generate real-time experiences for users. It uses sockets provided by ActionCable, a framework present in RoR.
Now, all these new components at first glance can be scary, especially when they seem to introduce unnecessary complexity, but the truth is that many of them work with a minimum amount of effort in configuration and code, for example between StimulusReflex + CableReady. In other cases, they are libraries that replace others, such as ViewComponent, which replaces the use of Partials.
Benefits of removing front-end frameworks
At this point, I want to highlight the main benefits that we identify and adhere to with respect to avoiding introducing a frontend framework or library (React, Angular, Vue, etc).
Use the same RESTFul application that we have, we don’t need to define endpoints or anything extra.
The rendering is kept on the server side, allowing to use ERB, Slim, HAML, etc.
Keeping the rendering on the server side, no longer implies reloading the entire page when a change is made, rather with the help of these technologies, we only change the parts of the view that are needed, thus improving the general performance and the usability.
The development team remains less diversified in technologies, allowing to maintain a solid background in it.
Progressive inclusion, which removes a “Yes or No” panorama, since all these technologies can be incorporated little by little, replacing and refactoring existing code perhaps?
Centralization of business logic
In this first iteration about new trends and the development of modern applications with RoR, we are going to delve a little more about ViewComponents, leaving the other components for another time.
What is a component and why is it important?
In its most simplistic form, a component is a Ruby object that returns HTML. The main benefits that we obtain from using them are:
Reuse: Allowing us to take advantage of the components defined in different situations throughout the project. Testing: Acceptance or integration tests are already solved in Rails, through the SystemTests or IntegrationTests, but these must run the entire server, load base information and execute the entire life cycle, something expensive both in the time it takes its execution, like its writing. Through the use of components, we can perform unit tests on them, being these simpler to write and faster to execute their tests. Performance: In point 1 I talked about the re-use that allows us to carry out the components, this was already solved to a certain extent with the use of Partials, but the components give us superior performance, according to the benchmarks made by the developers up to 10x compared to the original Partials.
What does a component look like?
If we refer to the initial documentation of the framework provided by the Github team, we can find all the details about how exactly it works, how to install, the generators it provides.
What we should know is that now, our original views inside the app/views/ * directory will make use of the render method and the instances of our components that we have defined will show the output.
These components will be contained within the app/components/* directory and each of them has two files, which must be named the same, a file with an .rb extension and a file with an .html.erb extension (or any rendering engine that we use, eg: HAML, SLIM, etc.).
app/views/posts/new.html.slim
= render PostForm::Component.new(post: @post)
As we saw before, in this way what we do is render the component instance, with a parameter, which in this case is a new instance of the Post class
app/components/post_form/component.rb
module PostForm
class Component < ViewComponent::Base
def initialize(post:)
@post = post
end private attr_reader :post
end
end
This would be our definition of the class that we are instantiating in our view. Here we could define certain methods that give behavior to the component according to the information we pass. Similar to what we can do using a decorator pattern.
app/components/post_form/component.html.slim
= simple_form_for sale do |f|
= f.input :title
= f.input :body = f.button :submit, class: 'btn btn-sm btn-primary float-right'
And finally, we have our component with an HTML extension, which will finally be what our returns to be shown in the view.
References
https://stimulusjs.org/
https://rubyonrails.org/
https://docs.stimulusreflex.com/
https://cableready.stimulusreflex.com/
viewcomponent.org
https://medium.com/@obie/react-is-dead-long-live-reactive-rails-long-live-stimulusreflex-and-viewcomponent-cd061e2b0fe2 | https://medium.com/arionkoder/asd-d413985d3114 | ['Edgardo Martin Gerez'] | 2020-11-05 20:53:12.573000+00:00 | ['React', 'Software Development', 'Components', 'Programming'] |
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