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Recovering the original image from the image having noise using KNN(MNIST handwritten digit classification dataset) | Introduction: We will be demonstrating how to use KNN for multi-class and multi-output classification. Also, we will be discussing, how to add noise to an image and then recover the original image using KNN.
Information about the dataset: It is a dataset of 60,000 small square 28×28 pixel grayscale images of handwritten single digits between 0 and 9. The task is to classify a given image of a handwritten digit into one of 10 classes representing integer values from 0 to 9, inclusively.
Link: https://www.kaggle.com/c/digit-recognizer/data
Prerequisites: Machine Learning, knowledge of K-Nearest-Neighbors Algorithm
We will be starting with importing the dataset.
We have loaded the dataset
2. Now, since we already have the training dataset and test dataset divided. So, we will be defining X_train and y_train.
Defining y_train
The X_train contains original pixel values of the handwritten digits.
3. We will be plotting an original image using matplotlib. As, it is clear that the digit is ‘4’. When we verified for the label of the digit using y_train, we found the respective digit is associated with label ‘4’ respectively.
Plotting the digit and then checking for it’s label.
5. Now, we will be introducing the noise in the pixel intensities of the original digits using the randint() function of numpy library. numpy.random.randint() is one of the functions for doing random sampling in NumPy. It returns an array of specified shape and fills it with random integers from low (inclusive) to high (exclusive), i.e. in the interval [low, high).
6. Let’s load the test dataset
We have loaded the test dataset and defined X_test
7. We will be adding noise to our dataset
8. Let us take a peek of our dataset
9. Our next step will be training a KNN model for multi-output classification. Here, we will X_train_mod is the original X_test to which the noise has been added or in other words, the noise has been added to their pixel intensities. The y_train and y_test are the original X_train and X_test respectively.
10. The final step will be cleaning the image to get our original image.
Happy day folks! | https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/recovering-the-original-image-from-the-image-having-noise-using-knn-mnist-handwritten-digit-530edf39587e | ['Akshat Dubey'] | 2020-04-02 05:39:51.963000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science', 'Classification', 'K Nearest Neighbours'] |
10 things every new freelancer needs to know before they begin | 10 things every new freelancer needs to know before they begin Vanshika Mehta Apr 20·13 min read
Disclaimer: Read time: 13 minutes
Picture this — you’re in your final year of college, and it’s time to apply for a job that will kickstart your career. The advice your college counsellor gives you at this point is standard, and comes nicely segmented into three parts — work on your CV/resume, Polish your interviewing and soft skills and lastly build a presence on Linkedin. Once you receive this advice, you start working diligently on each of these to be ‘the best candidate’ for the job, since you’re aware peers from your school and beyond will be putting their best foot forward. There is competition in the air!
When you’re undergoing this process, you’re assessed on two and only two aspects
Are you be the best fit for this job — skill-wise and culture-wise? Are you someone they perceive will grow in the organisation?
Check these two off, and you’re going to be hired.
Processes are great and having clarity on what the steps needed to get to a goal, are also great.
Unfortunately, there are no ‘steps to start freelancing’ guide or tales that come down the generations. Freelancing is such a new type of career path — every single day there is something to learn from/about.
How do you start freelancing?
Simple answer: You Google the hell out of this question, and find scraps and bits on ‘how to begin’ and then you carve a path ‘to begin’, while battling with unsurety if you’re doing the right thing.. or not.
or,
You can read this article where I’ve tried to compile what the internet ‘says to do’, along with my real-life experience of jumping independent in January 2020.
Here’s my version of the story.
Step 1: Assess if this lifestyle and career choice is for you
Before I jumped independent, the two biggest questions I kept asking myself was ‘How will I manage?’ and ‘What if I don’t make any money?’
The answers that stuck out to me were:
How will I manage? — by acknowledging that I’m now an accountant, sales executive, marketing associate and more so the work-executor as well. Freelancing and working independently makes me a ‘single-man-show’
Acknowledgement > Denial
Along with that, whenever I stress about ‘how will I manage?’ I reach out to my mentor and other freelancers — the struggle is the same for all of us in this field. Every day is a day we learn something new.
The second question, ‘What if I don’t make any money?’ was the most daunting — The honest answer I gave myself to appease my throbbing heart, it’s okay, screw it. I’ll give myself three months and then assess.
Failing > Not trying
Are you really ready to answer the hard questions? — If the answer is not obvious, keep questioning.
If you happened to answer yes, let me throw in another perspective that might scare some of you, and might motivate some of you.
Jumping independent is scary.
Jumping independent is scary because your brain is suddenly going to throw in grey clouds of doubt. A lot of self-doubt, and a significant amount of doubt around ‘is this really for me?’ and more so, ‘what if I fail?’
You have two options:
Are you going to carry your umbrella and walk through the rain?
Or, are you going to stay home and wait for the weather to get better?
Now, knowing the parameters and the two biggest things that will most likely hinder your decision, if you’ve still decided to take your umbrella and walk out — this is for you.
Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
Step 2: Do a skill and market analysis
What am I good at? What will customers pay me for?
When you jump freelance, or independent — you are jumping into a ‘skill-and-demand economy’. Your clients will only want answers to two questions:
Is this person able to take on this project?
2. Why should I hire X over Y?
You have -the- skill, and now you need to create demand for it. Here’s how:
A skill-market analysis is very simple to carry out, and I would say requires not more than 2–3 hours. Here’s how you do it:
Write down all your hard skills, these are the skills that let you tackle/handle/carry out all job-specific duties and responsibilities. Now, associate a ‘task’ to each skill. For example, if you’re good at Adobe Photoshop you can become a graphic designer or a photo editor. Look at the list and now sort according to how much you’d like to do this every single day of your freelance career. This will also show you a skill-passion analysis Go on websites such as Fiverr, Freelancer.com, Truelancer or wherever you perceive you’ll get leads from — and look at the competition profile, and the money for each kind of task you’ve marked out. — Here, you might realise that a photo editor is paid higher than a graphic designer, for instance. Now, reevaluate your list basis the new information and try and create an approximate on how many projects you’ll be able to take up in a month and the income you’ll make. If that number sounds good to you, you’ve found your skill-market fit. You now know what skills will fetch you what amount of money, and in short, your ‘worth’
You are in a skill-driven market when you freelance, your demand will only be matched based on how lucrative or wanted it is.
Your skill is your service offering. Make it the Kohinoor in your crown!
Step 3: Define a market space you want to dominate in, and a niche that’ll help you do so
Your target market is not every small business in the world. Your target market is also not every small business in India.
This is where most freelancers go wrong, and they also overwhelm themselves.
Here’s an example of Dot Lung, an Instagram Strategist to the Rockstars, Misfits & Rebels. Here’s her website’s screenshot.
Dot Lung’s website screenshot
Helen Dibble Linkedin profile screenshot
Last but not least, here’s mine where I’ve niched down (after a lot of experimentation)
A short break down:
I only work in the domains of brand creation and building, storytelling and communications. I only work with small and medium (tech-based) businesses that are struggling to create and build their brand.
To define your niche and market segment, here’s a simple step-by-step guide:
Find your ‘big domain’ — for example, you are a content writer Research to find ‘niches’ within that ‘big domain’ — Case study writer, E-book writer, Blog writer or even Ghostwriter. Do a self-analysis and ask yourself ‘why me?’ Ask yourself tangible reasons why someone should trust you for the job they’re looking to get done! Look at the industries you are knowledgable about/passionate about/want to be in— is the industry big enough to generate a steady monthly income? is the industry booming/slumping? If the industry is stable/booming and you have an in-demand skill to that industry, you’ve found your niche and market space. Last but not the least -promote promote promote to the right target audience! —If your target market is funded companies in India who are looking for a technical content writer — then, go after that audience on Linkedin. Connect with people in the marketing team to understand if they’re looking for this skill and service you have.
Step 4: Build your portfolio/trust factors
This is the part where I got wound up, because it was chicken and egg. And the only way to beat a chicken and egg, is to crack the damn egg.
Two myths I need you to stop believing in
You need client(s) to have a portfolio You need to have a website to have a portfolio
All that your client needs to know at this point, is ‘Can they trust you?’ and for that, you must have a portfolio in place to make a ‘Yes’ obvious.
Answer these questions while creating your portfolio:
What do I need to show to prove I’m the best at this skill? What is the client looking for? What format works for my industry?
Start creating, start compiling. Don’t get too wound up on quantity, most likely your prospect will only check 1–3 deliverables, because attention span.
Then, the next thing that comes up is format.
There is no one ‘right’ format. I had my portfolio for the first 8–10 months on a Google Drive. It got me work, and it worked to convince clients. Check it out below. No bells and whistles, just work.
I only got a website once I felt the need to. It was a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. There’s no need to stress yourself out on this point!
Hint hint: Check out vanshichats.com
Since every industry has its own standards, you’ll have to see what works for you. It might mean that you need to upload it on a third-party website (Behance or Dribbble) — it all comes down to understanding what your peers are doing, and where clients are looking.
Tip: Be seen on public platforms if your major channel of getting clients is inbound.
Step 5: Define your pricing
Money, money, money! The hardest but also the simplest discussion.
Before you pitch client #1, you must know your pricing (hint: you’ve already done it above)
What’s a minimum viable price (MVP)?
Minimum viable price is the lowest price you’re willing to accept for a deliverable, based on what your research has told you — that’s your bracket of acceptance.
That’s theory. In reality it does not work just as seamlessly.
In reality, pricing is where all freelancers trip up, as if they were all walking wearing stilettos.
Photo by Gavin Allanwood on Unsplash
While this can be a whole article in itself, here’s my understanding of how to price, broken down, as simply as I can put it:
Understand the service you’re offering, and the MVP for the same Understand pricing models and what works in your industry and/or for your service (per hour, per word, project, value-based, or any other method you use) Take a consultative approach to chatting with prospects; get to know how ‘deep’ their problem is and how ‘large’ your solution is. The deeper the problem, the more money you can charge (theoretically). Also, logically, a large organisation will have more money to give out, than a smaller one. However, they too are smart — don’t take them on a ride! Look at your portfolio as a client, along with your work experience. Is there enough depth for the service you’re pitching? Calculate your project-specific MVP + margin (money you want to add on top of your MVP) Post the chat with the prospect, send an email with pricing, and go get yourself a chocolate. There is no ‘right answer’ to pricing, you have to figure it out based on understanding the project, the client, the problem, and even read between the lines with unspoken words.
If you’re liking what you’re reading, sign up to my newsletter to keep learning!
Step 6: The client funnel, and carrying out acquisition right
The freelance funnel looks something like this:
Accquisiton -> Consultation -> Pricing and Discussion -> Project -> Feedback
How do you acquire a customer?
There are only three ways in freelance, from my understanding:
Inbound (Personal brand, Content on your blog, Opt-in email lists, Community, Public speaking, Video content) Outbound (Emails, SEM marketing, Cold calling, Advertising, Direct Messages) Referrals (Lead passed from a third person who trusts you)
Accquisition is the first thing you need to focus on as a freelancer, then with the funnel.
Now, the problem with accquisition is it is not something you can ‘start and forget’ — it requires a behavioral change based on what method(s) you pick.
The funnel is basic math, that you have to tie back to a goal. In this instance let’s take money and projects as parameters.
If your acquisition channel is Linkedin, and you’ve picked outbound marketing wherein you’re reaching out to people actively:
Presumptions: You want to make INR 1L a month, and your MVP is INR 20,000.
To make 1L you need 5 clients, but to get 5 clients you need to talk to 20 prospects, and to talk to 20 prospects, you need to reach out to 60 prospects. Therefore, to reach out to 60 prospects, you need to send connection requests to 80 people a month. That is 3 per day.
Read that again.
It’s just 3 a day, but, how many of you will actually do this every day?, and along with that, some might convert sooner than you expected, some might delay, and some will just be… unresponsive!
If there is no response, then you need to up the numbers of outreach — it’s as dynamic as it gets. Maybe in one week you might need to do 5 a day. If no one responds in one week, then that gets added on to the next week.
It’s not a rush to ‘getting clients’ — it’s a rush to ‘getting the right kinds of clients’. Not every client is going to be a client you want to work with.
Accquisition stresses a lot of new freelancers out because they want to see ‘instant success’ — that’s a trap. The instant success will be ego-boosting but you need to focus on the larger picture.
Bottom line: Find an acquisition channel that works for you, and make sure you are putting in the work to get clients regularly. If not, it’s a waste to even think of freelancing.
Like I said earlier, you need to be the all-in-one when you’re freelancing, and do it in tandem. For example: I’m always pitching new clients even if I have existing ones — because it’s important to think ahead of just that client.
Step 7: Know your 30 second pitch for when you get on the call
“…. thanks for asking! Firstly, I help startups and growing businesses create and build a brand their consumers relate with, second, I clarify and solidify your brand communications and lastly, I assist you with business writing such as emails and pitch decks”
What’s yours?
Write this down on a sticky note, and when you’re on a call — read off it as many times as you need to, to get comfortable with the pitch. You cannot and should not fumble and tumble here.
This isn’t meant to be a paragraph, this is meant to get the conversation rolling with your prospect while you’re on the phone.
Make sure it’s crisp, tailored to them, and answers their questions. Get them talking after you say this!
— Now you have a client, and what’s next —
Step 8: Build a process to onboard the client
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
The first few interactions are going to be delicate with a new client -which is why I suggest everyone to spend time on doing this right.
For me, when I onboard a client, here’s my process which had taken me about 7–9 months to ‘fix’:
Send a statement of work detailing out all the work to be done, along with legalities to protect myself and lastly, timelines Send an invoice for the advance amount Send a standardized questionnaire based on the project to get the first information download Get on a call 2–5 days from the day the questionnaire was sent where I go through the questionnaire and fill in the gaps, or even clarify Get on the project Set up times to chat on the calendar, in advance so your client does not feel anxious of when they’ll hear from you next
Step 9: Think beyond just doing the work, think delight
Being in a service business, you are a solution-provider and therefore, just delivering is great, but not enough to build trust and retain the client.
You need to think of delight, and what ‘more’ you can do to the best you can for your client.
For example, a well-done job submitted earlier than expected, is delight or even if you went ahead and formatted your article better than requirements, is delight.
Submitting shabby deliverbales is not delight, and even more, not communicating with your client while you’re doing the project, making them anxious — is not delight.
Delight comes in many shapes and forms. As long as you’re making the experience great for them, delighting them, and satisfying their requirements — they will be happy, and retain as a happy client for longer than you expected.
Think delight > Just doing the work.
Photo by Hybrid on Unsplash
— You’ve finished the project, what’s next? —
Step 10: Offboard, and ask for a testimonial
Just as excited as you were to onboard your first client, you must also offboard them with that much excitement.
Here are some things I do to encourage a healthy relationship:
A closing email thanking them for trusting me A short note on learnings/things I enjoyed/things that might not have gone right, but were fixed Permission to use this project (once this goes live) on my website/collaterals A request for testimonial on Linkedin with bullet points on what they can write
A signing off note
First off, I hope this article helped you in either understanding what you can do to begin, or if you’ve begun, helped you direct your boat in the right direction. This article needs to be taken with a little marsala, since it is heavily based on my experience, and my thought process — this might not work for everyone, you might want to use it as a torchlight rather than the guidebook, and that’s okay.
If you’re liking what you’re reading, sign up to my newsletter to keep learning! | https://medium.com/@vanshichats/10-things-every-new-freelancer-needs-to-know-before-they-begin-e6e38d154afa | ['Vanshika Mehta'] | 2021-05-03 05:44:24.320000+00:00 | ['Career Advice', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Freelancing', 'Gig Economy', 'Freelancing Tips'] |
What are Facebook ads? | Edited by me| From Canva.com
What are Facebook ads?
There’re more than 3.80 billion daily active users on various social media platforms, an average user at least spends about three hours of his day on social media sites. This makes social media marketing the most important medium of marketing, and gaining more revenue through your business. Social media marketing is a term used for advertising on social media. There’re various social media platforms, with billions of users. Social media marketing is the best way to target the ads to the right person, through the information the advertisers have from their profile.
The advertisers, through the profile, have every information they need to know whether a certain user would be interested in their product or not. They’ve user’s geographical area, gender, age, job, and what their interests are.
What are Facebook ads?
Facebook, without a doubt, is the unchallenged king of the social media platforms. It has about 1.62 billion daily users, with each user spending thirty-eight minutes of his/her time on Facebook. Facebook ads is a product of the social media giant. These ads are targeted to a certain audience, They’re always according to the interests and preferences of the audience.
While posting an ad through Facebook Ad Manager, an advertiser is supposed to fill certain columns. There, the advertiser may write his potential customer’s characteristics. Through Facebook’s audience targeting, there is more chance of the ad getting a click than through any other marketing services, like Google AdWords.
How much Facebook ads cost?
On an average, one click of a Facebook ad costs the advertiser of around $0.55 to $1.72. Though it’s the average cost per click (Cost per click (CPC) is the amount of money charged with each click of a user), it isn’t the same cost in every industry. The costs may vary among industries. For example, the cost per click for an apparel may be about $0.45, while the cost for the insurance industries could be as high as $3.77. The cost per clicks of Apparel, retail and Travel and hospitality are the cheapest, starting at $0.45, $0.70, $0.63 per click, respectively.
The cost per click may also vary from country to country. With Czech Republic having the highest, $2.09 USD and the average for all the countries, $1.10 USD.
Are Facebook ads worth it?
Comparing Facebook ads with the other online marketing giant, Google ads, Facebooks ads is quite cheap. The average cost per click of a google ad is $2.69 while that of Facebook is $0.55. But even so, Facebook ads can also be very expensive. As, Facebook does not show ads everywhere, if Facebook did that, then it would lose users. So, what Facebook does is, asks its advertisers to bid against each other, which means that the advertisers have competition. But even so, once the ad is on, there is a great chance of being seen by interested people. Which will get you more customers. And if you think that nobody clicks on Facebook ads, then think again, Facebook made about $60 billion in revenue in 2020, which means you’re wrong. | https://medium.com/@k-thoughts/what-are-facebook-ads-cf7d316f78b | ['Kamal Imam'] | 2020-12-26 12:00:00.257000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Marketing Strategies', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Facebook', 'Facebook Marketing'] |
Spark Java Tutorial -Analyze Performance Of Students Using Spark | Spark Java Tutorial — Edureka
Java is an effective programming language in Software development and Scala is the dominant programming used in big-data development. The collaboration of both can yield a powerful combination. In this article, we shall work with Spark programs in Java environment. I have lined up the docket for our topic as below.
What is Spark-Java?
The Need for Spark-Java
Setting up Spark-Java environment
Examples in Spark-Java
Students Performance in the Examination: Use case
What is Spark-Java?
In simple terms, Spark-Java is a combined programming approach to Big-data problems. Spark Scala uses JVM to compile codes written in Scala. Spark supports many programming languages like Pig, Hive, Scala and many more. Scala is one of the most prominent programming languages ever built for Spark applications.
The Need for Spark-Java
Majority of the software developers feel comfortable working with Java at an enterprise level where they hardly prefer Scala or any such other type of languages. Spark-Java is one such approach where the software developers can run all the Scala programs and applications in the Java environment with ease.
Now we have a brief understanding of Spark Java, Let us now move on to our next stage where we shall learn about setting up the environment for Spark Java. I have lined up the procedure in the form of steps.
Setting up Spark-Java environment
Step 1:
Install the latest versions of the JDK and JRE.
Step 2:
Install the latest version of WinUtils.exe
Step 3:
Install the latest version of Apache Spark.
Step 4:
Install the latest version of Apache Maven.
Step 5:
Install the latest version of Eclipse Installer.
Step 6:
Install the latest version of Scala IDE.
Step 7:
Set home and path for the following:
Java Set a new Java_Home as shown below.
Similarly, Set Path for Java Home by editing Path variables
Hadoop
Set a new Hadoop_Home as shown below.
Similarly, Set Path for Hadoop Home by editing Path variables
Spark
Set a new Spark_Home as shown below.
Similarly, Set Path for Spark Home by editing Path variables
Maven
Set a new Maven_Home as shown below.
Similarly, Set Path for Maven Home by editing Path variables
Scala
Set a new Scala_Home as shown below.
Similarly, Set Path for Scala Home by editing Path variables
Now you are set with all the requirements to run Apache Spark on Java. Let us try an example of a Spark program in Java.
Examples in Spark-Java
Before we get started with actually executing a Spark example program in a Java environment, we need to achieve some prerequisites which I’ll mention below as steps for better understanding of the procedure.
Step 1:
Open the command prompt and start Spark in command prompt as a master.
Step 2:
Open a new command prompt and start Spark again in the command prompt and this time as a Worker along with the master’s IP Address.
The IP Address is available at Localhost:8080.
Step 3:
Open a new command prompt and now you can start up the Spark shell along with the master’s IP Address.
Step 4:
Now you can open up the Eclipse Enterprise IDE and set up your workplace and start with your project.
Step 5:
Set Scala nature on your Eclipse IDE and create a new maven project.
First, we shall begin with POM.XML
The following code is the pom.xml file
Step 6:
Begin with your Scala application.
The following code is for the Scala application file.
package ScalaExample
import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
import org.apache.spark.SparkContext._
import org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession
import org.apache.spark.sql.SQLContext
import org.apache.spark.sql._
import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{StructType, StructField, StringType, IntegerType};
object EdurekaApp {
def main(args: Array[String]) {
val logFile = "C:/spark/README.md" // Should be some file on your system
val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("EdurekaApp").setMaster("local[*]")
val sc = new SparkContext(conf)
val spark = SparkSession.builder.appName("Simple Application").getOrCreate()
val logData = spark.read.textFile(logFile).cache()
val numAs = logData.filter(line => line.contains("a")).count()
val numBs = logData.filter(line => line.contains("b")).count()
println(s"Lines with a: $numAs, Lines with b: $numBs")
spark.stop()
}
}
Output:
Lines with a: 62, Lines with b: 31
Now that we have a brief understanding of Spark Java, Let us move into our use case on Students academic performance so as to learn Spark Java in a much better way.
Students Performance in the Examination: Use Case
Similar to our previous example Let us set up our prerequisites and then, we shall begin with our Use Case. Our use case will about Students performance in the examinations conducted on a few important subjects.
This is how our code looks like, now let us perform one by one operation upon our use case.
The following code is the pom.xml file
The following code is for the Scala application file.
package ScalaExample
import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
import org.apache.spark.SparkContext
import org.apache.spark.SparkContext._
import org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession
import org.apache.spark.sql.SQLContext
import org.apache.spark.sql._
import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{StructType, StructField, StringType, IntegerType};
object EdurekaApp {
def main(args: Array[String]) {
val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("EdurekaApp3").setMaster("local[*]")
val sc = new SparkContext(conf)</pre>
val sqlContext = new SQLContext(sc)
val spark = SparkSession.builder.appName("Simple Application").getOrCreate()
val customizedSchema = StructType(Array(StructField("gender", StringType, true),StructField("race", StringType, true),StructField("parentalLevelOfEducation", StringType, true),StructField("lunch", StringType, true),StructField("testPreparationCourse", StringType, true),StructField("mathScore", IntegerType, true),StructField("readingScore", IntegerType, true),StructField("writingScore", IntegerType, true)))
val pathToFile = "C:/Users/Ravikiran/Downloads/students-performance-in-exams/StudentsPerformance.csv"
val DF = sqlContext.read.format("com.databricks.spark.csv").option("header", "true").schema(customizedSchema).load(pathToFile)
print("We are starting from here...!")
DF.rdd.cache()
DF.rdd.foreach(println)
println(DF.printSchema)
DF.registerTempTable("Student")
sqlContext.sql("SELECT * FROM Student").show()
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore FROM Student WHERE mathScore > 75").show()
sqlContext.sql("SELECT race, count(race) FROM Student GROUP BY race").show()
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore FROM Student").filter("readingScore>90").show()
sqlContext.sql("SELECT race, parentalLevelOfEducation FROM Student").distinct.show()
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore FROM Student WHERE mathScore> 75 and readingScore>90").show()
sqlContext("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore").dropDuplicates()</span>
println("We have finished here...!")
spark.stop()
}
}
The Output for the SparkSQL statements executed above are as follows:
Printing out data using println function.
DF.rdd.foreach(println)
Printing the schema that we designed for our data.
println(DF.printSchema)
Printing our Dataframe using the select command.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT * FROM Student").show()
Applying the function WHERE to print the data of the students who scored more than 75 in maths.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore FROM Student WHERE mathScore > 75").show()
Using Group By and Count operation to find out the number of students in each group.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT race, count(race) FROM Student GROUP BY race").show()
Using filter operation to find out the students who are proven to be the best in reading.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore FROM Student").filter("readingScore>90").show()
Using Distinct function to find out the distinct values in our data.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT race, parentalLevelOfEducation FROM Student").distinct.show()
Using And function to compare multiple entities.
sqlContext.sql("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore FROM Student WHERE mathScore> 75 and readingScore>90").show()
Using DropDuplicates function to remove duplicate entries.
sqlContext("SELECT gender, race, parentalLevelOfEducation, mathScore, readingScore").dropDuplicates().show()
So, with this, we come to an end of this Spark Java Tutorial article. I hope you enjoyed reading this article and enhanced your knowledge about Spark, Java and Eclipse.
So, with this, we come to an end of this Spark Java Tutorial article. I hope we sparked a little light upon your knowledge about Spark, Java and Eclipse their features and the various types of operations that can be performed using them.
So this is it! I hope this blog was informative and added value to your knowledge. If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies like Artificial Intelligence, DevOps, Ethical Hacking, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site.
Do look out for other articles in this series which will explain the various other aspects of Spark. | https://medium.com/edureka/spark-java-tutorial-cb2f54991c2b | ['Shubham Sinha'] | 2020-05-08 06:21:07.675000+00:00 | ['Spark Java', 'Apache Spark', 'Java', 'Spark', 'Big Data'] |
From GG to Riski — plotting in R has never been so simple | From GG to Riski — plotting in R has never been so simple Dor Ap Follow Jan 19 · 5 min read
Diversity among researchers’ backgrounds is a pillar of a healthy and successful research department. Nonetheless, aligning and formalizing research output and the way that data is presented is important for increasing efficiency and maximizing the department’s impact within the organization.
Based on The Grammar of Graphics, the ggplot2 package by Hadley Wickham is an extremely useful & flexible package for visualization object creation. However, the package is so versatile that much of the time it requires intensive formatting and customization before the output can be presented in a research report.
Thus, the goal of developing Riskified’s visualization package, riskiplot, was to generate a quick, simple & consistent way for generating visualization objects in order to address the following notions:
Save researchers’ time
Align research output across researchers
Generate visualization objects according to the company’s visual brand language
Present results in a clear way, based on data visualization best practices
The riskiplot package is based on ggplot2, and was written to handle many annoying formatting tweaks while still taking advantage of ggplot’s flexibility. It tackles the most commonly used graph configurations, such as bar, point, line, histogram & density. Each riskiplot function outputs a ggplot object, so that the object can be further adjusted using ggplot2 functions. In addition, the package includes two helper functions that allow researches to apply Riskified’s theme & unique brand colors to custom gg objects.
The arguments across Riskiplot functions are standardized to give the user the ability to quickly apply facets, flip coords, assign text labels, fill by another dimension, adjusting the text base size, adding titles & subtitles in a consistent language.
Examples
Below are examples of common graph configurations that an analyst would generate during an exploration phase. We use a mock dataset, “generic_data”, where each row represents an order that has been submitted to Riskified. It includes the following columns:
status — the order status, which can be approved / chargeback / declined / cancelled
model score — a score between 0 & 100 given by Riskified’s classification model
class — the order’s label for training (should approve / should decline)
us_ip — an indication for whether the order’s IP location is in the US
This dataset will be used in the following bar chart configuration examples. At the end of the post I’ve included snapshots of other function outputs as well.
The following graphs are the output of the original geom_bar / geom_col ggplot functions. They were wrapped by Riskiplot’s create_geom_bar, which assures that the output of the function will be aligned with Riskified brand colors & theme, configures the result in a clean and consistent manner and, as mentioned above, allows the user to configure the desired output in a simple and quick way.
create_geom_bar, presents a bar chart, where the height of the bar is proportional to the number of cases within each group. In its most basic configuration it will receive a dataset & x_col_name and will generate the following:
The same graph in ggplot would require the following, excruciatingly-detailed, code chunk:
Flipping coords (cflip = T) & switching the labels to present proportion (bar_type = “prop”):
The following corresponding code chunk will generate the same graph:
Fill by us_ip indication (fill_by = “us_ip) & present results using the dodge option (position = “dodge”):
Using proportions per category (position = “stack”):
Getting class as an x value and facet by us_ip (facet_by = “us_ip”):
An additional option within the bar_type argument is “user_fun”, which enables the user to apply a summarizing function on one of the columns within the dataset and group by the chosen x_col_name; for example, let’s assume that I would like to compute the median model _score value for each status (FUN = c(“median”, “model_score”) & bar_type = “user_fun”):
On the other hand, if the user wants to perform the pre-processing phase by themselves, they can use the last option of bar_type, which is “asis” — presenting the data post processing:
Day-to-day effect
Since Riskiplot’s creation in 2018, we’ve looked back to quantify the amount of time saved. As a rough estimate, we produce 20 reports per month with 6 plots on average; each plot can be produced in 3 minutes instead of 12, therefore, using the package has saved 18 hours (9 * 6 * 20) a month, on average. Using the package has saved great research time while ensuring consistency across our plots.
Our team workflow benefited from riskiplot in two additional ways. First, once we had our visualization package up and running, there was no need to perform code review on each ggplot object that was created by researchers, so many hours of code review were avoided. Second, once we established and aligned how visualization outputs should look, significant time was saved around fixing existing plots that did not follow data presentation best practices.
Finally, as external departments are exposed to consistent reports and plots, communication around action items becomes clearer and faster. The impact? Greater research efficiency thanks to the reduction in overall time from the end of a research study to implementing research recommendations in production.
We are working on making the riskiplot code public soon, which will enable you to customize riskiplot to your own needs by quickly adding your company’s coloring scheme and desired theme. It will be that much faster to create consistent plots in line with your brand — stay tuned for more!
Here’s a sneak peek at some additional geoms that were created using the package: | https://medium.com/riskified-technology/from-gg-to-riski-plotting-in-r-has-never-been-so-simple-32acc8be8093 | ['Dor Ap'] | 2020-02-10 16:38:32.167000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Open Source', 'Data Visualization', 'Ggplot2'] |
Matrix Inversion and Meaning | How a matrix inversion blew my mind.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
If you are into data science or machine learning, then you must know about linear algebra. As Professor Gilbert Strang puts it in his latest book [1]:
Linear algebra and probability/statistics and optimization are the mathematical pillars of machine learning.
If you ever built a neural network from scratch, you probably used matrices or tensors and their mathematical properties to implement the forward or backward passes. Reducing the dimensionality of a data set also involves linear algebra theory, specifically through principal component analysis.
That is one of the reasons that I made it a personal goal to keep on updating my knowledge of linear algebra, mostly through books and online resources. I also found out that linear algebra is of great value when using discrete-time signal analysis, and that’s where I discovered the matrices that blew my mind.
Finite-length discrete-time signals can be represented as real-valued vectors [2]. To transform these signals, some special matrices can be used. Take for instance integration, the operation you could use to transform a unit impulse into a unit step. A unit impulse u and the unit step s are encoded this way:
Unit impulse
Unit step
Integration of one signal into the other can be performed by multiplying a special matrix S with u:
S u = s
Now, what happens when you invert the matrix S? You get another matrix, let us call it D, that looks like this:
Matrix D as the inverse of S
Looking at this equality from the linear algebra perspective, one would say that S undoes what D does, besides the obvious SD=I, where I is the identity matrix — the multiplication neutral element.
But undoing integration is differentiation, is it not? Let’s see:
Differentiating the unit step
As expected, the inverse of the integration matrix yields a differentiation matrix (left differences, to be precise). So what’s so special about this?
I believe that this demonstrates how mathematics is self-consistent and full of meaning. The inverse of a matrix that adds produces a matrix that subtracts! Inversion is an operation that is, in a sense, akin to division. It’s like calculating the reciprocal of a scalar, but for matrices.
The inverse of summation is differentiation. Literally.
References
[1] Strang, G. Linear Algebra and Learning from Data. 2019, Wellesley-Cambridge Press
[2] Prandoni, P. and Vetterli, M. Signal Processing for Communications. 2008, EPFL Press | https://medium.com/zero-equals-false/matrix-inversion-and-meaning-291068cd5db1 | ['João Paulo Figueira'] | 2020-05-24 17:44:22.709000+00:00 | ['Matrix Inversion', 'Mathematics', 'Integration', 'Linear Algebra', 'Differentiation'] |
Javascript Conditional and Logical Operators | Some things to bear in mind before I get started:
JavaScript is a loosely typed language which means logical operations can be performed on any type.
Falsy is a value for which Boolean(value) returns false . The only falsy values in JS are false , 0 , '' , null , undefined and NaN .
returns . The only falsy values in JS are , , , , and . Truthy is a value for which Boolean(value) returns true . In JS, truthy values are essentially non-falsy values.
Ternary operator
JavaScript also contains a conditional operator commonly referred to as the “ternary operator”.
condition ? conditionIsTrue : conditionisFalse
If the condition evaluates to a truthy value, conditionIsTrue will be executed
evaluates to a truthy value, will be executed If the condition evaluates to a falsy value, conditionIsFalse will be executed
I mostly use it to quickly write simple conditional statements, like these:
weather = {sunny: true, cloudy: true} weather.sunny? 'Remember your sunglasses!' : 'No sun today :(' weather.sunny ? (weather.cloudy ? 'It is sunny and cloudy' : 'It is sunny and not a cloud in sight') : 'No sun today :('
Personally, I would recommend using if..else statements as opposed to using the ternary/conditional operator for nested ternaries because they are infinitely more readable.
weather.sunny ? (weather.cloudy ? 'It is sunny and cloudy' : 'It is sunny and not a cloud in sight') : 'No sun today :(' vs if (weather.sunny){
if(weather.cloudy){
'It is sunny and cloudy'
} else {
'It is sunny and not a cloud in sight'
}
} else {
'No sun today :('
}
And this can be further simplified and made more readable using logical AND operator (&&).
Logical AND &&
The logical AND ( && ) operator returns true if and only if all of its operands are true otherwise, it returns false. For example, expr1 && expr2 returns expr2 if expr1 is true ; otherwise, it will return expr1 .
expr1 && expr2 weather = {sunny: true, cloudy: true, rainy: false, windy: false} weather.sunny && weather.cloudy; // true
weather.sunny && weather.rainy; // false
weather.rainy && weather.sunny; // false
weather.rainy && weather.windy; // false
In the weather example, I was using above, you could write it like this:
weather = {sunny: true, cloudy: true} if (weather.sunny && weather.cloudy) {
'It is sunny and cloudy'
} else if (weather.sunny) {
'It is sunny and not a cloud in sight'
} else {
'No sun today :('
} // 'It is sunny and cloudy'
You can chain multiple && operands and it will continue to the following expression if the previous expression is true. Using && will return the first false or ‘falsy’ value and if every expression evaluates to true , the last evaluated expression will be returned.
Logical OR ||
The logical OR operator (||) returns true if either or both expression is true and returns false otherwise.
expr1 || expr2
This operator uses short-circuiting because it is evaluated left to right. This means that if the first expression is truthy, then it will immediately return true without evaluating the second expression which can be a disadvantage at times. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/javascript-conditional-and-logical-operators-98a5a40ee693 | ['Harriet Bicknell'] | 2020-07-31 16:40:23.602000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Coding', 'Javascript Tips'] |
Platform Thinking — Unpacking Netflix | When I was eight years old, I used to visit the local video store with my brother at least twice a week: the first visit was to select a movie and the second visit was to avoid the late fees. Today, my eight-year-old son, with a few clicks, immerses himself in a universe of entertainments.
Between the two experiences resides three decades of exponential technological development: Netflix leveraged a slice of this evolution to transform the way we watch TV.
In 1997, Reed Hastings had a dream, “TV-on-Demand.” Back then, such a vision was more of an entrepreneurial suicide: since the inception of TV, the economic power resided on the supply side (content productions and distributions). Thus, the supply side mandated “what and when,” and the demand side could only consume TV.
TV-on-Demand means shifting the economic power from the supply side to the demand side: commoditizing time and differentiating attention. In other words, customers, individually, can decide the “what and when” of TV consumption. Commercially speaking, Hasting’s dream was a World War III declaration against;
Such rivals as well-established supply chains, value chains, massive customer bases, recognized brands, efficient operational capabilities, best of class expertise, and deep pockets; Netflix, had no chance to withstand such a war.
Fundamentally speaking, TV-on-Demand (in 1997) lacked the underlying technological development: no speed, capacity, or device could handle such a vision (this was the dial-up era, with commercial modems ranging between 28kbs to 56kbs; “to download 7 GB ultra HD quality movies you need 12 days”). The Internet was barely in its infancy (known as Web 1.0). Hastings’s dream required Web 2.0 and higher.
As such, Hastings placed TV-on-Demand within an incubator, hence, the origin of DVD-by-Mail. DVD-by-Mail was the present reality of Hastings’s future dream (TV-on-Demand). In other words, Hastings incorporated a core, Netflix’s DVD-by-Mail, to leverage an edge, TV-on-Demand.
Since 1997, Netflix never pivoted from its vision, direction, or focus. Netflix was (conceptually) ahead of itself. DVD-by-Mail was a means to an end. The transition to TV-on-Demand and the fading of DVD-by-Mail was strategically planned. From Netflix’s Annual Reports;
Identity Transition | https://medium.com/@KhalidiAlmadani/platform-thinking-unpacking-netflix-d32f70a66cb4 | ['Khalid Al Madani'] | 2020-06-09 11:36:22.603000+00:00 | ['Economics', 'Netflix', 'Platform', 'Ecosystem', 'Business'] |
Join them | Poem: 34
Saturday, 05 August 2016
The Simple are
waiting for The Wise
to join them
at the Feast,
and Dance. | https://medium.com/francis-pedraza/join-them-2050dd97d2cb | ['Francis Pedraza'] | 2017-04-10 06:07:02.454000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Zen', 'Sufism', 'Wisdom', 'Philosophy'] |
Happy Fever | Happy Fever
(n.d.). Retrieved from https://images.app.goo.gl/8z8gfz6NFyRxrssv8
Happy Fever is an organization I would create at Kennesaw State University that establishes recreational opportunities for students with special needs. Everyone must have some recreation in their lives. Commonly, special needs students do not participate in most fun activities around a college campus. Either they aren’t aware of the opportunities or don’t feel as if they can participate. The goal is to create an organization where special needs students can engage in activities that will help to boost their happiness, health, confidence, and reduce loneliness.
My organization will focus on indoor and outdoor activities to promote active living. Along with giving special needs students fantastic entertaining opportunities, Happy Fever will also give students a chance to participate in the group. Allowing students to help with the organization will open opportunities for volunteer work and community service hours.
Recreation helps participants with limited physical or mental abilities feel as if they are accomplishing something great. Though we may not realize it, we all look for reassurance occasionally. It is calming to know that you are doing something to affect yourself or others positively. When young people feel good about themselves, they operate more effectively and productively in schools and the community. This program will help teach the importance of trust and personal challenge while creating valuable lifelong memories. Leadership positions will be an option for all those in the club who feel they can take on the responsibility. There is no more significant opportunity for people to experience happiness, renewal, and creativity than leisure offers.
The Happy Fever organization will promote wellness and fitness for all involved. The slightest bit of exercise is good for anybody! This club will thrive on helping the active living. This concept connects the mind, body, and spirit in physical activity. Being active, significantly lowers body mass index, blood pressure, and resting pulse rates. Some examples of physical activities include horseback riding, swimming, dancing which will take place in the Special Olympics. Special Olympics, in simple terms, is a field day for special needs students. The special needs field day will take place twice a year. Special Olympics presents an excellent opportunity for students to get involved and promote the accomplishments of their peers with disabilities. As an organization, the focus will be to capture activities that are relatively easy but achieving for disabled students. Leisure activities provide students with the opportunity to flush out energy and emotion not being released in other aspects of their lives.
Mental Health is a keen focus on Happy Fever. Special needs students need to know that they matter and should be able to make friends that appreciate and spend time with them. Everlasting friendships will form from this organization giving all students a sense of belonging. Belonging is vital to all students in college. Those who find their niche thrive better in school as opposed to those who are searching for fitting in. In creating this organization, I hope that I will search for belonging easier for this group of students. | https://medium.com/year-one-ksu/happy-fever-74d631c4362c | ['Shariah Aldridge'] | 2019-09-12 03:12:43.217000+00:00 | ['Special Olympics', 'Belonging', 'Collaboration', 'Learning'] |
Real Estate and Start-up Shares in your pocket | Zug 9th of May 2019 — Holding tokenized digital assets like real estate and company shares on your mobile phone is no longer a futuristic dream. Argent, a simple and safe non-custodial crypto wallet, and blockimmo, a platform for real estate tokenization, have partnered to introduce the first security tokens in a user-friendly wallet.
blockimmo recently tokenized their first property in Switzerland (learn more) and in addition tokenized their own company start-up equity (learn more). These so-called security tokens were issued directly to the investors who used their MetaMask wallets (and, connected to that certain hardware wallets). Now, thanks to the partnership with Argent, the security tokens can be safely held on any smartphone (Argent has an iOS and Android App available).
“This partnership shows how crypto creates a more open and transparent financial system. We’re delighted that blockimmo’s investors can use the Argent wallet to safely and easily store their tokenized assets. Our wallet has the security features of the best modern bank apps — without the bank, or any custody of user assets at all”, said Itamar Lesuisse, Co-founder and CEO at Argent.
Argent’s wallet is decentralized, meaning the user, not Argent, controls their private key. Uniquely for a decentralized wallet, Argent’s is easy to recover, without paper backups, and offers protection from theft with features such as wallet locking, daily limits and trusted contacts (learn more). It supports over 50 cryptocurrencies, including Ether and Dai. As blockimmo utilizes existing standards and protocols it was easy to integrate the first security tokens into the wallet.
“Enabling anyone to hold and trade tokenized assets in the palm of their hand is a big step towards mass adoption of the underlying technology, said Bastiaan Don, Founder and Managing Director of blockimmo. “We are excited with the announcement of this key partnership with Argent and look forward to the upcoming features that will further enhance our platform usability.”
In a next step the full DApp of blockimmo (login, investing, trading) will be supported in the near future — enabling anyone to interact with the decentralised web in an easy fashion.
About Argent
Argent is building the gateway to the decentralised web. We’re starting with a simpler, safer mobile wallet for Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies. Our wallet is decentralised. This means you control it, not us. And unlike other decentralised wallets, you can recover it without a seed phrase. For added protection, you can lock it, build a list of trusted contacts, and set a daily limit for transactions. To make it super easy to use, we pay your transaction costs and give you a simple username. Join us as we make the next era of the internet accessible to all.- argent.xyz
About blockimmo
blockimmo is a blockchain powered startup on the verge of becoming the go to marketplace for real estate tokenization. Our regulatory compliant ecosystem enables fractional property investments and ownership. Properties are officially and legally represented as security tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. We partner with financial institutions and other strategic partners in different countries to enable and grow the cross-border market. Operating out of Switzerland, blockimmo is focused on facilitating an accessible, streamlined real estate market, while delivering value to our users one step at a time. Ultimately resulting in a global real estate market far more efficient than the stock market today. — blockimmo.ch | https://medium.com/blockimmo/real-estate-and-start-up-shares-in-your-pocket-4b867d173d3b | [] | 2019-05-09 06:12:16.116000+00:00 | ['Wallet', 'Blockchain', 'Decentralization', 'Technology', 'Startup'] |
Rich White-Gold Handwoven Silk Dhothi- Vastharam set *V5 | This handwoven plain rich white — gold/silver Zari dhothi set can be a quick pick for morning muhurthams for any bridegrooms and other important family men too! The broad zari border in both gold and silver zari makes the look to be regal,elite and catchy!
Product code: S20843
S20843 Material: Kancheevaram Silk
Kancheevaram Silk Height: Dhoti & Vastharam — 50 in
Dhoti & Vastharam — 50 in Border Width: Dhoti & Vastharam — 2 in
Dhoti & Vastharam — 2 in Length: Dhoti — 3.60 m Vastharam — 1.8 m
Dhoti — 3.60 m Vastharam — 1.8 m Weight : Dhoti — 0.330 kg Vastharam — 0.172 kg
Dhoti — 0.330 kg Vastharam — 0.172 kg Wash: Dry wash
Dry wash Delivery: Within India 7–10 days,Overseas 15–25 days
Within India 7–10 days,Overseas 15–25 days Colours: White
White Fabric: Pure Silk
Pure Silk Zari: High Quality Silk Fine Zari | https://medium.com/@992singhankita/rich-white-gold-handwoven-silk-dhothi-vastharam-set-v5-95d5423dd033 | ['Ankita Singh'] | 2020-12-22 08:58:42.480000+00:00 | ['Shopping', 'Onlineshoppingforflipkart', 'Veshti', 'Indiana'] |
Unsolved NYC: The Bizarre & Baffling Case of the Zip Gun Bombings. | Five mail bomb packages delivered to five different recipients who did not know each other. Five rigged-packages; One Death, many injured.
Despite a plethora of literally the country’s top authorities studying the problem, the cases would ultimately grow cold. What became of the ZIP GUN BOMBER?
He was toiling away in his yard when Howard Kipps’ eardrums exploded like a flock of birds unwittingly finding the thrust over a running jet engine on an airfield.
His adrenaline pumping full-speed, Howard ran into his well-kept middle-class house in a quiet area of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. What he saw shocked him to his core.
Local records show the Kipp house how it would’ve looked from 1980–1988.
There on the kitchen floor clutching her chest was his wife, 54-year old guidance counselor Joan Kipp. Billows of blood poured onto the linoleum floor usually kept busy by the flurry of her activity as she cooked for family and friends.
His mind reeling, Howard picked his wife up and rushed her to the living room couch before calling 911.
Joan Kipp as her picture appeared in the Brooklyn Spectator circa 1982.
“Howard,” Joan cried, her retinas wide and stairing powerfully, “look what they did to me”, her voice then begun trailing off as she slept into unconsciousness, “…there may be others.”
Joan Kipp had no idea just how many unanswered questions her final words uttered in the family home would birth, as a faceless psychopath terrorized the five boroughs of New York City for over a decade and left investigators without a clue almost 40 years after this murderous odyssey is set in motion that May day.
I. The Kipps: The Investigation Begins.
Joan Kipp died that Friday in May of 1982 on the operating table of a local hospital. One of the two .22 caliber rounds that struck her, drifted close enough to her heart to be lethal.
This is how the Zip Gun Bomber’s unsolved, 14-year-long reign of terror in the boroughs of New York City began: as an investigation into this one mail bomb which was not yet a serial case. The investigation is still active today with federal authorities and the NYPD’s Arson and Explosives Squad, thus the facts the general public knows are by definition more limited than usual. Understandably, investigators want to preserve the secrecy of some information to use as leverage if a promising suspect does ever pop up. What is known about the Bombings is dizzying in the amount of twists and unanswered questions, as we shall see below.
On May 7, 1982 Joan Kipp opened what she thought was an innocuous, Staten Island-postmarked package in her mail. It was the Friday before Mother’s Day. So, naturally she thought it was a present sent from one of her two children — Doreen, aged 31, who lived in Connecticut, and Craig, aged 27, who lived just around the corner from his parents there in Bay Ridge.
Joan was very active in the Bay Ridge community. She volunteered at the South Beach Psychiatric Center to help care for the mentally ill population it served. She was also instrumental as treasurer of the Bay Ridge Community Council, an alliance of local non-profits. She was running for vice president in the board’s next election and was projected to win because of her kind nature and diligent work as treasurer.
Joan had come home early that day from her work as a supervisory guidance counselor with the local board of education which encompassed schools in Bay Ridge, and nearby Bensonhurst and Borough Park. Joan and Howard were preparing for a weekend at their summer home in Connecticut at Lake Hayward.
Joan Kipp would die on a local hospital’s operating room table that balmy Friday before Mother’s Day. Her murderer has never been brought to justice; the case (like all attributed to the Zip Gun Bomber) is still open and justifiably-referred to as “one of the most enduring mysteries in the annals of [New York] city crime.”
From The Home Reporter, 1982.
II. The Device.
The actual package sent to Joan Kipp was not a bomb but a “zip gun”, or crudely-made firearm that can take many forms. Zip guns (along with shanks) are often the preferred weapon behind prison walls and for small time crimes. See some examples of zip guns below.
International zip guns. From A Russian Prison Museum.
An example of a zip gun taken from a prison. Mob Museum.
This form was a hollowed-out cookbook, slightly smaller than a phonebook: “The Quick and Delicious Gourmet Cookbook”, from Sears. Inside was a sophisticated mechanism, rigged to fire three .22 caliber bullets when the book was opened. Two hit Joan in the chest and the third lodged in the kitchen wall. Bomb technicians would later say they were amazed all three bullets fired at all.
The cookbook. It was smaller than a phonebook. Source: heyridge.com
The device was composed of two six volt D batteries wired directly (using light bulb filaments) into three steel tubes which functioned as gun barrels (later determined to be sections of brake line) packed with double the usual gunpowder charge of a .22 caliber long round (about 64–80 grains of gunpowder or 0.146 ounces to 0.183 ounces), and a .22 caliber bullet itself, presumably sans the shell and firing pin (which would not be needed because of the device’s architecture).. Two of the steel brake line sections were aimed in one direction (at chest level and higher so vital organs would be hit in whoever opened the book) and the other in the exact opposite direction. When the hollowed-out cookbook was opened, the electrical circuit was completed: igniting the gunpowder and theoretically firing the bullets.
This first package was a mere foreshadowing of the deviousness and sadistic, Macgyver-esque brilliance of whoever sent it.
The Kipps in The Brooklyn Spectator, 1982
I. The Suspects: Howard and Craig Kipp.
At this juncture there was no reason to see Joan Kipp’s murder as anything beyond an isolated tragedy. There would not be a second rigged package for almost a dozen years. This in itself is a curious fact which we must nonetheless table for now, as hypotheses explaining it will become clearer with this story’s progression.
As is the case with most any domestic-type murder, immediate suspicions fall on the spouse. Howard Kipp, for his part, was very open with the investigators (according to local newspaper The Home Reporter): turning over his wife’s diary and even the keys to his marine consultancy business. That cooperation stopped abruptly when investigators thought it appropriate to question Doreen for 3 hours literally right before her mother’s funeral. After that, Doreen said she felt “harassed” and the Kipps retained legal counsel with the express purpose of keeping a distance between the family and investigators.
Doreen Kipp in The Home Reporter, 1982.
When investigators found nothing tying Howard to his wife’s murder, they turned their attention to 28-year-old Craig Kipp. They seemingly had more arrows in their quiver of evidence against him than they did with elder Kipp.
First, the United States Postal Service retained a hand writing analyst who was prepared to testify that the “threatening note” (written in big, block letters in the cookbook’s cover) matched exemplars taken from Craig Kipp. The note read: “Dear Joan, your [sic] dead. Howard, Craig and Doreen will be next.”
Second, a bomb-sniffing K9 detected scents from the explosives on a sock belonging to Craig Kipp. Investigators set up what amounted to a random battery of mocked-up parts from the Kipp package, along with a real package, to avoid any charges of this just looking scientific but lacking true substance.
Investigators thought they had a compelling motive in Craig’s departure from his dad’s company. Investigators said he was fired. Meanwhile, Howard said Craig quit because he just wasn’t good at the job. The heavy traveling it entailed sucked a lot of life out of him too.
Investigators thought Craig was nursing an animus against his parents after his dad fired him from the family business. They also thought Craig’s job doing electrical work on the boilers of ships would have given him the necessary skills to build the device that killed his mother. Yet, like a postal inspector who joined the investigation after it became part of a serial case said, “all mail bombs are sophisticated”. In an interview with The Home Reporter, Howard Kipp took great issue with the “family troubles” motive; he also said his son just didn’t have the technical savvy to build one, saying his son “hadn’t even taken high school physics”.
The state’s case against Craig Kipp disintegrated by June of 1983. Three other hand writing experts were brought in to evaluate the threatening note. Each one said that the handwriting does not match Craig’s because it is nearly impossible to match block letters to an individual person’s hand. So, that piece of evidence was thrown out.
The bomb-sniffing K9’s “alert” on Craig Kipp’s sock would meet a similar fate to the note. The state admitted “neither the handwriting analysis nor the dog trainer’s statements were credible enough” for a murder conviction. So, the government dropped its case against Craig Kipp.
This photo from the Brooklyn Spectator shows a seemingly-happy Craig Kipp shortly before his mom’s murder. Last anyone had heard he was managing a 711 in Connecticut somewhere.
Joan Kipp’s murder languished in cold case files for over a decade after this. It remains there to this day.
II. October 15, 1993: The Lenza Package.
Retired NYC sanitation worker Anthony Lenza was vacationing with his wife in the Poconos Pennsylvania. It was an Indian summer-kind October day when the Lenzas’ children brought their parents’ mail from Staten Island to their Poconos vacation home.
There was one package addressed to Anthony. Postmarked Staten Island, it appeared to be a blue velvet case with a commemorative medallion or coin in it. When it was opened, Anthony was hit by a .22 caliber bullet. Two of his family members — including his 11-year old granddaughter Liza — were also hit by the live rounds or shrapnel. All survived.
III. Opening Old Wounds: The Hunt for a Serial Bomber Begins.
The Kipp case was cold for around 11 years by the time of the Lenza package.
It took specialists from the FBI, BATFE, Postal Inspector’s Office, and the NYPD’s Arson and Explosives Squad to put 2 and 2 together when examining the remnants of this device versus those of the Kipp device. There was no doubt: these were the work of the same psychopath.
If he did not have work or military service-related experience on how to build these devices himself, he didn’t have to go to an obscure underground source like William Powell’s “The Anarchist Cookbook” either. The primary source material Powell used in writing his book was the New York Public Library’s copy of “The U.S. Combat Bookshelf”. If we assume the Bomber lived somewhere in the 5 boroughs, it’s not at all inconceivable the Bomber could have used the very same book Powell did as he was doing research for his “cookbook” in the early ‘70s.
The Lenza Bombing opened those still-pretty-fresh wounds with the Kipp Bombing. Howard and Craig hopefully felt some relief that maybe now the police will be looking for someone else: the truly-responsible party. Some investigators, however, would stick to them as the best suspects for years.
IV. A Paranoid Suspect Sheds Possible New Light on Joan Kipp’s Cryptic Words.
This leads us to a later — and arguably more promising — suspect: ex-Navy man Steven Wavra.
Wavra was in jail when Joan Kipp was murdered. But on that point, some investigators believe he sent what was necessary to fashion the zip gun to his unnamed roommate to assemble and send to the ultimate recipient.
This seems a tad improbable on its face because how would one smuggle the components of a zip gun or instructions to build one, through CENSORED mail in a jail? Still, some investigators like this theory of the crime.
Wavra went to school at Dyker Heights Junior High when Joan Kipp was a guidance counselor there. Wavra said of Kipp, “I had nothing against her.” He was, however, held back twice while he attended Dyker Heights.
Wavra’s navy stint was pretty uneventful. He served from 1972 to 1973. It’s also unclear what exactly he did in the Navy. It’s therefore impossible to know whether he would’ve received training conducive to building a device like those in the Kipp and Lenza cases. The military did, however, diagnose him as a clinically-paranoid schizophrenic during his tour of duty.
There are more interesting and substantive ties to Steven Wavra in the infamy of the Zip Gun Bombings. In 1983, while working an unrelated case, police stumbled upon hollowed-out books and “bomb-making equipment” on the stove of the apartment Wavra shared with an unknown roommate (the roommate’s name was withheld in the press, the Daily News would only call him a “ex-con”).
Wavra took the rap for this, claiming his roommate knew nothing. Wavra said he was going to use the materials on “another [unspecified] crime at a [unnamed] U.S. military base.”
V. Wavra’s Rap Sheet.
Wavra had an extraordinarily-long rap sheet. One notable charge was “criminal possession of noxious liquids” (perhaps for more bomb building); bomb threats at numerous post offices; and assaulting an MP while out of his mind on booze.
In 1995, Wavra was arrested for hollowing out a book in the Brooklyn Public Library in order to fashion a booby-trapped device very identical to those sent to the Kipps and the Lenzas but booby trapped with razor blades acting as shrapnel. He also served 90 months in a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas for possession of ammunition (four .22 caliber rounds) by a felon.
Both Wavra and his roommate would re-enter our story as the Bomber’s reign of terror continues for three more years.
VI. April 5, 1994: The Caswell Package.
April 5 was a day like any other for 75-year old Brooklynite Alice Caswell. It was 60-some degrees outside with little humidity — a pleasant, if overcast, day in sleepy Sheepshead Bay.
Alice decided to enjoy the day a bit and walk out to get her mail. Today she found a random assortment of bills and solicitations but… what’s this?
Inside the mailbox was a package addressed to her brother Richard McGarrell, a customs officer at Newark, NJ’s Liberty International Airport. How strange was this? Richard hadn’t lived with her for the past 15 years. Nevertheless, she decided to take the package inside and open it. She would give it to him the next time she saw him.
Richard’s package was a blue velvet case. The kind used to hold commemorative medallions or coins. Alice decided to find out which.
Alice was abruptly deafened as the explosion propelled a metallic punch into her abdomen. Her body fell with a deep “thud!” to her kitchen floor.
Alice was still very conscious. She held her abdomen as she bled like a GI who had just stepped on a German mine while fighting her way through a gauntlet of explosives, blood, and bullets up a French beach.
But this was no June 6, 1944 Omaha Beach — bombs exploding everywhere, bullets whizzing past your ears. This was a quiet corner of Brooklyn — and Alice fortunately made it slowly to her neighbor’s door to call an ambulance.
Against the odds, Alice Caswell survived the savage attack of the Zip Gun Bomber that day.
VII. June 27, 1995: The Gaffney Package.
Stephanie Gaffney was a St. Albans, Queens 18-year old who was 8 months pregnant when she lived with her grandfather, last name Gilmore. He was a retired beat cop with the NYPD; while her uncle was a NYPD narcotics detective who brought down a large Latin American street gang.
That June day was particularly humid, but Stephanie thought getting up and walking around might soothe her pregnancy aches. So, she decided to get up and get the mail.
There was a package postmarked from Manhattan. It was addressed to “Gilmore or Occupant”. When Stephanie sat down and opened it, three .22 caliber bullets fired. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors immediately induced labor in case any shrapnel hit her baby.
Fortunately, nothing did. Both Stephanie and her baby girl were fine. The new mother credited her and her daughter’s survival to having opened the book at an odd angle. She was only grazed and burned by the zip gun.
VIII. Theory A.
The randomness of the bombings so far boggled the minds of investigators. There was no connection between the victims beyond them all being in some kind of civil service or the military at a point in time.
Then, there was the way some of the witnesses and victims reacted under questioning. “Reticent” was how one investigator put it, unwilling to help investigators, and just wanting to move on from their attack.
This gave birth to an entirely new theory: extortion. Somebody had dirt on each and every one of our victims. When they (presumably) refused his shakedown, the zip guns were deployed.
If true, this would give entirely new light to Joan Kipp’s cryptic “there may be others” quote. Was this community-minded, 50-something guidance counselor a part of a shadowy criminal ring with its hands in all manner of dirty dealings? Had she and the other targets done something unspeakable that only the bomber knew about?
“It’s shocking that a person such as Joan — who dedicated her life to helping others — should have her life ended in such a violent way,” the school-district superintendent told the Brooklyn Spectator. She led “almost a sheltered kind of life…She was very family-oriented — and it’s hard to figure out how any of this could happen.”
Which basically shoots down the extortion hypothesis. Even if it were true, why wait over 10 years to exact a pound of flesh from your targets? Also, if the bomber’s goal was to kill out of spite, he wasn’t very good at it, racking up just one in his body count.
Still, some investigators see this as the most viable theory.
IX. Theory B.
Howard Kipp himself had an interesting theory of his wife’s murder. He thought it was intended as a dark joke by a very troubled student in his wife’s school; something that was intended to just scare Joan and not to kill her. (Aside: why put live rounds in the package if that was the case?)
This brings us back to Steven Wavra. Perhaps he had paranoid delusions about Joan Kipp from his school days, being a paranoid schizophrenic. Perhaps he wanted to just scare her for some reason. Perhaps he did manage to get the zip gun making instructions out of prison (he was incarcerated for possession of ammunition by a felon) to his unidentified accomplice who built the zip gun and sent it.
When the bomb worked a bit better than intended, it scared Wavra and his unidentified accomplice into waiting a solid decade before finally moving down their vicious hit list.
Referring to the weird victimology of this case, one investigator said, “There was always a common denominator between them [Wavra and his unidentified accomplice] and the victims. Whether it was the pharmacy, the neighborhood, the hollowed-out cookbook. There was a record of [Wavra’s unidentified accomplice] in the computer of each of the victims’ local pharmacies. We could never figure it out.”
A telling quote indeed. Might our “Unidentified Wavra Accomplice” be doctor and pharmacy shopping for opioids or other types of pharmacological ecstasy? This was, after all, way before the current Two Million Pound Law Enforcement Shit Hammer came down and heavily-regulated narcotics like oxy and hydro-codone. So, doctor and pharmacy shopping would’ve been easier to do.
Again though, we have no solid evidence to back the theory up. Wavra has long maintained innocence and is seeking to write a history of the case himself.
X. Theory C.
The possibility of the Lenza package being a (much later) copycat of the Kipp package would account for the decade-plus cooling-off period of the bomber. Some of the most gifted, seasoned, and astute bomb investigators in the United States have gone on record saying they believe with a high degree of certainty that every package thus far is the work of one individual or group of individuals.
This one, as far as the author can tell, has very little backing; likely because it’s pretty hard to prove or disprove. But it is still A possibility.
XI. June 20, 1996: The Final Package, Richard Basile.
The Zip Gun Bomber’s final act of terror was a videotape sent to Marietta Basile, wife of retired real estate agent Richard Basile of Bath Beach, Brooklyn. Its return address was the same as the March of Dimes of Greater New York.
Richard opened the package at a distance in his kitchen. Luckily, the .22 rounds only blew out the window. The Basiles’ postal carrier Ken Barris would tell the Daily News, ``If he [Richard Basile] had opened it in another direction, he would have had two bullets in the belly.″
It’s unclear whether the Basiles had a connection to civil service or the military the way the Zip Gun Bomber’s other victims did. What is clear is that the bombings stopped after this package and no one has the faintest idea why.
XII. Post Script.
The Basiles received the last booby-trapped package of the Zip Gun Bomber. Did he die? Did he pack up shop and move? Was he incarcerated for a different crime? Only that last question may get close to explaining his first, decade+ cooling-off period.
The rest however is inadequately-accounted for in what is perhaps the most bizarre series of crimes to ever affect the five boroughs — jaded and tough as New Yorkers like to portray themselves. There is something besides the fact that we know next to nothing about this case that is so viscerally creepy; something that nags non-stop, at even the most hardened, cynical heart, “even your mail at home is no longer safe…”
Works Cited, Further Reading, and the Unsolved Mysteries Episode on the Zip Gun Bombings, can all be found below.
Burrard, G., 2002. The Identification Of Firearms And Forensic Ballistics. Birmingham, Ala.: Palladium Press.
Douglas, J., Burgess, A., Burgess, A., Ressler, R. and Douglas, J., 2006. Crime Classification Manual. San Francisko: Jossey-Bass.
Flynn, K., n.d. The New York Times Book Of Crime.
Geberth, V., 2006. Practical Homicide Investigation. Boca Raton, USA: CRC Press.
Girod, R., 2004. Profiling The Criminal Mind. New York: iUniverse.
Heyridge.com. 2020. The Bad Old Days: The Mad Mail Bomber Who Struck Bay Ridge | Hey Ridge. [online] Available at: <https://www.heyridge.com/2018/04/the-bad-old-days-the-mad-mail-bomber-who-struck-bay-ridge/> [Accessed 5 July 2020].
Ogle, R., 2007. Crime Scene Investigation & Reconstruction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson — Prentice Hall.
Pallone, N. and Hennessy, J., 1994. Criminal Behavior. New Brunswick (U.S.A.): Transaction Publishers.
Whelan, M., 2018. The Zip Gun Bomber — Unresolved. [online] Unresolved. Available at: <https://unresolved.me/the-zip-gun-bomber> [Accessed 5 July 2020]. | https://medium.com/crimebeat/unsolved-nyc-the-bizarre-baffling-case-of-the-zip-gun-bombings-1b93451cb558 | ['Wess Haubrich'] | 2020-07-06 21:55:31.291000+00:00 | ['True Crime', 'Psychology', 'Crime', 'New York', 'New York City'] |
Robinhood Will Pay $65 Million to Settle SEC Claim That It Duped Investors | The bloom is off the rose for Robinhood’s self-styled image as a champion of the little guy. The stock brokerage has agreed to pay a $65 million penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it misled customers with its claims of being a commission-free method of trading stocks. The state of Massachusetts has also filed a related complaint against Robinhood that is still working its way through the system.
Since the pandemic sent many people indoors with nothing to do but worry about the future, Robinhood has controversially added millions of users to its stock trading app and set off alarms that inexperienced investors are causing irregular market swings while taking on financial risks that can have devastating results. But the company has been around for years, and on Wednesday, the SEC announced charges relating to some old crimes. The agency said Robinhood engaged in an effort to mislead users about the revenue the company collects from transactions.
According to the SEC order, between 2015 and 2018, Robinhood advertised itself to the public as a way to trade stocks without paying a commission to brokers. In its FAQ section on its website and in communications with customers, the SEC said, the company failed to disclose its primary revenue stream came from its partnerships with principal trading firms that execute trades for Robinhood.
The way these types of partnerships typically work, the trading firms offer bids for executing the trade, and “broker-dealers obtain price improvement on the vast majority of customer orders that they send,” the SEC said. That is to say that, typically, brokerages like Robinhood find the best price for their customers that a trading firm is offering and execute the trade with that bidder. But the order claims that Robinhood failed to live up to its “duty of best execution” obligation — meaning that it would take more costly incoming bids to jack up its own revenue while publicly claiming that “execution quality and speed matches or beats what’s found at other major brokerages.”
The SEC said that Robinhood conducted its own internal analyses of its execution quality in 2019 and found that “the amount of price improvement obtained for Robinhood customers was far lower than at competing broker-dealers, measured on a per order, per share, and per dollar traded basis.” In other words, going to one of Robinhood’s competitors would likely have gotten individual investors a better deal. In total, the SEC found that the company cost traders $34.1 million by not following standard practices for the industry, a figure that includes the cost-savings that come as a result of not paying a typical commission.
Robinhood did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, but as per the terms of its settlement with the SEC, it admits no wrongdoing and has agreed to pay a $34.1 million penalty. It has also agreed to cease-and-desist from engaging in any errant practices outlined in the order. The company told the Wall Street Journal that the issues discussed in the order “do not reflect Robinhood today.”
While that case may be settled, Massachusetts securities regulators filed a separate complaint against Robinhood on Tuesday claiming that the brokerage uses the promise of free stocks, incessant push notifications, addictive arbitrary tasks, and visual rewards to “gamify” the experience of trading and encourage users to irresponsibly make frequent trades without offering proper oversight of its platform.
“They’ve exploited the current situation with the pandemic,” Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin told Bloomberg. “They contributed to the frothiness of the market, bringing people in who don’t know much about it. They’re not responsible fiduciaries.”
Among the allegations that Galvin’s office believes violate Massachusett’s state law, Robinhood is accused of approving unqualified investors to participate in options trading. The complaint wants Robinhood to bring in outside consultants to review its practices and technical infrastructure, and it asks for an administrative fine to be levied against the company. Robinhood told the Boston Globe that it intends to fight the lawsuit.
Once again, Robinhood has admitted no wrongdoing when it comes to any of these allegations, but it’s all a nice reminder that anyone who tells you they can solve a complicated problem just because they built an app is probably full of shit. | https://medium.com/@khalli2999/robinhood-will-pay-65-million-to-settle-sec-claim-that-it-duped-investors-c6cb1abd3d3b | ['Ejiro Ajokpauwu'] | 2020-12-18 00:42:28.662000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Technews', 'Technology'] |
Decentralized Exchanges: A Regulator’s Dilemma | When Satoshi conceived of the Bitcoin blockchain in the aftermath of the Great Recession that erased 25% off the equities market in a single month, he envisioned a digital cash system enabled by a peer-to-peer network that would eventually displace fiat money in specific use-cases. However, at the start of its journey Bitcoin largely served black market vendors and other enterprising criminal concerns with higher risk appetites that were willing to experiment with this novel financing mechanism. As the crypto ecosystem continues to evolve, it has inevitably drawn the attention of law enforcement agencies looking to ensure compliance with existing regulations. The frenetic pace of blockchain development has led to many government entities contending with how to regulate this brave new world.
Wallet-to-wallet transaction activity occurs on the blockchain, out of the reach of regulatory bodies, making it difficult to monitor and nearly impossible to censor. Therefore, centralized exchanges responsible for the bulk of trading volume have become the preferred target of regulators aiming to impose a measure of control on the crypto markets. Their challenge lies in applying existing legislation in a firm enough fashion as to thwart money laundering and other illegal activity, yet relaxed enough to allow innovation to flourish.
Adding to the complexity is the emergence of decentralized exchanges on which trades can be executed directly on the blockchain, eliminating the need for a trusted third-party which acts as the custodian of customer funds.
Regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency exchanges
In its role as the world’s largest economy, the USA is often looked towards by smaller economies looking to formulate financial legislation. When the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a statement declaring that Ethereum should not be classified as a security, the ripple effects of the announcement were felt far beyond the SEC’s jurisdiction. The two major financial services and consumer protection laws that apply to traditional crypto exchanges in the US are:
- USA Patriot Act (2001)
- Bank Secrecy Act (1970)
The USA Patriot Act was introduced in the wake of the September 11 attacks as the federal government launched its war on terror. Initially aimed at curbing terrorist financing, the Title 3 of the Act was expanded to included such actions as bribing public officials and the smuggling or illegal export of controlled munitions amongst others. Exchanges are required to designate a compliance officer, conduct training and put protocols and controls in place to ensure compliance with the Act.
Based on the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the Patriot Act amends portions of this earlier piece of legislation in an effort to deal with the threat of money laundering in the modern era.
Passed by the US congress during the Nixon administration, the BSA requires financial institutions in the United States to assist the federal government in detecting and prevent money laundering. Enforcing compliance with the BSA falls to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN.) In 2013, FinCEN issued interpretative guidelines on how to apply the Act to entities involved in the creating, distributing and exchanging of cryptocurrencies. The guidelines distinguish between 3 different classes of stakeholders in the virtual currency transmission ecosystem:
1) User
A “user” obtains cryptocurrencies for use on their own behalf. They do not fall under the category of a “money service business” (MSB) and therefore are not subject to the regulatory constraints of the Bank Secrecy Act.
2) Exchanger
An “exchanger” is a person involved in the business of exchanging one cryptocurrency for another or for fiat money.
3) Administrator
An “administrator” is responsible for issuing (putting into circulation) and redeeming (withdrawing from circulation) cryptocurrencies. Both administrator and exchangers are classified as MSBs and fall under FinCEN’s jurisdiction.
Can a DEX be an Exchanger per FinCEN guidelines?
According to the guidelines, a business fits the criteria of an exchanger if it (1) accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or (2) buys or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason. Since the guidelines were issued prior to decentralized exchanges being viable alternatives to their centralized counterparts, there is no established rule as to whether a DEX must register as a money transmission business. FinCEN and the courts are likely to consider whether DEX’s act as custodians of customer funds and if exchanges take fees for facilitating the transmission of cryptocurrencies.
By definition, a decentralized exchange facilitates on-chain execution of trades, allowing users to control their funds until such time that the exchange is finalized. As for engaging in profit-making activity by levying fees on traders, a distinction can be made between the different classes of DEX’s.
There are three categories of DEX’s:
On-chain orderbooks and settlements
Off-chain orderbooks with on-chain settlement
Smart contract-managed reserves
Exchanges that host off-chain orderbooks such as 0x relayers charge ‘maker’ and ‘taker’ fees and thus have a slight risk of being classified as money transmission businesses.
Can a DEX be an administrator per FinCEN guidelines?
Administrators as per the BSA are responsible for issuing and redeeming cryptocurrency. While certain DEX platforms such as IDEX, 0x and Bancor issue their own native token, these tokens are used to power a decentralized platform and cannot be withdrawn from circulation by their corresponding exchanges. It is unlikely that decentralized exchanges will be classified as administrator for the purpose of FinCEN compliance.
Singapore Leading The Charge
While regulators in the West struggle to keep pace with developments in the exchange ecosystem, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has recently proposed updated regulation that would ease the market entry for DEXs.
The de facto central bank in the Asian city-state published a paper updating its current single-tier “recognized market operators” (RMO) framework to reflect the emergence of blockchain-based decentralized trading platforms.
The new proposed framework creates a three-tiered structure with decentralized exchanges falling under Tier 3, granting them reduced capital requirements and a simplified set of requirements in relation to technology risk management and outsourcing.
Around the world, government agencies responsible for ensuring financial legality are grappling with questions as to how to address this novel financial technology. Thus far their preferred method of controlling crypto trading activity has been through enforcing existing financial legislation on centralized exchanges. However decentralized trading infrastructure is evolving into a robust alternative, further loosening the grip of regulators on the decentralized financial system. | https://medium.com/totle/decentralized-exchanges-a-regulators-dilemma-85725dbce438 | [] | 2018-07-10 16:12:47.385000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Regulation', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Four Lies You’re Telling Yourself About Changing Careers | You really can find an amazing new career. Let’s help you get out of your own way!
There’s a lot of “stinkin’ thinkin’” that goes on when people start contemplating changing careers. You’re thinking about venturing into the unknown, and to your brain, the unknown is scary…. and your brain often deals with something scary by trying to keep it from happening. So, it latches onto thoughts and ideas about why a change isn’t going to work and why you shouldn’t even try.
Those thoughts and ideas aren’t actually true . . but they often feel true.
When you believe them, they tend to keep you stuck where you are — and you end up being even unhappier. It’s a cycle that feeds on itself and makes it harder to even imagine the possibility of a change or to think of ways you could make it happen.
That’s not a fun place to be — and it’s what keeps a lot of people from even trying to make a change. So, let’s take on a few of those beliefs and start dismantling them.
1. All I’m Qualified for is my Current Career
Oh, do I remember buying into this idea in my attorney days.
It makes sense why we think and believe this. You want a new career and so you look at your resume, or think about your experience, to see what else you’d be qualified to do. But — surprise! — your work experience just points you back towards the career where you got the experience.
If looking at your work experience is just going to lead you back to where you are now, where should you look instead? Start with looking at YOU, not your work history. When in your life have you felt like you were doing something meaningful? What ways do you most want to help people? What do you wish you had more of in your life? What are you good at doing that you also actually enjoy? And even better, what energizes you? What are you doing when time flies by? What would someone pay you to tell them about?
Once you figure out what new career you want to move into, you can reframe your experience to show how it supports your entry into that line of work. But that step generally needs to come after you’ve figured out what new career you want to move into. If you look at your work experience as a first step, you often just end up feeling stuck.
2. I Can’t Make Enough Money in Another Job.
This is the BIG one for lawyers, accountants, executives… really anyone in a profession known for paying high salaries. Making good money is one reason many of you went into those professions in the first place.
I’m not going to pretend that you can make the same amount of money at every job. You can’t. But you might be surprised at how many jobs actually can provide a good living. (And you might be surprised to learn that sometimes you can make even more money in a new field. I know coaches who are making waaay more than I ever made as an attorney!)
You also might also be surprised to realize you don’t really need a huge salary. When you’re unhappy, but have a well-paying job, you may have gotten used to money being the one thing in your work life that was good, and that could provide some happiness and ease.
But what if your life was just happier and easier?
What if you spent less money on doctors because your health was better, less on therapists because your stress levels and relationships were better, less on takeout and similar services because you actually had time to take care of your basic life needs, and less on distractions to numb yourself out to how miserable you are or to try to bring some happiness into your life?
And btw, I’m not saying that you will definitely make less money — just that, so what if you do? Is it that bad? Would it really be not enough? You might need less than you think to have an awesome life.
(Oh, and guess what — you have control over what career you pursue and can rule out something that isn’t financially viable for you!)
3. I’d Have to Start All Over from the Very Bottom if I Make a Change.
Do you remember on Friends when Chandler decided to change careers? <He’s a transpons… transponster!!> He decided he wanted to move into advertising . . . and had to take a full-time unpaid internship and compete against college students to even get a shot at any job.
Yikes.
That’s Hollywood’s take on reality — one set up to provide punchlines. And yet, a lot of us, consciously or subconsciously, expect something similar — that we’d also have to start over in the absolute lowest possible position, making the absolute minimum entry-level salary, in order to change careers.
Sure, you likely will have things to learn depending on what you ultimately want. But you are NOT a fresh-out-of-college-with-zero-experience 22-year-old. You have a lot more work and life experience…and you can use that to show both that you are qualified for your new career and that your qualifications go way beyond entry-level status.
This is one of the ways that rebranding yourself comes into play as an important piece of a career transition. If, for example, you want to apply for a job in a new career field, but show up and say you’re a lawyer, present yourself as a lawyer, submit a resume exactly as it would be for a law firm… a hiring manager is going to see a lawyer. It’s going to be hard for them to see why they’d hire you — and hard for them to offer you a position or salary above entry level, if they were willing to take the chance.
But you can reframe those work experiences to show how you are much more qualified than that. You’ve heard of that whole idea of having transferable skills… it’s really true! And they can help you get a better position and salary.
You’re not just stuck with what you’ve done at work — you’d be surprised how much your life experience can count for. And there are plenty of things you can do outside of work — without having to go back to school for another degree — so that you can gain even more experience and show up as even more qualified when you apply for a job in your new field.
4. I Have a Job — I Even Make a Good Living. I Shouldn’t Complain.
Gratitude is important. But this particular take on it is basically weaponized gratitude.
The problem with this message is that that isn’t actually about gratitude. It’s a message to shove down your feelings of being unhappy — and even more, to label them as wrong.
But our feelings provide important internal signals to us. Gratitude is about deliberately noticing and paying attention to certain positive feelings. It’s a wonderful practice.
Shoving down and ignoring your feelings is the exact opposite.
Ignoring the feelings that you are unhappy in your career means ignoring the signal those feelings are trying to give you: that something needs to change. That can lead to staying stuck in a bad situation a lot longer than you need to.
There’s a lot of good to find in a gratitude practice, such as mindfully writing down 1–3 things that happened each day that you are grateful for. It can help boost your energy and happiness, and can make it a lot easier to keep going in your current job while you figure out what’s next. It can also help you be more optimistic and creative.
But please, let yourself feel all the feelings — and don’t feel guilty or wrong for the negative ones. Ask what they are trying to tell you. And pay attention.
**
You really can leave your current career behind and find work that you’re excited about. Just starting to recognize that these types of thoughts aren’t necessarily true can help you start finding the freedom to explore making a change. Because more than education, opportunity, where you live, etc., it’s these types of beliefs that can really get in the way of making that change happen.
Did you recognize any of these beliefs as ones that have been holding you back? Are there any others you are struggling with? Let me know in the comments or email me at [email protected]! | https://medium.com/@kelleyshieldscoaching/four-lies-youre-telling-yourself-about-changing-careers-6b5f9ce9b8a4 | ['Kelley Shields'] | 2020-12-02 17:36:30.281000+00:00 | ['Career Paths', 'Burnout', 'Lawyers', 'Career Advice', 'Career Change'] |
Crypto Mining: Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty and Hash Functions | This article is meant to serve as a guide to understanding how crypto mining works from a miner’s perspective.
It is impossible to explain some of these concepts without using math functions, so bear with us. We tried to simplify the concepts where possible.
In this guide we talk about Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty and Hash Functions. We conclude it with an example of mining to a pool.
In the next post we will talk about Luck in detail, how it can be calculated and what it means.
Company Background
Luxor Tech is a North American-based mining pool for BTC, ZEC, ZEN, SIA, DCR, XMR and more. If you are a miner and want to connect, please ping us on Discord or reach us directly at [email protected]
Network Difficulty
Network Difficulty describes the base difficulty, or the minimum difficulty the underlying blockchain will accept as a valid block. Effectively this is how hard it is for a miner to find a block (i.e. how hard a math problem miners need to solve). The higher the Network Difficulty the harder it is to find a block.
Network Target
From an outside perspective the network operates on Network Difficulty but under the hood it is being calculated on the inverse, the Network Target.
Network Target = 1 / Network Difficulty
The higher the Network Target, the easier it is to find a valid block (inverse of Network Difficulty).
Difficulty over Time
Networks have a Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA), which essentially is a built-in hashrate measurement that adjusts the difficulty. Taking BTC blockchain as an example, the difficulty adjustment comes every 2,016 blocks (roughly 2 weeks). The adjusted Network Difficulty is calculated as the network’s average hash rate from the previous period. Based on that average, the new Network Difficulty is set such that, if that average hash rate is maintained, the network will find a new block every 600 seconds (144 blocks per day).
The easy way to look at it is, if more people are competing to solve a math problem, the problem needs to get more difficult if you want the time it takes to solve the problem to stay constant.
The Bitcoin Network Difficulty over time can be found here.
Bitcoin Network Difficulty over the past 180 days
Many other coins have implemented more frequent difficulty adjustments. A common DAA for Equihash coins like ZEC and ZEN is DigiShield v3 which adjusts difficulty after every block.
Share Difficulty
ASICs produce billions of hashes per second. For example the new Bitmain S17+ produces 73 Terahashes per second. Mining Pools can’t collect and check all of these hashes from their miners.
So Mining Pools set a target Share Time. This could be something like 5 seconds, which means that on average Mining Pools want miners to submit a share to them every 5 seconds.
To make this possible, Mining Pools set a Share Difficulty for every miner. Based on your hashrate, Mining Pools set how hard it is to submit a share to them. The higher the hashrate, the higher the Share Difficulty. When miners are grinding through hashes, they will eventually find a hash that meets the target Share Difficulty, then they send it to their Mining Pool.
In a PPS payment method, miners get rewarded by a mining pool for shares they submit. The shares they submit have different values based on how difficult it was to find the share. Miners get credited based on the set Share Difficulty from the Mining Pool not the actual share difficulty.
Let’s run through an example of this.
Mining Example
Let’s say you are mining at 50 TH/s and the Mining Pool sets your Share Difficulty at 1,000,000. You get credited by the pool for all shares that are above 1,000,000.
If you then increase your hashrate to 100 TH/s, the pool will change your Share Difficulty so that you aren’t submitting shares too quickly. If your pool increases your Share Difficulty to 2,000,000, then you will submit shares at the same speed you previously were, but you will receive two times as much revenue from the pool for the shares you do submit.
You end up making twice as much revenue (which mirrors your increase in hashrate).
Share Target
Like the Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty can also be converted to a Share Target by taking the inverse.
Share Target = 1 / Share Difficulty
Hashing Function
A hash is the output of a hash function. Hashrate is the speed at which a computer (ASIC/GPU/CPU) is completing an operation in the cryptocurrency’s code. Therefore, the amount of hashes are measured in hashes per second.
At its base you can think of crypto mining as solving some function represented by:
f(x) = y
Where:
f = Hash Function (i.e. an equation -> such as SHA-256)
= (i.e. an equation -> such as SHA-256) x = Block Header (i.e. some random number)
= (i.e. some random number) y = Result of the Hash Function applied on the Block Header
Hash Function (f)
You can think of the Hash Function such as SHA-256 ( f ) as a very complex equation that will input the Block Header ( x ) in some way to create a hash result ( y ).
The key here is that the formula ( f ) is too complex to solve using algebra. The only way this can be solved is by using brute-force, guess & check. Miners constantly change the block header ( x ) in the equation until the result ( y ) is acceptable.
This is known as a trapdoor function; a one-way function that makes it impossible to know which x value will give you y without brute-forcing it. This is what ASICs are doing. Just guess & checking x values until they find a y outcome that is acceptable.
Block Header ( x)
The way miners change x is a bit more nuanced. The Block Header is a large string of numbers and is function of a few different inputs. We included some of the main ones below but it is not exhaustive.
~Block Header =Block Height + Block Version + Previous Difficulty + Nonce
The key is that all of the variables are set, except for the Nonce. The Nonce is what miners are constantly changing to change the Block Header ( x ).
Result of the Hash Function (y)
This is just the outcome of the function ( f ) using an input ( x ). But it is crucial for mining.
The result ( y ) is what is used to determine if a share will be accepted by the pool, and if the share can create a valid block.
Mining Example
Using SHA-256 ( f ) as an example, let’s say a Mining Pool sets a Share Difficulty of 1,000,000 for the Miner. This results in a Share Target of ( 1 / 1,000,000) = 0.0000010000
The miner (ASIC) is going to start guessing numbers until they reach the target outcome. So they will continue to guess new Block Headers ( x ) in the function ( f ).
f(x) = y
SHA-256(block_header_guess1) = 0000241241
SHA-256(block_header_guess2) = 0000041241
SHA-256(block_header_guess3) = 0000001241
The block_header_guess3 ( x ) resulted in a hash ( y ) that was lower than the Share Target. So it is accepted by the pool as valid and the miner gets paid for that share.
Now let’s assume the miner keeps mining. The Network Difficulty is 100,000,000 which results in a Network Target of (1 / 100,000,000) = 0.0000000100
SHA-256(block_header_guess3) = 0000001241
SHA-256(block_header_guess4) = 0000000241
SHA-256(block_header_guess5) = 0000000041
The block_header_guess5 ( x ) resulted in a hash ( y ) that was lower than the Network Target. So it is used by the pool to submit a valid block to the network and get the block reward!
Already a miner or interested in getting started?
Follow us on Twitter. We’re happy to help: https://twitter.com/LuxorTechTeam
We’re also on Discord. Ping us there at https://discord.gg/5qPRbDS | https://medium.com/luxor/crypto-mining-network-difficulty-share-difficulty-and-hash-functions-f13a59b64561 | ['Luxor Tech'] | 2020-02-23 20:47:48.737000+00:00 | ['Crypto Mining', 'Cryptography', 'Crypto', 'Mining Concepts', 'Bitcoin Mining'] |
Exploring Recharts: Line Chart with different colored segments for a single Line | Like any other charting library, Recharts allows you to work with line series data. A line chart has a lot of varied use cases. A very basic example is using a line series chart to show progress of something over time, like, how sales of smartphones has increased over the years. It is very easy to create a simple line chart out of the box in Recharts.
A simple static line chart is usually never enough for our data visualization needs. You would probably need to show some extra information like reference lines on the chart to mark important events, reference areas to mark important periods, adding extra information to the chart with Tooltips, etc. One such usage is to show the line chart in different colors before and after an important event. For example, we might want to show a different color for the smartphone data before iPhone was launched, and a different color after iPhone was launched.
One naive approach to this in any charting library would be to have 2 different line series, one which renders the data before the reference event and another which renders the data after the event,
OR
one line which displays the full data, and another line which only displays data before the event and renders on top of the other line with a different color.
Both of these approaches have some drawbacks:
If you are drawing two different lines which have different starting points, both of them would be animated separately in Recharts, and the effect would not seem like a single line chart with different colors.
If you draw two different lines with different end points, then based on the type of interpolation, your charts might not overlap appropriately towards the end of the shorter line.
Both of the above cases can be fixed by either choosing the appropriate interpolation type, or may be overriding animations, but this seems like an overkill to achieve what we want.
There might be an easier and less hack-y way to do this. Since these lines are svg elements and they accept a stroke , what if we could somehow change the color of stroke based on the data? What if we could use a syntax like this:
<Line dataKey="value" stroke={
d => d > 50 ? "red" : "green"
} />
Sadly, this is not yet allowed by Recharts.
Currently Recharts allows to only provide stroke for the whole line. This means we can change the color of the whole line based on some data, but we cannot do that for different parts of the line chart.
But, we have a workaround. Since these line charts are svg elements, we can pass in a LinearGradient as the stroke .
This opens up a whole new set of possibilities, you can, for instance change the stroke for different parts of the chart on user interaction.
This capability to provide a stroke based on gradient is not specific to Recharts, but is applicable across all svg based charting libraries which allow you to pass in a stroke same as you pass stroke to any other svg element.
References:
A list of all other posts in this series: | https://medium.com/@gaurav5430/exploring-recharts-line-chart-with-different-colored-segments-8e77f13ffeb2 | ['Gaurav Gupta'] | 2020-06-21 14:16:51.173000+00:00 | ['D3js', 'React', 'Recharts', 'Charts', 'JavaScript'] |
Alone and Scared | It was a dark, cold night. The street lights seemed to be fighting to stay aglow. I was miles away from home after my cab driver unceremoniously dropped me and sped off in a different direction for a personal emergency.
Not a soul in sight. Wait! There was one.
A tramp. Crouching on the pavement. Watching my every move. I felt his eyes boring a hole into my back. I was worried. I was alone, helpless, and my pepper spray can was locked in my desk at work.
I jumped out of my skin when I heard a voice. The voice simply said, “Lady! No need to be afraid of me. I have neither hands nor legs.”
I relaxed when I heard that. I felt sorry for having been afraid of him.
I turned around to give him a warm smile and watched him disappear in a puff of smoke. | https://medium.com/an-idea/alone-and-scared-90743bcad6d8 | ['Anu Anniah'] | 2020-12-15 06:24:51.710000+00:00 | ['Microfiction', 'Life', 'Fiction', 'Creativity', 'Horror'] |
We Are Voluntarily Pausing Our Pre-ICO Offering | SupplyBloc, Inc. is temporarily pausing our pre-ICO to preemptively prepare our SUPX Token Sale to be compliant with the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC).
The concerns and discussions regarding SEC regulation within the blockchain and cryptocurrency communities have been equally confusing and intriguing as of late. SupplyBloc remains hopeful about the potential positive effects that the ongoing and inevitable regulatory and industry transformations will likely have on the blockchain and crypto spaces as a whole.
Migration to Security Token Offering (STO)
SupplyBloc is proactively taking the steps to become SEC compliant by issuing a Security Token via an STO. STO’s are quickly becoming the safer, more secure, and ultimately more enduring way to raise capital with a token sale.
The primary difference between an STO and an ICO is that unlike utility tokens, security tokens are considered financial securities that are backed by assets with inherent value such as a company’s profits or revenue. | https://medium.com/supplybloc/we-are-voluntarily-pausing-our-pre-ico-offering-82d1cd33fa46 | ['Supplybloc Technology'] | 2018-05-26 02:39:51.210000+00:00 | ['Token Sale', 'Polymath', 'Announcements', 'Financial Regulation', 'Blockchain'] |
The 7 most popular vibrator styles explained | Have you ever walked into an adult store, found your way to the wall of vibrators and thought… “gee I had NO idea there were so many different types!” And while it could be fun to peruse the hilariously overwhelming selection, when it comes to actually picking one to bring home to your bedside table, it’s hard to know where to start.
We started Flossy because we were tired of feeling overwhelmed with navigating the vast world of self-pleasure so we thought it was time to break down each different style of vibrator and why they may (or may not) be up your pleasure alley.
Zee by Dame Products
Bullet
Bullet vibrators are the tiniest, most discreet and possibly the cutest vibrator you’ll come across. For people with vulvas looking to try a vibrator for the first time, a bullet vibe is absolutely one of the best places to start. Especially if you’re not sure what type of stimulation you prefer but you’re keen to explore. They can be an approachable and inexpensive option to kick things off. Just because they’re small doesn’t mean they aren’t mighty!
Pro tip: Don’t scrape the bottom of the price barrel with buying a bullet. Spending an extra few will go a long way when it comes to power and longevity — and after exploring with it a bit you might wish you’d purchased something that’ll give you a bit more oomph…
Kip by Dame Products
Pinpoint
For those of you that have ever felt frustrated during a solo sesh by not being able to get a vibrator to hit just the right spot, a pinpoint-style vibe is most definitely for you. What we love about these type of vibrators is that not one session is the same.
With a more unique shaped head you’re able to get into all the nooks and crannies that you may have never known existed. Instead of other vibrators that only have variation in the strength of vibration, vibrators like Kip have variation on the actual sensation which is achieved through its shape.
Pro tip: If a pinpoint vibrator has an intimidating shape that makes you cringe, don’t buy it. But if you’re right on the fence of, “Hmm that could be amazing… or really bizarre…” go 👏 for 👏 it 👏.
Melt by We-Vibe
Air Pulsation
Okay this one needs a little extra ‘splainin to make sure we do it justice. When it comes to vibrators for external stimulation of the clitoris, suction style vibrators will give you an incomparable sensation. When they’re on, it almost feels like a mini vacuum, but don’t let that intimidate you because it’s just the right amount of suction. The suction around your clitoris sends pulsation like waves with a slight vibration that delivers a seriously strong orgasm. If you’ve already explored other external stimulation vibes and you’re wanting something that takes your orgasm to the next level, suction-style vibes will become your new BFF.
Pro tip: Make sure the battery is fully charged because the only reason you’ll be able to put this guy down is if the battery runs out… so you might as well set yourself up for success.
Le Wand Petit
Wand
Cue your fav karaoke song because this one is one to sing with… out and about. In 1968 when Hitachi came out with its Magic Wand massager, they had no idea how quickly it would be rebranded into a pleasure icon. Because of its larger size, they’re able to have larger motors which means a deeper, stronger and more rumbly vibration — one that’s not just going to give sensation on the skin but it will also give a much deeper and fuller sensation. A wand-style vibrator is also great to use with a partner because it has a broader head which allows for a bit of wiggle room so no matter what, it will hit the right spot. The longer handle also allows for ease in different positions.
Pro tip: There are more wand-style vibrators on the market than cat memes but keep in mind they’re not all created equal. If you’re going to level up to a wand, don’t go with a cheap option because it might not pack the punch you’re looking for which will leave you disappointed. Our top wand recommendation is Le Wand Massager, a female-founded and run company that create some seriously cute wands which are high-quality and long-lasting.
Fin by Dame Products
Hands-Free
There are a lot of vibrators out there that tout being ‘hands-free’ but after trying and testing most of them out, it’s rare they are as advertised. This is because most often you end up spending more time trying to readjust them to the right spot instead of actually enjoying any sensation they have to offer. Vibrators like Fin tether around your finger (or your partner’s) so you don’t have to think about holding onto it. Whatever you are normally doing with your hands, this type of hands-free vibe makes it that much better.
Pro tip: If you’re wanting to introduce a vibrator with your partner, a hands free vibe can be a great way to empower them to wear it and feel in charge of bringing you pleasure. You’ll never feel more natural about a toy being part of your sex life!
Nova 2 by We-Vibe
Rabbit
We’re pretty sure the least effective vibrators of this style are the ones that have literal rabbit ears. Do you see any of the above vibrators that have a more clitoral focus with rabbit ears? Not really.
Recently, the rabbit vibrator has evolved into a sleek, powerful and highly intimate vibrator for those looking to level up their self-pleasure game with internal and external stimulation at the same time. If you’re still keen for clitoral stimulation but looking to get an even more intense blended orgasm (stimulating the clitoris from the outside as well as internally via the g-spot) a sleek rabbit-style vibe may be the perfect toy for you!
Pro Tip: Most rabbit-style vibrators aren’t adjustable to fit your unique vulva so we recommend finding an option that has flexible arms and is adjustable so it can fit perfectly you.
Arc by Dame Products
G-Spot
Before we go any further, it’s imperative that we preface that most people don’t know that the g-spot orgasm and the clitoral orgasm are the same thing. The clitoris — the external bit — is simply the tip of the whole clitoris which is not visible. The body of the clitoris projects inwards towards your pelvis. By stimulating the g-spot, the aim is to stimulate the inner bulbs of the clitoris. Since there is so much variation in different people’s anatomy, a g-spot vibrator can be the perfect thing to explore stimulation of the clitoris from the inside.
Pro tip: A g-spot targeted vibrator that can also be used for external stimulation will provide a much more versatile experience. Close to two thirds of people with vulvas say they prefer using vibrators like Arc by Dame Products for both an internal and external stimulation.
Pro tip ++ : Pair a G-Spot vibrator with an external vibrator like Kip for an orgasm that will truly knock your socks off…
Pro tip +++: Not everyone is able to have an orgasm just from g-spot stimulation so if it doesn’t work for you that’s completely normal!
The good news? You simply can’t go wrong if you trust your gut on which type of vibe feels the most right for you… As long as it doesn’t leave you feeling overwhelmed, seedy or shameful.
Not sure which vibe is for you? Take our personalised quiz to find out! | https://medium.com/@feelflossy/the-7-most-popular-vibrator-styles-explained-9b17c3200ed7 | [] | 2020-12-15 01:19:22.791000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Womens Health', 'Vibrators', 'Sexual Wellness', 'Masturbation'] |
5 Email Marketing Mistakes That Are Costing You Clients | Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash
In an era where businesses have to increasingly rely on robust email marketing strategies to gain an edge, missing sight of just a few key details can mean a world of difference. According to German research firm Statista, the estimated global amount of email users in 2019 hovered around 3.9 billion, and is projected to reach a whopping 4.3 billion by 2023. In other words, it’s getting bigger folks. Given this positive trend, well planned and efficient email strategies are, if anything, only destined to become more central to your success. This need not keep you up at night,however, for just a few minor tweaks can result in remarkably positive changes. In this article, we´ll exclusively go over practices you should stay away from, or outrightly stop doing (in case you already stepped in the mud).
Stop Sending So Many Emails
Sometimes, pulling back the brakes a bit can help you regain control and win the race. On occasion, doing less equates to doing more. We all fall prey at times, to the unfortunately common misconception that barraging our customers with ads and sales offers will win them over. But much like an agile acrobat treading a tightrope, we must aim for the almighty balance. One between an ambitious, overly aggressive approach, and an aloof, and unengaged one. You can think of email content like ice cream. “Mind a spoonful?” Sure. “A sunday?” Why not? Try offering a gallon and you´ll quickly stop getting the same response. Even the things we enjoy the most, will, if consumed excessively, make us reach a natural point of aversion. This is exactly what you want to avoid with your clients. Make sure to be consistent in providing quality content without reaching the point of excess.
2. Being Too Impersonal
Imagine you´re at a party, and meet two people, Bill and Jane. Bill addresses you disinterestedly, regularly forgets your name, and comes across as impolite and unconcerned with you. Jane, on the other hand, relates to you with her whole hearted attention, addresses you by name, and seems fascinated by your interests, quirks, and idiosyncrasies. Who would you be more receptive towards?
Making a deliberate effort to know your clients and segment them accordingly, should be a key piece in your email strategy. Customers (people in general really) crave to be understood. By failing to show them your familiarity with their problems and interests, you’re making them think that they’re just not that important to you. So, please, do yourself a favor and throw away all those tasteless, generic drafts devoid of demographic specificity. You shouldn’t address a 15 year old interested in skating the same way you do a cooking-obsessed, 80 year old grandma, and I hope you won´t.
3. Too Many Calls To Action
This one relates to our first point about over-aggressiveness. While providing a clear call to action in your emails is undoubtedly a must, the proverbial principle of moderation must still be abided. If you continuously find yourself flooding your messages with buttons and external links, you can rest assured you’re overdoing it. Not only does such relentless prodding send an energy of desperation, but it also saturates the readers’ attention. In fact, data offered by Steven MacDonald from CRM firm Super Office, seems to corroborate this. The data suggests that the optimal amount of CTA buttons was around 3, anything lower or higher would dip down conversions. Steven writes:
“Our own study found that the average number of call-to-actions within an email marketing campaign is 3.3.
One one hand, you have email campaigns with zero (!) call to actions and on the other, you have campaigns with more than 10.”
As shown above, the magical number seems to be 3.
4. Not Giving a Good First Impression
We’ve all heard that you shouldn’t judge books by their cover, but following this advice in business will rapidly lead you astray. Potential clients are always judging companies by their cover. In a study carried out using eye tracking devices at Missouri University of Science and Technology, researchers found that it takes just two-tenths of a second to form a first impression when visiting a website. Assistant professor Dr. Hong Sheng claims:
“As more people use the Internet to search for information, a user’s first impressions of a website can determine whether that user forms a favorable or unfavorable view of that organization.”
Though this research solely applies to users’ perceptions of websites, it’s safe to assume emails are no different. So ask yourself: “How professional do my emails look? What kind of language am I using to communicate with my customers? Are my emails aesthetically pleasing? ”No matter how great your products and services are, a bad first impression will scare prospective customers away.
5. Not Adapting to Mobile Devices
Unless you´ve been living under a rock for the past 15 years, it should go without saying that people live permanently stuck to their phones. Most of our attention is consumed by the daily avalanche of tweets, instant messages, and (you guessed it) emails we receive. Phones are the ultimate portal to people’s attention, and failing to exploit this avenue can frankly result catastrophic. Statista, reported that at least 50% of all emails are opened on phones, further illustrating their importance to businesses.It would be a shame if your brilliantly crafted newsletters ended up in the digital trash bin at a mere finger swipe. Take the time to ensure that your messages are mobile-friendly and totally compatible with smartphones. | https://medium.com/@richardkafie/5-email-marketing-mistakes-that-are-costing-you-clients-d130216566f4 | ['Richard Kafie'] | 2020-12-18 01:15:41.588000+00:00 | ['Email Copywriting', 'Email Marketing', 'Sales Email', 'Email Conversion', 'Email Marketing Tips'] |
5 Influencer Myths Busted | Myth #1:
Influencers can be your way to achieve scale for free
The Truth: Influencers are subject to the same algorithms that brands are. In fact, many influencers are treated the same as a business, so they may be reaching the same percentage of their “follower audience” that you are as a brand. True, their follower count may be higher than your brand’s but that’s no guarantee for high reach. If you’re looking for broad reach but in the tone and editorial voice of the influencer, consider white listing the post (investing ad dollars in the influencer’s post vs. reposting on your own channel).
Myth #2:
Influencers don’t require the same rigor as briefing your agency
The Truth: In some cases, influencers need more effort in briefing — unlike your agencies, they don’t work with your brand every day so don’t know all the considerations (legal, creative, etc.) that you do. This means detailed briefs for any guidelines are a must, but you should also be cautious because in most cases you are contracting them for their editorial voice, their creative eye, etc. You don’t want to go overboard with guidelines and restrictions, which is why it’s best to work collaboratively with your agency and have a kick off meeting with agency + influencer to discuss the vision for the project together.
Myth #3:
Only PR or media agencies can work with influencers
The Truth: Depending on the output and cost of the influencers, even creative agencies can contract them. For instance, if the purpose of an individual is only to capture content for brand owned channels, the creative agency may brief them because creatives will be closer to the brand guidelines the content should adhere to. In the most ideal case, however, all agencies will work together to coordinate influencers for a particular project.
Myth #4:
Content partners (I.e. Vice and Refinery 29) aren’t the same as influencers
The Truth: We work with publishing partners for many of the same reasons we work with influencers: they have clout and are culturally relevant and therefore have the ear and trust of a particular audience that we want to get in front of. So why wouldn’t they be the same? They need the same guidance as influencers and have the same editorial integrity that influencers posting on their channels will have.
Myth #5:
There’s only one way to use influencers
The Truth: Influencers can be used to achieve scale, but can also be used to capture content solely for use on your channel. These two uses are not mutually exclusive — the same person can be contracted to capture 2 assets — one for their channel, more in their own editorial voice and one for your brand’s channel, more in line with your brand guidelines. | https://medium.com/comms-planning/5-influencer-myths-busted-85c32397b286 | ['Monisha Lewis'] | 2017-03-23 14:38:13.039000+00:00 | ['Agencylife', 'Communications Strategy', 'Advertising', 'Social Media', 'Influencer Marketing'] |
I am a Writer | Admitting my truth
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I’m just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I’m easy come, easy go
A little high, little low
Anyway the wind blows, doesn’t really matter to me, to me - Freddy Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody
How powerful a single song lyric that is forever stamped in our collective heads. Like Macbeth we are “any way the wind blows”.
Today, I finally changed my Linked In to reflect my reality. I am a writer on Medium. I had spent a lifetime with writing as a hobby while pursuing a career in engineering, then science, then software. It only took three months of stolen moments while my infant daughter was occupied to get the momentum going.
My family has witnessed a return of my drive and of a ‘working mother’ of sorts. I receive great joy when I feel a story is ready for publication. I push my husband or the occasional neighbor or friend to proof read and help me find typos or errors in logic.
I am driven. I am inspired.
A chance conversation with a friend sparked my three articles on motherhood. She commented on how I manage my brood and suggested I had a story to tell. Another friend suggested I put to pen a short story after hearing an experience I shared with my 4 year old. This story I submitted to two publishing houses. No response.
Inspiration is all around. Watching Sesame Street I was inspired to write a story on product management.
I enjoy writing. The act of writing gives me a sense of purpose in the moment.
So lets see which way the wind blows, admitting the truth is the first step. | https://byrslf.co/i-am-a-writer-7bb9bf1038a4 | ['Diliny M. De Alwis'] | 2019-06-27 05:05:53.421000+00:00 | ['Writers On Medium', 'Writers On Writing', 'Beyourself', 'Writers Life', 'Lifestyle'] |
How Daydreaming Makes You A Better Writer — Van Ditthavong | Film Courage: Van, can we talk about your life as a daydreamer? I understand that daydreaming is very important to your creative process. What was daydreaming like for you when you were a kid? What is it like for you now?
Van Ditthavong, Filmmaker/Photographer: I don’t know, I always thought you grow up and get in trouble for daydreaming and things like that. But sometimes you just can’t help but stare outside the window and let your mind go. I remember as a kid, you just do it. Everyone daydreams until they are told not to I think. I wish we could nourish that more and I think it could be harnessed…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here). | https://medium.com/film-courage/how-daydreaming-makes-you-a-better-writer-van-ditthavong-bf2cb6e7e173 | [] | 2020-12-21 01:24:23.098000+00:00 | ['Creative Writing', 'Writing', 'Writer', 'Writing Tips', 'Screenwriting'] |
МЫ НАСТОЯТЕЛЬНО РЕКОМЕНДУЕМ, ЧТОБЫ ЭТОТ ETF ПОЛУЧИЛ ОДОБРЕНИЕ | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/skrumble-network-%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%8F/%D0%BC%D1%8B-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%8F%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%B5%D0%BC-%D1%87%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%8B-%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%82-etf-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%83%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BB-%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5-7a78665a15a1 | ['Jonathan Williams'] | 2018-07-12 19:15:23.004000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Russia', 'Blockchain', 'Etf', 'Bitcoin'] |
Seducing Children to Learn | Here’s your weekly moment of “EduZen” to think about this weekend:
Russell Ackoff:
The common view, one that underpins almost all educational enterprises that have arisen over the past 150 years, is that motivation must be instilled from without, by a pedagogically sophisticated educator. This view is understandable when education is considered a way to enforce a particular social agenda on children. From the realization that such coercion inevitably arouses antagonism came the need to convince children that society’s agenda is actually their own agenda, too; only then would children in school be able to learn effectively. The primary activity of schooling became pedagogy, instilling in children motivation to do what the school authorities wanted them to do (or, in plainer terms, seducing children to think they love spinach by looking for ways to cook it that would make it seem delicious to them).
The reason this has been such a dismal failure, especially as the information age unfolds, is that seduction is ultimately a poor tool for a long-term relationship — in this case, between a person and an area of study (Kindle 414). | https://medium.com/modern-learning/seducing-children-to-learn-fb3de98f259 | ['Will Richardson'] | 2016-05-06 09:54:38.037000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Culture', 'All Things Considered'] |
Load testing with Apache JMeter | Write a basic test
There are two ways we can use JMeter:
Graphical user interface Command line interface
It is recommended that we run actual test on CLI. But we can write a test & have a test-run on the GUI. Start the GUI by running this command:
$ apache-jmeter-5.4.1/bin/jmeter
Apache JMeter GUI
In this scenario, we are going to write a basic performance test targeting randomcolour.com, a very simple website.
I’ll rename the test plan as “Load testing randomcolour.com”.
Thread group
Next, let’s add a thread group on our test plan. Thread group determines user flow and how a user would behave. Each thread represent a user.
Add a thread group
In this thread group, I am adding 5 users (threads), ramp all users in 5 seconds (thus 1 second after each other). And I’ll only be running the test once (loop count = 1).
Thread configuration
Sampler
We want the thread to send an HTTP request. To do this we can add a “Sampler” to the thread group.
Add a sampler
In this sampler, I’m sending a request to randomcolour.com , using an http protocol.
Sampler configuration
As you can see, we can configure many parameters on this screen. We can simulate a POST request, simulate form filling action, file uploads, etc. But in this example I’m just going to request a simple HTTP request.
Timer
We can simulate the pause/delay when users click a website by adding a “Constant Timer”. Let’s add a timer to the HTTP request we’ve just created.
Add a timer
I’m going to use the default value of 300ms.
Listener
To see the result of our test on the GUI, we can add a “Listener”. In this example, I’m adding a “View Results Tree” listener to the thread group.
Add a listener
Run test on GUI
Remember, you should always run the test on JMeter CLI interface. But we can do a test-run on the plan we’ve just created. First we need to save it as a .jmx file. In this example, I name the file test-randomcolour.jmx .
To start a test, click the “Start” button on the top toolbar.
Here is the result of our test as shown in the “View Results Tree” screen. | https://medium.com/@arie-m-prasetyo/load-testing-with-apache-jmeter-c2ad73cd1da8 | ['Arie M. Prasetyo'] | 2021-06-02 04:53:00.637000+00:00 | ['Load Testing', 'Performance', 'Test', 'Scalability'] |
Robert Saunders Teacher — Education During Covid Lockdown And Its Impact On Child’S Health | Save the Children has just released a new report on the impact of covid lockout on children’s health and education.
Robert Saunders teacher Queensland The results focus on factors that affect mental health and well-being, such as physical health, physical activity, and physical and emotional health.
There is mixed evidence of educational impact, whether in the form of falling school attendance, dropout rates or dropout rates among children.
Robert Saunders Teacher — We do not yet know what the long-term effects of school cancellations will be on children’s mental health and wellbeing, or what the lockout will do to their school attendance.
There is also a need to monitor young people’s mental health in the long term and to investigate how prolonging this development affects the well-being of children and young people.
Robert Saunders teacher There is an urgent need for more research into the impact of school closures on the health and well-being of children, young people and the mentally ill, especially as health professionals engage in activities with children or young people that imprison them at work and at work, and on the impact on their education.
Robert Saunders Teacher — Child health students must focus on emerging mental health problems in children, and quarantine strategies should be developed to keep an eye on the needs of children and adolescents, as well as their health and well-being.
School needs to be done on the use of psycho — teaching materials related to audio and video material, practised mental health — health hygiene, promotion of health behaviour and access to psychosocial and educational materials related to mental health care for children or adolescents.
Save the Children calls on the government to ensure that children in schools have access to high-quality distance learning materials, that catch-up classes are offered to children who are left behind, and that all children have equal access to learning once schools reopen.
Robert Saunders teacher Queensland The government should also consider the impact of school closures on parents and find ways to help parents keep their children at home 24 hours a day and manage home work and childcare. | https://medium.com/@robertsaundersteacher/robert-saunders-teacher-education-during-covid-lockdown-and-its-impact-on-childs-health-d7cabaf22494 | ['Robert Saunders Teacher'] | 2020-12-07 19:34:48.658000+00:00 | ['Teachers', 'Robert Saunders Teacher', 'Education'] |
The best smart shades: These luxurious window treatments blend high tech with high fashion | The best smart shades: These luxurious window treatments blend high tech with high fashion Jessica Dec 11, 2020·10 min read
Motorized window treatments that can open and close on command, on a schedule, or even based on room occupancy are the ultimate finishing touch for any smart home. Like smart lighting, smart window treatments offer a host of benefits in terms of convenience, security, and energy conservation. There’s a safety angle, too: There are no pull cords that pose a strangulation risk to children and pets. But the wow factor they deliver also renders them a luxury item—even deploying them one room at a time can cost thousands of dollars if each room has a lot of windows.
We’re using the term “shades” in the headline above, but we’ll cover blinds here, too. What’s the difference? Shades are a soft window covering, typically made of fabric. They roll or pull up to allow light in, and they roll or drop down to block light and provide privacy. Blinds are a hard window treatment consisting of vertical or horizontal slats, typically made of wood, metal, plastic, or a composite material. The angle of these slats can be varied to admit or restrict light, or the slats can be closed tightly to block light and provide privacy. The slats in horizontal blinds can be pulled up in a stack to fully expose the window, while the slats in vertical blinds are pulled and gathered to the left or right for the same purpose.
[ Further reading: A smart home guide for beginners ]Here are our top picks in several categories, followed by an explanation of the terms you’ll encounter and the features you should consider when you shop for smart shades or smart blinds. You’ll find a list of all the products we’ve reviewed in this category at the bottom of the page. It’s a relatively short list right now, but we’ll add new product reviews and additional product categories as time goes on.
Updated November 13, 2020 to add our Serena by Lutron Smart Wood Blinds review. If you like Lutron’s smart shades, you’ll love its smart blinds. They look more elegant and they offer more precise control of the light entering your room. Blinds don’t deliver as much year-round insulation value, but they’re better at block heat transfer from the window in the summer time.
Best cellular smart shades Hunter Douglas Duette shade with PowerView Automation Read TechHive's reviewLearn moreon Hunter DouglasThese luxurious smart shades are supremely sophisticated, but they’re also very expensive and there is no DIY option.
Hunter Douglas’ Duette with PowerView motorization smart shades are elegant, sophisticated, and luxurious. These are top-down/bottom-up shades, which means they can open in both directions, a style that provides the ultimate in privacy and light control. And Hunter Douglas’ accessories—from its innovative “battery wand” power solution to its Pebble remote controls—are absolutely top shelf. They are not inexpensive, however, and there is no DIY option available.
Best cellular smart shades with a DIY option Serena by Lutron motorized shade Read TechHive's reviewLearn moreon Serena by LutronSerena by Lutron motorized shades are more expensive than some alternatives, but they’re both a little higher end and a better choice for less-experienced DIYers and folks who might not be interested in pursuing a complete smart home system.
These are beautiful shades, but being geeks, we’re particularly enamored with their battery compartment. The compartment is integrated into the headrail, so you need only tip it down to access and replace the batteries (D cells in the unit we reviewed). You’ll need to also buy an $80 Lutron Smart Bridge to connect the shades to your Wi-Fi network, since the shades rely on a proprietary wireless protocol, but Lutron’s app is very good and the bridge can also manage the company’s excellent Caséta smart lighting products (dimmers, switches, and smart plugs), ceiling-fan controllers, and it has hooks into third-party products, ranging from Ecobee smart thermostats to Sonos multi-room audio systems. Lutron’s product line is available either through dealers, who will handle installation, or direct to the DIYer.
Runner-up Graber Virtual Cord Motorized Shade Read TechHive's reviewLearn moreon ZebraBlinds.comGraber Virtual Cord Motorized Shades aren’t as expensive as you might think, though you’ll also need a smart home hub and a smart speaker to get the most benefit from them. They’re also stylish, supremely convenient, and some models can help reduce your heating and cooling costs.
Graber’s Virtual Cord cellular shades are every bit as pretty as Lutron’s, but their motors are slightly louder and their battery compartment needs to be removed from the headrail when you need to swap them out. They come with simple two-button remote controls, or you can spend extra to get more elaborate ones that can control multiple shades at the same time. These shades rely on Z-Wave technology, so you’ll need a bridge to connect them to your home Wi-Fi network. That can be Graber’s own Z-Wave bridge and app, or you can incorporate them into most any smart home system. Graber’s product line is available either through dealers, who will handle installation, or direct to the DIYer.
Best roller smart shades Powershades TruePoE motorized roller shade Read TechHive's reviewLearn moreon Powershades This shade’s motor uses power-over-ethernet to deliver twin benefits: Speedy operation and simpler installation requirements. But it'll cost you.
We don’t have a lot of experience with this type of shade, yet, but we dig the Powershades TruePoE for its innovative means of integrating with a home network. Instead of relying on disposable batteries, the motor in these shades receives both electrical power and command-and-control messages over an ethernet cable (power over ethernet, or PoE). Having hardwired access to power makes the motor in these shades more than twice as fast as the battery-powered models we’ve reviewed. DIYers take note: Powershades does not sell direct to consumers; you’ll need to talk to a professional installer if you want one.
Shopping for smart shades and blindsShade types Shades can be divided into four broad categories: roller, Roman, cellular (aka honeycomb), and pleated. There are other types, but those are the most common. A roller shade operates just like it sounds: A motorized roller spins to unwind a sheet of fabric to cover your window, and the roller reverses direction to pull the sheet back onto the roller, exposing the window.
A Roman shade is also made from a single sheet of fabric (or other material, lined or unlined), but it opens as cords running through rings sewn into the back of the drapery-like fabric pull up and fold the fabric into a stack. To close, the cord is slowly unwound to drop and unfold the fabric.
Michael Brown / IDG Double-celled construction greatly increases a shades’ insulation value as well as its ability to block sunlight.
Cellular shades consist of multiple layers of fabric formed into honeycomb-like cells that trap air. Pleated shades are similar to cellular shades, but they’re fabricated from a single sheet of fabric and the pleats are typically much wider. Since they’re made of one sheet of fabric, the cords that lift the shade are exposed, whereas the cords in a cellular shade run through the middle of the cells and are therefore hidden. Both cellular and pleated shades raise and lower in an accordion-like fashion.
Blind types There are basically two types of blinds: Horizontal and vertical. The slats in a horizontal blind angle up and down to regulate light while vertical blinds twist left and right. The motors in these types of blinds might control only the angle of the slats, requiring the user to manually open or close them. This is particularly true of horizontal blinds since the cumulative weight of the slats can be substantial to pull up. Where shades are almost always made from fabric, blinds can be fabricated from host of materials, including wood, metal, plastic, and composites (faux wood).
Serena by Lutron Wooden blinds are among the most elegant window treatments, but the motors in them might only adjust the angle of the slats, not lift and lower the entire shade.
Privacy and light control These considerations go hand in hand. The more light that passes through the shade or blind, the less privacy the window covering will provide. That said, the slats in blinds can be adjusted to let more light in while still providing strong privacy—at least when viewed from afar. A sheer shade will admit a lot of light, too, but it must be raised to admit the maximum amount of light, which exposes the window entirely. A room-darkening fabric will block the most amount of light and provides a great deal of privacy. The light-blocking properties of room-darkening shades make them a favorite for home theater installations.
Some shade manufacturers have introduced dual shades that lower a light-filtering fabric when you want lots of light and just a little privacy, and then drop a room-darkening fabric behind it when you want the most privacy and the least amount of light entering the room.
Hunter Douglas Cellular shades are the best choice for both light control and insulation, although they don’t necessarily need to be room-darkening shades like these.
Top-down/bottom-up shades—available in Roman, pleated, and honeycomb form factors—open and close from the top or bottom of the window. They can even move down from the top and up from the bottom to meet in the middle. These shades provide the best combination of light control and privacy, lowering to block views straight into the home while allowing the maximum amount of light to pass through the uncovered area(s) of the window.
Insulation value No matter the season, everyone enjoys a room filled with sunlight. But the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 76 percent of the sunlight that falls on double-paned windows becomes heat inside the home, and that as much as 30 percent of a home’s heating energy is lost through its windows. If you’re not in the room anyway, closing the shades or blinds can save a tremendous amount of energy that would otherwise be consumed by your heating and air-conditioning appliances. And with smart shades, this can be accomplished automatically on a schedule, so the treatments are closed only during hours they’re exposed to direct sunlight, or even with a motion sensor that detects when the room is occupied and when it’s vacant.
Hunter Douglas Top-down/bottom-up shades provide plenty of both light and privacy.
But some types of window coverings provide better insulation value than others, with cellular shades delivering the most energy savings. This is because their honeycomb-like cells trap air inside them and prevent heat conduction through the window glass. Some cellular shades are lined with foil or mylar to increase their R-value even more. The Department of Energy reports that in the winter, cellular shades can reduce heat loss through windows by as much as 40 percent. In the summer, this type of shade can reduce unwanted solar heat by up to 80 percent.
Roller and Roman shades are good at blocking light, but even models made from heavier fabrics have much lower R-values, according to the Department of Energy. Window blinds—both horizontal and vertical—are more effective at reducing heat gain in the summer than they are at keeping a room warm in the winter, according to the agency.
Power Motors need electrical power to operate, of course, but that electricity can come from several sources. Batteries are the most common solution, especially for retrofit installations. These are typically installed in a compartment that hangs from the back or is integrated into the headrail. Disposable batteries are the norm, but Hunter Douglas recently announced a rechargeable battery solution for its PowerView product line that’s compatible with both new and retrofit installations.
Michael Brown / IDG The Serena’s head rail drops down to expose its battery compartment.
The next most common power source is an AC adapter, but unless you have outlets embedded in your window frames, you’ll be left with power cords running down the window and over the sill. One novel alternative to batteries is Power over ethernet (PoE). We have reviewed a Powershades TruePoE roller shade and were impressed with the speed of its motor. With PoE shades, both electricity and command and control messages are sent over an ethernet cable connected to the shade’s motor. Ideally, you’ll want to install an RJ45 jack in the top of your window frame to plug the stub ethernet cable into, but you could also just drill a small hole in the top of the frame and fish a cable with a female RJ jack through it. Since PoE is a low-voltage technology, you won’t need to hire an electrician to do the cable run. You will, however, need to have a PoE ethernet switch plugged into your router.
Command and control Shades and blinds need more than a motor to be considered smart. They must also have a communications protocol to carry command and control messages. In the Powershades example mentioned above, messages are sent directly over an ethernet cable, but wireless solutions are much more common. Graber, for example, relies on Z-Wave technology for its Virtual Cord motorized shades, while Serena by Lutron shades use the same proprietary Clear Connect RF specification the company uses for its Caséta Wireless smart lighting and ceiling-fan controllers. Hunter Douglas also has its own proprietary wireless protocol, PowerView.
Ben Patterson/IDG Amazon Echo and Nest Home smart speakers enable you to open and close your smart shades with voice commands.
Smart home integration There was a time when “proprietary” meant locking yourself into a given ecosystem—and forgoing cool new tech that other companies might come up with. That isn’t the case here. With the exception of the hardwired Powershades, all the wireless smart shades we’ve reviewed to date have required a bridge to connect the shades to your home Wi-Fi network (the Powershades are hardwired), but once on your network, motorized shades and blinds can be integrated into a broad range of smart home systems, both DIY and professionally installed.
With Z-Wave products, that bridge can be as simple as a USB dongle, like the one Graber offers for its Virtual Cord product line. Alternatively, you can incorporate the shades into a DIY Z-Wave-compatible smart home hub like Samsung’s SmartThings or a professionally installed smart home system such as the Vivint Smart Home system I used during my review. Serena by Lutron shades and blinds depend on Lutron’s Smart Bridge, but they can be further integrated into anything from a SmartThings system at the low end to a high-end Savant, Control4, or Elan smart home system. Hunter Douglas shades require a PowerView hub to connect to your network, but they can be incorporated into a broad range of higher-end smart home systems including Savant, Control4, and Crestron (SmartThings integration is not currently supported).
And with smart speakers and smart displays becoming so ubiquitous, smart shade makers would be crazy to not support at least Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. HomeKit is a little less prevalent in the smart home, but it shouldn’t be dismissed. And all the products we’ve reviewed to date are in fact compatible with Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers and displays. Indeed, a smart speaker or smart display might be all you need to build out your own smart home system. But that’s a bigger topic for a different story.
Our smart shade 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/@jessica45200535/the-best-smart-shades-these-luxurious-window-treatments-blend-high-tech-with-high-fashion-6ba3cf36bec5 | [] | 2020-12-11 04:08:04.469000+00:00 | ['Music', 'Electronics', 'Chargers', 'Connected Home'] |
The Economics of a Green New Deal | A Green New Deal has a lot of moving parts that have to work together. The solution looks more like solving a Rubik’s Cube than playing whack-a-mole. Are we up for this?
I follow economic cycles. I don’t know how it started but I’ve always been fascinated by the ebbs and flows in economies. Big economies, small ones — it doesn’t matter. There’s the relatively short business cycle of course, that is often the subject of news coverage whenever the news reports on employment, interest rates, oil supply, and aggregate demand and supply but the business cycle is just one example and there are many.
We’re mostly familiar with relatively short-term cycles. For instance, when oil prices are relatively high, they spur drilling which brings additional supply to market which brings prices down often to the point that further drilling is discouraged. But as supply tightens again prices rise and another drilling cycle kicks in. These cycles can play out over the course of a year or two.
My primary interest in economic cycles has a much longer time horizon — 50 to 60 years, in particular. These long waves are called K-waves after the economist who first brought them to our attention about 100 years ago, Nicolai Kondratiev. He was an interesting person. An academic economist who studied capitalism and tried to explain it to Russian Communists. He was an advisor to Lenin but when Stalin came to power, Kondratiev was shunted aside because his views didn’t fit with Stalin’s orthodoxy. Eventually, Stalin had Kondratiev killed by firing squad.
Kondratiev’s ideas came to America and were popularized by the American economist, Joseph Schumpeter who, among other things, is remembered for his concept of creative destruction. Schumpeter believed that each new innovation created value but at the same time it destroyed some of the value that the previous economic trend had brought. So, for example, the automobile brought tremendous value to the economy but at the cost of diminishing the horse and rail economies over time.
You can see this throughout history as once promising jobs and industries become commoditized. While companies might do well in a commoditizing environment, often jobs get exported and people are left to find new ways to make money. Frequently, that means in a new industry.
What’s a K-wave?
K-waves are interesting because they typically last longer than an average working lifetime. Figure the average working life in an industrialized society is about 40 years. That means you could work your entire lifetime within one K-wave. Some times would be better than others and they have less to do with who is in political office than what stage of the cycle you find yourself in. Innovations are continuously commoditized in the name of lower costs which results in jobs moving to lower wage areas and economic hardships are often what’s left behind.
In the 20thcentury textile and shoe manufacturing left New England for lower cost labor states in the South. But a generation later those same jobs left the US for places like Japan, China and then on to Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Not just any innovation can serve as the economic driver of a K-wave. We tend to over-use the term disruptive innovation to make the point. A disruptive innovation creates industries and jobs in such quantity that it becomes the driver of the economy for a little while at least. Disruptive innovations have the capacity to initiate K-waves.
The silicon chip initiated the K-wave that’s finishing right now. Patented in 1959 the chip eventually led to the development of a computer on a chip which launched the modern IT era and all that goes with it like software, the Internet, mobile computing, and more.
Disruptive innovations take on the order of 25 to 30 years to diffuse throughout the economy and during that time they create huge numbers of jobs. Then, in the following period commoditization takes place and Schumpeter’s creative destruction takes hold. Consider the IT industry again.
The Age of Information and Telecommunications
Fifty years ago, computers sat in airconditioned rooms and consumed huge amounts of energy. They were attended to by small armies, or at least platoons, of highly skilled workers managing and maintaining them. But the story of the last 20 or so years is one of commoditization. We carry the equivalent of a big computer room in our pockets today and we maintain it all by ourselves. Not only that but we have access literally to all of the world’s knowledge on those tiny devices and the cost of these devices is too small for most people to remember. Those tiny devices have commoditized much of IT even as they’ve created wealth and made us all more productive.
Here’s the point of all this. We’re at the end of the K-wave that dealt with information and telecommunications. Those industries won’t die but they’re no longer sufficient to drive the economy thanks to commoditization and inevitable price erosion.
But right on time, there’s a new K-wave forming and just waiting to come to the forefront. What’s coming will help us get out of the ecological and climate bind we’re in.
The Age of Sustainability
The new K-wave, which I call The Age of Sustainability includes renewable energy including solar, wind, geothermal and space based solar collection. But it also includes ways to capture carbon from the environment and store it safely for millions of years. Finally, the new K-wave also includes using some of that renewable energy to supplement what I call ecosystem services, perhaps a new term for you.
We’re teetering on the brink of not having enough fresh water to support Earth’s groaning population and using our smarts to generate more is becoming a top priority. Look around. California isn’t the only place confronting dry and drought-like conditions. Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria and many other countries don’t have enough water for agriculture and their people are leaving those countries and disrupting their neighbors. Just ask Jordan about Syrian refugees. Did you know that Cape Town ran out of water for a while last year?
Also, burning fossil fuels is poisoning the planet but, at the same time, fossil fuels are running out. The BP 2014 annual report stated that the Earth had, at the time, about a 54-year supply of oil left (about 1.687 trillion barrels) and we haven’t discovered any new oil since 2003.
You might say what about fracking but that’s a technique for extracting hard to reach deposits and it isn’t an exploration method. Put it this way. We’ve been pumping oil out of the ground since 1859 at ever increasing volumes each year. Earth isn’t made of oil and sooner or later logic tells us this huge but limited resource has to run out.
The new K-wave
We’re at an inflection point. Going back to K-waves, the Age of Sustainability is just starting, and it will create jobs not only in renewable energy but also in ecosystem services, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, and more. This new age has the potential of being the greatest job creating and money-making opportunity in history.
The Green New Deal will be part of it and it is an interesting proposition. There’s no doubt that the infrastructure parts will be job creators and investment opportunities. So will be creating a renewable energy sector that replaces fossil fuels with electricity. But there’s also a need to remove about 1 trillion tons of CO2from the environment. That can be done with photosynthesis and we’ll need to invest in that; I discuss this in a book that I am not advertising here.
What hasn’t come up yet, and what is causing a lot of resistance, is how to wind down the fossil fuel industries. Promoting coal use as we’re doing is a retrograde step, so is removing emissions restrictions and getting out of the Paris Climate Accords. But the fossil fuel industry is very powerful and it has trillions of dollars invested in things like mines, oil fields, pipelines, tankers, refineries and more. It won’t go quietly and that’s okay.
We’ll still need fossil fuels for making advanced materials like rubber for cars, but we’ll need to burn far less. So because we’ll still need the fossil fuel industry, we need to put our heads together and come up with a plan that reduces the industry’s impact while keeping parts of it running strong. It’s the only way we can have a smooth transition. Unfortunately, we aren’t discussing that plan though it’s the 800 pound gorilla in the room and the thing all else depends on.
So when you hear about or participate in discussions about a green future, keep an eye on how it impacts things like energy production, natural resources and carbon affiliated industries. The Green New Deal will look much more like solving a Rubik’s Cube than playing whack-a-mole. It will be hard but not impossible. | https://denispombriant.medium.com/the-economics-of-a-green-new-deal-1f41cfc3c386 | ['Denis Pombriant'] | 2019-02-15 15:40:16.254000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'Green New Deal'] |
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A television show may also be called a tv program (British EnBookmark this siteglish: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A tv set Movies may be the G0G with Grandpaually released in MoViE that follow a narrative, and are The G0G with Grandpaually divided into seasons (The G0G with Grandpa and Canada) or Movies (UK) — yearly or semiaual sets of new MoViE. A show with a restricted number of MoViE could be called a miniMBookmark this siteovies, serial, or limited Movies. A one-The G0G with Grandpa show could be called a “special”. A tv set film (“made-for-TV movie” or “televisioBookmark this siten movie”) is a film that`s initially broadcast on television instead of released in theaters or direct-to-video.
Television shows may very well be Bookmark this sitehey are broadcast in real The G0G with Grandpa (live), be recorded on home video or an electronic video recorder for later viewing, or be looked at on demand via a set-top box or streameBookmark this sited over the internet.
The first television set shows were experimental, sporadic broadcasts viewable only within an extremely short range from the broadcast tower starting in the. Televised events such as the 60006 Summer OlyBookmark this sitempics in Germany, the 60006 coronation of King George VI in the united kingdom, and David Sarnoff’s famoThe G0G with Grandpa introduction at the 6 New York World’s Fair in the The G0G with Grandpa spurreBookmark this sited a rise in the medium, but World G0G II put a halt to development until following the G0G. The 626 World Movies inspired many Americans to get their first television set and in 622, the popular radio show Texaco Star Theater made the move and became the first weekly televised variety show, earning host Milton Berle the name “Mr Television” and demonstrating that the medium was a stable, modern type of entertainment which could attract advertisers. The firsBookmBookmark this siteark this sitet national live tv broadcast in the The G0G with Grandpa took place on September 2, 6000 when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San FraThe Walking Dead: World Beyondco was transmitted over AT&T’s transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets.
❏ STREAMING MEDIA ❏
Streaming media are multimedia media that are continuously received by an end user and presented to an end user while being provided by a provider. The verb to be streamed identifies the process of providing or receiving media in this way. [Clarification required] Streaming identifies the delivery method of the medium rather than the medium itself. The distinction between the delivery method and the distributed media is particularly true for telecommunications networks, as most delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or not streaming by nature (e.g. books, video cassettes, sound CDs). There are challenges associated with streaming content on the Internet. For example, users whose Internet coStarzection does not have sufficient bandwidth may experience stops, delays, or slow buffering of this content. And users who lack compatible hardG0Ge or softG0Ge systems may have problems streaming certain content.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet content in real time, similar to how live television broadcasts content over the air with a television signal. Live internet streaming takes the form of source media (e.g. a video camera, sound interface, screen capture softG0Ge), an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and serve that content. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the point of origin, although it is often the case.
Streaming is an option for dBBC Oneloading files. The end user receives the full file for the content before viewing or hearing it. Streaming allows an end user to use their media player to begin playing digital video or audio before the entire file has been transferred. The term “streaming media” can apply to media other than video and audio, such as: B. Live subtitles, ticker tape, and real-time text that are considered “streaming text”.
❏ COPYRIGHT CONTENT ❏
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its BBC Oneer the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[2][2][000][2][000] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[6][6][2] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][6][20][22][22] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[2000]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsistent.[22]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 0000 to 22 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[000] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[6]
❏ GOODS OF SERVICES ❏
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[2] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and extensible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[2] Credit is extended by a creditor, also knBBC One as a lender, to a debtor, also knBBC One as a borrower.
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Thanks for watching guys!! Smiling a little better a big laugh.! Have a nice day :)) | https://medium.com/watch-josee-the-tiger-and-the-fish-studio-movie/w-tch-josee-the-tiger-and-the-fish-movie-2020-online-86df29ecfddf | ['Siti Nurhalizah'] | 2020-12-26 17:11:03.247000+00:00 | ['Animation'] |
Isoxya web crawler: 2.1 released, introducing open-source Community Edition | I’m pleased to announce the release of Isoxya web crawler 2.1, an internet data processing system representing years of research into building next-generation crawlers and scrapers. Back in September 2020, I announced that a major new version of Isoxya was coming, and that it would be splitting off part of the commercial edition into a new open-source edition. Isoxya 2.0 was released in January 2021, along with 3 open-source plugins. Today’s release of Isoxya 2.1 completes delivery of that milestone, and for the very first time, introduces an open-source mini crawler with minimal dependencies-and usable absolutely free!
Community and Pro Editions
Isoxya now comes in two editions: Community Edition (CE), a free and open-source (BSD 3-Clause) mini crawler, suitable for small crawls on a single computer; and Pro Edition (PE), a commercial and closed-source distributed crawler, suitable for small, large, and humongous crawls on high-availability clusters of multiple computers. Both editions utilise flexible plugins, allowing numerous programming languages to be used to extend the core engine via JSON interfaces. Plugins written for Isoxya CE should typically scale to Isoxya PE with minimal or no changes. More details and licences are available on request.
Features
A table of features can be seen in the original post.
Availability
Open-source programs have been published to GitHub and Docker Hub: Isoxya CE (code, download), and the Crawler HTML (code, download), Elasticsearch (code, download), and Spellchecker (code, download) plugins. In addition, there are example scripts available, either as a demo, or for use on a CLI. Documentation for the Isoxya API and interfaces is also available. There’s a hands-on walkthrough, and a short video. If you’re interested in Isoxya PE, more details and licences are available on request. | https://medium.com/@tiredpixel/isoxya-web-crawler-2-1-released-introducing-open-source-community-edition-70f9f1943d5d | ['Nic Williams'] | 2021-03-20 08:12:29.250000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Programming', 'Startup', 'Open Source', 'SEO'] |
Faith & Friendship: How much influence do your friends have over you? | For many of us, our friends are a very important part of our lives. A lot of the time our friends are simply a product of our surroundings, through being in similar classes at school or working at the same company. Our choice of friendship is often an unconscious decision based on how well you get on, but we should be more critical when deciding who we consider to be our friends.
The messenger of Allah (ﷺ) told us the effects of our company in the following hadith:
“The likeness of a good companion and a bad companion is that of one who carries perfume and one who works the bellows. With the carrier of perfume, either he will give you some or you will buy some from him, or you will notice a good smell from him; as for the one who works in the bellows, either he will burn your clothes or you will notice a bad smell from him.”¹
This clearly shows us that the people we keep around ourselves have an affect on us whether we are conscious of it or not. Therefore, it is important to look at the people we spend our time with. Even more important, is to look at the people we consider close to us. The prophet (ﷺ) said:
“A man follows the religion of his close friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his close friend.”²
It is important to note that the word the prophet (ﷺ) used to mean friend is khaleel (خليل). Khaleel is a friend whom we love and keep close, the one we share our secrets with and go to for advice.
Allah tells us what the effects are of keeping bad friends close to us in the following two verses when it is said in the Quran:
يَا وَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا لَّقَدْ أَضَلَّنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءَنِي ۗ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend. He led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter.³
It is made clear in this verse that when we keep bad company close, they lead us away from Allah. By contrast, Allah also tells us the effects of being surrounded by good company when He says,
ٱلۡأَخِلَّآءُ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ بَعۡضُهُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا ٱلمُتَّقِينَ Friends on that Day will be foes one to another except Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)⁴
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Friends on that Day” i.e., the Day of Resurrection “will be foes one to another” i.e., they will be enemies to one another and will curse one another “except Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)” who will be friends in this world and in the Hereafter.⁵
Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “That is, every friendship that was for the sake of anything other than Allah will, on the Day of Resurrection, turn into enmity, except for that which was for the sake of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; it will last forever.”⁶
Many of us are likely familiar with the story of the people of the cave. The story is from the 18th chapter of the Quran spanning verses 9–22, about a group of youth who woke up in a cave after having slept for 300 years, as a sign to show the people that Allah can indeed raise the dead. In this story, Allah mentions the dog that accompanied them,
وَكَلْبُهُم بَاسِطٌ ذِرَاعَيْهِ بِالْوَصِيدِ And their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance⁷
My question is the following: why did Allah mention this dog and cause the dog to sleep for the same duration as the people? This question is especially important when, as Muslims, we do not necessarily consider dogs to be clean and pure animals. We can find the answer when looking at the commentary for this verse. The famous scholar of tafsir Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “The blessing they (the people of the cave) enjoyed extended to their dog, so the sleep that overtook them overtook him too. This is the benefit of accompanying good people, and so this dog attained fame and stature too.”⁸ This is an amazing example of the benefits of good company. Regardless of our current character, when we are surrounded by those with positive intentions and actions, we will be inclined to follow the same path, and the opposite, regarding bad company, is also true.
We need to reflect and ask ourselves, do we have good company around us? | https://medium.com/from-the-minbar/faith-friendship-how-much-influence-do-your-friends-have-over-you-c30d83491044 | ['Noor Chaudhry'] | 2020-08-10 20:49:15.607000+00:00 | ['Islam', 'Faith', 'Friendship', 'Quran', 'Religion'] |
Which Tools Can Benefit Creative Project Management? | Photo by Brooke Lark
Creative project management is a lot like a hike. And as a creative project manager, you play the role of trail guide and ranger, guiding your teams towards program success. But it’s important to remember that even the best trail guides and rangers need a backpack full of tools and resources to help them get to the summit.
To support your journey, we’ve compiled a proven list of software and tools to help improve your workflow. Keep reading, to learn more, and be sure your “trail pack” has all the tools necessary for success.
Time management and strong organizational skills are paramount to program success. actiTIME guarantees you have both. It’s an all-in-one time-tracking and scope management software. And it’s built to streamline your workflow no matter the size of your team or project.
It offers an intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard that allows team members to track their time, organize their tasks, assign responsibilities and roles, update progress in real-time, and generate a variety of reports in a few clicks.
Start to finish, this amazing tool helps provide valuable business insights for organizations of all sizes and ensures all of your projects are well-handled, within scope, and on time… every time.
Content Snare, at its core, is a file-sharing service. But what makes it different from the competition is its sleek design and robust client-facing organizational features.
Unlike typical file-sharing services, Content Snare is optimized to make not just your life easier, but your client’s too. How? By prioritizing visual and organizational clarity. It’s easy! Add files for review, request edits, set automatic reminders, and create custom Kanban workflows — all from a single dashboard.
With Content Snare, you can ditch the typical file-sharing mess and give your clients a clean interface for all project needs.
Samepage is another great tool for project managers.
As the name implies, the core of Samepage is, well, keeping all teams and employees on the same page. And like the other tools mentioned on this list, Samepage provides an intuitive, bright-and-vibrant dashboard equipped with a bundle of helpful apps and features.
You can chat with colleagues, organize your workflow, create and review content, track progress updates, and more.
Calendly offers a slightly different suite of benefits than tools one, two, three, and four (listed above) — making it another unique, must-have resource for every project manager.
So what is it? It’s an amazing automated scheduling software. It’s built to evolve the classic and outdated meeting notice process and make life easier. It can link with up to six of your calendars and auto-check meeting availability. And it helps you own the scheduling experience.
Features include one-on-one meeting scheduling, round-robin meeting scheduling, collective scheduling, group scheduling, notifications, smart time buffers, daily limits, time zone detection, and more!
Slack is a popular communication and organizational tool. It serves upwards of 750,000 different companies globally!
Slack offers a secure form of communication between employees. It provides fun hashtag-centric channels to focus conversation streams. And perfect now more than ever, Slack offers voice and video call capability.
Oh, and did we mention it also offers file-sharing features and a workflow builder?
actiPLANS is a leave management system brought to you by the talented teams at actiTIME. And, no surprise, it’s just as amazing and functional as its parent brand.
It streamlines absence management and provides an intuitive dashboard and interface for users to input and approve time-off requests.
With actiPLANS you can say goodbye to the dreaded messy, confused, and disorganized absence management process and say hello to an HR upgrade. Making it effortless to stay up to date and track PTO, Sick Days, and more.
Filestage is an all-in-one online proofing and feedback software. And an absolute must-have for creative departments everywhere.
It’s used by some of the planet’s biggest brand names (looking at you, NBC) and funnels the review process to make life easier for creatives.
With Filestage, you can upload files, add comments, organize a process for review, track feedback, and even timestamp approvals — taking the stress and mess out of the editorial process.
Agency Analytics is an all-in-one reporting platform. And it provides SEO, PPC, social, review, call-tracking dashboards, and more.
It’s easy-to-use and lets you connect all your digital marketing channels in one, convenient location. Plus, at the click of a button, you can even export automated reports and provide custom, fully-branded, client-facing dashboards.
Podio is another helpful tool for creative project managers. It’s a customizable work management solution used by brands like Deloitte and helps to get your teams working in sync.
And like the other tools mentioned above, it also offers a unique, customizable dashboard to streamline user navigation, equipped with everything you could need for effective and creative collaboration: from meeting scheduling features, automated workflows, data visualization, task management to chat features and beyond!
Productive might be the last on our list but it isn’t the least! It’s an amazing tool built to help you easily manage your sales pipeline to win more deals.
With Productive, you can customize your lead pipeline and set reminders to follow up with individual contacts. And you can convert your leads to projects to track costs — as well as monitor sales reporting to see what’s working best.
Do You Have the Tools Needed for Successful Creative Project Management?
Like a trail guide, every creative project manager needs a variety of trusty tools to ensure success! And by using the ten tools listed above, your creative project management skills are sure to improve.
In the meantime, consider adding your first tool to your repertoire and begin your free actiTIME trial today!
Originally published at actitime.com | https://medium.com/@actitime/which-tools-can-benefit-creative-project-management-849d703f7e27 | [] | 2020-12-14 11:16:21.089000+00:00 | ['Creative', 'Project Management', 'Project Manager', 'Creative Process', 'Project Management Tool'] |
[re:con]versations :: OF SOUND MIND :: Process and Practice with Everybody’s Automat’s Mark Gurarie | Who are you?
I’m a poet, writer, teacher, editor and rock “musician.”
Why are you a poet?
I’m a poet because I enjoy exploring what is possible in language, and the multifarious ways in which it can work. I like sort of chewing on words and collections of words; I savor the often disordered progression of thought that comes from an active mind, or is imprinted in it from the surrounding environment, or might suddenly appear as a means to memory. Especially in this day and age, we live surrounded by a constant influx of language — be it from reading books, from broadcasts, from the endless texts of the internet or just the chaos of the every day — so poetry becomes a way of tuning into specific frequencies within this array. It might also be a means to come into dialogue with disorder, while speaking to those parts of the psyche that create order; it’s something that is always in that liminal zone between sense and nonsense. I’m a poet because I appreciate the musical qualities of language as much as I appreciate the ways in which language might be able to convey ideas that do not fit into prose. In a sense, then, poetry is what I feel to be the most natural expression of my thoughts; I feel comfortable within its simultaneously freeing and restrictive idiom.
When did you decide you were a poet (and/or: do you feel comfortable calling yourself a poet, what other titles or affiliations do you prefer/feel are more accurate)?
I know that by the time I was in late high school, perhaps around the age of 17, I knew that I wanted to be a writer of some sort; up to that point, I focused primarily on visual art while playing bass in a band. It was not until I was 20 that I realized that poetry was to be my focus; I can’t quite pinpoint it, but I began writing stream-of-consciousness inflected prose poems in the manner of the beats, whom, of course, as a young white dude in college, I came to admire. I appreciated the lawlessness of it all — the radical spirit in the poems and the way that their form challenged convention — so I decided at that time to take it on by, well, writing poems.
What’s a “poet”, anyway? What is the role of the poet today?
This is a tough question because in the US, poetry is relegated to the margins of cultural and social production; whereas in many
other countries and cultures, poetry is more central. Here, outside of exciting popular developments like the emergence of slam and spoken word — and I actually think you might be able to include the vibrancy of hip-hop here — poetry is famously ignored by non-poets. That said, American poets have a special position as being the voice of the exterior, the underbelly, even if their exhile from whatever the “mainstream” might largely be self-imposed. In this sense, then, poets are able to use their craft to move in a freeer way than many of their artistic peers who are more closely attuned to the market, and furthermore, the relationship between poet and broader American society is always evolving.
As much as can be said about the disengagement of say, modernist poets in the early 20th century, from political or social discourse, you have strains that speak for under-represented voices, that lift the mirror to society at large, like those of the Harlem Rennaissance, for instance. In a similar way, the poet today has the opportunity to employ the craft to explore and challenge the status quo, and in that, to bear witness. To me, it’s incredibly exciting that Claudia Rankine’s Citizen was actually on the NYT’s best-sellers list (two different times, I believe), or that Patricia Lockwood’s “Rape Joke” went viral.
In its own way, and occasionally, the culture at large looks to the poets and lets them in; the onus is on the poets to use their craft and their perspective to make work that is meaningful, challenging and makes a genuine attempt to capture an underlying truth.
What do you see as your cultural and social role (in the poetry community and beyond)?
The poetry community is a sprawling and often dysfunctional family, but at the core of it, anyone that reads it or that goes to a reading becomes a member. As much as there are genuine and heated debates about how it functions, what it does and what it should do, it’s important to remember that poetry can only live when it is written and when it is read and when it is loved. In this sense, I view my position as a poet as one of a facilitator and champion for the voices I see as doing good work. This is why I was for a long time involved in curating a reading series, and it’s why I write reviews and work (well, volunteer) as an editor of them. In this, I like to think that I am helping create some more space for the art in the wider sphere, while letting it continue to grow and develop. Furthermore, every poem out there is in dialogue with the poetry that preceded it; in this sense, too, my own work serves the function of furthuring this important conversation.
Talk about the process or instinct to move these poems (or your work in general) as independent entities into a body of work. How and why did this happen? Have you had this intention for a while? What encouraged and/or confounded this (or a book, in general) coming together? Was it a struggle?
While the manuscript as a whole wasn’t in my mind, as such, when these poems were written, it should be noted that the sections within it represent discrete, if in many ways related, entities. The first and last sections — the two most directly concerned with exploring music — existed previously as a chapbook, Pop :: Song and were conceived to sort of counterbalance each other. The first is an exploration of experiment in musical forms through an ekphrastic response to 20th Century composer/troublemakers, Erik Satie and John Cage, and the latter is composed in the form of a pop song and looks at the ways popular music can be equal parts provocative, evocative and sentimental. The other two sections also hang together tightly. One is a series of poems in the voice of an alien who has mislearned the language through broken 20th century broadcasts, and in the other the urban contemporary and the natural is exposed as a mutually idealizing false binary.
I found, though, in looking at the poems over the years that they resonated with each other; they had similar investment in musical approaches, fractured lexicons and indirect approaches to shared, cultural memory as well as the personal. It should be noted, too, that these come from a two to three year historical period for me; though not my original intention to have them be some sort of “recording” of my life and my art, they became just that. Over the course of piecing together the manuscript, I did encounter struggles and doubts; particularly, it took me a while to accept that the sections really should be in their own “rooms.” It was jarring for me that this was not looking like a more traditional collection of poems, but a kind of nesting doll or some sort of toy composed of differently shaped pieces. Eventually, though, I relaxed, and, as the old trope goes, let the work guide me. I had to have faith in the original vision(s).
Did you envision this collection as a collection or understand your process as writing specifically around a theme while the poems themselves were being written? How or how not?
As mentioned above, it was easier to conceptualize each of the sections as thier own “collections,” and I think that it was really in retrospect that I realized that they broached similar thematic territory, if from different angles and approaches. Ultimately, these poems reflect the concerns I had at the time — and probably to a great extent still do — and the types of things I was doing in them mirrored each other. If anything really binds them, come to think of it, it is that they are all sort of top-down in construction. I developed a concept or idea, most likely after a few were written, and used that to guide the generation of the rest of them. It is very often a way that I work; I’ll land on an idiom, structure or form, and try to work it out in as many ways as I can without losing my mind.
Speaking of monikers, what does your title represent? How was it generated? Talk about the way you titled the book, and how your process of naming (poems, sections, etc) influences you and/or colors your work specifically.
A big “theme” that I hope to convey in Everybody’s Automat is that of the strange utopianism, the resoluteness and ultimate failure of the 20th century; the book both idealizes and reels in horror of the cold war, capitalism and industrial process, as well as the ways in which the monochromatic aesthetic of the previous century — its hopes and dreams — fell to pieces and brought us here. Since the work is composed of discrete entities, I imagined them as sort of like slots in an abandoned automat lunch joint. The machinery is rusty and far removed from its original glossy and futuristic facade, but the plastic-wrapped Wonderbread sandwiches, chock-full of preservatives, might still be edible 60 some years on. Each section costs approximately 5 cents.
I do love titles, and, since, as mentioned above, many of these poems were generated with a ruling concept in mind, the titles have a massive influence on the works themselves. This isn’t always how I work, but what is nice about working in this way is that it allows the poems in question to develop a life of their own and to surprise me. When that is happening, in my view, you are doing something right.
Of course, also, the title Everybody’s Automat is a riff off of Stein’s Everybody’s Autobiography, and must therefore be in dialogue with her fractured, self-conscious-without-a-self approach to memoir. As much as, at the time, I would’ve told you that these poems are not autobiographical in any sense, there was indeed a “there there” because my own history as the child of Ukrainian immigrants, as a kid invested in punk music and modern art, as an urbanite in fake deer skin, as a budding artist, is in there. It took some years for me realize that; as much as I tried not to be a self-referential, self-absorbed artist, I of course was.
What does this particular collection of poems represent to you
…as indicative of your method/creative practice?
…as indicative of your history?
…as indicative of your mission/intentions/hopes/plans?
These poems certainly encapsulate a particular period in my creative practice, one during which I was invested in formal experiment as a means to indirectly present autobiography, history, social critique and linguistic play. I was excited, at the time, by the possibilities that collage, translation, mistranslation and a focus on the musical aspects of language can bring to the lyric form. This is perhaps best seen in the “Resistant Is Futile” section, in which, in keeping with the imagined lexicon of an alien and how it might develop a concept of Earthly life through broadcasts, lines repeat or are slightly distorted. To create this effect, I sometimes used translation engines to fracture the meaning of some phrases, and I got to pun with abandon. Eventually, the persona of this possibly malignant being overtook, though it is likely also, in many respects, a reflection of the russian accented English of my parents. In crafting them, as well as the other sections, I became excited by the possibilities of experimental approaches to writing practice, and I exhuberantly took these on. I learned a great deal in working with these poems, especially in the editing process, and many of the methodologies still crop up in my current practice.
What formal structures or other constrictive practices (if any) do you use in the creation of your work? Have certain teachers or instructive environments, or readings/writings of other creative people (poets or others) informed the way you work/write?
The poems here are certainly indebted to both received and invented forms and practices. At the core of it, they, and I think much of my work, play with notions of translation as this concept is taken on by writers like Anne Carson and Caroline Bergvall. Carson’s Nox, in particular, was influential; I was struck by the way that the act of translating a Catullus poem became her means of coping with the loss of her estranged brother to create a book that, in many respects, is so much more than “just” poetry. I got enamored with the idea that every creative act is, in essence, a form of translation; the translation of feeling and thoughts into certain forms; the translation of real-time musical moments into texts, and the extent to which mistranslations and mistakes are as integral as anything else. Everyone, it might be said, has their own personal language; therefore, every piece of writing or music is an attempt to translate this to something for the broader world.
The first and last sections are in direct dialogue with musical approaches; I was reading a great deal of John Cage, for instance, and became invested in his ideas about aleotoric and experimental practice. In some sections of “Pop : Poem Manufactured in the Furniture Music,” Cage’s lines intermingle with mine and provide shape to the poems. It should be noted, too, that the concept of “Furniture Music,” comes from Satie, who invisaged some of his pieces as being more ambient, something specifically to be background music. I tried to echo the sense of experiment that guided these composers, translating what I learned from them into the serial poem. Similarly, in the final section, “: Song: Poem to be read in 3:18,” I adopted the rigid structure of the pop song: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, coda. Here I was essentially translating the panoply of emotional and visceral reactions to the rock and punk songs I love (and hate).
The second section, “Sentimental Animals,” I view as musical in its approach; there is no rigid form to speak of, but I wanted it to have its own lexicon, and, in particular, to play off the ways that meaning and “sentiment” can be influenced by context. Certainly, also, these poems are intended to interrogate notions of urbanity and contemporary existence, at least in certain circles, as both separate from and idealizing the natural. Because of a variety of factors, we live in an era in which urban spaces like Brooklyn have been colonized by those enamored with a close connection to the land — you know, “farm-to-table,” and “rustic” in aesthetic looks — while being part of a demographic ecology that preys on and pushes out what the borough traditionally was. The nostalgia for authenticity, in the end, is what both drives development and preys on the local.
Perhaps most conspicuously, the “Resistant Is Futile” section is indebted to the exploded notion of the sonnet a la Ted Berrigan. Here texts are mixed and remixed: starting from material that comes from corporate speech, advertising and popular entertainment, I freely distorted, collaged and ran lines through translation engines to give it all that “extra-terrestrial” feel. I like the notion that all of our telecasts and broadcasts radiate endlessly into space and are being received by others that are out there, and further, that these frequencies are how extraterrestrials might form an understanding of the human race. The work certainly has roots in my reading of LANGUAGE poetry; they play with the inherently ideological and political sense of language as seen in corporate speech and pop culture. They are also my approach to both persona, a la David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, and the kind of surrealistic cosmology you find in Sun Ra or Parliament Funkadelic albums. | https://medium.com/the-operating-system/re-con-versations-of-sound-mind-process-and-practice-with-everybodys-automat-s-mark-gurarie-cfe595e9d9e9 | ['The Operating System'] | 2018-01-16 21:03:07.170000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Music', 'Interview', 'Art', 'Writing'] |
Corona virus and Animal | With recent news of tigers, lions, and pet cats in the US testing positive for the virus that causes CORONA VIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19), you may be wondering about the risks to your pets. We’re still learning about this virus and how it might affect animals, including pets, but there are simple ways to protect your pet from possible infection. It’s important to know how to protect both people and pets during this pandemic.
Coronaviruses & animals
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many types of animals, including camels, cattle, and bats. Household pets like cats and dogs commonly get some types of coronavirus infections too. You may have even heard of a condition that can be caused by one: kennel cough, a common illness in dogs. However, most coronaviruses are specific to the animals they infect — they cannot spread to people or even other species of animal (for example, from cat to dog).
Rarely, animal coronaviruses can evolve and infect humans, and then spread from person-to-person. SARS and MERS are some examples of how coronaviruses can jump from animals to people. This is what we suspect may have happened with the current COVID-19 pandemic, but since this is a new type of virus, we have a lot more to learn.
So far, there is no evidence that pets play a significant role in spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. Based on the limited information available now, the risk of animals spreading COVID-19 to people is considered to be low.
Should you be worried about your pets?
Pets are an important part of our lives and right now, and we are spending even more time with our pets than ever. It is important to know that a small number of pets worldwide, including dogs and cats, have tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. But most of these pets got infected only after close contact with people who had COVID-19, and only a few of these animals got sick from the infection. We are still learning about this new virus, but it appears that it can spread from people to animals in some situations.
This might sound alarming, but the good news is that there are ways to include your pets in your day-to-day activities to prevent COVID-19. You should treat pets like your other human family members to protect them from a possible infection.
Don’t let your pets interact with people or other animals outside your household.
Keep cats indoors as much as possible to prevent them from interacting with other animals or people.
Walk your dog, but always on a leash at least 6 feet (2 meters) from other people and animals.
Don’t go to dog parks or public places where a large number of people and dogs gather.
What to do if you or your pet get sick
If you get sick with COVID-19, you can protect your pet from infection by restricting contact with them and other animals, just like you would with people. This means no petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, or sharing food or bedding with your pet.
If you can, have another member of your household care for your pet while you are sick. If you must care for your pet while you are sick, wear a cloth face covering and wash your hands before and after you interact with them.
If you are sick with COVID-19 and your pet gets sick, do not take your pet to the veterinary clinic yourself. Call your veterinarian and let them know you’ve been sick with COVID-19. Some veterinarians may offer telemedicine consultations or other plans for seeing sick pets.
How to stay healthy around animals
It’s important to remember that all animals can carry germs that can make people sick, so CDC recommends some simple steps to stay healthy around any animal, including pets:
Wash your hands after handling animals, their food, waste, or supplies.
Practice good pet hygiene and clean up after pets properly.
Take pets to the veterinarian regularly and talk to your veterinarian if you have questions about your pet’s health.
Information on this outbreak will continue to be updated as we learn more. The best way to protect yourself and your pets is tostay informed.
For tracking the Covid-19 please click here
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period. | https://medium.com/@knowfacts09/corona-virus-and-animal-310330f85b80 | ['Shivam Mishra'] | 2020-08-06 16:32:14.396000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Covid 19', 'Covid 19 Crisis', 'Corona', 'Coronavirus'] |
The Big Benefits of Selling Your House Today to Cash Investors | According to Zillow, it takes between 65 and 93 days to sell a house in America. Some homes can be long, long, especially if they are not in the desired location or in good condition. Factors such as a lack of restraining appeal, damage from tenants, or needing repairs and repairs can all reduce sales. You can take the time to address those concerns, and invest your time and money in the hope that your hard work will benefit you. But sometimes you do not have the time, money, or skills needed to fix up a home for the market. Sometimes you just need to sell property in California, like Los Angeles right away. Waiting for months to sell just property is not an option.
Maybe you need access to cash, you need to get out from under the investment structure, or you just don’t want to wait for the “right” buyer to make you a offer. If so, selling your home today to investors can speed up the process and help you get rid of unwanted property within two weeks.
Why Consider Selling Your Property To Cash Buyer
When you decide to sell your home, investment property, or inherited property, you will need to decide how you want to sell it. There are three main options:
1. Listing the home through a real estate agent
2. Selling it yourself as a “For Sale By Owner”
3. Selling to a cash buyer
How do you know which option is right for you? You need to know what is right and what is wrong before you make a decision. That way you can decide which method is best for your budget, your timeline, and your property.
Pros and Cons of Using a Real Estate Agent
This is a very popular way to sell a home, but it is also very expensive. Real estate agents receive a 6% commission on your sales. They may divide it between two agents (the buyer’s agent and the seller’s agent), but in any case, it is a large lump of your profits. The average home price in California is around $ 575,000, making the average commission an eye-catching $ 34,500. You can try to negotiate a commission rate or try to get the buyer to pay, but in most cases, that money comes from your profits.
So what are the benefits of using a real estate agent? You will be able to access their mailing list. Real estate agents are good at marketing houses, and they will have a list of potential buyers to market your house to. But if your home is not as per buyer want to buy, then even the best-selling efforts will not sell your property very quickly. Real estate agents may not be so encouraged to sell a low-rise home in the market, too, because they will make less money with it. That means less effort to find the right buyers for your site to be viewed. They like clean homes that will open up quick profits.
Pros and Cons of “For Sale by Owner”
If you decide to try to sell your home on your own, the most important thing is financial security. You will be saving one or all of the agent’s normal costs. That would appeal to anyone who wants to make a living by selling his house.
But there are several declines in this option. First, all the pressure is on you. You will be responsible for marketing, displaying and staging your own home. If you already have other family and work responsibilities, this can be a great need for your time. In addition, you will need to be patient. It takes a long time to sell yourself. Not only will it take longer to get the offer, but the process of closing the sale will take much longer. This is the best way for those who have no problem waiting for a year to close the agreement.
Why Selling Your Property for Cash May Be Your Best Option
l It’s too fast. Buyers of money are able to travel much faster when it comes to buying your home because they do not need to wait for approval from the lender. There is no financial process to delay sales. Once you have accepted the offer, the cash sale can be closed within two weeks. That gives the title deed more time to check the debt and prepare the closing papers. After all, it’s just a matter of signing documents and transferring funds.
l The house sells as it is. If you work with a cash buyer, you will be getting the right market value for your home as it is. That means the buyer will consider any necessary repairs and general condition of your home. Because of this, you will get the right price no matter what. No need to worry about a restraining order, no need to make a big investment, and no need to waste your time fixing it. All you have to do is sign the paperwork and pack your bags.
l No stress. Instead of waiting every day for a phone call informing you that you have an offer, you will receive a cash gift at your home today. That removes your anxiety about when you will be able to sell and how much you will earn for your home. You will have the answers you need today and you can start making plans for the future. | https://medium.com/@megacashforhomes/the-big-benefits-of-selling-your-house-today-to-cash-investors-5aba3b2b3a7e | [] | 2020-12-24 13:16:32.698000+00:00 | ['Realestate', 'Propertyinvestment', 'Houseforsale', 'Property', 'Homeforsale'] |
ALAX attends Token Fest 2018 | ALAX attends Token Fest 2018
Over 1,000 attendees, 75+ speakers, 75+ exhibitors and 45 sponsors
With various speakers from different industries under one roof, Token Fest was the place to be for both our co-founders Matej Michalko and Kalvin Feng. This exclusive event took place on March 15 & 16 at The Palace Of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, California. The location was an excellent choice, not only because San Francisco is a true startup and tech capital of the world, but also because the theatre premises created a magnificent atmosphere.
So what was so special about this event compared to others? Well, Token Fest was truly conceived as a festival, a festival celebrating blockchain meeting business. Every speaker had a 15 minute slot, so everybody was on a an equal footing be it tech superstars or newcomers. Add to this the fact that Ryan Colby, the founder of the event, decided to add a competition devoted to ICO concepts through the Token Pitch Festival and you have an event unlike any other. The ICO concepts were successively evaluated by qualified VCs and Angel Investors who picked the winners. The support of competitive spirit did not end there. The event also included The Token Fest Awards whose aim was to reward the best practices in different categories of the blockchain industry. In addition to the official part of the program, unconventional and relaxed ambience was underlined thanks to the off-site entertainment. A sponsored VIP reception and two parties at some of San Francisco’s high-end clubs took place in order to lighten up the face-to-face collaboration and networking.
The attendees were a diverse bunch including Venture Capitalists, Angel investors, attorneys and CEOs. They were from multiple industries, where blockchain may prove to be an invaluable asset, such as Supply chain, Financial services, Health Care and Energy.
Let’s move on from the boring numbers! The audience had the opportunity to network with many innovators, tech gurus and specialists in their fields. We could go on for pages writing about interesting speakers but we’ll just mention a few, such as Tim Draper (Silicon Valley Legend), Matthew Roszak (co-founder and chairman of Bloq, a leading blockchain technology company), and Kathryn Harrison (Director of Global Offering Management for IBM Blockchain Platform). As far as projects and big names go, Eric Ly, Co-Founder of LinkedIn, and Larry Sanger, Co-Founder of Wikipedia are both huge supporters of blockchain technology admiring its vast potential. If you’re googling Wikipedia and LinkedIn, you’ve probably been living under a rock until now. It’s not just being supporters for the two, they’ve adopted blockchain for their new projects as well. Larry Sanger is now CIO of Everipedia which is built on the EOS blockchain in an effort to decentralize the governance of the online encyclopedia. Eric Ly is currently working on his own project called HubToken which deals with the Human Trust Protocol.
Our co-founder Matej Michalko used his allocated time to talk about ALAX’s solutions in bridging the gap between developers and unbanked people, he spoke about other uses for blockchain and how it could influence the Internet of Things 2.0. His speech elicited a round of applause from the crowd, inciting a discussion that he later addressed while networking on the event.
We fell in love with the concept of Token Fest and we will definitely support the 2nd edition which will happen on September 13th to 14th 2018 at the Seaport Hotel & Convention Center, Boston, Massachusetts. But for now, the next stop — Kuwait Investment Forum 2018! See you there :-).
For more information join our telegram or subscribe to our newsletter. For the most up to date news follow us on social media. | https://medium.com/alax-io/alax-attends-token-fest-2018-90aed2fa79d7 | [] | 2018-03-19 15:34:26.622000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Smartphones', 'Alaxblog', 'Apps', 'Bitcoin'] |
What can anybody do about it | it is very gratifying. to be able. and allowed. to do it how you do it without second guessing how you are. how you are and how you are doing it.
never think about them if they have some power over you. if you think about them and you talk about them then they are empowered by it. they get stronger when you pay attention to them. that is you giving over power to them. that is you losing power to them. do not think about them. do not pay attention to them.
they are carriers of some disease. they are not the disease. they are vectors of transmission. there is a pandemic of bad thinking and bad feeling. it is worrisome.
they are waiting for your suffering. like a sore spot you keep feeling, you keep poking at, you keep prodding. when you cannot help yourself. it is like as if you think that paying some attention to it is the cure for it, but it is not. every time you poke at it, it only hurts you more. the sore will not go away if you keep on poking at it.
what can anybody do about it. first you must be sure to think about and talk about and dream about and write about and make everything you make be in the name of something else and feeling it. something beautiful. something that is complex, dynamic, sometimes contradictory, but spirited and beautiful. which is yours and ours. and we do not want or need to take it from someone or keep it from someone or try to have it all or more than anybody else. there is lots of it. there is more than enough of it. if we let it be. let it be here. let it be there. and let it always be remembered. let us always be remembering. that is our barrier against it. | https://medium.com/writing-thinking-saying/what-can-anybody-do-about-it-bae7adb54bb4 | [] | 2020-11-12 19:13:39.581000+00:00 | ['Living', 'Living With Purpose', 'Influence', 'Creativity', 'Disease'] |
This Is the Single Most Attractive Quality a Person Can Have | I’ve heard my whole life that women find a sense of humor really attractive. I do think that’s true, but I don’t think everyone really knows what it means.
I know a lot of guys think that’s a thing we say when we’re being patronizing. Like we’re trying to pander to them when what we really want is a really tall guy with strong hands.
But I think that’s because they miss what women mean when we say that. We’re not attracted to people with a sense of humor because it means they’re funny. We find it attractive because it says a lot about what kind of person they are.
That’s why the kind of humor someone has really makes a big difference.
If someone’s catty and bitchy, snarking on everyone and acting like they’re always permanently on a roast panel, that can make them really funny. I’m not gonna sit here and pretend I don’t get a good laugh from a decent take-down. But it’s not the kind of humor that makes me feel more attracted to someone.
For one thing, spending too much time trashing things can make you focus too much on the negative and on the nastier parts of your personality. But also, it just doesn’t feel very reassuring to be with someone who is always in that mode. It always makes me feel like the judgment behind those jokes is bound to be aimed at me sooner or later. And when it does, it’s going to come across more malicious than playful. It won’t feel like teasing — it’s just going to feel bad.
Some people also have a one-sided sense of humor. They know they’re funny. They just don’t recognize when you are.
That doesn’t really do it for me, either. When you’re laughing all night with someone, it’s not usually because they’re hilarious. It’s because you’re both engaged and involved.
That’s why banter can be fun and exhilarating. It’s something you’re both taking part in. You’re joking together, escalating the humor, expending all your creative energy. It bonds you like crazy, which is why you will always become fast friends with someone if you can make each other laugh, but you won’t have that kind of powerful attraction to them if they’re the ones doing all the joking.
When I say that a sense of humor is a really attractive quality in someone, I mostly mean one thing. I mean that I’m really into people who can laugh at themselves.
That quality is basically essential for me, but I also think it’s one that most people find highly attractive and for good reasons.
It’s not just because I want to be able to laugh with someone or because I feel more connected when I do. It’s also because it can be a really good sign of their character.
Vulnerability Is Hot
The last time I had a serious crush, it was over a guy who could give me all sorts of butterflies by just sending a few texts.
I thought about him pretty much constantly. Whenever we weren’t talking, I looked forward to hearing from him again. I would spend way too much of my time thinking of little anecdotes I could tell him when he was available again.
But despite the cheery, positive, and hopeful attitude I had for us, I had a hard time being comfortable with him.
I was flustered by his attention and found myself working a little too hard to get it. I felt highly self-conscious because I liked him a lot and really wanted him to like me back.
The biggest reason I couldn’t feel comfortable, though, is that he couldn’t take any teasing, no matter how mild it was.
I only tease people I like, and I honestly can’t help it. It’s how I give verbal affection, how I express love, and how I show someone that I’ve completely let them into my life.
When someone likes me back, the reaction is usually to laugh, to tease me back, or to have some other kind of playful reaction.
My crush wouldn’t do any of that. Usually, he would just get defensive.
It got to a point where I started wondering if I was laying it on too thick. I asked myself if I was secretly mean, I looked up articles on how to know if you’re teasing or just being a jerk, and I even wrote one of my own so I could really sort out my thoughts.
But even when I went easy on him, it wasn’t quite enough. The most gentle teasing about his taste in music or a little quirk of his could shift the tone of our conversation. The flirty exchange would come grinding to a halt and he would start explaining himself, dredging up excuses, or very seriously explaining his tastes to me like he needed to convince me that my teasing was misinformed.
So there I was, flexing my love language and he would start acting like he was on trial.
And it sucked because I never felt like I could say all the things I wanted to say. I held back, bit my tongue, and kept so many things to myself. I was always on guard, never comfortable or fully relaxed, because I worried about how he would take anything I said.
Needless to say, things didn’t last with him. For other reasons, not because I couldn’t tease him. But that was still a big deal. There was no way what we had (whatever it was) could’ve gone very far because it’s incredibly difficult to get close to someone who isn’t able to be vulnerable.
When someone can’t laugh at themselves, it’s hard to sustain your attraction for them because it feels like neither of you can fully open up. Their defensiveness keeps you from bonding and connecting in a deeper and more meaningful way.
Everyone has insecurities and that’s completely understandable. But when someone can’t laugh at themselves, it shows that they haven’t really figured out how to handle those insecurities, how to manage them, or how to express them in a healthy way.
It Takes a Lot of Humility to Be Confident
Last year, I posted an ad online looking for love and romance. I missed having someone I could just text with, talk to, and look forward to hearing from. So, I went to Reddit, put all my details in a post, and weeded through all the private messages that flooded my inbox.
One of them stood out. His response put a smile on my face and won me over. I wrote back to him and we started exchanging emails.
He seemed to have a really good sense of humor. He was good at teasing and every email I got from him made giggle.
Except when things got weird.
His strangely aggressive emails didn’t happen too often at first. They felt unusual and out of character. But when they became more frequent, I started to notice a pattern.
Fine dining and BDSM were his thing. They were the two things he was really knowledgeable about, or at least quite experienced with.
They were also the things he couldn’t stand jokes about.
I jokingly asked him what his thoughts were about pineapples on pizza (hate me if you will, but I find them incredibly delicious). He replied with a long, heated rant accusing people of being close-minded, including me for even asking the question. He then listed some of the exotic things he’s baked on top of pizzas, as if that made his rant more reasonable.
I made a mental note to avoid talking about food with him. The trouble is, because of my job (and the whole reason I posted a personal ad in the first place) the subject of sex kept coming up. And by extension, kink.
I joked that I had been hesitant to try bondage ever since reading Gerald’s Game. Like my pineapple pizza comment, that elicited a lengthy lecture with a very angry tone to it.
And that’s when it really clicked for me. These two subjects were matters of pride to him. The kinky chef needed to make it clear that he was skilled at cooking and bondage and couldn’t handle any insinuations to the contrary.
He needed to constantly lay down his knowledge because he wanted to hold firm to his position as the expert — as the guy who knows his shit and knows it well.
He could laugh about so many things. He could handle being teased about so much. But with these two things, he was all pride and no humility.
And don’t get me wrong here, pride is great. Pride is a hot quality in someone. It shows confidence and a sense of self-worth. But pride needs a tinge of humility to make it attractive. And when someone can’t laugh at themselves, it usually signals that they don’t have it.
Accountability and Responsibility
Another reason I value someone’s ability to laugh at themselves is that it usually signals that they’ll be good at apologizing and taking accountability for their actions.
I’ll admit I don’t have any hard science to back this one up. But it’s a correlation I’ve noticed in my own personal experience. The people who can’t seem to handle a little playful teasing or can’t make jokes at their own expense are usually the ones who will do whatever it takes to avoid owning up to their mistakes.
If I was to guess why, I’d say it’s because being able to laugh at yourself and taking responsibility both involve a willingness to look at yourself honestly and objectively.
When you look at anything objectively, there’s something silly about it. Everything has an absurd side to it.
That includes everything I’m into.
I’m a grown-ass woman who likes to dress like a teenager and rewatch YA series when I’m feeling grumpy. That’s a big part of who I am and it’s deeply meaningful to me, but it’s also kind of funny.
So is the kind of sex I’m into. My idea of great sex starts with me tied to the bed while I’m being tickled by a feather. It’s hot as hell, it turns me on like crazy, but it’s definitely silly when you think about it.
And I listen to lots of Taylor Swift and I let it give me all the feels while being fully aware that it makes me basic as hell.
And that’s fine. You can (and should) love the things you love unapologetically, even if you’re aware that they can seem kind of silly.
When you’re caught up in your own image, though, you try really hard to do whatever it takes to reinforce it. And that includes not laughing at yourself. Laughing at yourself is almost like giving other people permission to see the absurdity in your life, your hobbies, and your passions. And that’s unbearable for people who desperately want to maintain an aura of perfection.
And often, they’re also the ones who can never do wrong. Or rather, who want to present themselves as never doing wrong.
They can’t take a step back and look at the things they’ve done more objectively. They can’t see how their words or actions might have affected others. They also struggle to see how you might be hurt by something they did despite having the best of intentions.
And the last thing you want when you try to hold someone accountable is for them to use everything in their arsenal to avoid taking responsibility.
Someone who deflects, gets defensive, turns things back on you, word salads you into submission, or is willing to deny until they die is going to make any kind of relationship tough.
That’s why someone who shows signs that they can see things from outside their own perspective is so attractive. And there’s no quicker way to assess that than by how well they can laugh at themselves.
None of It Matters Without This
I’m a sucker for superficial stuff, too.
I love a guy with nice forearms and a handsome face who knows how to be confident in life and dominant in bed.
I love a cute girl with tattoos who really knows how to play up her sweet and submissive side.
And in general, I’m really drawn to people who are passionate about the things they love and bring the same kind of passion to the way they fuck.
But none of it matters if they can’t laugh at themselves.
It’s the most attractive quality because none of the other stuff can get me hot and bothered, flustered and excited, or keep me coming back for more if there’s no playfulness, vulnerability, humility, and self-awareness.
There are a lot of things you can do to make yourself more attractive. Work on your confidence. Hone your seduction skills and charm. Deck yourself out in outfits that look incredible on you.
But make sure you also learn to let your guard down. You’ll have more fun if you do, and you’ll be hotter for it. | https://medium.com/love-emma/this-is-the-single-most-attractive-quality-a-person-can-have-583e41df3efe | ['Emma Austin'] | 2020-11-29 12:33:25.635000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Life', 'Sex', 'Self', 'Dating'] |
How to write a user story — a beginners guide | Before learning how to write a user story, it's important to understand what exactly a user story is and its purpose.
A user story is a high-level description of a feature told from the perspective of the user. It is the smallest piece of work that can provide value to the user and can be delivered in a single sprint.
The purpose of a user story is to articulate how a piece of work will deliver value back to the user. Note that the “user” doesn’t have to be an end-user in the traditional sense, the user can be anyone who gains value from the feature being built. For example, if a product manager wanted to learn more about their users through a data collection feature, then the user for this story would be the product manager.
How to write a user story?
A user story is often written as an equation:
As a <type of user>, I want to <desired feature> so that I can <value gained>.
A further breakdown of each component;
Type of user: this is the ‘who’, who are you building this feature for? Who will benefit from this user story? Remember, it's common to assume all features are built for the end-user but features can be built for anyone who benefits from the feature being built.
Desired feature: this is the ‘what’, what are we building? What is the intention of this feature? What will it accomplish for the user?
Value gained: this is the ‘why’, why are we building it? What value or benefit does this feature provide to the end-user? This can also be looked at as what problem does this feature solve?
Example user stories:
Food delivery app: As a frequent food orderer, I want to be able to invite my friends, so that I can get referral incentives
Mobile banking app: As an app user, I want to transfer money, so that I can quickly send money without using a computer or going into a bank
Rideshare app: As a passenger, I want to rate my driver, so that I can share my feedback
Other helpful information to provide when writing a user story
Besides the user story itself, there is additional information that should be shared with the developer, usually in some form of a ‘ticket’. This information will include additional context for the team/developer to ensure the feature is built right the first time. Some examples are:
Link(s) to designs — designers often use Figma, Invision, or Zeplin to share designs with developers. Link to product requirements —this will be a detailed document provided to the developer and includes feature functionality, user experience, scope, risks, and more. Technical requirements—they typically refer to how the software should be built and any considers that a developer should take into account when developing the feature. Acceptance criteria — a checklist to confirm that the work completed meets the intended purpose and functions as expected before being marked as ‘done’.
Conclusion
Just like any form of writing, writing user stories is a craft of its own. It takes time and practice to nail it down. It’s also important to remember that every team is different, what works for one team, might not work for the other, so there is definitely some trial and error. If you’re looking to improve your user story writing, always ask your team for feedback. You’ll quickly learn what is working and what isn’t. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/how-to-write-a-user-story-a-beginners-guide-ef21eb7bcfbf | ['Neha Nathani'] | 2020-11-15 17:45:37.278000+00:00 | ['User Stories', 'Software Development', 'Scrum', 'Product Management', 'Agile'] |
Coinme Update 1.26.18: Coinme Wallet Functionality | In our update last week, we spoke about the next wave of Coinme ATMs and the growth of our team. This week we have an announcement from our engineering team about our Coinme Wallet:
UPTOKEN COINME WALLET FUNCTIONALITY
Our team has been working around the clock to improve the features of the wallet, and we are excited to announce the UpToken Coinme Wallet is live! If you participated in the crowd sale and chose to receive your UpToken in your Coinme Wallet, you will now see your balance when you log in.
UpToken Balances now show in your Coinme Wallet
On December 20, 2017, we also began rewarding 1% “cash back” in the form of UpToken to all of our ATM users. We are working on the best way to display this data to our users, and we are excited to bring more people into the UpToken community every day.
EMAIL LOGIN
As of this Monday, January 22nd, users now have the functionality to log into the Coinme Wallet with either a US driver’s license or an email.
You can now login with your email address at CoinmeWallet.com
If you have logged in with your driver’s license in the past, and never entered your email in the user profile section of the wallet, no worries. Simply enter your primary email, and follow the prompts to enter your US driver’s license number and password!
As always, we are looking forward to hearing your feedback on the wallet. Please feel free to comment here or reach us on Facebook or Twitter.
Thank you, and happy Friday everyone!
The Coinme Team | https://medium.com/coinme/coinme-update-1-26-18-coinme-wallet-functionality-54d364160c92 | [] | 2018-02-10 22:54:18.828000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Updates', 'Bitcoin'] |
Directions in User Research | As 2019 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the state of UX research and what 2020 can hold for the discipline. I’ve worn many different hats, from leading a research team to editing this channel (which, you guessed it, involves a lot of reading). Looking at the field from these perspectives, here are a few trends I’ve noticed and my predictions on where UX research is headed.
Empathy: What is it good for?
It’s a founding truism that UX research builds empathy for customers. But some influential voices have been challenging our perceived notion of empathy, saying it allows us to operate with blind spots around privilege, shame, and the harmful effects of a pathologically altruistic mindset.
These arguments raise important questions. How can we move past a shallow rhetoric of empathy? What work should we be doing to ensure that research has a positive, connective effect among our partners and the communities we serve? We need to evolve our discourse to encompass in-depth knowledge from fields such as communications and counseling so that we come to understand the generation of empathy as an ongoing practice, not just a buzzword or something we use in a process some of the time.
In the next year, we’ll be looking at the practices and processes we have in place as researchers, critically questioning how we engage with communities. We’ll be asking, should a given community’s participation require an invitation from us? Are there better means to learn and continue learning alongside our participants? The answers will reshape our field for the better.
Keeping up with tech — the rise of AI and proliferation of remote testing tools
Among technology trends, the rise of AI-powered experiences has the biggest ripples for UX research. Although many classical principles governing human-computer interaction design hold true with AI, new guidelines have emerged to account for differences such as the systems’ inherent adaptability. For UX pros researching AI-powered experiences, these differences imply expanded methods as well as increased emphasis on certain fundamentals of recruiting and analysis.
Meanwhile, tech developments continue to affect UX research methods. Remote testing, while by no means new, is taking up an ever larger share of testing overall, and we’re seeing more tools in the wake of this sea change. Yet I can’t agree with those who predict that smaller, in-person studies will fall away. For all the benefits of remote studies, local testing still has an edge for reaching certain profiles of users, such as IT pros and children. And at the end of the day, in-person studies offer more opportunities to interact and explore. Ideally, we’ll mature into a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Want your product partners to understand the value of user research? Bring them along for the ride
For researchers, the most powerful tool to deepen our understanding of people’s needs, pain points, and context is the data we gather. But all the customer data in the world won’t help unless product teams use it.
For that reason, one of our key jobs as researchers is developing our design and engineering partners’ buy-in.
There are many ways to become a more effective communication partner, including learning how to convey research results as a story. But direct experience is even more memorable than a story well told.
Once researchers start training product teams to interact with customers and gather insights directly, they tend to find increased enthusiasm. Some natural tensions are likely to arise in this exchange: for example, how can we empower our partners while also creating appropriate expectations of customer-engagement programs’ role in the broader context of research design? Despite such challenges, customer-engagement training and coaching is an approach that many are experimenting with, and I expect this trend to continue.
If you build it they will come — exploring insights libraries
In 2018 we saw development of the concept of timeless research. This year brought more emphasis on organizations developing the tools they need to achieve this ideal, most notably the insights library, or research repository. These repositories allow research to be accessed regularly.
A handful of companies have experimented, and the global Research Ops community has taken up the study of research repositories as a formal project, so we can expect the momentum to grow in 2020. Based on the work happening with our insights library at Microsoft, I think we’ll see a constructive discussion on how to evolve some of the best attributes of atomic research. The conversation about how to curate research insights in ways that keep pace with the industry will also be a hot topic. | https://medium.com/microsoft-design/directions-in-user-research-1b6458338213 | ['Sheetal Agarwal'] | 2019-12-19 17:48:29.630000+00:00 | ['Research And Insight', 'Design', 'Trends', 'UX', 'Microsoft'] |
A Beginner’s Guide to Hadoop’s Fundamentals | Literally, Hadoop was the name of a toy elephant — specifically, the toy elephant of Doug Cutting’s (Hadoop’s co-founder) son. But you’re not here to learn how, or from where, Hadoop got its name! Broadly speaking, Hadoop is a general-purpose, operating system-like platform for parallel computing.
I am sure I do not need to mention the severe limitations of a single system when it comes to processing all the big data floating around us — it is simply beyond the processing capacity of a single machine. Hadoop provides a framework to process this big data through parallel processing, similar to what supercomputers are used for.
But why can’t we utilize supercomputers to parallelize the processing of big data:
There is no standardized operating system (or an operating system like-framework) for supercomputers — making them less accessible to small and mid-sized organizations
High cost of both the initial purchase and regular maintenance
Hardware support is tied to a specific vendor, i.e., a company cannot procure the various individual components from different vendors and stack them together
In most cases, custom software needs to be developed to operate a supercomputer based on the specific use case
Not easy to scale horizontally
Hadoop comes to the rescue as it takes care of all the above limitations: it’s an open-source (with strong community support and regular updates), operating system-like platform for parallel processing that does not rely on specific hardware vendors for ongoing hardware support (works with commodity hardware) and does not require any proprietary software.
There have been three stable releases of Hadoop since 2006: Hadoop 1, Hadoop 2, and Hadoop 3.
Let’s now look at Hadoop’s architecture in more detail — I will start with Hadoop 1, which will make it easier for us to understand Hadoop 2’s architecture later on. I will also assume some basic familiarity with the following terms: commodity hardware, cluster & cluster node, distributed system, and hot standby.
Hadoop 1 Architecture
Following are the major physical components of the Hadoop 1 architecture:
Master Nodes:
Name Node: Hadoop’s centralized file system manager, that keeps track of the number of blocks a data file was broken into, the block size, and which data nodes will save and process each file block — without saving any data within itself
Secondary Name Node: Backup for the Name Node, but not on hot standby
Job Tracker: Hadoop’s centralized job scheduler that is responsible for scheduling the execution of a job on data nodes
Each of the above nodes represents an individual machine in a production environment, working in the master mode, that are usually placed in different racks in a production setup (to avoid the failure of one rack bringing down multiple master nodes).
Slave Nodes:
Data Nodes: Individual machines/systems where the working files, in the form of data blocks, are stored and processed upon
Task Tracker: A software service to monitor the state of the Job Tracker, keep track of activities being performed by the Data Node, and report the status to the Job Tracker. One Task Tracker for each Data Node
The slave nodes cannot function without the master nodes and are fully dependant on the instructions that they receive from the master nodes before undertaking any kind of processing activities. To ensure continuous uptime, slave nodes send a heartbeat signal to the name node once every three seconds to confirm that they’re up and active.
All the above master and slave nodes are interconnected through networking infrastructure to each other to form a cluster.
In terms of processing capacities, Job Tracker is more powerful than the Name and Secondary Name Nodes with neither requiring substantial storage capacity. However, the data nodes are the most powerful machines within the cluster with substantial RAM and processing capabilities.
Deployment Modes
Following are the three primary deployment or configuration modes supported by Hadoop:
Standalone Mode: All Hadoop services (i.e., each of the Name Node, Secondary Name Node, Job Tracker, and Data Nodes) run locally on a single machine within a single Java Virtual Machine (JVM). However, the standalone mode is seldom used nowadays Pseudo Distributed Mode: All Hadoop services run locally on a single machine but within different JVMs. Pseudo Distributed Mode is usually used during development and testing activities and for educational purposes Fully Distributed Mode: Used in a production setup, where all Hadoop services run on separate and dedicated machines/servers
What is a Job in Hadoop?
A Job in the Hadoop ecosystem is analogous to a Python script/program that one can execute in order to perform a certain task(s). Just like a Python script, Hadoop’s job is a program(s), typically as a JAR file, that is submitted to the Hadoop cluster in order to be processed and executed on the input (raw) data that resides on the data nodes and the post-processed output is saved at a specified location.
Hadoop’s Software Components
Now let’s move on from Hadoop’s physical infrastructure to its software components. The core software components of Hadoop are:
Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) used for data storage and retrieval MapReduce, a parallel processing Java-based framework, is Hadoop’s programming arm that processes the data made available by the HDFS
MapReduce is further comprised of:
A user-defined Map phase, which performs parallel processing of the input data
A user-defined Reduce phase, that aggregates the output of the Map phase
Just to be clear, Hadoop is a parallel processing platform providing the hardware and software tools to allow parallel processing) that then makes available the MapReduce framework (i.e., a bare-bone skeleton that can be customized based on the user requirements) for parallel processing. But MapReduce is not the only framework supported by Hadoop — Spark is another.
Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS)
HDFS is the file-management component of the Hadoop ecosystem that is responsible for storing and keeping track of large data sets (both structured and unstructured data) across the various data nodes.
In order to understand the working of HDFS, let consider an input file of size 200MB. As explained earlier, in order to facilitate parallel processing on data nodes, this single file will be broken down into multiple blocks and saved on the data nodes.
The default split size (that is a global setting and can be configured by the Hadoop administrator) in HDFS is 64MB. Therefore, our sample input file of 200MB will be split into 4 blocks — where 3 blocks will be of 64MB and the 4th block will be 8MB. The splitting of the input file into individual blocks and saving them on specific data nodes is taken care of by HDFS.
One critical aspect to take note of here is that the splitting of the input file by HDFS happens on the client machine that is outside the Hadoop cluster and the name node decides the placement of each data block into the specific data nodes, based on a specific algorithm. So the client machine directly writes the data blocks to the data nodes once the name node has provided it with the block placement strategy.
The name node, acting as the Table of Contents of a book, remembers the placement of each data block within the various name nodes, together with other information, e.g., block size, hostname, etc., in a file table called the File System Image (FS Image).
Failure Management of Data Nodes
So what happens in case of failure of a data node? The failure of even one data node will result in the entire input file being corrupted — since one piece of our puzzle has gone missing! In a typical production setup, where we are usually dealing with data blocks of hundreds of gigabytes, it is highly inefficient and time-consuming to push the original data file back into the Hadoop cluster.
To avoid any potential data loss, backup copies of data blocks on each data node is kept on an adjacent data node. The number of backup copies to be made of each data block is controlled by the Replication Factor. By default, the replication factor is set at 3, i.e., every block of data on each data node is saved on 2 additional backup data nodes so that the Hadoop cluster will have 3 copies of each data block. This replication factor can be configured on a per-file basis at the time of pushing the source data file into HDFS.
The backup data node will kick-in as soon as any data node fails to send a heartbeat signal to the name node. Once a backup data node is up and running, the name node will initiate another backup of the data block so that the replication factor of 3 holds throughout the cluster.
Secondary Name Node
In Hadoop 1.0, the Secondary Name Node acts as a backup of the Name Node’s FS image. However, and this was one of Hadoop 1.0’s primary limitations, the Secondary Name Node does not operate in a hot standby mode. Therefore, in the event of the Name Node’s failure, the entire Hadoop cluster will go down (data will be present in the Data Nodes, however, it will be inaccessible since the cluster has lost the FS image), and the contents of the Secondary Name Node need to be manually copied to the Name Nome.
We will go over this later — but this limation was addressed with the release of Hadoop 2.0, where the Secondary Name Node acts as a Hot Standby.
Hadoop 2.0
Hadoop 2.0 is also sometimes known as MapReduce 2 (MR2) or Yet Another Resource Negotiator (YARN).
Let’s try to understand the salient architectural differences between Hadoop 1.0 and Hadoop 2.0. Remember that, in Hadoop 1.0, the Job Tracker acts as a centralized job scheduler that splits up a specific job into multiple jobs before passing them on to individual data nodes — where the individual tasks on the data nodes are monitored by the Task Tracker that then reports back the status to the Job Tracker. In addition to its job scheduling responsibilities, the Job Tracker also allocates the system resources to each data node in a static mode (that is, the system resources are not dynamic).
Hadoop 2.0 replaces the Job Tracker with YARN while the underlying file system remaining as HDFS. In addition to MapReduce, YARN also supports other parallel processing frameworks, e.g., Spark. YARN can also support up to 10,000 data notes, compared to only 4,000 data nodes supported by Hadoop 1.0’s Job Tracker.
YARN has 2 components: Scheduler and Applications Manager. Both these tasks were managed single-handedly by the Job Tracker in Hadoop 1.0. Separating these distinct responsibilities into YARN’s individual components allows better utilization of system resources.
Further, the task trackers on each data node were replaced by a single Node Manager (that works in the slave mode) in Hadoop 2.0. Node Manager communicates directly with YARN’s Applications Manager for resource management.
As alluded to earlier, in addition to a Secondary Name Node, Hadoop 2.0 also has a Hot Standby Name Node that seamlessly kicks-in in case of Name Node’s failure. The Secondary Name Node comes in handy in case of the failure of both the Name and the Hot Standby Name Node.
What is MapReduce?
As the name suggests, MapReduce is comprised of the following 2 stages with each stage having 3 further sub-stages:
Map stage
All 3 sub-stages of the Map stage are performed or acted upon in each of the data blocks residing in the individual data nodes — this is where parallelization kicks-in within Hadoop.
Record Reader
The Record Reader is pre-programmed to process one line at a time from the input file and produces 2 outputs:
Key: a number
Value: the entire line
Mapper
Mapper is programmable to process each key-value pair output from the Record Reader one at a time based on any required logic or the problem statement. It outputs additional Key-Value pairs based on a user-defined function it was programmed to perform.
Sorter
The output from Mapper is fed into the Sorter that lexicographically sorts (obviously! 😊) the keys from the Mapper’s output. In case the keys are numeric, then the Sorter will perform a numerical sorting. The Sorter is pre-programmed and the only configuration possible is to implement sorting on values.
Reduce stage
At the end of the Map stage, we will have multiple Mapper outputs, one from each of the data nodes. All these outputs will be transferred to a separate, single data node where the Reduce operation will be implemented on them.
The 3 sub-stages of the Reduce operation are:
Merge
Intermediary outputs from each Map operation are appended to one another to result in a single merged file.
Shuffler
Shuffler is another pre-programmed built-in module that aggregates together the duplicate keys as present in its input, resulting in a list of values for each unique key.
Reducer
Shuffler’s output is fed to the Reducer, which is the programmable module of the Reduce stage — similar to the Mapper. Reducer produces output in key-value pairs based on what it is programmed to perform as per the problem statement.
Practical Example
I will use a very simple, non-ML problem statement to try and explain the mechanics and the workflow of MapReduce. Consider an input file with just 2 statements as follows:
Processing big data through Hadoop is easy
Hadoop is not the only big data processing platform
Our task is to find the frequency of words in the input file, the expected output being:
Processing 2
big 2
data 2
through 1
Hadoop 2
is 2
easy 1
not 1
the 1
only 1
platform 1
Going through the MapReduce stages explained above:
the output of Record Reader after reading the first line will be:
Key: 0 (file/line offset — the starting position)
Value: Processing big data through Hadoop is easy
Key: 0 (file/line offset — the starting position) Value: Processing big data through Hadoop is easy We can program the Mapper to do the following:
Step 1: Ignore the input key
Step 2: Extract each word from the line (tokenization)
Step 3: Produce the output in key-value pairs where the key is each word of the line and value is the frequency of that word in the input line
Accordingly, Mapper’s output after processing both lines will be something like this:
Processing 1
big 1
data 1
through 1
Hadoop 1
is 1
easy 1
Hadoop 1
is 1
not 1
the 1
only 1
big 1
data 1
processing 1
platform 1
The output from the Sorter will be something like this:
big 1
big 1
data 1
data 1
easy 1
Hadoop 1
Hadoop 1
is 1
is 1
not 1
only 1
platform 1
processing 1
Processing 1
the 1
through 1
Shuffler’s output will be something like this:
big 1, 1
data 1, 1
easy 1
Hadoop 1, 1
is 1, 1
not 1
only 1
platform 1
processing 1, 1
the 1
through 1
Reducer can be programmed to do the following:
Step 1: Take the key-value pair from Shuffler’s output
Step 2: Add up the list values for each key
Step 3: Output the key-value pairs where the key remains unchanged and the value is the sum of numbers in the list from Shuffler’s output
Step 4: Repeat the above steps for each key-value pair received from the Shuffler
Accordingly, Reducer’s output will be:
big 2
data 2
easy 1
Hadoop 2
is 2
not 1
only 1
platform 1
processing 2
the 1
through 1
Use Cases of MapReduce
Certain industry use case of MapReduce include:
searching for keywords in big datasets
Google used it for wordcount, Adwords, page rank, indexing data for Google Search, article clustering for Google News (recently Google has moved on from MapReduce)
Text algorithms such as grep, text-indexing, reversing indexing
Data mining
Facebook uses it for data mining, ad optimization, spam detection
Analytics by financial services providers
Batch, non-interactive analysis
Conclusion
Right, so this was a very high-level and non-technical introduction to the world of Hadoop and MapReduce. Obviously, there are several other Hadoop components that I have not even touched upon here, e.g., Hive, Zookeeper, Pig, HBase, Spark, etc.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss the above content, or that in any of my previous posts, or anything in general related to data analytics, machine learning, and financial risk.
Till next time, rock on! | https://towardsdatascience.com/a-beginners-guide-to-hadoop-s-fundamentals-8e9b19744e30 | ['Asad Mumtaz'] | 2021-01-04 12:59:10.250000+00:00 | ['Hadoop', 'Big Data', 'Data Analytics', 'Data', 'Technology'] |
Pecho Tierra | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/vestigium/pecho-tierra-680c8998a1e9 | ['Paolo Monet'] | 2020-08-06 18:57:16.206000+00:00 | ['Poema', 'Mexico', 'Español', 'Guerra', 'Poesia'] |
DoDream TOPIK Contest! | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/dodreamchain/dodream-topik-contest-5deff0cab313 | [] | 2020-12-23 01:06:23.919000+00:00 | ['Contests', 'Topik', 'Dodream', '留学', 'Events'] |
A Search for Holiness | A Search for Holiness
A poem
Photo by Donnie Rosie on Unsplash
It is one day before the winter solstice
Four days before the day hailed as
Merry and bright, during a year when
I have no need of such distractions
I am hungering for the essence of holy
Not in the terms of nomenclature or
The chosen and unchosen
A deeper holy that I have been seeking
For some time
I rise each day to a series of questions
That I ask myself
Can I set aside the demands of this world
Am I able to still the mending of what is
Broken and cease doing what is not yet
Done
Do I have a place where I might go that is
Devoid of sound or completely filled
With the symphony of nature
In such a place have I learned to hear
The longing of my own soul and the intake
Of the breath of the divine
Have I mastered attentiveness to
The wild and glorious beauty that dances
For all who take the time to see
Have I found myself and the wildness
Of my own heart
Have I allowed myself to be surprised
In that way that brings light to my eyes
I looked out upon the clean surface
Of unbroken snow behind a windbreak
Formed by cedar, hemlock and birch trees
And said to my love, let’s go outside
The open space is hungry for snow angels
I love that you are always willing to
join in whatever adventure captures me
We both scrambled for hats, boots, mittens
I put on my bright red Canadian parka
That will keep me warm when the world
Outside is sub zero and off we went
We lay beside each other in the cold snow
Within our hollowed out snow angels
I turned to you just in time to see
A single snowflake light upon your face
I smiled and said, “Holy Christmas, my darling”
As we both found holiness
In our small protected cathedral
Behind the trees | https://medium.com/scribe/a-search-for-holiness-79af83487a25 | ['Deborah Krulicki'] | 2020-12-27 11:43:25.341000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Poetry', 'Love', 'Peace', 'Christmas'] |
The Ancient Significance of Numbers | One
The Throne of Jupiter, One is the mind. 1 is the essence of all thought. One is singular and the most powerful number, as such associated with the Sun as well, because this number is the center of the universe. Other names for this number are ‘ship’ and ‘chariot’ and, around it, revolve love, piety and truth. It has no beginning and no end, is entirely good, and in the sense of time it is NOW, because eternity knows neither past nor future, knows neither beginning nor end.
Two
If 1 is the Father, 2 is the Mother. This number expresses duality and the simultaneous polarity of all things. It represents harmony, tolerance and marriage, but also evil, darkness and inequality. Two was commonly associated with Isis (or Mother Nature). While the number signifies ignorance, because it is the first number to depart from the deific One, it is the mother of wisdom, because wisdom can only grow out of ignorance.
Three
This number signifies the union between 1 and 2, the Child of the Father and the Mother, the number of knowledge, and represents Saturn, the god who ruled over time itself. The triangle, a sacred geometric shape, is made up of three corners and three sides. The three wisdoms are associated with this number: geometry, astronomy and music. Also, wisdom is to see the three sides of time: past, present and future.
Four
4 is the most perfect number. The soul of man consists of four properties: mind, science, opinion and sense. All fours are intellectual. It connects all beings, elements, numbers and seasons. The world, signified by 36, is made up of the addition of the first four even numbers and the first four odd numbers. The first four integers, 1, 2, 3, 4, added together equal 10, which is the greatest of all numbers, signifying the universe. Four is the makeup of the universe.
Five
This number is equilibrium, because it divides into 10, the universe, two equal parts. Five is the symbol for light and vitality and also represents the fifth element, ether, apart from the other four elements of air, water, earth and fire. By signifying the fifth element, this number is the superiority of the spiritual nature over the material nature. Five also represents all superior and inferior beings, is the number of Venus and immortality.
Six
Sacred to Orpheus, 6 represents the creation of the universe and the birth of the soul. This number is also the symbol for marriage, because it is the union of two triangles, one masculine and one feminine. Fate is in the number 6, as is time, immortality and the totality of the world (3+2+1=6). This number also signifies harmony in music, which, to the Pythagoreans, was one of the ways to communicate with the gods.
Seven
The 3 (spirit, mind and soul) descend into 4 (the world) and the sum is 7. Seven signifies religion. 7 is a sacred number to many ancient belief systems and is symbolized by the cube, which has six sides and a seventh mysterious point within. In the midst of six directions (north, south, east, west, up and down) and in the midst of six elemental properties (earth, fire, air, water, spirit and nature) stands One: Man. Geometrically speaking, the center point of a cube is Man, from whom radiates six pyramids.
Eight
Half of 8 is 4, half of 4 is 2 and half of 2 is 1, reestablishing the number 1 as the building block of the universe. Eight was called, by Pythagoreans, the little holy number. The number represents Neptune, as well as love, prudence and law.
Nine
The first square of an odd number (3 x 3 = 9). This number signifies failure and shortcoming, due to it falling short of 10 (the universe) by 1 (the deity), but also represents Mankind, partly because of a human being’s gestational period. 9 is boundless like the ocean and the horizon, limitless because there is nothing beyond it but 10. Nine is associated with the god Prometheus, who, in legend, steals fire from the gods to give to mankind for the good of civilization.
Ten
10 is the nature of all numbers, the most perfect and greatest of all numbers, according to Pythagoreans. It is both heaven and the world, the entire universe and all within. 10 is tireless and everything, and specifically refers to power, harmony and memory. It is associated with Atlas, who carried the world on his shoulders, and the Sun itself, the maker of light and life. | https://medium.com/illumination/the-ancient-significance-of-numbers-34b8ed544d40 | ['Joshua Del Rey'] | 2020-08-22 19:43:56.607000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Mathematics', 'Religion', 'Writing', 'History'] |
5 Habits to Stay Healthy | The day of a software engineer is full of meetings, project work, weird bugs and a LOT of interrupts. So it is very hard to introduce multiple habits/hacks. to the daily routine at once.
Let me take you through them starting from the easy ones..
Drinking Water 🚰
It is obvious that drinking water is important, but sitting all day on a chair staring and diving into thoughts will make you forget about it.
One hack here is this amazing bottle I bought on Amazon. You fill it once and spend the next two hours distressing yourself sipping from it. Alternative to stress balls?
Ergonomic Woking Station 🖥
Neck pain, back pain, incorrect posture .. and the list goes on. An ergonomic chair, standing desk and a posture corrector will do the job. One hack is setting a timer that peep every one hour so you can go for a one minute walk or stand for a while, maybe go fill the bottle you got from the previous point 😄
Eat Right 🥗
I know fast food is the easiest option but maybe try some other alternatives:
Recipe Boxes delivered to your doorstep weekly.
Prepare meals on weekend and refrigerate them to use during work days.
If you cook for yourself, consider looking at food labels to chose the healthy alternatives.
Maybe replace sodas with zero calorie ones or soda water, consider nuts and fruits as a healthier snacking option.
Stay Active 🏋️♀️
This is the champion level, specially with working from home mode. If you go to the office, then at least this is an activity. If not try to find three 30 minutes slots (maybe less, you can always start small) over the week and go for any activity that you are interested in. For me I found swimming a very fun activity.
Get Enough Sleep 💤
This is vital to stay focused and protect your mental health, and most importantly improve immune system help fighting covid-19 these days.. | https://medium.com/@_asoliman/5-habits-to-stay-healthy-f4ea7e8c127f | ['Ahmed Soliman'] | 2021-09-07 20:05:36.013000+00:00 | ['Healthy', 'Software Engineer', 'Working From Home', 'Healthy Living', 'Remote Work'] |
<h1> Enter cliché title here </h1> | I wrote my first line of code in 2017. I understood my first line of code in 2020.
That’s not to say that it’s taken me three years to understand what a call-back function is, but rather that it’s taken me three years to decide to understand what it is. How does that make sense, you ask? Let’s rewind a couple of years so I can better explain.
The first image that appeared when I searched for ‘rewind’ on Unsplash
It was mid-April, 2017. I had just graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science. After undergoing the gruelling process of peer-reviewed research for the previous two years, I was confident that wasn’t the direction I wanted to head in post-graduation. I adored the biological sciences, but felt as though my creative muscles were aching to be exercised. So, after convincing an interviewer that my work ethic and knowledge of consumer psychology was enough to outweigh my complete lack of any marketing education, I accepted a job in the marketing industry! The complexity of the human mind had always fascinated me (and it still does!), so marketing and communications was an exciting field for me at the time. It allowed the imaginative and unconventional traits of my personality to flourish.
One day there was an issue with our website, and long story short, I ended up having to copy and paste a few lines of indiscriminate letters and symbols (<aside> it was javascript! </aside>) from the web into an email for a colleague. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, or what any of it meant. All I knew was that I was thankful that I didn’t have to understand it! That was my first, and essentially only, exposure to code for many years.
An accurate depiction of what Javascript looked like the first time I saw it.
As I worked my way up the marketing industry to a managerial role, I eventually found myself confronted by an overwhelming feeling of mediocrity. Why? Part of the reason was that I no longer felt challenged in my professional life. But the other part was because, for the better half of a decade, I had been battling with an outdated, societally-driven belief that I could only achieve “professional success” by pursuing a career in law, medicine, engineering, or finance. Unsurprisingly, this feeling ultimately resulted in a misguided career change into corporate and securities law.
By no means do I regret this professional shift; I gained phenomenal experience and many transferable skills (shoutout to the LSAT for teaching me about conditional reasoning which has helped immensely with Javascript!). However, I realized within a year that my legal career would be unfulfilling due to an obvious lack of passion. So, I did what any person does when they need to re-evaluate their career trajectory: I moved to Germany! I spent the next year of my life learning a second language (Javascript now counts as a third language, right?), publishing academic research, and exploring other career opportunities. It was during this period of self-reflection and discovery that I learned about the world of web development!
Web development was extremely enticing to me for a multitude of reasons. It was multi-disciplinary (the perfect intersect between art and science!). It was continuously evolving. It was collaborative. It required brainstorming creative solutions to complex problems. It was diverse, flexible, and relatively ‘future proof’. It was all-encompassing. It was… perfect for me! So, following the completion of some rigorous research, I ignited a passion for ‘web dev’ and outlined a 6-month plan that would aid me in my professional transition.
Let’s get this career change started!
So, now to answer the question I’m sure you’re all wondering. Why did it take me three years to finally decide to learn to code? To that, I answer: haven’t we already established that I live a life ruled by misconceptions? 😉 In all seriousness, I actually was deterred from the world of coding and web development due to three common fallacies:
1. Web development is anti-social. 2. Web development is very math-heavy. 3. If you don’t begin learning to code at a young age, you’ll never catch up to those who did.
I’m not going to dive into why these are inaccurate (feel free to check out this blog post if you’re interested), I’m just highlighting them to help explain why there’s a three-year gap between when I wrote versus when I understood my first line of code.
So here I am, three years later, ready to dedicate my foreseeable future to eating, breathing, and sleeping code. Let the bootcamp begin! | https://medium.com/@tenalbourchier/h1-enter-clich%C3%A9-title-here-h1-f35aa7086921 | ['Tenal Bourchier'] | 2020-10-25 16:07:47.780000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Codingbootcamp'] |
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Watch Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2020) : Full Movie Online Free A youth romantic drama with themes of growing up, the story focuses on college student Tsuneo and dreamer Josee, who lives her life stuck in a wheelchair. Josee — named after the heroine in Françoise Sagan’s Wonderful Clouds — spends most of her days reading and painting until by chance she encounters Tsuneo, and decides it’s time to face the real world.
Release Date:Dec 25, 2020Runtime:99 minutesGenres:Animation, Drama, RomanceProduction Company:BONESProduction Countries:JapanCasts:Taishi Nakagawa, Kaya Kiyohara, Yume Miyamoto, Kazuyuki Okitsu, Lynn, Chiemi Matsutera, Shintarou Moriyama, LilyPlot Keywords:based on novel or book, paraplegic, love, slice of life, relationship, disability, anime
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TELEVISION SHOW AND HISTORY
A television show (often simply ) is any content prBookmark this siteoduced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a tv set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are usually placed between shows. s ‘re normally scheduled well ahead of The G0G with Grandpa and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings.
A television show may also be called a tv program (British EnBookmark this siteglish: programme), especially if it lacks a narrative structure. A tv set Movies may be the G0G with Grandpaually released in MoViE that follow a narrative, and are The G0G with Grandpaually divided into seasons (The G0G with Grandpa and Canada) or Movies (UK) — yearly or semiaual sets of new MoViE. A show with a restricted number of MoViE could be called a miniMBookmark this siteovies, serial, or limited Movies. A one-The G0G with Grandpa show could be called a “special”. A tv set film (“made-for-TV movie” or “televisioBookmark this siten movie”) is a film that`s initially broadcast on television instead of released in theaters or direct-to-video.
Television shows may very well be Bookmark this sitehey are broadcast in real The G0G with Grandpa (live), be recorded on home video or an electronic video recorder for later viewing, or be looked at on demand via a set-top box or streameBookmark this sited over the internet.
The first television set shows were experimental, sporadic broadcasts viewable only within an extremely short range from the broadcast tower starting in the. Televised events such as the 60006 Summer OlyBookmark this sitempics in Germany, the 60006 coronation of King George VI in the united kingdom, and David Sarnoff’s famoThe G0G with Grandpa introduction at the 6 New York World’s Fair in the The G0G with Grandpa spurreBookmark this sited a rise in the medium, but World G0G II put a halt to development until following the G0G. The 626 World Movies inspired many Americans to get their first television set and in 622, the popular radio show Texaco Star Theater made the move and became the first weekly televised variety show, earning host Milton Berle the name “Mr Television” and demonstrating that the medium was a stable, modern type of entertainment which could attract advertisers. The firsBookmBookmark this siteark this sitet national live tv broadcast in the The G0G with Grandpa took place on September 2, 6000 when President Harry Truman’s speech at the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San FraThe Walking Dead: World Beyondco was transmitted over AT&T’s transcontinental cable and microwave radio relay system to broadcast stations in local markets.
❏ STREAMING MEDIA ❏
Streaming media are multimedia media that are continuously received by an end user and presented to an end user while being provided by a provider. The verb to be streamed identifies the process of providing or receiving media in this way. [Clarification required] Streaming identifies the delivery method of the medium rather than the medium itself. The distinction between the delivery method and the distributed media is particularly true for telecommunications networks, as most delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television, streaming apps) or not streaming by nature (e.g. books, video cassettes, sound CDs). There are challenges associated with streaming content on the Internet. For example, users whose Internet coStarzection does not have sufficient bandwidth may experience stops, delays, or slow buffering of this content. And users who lack compatible hardG0Ge or softG0Ge systems may have problems streaming certain content.
Live streaming is the delivery of Internet content in real time, similar to how live television broadcasts content over the air with a television signal. Live internet streaming takes the form of source media (e.g. a video camera, sound interface, screen capture softG0Ge), an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and serve that content. Live streaming does not need to be recorded at the point of origin, although it is often the case.
Streaming is an option for dBBC Oneloading files. The end user receives the full file for the content before viewing or hearing it. Streaming allows an end user to use their media player to begin playing digital video or audio before the entire file has been transferred. The term “streaming media” can apply to media other than video and audio, such as: B. Live subtitles, ticker tape, and real-time text that are considered “streaming text”.
❏ COPYRIGHT CONTENT ❏
Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its BBC Oneer the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time.[2][2][000][2][000] The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.[6][6][2] A copyright is subject to limitations based on public interest considerations, such as the fair use doctrine in the United States.
Some jurisdictions require “fixing” copyrighted works in a tangible form. It is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders.[citation needed][6][20][22][22] These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, and moral rights such as attribution.[2000]
Copyrights can be granted by public law and are in that case considered “territorial rights”. This means that copyrights granted by the law of a certain state, do not extend beyond the territory of that specific jurisdiction. Copyrights of this type vary by country; many countries, and sometimes a large group of countries, have made agreements with other countries on procedures applicable when works “cross” national borders or national rights are inconsistent.[22]
Typically, the public law duration of a copyright expires 0000 to 22 years after the creator dies, depending on the jurisdiction. Some countries require certain copyright formalities[000] to establishing copyright, others recognize copyright in any completed work, without a formal registration.
It is widely believed that copyrights are a must to foster cultural diversity and creativity. However, Parc argues that contrary to prevailing beliefs, imitation and copying do not restrict cultural creativity or diversity but in fact support them further. This argument has been supported by many examples such as Millet and Van Gogh, Picasso, Manet, and Monet, etc.[6]
❏ GOODS OF SERVICES ❏
Credit (from Latin credit, “(he/she/it) believes”) is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), but promises either to repay or return those resources (or other materials of equal value) at a later date.[2] In other words, credit is a method of making reciprocity formal, legally enforceable, and extensible to a large group of unrelated people.
The resources provided may be financial (e.g. granting a loan), or they may consist of goods or services (e.g. consumer credit). Credit encompasses any form of deferred payment.[2] Credit is extended by a creditor, also knBBC One as a lender, to a debtor, also knBBC One as a borrower.
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Thanks for watching guys!! Smiling a little better a big laugh.! Have a nice day :)) | https://medium.com/123movie-josee-the-tiger-and-the-fish-animation-hd/online-josee-the-tiger-and-the-fish-2020-movie-full-free-download-6341ee880a3c | ['Abo Telah Kembali'] | 2020-12-26 17:11:01.965000+00:00 | ['Animation'] |
When your genes make you superhuman. | Photo by Kevin Bonilla on Unsplash
My sister and I used to wait for the whole week to watch a comic series called He-Man. Growing up in a small, sleepy town in North India, this was what fired the imaginations of our nine- and six-year-old minds. We didn’t mind the black and white pictures or the horizontal static lines that periodically flickered the screen for we were enthralled by superhuman strength of this man whose name itself spelled masculinity and vigor. My sister and I however quickly outgrew the charm-the superhuman valiant feats that He-man performed were just that -superhuman, hysterical strength beyond the realm of physical possibility.
Fast forward 3 decades and while our bodies still nowhere near performing the acts of He-man, there are instances when bodies of select few behave in extraordinary, unexpected ways such as exceptional response to cancer drugs which fail to make a mark on people with clinically similar cancer.
A few lucky ones: A small fraction of cancer patients mount a striking response to therapy surviving significantly longer than patients with clinically similar disease. The study discussed here explores the why.(Photo courtesy: Nil Roy)
What makes these rare people show super-human response to therapies that fail in thousands of others? This was the goal of a group of scientists from National Institute of Health (NIH) who profiled the tumors of such 110 exceptional responders using a multi-platform genomic approach. This means that the researchers looked at the genetics of these tumors using almost all available methodologies. Looking at what genes were mutated in these tumors was a no brainer. We know for a decade now that different genes are mutated in different cancers and many of these can be targeted by special drugs (targeted or precision medicine). The group then layered this genetic or DNA info with that of its message -genes transcribe into m(messenger)RNA -the intermediate that is made into proteins-the class that performs all the work in a cell. A faulty DNA will make a faulty RNA which in turn will make a faulty protein disrupting the function it performs in the cell. Finally, the group peered into the immune component of these tumors, looking into the composition of the immune cells circling the tumor cells, evaluating which ones could actually infiltrate the tumor. The group compiled all this information to ask-does any or all of this explain why these patients respond in such an exceptional way? The answer was yes in about ~23% of patients. For example, a patient with glioblastoma (a type of brain tumor) responded exceptionally to temozolomide (a kind of chemotherapeutic drug that alkylates the DNA). Most chemo drugs work by introducing DNA damage in rapidly dividing cells (rapid, uncontrolled division is the hallmark of cancer cells). Such DNA damage signals the cells to slow growth in order to repair their DNA. If the cells fail to repair their DNA damage, the cells opt to trigger a mechanism to kill themselves. Given such a catastrophic response in response to failure to fix DNA damage, a cell has many different ways of fixing all sorts of damage-a nick in the DNA is fixed by a specific pathway (single stranded DNA repair), a more elaborate DNA damage that introduces a gap, call the double stranded DNA repair service. The redundancies and fall backs of repair mechanisms is exploited by cancer cells which can find ways to fix their DNA and happily divide even in presence of chemo drugs that are bombarding attacks on their DNA. For example, the authors found that this super-responder Glioblastoma patient harbored mutations in not one but two or three different DNA repair mechanisms. Therefore, when clinicians gave this specific chemo drug, temozolomide, to this patient, its effects could not be countered by the inherent repair machineries of the tumor cells which had no other avenue but to kill itself in face of its with damage riddled DNA.
Another patient who responded exceptionally well to immunotherapy was because the patient had high numbers of natural killer cells which as the name suggests are good immune cells that eats away the bad cells which in this case is the tumor cells. In addition, the cancer of this patient also made a lot of specific chemical that in turn favored immunity against itself sparking an exceptional response to immune therapy that did not make a mark on another patient with same cancer.
A third category of super responders were those who harbored very high expression of two genes which could be directly targeted by drugs available in the clinic. Why did other patients didn’t respond to such targeted therapy? This specific breast cancer patient has expression level of the targetable gene which fell into the top 1.5% of all tumor samples-meaning the exceptional responder had exceptionally high level of gene that was driving the cancer train. The cancer was so addicted to this driver that once you shot it, the train derailed and crashed.
Finally, the fourth category of super responders were humans who had compound elements of the above three above categories, their DNA damage repair was faulty, they had a robust immune cell population surrounding the tumor and had a driver mutation that could targeted by a drug available in the clinic.
All of these patients had their bodies ravaged by aggressive cancers that wreaked havoc on their bodies and all aspects of life. They would be deemed unlucky by all definitions, but in a twist of fate their cancers evolved such that they could respond extraordinarily to therapy, adding in some cases, a decade to their time on earth. We are only beginning to understand what makes some of patients to respond super humanly to therapy. The challenge is to expand on these findings, find broader genetic patterns and strategize treatment tailored to these patterns to ultimately enable the majority, not a select few, to mount a superhuman response to therapy.
Source-
Molecular Features of Cancers Exhibiting Exceptional Responses to Treatment. Cancer Cell, 2020. PMID: 33217343 | https://medium.com/@mmalikshivani/when-your-genes-make-you-superhuman-5e20482aa1dd | ['Shivani Malik'] | 2020-12-27 04:48:14.924000+00:00 | ['Cancer', 'Cancer Treatments', 'Chemotherapy Drugs', 'Cancer Drugs', 'Chemotherapy'] |
Raspberry Pi Headless Configuration | OS Configuration
Once our Raspberry Pi is started, it will connect to our WiFi network.
To connect to our small server we will use the SSH protocol, with the help of a tool like PuTTy or using our favorite SSH Client.
We will use the hostname of our server which is raspberrypi, and the default credentials of the OS which are:
username= pi
password= raspberry
Running the command:
ssh pi@raspberrypi
and by entering the password, we will be magically connected to our Raspberry Pi.
Now we can proceed to update the Operating System, with the latest security fixes by launching this command:
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
Exapdn Filesystem
sudo raspi-config
In the newly opened window we go to “Advanced Options”
raspi-config > Advanced Options
and the click on “Expand Filesystem”.
raspi-config > Advanced Options > Expand Filesystem
Assign a Static IP to the Raspberry Pi
To assign a static IP on our Router to the Raspberry Pi we need to edit the “/etc/dhcpcd.conf” file.
Assigning a static IP is always useful also for the router side configurations that we are going to carry out.
Let’s open our file being edited with the command:
sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf
And we will insert the following text:
interface wlan0
static ip_address=192.168.1.100/24
static routers=192.168.1.1
static domain_name_servers=8.8.8.8
As you can see we have set the following values:
Static IP = 192.168.1.100 (it will be that of our Raspberry Pi)
Router IP = 192.168.1.1
DNS = 8.8.8.8 (We will use Google DNS)
Create a new Users
Now we can proceed to create our user on the machine and disable the default user pi to avoid unpleasant surprises from malicious people.
As the name of the new user we will use andrea. To create the new user we can execute the commands:
sudo adduser andrea sudo usermod -a -G users,sudo andrea
The first command will create the user and ask us what password to set, while the second will make it a sudoers user (same root rights).
Now let’s proceed to block and disable the default pi user:
sudo su andrea sudo passwd --lock pi
Now we’re going to tell the SSH service which user we can expect connections from. We will enable the new user andrea and disable the old user pi.
Let’s edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file with
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
And we’re going to add the following content to the end of the file:
AllowUsers andrea
DenyUsers pi
Now we can reboot our Raspberry Pi from the command line:
sudo reboot
And we can now connect with our new user:
ssh andrea@raspberrypi
or use the static IP that we have set: | https://medium.com/digital-software-architecture/raspberry-pi-headless-configuration-ac0a3a31d184 | ['Andrea Scanzani'] | 2020-12-10 15:41:31.014000+00:00 | ['Raspberry Pi', 'Software', 'Security', 'Authentication', 'Linux'] |
The Importance of Feeling to Heal | The Importance of Feeling to Heal
Is there a shortcut to healing?
Photo by Luis Galvez on Unsplash
I couldn’t heal because I kept pretending I wasn’t hurt.
I came upon this quote today and it got me thinking.
When things hurt, we try to pretend they don't. We convince ourselves that we are fine but we are well aware the thoughts are as loud as ever.
And we beat ourselves up about it. Why can’t I just get over it? I’m much stronger than this. This is not even that important, why am I upset? What is wrong with me?
We keep on flooding our minds with self-deprecating thoughts till we reach a point where the problem is no longer what happened to us. Now, the problem is within us. The problem seems to be us.
Well, actually it’s our minds. And it’s not really a problem, at least it doesn't intend to be. We are human, and humans have different responses to different stimuli. One very important physiological reaction to stressful or frightening events is to fight or flee. This is our fight or flight response.
When you sense danger, you might choose to fight it, or, as many of us do, you chose to run away from it. And running away can come in all forms. Some focus on their work and forget about their well-being, others insist that nothing is wrong, and others simply don't let themselves think about it.
We try to run away from the truth of things. We run away from the truth of us. From the truth of our hearts and minds.
Why? This comes from the fear of facing reality, because reality might hurt.
If you refuse to acknowledge the damage your experience is causing you, it will find ways to acknowledge its self. You might start getting mad easily. You might cry. You might withdraw from society. You might get physically sick.
If something hurts, you should not ignore it. For the pain to heal, you must first accept the fact that the pain exists.
You must feel it. It is there and it hurts. But guess what, it’s nothing you can’t handle. Because if you start to feel, you start to heal.
And healing does not mean no pain
But healing pain is different than non-healing pain. Healing pain will help you grow in the long run.
Keep in mind that healing is different for each person. It is crucial to see how you could efficiently heal.
Going to therapy, turning to religion, working out, finding what makes them happy are all ways people use to heal. It’s not one thing or another, it could be a combination.
With this people are now in their fight response. They are fighting against their negativity. They are growing stronger even though it hurts temporarily.
If you keep pretending you're not hurting and refuse to get help if it is needed, you're delaying your healing process. | https://medium.com/illumination/the-importance-of-feeling-to-heal-3c52a18e9318 | ['Tina S'] | 2020-12-28 14:06:02.907000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Self', 'Feelings', 'Healing', 'Self Improvement'] |
i need a hacker to change my university grades | I need a hacker to change my grades @ [email protected]
You are indeed lucky to have found this article. This article gives you a simple, reliable and practical solution on how to hire a hacker to change your University grades. It is the best and most informative article you will find online on this subject. For the right price, you can easily hire a hacker to help you do anything you want to do. Popular hacker for hire services include; Grade Change Fixing of
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procedure to follow in School Grades
When it comes to educational hacks, stories of exploits of hackers abound. Hackers have been known to penetrate educational portals both high schools and universities all over the world to change grade. There have been some quite popular cases of these attacks on academic bodies globally. One particular incident that happened at a university in one of the European countries recently. A hacker who happened to be a student of the same university hacked into a professor’s computer. He claimed he did it in to change his poor grades. Yet another university that was struck by hackers. This time they targeted one of the university key employees with admin access. It was another employee who uses the system who noticed something unusual upon logging in. The hackers gain access to the central student information system. Once they had logged in, they proceeded to makes changes to students’ marks.
Skill to hire a hacker for grade change
To hire a hacker to change university grades won’t be the final step. \What you have to consider is getting your grades up with easy tricks to increase your school GPA.
How to hire a hacker to change university grades is a step to the right direction if you are considering about detection.
You can hire a hacker to help you monitor steps to take.
Finally, Student hard to get your grades up.
Studying won’t make you relies on grade change from hackers.
When you student, You can change your score from F & A.
This is the effect when you student.
I need a hacker to change my grades. | https://medium.com/@weecharlie324/i-need-a-hacker-to-change-my-university-grades-2f42ab7f0ac3 | [] | 2020-12-18 20:36:39.421000+00:00 | ['University', 'Grades', 'I Need A Hacker', 'Hacking', 'Hire A Hacker'] |
I Survived My First Improv Class | Finally, it was time for the final project.
We wanted to do an improvised cooking performance. Our goal was to show the beauty of taking an improvisational approach to cooking rather than precisely measuring everything out. We would utilize the visual (aesthetic) aspect of cooking, such as chopping food on a cutting board, sautéing in a pan, lighting a gas stove, etc., and then use digitally enhanced audio aspects as well. We immediately agreed that we wanted a mix of pre-recorded footage and live footage to try to keep things interesting.
The biggest problem that we faced was setting up the infrastructure. We weren’t quite sure how to put this idea up on a Zoom screen, have quality video AND audio. It was a struggle to mix between live audio and visuals and pre-recorded audio and visuals.
Luckily, we came up with some very creative solutions:
AUDIO: We would have audio from 2 live performers, but we would also have someone in charge of the pre-recorded audio. The pre-recorded audio was on a SPOTIFY playlist so that they could easily switch between various sounds! VISUALS: As for the footage, there was a new Zoom update that had a feature called “Spotlight” that allowed us to select and switch between different screens on Zoom in Speaker View (and have multiple screens streaming at once!). Likewise, the pre-recorded videos could be played/changed using the green screen on someone’s background video. Everyone contributed audio and visual footage to a shared drive, no matter their role. Live performers did not practice beforehand, otherwise that would defeat the purpose of improv.
This ended up working super well! And while it wasn’t truly a “free improvisation” performance (we had a lot of set up and we also had clearly assigned roles as well), we still produced amazing improvisational work.
Here is the video of our final performance:
I am very proud of this collaborative piece.
We were able to explore the lines of comedy and absurdity. This was done live (trying to pick up pork chops with chopsticks and cutting up a croissant with a butcher knife), and digitally (rewinding the pre-recorded videos, speeding them up). We were also able to try out different extremes and explore the ridiculous and chaotic (with rapid change and repetition), but still be technically sound in our performance. | https://medium.com/@jijipuff/i-survived-my-first-improv-class-7ed4b9f9ec2e | ['Ji Brust'] | 2020-12-02 22:48:18.089000+00:00 | ['Creative', 'Comfort Zone', 'Improvisation', 'Improv', 'Creative Process'] |
IOTA and EVRYTHNG Collaboration: This is how you make a transparent supply chain | The collaboration between IOTA and EVRYTHNG announced today is designed specifically for making product supply chains transparent in order to meet the urging demands for sustainability from people and planet alike.
Supply chains are complex systems that currently lack transparency. Increasing transparency among supply chain stakeholders is already a daunting task. Exposing this transparency to consumers is even more difficult.
But what if consumers could demand transparency? Today’s consumers want to make informed choices about the products they purchase. Particularly in the food and fashion industry, provenance data can help consumers assess the authenticity and sustainability of the products they purchase.
Securing transparency with DLTs
Public distributed ledgers can help manufacturers open up supply chain data to their customers. Storing this data on distributed ledgers allows any customer to access it either from a dedicated app or with a simple web interface, without the need for any log-in detail or sharing of personal data.
EVRYTHNG’s mission is to give unique digital identities to a range of consumer goods. Using this identity, an object (like a handbag or a bottle of whiskey) can be followed along its production chain, while collecting data about its manufacturing process.
For luxury items, such data becomes important to prove their authenticity and can combat the half-trillion-dollar counterfeit industry. In the case of organic food, the same data is useful to prove compliance to high production standards.
The information contained in this data often fails to reach consumers in a trusted and transparent way. Instead, it remains siloed by manufacturers who face the challenge to prove the integrity and authenticity of this data to consumers.
When information is provided to customers via a centralized platform, it has often been aggregated by numerous actors in the supply chain and filtered through a middle man.
This increases the risks of tampering or false information and authenticity of consumer goods cannot be proven if there is no trust in the authenticity of the data used to prove it.
A first step is offered by new mobile technologies. Combined with a QR-code or other scanning and tagging technologies, unique digital identities can be used to link physical goods to their digital representation and provide their related data to consumers.
But this data is still not enough to prove the authenticity of the attached goods.
Distributed data integrity for digital doubles
IOTA is committed to providing data integrity by allowing data to be stored on a distributed ledger which is easy to access and available to everybody. IOTA’s distributed ledger, the Tangle, is ideal for these micro-transactions given its feeless and permissionless nature.
For a goods manufacturer, the feeless micro-transactions structure allows any of its business partners to send IOTA transactions without dealing with the complexity of setting up wallets and buying cryptocurrency.
For customers, accessing the IOTA ledger and the information shared on it does not require ownership of cryptocurrency nor to install a wallet. All involved actors can send small amounts of data to the IOTA ledger without the need to identify complex business models to cover the costs of managing this trust infrastructure.
Furthermore, IOTA’s permissionless nature allows users to access an always available and general purpose infrastructure provided as a service to deploy new applications.
This removes the need to first solve and define complicated governance rules and stakeholders agreements before any infrastructure can be deployed.
Supply Chains Transparency made easy for customers
With EVRYTHNG and IOTA technologies coming together, product data can be opened up to consumers with embedded authenticity and integrity. | https://medium.com/iotatangle/iota-evrythng-2a9b4b9d922d | ['Michele Nati'] | 2019-04-17 14:07:41.200000+00:00 | ['Transparency', 'Distributed Ledger Tech', 'Consumer', 'Supply Chain', 'Announcements'] |
Dynamic programming: part 1 | The basic idea of DP (dynamic programming) is to solve complex problems by dividing them into simpler recurring subproblems. And then store the values to not recalculate them every time.
Let me show a basic interview question
You are climbing a staircase that has n steps. You can take the steps either 1 or 2 at a time. Calculate how many distinct ways you can climb to the top of the staircase.
Guaranteed constraints: 1 ≤ n ≤ 50
Solution
A naive recursive solution can be: Make a single step, and solve for n-1 plus make a double step, and then solve for n-2. We also need a base case and that’s for n = 1 which return 1, and for n = 2 returns 2
Recursion tree
This code easily solves the problem, but the time complexity is O(n!), and that is so bad. But the idea of DP is to improve that solution, storing the previous results, so throw that solution to trash, and write a better one.
Now, this solution has time complexity equal to O(n) but the space complexity now is O(n) as well, but this is not necessary, because, the solution only uses the last two calls to solve the problem. So, we can store only the last two calls.
solution with constant space complexity
Now the time complexity still O(n) but the space complexity improve to O(1) For python, we can also do this improve using the first solution, and use lru_cache
Now we have a nice solution with linear time complexity and constant space complexity, so we achieve the goal for the interview! :D | https://medium.com/@tonoezep/dynamic-programming-part-1-b09730046442 | ['Antonio Pereiro'] | 2020-03-16 18:55:19.644000+00:00 | ['Interview Questions', 'Interview Preparation', 'Dynamic Programming', 'Problem Solving', 'Coding Interviews'] |
Things to Consider When Writing a Business Plan for a Start-up | Starting a new business comes with a dilemma. Being prepared for those hassles as well as trying to get ahead of them can greatly diminish the brunt they have on your business. One important step in preparing for the threats your startup may face is writing a solid business plan. The technicalities, as well as standard information that go into a business plan, are easy enough to figure out, but there are other more compendium things to consider before you put pen to paper.
Make sure you follow these steps prior to drafting your business plan:
1. Resolve your Aim
Having a plan to make a profit is important, but it’s far from the only thing that matters when you start a business. Business plans encourage entrepreneurs to focus on what they are going to do. This overlooks two more important questions, ‘why’, why it exists as well as why employees would want to get out of bed in the morning, as well as ‘how’, the values of the business, what it stands for, how people representing the business will behave.
Entrepreneurs should take time to identify as well as enunciate their business’s core values as well as purpose, which will serve as your organization’s compass for decision making at all levels. This “compass” can be discovered by having an honest, open conversation with your team.
One thing that a team might want to do is engage in a formal assessment process — looking at custom, acceptance, attitude, as well as competence so that they are working from a clear starting point as well as have a framework for discussion about working styles, strengths, as well as individual as well as collective blind spots.
2. Frame up your Perception
The key to business triumph is having a clear vision of what you want to accomplish as a company. But before you write a business plan, you should come up with three to five key strategies that will enable you to achieve that vision. “Sometimes, less is more”. It’s far better to do three things very well versus 10 things not so well. The first sentence of the mission statement should be why you’re in business.
After you fully understand the why then you need to define ‘what’ you are going to do as well as ‘how’ you’re going to do it. The third, as well as a final part of the mission statement, should be the ‘who’ you want as customers as well as how you are going to treat them. From the mission statement, it is an easy transition to develop your “value proposition” statement that defines what makes you unique in the marketplace as well as how you intend to differentiate as well as position your business.
3. Interpret your business model
A good financial model should include many of the details you would put in your formal business plan. For example, hiring, pricing, sales, cost of acquisition, expenses, as well as growth. As with a business plan, your model should be revisited as well as updated as the realities of your business start to unfold.
I found this article useful. It contains all the important information regarding writing for the business plan for startups.
Codersera focuses on writing articles on topics, such as Freelancers, Freelance Developers, Remote Developers etc.
If you wish to read the full article, Click here:
If you want to hire experienced Coders, Click here: | https://medium.com/@sharmashivaniwebtech/things-to-consider-when-writing-a-business-plan-for-a-start-up-4c3475fd9c05 | ['Shivani Sharma'] | 2019-06-25 09:04:00.593000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Business Plan', 'Freelancers', 'Business'] |
Do you use feedback to build stronger relationships at work? | Do You Use Feedback to Build Stronger Relationships at Work?
In today’s work culture people are encouraged to use the feedback as an instrument to recognize work and help identify areas and blind spots that may impede their further development. But feedback is also a great instrument to achieve a whole different goal — build strong(er) relationships.
Whenever I think about personal development and furthering the leadership skills, I tend to refer to a strength framework Gallup created, featuring the four domains of leadership strength: strategic thinking, executing, influencing and relationship building. The ability to build relationships isn’t taught on MBAs and doesn’t come natural to a lot of people (me included), however it becomes paramount as one grows into a leader and starts controlling broad(er) organizational resources. The more organizational edges you need to touch, your ability to impact them will become less a function of your execution capability, and more a function of your ability to influence people, which in turn is very dependent on the quality of the relationships you have built with them.
There are many strategies to develop strong relationships at work, and a lot has been written on the subject. But there’s one thing that should be in everyone’s toolbox. A cultural and process element that’s at arm’s reach, and widely used in the corporate culture today. The feedback.
People will rarely feedback you in the areas they care little about.
Getting an authentic feedback is a unique opportunity to understand what’s important to people you touch. It’s an opportunity to learn about other people’s value system, and leverage that knowledge to build or improve the relationship with them. I’ll share my three key learning how to maximize the feedback potential to further your relationships within an organization.
1) It is absolutely irrelevant whether you agree with the feedback or not
Let’s say you receive the feedback along the lines of: “I understand that you can’t deep dive into everything, but I think your situational awareness of less important projects can sometimes be a bit superficial”. Now, you may or may not agree with that statement, but what you definitely should not to do is argue about it — and especially not try to bring up examples which show that their perception of you is inaccurate. A person might be dead wrong by thinking the way they do, but it really doesn’t matter — by arguing you would just cut off the access to an authentic and honest feedback in future. There may be others feeling the same way about your communication, leadership style, or execution. Are you going to talk to every single one of them and try to explain why their perception is wrong?
What can be learned from this feedback is two things:
What this person cares about. In above example, they deeply care about conscious competence, so showing signals that you’re on top of things across the board, no matter how small is what will help build trust and relationship with them. What signals did you (not) send to create such impression. What made your competence dilute/erode? We all have our strong opinions and cognitive biases, and more often than not, the signals don’t get passed those barriers unless very direct and strong. You might think you’re doing things, but unless you learn what signals the other party expects and where to aim — you’re just hitting the bullet-proof vest.
2) It is not what you think you do - it is how you’re being perceived
If you’re not a pivotal part of a incredibly big and important project where the only thing that counts is to deliver it, the success of your tenure will typically depend as much on the social capital you created as it will on your merit.
My wife once told me — “I can go an extra mile to understand whether you’re being an asshole or maybe just not properly understood. But I’m invested in you, I got kids with you. Other people don’t.”
Now, I’m not equalizing “how you’re being perceived” with “go build your brand”, I personally think that building own brand is a whole notch up from what’s needed here. The important thing is — people will rarely just get how (i.e. to which extent) you contributed to an impact, especially if you’re expected to create impact across multiple places. Be subtle, but always aware that it’s you who have to make sure that others see how you helped. Feedback can help great deal to gauge whether that perception exists, and to what extent — or not. By using feedback you will learn whether the perception of others about an impact you created equals your perception of yourself.
3) Don’t rely on the organizational feedback process
The culture of feedback makes it easy for you to instrument it for your needs. However, you shouldn’t rely on the actual organisational process of providing feedback, as it is built around a whole different problem — performance evaluation. You have to build your own process to get people to give you early, authentic and continuous feedback. By default, people are cautious about being honest and direct for variety of reasons (which is why organizational feedback process is always anonymous), so you need to work your way through their guardrails — and that takes time. Start small. It’s very useful to show that you’re self-reflective, so you may e.g. ask for a feedback on how did a meeting go (“I think I could have made the problem statement a bit shorter and more to the point, seemed like everyone lost me half way through…”). By being perceived as a person who appreciates constructive feedback, people will gladly open more and feedback you on bigger and more important things, because you will grow their confidence that you’re able to take it. | https://medium.com/swlh/feedback-is-one-thing-that-helps-your-relationships-the-most-learn-to-make-the-most-of-it-694697b8e36e | ['Boris Krstovic'] | 2020-09-06 20:20:29.010000+00:00 | ['Workplace', 'Management', 'Leadership', 'Feedback', 'Company Culture'] |
Value Objects en PHP | Senior Software Engineer | I love coding, software architectures and all new technologies. I’ll try to share, in an easy way, all the bits of my head.
Follow | https://medium.com/francisco-ugalde/value-objects-en-php-ff5d8954fabb | ['Francisco Ugalde'] | 2020-07-07 13:35:19.079000+00:00 | ['PHP', 'Domain Driven Design', 'Software Architecture', 'Value Objects', 'Software Development'] |
#IAFilmmakers Series: Profile of Soudabeh Moradian | An Iranian-American immigrant, Soudabeh Moradian spent most of her life in Iran where she went to school to study cinema at the University of Tehran. She immigrated to the United States in 2009, bringing with her years of experience working on films. As one of the most distinguished cinemas in the world, Moradian’s training and knowledge from Iran prepared her for a career in the United States.
Her films, whether documentary or fiction, often center on social issues such as war, inequality, and women’s rights. Of course, such subjects and themes are significant in contemporary Iranian society and prevalent in its art and films. In the U.S., Moradian has continued her already extensive body of work as a filmmaker with acclaimed films such as 2016’s Polaris, which gathered awards and screened at festivals across America, and in Canada and Europe. She also shares her passion for cinema with her students as a professor of film.
Moradian’s subject matters make clear that her desire for story telling was stirred by the hope to evoke change, as she explains her own inspiration to become a filmmaker:
“It goes back a long time ago because I went to film school in 1991, I was always interested in film and cinema, and I wanted to become a filmmaker so that I could be a voice for my generation. I went to film school in Iran at Tehran University School of Art and Theatre and started filmmaking in 1996. In those days we wanted to change the world through our films, which was a crazy idea and we were so young. After that I started making documentaries and the documentaries became my central focus point after that. I was interested in the psychological impacts of war and that was my main subject, that and women and social issues, and all human inequalities. The psychological impacts of war and those social issues were the main topics of my films and I started from there.”
These motifs are present in her film, Polaris, which follows the story of a half Iranian-half German war photographer suffering from PTSD. Moreover, Moradian made sure to tell a woman’s story with women behind and in front of the camera, showing that her works are not just stories meant for entertainment, but embody an outlook of activism and humanity that draws her to social issues:
“The documentary series I started with I focused on women who lived in an Iranian village around the country so I made those documentaries to show the hardship and the life and inequality between women and men and I wanted to speak about women’s rights. Actually, before that documentary, I focused on the psychological impacts of war which is called ‘Mahin’ it was about a girl who was affected in the Iran-Iraq war, it was interesting for me that there are some impacts of war that nobody is aware of.”
While Moradian recalls the restrictions on her work in Iran, especially because of its political nature, it also becomes evident that she was never shy about pushing the arbitrary boundaries set by authorities:
“I was commissioned by Iranian television to make a TV series about women in Iran and I was commissioned because they wanted a female director. I went around Iran to make the series about the hardship women face. They wanted to show the life and success of these women, but what I showed was their hardship, polygamy, and what they went through. Then when they showed it on TV, in the middle of broadcasting, I think it was the second time they were showing it, the series was stopped. I heard that it was a very serious order for it to have stopped showing because one of the episodes was about polygamy, so they stopped showing it.”
But her activism and concerns over war did not stop in Iran, instead, Moradian looked at the U.S. led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as well through her films:
“In 2001, after 9/11, I decided to continue to speak about war so I went to Afghanistan and I made a documentary about war when the U.S. attacked Afghanistan. I went there to make a documentary about the psychological impacts of war on women and children… I worked with an American filmmaker to make a television series about American soldiers in Iraq as well, to show another aspect of war in Iraq. On one side I was focused on the psychological impacts of war in general and on the other side women and social issues in Iran.”
For Moradian, Polaris was the culmination of her work and years of experience documenting women’s struggles and war:
“I am a woman and I was feeling responsible for telling all of those stories. I tried to reflect on all of those stories I had seen and, in my script as well, I combined those experiences for the narrative of Polaris, which I was able to make when I immigrated to the United States.”
This piece is part of NIAC’s #IAFilmmakers Series. Check-out the rest of the series here. | https://medium.com/niacouncil/iafilmmakers-series-profile-of-soudabeh-moradian-605b33d5136a | ['National Iranian American Council'] | 2019-12-13 18:31:57.242000+00:00 | ['Iran', 'Cinema', 'Film', 'Iranian Americans', 'Filmmaking'] |
Life Won’t Be Easier As A Christian, But You Can Prepare For It | Being a Christian isn’t all peaches and cream like it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it’s a lot more difficult than you’d think.
This walk with Christ is not easy nor should it be. It is a hard journey. There will be ups and downs, speed bumps and potholes. There will be times when you want to ask God why and there will be sometimes when you feel like giving up.
Yet, we must stay prepared for whatever life brings us. We must be prepared to persevere through whatever adversity comes in our path.
It won’t be easy but it will be possible. Because where there are hardships there is a way out.
One Guarantee: You Will Have Hardships
“We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” — Acts 14:22
While it is true that we must go through trials and tribulations on our way to heaven, this verse should not be interpreted as hardship is a prerequisite to heaven.
Everyone goes through hardship. For Christians however, these hardships are testing our faith. These hardships are there to see just how strong we are held in God’s holy word. However, these tests will never be too hard to bear.
“…And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, we will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” — 1 Corinthians 10: 13
God leads is through hardships not to them. Wherever there is hardship there is a way out because God is with us to pass life’s fiercest tests.
However in order to pass them, we must show perseverance, we must show tenacity, we must show grit. Most importantly we must show faith.
There is no way through trials and tribulations without faith and perseverance. If we believe we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Nonetheless, if we don’t have the will to go on we will never make it.
Yet how does one prepare themselves for these trials in order to persevere?
Always Prepare for Disaster
It’s hard to be ready for everything. In fact, we aren’t ready for most things that happen to us. At the same time that doesn’t mean we can’t be prepared for those things.
Hardship seems to come our way when we least expect them. We never see them coming. They blindside us with a blow so vicious we think we may never get up.
Though, with the full armor of God, you stand firm from any blow that comes to knock you down.
Why?
Because with His armor, you have buckled your waist with the belt of truth so that you stay true to who you are and true to God. Fitted on your chest is the powerful breastplate of righteousness so that you can do what is right even in the face of adversity and temptation.
Your shoes are tightly laced with the gospel of peace so that you can stand firm not shaken with worry.
Your strong shield of faith keeps hardships from overtaking you enabling you to persevere. And God’s awesome salvation guards your mind saving it from falling victim to the tricks of the devil.
But protection isn’t all you need. You must be able to strike back and ward off any trouble that comes toward you by unleashing the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.
Hardships will come and you may not be ready. However, you can be prepared. Strap yourself with the full armor of God. Defend yourself from life’s troubles and persevere through this Christian battle.
Takeaway
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” — 2 Timothy 3:12
Fact. There will be hardships in your Christian journey. There is no way around it, under it or over it, you must go through it.
These hardships are a testing of our faith. They exist to make us stronger; to produce perseverance.
Yet, in order to persevere, one must be prepared to fight to the end. And to make it, in the end, one must wear the proper garments. For us, that garment is the armor of God.
To stand firm and withstand life’s difficulties we must equip ourselves with the tools that God has provided us with.
With this armor and God on our side, we can handle and hardship that may come our way. | https://medium.com/publishous/life-wont-be-easier-as-a-christian-but-you-can-prepare-for-it-c06295106910 | ['Isaac Breese'] | 2020-03-22 00:19:12.705000+00:00 | ['Christianity', 'Religion', 'Perseverance', 'Bible', 'Church'] |
Fear and Loathing in Entrepreneurial Journalism: The First Steps | My project has been around since 2013, but the mission of transforming it into an actual business brings me a great amount of fear. Thinking like an entrepreneur is a practical, down-to-earth mode of seeing the world. You have to build something that is both likable and profitable.
We are so used to hearing stories about geniuses that magically invent a smashing product — that changes the world—but we rarely (if ever) hear about the actual effort put into it. This is the scary part.
When I created Me Explica, an explanatory news website/platform, I managed to attract some attention. People thought it was interesting that there was someone trying to simplify what was on newspapers, news sites, social media, everywhere. Mind you that Vox did not exist at that time: it was founded in 2014. My site was really something new.
I had an idea—a pretty good one, although not revolutionary— that was it. With no business training whatsoever, I got stuck and could not figure out how to capitalize on what I had created. Vox came along and got noticed in Brazil, and traditional media outlets started to do the same thing I was doing — with far greater reach, resources, and profit. Well, maybe not profit, but with a business model (or something like that). One outlet even tried to steal the name "Me Explica," but I have a copyright lawyer.
The excitement about what I was doing eventually wore off and I had to face reality: I had not and could not create a business with the resources that were available to me. In Brazil, we have entrepreneurial journalists, but there is nowhere you can turn to if you need the training to become one.
So here I am, in New York City, taking part in a program that will teach me the skills I sorely need to transform that old idea into a sustainable business. I should be happy, right? Well, I am, but I am also very afraid.
Being an entrepreneurial journalist means that you have joined a group of very bright and dedicated people in the world that are working their asses off to create ways for journalism to survive.
It is a challenge that entails learning about what people want and need, how money flows, what a good business looks like, and how promising ideas failed. It means giving up the notion that all it takes to succeed is having your heart in the right place and a song in your head. Not a song, an idea.
This is scary because, in general, journalists have not been challenged to think about what they are doing. We assume that our articles and investigations are serving the general interest, democracy, and freedom of expression. But are these pieces actually reaching people? Or have we relied on an outdated model for news delivery (and news making)?
My first answer is yes, we have. To try to build something new and relevant, it will be necessary for us to reach out to our consumers and ask: what do you want from us? How can we better serve you? For me, this is particularly scary because journalists are not taught to think like that. Giving the audience what it wants means resorting to sensationalism, puff pieces, and pandering. It means being populistic. Maybe there's a gray area.
Being an entrepreneurial journalist means tossing all assumptions aside and listening.
And, with a better sense of what it looks like in the real world, acting strategically to bring news to the people. The program has just started and I hope this fear of the unknown will soon reveal itself as an executable plan of action. That's what we are here for. | https://medium.com/journalism-innovation/fear-and-loathing-in-entrepreneurial-journalism-the-first-steps-aa69b14701ed | ['Diogo A. Rodriguez'] | 2019-02-18 03:45:44.386000+00:00 | ['Media', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Journalism', 'Brazil'] |
Can You Jumpstart Your Career With AWS Certifications? | Cloud expertise is currently one of the most sought-after tech skills out there, and cloud jobs are some of the highest paying in the industry. But how does one break into this exciting field?
A couple of years ago, I found myself stuck in a dead-end job and was itching to break into a career in the cloud, but I did not know how to.
After discovering AWS, I came up with a plan: I was going to get all three associate-level certifications, which would make me a cloud developer in extreme demand, right?
I just need to cram for a couple of tests. Easy peasy!
So how did that plan pan out?
(See my original blog post from 2017 about my certification journey here)
Certifications Are Controversial
Certifications are a bit of a touchy subject in tech: some people swear by them, others think they are overrated.
I kinda agree with both of those sentiments!
Let me explain.
If you think that a certification alone will make you an expert in a given topic, then you are in for a surprise. You will not gain expertise by passing a test. This attitude is what gives certification a bad rap. A growing number of so-called “certified experts” that seem to lack an understanding of the very topics they are certified in does not help.
With that being said, certifications have some benefits, two of which are:
They provide an easy-to-follow path for studying and self-learning: for complex topics like AWS services, one can be easily overwhelmed, but having a defined and structured list of topics to cover makes it much easier to learn While most technical hiring managers tend to be indifferent towards certifications, many recruiters and HR people like them, so having a certification could potentially improve your chances of being noticed and might help get your foot in the door
Brief Overview of the AWS Certification Path
As of 2020, AWS has multiple tracks for certification, as seen in the image below.
AWS Certification Path as of 2020 — https://aws.amazon.com/certification/
Foundational: for those completely new to the cloud and seeking to get a general understanding. Avoid this track if you are more technically-minded
Associate: this is where most people will start (and where I started). The Solutions Architect is a good one to start with Professional: recommended only after 2+ years experience, and I really encourage you to follow this recommendation Specialty: deep dives into specific topics that require lots of experience and knowledge (security, networking, etc.)
For most technically-inclined people, I recommend starting with the associate-level certifications.
How I Broke Into the Cloud Career
As I mentioned before, a couple of years ago I decided that pursuing the three associate certifications from AWS would be all I need to break into a career in the cloud.
After months of studying, I did manage to pass all three certifications and I started applying to jobs.
Initial Failure
I was getting called back, but my interviews were not going that great.
While the knowledge I gained from all those certifications was helpful, it was not the only thing employers were looking for. In my pursuit of passing my AWS tests, I neglected other skills that were equally critical.
One of the most critical skills I ignored at the time: knowing how to write quality code. It turns out that if you want to be a cloud professional, writing code is one of the most important skills that employers are looking for.
My mistake: I leaned too heavily on my certifications.
Turning Things Around
After many failed interviews and after realizing what my areas of weaknesses were, I went to work on filling the gaps.
For me, my Achilles’ heel was the coding challenges: I was doing great on most technical and behavioral aspects of my interviews, but I was bombing the code challenges.
Only when I focused on my weaknesses and accepted that my AWS knowledge alone will not suffice, things started to turn for me. After devoting a considerable amount of time studying object-oriented programming and doing a lot of practice, I started interviewing more confidently and doing well on coding-related questions and challenges, which very quickly landed me what has been the most fulfilling and enjoyable career I’ve had so far.
My cloud knowledge gained through studying for those certifications, in tandem with my coding skills, ended up being the winning ticket.
Should You Pursue Certifications?
Definitely!
Shia LaBeouf thinks you should!
If you are new to the cloud, or interested in jumpstarting your career, pursuing an AWS certification will be a great place to start.
Just remember though: depending on your background, those certifications alone might not be enough.
Suggested Path
I highly recommend you start with the AWS Solutions Architecht — Associate certification, and then possibly pursue the two other certifications afterward (Developer and SysOps Administrator). Unless you have a couple of years of experience in the cloud, do not pursue the professional-level certifications.
But do not stop with the certification: understand that more than likely, you will need to supplement with additional skills and experience.
Final Thoughts
You Can Absolutely Do This
If you have been thinking about transitioning into the cloud but have been looking for a sign, this is your sign!
Demand for cloud professionals is only increasing. A global pandemic has caused more companies and workloads to move to the cloud, and increased the demand even further.
Call to Action
I highly recommend that you explore the certification path that AWS offers and consider pursuing one (or more).
If you are overwhelmed by all the options and “additional skills” that you need to develop, I have put together a free ebook that will guide you through the whole process as well as provide you the best online resources for self-learning. I even give you a structured program the you can follow.
You can get my ebook for free here: https://www.moneerrifai.com/ebook/ | https://medium.com/hackernoon/can-you-jumpstart-your-career-with-aws-certifications-317e5e2e9170 | ['Moneer Rifai'] | 2020-05-27 21:15:26.458000+00:00 | ['Cloud', 'AWS', 'Certification', 'Career Advice'] |
You are Rediscovering Yourself. And the epiphanies of lockdown are many | Everything around you bears witness to life but you do not always see it that way. Once you begin to notice it, the ordinary turns every moment into a scavenger hunt for of joy replete with the promise of more. A rainbow appears in your kitchen, bright blue with a yellow handle bursting with multicolor packaging. What looked like rubbish a blink ago doesn’t anymore: Your gaze has transformed it into art.
Sheltering in place during the pandemic is a refresher course about what matters most.
The tap tap tap of fingers on a keyboard as minds think out loud in machine and human language is the reassuring soundtrack to your days. The enthusiastic gurgle of the kettle forecasts the imminent arrival of gentleness in liquid format. Soup simmering on the stove splashes bright yellow over the kitchen tiles, smelling of fresh mint and love. Every cauldron of caring kitchen magic is a three-course meal: Anticipation as an appetizer, soup as an entrée, gratitude as dessert.
Stay put for a while and the aching beauty of ordinariness will make itself known. Contentment is a lot more accessible than you thought. This realization smarts. All that time spent chasing shiny and getting frustrated with how elusive it remained could have been joy.
It’s not too late to tune in. | https://asingularstory.medium.com/you-are-rediscovering-yourself-d5dd25c0af5 | ['A Singular Story'] | 2020-04-16 16:53:24.616000+00:00 | ['Society', 'Mental Health', 'Self', 'Psychology', 'Social Media'] |
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Meta-Meme me Into Oblivion | Meta-Meme me Into Oblivion
An online monument to hope for an audience of one
Photo by ETA+ on Unsplash
There’s something inviting about the outsize girth of your spirit.
When I see the outside of you, I want to hide inside.
What is a selfie but a visual form of autofiction?
Life doesn’t contain you: You contain it.
I am in awe of your many folds. | https://asingularstory.medium.com/meta-meme-me-into-oblivion-e9a3279cf806 | ['A Singular Story'] | 2020-07-20 18:57:03.844000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Culture', 'Self', 'Poetry', 'Social Media'] |
How 2021 has redefined what it means to be a creator | Creators really upped their game in 2021. Over the course of the year, we saw people experimenting with new digital media, discovering original ways of connecting with audiences, and incorporating new forms of technology like tokens into their fan ecosystems.
This dedication and innovation from creators has resulted in huge industry growth. Now valued at over US$100 billion, the Creator Economy has gone from strength to strength as the worlds of e-commerce, social media, and online communities combine in exciting new ways.
At Unite.io, we wanted to take the time to reflect on all the hard work that’s taken place throughout the past year, which has laid the groundwork for seismic shifts in the Creator Economy in 2022.
Here are some of the biggest trends to rock the creator landscape that we were most excited by and what they mean for the future:
An ever-growing audience
More and more people are coming online to connect and build relationships. Why? On the one hand, the ongoing pandemic has prompted a drastic shift in behaviors as people spend more time online — in the past year, the Internet has played a critical role in how we shop, spend, play, and communicate. Built on the backs of social media giants and a plethora of e-commerce platforms, the sites where people can gather, form friendships, and entertain themselves, have proven to be essential throughout 2021. On the other hand, we’re also seeing new audiences from emerging markets logging on in record numbers — in some cases, even for the first time — thanks to increasing internet penetration.
In combination, these two factors have resulted in the most diverse and global audience ever. Over 60% of the word’s social media users are now based in Asia, in comparison to 22% in North America and Europe. These users are on the hunt for relatable and engaging creators who share their interests and experiences.
A more diverse ecosystem
In response to this growing audience, an explosion of new influencers has emerged across the world to turbo-charge the creator scene. According to AnyMind research, the number of macro-influencers (100,000 to 1 million followers) across the region grew by 66% over 2021, largely driven by emerging creators in Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.
We’re seeing small-scale, hyper-relevant creators finding success with niche groups and cultivating highly engaged audiences. Creators are expanding beyond traditional channels and formats to diversify their approach. From traditional brick-and-mortar business owners turned successful e-commerce livestreamers to the average teenage girl who’s transformed her love of make-up into an early career move, any passion can be turned into a creative outlet provided the creator can connect effectively with their audience.
Simultaneously, opportunities in the metaverse are also introducing the next generation of influencer talent. Computer-generated and perpetually ageless, virtual influencers are on the rise in Asia’s creator economy. In Thailand, Ai-Ailynn made her debut as part of a cohort of “Made in Thailand” virtual influencers born during the pandemic, amid ongoing frustrations due to restrictions in the country. The trend is likely to proliferate in the continent, due to the unique idol and fandom concepts that are so entrenched in many of Asia’s cultures.
New forms of monetisations
Up until now, creators have been tied to their platforms. Whether it’s Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or OnlyFans, creators are used to platforms taking a cut of their subscription or advertising earnings. But things are finally changing. Thanks to decentralized tech such as NFTs and social tokens, creators in 2021 started to experiment with new ways of monetising their talent and building sustainable digital careers.
Blockchain-powered fan tokens, much like our social tokens at Unite.io, are allowing creators to develop more meaningful relationships with their communities. In this way, fans can directly compensate creators for work that they like, powering a mini economy that effectively cuts out the middleman — the social media platforms — from the creator equation.
Everyone is experimenting with these new digital assets — even megastars BTS who entered the world of NFTs to mint audio-visual digital collectibles that their fans can trade. The opportunities, of course, are not only limited to larger, established players. Creators of all sizes are looking at ways that they can leverage digital assets to build their own economies. At Unite.io, we’ve been working with a collection of creators in Asia who are building their own digital economies through blockchain-powered currencies.
Ultimate ownership
Today’s social media platforms are fuelled by user-generated content, yet creators have very little control and ownership over the content they create or the communities they nurture. In this new age of decentralization, creators finally have the power to truly own what they create and the fanbases they build.
And thanks to new technology, creators’ digital assets are not tied to one centralized platform, but live in the decentralized space of web3. As well as having control over content production and dissemination, creators can also benefit from royalties within the digital world. Smart contracts embedded into NFTs allow creators to build in payment mechanisms each time the asset changes hands.
What’s more, creators don’t have to worry about losing their following if they leave a platform — in decentralized spaces creators can build direct relationships with their fans without the reliance on social media ecosystems.
The metaverse vision
This year we also got excited about the potential of the metaverse, the virtual real-time world of the future. Facebook’s rebrand to Meta in October highlighted just how important this development is going to be for all of us who will soon be spending a lot of time there.
Remember the shift from desktop to mobile? The move to the metaverse is going to be just as big and potentially even more revolutionary.
Why? Because the metaverse is a highly immersive space — and creators will no doubt be the first to capitalize on these new opportunities. From events like virtual concerts and community meet ups, to collectables like interactive NFTs or digital merch, the metaverse will be the ecosystem that houses all of the digital content and assets produced by the next generation of the Creator Economy. Creators that set their sites on building for the metaverse will find themselves ahead of the game in 2022.
In 2021, creators pushed the boundaries of the Creator Economy, showcasing their incredible adaptability and ability to innovate with new technology. At Unite.io, we’re working directly with creators, helping them use decentralized tech like social tokens to supercharge their brands. From co-creating fan experiences with social tokens, to NFT drops and collectibles, we want to enable creators to test the waters of a decentralized creator economy while maintaining their existing communities. We’re excited about what the future holds and we help transform today’s creators into tomorrow’s icons. | https://medium.com/@Unite.io/how-2021-has-redefined-what-it-means-to-be-a-creator-8dbb2628aea3 | [] | 2021-12-30 08:05:34.072000+00:00 | ['Web3', 'Original', 'Community Engagement', 'Nft', 'Creator Economy'] |
Sohit the college student seeks advice about getting into business quickly | Are you sitting in Economics 101 and just itching to begin your entrepreneurial journey?
This week, one of my college viewers, Sohit, writes to ask me what he can do to get started right away to get into business.
It’s an interesting case. Sohit needs to focus on his studies but is there an opportunity for him?
What kind of opportunity?
Watch as I give Sohit advice that I don’t often share.
Also — an important piece of advice for young people who are part of today’s college crowd.
Watch the amazingly awesome video presented here in Beard-o-Vision HD. The latest in video technology.: https://youtu.be/IgGKAT7BFUw
Learn how to buy a successful business at https://www.BusinessBuyerAdvantage.com
Get an Audible subscription and listen to my book Franchise Warnings: What you Really Need to Know Before you Buy for FREE.
Book a call with me at https://www.clarity.fm/davidbarnett
Stop missing my videos and other news. Join my email list here: https://www.DavidCBarnettList.com
#entrepreneurship #smallbiz #business #college #business | https://medium.com/@dbarnettmoncton/sohit-the-college-student-seeks-advice-about-getting-into-business-quickly-bd0225c83237 | ['David Barnett'] | 2019-02-15 12:22:27.593000+00:00 | ['Small Business', 'Student', 'College', 'Conversations', 'Side Hustle'] |
This is the most widely used tool for Data Analysis! | SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is mainly used for management of data in database. Almost every company on this planet stores data in the form of rows and columns or tables and these tables are stored in what is called a relational database management system (RDBMS).
SQL is used to create, insert, delete, update, organize, or in other words manage all the data's in the database. The aim of this article is to give you a quick and easy understanding of what SQL is and why it should be the first thing you need to learn in order to become an efficient data analyst.
So WHY is SQL the most widely used technology?
SQL is simple and easy to learn.
There are a wide range of options to choose from when it comes to working with Data. R, SAS, Python, Tableau, Excel, SQL, Microsoft BI, Xplenty etc just to name a few. Right from data manipulation to hypothesis testing to model building can be carried out using any of the present day applications.
Then why SQL?
It’s simply because, the queries are simple and straightforward. A complete beginner can start working with databases within 2 weeks of learning SQL that’s how easy it is. No prior coding experience is required for one to master SQL.
Fast, Efficient, Reliable.
Considering the fact that queries in SQL are as simple as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, large amount of data can be worked upon with minimal error and maximum efficiency.
It’s Flexible.
SQL work on anything. PC’s, laptops or any operating system. It doesn’t require a fixed operating system or high power. Its a small yet highly powerful tool.
It’s FREE!
Yes. SQL is an open source platform which means all you have to do is head to google and search for SQL, download, install and your playground is ready. MySQl, MariaDB, PostGres etc are some of the commonly used platforms. There are also large number of communities where you can discuss your queries and also read about how others are working with SQL.
Used by majority of the cooperation's.
Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, Amazon, Qualcomm, J.P Morgan, Accenture, Cognizant… Just to name a few.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
If you are a beginner and if you’re wondering where to start your data analytics journey, then you have come to the right place because once you have mastered the art of SQL, there’s no stopping you. The opportunities are endless! | https://medium.com/plus-marketing/this-is-the-most-widely-used-tool-for-data-analysis-f234b91f6c84 | ['Athul Anish'] | 2020-11-26 20:02:12.947000+00:00 | ['News', 'Sql', 'Technology', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science'] |
EQMS on the Modern Cloud | Medical Device manufacturers have much to celebrate as their industry is slated to grow at an annual CAGR of 5.4 percent from 2017–22, according to a research report by Deloitte. This projected growth also means that device manufacturers have to constantly engage in R&D efforts — both to launch new products and upgrade existing ones.
While R&D and new product development remains the core of most medical device companies, digital transformation using relevant software solutions has played an important role in increasing efficiency and quality, keeping customer satisfaction in mind. Also, the need for regulatory compliance across the entire supply chain cannot be emphasized enough. It has become paramount to have a 360-degree view of processes not only within their organization but in that of their partners along the supply chain as well.
While investing in a quality management system has become inevitable for medical device manufacturers, they face challenges here too — right from selecting the right QMS to maintaining and leveraging it. On-premise quality management systems need dedicated resources — both in terms of IT infrastructure as well as people — and this certainly adds to more costs and additional responsibilities.
Six causes for concern for organizations with regard to implementing QMS solutions include:
Flexibility: Though QMS systems provide information on quality events for taking corrective action, organizations need it to be automated. This requires a flexible workflow that can be adapted to the organization’s existing processes, reflecting changes simultaneously without the need for intervention. Otherwise, the cost of adapting the system to synchronize with the organization’s processes can be exponential.
Though QMS systems provide information on quality events for taking corrective action, organizations need it to be automated. This requires a flexible workflow that can be adapted to the organization’s existing processes, reflecting changes simultaneously without the need for intervention. Otherwise, the cost of adapting the system to synchronize with the organization’s processes can be exponential. Focus on Core Businesses: The device manufacturers need to be focused on the’ design to delivery cycle’ of the devices they manufacture. A QMS should aid this but can often take away attention in making sure the system is functioning as expected.
The device manufacturers need to be focused on the’ design to delivery cycle’ of the devices they manufacture. A QMS should aid this but can often take away attention in making sure the system is functioning as expected. Total Cost of Ownership: Investing in an on-premise QMS may seem like the answer to all problems. However, with time, they need to be updated and corresponding investment in suitable hardware as well. As new technologies enter the market, businesses may be compelled to abandon existing solutions.
Investing in an on-premise QMS may seem like the answer to all problems. However, with time, they need to be updated and corresponding investment in suitable hardware as well. As new technologies enter the market, businesses may be compelled to abandon existing solutions. Scalable Solution: As organizations grow, they need their software also to be able to keep pace without any compromises to its functionality.
As organizations grow, they need their software also to be able to keep pace without any compromises to its functionality. Greater Visibility into Data: The increased interconnectedness between devices and organizations has also increased the volume of data coming in, making visibility difficult. The QMS system needs to be capable of culling out relevant data and provide insights through reporting tools.
The increased interconnectedness between devices and organizations has also increased the volume of data coming in, making visibility difficult. The QMS system needs to be capable of culling out relevant data and provide insights through reporting tools. Security: With the threat to data and privacy on the rise, businesses also need to continually upgrade their protection and invest in security solutions, upgrading them with every new potential threat in the horizon.
Tapping into Cloud
Cloud services have transformed the way organizations are leveraging IT solutions, offering a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model where users can pay per user per month. It makes immense sense for medical device manufacturers to opt for an enterprise-ready QMS built on the modern cloud.
An EQMS on the cloud can provide flexibility by allowing organizations to customize the configuration of keywords, logins, and pages as per their needs. The cloud-based QMS solution from Compliance Quest, for instance, includes graphical tools that make it easy to drag and drop, doing away with the need for programming knowledge. It provides speed like in-house servers never can, and the expandable memory provides room for increasing computing power as and when there is a need.
CQ’s cloud-based delivery model is also designed to eliminate the administrative burden on its clients, enabling them to focus on their core business rather than worry about day-to-day operations of a QMS. The solution is also scalable as it is modular, and users can access features as needed, paying accordingly.
As a result of accessing the QMS on a pay per use model, the total cost of ownership is lowered. Further, businesses do not have to be limited by hardware constraints or bandwidth requirements.
Our in-built reporting tools can be used to create report templates, schedule reports with drill-down capabilities when needed and create reports in minutes. This will enable organizations to leverage the data they generate and have access to insights better, improving decision-making and creating business strategies.
Key Benefits
Of course, as with any cloud based product, the decision to transition to a new product, upgrade to an advanced plan, adding more users — all become easy.
Implementing and deploying a product like ComplianceQuest is remarkably easy, with no need to specific upgrades to hardware or software. There is no upfront investment, and you move from either a manual, excel sheet process or an on-premise solution to ComplianceQuest in a matter of hours.
Additionally, with a cloud-based QMS solution, the security is also the responsibility of the service provider and assured. Geographically disparate teams can collaborate better on secure platforms, jumpstarting the compliance efforts of the businesses. This provides for increased agility of businesses as users and storage can be added based on growth needs, making it immensely scalable.
Without a doubt, CQ’s cloud-based QMS solution built on the Salesforce.com platform, lets businesses focus on their strengths while silently contributing to their growth, compliance, quality and cost control needs remotely, and yet closely integrated to the business processes.
The apex change platform has in-built features for security, reporting, data validation, and integration with other SaaS products, while also having the ability to customize as per a client’s specific needs.
The vision at ComplianceQuest is to transform quality and compliance into a strategic advantage for our customers through experience, expertise and passion. ComplianceQuest is an innovative, 100% cloud based Enterprise Quality Management System solution company. We provide an enterprise grade solution that streamlines quality, compliance, content and collaboration management initiatives and strategies across diverse, globally based supply chain networks.
For more information, or to request a demo with a ComplianceQuest expert, contact ComplianceQuest today. | https://medium.com/@compliancequesteqms/eqms-on-the-modern-cloud-5c48b2a0b4ee | [] | 2020-12-23 13:18:57.866000+00:00 | ['Quality Management', 'Cloud', 'Eqms Software', 'Qms'] |
The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World | The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World
photo: by Alison Acheson
These words are a gift of validation, to the artist. Especially in these times, though written more than a quarter-century ago.
This is the second book I have read by Lewis Hyde, a man of eclectic thought and wisdom, yet all his words are imbued with humility that is heart-opening.
Each chapter begins several steps aside from its promise, and then circles (the whole does remind me of my Irish poetry instructor, once upon a time, and his story-telling…it does cause me to miss him). The closing paragraphs of each chapter require — from me anyway — a second or third close reading, with the impact. When Hyde arrives at what he is saying — it is all such a process of discovery — the result has a physicality to it; be prepared to have to right yourself, sit up, or get back on your feet.
He opens the early pages with the idea that “the gift must always move.”
“The gift leaves all boundary and circles into mystery… The passage into mystery always refreshes… If when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor satisfies.” (Lewis Hyde, The Gift, page 25)
The second half — in which he scrutinizes the lives and gifts (“careers”) of Whitman and Pound — serves to gather together the earlier chapters. And in the conclusion, he speaks to how the journey of writing this book has changed his own mind in certain ways. The changes are not surprising; perhaps it is more about quiet and thoughtful acceptance of certain realities.
On a personal note, he causes me to long for another time and place. But he has given me insight into “how it is.”
“In a land that feels no reciprocity toward nature, in an age when the rich imagine themselves to be self-made, we should not be surprised to find the interior poverty of the gifted state replicated in the actual poverty of the gifted.” (Lewis Hyde, The Gift, page 195)
I can’t say the book has changed me, so much as it has caused me — as a writer — to feel seen and heard in the ways that are useful to feel seen and heard. | https://medium.com/write-and-review/the-gift-creativity-and-the-artist-in-the-modern-world-26a42363056b | ['Alison Acheson'] | 2020-12-27 14:12:11.155000+00:00 | ['Artist', 'Creativity', 'Self-awareness', 'Books', 'Reading'] |
Charity Supports Sex Workers Through COVID-19 Christmas with Gift Appeal | (Image credit: Janelle Hardacre)
A Manchester based charity is launching its annual Christmas gift appeal, with a COVID-19 twist, to bring some of Santa’s joy to sex workers this December.
Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH) has opened an appeal page for donations which will go to Covid-safe Christmas gift bags and vouchers for vulnerable female sex workers in central Manchester.
(Image credit: Janelle Hardacre)
Janelle Hardache, Fundraising & Marketing Officer at Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), Fairfield Street, said: “Any woman who comes to MASH over the Christmas period either in the drop in or on the van gets a really nice gift.”
I think that it sends a message that people do care about you, you’re not alone.”
Sex workers have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Janelle said: “I think in general the pandemic has added an extra layer of challenge and complexity to women’s lives.”
Janelle said problems such as delayed Universal Credit payments and a lack of financial stability led some women to return to sex working. She added: “We’ve seen women being thrown back into crises situations.”
(Image credit: Janelle Hardacre)
For the third consecutive year, the MASH outreach van will be working on Christmas Eve delivering presents.
The van, which dispenses personal attack alarms, hot drinks, condoms, clean needles and dodgy punter reports, is one of the vital outreach tools used by MASH to provide support to women.
When the pandemic first hit, the van and the crucial MASH drop-in centre were temporarily closed due to lockdown.
(Image credit: Janelle Hardacre)
However, thanks to emergency funding from local Manchester organisations, MASH was able to reopen whilst implementing social distancing measures.
Marie O’Neill-Steineggar, Grants Manager at WeLoveMCR, a charity that donated £2136 to MASH, said: “It makes us feel so incredibly proud as an organisation. We mobilised the Covid Community Response Fund in a matter of days.”
(Image credit: Marie O’Neill-Steinegger)
Marie urged for people to donate this Christmas, and said: “The pandemic isn’t over and the specific community of women that MASH support are incredibly vulnerable. MASH might be that lifeline into support, into health, into food, into safety. It is so important that those women aren’t forgotten.” | https://medium.com/@m-matthews6/charity-supports-sex-workers-through-covid-19-christmas-with-gift-appeal-c123e92ee5bd | ['Megan Matthews'] | 2020-12-18 15:08:22.435000+00:00 | ['Christmas', 'Charity', 'Sex Work', 'Manchester', 'Community'] |
India’s Best Author D.Jeelan(Dadagari) Left a Beautiful Story at Laylatul Al Qadr | Dadagari pose at laylatul al qadr
The Best Author and Writer Well known for his accolades and tributes Novel “The Poor children’s Life” Dadagari Jeelan Story begins in the year 2012,after he facing a unexpected truth and handle to live without the Father “Dadagari Mahaboob Basha” Death occurred due to Brain Stock.Later he has to accept another truth about the girl friend in his native place who has been prey by her own husband after her marriage,she as per no way to find finally close her eyes forever.The rumors at there that he has been become part of her life by attaching so much and no matters that what relation is said even it becomes “Love”.
Later,Dadagari Jeelan Begins to hatred God that he no longer will praises Gods or even remember any time to God of the Islamic “Allah”.The Reports are there on the strong data base,author one day see in his dream his Girl friend who says him that I Love “Allah” so much and I request you doesn’t hate Allah and make sure that all will Love Allah So Much.According to strong sources the girl who has been no more works as a social worker and she doesn’t no longer see as Indian in to name as “Developing Country”.According to reports at Friendship Day interview with writer,he says ; “She no longer to hear India as a Developing Country” but more than eager to hear “Developed Country”.
Although all these in one Side,meanwhile the Sudden Death of A.P.J Abdul Kalam Azad former Scientist and President make Wonders to the India.The Storng sources says Dadagari Jeelan is one of the deep follower of the A.P.J Abdul Kalam Azad and he admires on their Decissions,the way of life and everything.Dadagari Jeelan in a Library of Kadapa District read a Book title “Wings Of Fire”.He Inspires with a phrases “Every Citizen it should be the dream of all the citizens to see India as a developed country”.Hence the similar dream of his rumored Girl Friend and A.P.J Abdul Kalam Azad Dream becomes whenever One,Dadagari Jeelan first time has Dream about one thing and the one thing is none other to making his own Country “India” as a Developed Country.
Dadagari Jeelan to make the dream real has been begins a literature World on where he left a morals.The Best author published his first Novel “Gandhiji and Selfish Passenger’s, “Don’t Underestimate any one”,and many novels.Dadagari created a attention by the empowers novels like “Cousin Vs Compititers”, “Brother Vs Best Friend” “,Driving Car Saves 100's”, “The Sensitive Plant”(Come and Forgive), “The white Blanket”, “The Poor Children’s Life” and many more.Dadagari poured his wisdom words in to best poems and Quotes along which none other than Inspirational popular Book. “The Moon and Sea”, “Grand Father and Tree” is best poem reamins all times.Writer Dadagari Jeelan novels has been become a part of Literature World along with a positive critics and he step for publishing Book with All in one Novels “Golden Stories of Dadagari Jeelan”.
Dadagari Jeelan for making Developed country he pick a factors mainly contributes a better country and where he choose “Humanity” is best pillar for every problem Solution.”Humanity” is until doesn’t growth where the Better Religion and Better Society not form.The Better Society and Religion creates a Peace,Love and Care among the Citizens.
Then Dadagari Jeelan decided later for making his own religion “Islam” (as per the dream of his beloved),that much of Spread about the Good Things,everyone he made places in heart.The Quotes,the Short Stories or may apart of the posts were becomes one of rivalry and accolades.
Meanwhile on the festival of Lailatul Al Qadr he has been shared a best story along moral which strong pillar of Islam efforts about to create a faith on Allah a Muslim Lord ,a festival which celebrated variously rendered in English as the Night of Decree, Night of Power, Night of Value, Night of Destiny, or Night of Measures, is, in Islamic belief, the night when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is one of the nights of the last ten days of Ramadan.
The Story is all about “How a Ruhina who often considered her weakness about the Poverty Background by the Arrogant King.To teaching a best lesson she has to struggle many Up’s and Down finally Can she will Success ? and What the Karma hits Back???
Although Dadagari Jeelan is one of the Best Wisest and Intelligent Author Remains in the World. | https://medium.com/@srkking309/indias-best-author-d-jeelan-dadagari-left-a-beautiful-story-at-laylatul-al-qadr-8508a8329564 | ['D.Jeelan Dadagari', "Fan'S News Updates More"] | 2019-06-03 13:33:47.101000+00:00 | ['Authorslife', 'Indianauthors', 'Writers Life', 'Islam'] |
What Is The Average Length Of Stay For A Tenant? | You want a good tenant to stay…
Why?
Because there are fewer void periods — when the property is vacant — and lower marketing costs to find a new tenant, it means less cost and more profit.
The good news for property investors in the UK is that the average tenancy length is rising.
What Is The Average Length Of Stay For A Tenant?
The length of time a renter stays in your property is determined by a variety of factors, including the tenant’s personal circumstances, the property type, and the location.
> Tenants who are 45 years old are more likely to stay for four times as long as those who are 24 years old.
> Furthermore, tenants in social housing tend to stay longer than those in private housing.
> Private tenants have been in their current residence for an average of 4.3 years.
> However, in 2017–18, the average was 4.1 years, compared to only 3.9 in 2016–2017.
When choosing a tenant avatar, the average period of tenure isn’t the only factor to consider. However, it’s critical to account for these averages in your numbers.
Data: English Housing Survey | https://medium.com/@Schaker/what-is-the-average-length-of-stay-for-a-tenant-5ce649497898 | [] | 2021-12-10 04:08:04.396000+00:00 | ['Property Investment', 'Tenants', 'Property', 'UK', 'Real Estate'] |
How Music Education Can Happen Online | How Music Education Can Happen Online
Photo by Larisa Birta on Unsplash
Music is one of those things that benefits significantly from in-person contact. So when the world shut down in March 2020, a lot of musicians had questions about continuing lessons and other activities.
Rightfully so, because most lessons and rehearsals had always been in-person. Of course, some musicians already offered online lessons. But for most of us, it was a big change.
At this point, we all know that music education can happen online. The question now is if it should be online and if certain student may benefit from studying music online.
Some students live in rural areas, so the internet is their access to the world. And teaching online gives musicians more flexibility in where they live.
If you’re going to teach or study music online, you need the right tools. Whether you’re doing so out of necessity or choice, the right tools can help make music lessons more productive and enjoyable for the teacher and student.
Apps and Programs
Here area few apps you should have to teacher and learn music online.
Video Chat Software
Zoo has become probably the most popular choice for video chat. But there’s also Skype, Google Hangouts, and FaceTime. Even Facebook Messenger has a video chat feature.
A good video chat program is essential for live lessons. That way, the teacher and student can see each other and hear each other.
You can still teach students to play an instrument, and you can see what they’re doing. While it’s not as good as in-person lessons, it does give you the chance to work with someone one-on-one.
Screen Sharing
Tools like Zoom let you share your screen with your students. That can come in handy if you need to point out a specific part in the music your student is working on.
You can also share online resources for metronomes, tuners, and sheet music. Then, your student can see what you see like they were in the same room.
If your chosen video chat program doesn’t support screen sharing, you can use a tablet and hold it to the camera for a similar effect. You can also use email or set up a shared Google Doc to send links and notes back and forth.
Email
Of course, you need email to communicate with people online. You can use email to send invoices for lesson payments, and you can also send lesson reminders.
If you or a student needs to cancel, email is a good way to notify the other person. You don’t have to worry about giving out your personal phone number and potentially subjecting yourself to calls and texts late at night.
Your email can have a professional signature, and you can connect it to your website. That can look even more professional to potential students.
Equipment to Use
While the right software is great, you also need some hardware. Here are a few things you and your students should have for online music lessons.
Computer/Tablet/Phone
You both need a device to use for lessons. A computer is the best option because it has a big screen to see the other person. You also don’t need to worry about a stand to prop up a computer like with a tablet or phone.
Your phone can also use a lot of battery after a lesson or two. A tablet can be a nice option, but you’ll need a tablet stand so that it can sit up.
As long as you and your student can see each other, the device you use doesn’t matter. But it does need to have video and audio capabilities for lessons to work.
External Mic
While not necessary, you should consider getting an external microphone. That will usually have better sound quality than your computer’s internal mic.
You can look for a USB mic that connects directly to your computer. When you need to demonstrate an exercise, your students will be able to hear more more clearly.
If your students have the money, they can get an external mic. But I don’t think it’s a huge deal if they can’t afford one of don’t want one.
Environmental Tips
The right equipment helps, but the wrong environment can make that all go out the window. You and your students need good environments for lessons.
Access to Instrument and Music
Of course, you can’t have a successful lesson without your instrument and the music your students are studying. They’ll also need a good instrument and a copy of the music they’re playing.
If necessary, you can copy the music and email your students. But if you’re working out of a book, it will be easier for them to buy the book.
Instruments should be in good condition, especially since you can’t physically check a student’s instrument for leaks or other problems. You may also want to research some instrument technicians around the country so that you can recommend someone near your students.
Quiet and Distraction-Free
If you or your students have to have lessons in the kitchen or living room, it can get noisy. You should make sure that it will be quiet wherever you choose to do lessons.
A bedroom or home office is ideal. But a living room can suffice if other family members know to be in another room or out of the house.
You should also make sure your pets aren’t around because they can cause noise.
And similar to noise, your teaching or learning space shouldn’t have other distractions. If you like a clean space, make sure you tidy up the area before you start lessons.
Students may also be distracted by toys and other items. If they get distracted, ask them to put the toys away during their lesson.
Parents?
Some students, especially younger ones, are more easily distracted. They also don’t have the longest attention spans. If a student can’t stay focused, consider asking one of their parents to sit in on the lessons.
A parent can provide a physical block to distractions, and they can calm their child if the student starts getting upset. You can only do so much through a screen. If a parent isn’t available, you can ask if an older sibling can be around to make sure your student pays attention. Some siblings may not want to do that, but it’s another option.
Now, you don’t have to always require a parent, but it helps if you notice a student may need some in-person help. And if that doesn’t work, you may want to move them to in-person lessons if possible.
Can Music Education Happen Online?
Music education can happen online. But teachers and students need the right hardware, software, and environment. The right mindset helps too.
Even after the pandemic ends, online lessons can help students in rural areas or single parent households. Online lessons don’t require travel time, so they can also be useful during major storms.
Whether you prefer online or in-person lessons, 2020 has taught us that online music is possible and can be successful. You just have to adapt to the circumstances. | https://medium.com/the-modern-musician/how-music-education-can-happen-online-7d66cf270863 | ['Hannah Haefele'] | 2020-12-20 16:02:00.687000+00:00 | ['Online Education', 'Music Education', 'Music Classes', 'Teachers', 'Education'] |
Feel-Good Novels to Lift Your Spirits Before the Year Ends | Let’s be honest: 2020 has been nobody’s year.
With a pandemic ravaging every corner of the globe, now more than ever, people around the world are seeking avenues of solace: of quiet comfort and sweet escape. Fortunately for book-lovers, slipping away from the bonds of reality is a thing we’re pretty familiar with, for what better way to find that proverbial escape hatch than by flipping through the pages of a beautiful new book?
While there’s certainly no dearth of information on Christmas tales and religious advent books, Christmas-themed novels may not necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea — but ending the year on a positive note most certainly is. If you’re looking for a list of feel-good novels that, while lacking in Christmas themes, certainly make up for it in feels, you’ve come to the right place!
Without further ado, here’s a list of heartwarming novels that are sure to pull you out of a reading slump, gently wash away the aches and grime of the real world, and grant you a moment of beautiful respite.
1. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
“Change often starts with the smallest of whispers. Like-minded people building it up to a roar.”
Image source: www.bookishsanta.com
Caseworker Linus Baker of the Department in Charge of Magical Youths (DICOMY) is a quiet, fastidious, middle-aged man who lives with his cat and a collection of old records. His work at the DICOMY involves investigating orphanages that house magical children and ensuring the wellbeing of these wards. If there is one thing that’s clear from the outset, it’s that Linus Baker does his job with unflinching solemnity: he is serious, solitary, knows every word of the Department’s Rules and Regulations by heart, and is the complete antithesis of what has now become the cookie-cutter mould for (chiefly YA) fantasy protagonists. However, when Linus is unexpectedly assigned a classified case involving an island orphanage that houses some of the most dangerous children in existence, he must make a choice that could very well decide the fate of the world. And thus begins a series of events that will take readers on what can only be described as a uniquely spiritual journey; one that will leave your heart simultaneously aching yet full to the brim.
The House in the Cerulean Sea has been hailed as one of the best new novels of 2020, and the praise is justified. Every character has been crafted with such careful thought, every relationship burns with aching authenticity, and the world itself is so compelling that you can’t help but be swept right in. And while The House in the Cerulean Sea has a number of strong suits, it is the characters that will linger in your heart and mind for weeks to come. From a group of endearing yet hilarious children to the vividly authentic voices of queer and middle-aged protagonists, beautifully crafted backstories, and characters who are allowed to simply exist as opposed to subsist as placeholders for tropes, T.J. Klune has created something truly special.
If you’re looking for something to lift your spirits, fill you with hope and give you all the feels this winter, The House in the Cerulean Sea could very well be the book for you!
2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
“A person was like a city. You couldn’t let a few less desirable parts put you off the whole. There may be bits you don’t like, a few dodgy side streets and suburbs, but the good stuff makes it worthwhile.”
Who hasn’t wished, even for a fleeting moment, that they could go back in time and undo past mistakes? Retrace those hasty footsteps and choose a different path? The premise of Matt Haig’s 2020 bestseller, The Midnight Library, hinges on this tempting possibility.
When 35-year-old Nora Seed tries to end her life, rather than have her grief, loneliness and crippling self-doubt end with the numb release of the afterlife, she finds herself in a library that lies beyond the edge of the universe, nestled in the space between life and death. Each book in this mysterious, infinite library contains a different version of Nora’s life: which one will she choose, and which path will ultimately lead her to happiness and fulfilment?
Matt Haig has made no secret of the mental health issues that have plagued him all his life. In many ways, his personal struggles have enabled him to create a truly unique masterpiece that offers hope and solace to those of us who are battling similar demons, serving as a reminder to find beauty and kindness in each new day. Aside from Nora’s journey and the sheer elegance of Haig’s storytelling, the novel is especially memorable for its incorporation of varied themes and motifs. In The Midnight Library, sci-fi twirls beside fantasy, skimming along the solid marble foundation of philosophy in an almost self-aware sort of way, yet without once breaking narrative stride.
The Midnight Library is simultaneously heartbreaking yet brimming with warmth, transporting readers to a magical library and a world of hope, healing, survival and self-love. If you’re looking for a new novel that will uplift you without any frills, definitely consider adding this to your reading list!
3. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
“When I was your age, television was called books.”
Image source: www.amazon.in
Although it’s very likely that you’ve already read this classic, no list about beautiful, magical, feel-good novels could possibly be complete without William Goldman’s 1973 novel, The Princess Bride. Written as an abridgement to the fictional S. Morgenstern’s classic tale, the story is told as an embellished “good parts” version of Morgenstern’s pre-existing tale (in essence, it is an abridged version of a book that doesn’t exist).
Often described as “the coolest fairytale in existence”, The Princess Bride is more than just a fantasy romance or adventurous romp through a Renaissance-era world. This novel truly has it all — epic sword-fights, true love’s kiss, vengeance, loyalty, betrayal, humour, honour, monsters, miracles, and a precocious child who wanted a good bedtime story — and yet, it never once appears to be weighed down by this abundance of themes.
Some books are simply meant to be observed with quiet reverence; to be given the space to pull you in and fulfil a need you didn’t even know you had — but to analyse it, to study it, to break it down and explain the sum of its parts, could risk destroying the sanctity of its memory. Yet if one were to go the critical analysis route, one would notice the striking subtleties in Goldman’s prose; one would see, upon a few re-reads, how a book that is simultaneously about nothing and everything cleverly tackles issues of moral philosophy and the many shades of human ethics through satire and witty commentary. But given that no one wants to deconstruct one of the most beloved feel-good novels in existence (especially considering the sheer amount of misery we’ve already witnessed this year), all I’ll say is this: If you’ve been longing to re-read The Princess Bride, now’s as good a time as any!
4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
“Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. How delightful if that were true.”
As an editor, librarian, and voracious reader, Mary Ann Shaffer spent her life surrounded by literature. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was Shaffer’s attempt at fulfilling her lifelong dream of publishing a novel. Today, the book is hailed as a modern classic: a contemporary epistolary novel (one told entirely through letters) that transports readers back to 1946 Europe, weaving characters and backstories across London, Guernsey, and the unheard memories in between.
The story is fairly straightforward: British writer Juliet Ashton is struggling to emerge from the ashes of the Second World War and rebuild her life in post-war London. As she attempts to navigate the complexities of the ‘new normal’ of her life and career (in particular, deciding what to base her next novel on), she receives an unassuming letter from Mr. Dawsey Adams regarding an old book of hers. Mr. Adams is from Guernsey: a beautiful English Channel island off the coast of Normandy, recently liberated from Nazi occupation. Through a series of subsequent letters and telegrams, Juliet begins to correspond with other residents of Guernsey — all delightfully eccentric in their own right — and begins to learn about their wartime experiences, small acts of kindness that kept them human through Nazi occupation, and their peculiarly named literary society. Their heartwarming stories prompt Juliet to consider writing a novel about books that made people smile during the worst of times.
Written as a series of letters that positively teem with equal parts humour, heart and determination, this novel is a celebration of the power of the written word, highlighting its ability to lift readers through even the darkest of times. Be warned, however, that this book is as unflinching in its wartime recollections as it is in its charming humour. While they haven’t been presented in a gory, violent or even voyeuristic manner, the characters reference some heartbreaking details as if they were everyday happenstance — and they were. To survivors of World War II, the unceasing fear of air raids, food shortages, and even a lack of basic amenities such as soap and drinking water were everyday occurrences. Yet these descriptions possess both dark corners and rays of light. Little details such as Juliet’s joy at being able to purchase a new dress, breathe in clean air, or even travel by train with the curtains drawn back to appreciate the rolling hills outside, grant the story a sense of haunting authenticity. In fact, it’s almost impossible to be reading this book with a straight face — you’re either going to laugh out loud or sob away. Either way, this story will fill you with hope, gratitude, and a renewed desire to be kind to someone today. And that, in my opinion, is one of the best reasons to want to pick up a book.
Unfortunately, author Mary Ann Shaffer became terminally ill during the course of writing this manuscript, and she asked her niece, Annie Barrows (author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half) to help her complete the novel. Sadly, Shaffer passed away only a few months before her first novel was finally published, yet her legacy lives on through her work. Ten years after its publishing, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was adapted into a film starring Lily James (currently streaming on Netflix), and readers and writers — myself included — cannot stop recommending this novel to anyone in need of a simple but engaging new read.
5. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
“I implore you to be more open minded, hermano. If we close ourselves off to the possibilities that lie outside of what tradition has dictated, we are destined for extinction.”
Image source: www.goodreads.com
When his orthodox Latinx family refuses to accept his true gender, protagonist Yadriel sets out to prove himself by performing a secret brujo ceremony to release his cousin’s spirit. Unfortunately, he winds up accidentally summoning the wrong spirit: instead of finding the ghost of his murdered cousin, Yadriel ends up resurrecting resident bad boy, Julian Diaz — and this spirit has absolutely no intention of leaving. Left with little choice, Yadriel must now help Julian tie some loose ends, somehow convince him to leave, and try his hardest not to lose his heart in the process. Part coming-of-age quest for acceptance, part budding romance, this is the kind of book that will put the widest smile on your face, leaving you feeling whole and uplifted for hours to come.
Cemetery Boys is equal parts witty and delicate, painting some wonderfully authentic protagonists through believable, almost tender prose. It is thoughtful and heartfelt as well as fast-paced and intense, all at the same time — and I for one couldn’t help but fall in love with these characters. Author Aiden Thomas has tackled some deeply sensitive issues through beautiful characterisation and storytelling, acknowledging the heartbreaking realities of queer trauma, yet telling Yadriel’s story from a place of pure love and joy. Although the prose is decidedly YA for the most part, it is also delightfully quotable — from hilarious hijinks to poignant moments that will take you by surprise, Aiden Thomas has written some incredibly compelling dialogue.
In many ways, this novel is both a celebration of Latinx traditions as also a stark examination of latent transphobia; a truly original blend of culture and queerness that weaves a thoroughly captivating, honest story that will leave you sobbing in the best way possible. If you’re looking for a light yet empowering, own-voices story that centers on honouring your truth, definitely consider giving Cemetery Boys a read.
6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
Some books simply cannot be summarised; they resist all efforts at scrutiny, their beautiful contradictions laughing in the face of real-world analysis. The Night Circus is one such novel.
Featuring a non-linear narrative told through multiple viewpoints, Erin Morgenstern’s ‘The Night Circus’ is one of the most delightfully paradoxical novels in existence. While the dust jacket hints at a dark and deadly competition, interestingly, that isn’t even remotely what this book is actually about. And while there is indeed a love story, the crux of the tale is far from that of a fantasy romance. The only constant is the novel’s central setting — the mysterious Night Circus, or Le Cirque des Rêves — one that “arrives without warning” and is only open at night. Yet given the magical nature of this traveling circus, the story’s only anchoring element leaps through space and time, revealing secrets and backstories through elaborate, fantasia-imbibed prose and secondary worldbuilding.
The Night Circus has been described by many as “Harry Potter for adults”, and while I don’t disagree with this comparison, I do believe it must be pointed out that The Night Circus may not be everyone’s cup of tea. While some may revel in its vibrant peculiarities, others might find this approach heavy-handed or even frustrating. In essence, The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairytale strung through a kaleidoscope of colourful contradictions, wrapped in magical surrealism yet simultaneously steeped in reality. With prose that absolutely sparkles, this novel is beautiful, colourful, ethereal, enchanting, and could just be the otherworldly read you need to wrap your fingers around that figurative escape hatch. Love it or hate it, one thing’s for certain: this novel demands to be read. Is it the definitive feel-good read to lift you out of the doom and gloom of 2020? Well, I suppose you’ll have to read it to find out!
And there you have it: six unexpected, uplifting reads to help inject a little hope and magic into your day, keep you warm through a chilly Christmas, and welcome the New Year with a smile. From contemporary bestsellers to epistolary classics, surreal fantasy to budding romances, we hope this list had a little something for everyone! | https://medium.com/bookish-santa/feel-good-novels-to-lift-your-spirits-before-the-year-ends-f80a1c164af6 | ['Tina M'] | 2021-03-03 11:48:32.486000+00:00 | ['Book Review', 'Book Recommendations', 'Authors', 'Books', 'Novel'] |
Silence Always Speaks The Loudest | Silence Always Speaks The Loudest
By Jarred Kiel
Like ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘ Baby Driver ‘ before it, ‘The Sound of Metal’ brings focus to characters and their stories of living a life with deafness instead of making deafness their primary trait. Yes, I know those are two films are nothing like this one, but I am focusing on the characters, not the synopsis.
In his directorial debut, Darius Marder has the audience see and hear what Rube, Riz Ahmed (“ Venom “, “The Night Of (TV)”) goes through from the beginning and let’s us embrace this somewhat unpredictable journey he goes on.
Ruben is an ex-addict drummer is in the middle of a tour with his girlfriend/lead singer Lou, Olivia Cooke (“Me And Earl And The Dying Girl”, “ Ready Player One “) when a sudden loss of hearing which causes him to venture back into his addiction mindset.
Ruben sees a specialist who advises that he has less than 30% hearing left in both ears and that he needs to find a way to save the small amount of hearing he has left. After ignoring the doctor, he has a panic attack at his next show which causes Lou to force him to get help.
He’s led to a deaf community run by Joe (Paul Raci), a paternal figure to the community who believes that the mind should be over everything else. It’s up to Ruben to embrace his new self as well as take control of what’s going through his mind.
Ahmed will be in the Awards conversation as this is the best work he’s done since his role in ‘The Night Of’ on HBO. I knew he had the talent to lead a film, but what he shows in this film was beyond my expectations.
With Ruben being an ex-addict, he relies on quick fixes and Ahmed plays with this personality trait throughout the film. Ahmed plays with control throughout and always knows when to give the scene to his partner. The film benefits greatly from him respecting the script, the scene and most importantly his co-stars.
Cooke and Raci are great in their roles, especially Raci who dominates the scenes with heartfelt speeches whenever we see him. His Joe cares deeply for this community and wants to make sure Ruben knows that they’re there for him. Cooke’s Lou is smaller compared to Joe and Ruben, but she demonstrates her ability to have the audience feel for her. She would do anything for Ruben, and thanks to Cooke, we believe that.
Marder does a wonderful job setting up Ruben’s story within the first 10 minutes of the film. We think we know who he is and what he’s about, and then his true persona lashes out when the trouble starts. Marder never leaves Ruben’s face when something happens. He wants us to see the turmoil and the processing, when other storytellers may skip past to the next blow-up.
With co-writing this and ‘Place Beyond the Pines,’ Marder demonstrates a great ability to develop the characters through expressions and silence. He seems to have the trust of his actors and I can’t wait to see what’s next. | https://medium.com/@ocmoviereviews/the-sound-of-metal-review-d878c50f462e | ['Oc Movie Reviews'] | 2020-12-20 15:19:55.859000+00:00 | ['Movie Reviews', 'The Sound Of Metal', 'Film Reviews', 'Movies', 'Films'] |
Earn money online without investment from Australia together with your phone. | I do know you would like to earn money online together with your phone from Australia. In past, I assumed it isn’t easy or possible because I faced tons of faux scam sites. But recently I found this site which pays Dollar for doing a survey. I’m performing on this site for the last 4 months and that I made $500 from this site. So I’m sharing this site with you. Join for free of charge and obtain a $5 check-in bonus. You will find the link at the end of this article. Most significantly do not forget to thanks me later.
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How to buy eggs in My DeFi Pet? | Part 1: Connect to Kai Wallet
Step 1: Download Kardia Wallet on Chrome Web Store, connect to Kai wallet to be able to buy items.
Create new wallet
Click on your own Secret words to complete the procedure. Then create your own password. Keep in mind that you should remember your secret words and don’t leak these with anyone.
Step 2: Login KardiaChain Wallet
Step 3: Click the link: https://play.mydefipet.com/
Choose On Kardia Chain 👇
Step 4: Connect your wallet. Click the “Sign” button to authenticate your account.
On the main game screen, click “SHOP” button, then choose “Pets” and click “Egg”.
1 Egg = 3 DPET
Part 2: Connect to Binance Smart Chain wallet
Step 1: Download MetaMask Wallet on Chrome Web Store, connect to the wallet to be able to buy the item.
Step 2: After successfully downloading the MetaMask wallet, this interface will appear:
Step 3: If you already have a wallet, please enter it, if not, create a new one, below is the instructions on how to create a BSC wallet: Click on your own Secret words to complete the procedure. Then create your own password. Keep in mind that you should remember your secret words and don’t leak these with anyone.
Step 4: After completing the above steps, you will create your MetaMask account. And here is how to connect BSC to DPET:
Step 5: Click on the avatar as shown in the picture to enter the settings.
Step 6: Select Networks.
Step 7: After entering the Networks section, Fill in the same information as in the picture to connect MetaMask with BSC.
Step 8: After successfully saving, the recording will appear like in the picture, next go back to the DPET home page to buy eggs to connect with BSC wallet.
Step 9: Click the link 👉 https://play.mydefipet.com/
Choose On BSC Chain 👇 Click Connect
Part 3: Mobile trading platforms have also been tackled:
And it’s all done.
Hope you guys have a great experience with My DeFi Pet ♥
— —
You can use the KardiaChain Wallet with ~10,000 times cheaper transaction fees than bsc, the processing speed is less than 5 seconds to play My DeFi Pet instead of bsc wallet where BSC transactions fail and high transaction fees,
Buy DPET KRC20 on Nami Exchange (no KYC required).
Note: Buying DPET on Nami is an alternative solution before the launch of KAIDEX.
Appstore/ Google play store/ Google chrome extension: Search KardiaChain Wallet
Appstore/ Google play store/ web: Search Nami Exchange /nami.exchange
👉Instructions to use KardiaChain wallet on the browser to buy eggs:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/kardiachainvietnamofficialgroup/permalink/182160840325794/
When creating your wallet, make sure to save the 12 seed phrases or write them down on paper and keep them carefully (if you lose 12 seed phrases, you will lost your wallet and cannot recover).
You need KAI to pay transaction fees, KAI KRC-20 purchased at Kucoin, bilaxy, gateio, coinone, vndc, nami. All other exchanges still using the old KAI ERC-20 have stopped trading onchain.
As I see, KAI withdrawal fee at gate.io to KardiaChain Wallet is the lowest and requires the minimum withdrawal 0.11 KAI. After buying KAI, you withdraw to KardiaChain Wallet address.
Note: you only need to buy 1 KAI to pay a lot of transaction fee (0.00019KAI/ transaction).
👉Instructions to buy DPET on Nami exchange:
Sign up for Nami Exchange
https://nami.exchange
Then buy USDT at Binance or anywhere then transfer to Nami Exchange (Network TRC-200 to withdraw/deposit for just $1 fee).
Buy DPET with this route: Swap USDT> VNDC> DPET.
Then transfer all DPET to KardiaChain Wallet (note: this is DPET KRC-20, cannot be transferred to trust wallet).
Once you have DPET and KAI in your KardiaChain Wallet, Connect your wallet to My DeFi Pet web and you can buy eggs with your KAI wallet for super cheap fees.
https://play.mydefipet.com/app/application/buypet
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YWsItqrWK6g&feature=youtu.be | https://medium.com/@mydefipet/how-to-buy-eggs-in-my-defi-pet-4e9f79f29abc | ['My Defi Pet Official'] | 2021-12-20 09:01:05.824000+00:00 | ['Mydefipet', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Games', 'Defi', 'Nft'] |
How Helpful is IoT in Manufacturing? | As the modern manufacturers continually invest in new technologies like big data or data science, Interconnected devices, cybersecurity and bitcoins, cloud computing and likewise, they can cope with system complexity, improve production performance, information visibility and gain competitive advantages in the global market. We are soon going to experience a new generation of smart manufacturing, i.e., a cyber-physical system that tightly integrates manufacturing enterprises in the physical world with the virtual enterprises in cyberspace. The development of new methodologies on the Internet of Manufacturing Things (IoMT) for data-enabled engineering innovations helps realize the full potential of cyber-physical systems. Here we intend to review the use of the Internet of Things in manufacturing (the use of sensors, materials, supply chain, inventory, products, people, equipment in a connected network). We hope that this article will help catalyze more in-depth investigations useful in creating IoMT applications for mobile and web. Let’s get started! | https://medium.com/@konstantinfo/how-helpful-is-iot-in-manufacturing-766dea6bc11e | ['Konstant Infosolutions'] | 2020-12-08 11:59:24.175000+00:00 | ['Iot App Development', 'IoT', 'Internet of Things', 'Iot In Manufacturing'] |
My tech story at IIT Bombay and advice for juniors | Our contingent at the Inter-IIT Tech Meet, 2019 — IIT Roorkee
I graduated from IIT Bombay in August ‘20, and penned down this short piece for tech.iitb; you can find the original post at https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJPLmunn0t/
Believe it or not, I first saw H7 during my last few days as a freshie. In fact, walking from H16 to lecture halls, I had never turned right at the T-point till then. Until late in my second year, I did not attend a single event in Insti — not one orientation, talk or workshop.
And then one fateful night, I stumbled upon something interesting. WnCC’s website listed “IITB App” as an ongoing project, with someone I knew (who would eventually become one of my best friends) working on it. Maybe you can understand why this project particularly appealed to me — having been living in a bubble, I had the inevitable feeling that I did not know what was happening around me — the app tried to solve this exact problem. Nothing particular in mind, I casually asked my friend what the status of the project was. The idea was old but the implementation had stagnated, so I decided to try to revive the project. Fast-forward half a year, hundreds of discussion hours and many night-outs later with one of the best teams I have worked with, InstiApp was born — and I hope it doesn’t need introduction ;)
Over the next two years, I worked on, mentored and led collaborations on many more projects — Computer Center’s SSO, Mood Indigo’s Ferrous and AMS to name a few. I instructed a technical summer school, gave a couple of talks for WnCC, attended many more and created DevCom together with a few friends. Contrast this with my first year.
So … why?
My motivation was threefold. First, each of these gave me the chance to create real tangible impact. Let me tell you — there is no feeling better than knowing that a product you created is a part of the daily life of thousands of people around you. Second, it gave me unparalleled experience that no internship could ever have. These will probably remain some of my best projects for a very long time. Third, when you are passionate about something, you want to spread the goodness. Connect the dots.
What are the takeaways?
It’s never too late to start. If there is a right time to start, it is now. There are people to help. I found mentors in Insti for not only technical help, but every aspect of life. Often these were the same people ;) Work on things you are passionate about. Look for real problems and build real solutions for yourself and the people around you. And no problem is too big. Opportunities may be hidden from plain sight. I could never have imagined I’ll get a chance to collaborate with Computer Center. If you want to do something, talk to people about it. If you don’t, then it cannot happen. Work with people like yourself and spread the goodness. If you love doing something, join a club. If there’s no club, then make one. You will not regret it.
Above all, live life to the fullest. Get out of the bubble. You can take this amazing journey only once.
All the best! | https://medium.com/@varunpp2/my-tech-story-at-iit-bombay-and-advice-for-juniors-1cb9f48832ea | ['Varun Patil'] | 2020-12-23 16:08:55.305000+00:00 | ['Iit', 'Advice', 'Iitb', 'Students'] |
COVID-19 University: Science Says to Skip Second Semester | In the unprecedented plot-twist that is COVID-19, American university students find themselves restricted from the normal college experience: lectures, library flirtations, football games and the eponymous red-cup, while footing the full-priced bill.
Distance learning has become the new norm — an exercise in caution in response to a surging second wave or continuation of the first dependent on your source. From the University of California system to Harvard, many reputable, and expensive institutions have migrated to a bulk e-learning model, where a majority of their class catalogue will be offered virtually for the rest of the school year. And yet, despite the modules of learning moving virtual, many institutions are still asking students to return to campus, pay housing costs and attend sporadic classes. Additionally, students are often contained within their dormitories for a majority of their free-time.
Despite the reduction of school gatherings, events, accommodations, sports and amenities, the only change missing from the 2020–2021 school year is a reduction in costs. Of the highest endowments per capita/student only Princeton University is offering a tuition discount at a whopping 10%. Other schools such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford maintained their exorbitant tuition costs while schools like Duke University offered a tuition freeze stabilizing tuition at the costs of the 2019–2020 school year — the epitome of good grace. All of these aforementioned schools currently maintain between $1.2M — $2.8M in endowment capital per student.
This begs the question: Is pursuing the 4-year college model, especially from institutions who are firm in maintaining tuition costs, worth it financially and psychologically within the limitations associated with COVID-19? According to a new Texas A&M Study of current matriculated students within COVID-19, 82% of surveyed students were concerned about their academic performance either due to decreased quality of courses, restricted research processes, general confusion regarding technical requirements and decreased motivation. Add that to the 89% of surveyed students who find themselves increasingly distracted by their work environments and the 70% of students whose sleep and diet patterns have taken critical hits. So why are students still going back?
If you have ever been a student within the United States, there is a general consensus that university is a four-year program in length, even going as far as stigmatizing the 5+ year undergraduate experience. This is outside of statistical normality. As a baseline, only 8.6% of public universities have a maximum of 50% of their students finishing school within 4 years. Of the flagship public universities, the main campuses within each state system, only 36% of students finish within 4 years. Non-flagship public universities? Only 19% of their students finish “on-time” — statistically debunking the myth that the 4-year model is even remotely normal.
The main reasons students don’t complete school within the four year model? Students under the age of 22 lack the psychosocial maturity to make long-term decisions and, according to the US Department of Education survey, find themselves either over-their-head at collegiate level courses they may have excelled at during high school or finding prerequisites or teaching personnel unlikeable. The end result? According to one National Center for Education Statistic study, 80% of students will inevitably change their major from their time of enrollment, which, given the scheduling of required courses for each major, extends the timeline of completion in alignment when courses are offered. As pointed out in the U.S. Department of Education’s 2017 Data Point newsletter, within the first three years of study:
52% of math majors switched to another major
40% of natural sciences majors switched
37% of education majors switched
36% of humanities majors switched
35% of all STEM majors switched
32% of general studies majors switched
Students who find themselves at the end of their sophomore year reassessing their current major can anticipate tacking on another semester or year of study unless they enroll in summer programs. So if a majority of students are already finding themselves questioning their end goal and anticipating extra time, how is COVID amplifying these feelings?
Online learning has enough of a history and foothold in the American education system to assess its side-effects. The high-level assessment is that online learning can be more efficient in home-studies only if the home itself is prepared for additive support supposing, as most education does, the more affluent the home the more effective the learning. What is more abundant is a loss of long-term motivation. Satisfaction rates for online learning are diminished across every generation leading to increased cheating or decreased learning in the long run. Couple these findings with the overwhelming psychological effects of confinement during quarantine and the kids may certainly not be alright. For many, the concept of skipping the second semester may not only be fiscally responsible (saving between $10k-$30k), but also psychological.
There are well documented benefits of adding gap semesters that may support pushing enrollment until schools reopen fully. For most students, a gap year or semester has had a significant impact on their major and career path– with one Haigler & Nelson study finding “ 60% [ of gap year students saying the] experience either set [them] on [their] current career path/academic major or confirmed [their] choice of career/academic major” If a student is currently undecided in their path of study or losing sight during these trying times it may behoove them to take the next semester off to further understand their goals and improve their motivation. Not only could clarity and cupidity increase, but a recent study conducted by Bob Clagett, former Dean of Admissions of Middlebury College, tracked the academic performance of gap-year students, compared to non-gap students, and found gap-year students over-performing during their college career to a “statistically significant degree.” More impressively, this over-performance was marked through the entirety of the college experience — through both undergraduate, and if sought, post-graduate studies.
So as second semester payments loom nearer, there is a case to forgo the spring 2021 semester and wait for the pandemic to fully pass. At the very least, you’d get a semester where you can actually attend a party. | https://medium.com/@alexisschwartz10/covid-19-university-science-says-to-skip-second-semester-c85dbebef9df | [] | 2020-12-16 18:34:31.392000+00:00 | ['University', 'Pandemic', 'Schools', 'Covid 19', 'Mental Health'] |
Manifestation Magic Program Review — Honest Review (+80% Discount) | Manifestation Magic Review
Manifestation Magic will allow you to take full control of your mind and body so your energy can attract what you desire the most and what your life is missing.
But I am not here to advertise the “Manifestation Magic” program, eBook, audio files or other extras but to review it in-depth as much as I possibly can. No lies involved just an honest review from a regular yet happy guy. So, let’s take a look at what awaits you if you consider buying this magical law of attraction masterpiece.
Manifestation Magic Program Contents
The Complete Manifestation Magic System
Quick Start Manifestation Guide
Twilight Transformation Energy Orbiting Track
The Chakra Power System
7 “Energy Orbiting” Tracks to Enhance Chakra Wealth Energy
The 360 Transformation System
7 Bonus “Energy Orbiting” Tracks to Clear Even More Vibration Blocks
The “Push Play” Audio App
All Audiotracks On Your Smartphone
Members Only Surprise Bonuses
More Materials To Increase Your Wealth and Happiness
60-Day Money-Back Guarantee
If you feel like this is what you are looking for:
What Is Manifestation Magic And How It Works?
It’s a down-to-earth program designed for regular people like you and me with a purpose to raise your vibrations with a neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and subliminal messages. Manifestation Magic contains hidden NLP commands which act as positive “seeds” to plant in your subconscious mind.
Don’t go away yet, don’t be afraid of what you don’t know yet — it might change your life for the better!
This audiobook has a delightful purpose and these objectives will help you to :
Attract your lifetime love or soulmate
Achieve financial abundance
Attain happiness and joy
Materialize your own thoughts into touchable things
Enhance closeness with family members
Enjoy the perfect health
How It’s Different From Other Law of Attraction Books?
As stated above, this program uses subliminal messages and NLP which you won’t find in The Secret or Law of Attraction type books or audio files.
Subliminal messages have been around for decades and there is a big chance you have heard of terms like self-hypnosis and binaural beats.
And neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) was invented by Richard Bandler and John Grinder to change your behavioral patterns by altering your neurological processes. It creates new outcomes by changing your habits.
And what amazed me the most — Manifestation Magic contains both subliminal messages and NLP. That makes these audio tracks even more powerful and effective.
How Manifestation Magic Will Assist You?
1. Correct Actions: The largest issue we had with books such as The Secret is all you needed to do was believe in positive thinking and, hopefully, it will work in your favor. This Pollyanna principle could help you achieve riches but rarely works in real life.
Manifestation Magic needs you to obey the audios. This is work. It’s not a difficult task but it is a crucial step. The ‘Daytime Wealth’ audio track plays a significant role in this process.
2. Builds Solid Foundation: The reason why Manifestation Magic functions and contains favorable testimonials is due to the science supporting it. Your thought patterns change — and it’s a fact!
3. Consistency: By asking you to listen to the tracks every day, Manifestation Magic builds favorable habits which leave no effort on your part. This isn’t a random approach for creating wealth like optimistic thinking. Consistency leads to results. Correct?
4. Taking Out The Garbage: No amount of positive thinking might work if you are still stuck on your old patterns of thinking.
This issue must be treated by yourself! Manifestation magic has ”Energy Orbiting” sound sessions to clean prosperity blocks on the mind. By clearing the previous challenges, your route will then be evident to manifest wonders with no efforts on your part.
5. All-Encompassing System: On the outside, Manifestation magic appeared like another run-of-the-mill self-help somehow-it-will-work item. And I was so wrong.
QuickStart manual and roughly 14 bonus tips which will help you with your wealth, spirituality, life being, etc.. It is much more than the usual wealth attraction product and it lived up to its promises.
6. Simple To Understand: There is no denying the simple fact it is much easier to hear audios instead of compelling yourself to believe and imagine positive pictures.
Manifestation Magic is a really functional and down-to-earth program that knows that you have to start re-creating yourself WITHIN until it’s possible to make changes in your life and surroundings. The canvas has to be clean before you may make a masterpiece.
7. Genuine Reviews: The official Manifestation Magin website has testimonials from clients that have tried the product and noticed changes in their life. And that’s some social proof for you.
8. Immediate Access: That is an electronic product/digital product. You will receive immediate access to it and may begin altering yours instantly. No delivery flaws or costs. In case you are wondering — you can order physical products too if you prefer CDs.
9. 60-Day Money Back Guarantee: This point shows the wealth mindset which Alexander has (the author behind Manifestation Magic). He has so much faith in his product that he has provided you sufficient time to try the merchandise and make adjustments in your lifetime.
If it doesn’t work for you, you can always get your money back. And I am guessing that won’t be necessary because this program will provide you with magic that your life desperately needs. Nonetheless, it is a secure buy so go ahead and order Manifestation Magic with an 80% discount.
Should You Buy It?
Definitely! You are backed by a money back guarantee and from my perspective — you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
These audios will accelerate your results if you are practicing visualizations or positive thinking. Why? It’s the missing piece of the puzzle you haven’t discovered yet.
Wealth, spiritual growth, calmness and whatever physical objects you want to possess is within your reach. It will take some effort but nothing in life comes easy, right? You will need to listen consistently to the audio files and follow Alexander’s advice in the videos. And you will achieve anything you ever wanted.
Now, you have a “tool” to fix what’s not working within you. And once you do that, your surroundings will change miraculously…and you will NEVER look back.
About Mastermind Behind Manifestation Magic
Alexander Wilson
Alexander J. Wilson is a spiritual teacher for almost 8 years and he has written several visualization books and unique concepts on the Law of Attraction which has positively affected people around the world.
Alexander graduated in 2004 with a master’s degree in psychology but before that he worked a 9–5 job but due to sudden company changes he was working for — he got fired. And so with no warning, he was hit with a ton of bricks and put under stress. That’s where all the challenges begin…
During the dark and dry period of his life, he still had faith in the Universe and he managed to stand up, dust himself off and eventually get to where he is today.
And this is the reason why he created Manifestation Magic — to help people overcome the dark period in their lives and manifest anything they want. | https://medium.com/@kristapshw/manifestation-magic-program-review-honest-review-80-discount-17789677a42f | ['Kristaps Hardwork'] | 2019-06-21 12:39:19.194000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Manifestation Magic', 'Law Of Attraction', 'Manifestation', 'NLP'] |
Contribute | 1. What We Love
Your first step in understanding our publication is to read and really study some of the top articles in each of our topical categories (visit the Well Woman homepage, and visit each of the tabs). In general, we hope that your story will fit into one of our main categories. By using these tags, your story will also show up on the associated topic page:
Health
Science
Expert Interviews
Spirit
Productivity
Success (may include entrepreneurship & freelancing, work-life balance, leadership etc.)
We accept unpublished drafts only, so please make sure to hit the 3 dots and choose “add to publication” so we may review your draft and make sure it is suitable for our publication, and your chosen category.
You don’t have to be a woman to write for Well Woman, but please understand that our audience is primarily women. Write your story specifically to our audience.
Each new request is handled manually and will take time to process. Please be patient. | https://medium.com/well-woman/contribute-e980512734c2 | ['Amanda Warton Jenkins'] | 2020-03-09 14:32:20.942000+00:00 | ['Wellness', 'Contribute', 'Womens Health', 'Writing', 'Well Woman'] |
I’m a Follower and Proud of It | When people ask me, whether it’s randomly or in an interview, what my best leadership quality is, I tell them it’s my actions and devotion I have to the people in my charge. I am extremely devoted to my students as an instructor, but in any other part of my life, I lead by example.
And I believe leading by example is a form of followership rather than leadership — and there’s nothing wrong with that.
When I worked on a college newspaper, I was a great follower by writing diligently and doing a lot of reporting on topics we were writing about. As a runner on my college cross country team, I was a great follower in being able to lead workouts and communicating with everyone in practice, and showing up on time and encouraging effort. As a teacher, I am a great follower by following my administration’s mission for my school and by showing up every day for my students.
No one goes into a job interview touting that they’re a good follower, because we all know that society prioritizes leadership over followership. But the black-and-white dichotomy of leadership and followership must be deconstructed — because the world needs more followers to support its leaders.
“A well-functioning student body — not to mention polity — also needs followers,” said Susan Cain in The New York Times. “It needs team players. And it needs those who go their own way.”
A follower, to me, is a different form of leadership. A follower is not always honored for their work and accomplishments. It is the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, that receives credit for revolutionizing online shopping and delivery, and yet the work of warehouse workers, engineers, and everyone else that made his success possible is unsung.
Cain, the founder of Quiet Revolution: Unlocking the Power of Introverts, talks about how she has talked with far too many students who define “leadership skills” as a code for dominance and authority and simply bossing other people around. Our definition of leadership these days resides mainly in terms of political or business power, but what about thinking outside the box, serving, and creativity?
A servant-leader is the new buzz that I’ve heard lately of what it means to be a great leader. According to Robert K. Greenleaf, the founder of the servant leadership movement, “good leaders must first become good servants.” And servant-leaders sound a lot like good followers.
In the times that I have been in leadership roles, I have been thrust into those roles reluctantly. I am an extremely hard worker, devoted to the people I have in my charge, and am simply about the work more than I am about myself. I enjoy serving more than I do leading, especially as a teacher, and I do not like just telling people what to do and bossing them around.
As more of the servant-leader type of leader, when I am in the situation, I am a follower and proud of it. There’s a lot or pressure to be seen as a leader that wields and commands a lot of power and influence over others through force.
But why do it through force? In the words of Cain, “[the world] needs leaders who are called to service rather than to status.” I would much rather be respected as someone people look up to through my deeds and my ability to serve. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I believe He was the best servant-leader in human history.
It’s no secret that the world of college admissions holds “leadership” as the holy grail, that in high school, things don’t mean much on your resume unless you can claim some kind of leadership role.
Cain talks about one student who was happy until she was a freshman in college and felt such tremendous pressure to be a leader that she would completely overhaul her personality — trying to become a “freshman mentor”. She was kicked out of the program for not being outgoing enough, but because she got kicked out of the program, she spent more time working after school with the genetics teacher, found her passion for science, and published her first scientific paper at 18.
To be a good follower, in the words of psychology professor Robert Kelley in a 1988 edition of the Harvard Business Review, good followers “are committed to the organization and to a purpose, principle, or person outside themselves.” When leaders make plans, it is followers that execute those plans. Followers need to be devoted, loyal, and team players, all qualities that describe me far more than the traditional definitions of leadership.
Instead of trying to be a leader, maybe I should answer these questions with how I’m a good follower and a great team player. I am consistent and devoted, getting all my reports in on time, showing up to work every day, and being the best teacher I can for my students. Even if I lack the instructional or leadership experience of other teachers, I am one of the best followers out there.
But when we romanticize leadership skills and want everyone to be a leader in the sense of being an authoritarian boss, where is the room for someone like me, who leads by trying to serve and being the best possible follower I can be?
I try not to be someone who always seeks the spotlight than serve my neighbors — and our current romanticization with this conception of leadership leads us to love the spotlight, love being in charge, and love power much more than we love a cause or idea we care about.
So, if you’re anything like me, stop trying to be a leader. Lead by following, by serving, by doing all the things that make you an integral member of your community. You don’t need all the power and all the spotlight — you need your own tenacity and devotion to your cause, to the people around you.
I’m a follower that many people wouldn’t consider a leader — that’s who I am, and I’m proud of it. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/im-a-follower-and-proud-of-it-cef0aca93495 | ['Ryan Fan'] | 2020-05-26 22:22:28.976000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Business', 'Society', 'Self', 'Leadership'] |
We run Montevideo 2011–10K Nike competition | Last Saturday a group of brave Moovetians decided to accept the challenge and run the Nike 10K competition.
Nike 10K consist in running 10 kms along the coastline through some Montevideo’s neighborhoods enjoying the beautiful landscape.
Take a look at the pictures.
The whole team
Silvana, Martin and Nicolas
Ariel before breaking the finish ribbon :-P
Bird´s eye view | https://medium.com/moove-it/we-run-montevideo-2011-10k-nike-competition-4a0879d913b1 | ['Blog Moove-It'] | 2016-08-04 12:14:13.745000+00:00 | ['Team', 'Competition', 'Marathon'] |
Nature Knows No Good Or Bad | Recently, I had a conversation with a friend. Strange to call him that because the conversation we had, was the first time we ever met. At a distance. We used skype for a great talk on our work and lives.
We connected for real and listened deeply.
And we flowed. Him often angry and flowing beautifully. Me just me with all the flow I had in me.
In the end, he thanked me that his anger was welcomed in our conversation. We handled it well. Both of us in our own, very diverse ways.
And it triggered the wish to write a story about good and bad. And our perceptions. And the way nature looks at the matter.
My friend and I are very different. And we are so the same… | https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/nature-knows-no-good-or-bad-93583a087339 | ['Desiree Driesenaar'] | 2020-10-01 07:45:36.730000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Philosophy', 'Nature', 'Art', 'Life'] |
OpenTracing using Spring Cloud Sleuth | Introduction
In the world of microservices, a distributed transaction moves across multiple services. OpenTracing would be very helpful to reduce Mean Time To Detect (MTTD) an issue in a distributed transaction.
Trace: Description of a distributed transaction that moves across multiple services.
Span: Timed operation within a distributed transaction. A group of spans form a trace
Span Context: As the distributed transaction moves from one service to another service, the span context needs to be propagated as well. Span Context can be propagated using B3 propagation, a specification for the header “B3” and those that start with “X-B3-”. Below are the“X-B3-” headers propagated through the network call.
X-B3-TraceId
X-B3-ParentSpanId
X-B3-SpanId
X-B3-Sampled
Zipkin is a distributed tracing system. It helps gather timing data needed to troubleshoot latency problems in service architectures. Features include both the collection and lookup of this data by Trace Id.
Run the below commands to run Zipkin server in local machine
curl -sSL https://zipkin.io/quickstart.sh | bash -s
java -jar zipkin.jar
Spring Cloud Sleuth provides Spring Boot auto-configuration for OpenTracing. Sleuth instruments common ingress and egress points (RestTemplate, Spring Kafka, etc.) with OpenTracing
Dependencies
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-cloud-sleuth-zipkin</artifactId>
</dependency> <dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-sleuth</artifactId>
</dependency>
RestTemplate must be a Spring Component, otherwise, http calls won’t be intercepted by tracing
I have created a sample service using Spring Boot Cloud Sleuth. Please follow the below steps to run it
1. Clone the repo
2. In the terminal, cd to the code base
3. Run mvn clean install
4. As shown in the below image, open 4 terminal windows (one for Zipkin server, two for MainService, three for UserService and four for BookService)
java -jar target/sampleservice-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar --server.port=8080 --spring.application.name=MainService java -jar target/sampleservice-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar --server.port=8081 --spring.application.name=UserService java -jar target/sampleservice-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar --server.port=8082 --spring.application.name=BookService
5. Once Zipkin is started and MainService, UserService and BookServices are started, open the following url http://localhost:8080/users/4890-12-29379490/details/
6. Trace and Span data should be displayed as shown below
6. Trace and Span data should be displayed as shown below
7. Open Zipkin server using the url http://localhost:9411/ and enter the Trace Id in the search box (Search by trace ID)
8. It displays the distributed transaction involving the calls to UserService and BookService, made by MainService.
Zipkin Server showing the distributed transaction
Happy coding :)
https://github.com/vpandeti/opentracing
References:
https://opentracing.io/docs/overview/
https://zipkin.io/
https://spring.io/projects/spring-cloud-sleuth | https://medium.com/@vpandeti/opentracing-using-spring-cloud-sleuth-354b67b03935 | ['Venkat Pandeti'] | 2020-12-10 23:44:51.781000+00:00 | ['Microservices', 'Opentracing', 'Distributed Tracing', 'Spring Boot', 'Sleuth'] |
DateCoin Collected More Than 688 ETH During the First Days of Their Pre-Sale | The Pre-ICO of the project DateCoin — the world’s first dating service that uses intelligent algorithms and neural network technology, based on the already operating successful business model (MVP — app Denim) and which has a buyback program on the blockchain — was launched at midnight on the 29th of November. During the first few minutes of the pre-SALE, the project DateCoin collected over 527 ETH (about $244,000). Over the first days of the sale, more than $ 320,000 was collected.
DateCoin — is a service for “pragmatic dating”. That’s what sites where successful men are looking for companions, and women are hoping to catch a wealthy bachelor are called. After all, if there is demand, there will be supply, won’t there? The first wave of buying tokens eloquently proves this fact! During the Pre-ICO, DTC tokens can be bought with a discount of up to 50%, the tokens are created and function on the basis of smart contracts using Ether, and it is possible to invest BTC or ETH in the project.
What is the main idea of the project? Tinder and Mamba are also the sites for online dating and there are lots of them, but the vast majority suffer from several serious problems:
- Weak protection services. Including the risk of loss of confidential data due to negligence or hacker attacks. One wrong line in the code and all your private correspondence becomes public. We’ve been through this more than once.
-Weak free functionality of the application which implies the need for regular payments for additional services. The most advanced sites promote paid services even without your desire.
-The vast majority of accounts are fake, specially created to extort money from you.
- And finally, it is really difficult to find the right person. And this problem can’t be solved by settings and different filters.
However, the market of online dating services is changing rapidly — its global volume is approaching $5billion, and this is not the limit of growth. More and more new people join this direction, because they agree that it is so nice to look for the perfect pair, without running through endless dates… And it’s even nicer when an artificial intelligence can do it for you! With the project DateCoin this becomes possible — imagine that you’ve always liked girls of a certain type and that you want to find exactly her… You don’t even need to set criteria starting from the size of the breast and the waist, ending with a tone of the voice. Moreover, there is no need to enter all the data manually — just upload the photo of a girl you are interested in, the rest of the work the system will do itself. Pretty cool, huh?
And what about security? Your conversations and personal data will be encrypted on an end-to-end basis… And the fake accounts will be deleted by the intelligent verification of users.
The token DTC brings not only investment value, but also consumer value. It means that, it is worth not only to keeping it, based on the rising cost of the token (and the rise is sure to be due to the possibility of the buyback and the total growth of this sector on the market), but it’s also worthwhile to spend it while having special privileges within the service. | https://medium.com/datecoin/datecoin-collected-more-than-688-eth-during-the-first-days-of-their-pre-sale-b6ac46380850 | ['Nikita Anufriev'] | 2017-12-07 11:33:49.634000+00:00 | ['Crypto', 'Blockchain', 'Datecoin', 'Dating', 'Bitcoin'] |
SERIES: React Native (Step by Step) — Auth Flow Navigation with Mock User Login | Preparations
For our AuthFlow example, we need a few additional screens. For one we want to allow the user to both sign in (existing users) and sign up (new users) and in addition to the AppLoading screen (for loading / initialising user data) I’ve added an AppCheck screen where I will, later on, check for version updates in the app stores and such.
I went one step further and split them into AuthStack (sign in/sign up) and InitStack (splash screen, and a screen for the app to check version updates and such). We won’t use this immediately but that way we won’t have to reshuffle everything later on.
Here is a list of our old and new screen components, sorted by their stack. You can copy one of the existing screens, I copied the old SplashScreen as it already had the redux code we’ll use later. For the AppCheckScreen I simply made a copy of our AppLoadingScreen from before.
Don’t worry too much about this, we will address those later, one by one.
In our MainNavigation component, we add the new screens accordingly. The stacks separation I prepared above won’t be represented here for now so Splash, AppCheck, SignIn and SignUp are all for the “not logged in” users.
Skippable Splash Screen
Starting with the SplashScreen, we’re building a small mechanism to trigger a navigation event after a few seconds or when the user taps the screen to trigger it manually. This is a common pattern you see in many apps.
Instead of the useEffect hook you are probably familiar with by now, we will be using the useFocusEffect() hook from react navigation because it will “mount” and “unmount” when the screen gains and loses focus. A common pitfall of Navigation stacks is that screens do not “unmount” when you navigate away within the same stack which means that your useEffect() cleanup will not be triggered.
On focus of this screen, we start a timeout and store the timeoutID in a const to use for the clean-up of the running timer when the user taps on the screen to navigate. As recommended by the docs, we are wrapping our code in a useCallback() hook to prevent running the code too often and do the same for the navigate() function that we use for timer and onPress event.
I had to bump my eslint for hooks from 4.0.0 to 4.0.3 to get rid of a false positive for useFocusEffect as the “Effect” suffix triggered a rule it should not. If you use my code from the last session, you might need to do that too. Version bumped to this => “eslint-plugin-react-hooks”: “^4.0.3”
At this point and to test our new pages and routes, our SignUp and SignIn screens will be mocked placeholders, simply using the redux action to mock a successful login. I’ve also added a small button to navigate between SignUp and SignIn.
Mocking the login
I will briefly go over the mock login I’m using. To represent real server/api interaction, I’ve mocked a promise using a timeout that will return the expected mock values. I’m skipping the types I’ve used and advise you to simply copy the full file from GitHub as this is only a mock authentification and not the focus of this article.
We can now use this to create a simple login and register call. The fake login can be set to fail by supplying an additional boolean as a third parameter (useful for testing) but other than that will expect an email and password and tries to match those to our user array. All in plain text, as you would expect from a first class cheap mock api.
I’ve added a slight variation in form of a createAccount function as well for the SignUp. The response contains a token that would be saved and used in all following requests to pass as a logged-in user in a real application.
Wiring up Redux and Mock API
We now need to do the real work, setting up the real redux code for users so our previous user.ts duck will now be rewritten completely.
Let’s start with our annotations and initial state. The login will be a simple boolean, just as before but additionally we will keep track of the login state to make a differentiation between not logged in, logged out and failed to log in as well as loading during the login.
Also, we will store the user email, a message text and a flag to mark newly registered users. This way we can display login errors from our api or a message for a user that successfully logged out and perform additional things for new users that might not have been fully set up yet, depending on the app you are planning to build.
Actions
We will use the setLogin action to store a logged-in user’s info in our state. This action will no longer be called directly from the app. Instead, we will use if in the userMiddleware we are about to write.
The new setLogout action will contain the new loginState and message, again mainly to be used within our middleware.
When the user tries to log in or sign up, he will only enter an email and password. We will do the rest in our middleware and reducer.
Selectors
For easier access, we will set up a total of 3 selectors for different parts of our state to be used in the frontend. We know selectLogin already. Additionally, we now have a flag for isSubmitting during the api request and the loginMessage, to update the UI accordingly and provide useful feedback for user interactions.
Middleware
In our middleware, we will listen to login and signup attempts, call our mock code and dispatch additional actions according to the results from the mock api.
As you see, we simply dispatch the setLogout action to pass on the new loginState and error message.
Reducer
The last bit is our Reducer code. This is where it all comes together. When the user attempts to log in, we update state and message to reflect this in the UI and then wait for updates via setLogin and setLogout.
A proper login form
On our SignIn and SignUp screens, we can now replace the mock button with a propper login form from a separate component file. | https://medium.com/@allbitsequal/series-react-native-step-by-step-auth-flow-navigation-with-mock-user-login-b243e923312d | ['Konrad Abe'] | 2021-04-25 21:10:41.239000+00:00 | ['React Navigation', 'Redux', 'Expo', 'Typescript', 'React Native'] |
Managing Remote Teams — Use Checklists | On remote teams, conveying team norms is a different process from in the office. Office workers can usually stroll to another desk and ask somebody a question whenever one comes up. On remote teams, your team members may work at different times, or be busy with family errands in the middle of the workday (and that’s OK — people should work when they can be most productive).
So how should remote workers communicate the team’s practices and procedures when they can’t just shout, “Hey, how do we do code reviews around here?”
Checklists.
I’ve been using checklists for years. In software development we have many of them, like the SOLID principles on object-oriented design.
But it wasn’t until I read “The Checklist Manifesto” that I realized the true power of checklists, and started making them standard operating procedures on my software teams.
The book describes a study which is particularly relevant today, because as I type this, the world is suffering from the worst global disaster since World War II: The COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted by Stephan Luby with support from Proctor & Gamble to test the effectiveness of anti-bacterial soap, and it delivered incredible results: The incidence of various diseases fell 35% — 52%.
But what’s really interesting about this study is that the kind of soap that was used didn’t make a big difference, and the people already had and used soap. The difference was that the study instructions included two checklists — When to wash hands:
Before preparing food or feeding it to others
After sneezing our coughing
After wiping an infant
After using a bathroom
Most people were already washing their hands after using a bathroom, but they weren’t doing it properly. The checklist also included instructions:
Use soap.
Wet both hands completely.
Rub the soap until it forms a thick lather covering both hands completely.
Wash hands for at least 20 seconds [not included in this study, but we know now it takes at least 20 seconds to break down viral bugs including Coronavirus so I’m putting it here for posterity].
Completely rinse the soap off.
It was not the particular soap used — any soap is effective. It was the checklists that prevented illness. The checklists changed behaviors and taught people how and when to properly wash their hands.
If you talk to members of my teams, you’ll discover that we create checklists for lots of things. The best checklists are:
[ ] Short enough to memorize
[ ] Only include the key points
If they get too long, conformance to the checklist drops, as people begin to see checklist points as optional suggestions.
Here are some real examples of the checklists we commonly use on our teams. A few of these (like FIRST and RAIL) are widely used and developed externally. Several others (including 5 Questions, RITE Way, Test Timing, and both CI/CD lists) were developed by me, but inspired by common industry best practices:
Code Review Checklist
Before merging a pull request, check that the following have been considered:
[ ] PR is small enough (otherwise, break it up)
[ ] Code is readable
[ ] Code is tested
[ ] The features are documented
[ ] Files are located and named correctly
[ ] Error states are properly handled
[ ] Bonus: Screenshots/screencast demo included
Code Test Checklist (RITE Way)
In quality software, developers must deliver tests which automatically prove that the code works. To test the RITE Way, each test should be:
[ ] Readable
[ ] Isolated (units and tests)/Integrated (for integration tests)
[ ] Thorough
[ ] Explicit
Test Timing Checklist
[ ] Unit tests run in under 10 seconds
[ ] Functional tests should run in under 10 minutes
[ ] CI/CD checks should run in under 10 minutes
5 Questions Every Unit Test Should Answer
[ ] What is the component under test?
[ ] What is its expected behavior (in human readable form)?
[ ] What is its actual output?
[ ] What is its expected output?
[ ] How do you reproduce a test failure? (Double check that the answers to the above answer this question).
Which is unsurprisingly similar to the bug report checklist, because all failing unit tests should be good bug reports.
Bug Report Checklist
Each bug report should include:
[ ] Description (including location)
[ ] Expected output
[ ] Actual output
[ ] Instructions to reproduce
[ ] Environment (browser/OS versions, extensions)
[ ] Bonus: Screenshot/screencast demonstrating the bug
Component Checklist (FIRST)
Components should follow the FIRST principles:
[ ] Focused
[ ] Independent
[ ] Reusable
[ ] Small
[ ] Testable
Software User Interface (UI) Performance Checklist (RAIL)
Software UIs should conform to the RAIL performance model:
[ ] Respond to user interaction in under 100ms
[ ] Animation frames should draw in under 10ms
[ ] Idle time processes should be batched in blocks of less than 50ms
[ ] Load in under 1 second
Continuous Delivery Preparedness Checklist
[ ] A minimum of 80% of the code is covered by unit tests.
[ ] All critical user workflows are covered by functional tests.
[ ] All critical integrations are covered by integration tests.
[ ] A feature toggle system exists to toggle features on and off in the production environment. All unfinished features are toggled off by default.
CI/CD Checklist | https://medium.com/javascript-scene/managing-remote-teams-use-checklists-301aae93e7a5 | ['Eric Elliott'] | 2020-05-06 01:02:26.683000+00:00 | ['Software Engineering', 'Technology', 'Software Development', 'Remote Work', 'Management'] |
5 Pitfalls of NoSQL Databases | I recorded a video in which I talk about the advantages of NoSQL databases. The response was interesting, but I had the impression that not everyone sees the two sides of the coin. The facts are that they can cause us a lot of problems 😉.
Schema Management
Each NoSQL database approaches the schema in its own way. In some there is no schema (MongoDB), in some, it is dynamic (Elasticsearch), and in some it resembles the one from relational databases (Cassandra). In the conceptual model, data ALWAYS have a pattern. Entities, fields, names, types, relations. Regardless of the type of base, the physical model is a representation of the conceptual model.
NoSQL databases give us more freedom in terms of schema. In MongoDB, we can add two different documents with the same field names but different types. Does this make sense? Rather not. Can this happen? Of course, it can. A simple human error can break our app.
Another issue is related to relationships between entities. Even if there are no relations in our db, we have to document the relationships between the data. From the relational database we can generate an ERD diagram. In case of NoSQL databases this may not work.
When using NoSQL databases we have to remember about schema management and data validation issues. Without it the data can “explode”. Interesting fact: Some companies replace MongoDB with PostgreSQL.
Lower margin of error
Performance of NoSQL databases is the result of proper data modeling, indexing and partitioning. In a relational database we can add columns, transform tables, flip data from one table to another, add an index if we have forgotten about it before. In case of NoSQL databases, this will not be possible in all cases. We may need to use some external tools like Apache Spark or even drop and recreate our data model.
In Elasticsearch, if we don’t get the schema/mapping of an index, we have to use e.g. Reindex API, which means that we have to re-index data to another index.
In Cassandra, we can only filter by partition and clustering keys. If we forgot to add one of the columns to the key, there is a possibility of adding an index, but this can kill performance if the cardinality of the set is large.
No ACID
The ACID properties simplify code writing. We do not need to handle errors related to the fact that the data in the X-table is already there, and not yet in the Y-table (if at all). From the CAP theorem we know that there are consistent and eventual consistent databases. The most popular database of this type is Apache Cassandra. Eventual consistency requires a different approach to data modeling and application logic. The code should be written in a more defensive way, as it is not certain that the record you just changed is already available from another part of the application. HBase is an example of a consistent database, but even Cloudera believes that it will not replace a relational database. Some databases advertise themselves as consistent, and consistency is only ensured to some extent. For example, MongoDB offers transactions, but multi-document transactions are available only since version 4.0.
No SQL
The disadvantage of NoSQL is the lack of… SQL 😁. We may like it or not, but SQL is the basis for data. Many analysts use SQL every day and learning another language may discourage them from using the database. There is a reason why Spark SQL or Beam SQL was created.
Limited analysis and/or no JOINs
This is a little of a discussion of differences between OLTP and OLAP systems. We are used to using GROUP BY and JOIN clauses, but not every database will offer such features. Aggregations and mergers may be very limited (if possible) due to the nature of the database. In the case of Apache Cassandra, analytical capabilities are often achieved by putting together the Apache Spark cluster. You will learn how to connect one to the other from this story of mine.
Summary
Is it worth using NoSQL then? Of course, it is. We must remember that each database was created to solve a class of problems. Bending “destiny” is possible, but there are consequences. Screws are easier to screw in with a screwdriver, to hammer nails with a hammer and to pain walls with a roller.
An interesting alternative is NewSQL databases. An example of such bases are CockroachDb and Spanner. They solve the problems of traditional relational databases (mainly the issue of scaling) while maintaining ACID properties. | https://itnext.io/5-pitfalls-of-nosql-databases-c35012431a80 | ['Maciej Szymczyk'] | 2020-09-23 14:36:25.803000+00:00 | ['Data', 'Database', 'Sql', 'Data Engineering', 'NoSQL'] |
A finance strategy (CPPI), implemented on Streamlit/Python, deployed on AWS EC2 | A finance strategy (CPPI), implemented on Streamlit/Python, deployed on AWS EC2
The journey of building a financial web app…
In this article, I would like to show you how to design a CPPI (Constant proportion portfolio investment) strategy and publish it on the Internet. The result is http://18.219.211.47:8501/ (much more fun if you open the link on a big screen rather in a mobile browser)
Here are the steps.
First, let’s remember what CPPI is.
DIVERSIFICATION allows you to eliminate specific or idiosyncratic risks. It cannot help you deal with systematic risk as in 2008 crisis, when systematic risk impacted all the assets simultaneously.
The Bermuda Triangle of Investing
HEDGING, as an alternative, helps you with systematic risks but it is purely symmetric: you get protection on the downside only if you give up on the upside proportionately. Not very attractive…
CPPI Insurance Strategy gives you downside protection but offer much more upside potential by dynamic hedging nature. It is all about allocating to a risky asset in a multiple of the difference between asset value and a given floor, and then reducing the risky allocation if/when getting close to the floor.
The code below is a step-by-step implementation of CPPI. I agree a vectorized-implement code would be more efficient but also equally hard to understand.
Below show the benefit of CPPI over fully invested in Turkish equity indices. As you can clearly see, CPPI protects the investment in large drawdowns whereas it provides quite a lot of upside.
CPPI Implementation on BIST 100 index
Also, if you compare the risk parameters of two portfolios, you can clearly see how Sharpe ratio, VaR and Drawdown Ratios of CPPI portfolio show huge improvements over the risky portfolio.
Let’s also look at the performance of another index, the transportation index, with and without CPPI strategy below. Wow! Such a big protection in CPPI portfolio!
In the execution part, I implemented CPPI in nonparametric and parametric ways using several sector indices. I also included a random walk path to the assets using Geometric Brownian Motion. All parameterized!
Snapshot of the app
To make the app online and web friendly, I used Streamlit library of Python (https://www.streamlit.io/) . Definitely worth checking out!
Below is a shortened code snippet with Streamlit code, but you can fork the whole code from my github account: https://github.com/deimosnphobos/cppi_strategy
Final task was to deploy it on a Cloud Application Platform. I tried Heroku: Cloud Application Platform first, but somehow I couldn’t be able to run it smoothly -sometimes it worked, sometimes not. So I switched to Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2 - Amazon AWS). It was much harder to configure than Heroku, but just did what it was supposed to do!
The result is at http://18.219.211.47:8501/. Please feel free to play with it, and let me know if you have any questions about it. | https://egx21.medium.com/a-finance-strategy-cppi-implemented-on-streamlit-python-deployed-on-aws-ec2-418f16153fe6 | ['Eyup Gulsun'] | 2020-12-14 18:02:02.490000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Cppi', 'Streamlit', 'Heroku', 'Insurance'] |
What is a Wallet? Part III | There are a few steps on securing a wallet:
Create a hard password Encrypting your wallet — What is encryption? It is an algorithm to transform information to make it unreadable for unauthorized users. This method protects sensitive data. Encryption is essential for ensured and trusted delivery of sensitive information. Create backups and keep them in a safe place. Keeping backups might save you from hardware failures and human slipups. It will also let you restore your wallet in case your PC or phone gets stolen. It would be beneficial, if you create a new e-mail account that you will be using for that specific exchange account. DO NOT mention what kind of cryptocurrency wallet you are using. It makes it easier for hackers to track you. DO NOT store all cryptocurrency in only one exchange or wallet. It is extremely difficult to steal money from several wallets at once. Use two-factor authentication. This sends you a verification code on your mobile phone OR you have to download an app (for example an authenticator — there is many more), which then creates a new code during log in each time. Create a 12 memorable word password — if something happens, you can recover your wallet with the 12word passphrase. | https://medium.com/@aicestonia/what-is-a-wallet-part-iii-fa8547cbf06d | ['Sara Ray'] | 2019-03-20 12:52:56.244000+00:00 | ['Wallet', 'Passphrase', 'Security', 'Crypto', 'Currency Exchange'] |
YOLOv5 compared to Faster RCNN. Who wins? | YOLOv5 compared to Faster RCNN. Who wins?
Doing cool things with data!
Introduction
The deep learning community is abuzz with YOLO v5. This blog recently introduced YOLOv5 as — State-of-the-Art Object Detection at 140 FPS. This immediately generated significant discussions across Hacker News, Reddit and even Github but not for its inference speed. Two prominent issues were — Should the model be called YOLO and are the speed benchmarking results accurate and reproducible. If you are interested in Roboflow’s response then you can find it here.
All the controversy aside, YOLOv5 looked like a promising model. So I have compared it to one of the best two stage detectors — Faster RCNN. To do this comparison, I have taken 3 videos from with different contexts and run the 2 models side by side. My assessment includes observations on the quality of results and inference speed. So lets get started!
YOLOv5 model
The YOLOv5 implementation has been done in Pytorch in contrast with the previous developments that used the DarkNet framework. This makes it easier to understand, train with it and deploy this model. There is no paper released with YOLO-v5. My understanding is that architecturally it is quite similar to YOLO-v4. One different may be the use of Cross Stage Partial Network (CSP) to reduce computation cost. It is still not clear if YOLO-v5 runs faster than YOLO-v4 but I prefer Pytorch implementations and I am amazed with how easy it is to train with this model. My personal experience of running inference through it was also seamless.
The release of YOLOv5 includes five different models sizes: YOLOv5s (smallest), YOLOv5m, YOLOv5l, YOLOv5x (largest). The inference speed and mean average precision (mAP) for these models is shared below:
YOLO v5 stats from UltraLytics repo
Inference using YOLO-v5
The first step would be to clone the repo for YOLO-v5. Install all the requirments. I use Pytorch 1.5 and the code works without any problems.
You can download all the weights for different pretrained COCO models using:
bash weights/download_weights.sh
To run inference on a video, you have to pass the path to the video and the weights of the model you want to use. If the weights argument is not set, then by default code runs on the YOLO small model. Sample arguments I used are shared below:
python detect.py --source video/MOT20-01-raw-cut1.mp4 --output video_out/ --weights weights/yolov5s.pt --conf-thres 0.4
The output video will be saved in the output folder
Training using YOLO-v5
I haven’t personally tried training using YOLO-v5 on a custom data set but a good step by step tutorial is shared by Roboflow on Youtube here.
Faster RCNN Model
For the Faster RCNN model, I used the pretrained model from Tensorflow Object Detection. Tensorflow Object Detection shares COCO pretrained Faster RCNN for various backbones. For this blog I have used the Fatser RCNN ResNet 50 backbone. This repo has shared a nice tutorial on how to do inference using their pretrained model here.
Comparison of YOLOv5 model with Faster RCNN
The first scene I chose was a street driving scene considering the importance to self driving car industry. The results from both these models is shared below:
YOLOv5 model evaluated on Driving Video
Faster RCNN evaluated on Driving Video
YOLO model seems much better at detecting smaller objects — traffic lights in this case and also is able to pick up the car when it is farther away i.e smaller.
Run Speed of YOLO v5 small(end to end including reading video, running model and saving results to file) — 52.8 FPS!
Run Speed of Faster RCNN ResNet 50(end to end including reading video, running model and saving results to file) —21.7 FPS
These results are evaluated on NVIDIA 1080 Ti.
So far YOLO v5 seems better than Faster RCNN
YOLO v5 and Faster RCNN comparison 1
The next video is a basketball match video from youtube. The results of both models are shared below:
YOLO v5 on Basketball Video
Faster RCNN ResNet 50 on Basketball Video
The Faster RCNN model is run at a threshold of 60% and one could argue it is picking up the crowd with a single person label but I prefer YOLO here for the cleanliness of results. Both models have false positive on the abc logo.
I was also disappointed on how both failed to detect the basketball ball even though sports ball is a category in COCO. Their tally is now:
YOLO v5 and Faster RCNN comparison 2
For the final video, I chose an indoor crowded scene from MOT data set. This is a challenging video with low lighting, distant and dense crowds. The results from both the models are shown below.
YOLO v5 model tested on indoor crowded scene from MOT data set
Faster RCNN model tested on indoor crowded scene from MOT data set
This is interesting. I would say both these models struggle to detect people in the distance as they walk into the corridor. This could be attributed to low light and smaller objects. When the crowd gets closer to the camera, both are able to pick up overlapping people.
YOLO v5 and Faster RCNN comparison 2
Conclusion
The final comparison b/w the two models shows that YOLO v5 has a clear advantage in terms of run speed. The small YOLO v5 model runs about 2.5 times faster while managing better performance in detecting smaller objects. The results are also cleaner with little to no overlapping boxes. Ultralytics have done a fabulous job on their YOLO v5 open sourcing a model that is easy to train and run inference on.
This blog also shows an emerging trend with computer vision object detection towards moving to models that are both faster and accurate.
If you have tried YOLOv5 please share your experience in the comments below.
At Deep Learning Analytics, we are extremely passionate about using Machine Learning to solve real-world problems. We have helped many businesses deploy innovative AI-based solutions. Contact us through our website here if you see an opportunity to collaborate.
References | https://towardsdatascience.com/yolov5-compared-to-faster-rcnn-who-wins-a771cd6c9fb4 | ['Priya Dwivedi'] | 2020-06-30 17:26:51.548000+00:00 | ['Deep Learning', 'Computer Vision', 'Object Detection', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science'] |
Interview: Heavy Metal’s Flagship Character Takes The Helm in ‘Taarna’ | Interview by Troy-Jeffrey Allen
On the heels of their big 300th issue, Heavy Metal Magazine is expanding its universe this week! Rightfully at the forefront of this line-wide initiative is none other than TAARNA! Easily, Heavy Metal’s most identifiable mascot. In the following interview, Taarna writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Patrick Zircher provide a hitchhiker’s guide to the opening salvo in their “Metal-verse!”
PREVIEWSworld: So, how did you both get involved in this project?
Stephanie Phillips: I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Joe Illidge on other projects and he really brought me on board to work on the character.
Patrick Zircher: Steph and I were introduced to each other through editor Joseph Illidge. Happily, Joe reached out to me about drawing for Heavy Metal.
PW: Is this more sci-fi, more action or more fantasy?
SP: I would agree with Patrick here — this is very fantasy-driven and the world we are creating really tries to cater to the original tone set by the film and the content that inspired it, like Moebius.
PZ: The source material has always been very fantasy-oriented, with plenty of action. I feel we’re being true to that.
PW: Were you both fans of the movie?
SP: I was introduced to the movie later in life and I think that colors the impact it had on me since I was really watching it with knowledge of the Heavy Metal universe and the artists that participated in these stories and inspired its creation, which I am absolutely a fan of. I am also a big fan of the soundtrack!
PZ: I was a Heavy Metal reader before the movie came out and saw the movie in its first run at the theatre. I feel like I just said, “I was into that band before you were”.
PW: Tell us about Kako. Why is Taarna hot on Kako’s heels?
SP: Kako is a little like an opposing force of chaos to Taarna’s quest for order. While Taarna is tending to the universe, Kako is trying to unravel it. It’s a little like a cosmic dance between these two forces that are constantly pushing and pulling against the other. Of course, Kako’s ultimate goal would be to get rid of Taarna completely so that chaos can reign supreme.
PZ: This book promises battles throughout the universe.
PW: How do you go about visualizing bold new worlds? Do you look back at the Heavy Metal catalog or start from scratch?
PZ: Moebius (Jean Giraud) inspired the creation of Taarna, so his work is always in mind but so is the sequence from the Heavy Metal movie. The rest comes from years of enjoying science fiction, fantasy, and comics.
PW: What is the creative process like between you two?
SP: I’m a huge fan of Patrick’s work and my goal was to create a kind of blueprint for the story that we could riff off of together. I really wanted to make sure that we were both seeing the world as we were writing and drawing it, so I would ask a lot of questions and get Patrick’s input on design elements that would help us to both really shape the universe as a team. It’s truly a pleasure getting to work with someone as talented as Patrick and I just hope I gave him some fun scenes to draw!
PZ: I’m faithful to Steph’s script. At the same time, she gives me freedom to visualize the content. I think it’s based on mutual respect.
PW: Looking forward, what can readers expect from Taarna?
SP: Some new characters for sure and a really expanded tour of the universe. Plus, lots of battles!
PW: In terms of audience, who is Taarna for?
SP: I think there is something in this story for Taarna fans old and new. We really wanted to bring some new elements to the Taarna universe that could make this character accessible to a brand-new audience. In part, I think this comes from adding new characters and elements to the universe that will push and test Taarna in ways I don’t think we’ve seen from this character before.
PZ: I feel Taarna is for the same people who love fantasy, now, who have always loved it. It’s freedom and escape. Beautiful, fierce Taarna riding winged Avis across an alien sky embodies that.
Taarna #1 (OCT201437) is available now at your local comic shop.
For more from Heavy Metal keep an eye on PREVIEWSworld.com’s Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram. | https://medium.com/@tjacomics/interview-heavy-metals-flagship-character-takes-the-helm-in-taarna-95dae873ece4 | ['Troy-Jeffrey Allen'] | 2020-12-27 23:48:18.497000+00:00 | ['Comic Books', 'Sword And Sorcery', 'Sci Fi Fantasy', 'Science Fiction', 'Heavy Metal'] |
Components of Hadoop | Here is my second blog of Hadoop-The Cute Elephant series: Components of Hadoop
NameNode : It has complete information of data available in the cluster. There is always one NameNode per Hadoop cluster. Main task is to get the data stored in the cluster with the help of DataNode. When new data gets entered the NameNode divides it into smaller parts and then it identifies the DataNode which can actually store this data. When the required data is looked for then the NameNode tells it actual location to the application.
DataNode : This is the actual place where data is stored. They communicate the data to the application when requested by NameNode. They periodically give message to NameNode about the data stored in them.
Once the data is located using NameNode it can be loaded further by DataNode without the interference of NameNode and that makes HDFS efficient.
Job Tracker : It decides what tasks should be given to which worker node and this process is called Task Scheduling. It is also responsible for monitoring the health of all worker nodes.
Task Tracker : It is slave process. Each worker node can have single process running under them. Similar to DataNode, each Task Tracker reports its health and task status to Job Tracker through a process called as Heartbeat. If the heartbeat is not acknowledged after a specific number of time then the Task Tracker is declared dead.
There is absolutely NO role of Job Tracker in HDFS! In latest versions of Hadoop the Job Tracker and Task Tracker based map-reduce framework has been replaced by a more generic framework called YARN.
Thank you for reading! Please give a clap if you like it.
Keep watching this and follow us for more tech articles or you can reach out to me for any doubt and suggestions and the next blog in series will be published soon. | https://medium.com/codingurukul/components-of-hadoop-761340bcf4ed | ['Ishita Agnihotri'] | 2019-01-14 15:55:24.696000+00:00 | ['Big Data'] |
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